May Mystery Box is Here!!

It’s back!  The Monthly Mystery Box is here again! 
You can win it.  
The box will be shipped right to your door. 
Can you imagine getting mail that’s not a bill and you did not have to pay for???!!! 

Sounds great to us!

What’s inside?  It’s a secret! We love a good secret! The box is full of goodies to make you smile, and it comes with a digital file that has a unit or a clip art bundle from each of us!!! The contents of the box is worth over $60 dollars ($30 in gifts and $30 in Teachers Pay Teachers goodies)




In order to win this month’s box you need to live in the USA (for shipping reasons), follow all of our blogs, and leave a comment on each blog simply saying… hi, hello, hola, or whazzz up!  We can’t wait for you to stop by.  

US Residents only

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Last month’s box was provided by Kate at Second Grade Sparkle.

  She packed it full of great gifts!

Two nail files (for those pesky broken nails we get in class!)

Magnetic note pad

Funky Fun pen

Two stamps

Luscious Trader Joes Hand Lotion-(It gives you “to die for” soft hands)

Two yummy Trader Joes chocolate bards (We all need chocolate)

Floral sticky notes (because yellow sticky note are so “last year”)

Painted clothespins

Designer cupcake cups and matching flower toothpicks (adorbs)

Scrapbook scissors

Candle ( A little romance, maybe?)

Scotch Pop-Up Tape Dispenser (A must have! You have never tried one?!? Oh you must! They are wonderful!!!! I have 3 in my classroom and one for wrapping gifts at home.)

Plus the winner got.... a file from each of us!!!!

Teacher to the Core -Imagine That

Fluttering Through First- Spring Into First Grade Math & Literacy Centers

Growing Firsties- Common Core Crunch May

Second Grade Sparkle- Winner's Choice

Melonheadz- Kidlets

Second Grade Math Maniac- Winner's Choice

May’s Mystery Box box has…. 
Woe....almost spilled the beans!
But we will tell you where we have been shopping....

Ross

Home Goods

Staples

Target

Bath and Body Works

Starbucks

and …….a few more super secret and fun stores.

We have to keep a few secrets you know!
  Look at Victoria!
We all love her secrets!

Oh yes, sweet people get excited! Get very excited!  This is going to be a box you WILL want!!!! 

GOOD LUCK! 

Word Wall Spin! **FREEBIE**

Tick Tock goes the Word Wall clock.

Time's almost up Folks and we need to get these words off the wall and 

into their brains ASAP!

To help our class master the Word Wall without even knowing it, we created Word Wall Spin!

 We print, cut and laminate enough spinners for each student to use in one of our center groups.

 They sit in front of our Word Wall or at their desks with a smaller word list and start spinning! 

We use the below worksheets to differentiate the learning.

With each spin, they find a word that matches and record the word under the correct column.

Younger learners may not be ready for lines yet...  

 Primary students can use the "roads" to write.

 

Upper Grade kiddos can ditch the roads and go straight for the lines, no center divider.

 

For our "we're already in summer teacher, and they're ain't nothing you can do about it" quick finishing friends, we copy one of the pages below on the back of their recording sheet. 

They did say they "Can" define and they "Can" write sentences with these words...

 Just wanting them to PROVE IT show what they know...

Plus, it's not summer quite yet, so sit tight.

This is also a great activity to leave for a sub...
You know, if you happen to need a taste of early summer day.
  Or, if you are a sub...
A great activity to take with you because 
you can use any words in any classroom! 
 
Grab your own Word Wall Spin! *free" in our TpT Shop.

Click the Pic below to spin on over...

While you're there, don't forget today's the last day of the BIG TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale!

Grab something to finish up this year, or stock up and save for next year!

 

 

 Cute Clipart by Krista Wallden

 

Click the Cart to Save 20% Off our Entire Store

PLUS, be sure to enter Promo Code TAD13 at Checkout to save an additional 10% from Teachers Pay Teachers!

 Cute graphic by Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs

Fabulous Feedback ~ A Linky Party! Plus, a TpT Sale!!

We adore your feedback.

It helps us learn.

It helps us grow.

It keeps us humble...

We've been wanting to thank you for quite some time for the emails, TpT feedback, friendships and connections we've made, so when we were invited to join Christina's Fabulous Feedback Linky Party we made a self-to-blog world connection like no other.  

Our teacher would be so proud.

Here's a few of our favorite, fantastic, fabulous feedbacks...

 

 Are any of these fabulous comments yours?

Thank you! Thank you!

In appreciation of all us fabulous teachers...

TpT is throwing a sale!

Thanks to Beth from Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs for the adorable button. 

Enter Code TAD13 at checkout and save an additional 10% off your entire purchase. 

PLUS...

Our entire TpT Shop will be 20% Off on Tuesday and Wednesday Only ~ May 7th and 8th.

 Click the cart below to see the above products and many more!    

Off to stuff our carts!

Happy Shopping and thanks for the fabulous feedback!

Pocketful of Memories ~ Memory Writing Craftivity for K-5

The countdown's on...How many days do you have left?

We're trying not to count because we have SO much left to do. 
But, being job share partners, we don't mind our total days left because we can divide by 2. The downside, our paychecks follow the same protocol...
 

We are really tightening up our writing skills, and adding a little crafty twist to wrap up our school year. 

Pocketful of Memories is our K-5 differentiated memory writing craftivity. We create the pockets as a whole class, teach them how to make a memory writing pencil or two, then set all the supplies out in a center or throw them out on tables for *independent* work, and let them go to town!

We created it to give students an opportunity to reflect upon our school year through writing...An area we are really hammering focusing upon in this last push of the year. 

With consistent craft and writing directions, they quickly get the hang of it.  Selfishly, we need the independent time to squeeze all of our end of year assessments in while they are busy, busy, busy and don't need a lot of teacher support to work.

There are pocket templates for grades K-5, along with a generic one with no grade level listed. 

There are also differentiated memory writing templates for varying grade levels or abilities. 

Last year, we found some taking this to a competitive level.

It became a competition to see who could "collect" the most pencils in their pockets. We didn't discourage the friendly competition because they were writing up a storm. At Open House, we displayed them on the back of one of our doors. 

We used our school colors, purple and yellow, for the pocket colors. 

It's all about the little details in life...Right?

 

The only thing we felt bad about was all our families wanted to crowd around and read them during Open House. We didn't account for very many people squeezing into this space, so we'll be moving them to a bigger board this year. Live and learn...  

What's Included:
-Pocketful of Memories Assembly Instructions
-K-5 and Generic Pocket Templates
-Pencil Craftivity Templates for Copying or Tracing
-6 Memory Drawing Prompts
-2 Blank Memory Drawing Prompts (Create your own!)
-6 Primary Memory Writing Prompts
-2 Blank Primary Memory Writing Prompts (Create your own!)
-6 Upper Grade Memory Writing Prompts

-2 Blank Upper Grade Memory Writing Prompts (Create your own!) 

We've updated this unit with 2013 pencil toppers and will do so each year in January. 

So, buy it once and have it for life...

Well, or at least until retirement. 

 Click the pic below to take a closer look.

The countdown is on!

How many days do you have left?

 

 

5 For Friday and Life is Better with Friends Giveaway

It's Friday-which means we are one week closer to summer and it's also one of our favorite days to link up.

 It's 5 for Friday!

Our post is going to the birds... 

We have been battling birds outside our classroom for years now.
The Culprit=Black Crows.
Did you know that they are not scared of first graders? 
Or their teachers?

They are on a mission...
Any and all Brown Bag Lunch Bags are their targets.
Doesn't matter if the bags are tucked inside a student's backpack with only the slightest of brown showing. 
If the backpack is unzipped, they will find it.
If you bring a Brown Bag Lunch to school, you're pretty much bringing a Happy Meal for the crows.
We warn our kiddos...
"Please keep your lunches zipped inside your backpacks."
Some listen.
Some live dangerously and tempt fate.

 
Did you know crows can unzip ziploc bags and enjoy Cheetos?

Did you know some like creamy peanut butter, 
while others prefer crunchy?
It's true. (maybe)
And, guess what?
They do not throw away their trash...Ever. So rude!
It's torture for teachers revenge of the birds. They toy with us.

We now rely on friends to head out to lunch together.
Hand in Hand. Safety in numbers.
Brown Bags clinched tightly in their fists.
Make no eye contact and move with a purpose ~
To avoid the crows!!
Thank goodness for friends.
Life is just better with them. 
To celebrate power in numbers friendship, we're joining some of our own friends for a 
Life is Better with Friends Giveaway 
for May.

Simply comment on each of our friends' blogs for a chance to win some fabulous May products.

Click each picture below, follow, and comment for a chance to win. 

Oh, and did you happen to see those cute birds in the graphic?  Those are not the ones that steal our lunches.

 Those are just to let you know that each of us has a "bird story" of our own to share. Yep, that's right, a bird story. Don't we all have a bird story? Ok maybe it's just us. Do you? Please say you do.

 

 
 

Don't forget to leave a comment below along with your email!

We are loving that our hubbies can hang out with their girls, accept some bunny ears, play Littlest Pet Shop along with Headbandz, and still be "Manly Men!"

 We are knee deep in geometry in math and loving Kelley's Shapes Unit. 

Click on the picture below to check it out.

We are SO done with birds, so we're monkeying around with our Firsties in our Rainforest unit.

{Click on the monkeys to see our unit}

There's a terrible fire in the city next to our school and it also happens to be right by Christy's parents' house. Our students lost power last night and came in today with all the energy that wasn't running through their houses. 

It's times like these that make us pause and remember what's really important in life.

 This was taken from Christy's parents' driveway.

 Some of our friends' writing.

We are so thankful for the amazing firefighters and rescue workers who are putting their lives in danger every day to help others. 

Have a blessed weekend friends and stay safe.