K-2 Curriculum Bundle

Don't miss this resource-packed curriculum bundle that's available on Educents for a limited time! It includes over $100 worth of products for only $19.99! The resources cover reading, writing, math, science, and social studies for K-2. 

Two of my products are included in this bundle. The first one is "Sight Word Sentences Add and Read for Spring." This set of printables helps students practice sight words, addition, AND fluency. One thing I love about this resource is that students of different reading levels can play it at the same time! Note that, in the picture below, a kindergartener and a second grader can play together! 

The second product is "Addition Fun with Friends." This is a set of multipurpose task cards to help students practice addition facts. They can be used as a card game, task cards, or for a game of Scoot! 

This curriculum bundle contains 20 different resources that are just right for K-2. 

CLICK HERE to take a look! 

Happy teaching! 

Summer Book Recommendations for K-2 and FREE Reading Logs

I want to share a few of my favorite K-2 books with you. For years, I was so focused on providing students with "great children's literature" (Caldecott winners and the like) that I forgot the most driving force behind reading: choice. Children, like adults, are excited to read about subjects that pique their interest. They are much more engaged and willing to read when THEY have chosen a book about something they love. Just click on the title at the top to see each book or series on Amazon.com.

1. Phonics Fun with Barbie by Jennifer Liberts Weinberg (K)

You would not believe how popular this set was with my students! I have had whole groups of students who learned to read early because of this set! It comes with 10 (or maybe 12) small books just right for little hands. Each book focuses on a different word family (like -at, -et, or silent e words) and has high picture support. They are very well done and build on each other. This is a great set for beginning readers! 

2. Lego DC Super Heroes: Phonics Boxed Set by Quinlan B. Lee (K)

Just like the set above, this set of 10 books is highly appealing to superhero AND Lego™fans! The words in this set tend to be a little more difficult, but students do well with them after repeated readings. My son learned to read with this set! (There is also a very similar set available with a Star Wars theme. We have that set, too!) 

3. Princess Posey books by Stephanie Greene (K-1)

I discovered this set last summer. They are PERFECT beginning chapter books. Ms. Greene miraculously uses mostly sight words to write these books. They have simple, everyday story lines, yet manage to engage even the adult! 

4. Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park (K-2)

These books make such great read alouds! Junie's "voice" in the book just cracks me up. While there are some not nice words included (I'll admit that sometimes I skip them), Junie is saying just what many kindergarteners are thinking. Plus, if you're looking for a quick read, these books are just the thing. 

5. Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne (1-2, or read by a parent to K)

These books follow Jack and Annie on adventures to different places and times of historical and/or geographical significance. They appeal to both boys and girls, as well as adults. There is always an interesting story line and several titles have nonfiction books to go with them. 

I hope you find this little list of books helpful. At the very least, I hope it gets you and your student(s) thinking about what they're going to read this summer. No list would be complete without some FREE READING LOGS to keep track of student reading. Just click on the picture below to download a set for FREE! 

Happy summer reading!

Domino Fractions FREEBIE for Grades 2-4!

I have a useful and fun TEACHER FREEBIE to share with you today! 

Who made this fun freebie?

This freebie comes to you from Amber at TGIF Third Grade is Fun! She has been teaching third grade for the past 3 years. She says that she is "loving every aspect of it!" Amber also has experience teaching 4th-8th, which helps her better prepare her students for the upper grades.

What makes this teacher freebie useful? 

Amber says that "Teachers have to find inexpensive and durable manipulatives to use in the classroom. Dominoes are the perfect solution to introducing fractions. They are cheap, very tough, and students love the idea that they are getting to do something other than just pencil and paper work."

Students will focus on writing and drawing fractions with this practical freebie. It covers comparing fractions (CCSS 3.NF.A.3d) using dominoes. There are also 2 levels of differentiation:

1. Students will trace the domino and draw the fraction. Then, students record the digits as a fraction.
2. Students can compare one domino fraction with another.

Sheets can be printed for each student or laminated for repeated use in math centers. The set also includes a mini-poster showing students how to compare two fractions.

Amber's teacher tip for using this resource:

"Introduce fractions lessons with quick and easy manipulatives. Of course students love candy, so give each student one Skittle and have them gather with like colors. Ask quick questions such as, "What fraction of the class has red?" or "What fraction of the class does not have yellow?" By starting the lesson with these quick mini-lessons, the students get a real world idea of fractions and they will remember the concept better when you refer back to it in 3 days."

You can click on the picture above to take a look at this helpful, easy-to-create and use math activity. If you have a moment, please don't forget to leave feedback for Amber! It is always appreciated! 

Thanks for reading! 

If you like this item, you will also like . . .

CLICK on the picture to find this item on TN. CLICK HERE TO SEE IT ON TPT.

The Teacher Appreciation Celebration GIVEAWAY!

Whoo-hoo! The Teacher Appreciation Celebration continues with a BIG GIVEAWAY! Enter below for the chance to win one of 4 $25 gift cards! (Be sure sure take a look at the terms and conditions.) The giveaway runs from midnight on April 30th thru 11:59pm CST on May 8th. Best of luck and stay tuned to this channel (and my FB page) for more Teacher Appreciation fun! 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teacher Appreciation Celebration, April 29-May 8, 2015

It's a party!!! I want to thank you each for your business and for keeping up with my shops on TpT, TN, and Educents. It means a lot to me that you are following my pages and taking the time to leave feedback on my items. SO . . . I want to let you know how much you are appreciated by having a 10-day CELEBRATION! And . . . so my blog followers DON'T MISS THE FUN, here's a central place to let you know what's happening.  I will add a link to this page each day, telling you about the FREEBIES, GIVEAWAYS, and FLASH SALES. 

Day #1, April 29th:

Click on the picture above to grab a MYSTERY FREEBIE from my TPT store! If it isn't for your grade level [sorry :( ] , feel free to pass this one on to a colleague. Grab it before midnight CST on Wednesday, April 29th. At midnight, it turns into a paid pumpkin! 

Day #2, April 30th:

Click on the picture above to enter my GIVEAWAY on Teacher's Notebook! I'm giving away 10 COPIES of the Sight Word Books (Paste, Trace, and Write) COMBO PACK (a $12 value)! AND . . . the giveaway only lasts for 4 days, so hurry to enter! 

Day #3, May 1st:

Click on the picture above to read about and enter the GIVEAWAY on my blog! I'm giving away four $25 gift cards! Ends 5/8/15.

Day #4, May 2nd:

It's a $1 FLASH SALE in my TN shop! You can grab each of these sets for just $1 for 24 hours (Saturday, May 2nd only). Click on the pictures to take a look!

Plus, everything else in my shop is 25% off from May 2-May 8! Use promo code "TeachersRule" at checkout to get another 10% off! 

Day #5, May 3rd: 

Click on the picture above to grab another BRAND NEW, MYSTERY FREEBIE from my TPT store! If it isn't for your grade level [sorry :( ] , feel free to pass this one on to a colleague. Grab it before midnight CST on Sunday, May 3rd. At midnight, it turns into a paid pumpkin! 

Day #6, May 4th:

You can enter for a chance to win one of 3 COMBO packs (a $20 value)! If you keep up with my giveaways on Teacher's Notebook, then you know 2 things: 1) I usually have one running, and 2) I NEVER do giveaways for COMBO packs! I thought I should make an exception for Teacher Appreciation Week! Click on the picture above to visit the page and enter. (Ends 5/8/15 with 3 winners)

Day #7, May 5th: 

Don't miss this FLASH FREEBIE in my TN shop! It's available until 11:45 pm tonight! (a $3 value, grades K-3) Click on the picture to visit the page!

Day #8, May 6th:

It's a $1 FLASH SALE in my TPT store! You can grab each of these products for just $1 for 24 hours (Wednesday, May 6th only). Click on the pictures to take a look!

Plus, everything else in my TPT store is 20% off thru midnight! Use promo code "THANKYOU" at checkout to get another 10% off! 

Be sure to visit this page tomorrow to find out about the next Teacher Appreciation event! 

Sight Word Scrambled Sentences for Spring!

Today, my own littles worked on sight words, grammar, punctuation, and reading with these sets of sentences. My oldest tackled the 2nd and 3rd grade set, while my middle son worked on the set for kinder and 1st. Cutting, gluing, and bright spring graphics made it an appealing, hands-on activity! 

The kindergarten and first grade set includes 60 cut-and-glue sentences. Over 125 Dolch sight words are covered! The second and third grade set has 63 sentences. It focuses on  over 120 Dolch sight words. Both sets include pictures for text that might be unfamiliar to students. 

If you haven't tried a set of these with your class yet, please download a FREE set HERE.

You can find the spring sets of scrambled sentences by clicking on the picture for the appropriate grade level.

Thanks for reading! 

Telling Time Task Cards/Game and a FREEBIE!

Click on the picture to see it on Teacher's Notebook.

CLICK HERE to find it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Here's a fun way for your students to practice telling time! Whether you prefer center activities, a game of Scoot, or card games, you have ALL THREE OPTIONS with this set! 

First, the cards are numbered and a recording sheet is included. This is perfect for using them as TASK CARDS in a center or for a game of SCOOT! 

Or, include a couple of these "melting snowman" cards to make the task cards into an engaging CARD GAME! 

I am using this set at home as 2 of my littles (kindergarten and first grade) learn to tell time. We played a game with the cards using the BIG CLOCK! This set also comes with little clocks. They would work well in centers or so that each child could have a clock.

This product comes with the following sets of cards:

1. Analog clocks to the hour and half-hour 

Students must record the time in digital form.

2. Analog clocks to the nearest five minutes

Students must record the time in digital form.

3. Digital clocks to the hour and half-hour

Students must demonstrate the time on an analog clock.

4. Digital clocks to the nearest five minutes

Students must demonstrate the time on an analog clock.

ANSWER SHEETS are also included! They are great for having students self-check.

Click on the picture below to download a 2-page TELLING TIME FREEBIE! 

I hope your students enjoy the FREEBIE! Thanks for stopping by! 

Happy New Year Blog Hop--and a Winter FREEBIE!

Happy New Year! 

First of all, I want to wish you a prosperous, happy, and healthy New Year. Then, I would like to invite you to "hop" through our blogs, grabbing some FREEBIES and taking a look at our winter and New Year themed items. 

My featured item is one of my all-time favorites, the Kindergarten Math Cut-and-Glue Workbook for Winter. 

I LOVE these sets for 3 reasons:

1) This workbook (and similar sets for each season/holiday) covers ALL of the Common Core Standards for kindergarten math. So, using all of the pages lets you know that your students have practiced every CC concept! 

2) These sets help students practice their math AND fine motor skills! Plus, my littles always enjoy cutting and pasting! 

3) These are prefect for reluctant writers. Some of the pages require no writing at all! That's huge for students who struggle with writing. While writing should not be overlooked, I think it's nice to have a resource every now and again where students are not required to write in order to demonstrate their knowledge.  

Click on the picture above to find this resource on Teacher's Notebook.

CLICK HERE to see it on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Plus, ALL OF MY RESOURCES ARE 15% OFF from January 1-4, 2015!

Here's my featured winter FREEBIE! 

This one has been in my stores for a while, but it's a good one! It has worksheets, games, and even a game board for winter-themed addition Bump! Click on the picture below to grab a copy for your classroom!

Thank you "snow" much for stopping by!

Click on the blog button below to hop on to the next New Year post and FREEBIE! 

Technical Problems with Teacher Files and How to Solve Them

I frequently get technical questions regarding downloading/opening/printing my teacher-created materials.  Although I am no technology whiz, here are some ideas about how to solve a few common problems.

PROBLEM 1:  HELP!  THE FILE LOOKS OR PRINTS WRONG!

I once had a file that looked great on the screen, but printed with all of these black boxes instead of text!  Help!  Printing wrong AND using up more ink than I ever imagined is a teacher nightmare!  

     SOLUTION 1:  Download the latest version of Adobe Reader.  Just click HERE.  All of my files and probably 90% of the files on teacher sites are PDFs.  They are meant to be opened with Adobe Reader.  Now, my Mac with open them with Preview usually, but I have to remember that this program makes the margins, etc. just a bit different.  Opening with file with the latest version of Adobe Reader usually solves a myriad of problems.  

     If the file STILL looks wrong (such as you see it on the screen correctly, but the dotted lines won't print), then open the file with Adobe. Go to "print." Then, click on "advanced settings" and choose "print as image." 

PROBLEM 2:  HELP!  I CAN'T OPEN THE ZIP FILE!  

As a teacher-author, when you have several files to bundle, this is the most efficient way to bundle them.  No one wants to receive one huge file with 300 or 400 pages to scroll through, right?  Instead, we place separate files into a ZIP file.  

     SOLUTION 2: If you have a Mac, just save the zip file to your desktop and double click it to extract the folder within.  It will magically appear on your desktop!   If you have a PC, it might be that simple . . . or not!  When I had a PC, I purchased a program called WinZip.  It looks like there is now a free trial WinZip available on their official site.  Click HERE to take a look.  

Here's a page that offers more ideas for opening these files:  How to Open a .Zip File Without Winzip.    

Another easy solution to this problem is to download the file on another computer.  Some operating systems will open the .ZIP file automatically.  

PROBLEM 3:  HELP!  THE PAGE ISN'T PRINTING CORRECTLY!

Let me just say that I have come to regard printing and laminating as an art form--or perhaps it should be an Olympic sport!  I am constantly looking for ways to use less colored ink, print with different margins, print posters, etc.  

     SOLUTION 3:  There is really no one answer here, I'm afraid.  Your answer to this will depend on the program AND take some searching, as well as trial and error printing.   For example, I like to open my files with Preview on the Mac.  I click "Print," then I look for options.  

If you are missing some of your page (such as missing borders or titles, or the margins are wrong), then click on "Print Entire Image" or change the scale.  

Click on the bar that says "Preview" to find more options . . .

In the picture above, I clicked on the bar with "Preview," then I clicked on "Print Options."  This is where I usually end up.  If you like to print things in grayscale to save ink, click that box.  Printing one page as a poster is great for group lessons or for things that decorate the room.  

If you are having major problems with margins, make sure that you have selected the correct paper size and that the scale is 100% or what you need.    

IF YOU ARE TRYING TO PRINT A POSTER, PLEASE VISIT ONE OF MY PREVIOUS POSTS FOR DIRECTIONS.  CLICK HERE.  

PROBLEM 4:  HELP!  IT SAYS THE FILE IS DAMAGED!

Most of the time, teachers assume that something is wrong with the file.  While this can happen, it is usually not the case.  This just happens.  It is just a glitch in how the file was downloaded. As you know, technology is great, but it never works 100% of the time.  This is one of those times that something failed to come from some server on the other side of the country through your wifi, arriving on your desktop in pristine condition.  If you think about it, I don't know why we don't have more damaged files.  

     SOLUTION 4:  The solution is to just download it again.  Now, if you download it 3 times and there is STILL something wrong, then please contact customer service.  

GENERAL SOLUTIONS:   

1.  Here's my secret "go to" solution for almost everything:  Google it!   It works almost every time.  You might have to search once or twice to find exactly what you need, but there is a lot of helpful info out there, especially when it comes to computer problems.  Keep in mind, though, that programs sometimes change with new versions, so you might find info that no longer applies.   

2.  Shut down the computer (or printer, or iPad, etc.).  Count to 10 slowly, then turn it back on.  I have absolutely NO idea why this works, but it often does!  

3.  Open the file on another computer.  The other computer might have a program that will open your file automatically.  It also works sometimes if you can print the file using a different computer and/or printer.  

Well, I hope you have found something here to help.  If I think of more problems/solutions, I will add them here.  

As always, thank you for reading!  

Talk Like a Pirate Day FREE and Priced Resources

Ahoy, Me Hearties!  Are ye ready for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" on September 19th?  Be ye in need of more resources?  Find both FREE and paid pirate-themed resources below!  

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADDING LINKS:

1.  Please include 1 free and/or 1 paid pirate-themed item.  

2.  Include FREE or $ and grade level in the title.

3.  Please share this page via 1 type of social media.  Use the picture above.  

  Thanks!   

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for joining and/or taking a look, Mateys!

Color by Sum Game and a FREEBIE!

Click on the picture to take a look at Color by Sum: Back to School Version on Teacher's Notebook.Click HERE to see it on Teachers Pay Teachers.  

We're getting ready for back to school!  Today, my soon-to-be kindergartener and first grader played a color by sum game from my Color by Sum: Back to School pack.  This set has 3 different versions of play:  1. find the sum of 2 numbers, 2. find the sum of 3 numbers, and 3. find the sum of 2 numbers plus 10.  Students take turns coloring the sums until one of them finishes coloring all of the numbered areas.  

I like these games because:

* The games work well as a math center activity.

* They cover several Common Core Standards for math in K-2.

* You can keep them on-hand as extra whole group practice.  

* They provide really fun practice for your students!

So, I thought it would be great to provide a few of these for FREE!  Just click on the picture below to grab a set.  

Click on the picture to grab this set from my Teacher's Notebook shop.
CLICK HERE to find it on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Thanks for reading!