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I had a wonderful Christmas!  How about you????  I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and I am looking forward to the new year.  I was also surprised to see how many followers I have gotten while I was away on vacation.  I am excited and plan on doing something fun when I reach 100 followers.  I wanted to share with you from my last post the snowflakes we made for Sandy Hook.  We ended up sending 24 snowflakes and then had another class jump in with snowflakes of their own to send as a package to the school.  The children had so much fun making these snowflakes.  Here is what we did. 

I hot glued some regular popsicle sticks at home prior to the activity.  It was quick and easy to do. 


Next I added some yarn to the back so they could be hung and displayed. 

Then the children were given some sparkling gems easily found at a craft store of various colors.  The kids glued them down using regular glue.


And once they were done they turned out really sparkly.  The kids had a blast making them .  These little snowflakes would make a great decoration for your classroom in January too! 














Also I would like to welcome my newest  followers and let you know I am having a 20% off sale at my Teachers Pay Teacher store starting 12/30-12/31.
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SNOWFLAKES FOR SANDY HOOK!
 
I just saw this and wanted to share it with you.  The National PTA is looking for people to send snowflakes made to send to the children of Sandy Hook.  Their plan is to decorate the new building for the students in a winter wonderland theme.  I am including the link so you can read more about it.  I plan on getting my students to create snowflakes and send them in a package to show support to the students of Sandy Hook.  Just thought you would like to hear about this opportunity to show support from all over!  I will post what our snowflakes look like after we complete them. 

http://www.pta.org/parents/content.cfm?ItemNumber=3459

I think this is a wonderful idea to make their welcome back to school as positive as possible.  Go check the website out.  
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My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was affected by this tragedy. 

Julie
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As I was blog hopping through all of those great blogs out there I ran across Miss Kindergarten and Teeny Tiny Teachers linky party and thought I would link up.  I love the idea of this linky to reflect on the year!  Go check out these ladies blogs!  They are great! 


So here is my 12 in 12!

  
12. Favorite movie you watched:   O.k. I am a huge romantic comedy person and any chance I get to go see a movie with the hubby I jump at the chance.  One of the ones we both enjoyed this year after I dragged him to it...ha ha was the Five Year Engagement.  We both had a good laugh. 
11. Favorite TV series:   I don't watch a whole lot of t.v. or follow a particular TV series.  I love watching HGTV and Food Network while I am cooking.  On nights I cook I watch Paula Deen.  I just love her! 
10. Favorite restaurant:  O.k. this one is hard because I ate at two restaurants this year that I absolutely love.  The first one is California Dreaming and I also got to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant this year!  It was a treat to travel to those restaurants and eat there.  :) 
9. Favorite new thing you tried:  If I knew by the end of this year I would have created a blog and a store at Teachers Pay Teachers I would have said you are crazy but I sure did this year!  And let me tell you I am hooked.  Each time I get a new follower on my blog or store I am THRILLED! 
8. Favorite gift you got:  A laminator for home.  I can not tell you how much I love my laminator and how useful it is! 
7. Favorite thing you pinned:  I found my favorite pin just recently and share it with all of you in my last post.  I love this snowman tree and scored a deal on a snowman head for $9.00. 
6. Favorite blog post:  My favorite blog post was when I did my very first rafflecopter giveaway.  I was SOOO nervous I might mess it up but it went great and was thrilled with the outcome! 
5. Best accomplishment:  We had a problem in our community this year and if the project was approved it would have impacted our school.  So with much fear and some encouragement, I stood in front of the mayor and city council to speak in support of our school.  That was my biggest achievement and it felt good!  And we won! 
4. Favorite picture:  We recently became proud owners of baby chickens.  My hubby was so excited we were permitted to have them so I have to say this is my favorite picture this year! 
 
3. Favorite memory:  So many great memories this year so choosing one is hard.  If I had to pick a favorite it would be traveling through Savannah, Georgia.  It was such a beautiful place and a great place to visit.  I love to travel. 
2. Goal for 2013:  Learn how to say No!  :) 
1. One Little Word:  Inspire
 
It has been a great year and not quite over yet.  Still some time to make some more great memories!

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O.k. can I just say I LOVE PINTEREST!  This week I discovered the cutest snowman tree that I think would be the cutest addition to any or my own classroom.  I had to share it with you.  I think the children would enjoy having this tree in the classroom but on a smaller scale.  I need to find a smaller size white tree.  This also sparked a little writing activity that we could use to decorate the tree. I am going to have the kids write down their wintery wishes and cut out the snowflakes and decorate our classroom tree.   I am sharing this freebie with you!  Enjoy. 
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I wanted to share with you a fun and interactive unit for simple machines.  Before I moved down to kindergarten my first two years of teaching experience was a classroom of third graders.  And let me tell you what a culture shock it was to go from third to kindergarten.  I love teaching kindergarten though!  But that is a story for another time!  :)  Anyway the great teachers I worked with in third grade put me in charge of making plans for science.  I was hesitant at first but I am SOOO glad they asked me to do it.  I LOVE teaching science.  One of our units was simple machines that is a skill taught in third grade for us.   I pulled together some of my resources and put them all into this packet for unit with a pirate friendly theme. These are some of the sample pages from my unit.  This packet is great for an interactive notebook and includes a science experiment using levers.  Go check it out it was a lot of fun to make!   
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Just a note to let everyone know to go check out Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) new holiday books.  They are free to download and I was THRILLED to be a part of it.  My page is featured in the first and second grade book.  My page is shown above.   I could not believe that my page was chosen and with this being my first year on TpT I didn't think I had a chance.  I was honored to be a part of it.  They also have books for grades 3-5 and 7-12.  Each book is designed with you in mind to show all of the freebies that each store has to offer for the holidays and a craft idea for you to do with your class.  Have fun!

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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Snowman-Classroom-Store-Holiday-Activity-379859



I hope you all had a great and restful Thanksgiving!  I am getting a jump start on winter projects and ideas for the classroom.  I wanted to share with you a freebie .  We all like freebies don't we????  I know I do.  Here is a great activity for those times as the holidays are fast approaching and the kids are just plain excited about the upcoming holidays which means classroom behavior seems to be a bit off at times. 
Why not set up a store in your classroom by sending parents home a letter asking for donations from their local Dollar Store or any small item. 



Next print on cardstock and laminate these cute "Snowbucks" that students can earn for good behavior in the hallway, cafeteria, wherever.  Use a pocket chart in your room to have students collect their money they earn.  Then determine what dates and times you are going to allow shopping days.  Students will be given the opportunity to purchase items from the store for any of their relatives.  They are also learning how to count and save their money all at the same time.  It is a win win for everyone.  Go check out this freebie in my store.  I hope you find it useful! 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Snowman-Classroom-Store-Holiday-Activity-379859

Happy teaching everyone!
Julie
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I have successfully ran my first giveaway and I am so glad it was quick and easy to use Rafflecopter.  I was SOOOO nervous I would do something wrong but I didn't.  The winner was Dara!  Congrats! 

  On a separate note if you haven't heard already Teachers Pay Teachers is having a HUGE cyber sale on Monday and Tuesday.  Of course my store The Teaching Bug will be participating and I plan on adding a new unit to my store.  It will cover simple machines!  I have been in bed over the last couple of days with the flu....definitely not the way to spend the week or my birthday!  :(  I am feeling a bit better today but hoping to get the unit all polished and ready to add. 


Thank you to all of my followers!  I am so glad you are here.  When my blog reaches 100 followers I plan on doing another giveaway so spread this little blog and get it out there.  Stay tuned this week for a cute little freebie!  Have a good week!

Julie
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O.k. everyone this is my very first giveaway on my little blog.  I wanted to celebrate with you my Teachers pay Teachers store The Teaching Bug reaching 100 followers.  And since my birthday is this week I thought I would celebrate with a giveaway.  So for my giveaway the winner will receive a $25.00 gift certificate to spend at Teachers pay Teachers.  EXCITING!!!!  I know all of you could easily spend $25.00....I know I could.  :)  Good luck and feel free to spread the word. 
  On another happy note I had to share that I won a prize over at Surfing to Success.  If you haven't checked out Mercede's store and blog she has a lot of great frames and clipart.  I was thrilled to have won her frame bundle package. 





 a Rafflecopter giveaway
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I thought I would share with you a cute idea to make that turkey on your bulletin board come to life with old ties!  Who knew that this would be such a cute idea using old ties to brighten up a turkeys feathers?  I saw this at our church and had to take a picture.  It was adorable and got me thinking how I could use this in my own hallway.  I thought this would make an adorable centerpiece to a bulletin board and have the kids surround our fine "tied" turkey with things they are thankful for.   I thought I could either ask for donations from the kids to bring in old ties from their house because we all know there is a tie or two that their dads could part with...lol.  :)  Or if you chose not to do that you could always visit your local thrift store and pick up some there for a bargain.  I am including a handout that I plan on having my kids do with this bulletin board or even place on your classroom door. 
  I would have them add their name and color the turkey's body.  On the feathers they could write some things they are thankful for.  For my kinders, I would have them write one thing on the turkey's body and for older students they could add things to the feathers.   I would love to hear from you. 
  Enjoy!  :)
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Hi everyone,
  I hope you are having a good week.  O.k. I thought I would share with you a cute little book I have used with my kiddos to help them remember what they are thankful for.  My school is pretty particular about how we celebrate holidays and we have a lot of guidelines to follow.  How about you????  With this activity we can do it because we can all take a step back and remember the things we are thankful for.  Right????  There are two types of books you can create with this set.  For your younger students you might just want to create the first book which you can easily staple together or tie off with yarn.    Let them color it and run off several pages for them to write what they are thankful for.  Or if you having a Thanksgiving Feast at your school turn them into placemats.  Using the second page of the book have students color them and add what they are thankful for and laminate for cute little placemats. 



 For your older students you can give them some scissors and let them cut out turkey shaped books.  Punch two holes in there and tie off with some yarn and the kids have a cute activity  I would used this book for second grade and up.   

Click on the picture above to go get this cute little book with both books in it for $1.00 from my store.  I am thankful for all of my great followers. 
Julie
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Happy November everyone!  Sorry I haven't written in a week or so.  With the Superstorm Sandy threatening our coast as well as Halloween things have been busy.  I plan on catching up on new products and wanting to share a super cute craft with you stay tuned!!!!  I am participating in a giveaway over at Nicole's blog OneTwoThree Math time!  She did such a great job with my blog (she also designs blogs too!) I wanted to help her out with her giveaway.  Go see one of my previous posts if you are in the market for a new blog design.  She is great to work with.  Click on the picture above to be taken to the giveaway and feel free to pin away.  Good luck.  You could win one of my best selling products at my store "What's the Matter with the 3 little pigs.  " 


 

   Have a great week!  Stay tuned for the craft coming your way! 
Julie
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Hi everyone!!!  Corinna over at O FISH ally a First Grader  is having a 100 follower giveaway with over 58 products that you can win.  One of my products is included in the giveaway.  Go check her blog out and enter to win a great prize!!! 
The contest ends on Sunday, Oct. 28th.  Click on the picture to check out the prizes.  I hope to reach 100 followers so I can do a giveaway soon!  :) 

Julie
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 I don't know about you but October seems to be the busiest month for me.  Sorry about the delay in posting this week!  It was one of those weeks when anything that had to be done needed to be done this week!!!!  After a busy week I did manage to squeeze in one craft with my kiddos to do for the pumpkin season.  At my school there is a very strict policy on Halloween.  We can do pumpkins and simple crafts like that but we stay away from ghosts and other things.  So with that in mind I went towards the educational approach and shared with my students the story The legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin.  I am sure you have all read it and shared it ...if not it is a CUTE story about a square pumpkin who feels different from the other round pumpkins and is picked on about it.  It is a good story to talk about differences and how to accept them not pick on people because of them.  

So for our craft the children could choose between making a square pumpkin or a round pumpkin.  Each child was given a piece of black construction paper with a drawing of a square pumpkin or round pumpkin drawn with a white crayon.  Super quick-super easy.  Next I had them tear colorful pieces of construction paper into little squares.  Again if you don't have time for them to do that you can do this ahead of time.  I figured a little tearing never hurt anyone so they helped me out!  :)  After they glued all of the pieces down and keeping in the lines they were given triangle eyes, noses, and a choice of a smile or a round circle mouth.  I have two samples of how they turned out.  I love how against the black paper the pumpkins really stand out with all of the colors.  Great decor for the classroom and the kids had a blast doing it! 
Craft-HalloweenHalloween





On Friday the kiddos are participating in another pumpkin activity and of course I will blog about it for you.  Stay tuned! 
Julie
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Hi everyone,
  If you haven't noticed already I have a new look and logo to my blog.  I wanted to say a BIG thank you to a great new designer over at TpT who offered to do blog redesigns to get started with her new venture.  Go check out her new blog and if you need a new design she is offering 50% off for  a limited time to those who are looking for a new design.  Here are the links to her blog for creating new designs.  Go check Nicole out she is GREAT to work with.




                                                         Delightfully Creative Blog Design 

Or go check out her cute blog for teaching tips! 

                                                                 OneTwoThree:Math


Julie

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As I was reading through one of my favorite magazines, Family Fun, there was an article this month on a free app (additional images and other options can be purchased)  that you could download to your Ipad to allow children to write stories and have their books published. The app is called Scribble Press.  It is an interactive app where your child/students can create stories and add pictures to make their stories come to life.

 Well I thought how could I use this in my classroom? 
First of all, I did a little research and discovered this turtorial video on how to use the app. If you have about 8 minutes to spare then watch the video and learn how to use this cool app.

Next,  I thought about how I could use it in my own classroom.  One of my favorite books to use for poetry is Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak.

So my thought for using this great app was to engage my students into a writing exercise month by month and record classroom events.  The great thing about the Scribble Press App is that after you create a book then you can send your book off to be printed.  An instant classroom book for your personal library and a great book to share with your new class year to year. 
Of course this year is out because it has already started but it is on my plan for next school year! I so wish I had discovered this at the beginning of the year!   In the mean time I plan on playing around with the app and getting to know it better.  Anyone ever used this app and how did you implement it into your classroom?  I would love to know! 
Happy Teaching,
 Julie
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Welcome new followers!   So excited to be a part of another giveaway this week.  It must be giveaway week!  I plan on doing one soon so stay tuned!!!  Cassandra over at Adventures in Room 5 is having a giveaway with all kinds of chances to win!   If you need a physical, life, or Earth science packet to win then this is the give away for you!  Go check her cute blog out.  I love teaching science how about you???? 
Stay tuned for this weekend I am going to share a new app I found for the classroom for writing.  I am still playing around with it learning how to use it in my classroom.  I plan on adding a freebie with my post so stay tuned.  :)  Have a good week and good luck!  Click on the picture below to be taken to the contest. 
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Teachers Pay Teachers I am SOOOOO excited to be a part of this Celebrating Literacy giveaway over at Creation Castle.    I donated one of my newest units called The States of Matter with the 3 little pigs and if you enter this contest and win you could get the item as part of your prize package.  Creation Castle has several contests going on by grade level so if you are not an elementary teacher and need items for middle school she has a contest going there too!  It is a win-win for everyone.  Go check out her giveaway!  Good luck to you! 

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Solids, Liquids, and Gases Oh my!!!!!   At some point this year we will be talking about the 3 states of matter.  I always strive to make the lesson interesting and help the kiddos understand the changing states and exactly what matter is.  Well a light bulb went off in my head and I thought about how I could relate a well known story to a science topic.  Well the story The 3 little pigs came to mind and the ideas just came.  So I just created a unit and hope you will come check it out at my store.  I am also having a 10% off sale this weekend only from 9/21-9/23 there too!  And since it is Friday and I am glad it is I figured I would do a little thank you for following my blog.  :)  I am offering my newest unit to the first person who leaves me a comment !  Make sure you provide your email and you will get it for FREE. And if you are visiting for the first time I hope you will follow.  I plan on doing a giveaway when I reach 50 followers.   Happy Friday everyone! 
3 little pigs picture The Teaching Bug-Teachers Pay Teachers
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 PDF free math and alphabet handout The Teaching BugI was looking for something instructional and quiet for my kinders to do during center time.  Well I found it and on a trip to my favorite teacher store. I don't know about you but I could spend HOURS in there. :) Maybe it is the smell of new books or the excitement of finding a new way to teach something!!!  Anyway, in a bin by the register they had foam blocks and the idea popped into my head. These could be used as large dice for the kiddos for a center. I purchased enough to put the whole alphabet on. Another set I purchased I put the numbers 1-20 on them. For the handout for my center I have the students roll the dice 8 times and then they are to write the corresponding number or letter depending on which set you have out for the day under the column write it. Then the students are instructed to draw for a letter a picture that begins with that sound and for the number they are to draw that many number of items (stars, circles, squares, dots, etc.) to show the amount they rolled. Later in the year I take the number blocks and have them add the two numbers together or subtract them. I posted a freebie for you today of the handout I use in my centers. I hope you will find it useful!









Happy Teaching,
Julie
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Things to remember!

Learning 4 Keeps is having a great linky party where you share some funny quotes that you might see floating around Pinterest or Facebook.  Go check out her blog to see what some other bloggers have added to their posts.    I had to share a few of them that I have found funny and great for a laugh especially for the beginning of the school year.  Who doesn't like to laugh right?  Here a few of my favorites. 
Who hasn't done this?  :)

P.J. day is always a fun day!


I can cook but do hate to clean but would rather shop!!!


Happy Teaching,
 Julie

Learning 4 Keeps
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