Resources That Keep Me Afloat {A Writer's Notebook}

The third and final resource that keeps my head above waters on a DAILY basis in my classroom is my "A Writer's Notebook" unit!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Writers-Notebook-Unit-835817
This packet has everything I use to set up my students' writing workshop folders.  They use these DAILY for writing.  You can read more about how I set up my writing notebooks here.

This packet can be used for grades 1-5.  In fact, it includes interactive editing checklists for each of these grades, making it perfect for differentiation!

Honestly, I don't know how I ever taught writing without this little gem.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teachers-Clubhouse
Just a reminder that ALL of our units are on SALE today and tomorrow at our TpT shop!  Use code TPT3 for an extra 10% off the sale price at checkout, too!!!

And....don't forget that my giveaway of two of my MOST favorite resources ends tonight!!  Click below to go to yesterday's post and enter!
http://www.teachingmaddeness.com/2014/02/resources-that-keep-me-afloat-giveaway.html


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Resources that Keep Me Afloat {GIVEAWAY}

I'm back with another resource that keeps me afloat!  The number two resource that saves my sanity each and every day is my Math Homework Games!

Games instead of worksheets for homework?  Need I say more!?  No more copies, no more dreaded worksheets for the kiddos, and no more checking nightly homework the next morning.  Kids and parents both rave about math homework games.  It still gives students practice, but in a fun way - and it gives families the chance to spend some quality time together at the same time!

I've included a bit about my homework routine in general in this packet and how I hold students accountable.  It includes games for every single common core domain - 29 math games in all plus a few other resources, too!

All for just $3.99 (and that's before the BIG sale)!!  A YEAR of fun math homework for $3.99?  Now, that's a deal!
Did I say BIG SALE?  I did!  Start filling your cart for the big TpT sale where our shop will be up to 28%off!!



Speaking of deals, let me introduce you to Courtney from Swimming into Second - who am I kidding, I'm sure you already know her and her fabulous blog! 

But, do you know about her amazing Fundamental Phonics packs??  They're fabulous!  Each pack contains a TON of different spelling patterns and they have fun, engaging ways to practice each pattern.


 Take a look at my kiddos playing Roll, Read, and Cover to practice prefixes...

 ....or doing the Word Search with prefixes...

...and tomorrow we'll be going on a prefix scavenger hunt around the room...

Tons of fun stuff!! Like I said, go stock up your cart NOW for the big sale!!!  And, what's better than a big sale?  FREE teaching resources!  My favorite blogging girls and I are joining together to give away items from our stores today so scroll to the end of this post to hop around to the different blogs to enter to win LOTS of stuff!

But, before you do, enter below to win TWO of my favorite units!  Giveaway ends at the end of the day Thursday and winner will be announced on Friday!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Resources That Keep Me Afloat {Morning Work PowerPoints}

Tomorrow, the ladies from Owl-Ways Be Inspired will be having a little blog hop giveaway of resources that keep us afloat. You will not want to miss these!

But, I'm going to be showcasing some resources each day this week that seriously keep me afloat DAILY in my classroom.

These are the resources that I absolutely could NOT live without.  They have made my teaching life soooo much less stressful!  And, they will all be on SALE during the BIG TpT Sale coming up, so if you think they'd help you out, go toss them in your cart!

The number one resource has to be my Morning Work PowerPoints!  They save my tail sanity every single morning!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2nd-Grade-Morning-Work-PowerPoints-Unit-from-Teachers-Clubhouse-468762

Oh, how I used to dread morning work.  Trying to find a skill sheet, waiting in line at the copier, getting them passed out on the desks...wondering if I was close to my copy allotments.  Explaining the directions to the worksheet twenty-two times as my twenty + students trickled in.  Ugh!

No longer.  Now, my morning is stress FREE!  I just display the morning work PowerPoint on the board.


Students take out their morning work journals (composition notebooks...that's right...NO MORE COPIES!!!!) after unpacking and get to work!  The format remains the same all year so directions are only needed a couple of times per quarter as skills on it may change.  HEAVEN!


Seriously.  Teacher Heaven!  Now, I only need to worry about taking attendance, sending down lunch choices, answering emails, and collecting notes/money.  Whew!  But, at least, morning work is no longer one of the worries!

Another reason I love them is that it's a time that I can squeeze in some of those skills that we just don't have time for during the day - like CURSIVE!!  The kids beg for it and finally I've found a way to squeeze it in! :)

And, did I mention that our ENTIRE set of Morning Work PowerPoints for the YEAR is just $7.99 (and that's not even on sale)!  Yep, a YEAR of STRESS-FREE Morning Work for under 8 bucks, people.  That is awesome sauce!

If you teach another grade, we also have our Morning Work PowerPoints available for 1st Grade and 4th grade.  Check them out below!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/1st-Grade-Morning-Work-PowerPoints-Unit-from-Teachers-Clubhouse-890017

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/4th-Grade-Morning-Work-PowerPoints-Unit-from-Lightbulb-Minds-1017237

I hope this is a resource that will help you stay AFLOAT.  Remember to come back by tomorrow for another resource and a special GIVEAWAY! :)


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Must-Read Monday Linky {Compound Words}



Must-Read Monday Linky


About this Linky:
Join me each week in linking up one book that you have recently read.  The post will go live on Mondays, but you can link up anytime throughout the week (through Friday).  It can be a book that you read in the classroom with your students, a professional read that you want to share about, or a book that you have been reading for pleasure.  As teachers, we're always on the lookout for more books to add to our reading lists, right?!  Let's help each other out!
When you link up, use a picture of your choice (blog button or book cover) but in the TEXT use subject and topic.  For example, Fables: Gooney the Fabulous, or Pleasure: Divergent.  This will help people to find posts that they are looking for a little easier.  

I've made using the linky button super easy for ya.  Just copy and paste the text above to the top of your post (HTML).

 
http://www.amazon.com/Once-There-Was-Bull-frog/dp/1423620801
{Click image to see the book at Amazon}

Last week, we reviewed compound words.  If you teach this skill and do not have this book in your collection, get it NOW!  The students love being able to guess the second word that will complete a compound word on each page using a cleverly inserted picture clue.  Some of them are pretty challenging while others are more obvious so it keeps all readers interested and challenged.  My kids actually begged me to read the "next" book.....I had to break the news to them that not all books are a part of a series! lol

Although, they thought this one should be.  Two thumbs of from second-graders!




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Kid President {Class Book Freebie}

Just a quick post to let you know that I'm blogging over at...

http://owlwaysbeinspired.blogspot.com/2014/02/kid-president-love-class-book-freebie.html

...today!  Come visit me for a little Kid President Love and to grab a class book freebie inspired by one of his videos!  Do you love that kid as much as me? Seriously. I would put him in my pocket and bring him home with me!

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Must-Read Monday {A Book Lovin' Linky Party}

Hi friends!  Almost every single week, I read a book in my classroom and think, "Ohhh...I need to share this on my blog.  It was great to teach this concept."  or "My kids ATE THIS BOOK UP...I have to share it!" and then, life gets busy and I forget.  So, I'm introducing...
Must-Read Monday Linky

About this Linky:
Join me each week in linking up one book that you have recently read.  The post will go live on Mondays, but you can link up anytime throughout the week (through Friday).  It can be a book that you read in the classroom with your students, a professional read that you want to share about, or a book that you have been reading for pleasure.  As teachers, we're always on the lookout for more books to add to our reading lists, right?!  Let's help each other out!
When you link up, use a picture of your choice (blog button or book cover) but in the TEXT use subject and topic.  For example, Fables: Gooney the Fabulous, or Pleasure: Divergent.  This will help people to find posts that they are looking for a little easier.  

I've made using the linky button super easy for ya.  Just copy and paste the text above to the top of your post (HTML).

http://www.amazon.com/Gooney-Fabulous-Bird-Lois-Lowry/dp/0440422531/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392651854&sr=1-1&keywords=gooney+the+fabulous
I'm excited to get back to school tomorrow (after over a week of snowcation) and one reason is so that we can finish up this little read-aloud.  If you've never read books from the Gooney Bird Greene series, go get them right now!

They are perfect little reads for 2nd graders since the main character, Gooney Bird, is a 2nd grader who marches to the beat of her own drum.  My students LOVE her quirkiness, but I love the fact that she teaches my kiddos so much about WRITING!

We read the first book at the beginning of the year and it's all about writing a good story with a beginning, middle, and ending.  You see, Gooney, is an excellent story-teller who always tells absolutely TRUE stories.

I don't read the books in a row - I spread them out throughout the year because they go with our units perfectly.  One is all about poetry so we read that one during our poetry study (and we borrow the idea of wearing "brain warmers" from her since it helps during poetry writing).
 The book above is all about Fables, which is our current genre study.  Let me just say that I do not love fables.  But, this book really gets the point across and my students are throwing around the word "MORAL" like they've used it their entire lives.  Gooney encourages all of the students in her class to write their own fables, and guess what?  That inspired some of my students to do the same!  Thanks Gooney! :)

And.....

As I was getting a pic for this post, I discovered that there is a BRAND NEW book out in this series (the sixth) all about solving a mystery!!!  Oh yeah, I already bought it to incorporate into our mystery unit next year.
http://www.amazon.com/Gooney-Bird-All-Charms-Greene/dp/0544113543

I hope you'll try the Gooney Bird series and that your kiddos love it as much as mine!  If  you already read this books to your kiddos and are looking for some enrichment activities, we do have a unit of extension activities for the original Gooney Bird Greene book.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Gooney-Bird-Greene-Unit-from-Teachers-Clubhouse-547218




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Valentine's Day {for the Hubs}



Raise your hand if you're still snowed in!  Yep, you're a member of the Snow Day Club then!  Tammy from Dots of Fun created this cute little button that you are welcome to use if you're in the club.  :)  It is still coming down here and they're saying this evening we will get about one inch per hour.  WOW!  I'm pretty sure I'm not going back to work until next Tuesday (since Monday is a holiday already).

That means I have more time to BLOG!  Yay!  If you're like me and you're snowed in, you might be in trouble since Valentine's Day is Friday.  Oops!  I'm never that far ahead.  How are you going to get out and buy a little something special for the hubs (or wife)?

You're welcome to use the same idea as me - I can't claim it as my idea...it's all over Pinterest, but I did make my own little templates and date ideas to fit exactly what I wanted.



I mean, what do you get each other when you've been married for a while?  14 years for us!  Honestly, the only thing that we don't have enough of is TIME to spend with each other.

So, this little gift is the perfect one to carve out a little extra time to spend with each other doing things that you might not typically do.


Simply glue the "cover" to the front of an envelope and write a little love note to go inside of that envelope.

Then, put a date card in an envelope for each month of the year.  When your spouse opens the gift, he/she will get to open the first envelope with the love note, and the first month envelope (February) for to reveal this month's date.


And then, he/she will get to open a date card on the first of each month.  I love that it's a gift that keeps on giving and ensures that we'll spend at least one day each month doing something outside of the box!


You can click the image below to download a PDF of the dates I created...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7-RC8er5CXTa1k4eEI0RHdlcjQ/edit?usp=sharing

Of course, those dates may not suit your needs.  So, you can click HERE to download the PowerPoint I created them in and edit them to fit your own needs! 

The best thing is, you can assemble this gift while be stranded at home on a snow day!  :)  Stay warm, friends, and I pray that your (and my) power stays on through this storm!


Just a reminder to enter my TENZI giveaway that ends tomorrow!  Click the image below to go enter!
http://www.teachingmaddeness.com/2014/02/tenzi-game-giveaway.html



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