Happy New Year Sale

Happy New Year! Nothing like a little sale to start the year off right! So here’s a sale for January 1st!
Here are some photos I snapped last year in Megan’s room on our first day back after Christmas. These activities are from my Hooray for New Year’s Day Unit.







Here’s to a great year!

So where have I been…..

Oh my goodness…It has been nearly 3 weeks since I did a blog post. This has been a crazy few weeks. Right before Christmas, Andy took me to NYC for the weekend! We are only a 3 hour drive away, so this GA girl wanted to see Christmas—New York style. And let me say, they didn’t disappoint!  We went to see Wicked and Mary Poppins (Wicked has to be the best play I have ever seen!), walked through many parks all decked out for the holidays, ate way too much food and did a little shopping (well maybe more than a little!)

Then, we headed to GA to spend the holidays “at home”! It was great to spend some time with the kids and my mom and sisters as well as catch up with a few friends. The time just went by too quickly and I kept thinking it was almost over! On Christmas morning Andy made our traditional breakfast—pancakes! I’m glad I married someone who could cook. If they waited on me to cook something…we would starve!

For those of you who don’t know, (Is there really anyone I haven’t told?), Andy and I are going to be first time grandparents. So after the holidays, we went to “First Glimpse” with Megan and Nick to see if they were going to have a baby boy or a baby girl. When it was time to reveal the gender of the baby, we all hid our eyes so we couldn’t see. We had the results sealed in an envelope and gave the envelope to Megan’s best friend, Jaime. That was on Thursday. So for 2 long days we waited, And then yesterday, we hosted a Gender Reveal Party at the house and invited Megan’s friends, family and a few of our close friends to share in the good news with us. We had everyone wear pink or blue as to which they thought we were going to have. I thought boy, but voted girl (I need to buy some hair bows.). We had people graph their guess on the clothesline and took their photos with “bows” or '”mustaches”. We ate pink and blue treats! Megan and her friend, Jaime, decorated the box. Friday night Jaime took it home and filled it with balloons to match the sex of the baby! She was the only one who knew. So, at the party, Megan and Nick opened the box. And, they are having a…..

BOY! We are all beyond excited!

TToday, I got back to work and met up with my partner in crime, Michele, to work on Unit 7 for Reader’s Workshop. We went to Panera Bread, had lunch and then took up their table space until 5:00! I love to work with her. After catching up on girl talk, we spent the afternoon talking about reading and how we think children learn to read, how to sequence the next unit, what the mini lessons should be, and what “pieces” do we need to make for the new unit! The new unit, yet to be named, will focus on ways to figure out words and  author’s craft! We will now set to work, with us each doing our part. We then put it all together and check to see that everything flows like we want it. It is a long process, but I think it really makes for a great unit!

Finally, here are a few things you need to check out:

My sweet friend, Alessia, is having a huge giveaway on her blog.

I am way behind on linking up on these, but many bloggers have participated. Be sure and look for this button, and link up your ideas!

Silence for Sandy Hook

 

 

The Lord is near to those who are broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. -Psalm 34:18

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. -Matthew 5:4

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Party!

I have teamed up with my teaching partner, Wendy Gilstrap, to share our party pack. Don’t you just hate those parties where all the parents come and stand while you run around like crazy? Or, how about when  the kiddos take one bite of their snack food and throw the rest in the garbage? So, I stopped having parties like that several years ago. Now I try to make the party more like fun centers where the kids rotate through various party activities. So this fun little pack has a Reindeer Snack Mix, a North Pole Smoothie Recipe, 4 games/activities, a craft, a treat bag and a banner—all you need to make your party a success! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Party!

Too Late for the Sale?

So I really did try to get  “Reader’s Workshop Unit 6-Diving In” ready before the big Cyber Monday sale! Ya’ll, when you live in DC it is a big ordeal to find a craft store. It involves at least a 45 minute car ride each way and not to mention the traffic if you don’t wait until the weekend! The packet was all done and ready to go except….I needed some feathers to finish the sample for the flamingo book. It took me almost a week to get somewhere to get the feathers and then when I got there…no pink! Are you kidding me? So I had to make the white feathers do! I am loving all the excitement and being a “tourist” in DC but please could we just have a Michael’s or even better a Hobby Lobby? Is that asking too much?

So here’s the plan…for this weekend only, I am offering the new Reader’s Workshop Unit for 20% off. I know it doesn’t have the added bonus of the tpt sale, but hope it helps! Happy Crafting!

Click here to find the packet on tpt! Sale good until midnight Sunday!

Look who I got to see and what’s new in reading…

What a cuh-razy two weeks! Last week I was in IL for the Kindergarten conference and got to see Jack Hartmann. “I love me some Jack Hartmann music!!” He was the keynote speaker and brought the house down with his upbeat songs including the Vowel Sound Hound Dog and the Penguin Dance. You can find his music (here). I love his “Vowel Sound Hound dog” song so much I made a little music book to use along with it. You can see it (here).

Also, at the IL kindergarten conference I was able to connect with my good friend, Kathy Griffin. Now ya’ll know I am not a technology queen. In fact I am quite challenged in that department. But, Kathy is beyond smart! She has made multimedia files for smart boards or any type of digital projector. If you are looking for ipad activities, songs, books, or games…she has those too! You can check them out in her tpt store (here).

This week I started in TN for the Destination Common Core! When I checked in the hotel there was this beautiful tree in the lobby.

Then, I looked up and look at what I saw!! Loved it, a cowboy hat for the tree topper! Yee Haw!

If you came to any of the conferences when I first started presenting, you might recognize this girl! This is my sweet friend, Wendy. We actually presented together for a few years. Then, Wendy stepped back from presenting while she raised her young family. But, she is now living in TN, so she made the trip to Nashville to hang out for a few days. This is one super creative teacher! She has started a blog called Outrageous Fun in Room 321. She is also selling her things in tpt. She has a new super cute Christmas Pack that is way cheap! You can check it out (here!)

I’m loving my new Destination Common Core Workshop! Those Tennessee teachers rocked it! Look at all the teachers that came! We spent two days together and they were a blast!

Next week I will be in San Antonio and Dallas for my other seminar…DI for the Little Guy! If you haven’t registered and are looking for a fun day—you can check it out. Maybe you can even teach me a “Texas Boot Scootin Dance!”

And last, but not least, Michele and I have finished Reader’s Workshop Unit 6! We are super excited about this unit because we both love to teach non fiction text and this unit is all about non fiction! During the holidays we will be getting together to hammer out Unit 7! I just love working with her and all the brainstorming that we can do over pizza! These are just some of the things in Unit 6. Click on the picture to see more.