♥Teaching Fabulous Firsties and 2nd Grade Smarties!♥: 2013

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Cyber Monday Sale! Woo hoo!

It has been ages since I last blogged. I had to take a self imposed blogging break because there was just too much "life "going on. I had to take a mental health break to save my sanity (or what was left of it). Can anyone relate? :-) So after doing a lot of nothing for Thanksgiving vacation, I'm back!

I had an iPad funded through Donors Choose! So, I am having fun trying new things on it. I am even writing this blog post for the first time on the iPad. Woo hoo! This microphone gadget is a hoot! I like dictating my words, but I think typing is more my speed.

Have you been getting ready for Teachers Pay Teachers' big sale? I'm afraid I have been doing a LOT of shopping and getting my cart ready for checkout tomorrow. All of my items will be 20% off! Be sure to use the promo code: CYBER to get up to 28% off!

December is so busy and it often is hard to keep my kids involved in rigorous learning! So, I created a Common Core-Aligned Winter Math and ELA print and go pack that has a fun winter theme. I love to have the kids do math centers, but sometimes you just need something fast and fun that you can whip out in a minute, right? Click on the picture to check it out on TpT! Be sure to download the preview, as it has a couple of freebies included!

Earlier this year, I added "Jumping in with Number and Base Ten Second Grade Mega Pack." It has really helped my kids with the tricky Common Core State Standards!

If you are looking for some more winter activities, check these out!

“Winter Math and Literacy Activities: Quick and Easy Reproducibles & Centers”

“Snowy Sight Word Bingo & Blizzard Game”

“Pauly Polar Bear’s Common Core Commutative Property of Addition”

If you would like to see some Christmas-themed activities, here you go!

“Santa’s Christmas Math and Literacy Centers”

“Christmas Sight Word Bingo & Naughty and Nice Games”

Happy Shopping and have a great December!

Corinna

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Hey, Teacher Friends!

I have not been able to keep up on school, blogging, TpT, and family! So to make up for my extended absence, I'm putting my latest product on TpT as a Flash Freebie for my followers! Hopping to 1,000 practices number writing to 1,000, plus pages for evens and odds, and multiples of 2's, 5's, and 10's.

So, how are you all able to manage (or try to manage) your personal life and teaching (&/or blogging and creating for TpT)? Have a great weekend!

Corinna

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Anchor Charts & Focus Walls--plus a FREEBIE!

Sorry, Friends! I had to take a break from blogging due to technology issues, then because of curriculum meetings, then because my house needed a MAJOR organization/cleaning frenzy! I’m back with a freebie because you put up with my sporadic blogging!

Did you get a chance to see my new Second Grade CCSS Beginning and End of Year Math Assessments? The First Grade Common Core Math version is the TOP seller at my TpT store and now that I'm looping up to 2nd grade, I thought it would be good to do this new product. Check out the preview HERE or click on the picture.

I knew it would be bad not to have Internet service, but after 3+ weeks of only having random minutes of service, I was seriously technology starved! But, we now have Fios, so I have my fast Internet back! I had to (*whimper*) bravely delete all of the Bloglovin and TpT notifications that came in my email because I knew service would only happen after trying ten times to get on, then get bumped off after 30 seconds! So, I’ve missed all of my bloggy friends’ great new products and posts. So, in the meantime, I worked on my new second grade common core statements for math. Our district ~~is crazy for~~ wants to see all of the standards on the board that we’re teaching—there’s almost no room for any anchor charts or other teaching related visuals, so I made small anchor charts. Since I’m doing a beach/ocean theme this year, I made them with cute beach-themed graphics. They are on standard-sized paper for your bulletin boards. Here are a few of the pages.

I also made one with half-sheets of paper-sized posters you can use in a pocket chart to save space. They can go with any classroom décor and aren’t theme-specific. Here's another peek at some of the pages.

I had a jungle theme last year and I really liked having my zebra themed focus wall. This year, my Daily 5 signs will be the same Zany Zebra from Scrappin’ Doodles, but he’s at the beach! Here is a copy for you if you have a jungle &/or beach theme…or if you just like them. Click on the pictures below to grab your freebie! If you download them, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Thanks!

I only have 3 more days until our official back to school day. YIKES! Did I mention that I haven't been in to work on my classroom yet and I'm probably the only one?!? Then, the kids arrive on September 3^rd. How about you? Have you already been back to work? Are you with kids yet?

Happy Thursday!

♥Corinna

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Technology FAIL!

Hi Friends! My Internet service has been very cranky lately ~~and so have~~ I so I haven't been able to get on blogger long enough to get a post finished! So, I'm crossing my fingers and this is going to be short and sweet...

Thanks to all of you who have become new followers! I have a bunch of new people and I'm thankful you're here!

Here's a little freebie for you! I've wanted to make a book hospital for ~~about two years~~ quite some time, so here it is finally. Just print this label and stick it to a tub. Kids can put the hurt books there so they can be fixed up ~~as soon as I get a parent helper to do it for me~~ right away! Click on the picture and save it.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! Have a great week!
♥Corinna

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Summer Planning Scavenger Hunt Giveaway!

Happy Saturday, Everybody! Have you joined in the Summer Planning Giveaway Scavenger hunt for awesome freebie prizes? If not, be sure to grab my secret word button below (and be sure to follow my blog with Bloglovin' by clicking the heart-shaped button to the left)! Everybody wins prizes in this one! If this is your first stop on the Summer Planning Scavenger Hunt, be sure to visit Erin, our scavenger hunt hostess at I'm Lovin' Lit for more details and links to the other stops in the hunt. Here is the item I've donated to the giveaway: Hollywood Star of the Week

In case you missed the post telling how I use these in class, here it is. I send home the parent letter with one boy and girl who will be the Stars the following week. I have new students go earlier in the year so we can get to know them. Then, I "randomly" choose students for the rest of the year (but I have my shy kids and kids who need to make new friends go first--don't tell!). On Mondays, the Stars share their posters that they worked on over the previous weekend. They are also allowed to bring a special item for sharing. This is a big deal because the kids don't get to share toys or things like that normally—only items related to what we're learning in class. Each day of the week the kids have the option to share other items or stories about their hobbies, families, etc... On Thursday, the class writes a page to go in a book that each Star gets. Usually, kids write compliments or tell why they like the Star. The writing is just priceless.“Hanna, I thenk yu are beeyutifol.” Then, at the end of the week, the stories are collected and bound into a book for each Star to take home. The kids LOVE this! Even the shy kids want to talk about themselves! I laminate the posters, 3-hole punch them, and bind them with binder rings. The Star of the Week big book is by far the favorite buddy reading choice in class!

In addition to the Hollywood Star of the Week pack, I also have created an Ocean/Beach themed Oceanographer of the Week (it includes some variations--Sea Star of the Week and Big Fish of the Week).

You may also be interested in my Jungle themed Explorer of the Week Packet.

Have fun planning for your school year, and thanks for stopping by! Be sure to hop through all of the blogs to get your scavenger hunt words for free goodies! Leave a little love in the comment section if you like your freebies! Have a great weekend!

♥Corinna

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

It's My One Year Blogiversary!!!

It is my Blogiversary! Or, at least it was when I started this post a few days ago… Haha! I never thought that I would learn so much and “meet” so many great teachers when I started this blog. I really didn’t know if anyone would ever see and read it. It was so exciting when I started getting visitors that were not just my Mama and teammates. J It was so great to find other teachers that were really crazy about teaching and more than a little OCD about creating amazing materials to use with kiddos in the classroom. It feels so good to have a virtual, online team that will share ideas, answer questions, and make you feel like a million bucks even on your worst day. So, without further ado, here are some people who made me feel welcome in the Blogosphere. Lisa R. from Learning is Something to Treasure who was one of my first readers to leave me a comment and make me feel fabulous! Delighted from First Grade Delight was also one of my first visitors. Alisha from First Grade Follies and Heather from Heathers Heart were there from the start, too. Another person to visit my weeks-old blog was Marie, from The Hands on Teacher In First. Marie was so kind as to tell me how I could leave a comment with a hyperlink back to my blog instead of having to type it all out! It was such a great tip for a beginning blogger! As I blogged more and joined in some linky parties, I found two of my favorite people that I haven’t met yet—Leslie from The Groovy Teacher and Crystal from Mrs. Jones’ Junction! I love their blogs and I wish that we all worked at the same school. It would be fabulous! Go and check out their blogs in case you’ve missed out!

Now for my giveaway winners! The winner of my new product giveaway, is Cheryl Hoff! The winners of my Blog’Lovin’ giveaway are listed to the right -->
Ladies, contact me with your choice of item from my store and I’ll send it to you right away. Thanks for entering and following everybody!

Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

♥Corinna

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Under the Sea...Star of the Week with an Ocean Theme!

Hi Bloggy Friends! Next year I’m going to do a Beach/Ocean theme with my class as we loop up to second grade. I love to do a Star of the Week activity with my classes. In the past we had a Hollywood Star of the Week and an Explorer of the Week. So, for our beach theme, I designed an Oceanographer of the Week pack.

Let me tell you about how I use these Student of the Week materials. I send home the parent letter with one boy and girl who will be the Stars the following week. I have new students go earlier in the year so we can get to know them. Then, I "randomly" choose students for the rest of the year (but I have my shy kids and kids who need to make new friends go first--don't tell!). On Mondays, the Stars share their posters that they worked on over the previous weekend. They are also allowed to bring a special item for sharing. This is a big deal because the kids don't get to share toys or things like that normally—only items related to what we're learning in class. Each day of the week the kids have the option to share other items or stories about their hobbies, families, etc... On Thursday, the class writes a page to go in a book that each Star gets. Usually, kids write compliments or tell why they like the Star. The writing is just priceless. “Hanna, I thenk yu are beeyutifol.” Then, at the end of the week, the stories are collected and bound into a book for each Star to take home. The kids LOVE this! Even the shy kids want to talk about themselves! I laminate the posters, 3-hole punch them, and bind them with binder rings. The Star of the Week big book is by far the favorite buddy reading choice in class!

In addition to the Oceanographer of the Week, I also made two other versions, Sea Star of the Week and The Big Fish of the Week, which are included with the Oceanographer of the Week materials.

The set includes:

3 Styles of Star of the Week Posters in color and B&W:

Oceanographer, Sea Star, and Big Fish.

2 dated and 1 undated book cover for each style

4 styles of student book handwriting sheets

1 parent letter for each style

They are available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I will give away a copy next week to a follower who leaves a comment. The winner will be chosen with a random number generator.

Have a lovely weekend!

♥Corinna

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Show Me Some BlogLovin' Giveaway!

Hello Fabulous Followers of Teaching Fabulous Firsties...& Second Grade Smarties! I am giving away TEN free products from my Teachers Pay Teachers site for followers of my blog on BlogLovin'!

Google Reader is going away on July 1^st (I’m sure you’ve heard this a lot by now). It may go away, but I don't want you to go away, so please consider following my blog through BlogLovin’’! This will take a few minutes of your time, so to make it worth your efforts, I am going to have a giveaway for all of my wonderful followers that switch over to BlogLovin’. Even if you have already switched over, you are still eligible for prizes!

Tori at Tori’s Teacher Tips has a detailed post with REALLY GOOD visuals and an explanation of how to do all of this. It was super easy to follow. Or you can try these steps. It really isn’t hard to do on your own. She is also hosting a linky party so you can find more fun blogs to follow.

If you have not yet switched or are not following our blog through BlogLovin’, then there are a few easy steps to follow. Click on the blue heart button on the left that says, “Follow me on BlogLovin'"

You will need to set up an account with BlogLovin’ so that you can follow this blog and any other blogs that you love. Please be sure to leave your BlogLovin’ username in the Rafflecopter entry. Then, go to this post on BlogLovin’ and "like" it.

If you want to go ahead and move all of the blogs you follow from Google over, you can go to this link and it will take you through the easy-peasy steps. Be sure to go to my BlogLovin’ link and make sure that the blue button at the top of my BlogLovin’ page has been clicked (it should be gray with the word following- if it's blue, please click it to follow!)

So, if you follow me by BlogLovin’, please enter my giveaway!! Ten followers are going to win a free pick from my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for reading this loooonnnng blog post! Be sure to click on the other blogs in this linky to follow other great bloggers on BlogLovin’ and maybe win a prize from them, too!

Congratulations to these fabulous winners of my 300 Follower Giveaway! You should be contacted soon by to get your prizes. Thank you to all of my bloggy/TpT friends who donated a TON of great prizes!

WENDY McC.

DORA G.

CHERIE O.

SUSAN F.

ERIN B.

VERONICA V.

KRISTI H.

SEEMI

HOPE T.

ASHLEY C.

REBBECCA Z.

LUPE R.

JANET R.

KIMBERLY C.

CHERYL M.

I'm also giving away a BOGO coupon to the first ten people who leave a comment & leave their email. You can purchase one item from my Teachers Pay Teachers store and then I'll email you your freebie choice (of equal or lesser value).

Have a great week, Everybody!

Corinna

Sunday, June 16, 2013

300 Follower Giveaway! Woo-hoo!

I'm having a huge 300 Follower Giveaway! Seventy fabulous Bloggers/TpT Stores have shared items to give away to you! It is easy to win. Just click on the link and follow these Bloggers/TpT Stores, then click on Rafflecopter to enter for your chance to win. You only have until June 24th, so enter now. Good luck!

THE GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!