Sentence Structure Freebie

Here are a few free printable cuties to reinforce sentence structure using the CUPS acronym. You can them here.

Have fun!
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President's Day Fun

I just posted a comprehensive thematic unit for President's Day in my TpT store called "Celebrating President's Day."  You can check it out here.  These cuties are glyphs that I created to go along with the unit:

They are also available separately here, complete with a cute glyph key printable, directions, materials list, and full-size patterns.  HOWEVER...

The first three people who leave a comment containing their email address will get the glyph pack FREE via email!

Have fun!
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Winter Center Giveaway

Kelly and Diane over at Made for 1st Grade are having an amazing winter center giveaway!  Check in out here!

Thank you ladies!

My 11 in '11...

I love a Linky Party!  Thank you Hadar and Kristin!  Sorry it took so long to get this up... I think we've put Blogger into overdrive this week! :)
Here it goes:

11. Favorite movie: Breaking Dawn.  Love, love, love vampires.  Go figure.

10. Favorite TV show: American Idol.  I'm so happy Steven and JLo are hosting again with Randy!

9. Favorite restaurant: Tokyo Express... I love Japanese food!

8. New thing tried: Satellite radio, and I am HOOKED!

7. Favorite gift: My new Sirius Edge... I especially love that my dear hubby also gave me a home dock to go with it... now I can listen in the car AND while I'm home!

6. Favorite Pin: this was a hard one, but I'll have to say this one:

5. Favorite blog post: That would be my "French Fry Fun"... it really is fun!

4. Best accomplishment: Easy... graduating summa cum laude from college--at age 39--while working full-time and raising a family of five!  Whew!

3. Favorite picture: My wonderful husband and me after my graduation ceremony.  He deserves this degree as much as I do!

2. Favorite memory: That would be student teaching earlier this year.  My children were amazing!  Not to mention my wonderful supervising teacher and my assistant.  I had so much love and support from everyone.  It was great experience!

1. Goal for 2012: It's a tie between losing 50 pounds and getting a classroom of my own!  I can't wait!

Groundhog Day fun

Here's a cutie that's sure to add fun to February...

This groundhog glyph comes complete with a materials list, directions, full-size patterns, and a cute glyph key printable.  It's available in my "Celebrating Groundhog Day" multidisciplinary thematic unit here or can be purchased separately here. Hmmm, I wonder if there will be six more weeks of winter?
Have fun!
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Popcorn Fun

I'm currently creating a very detailed, comprehensive thematic unit based on popcorn, complete with lesson plans and TONS of activities and resources.  Here's a sneak peak at a great math activity idea that's included:

The popcorn boxes are available at most grocery stores (near the popcorn), Target's dollar section, and at Dollar Tree.  The "popcorn" is simply packing peanuts.  The children loved this game!  It can also be used for higher numbers, comparing sets, or adding/subtracting. 

Have fun!
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January Glyph Fun

Here's a cutie that is sure to be fun and inspiring from my "Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." thematic unit:

It is sold seperately as a glyph and is also included in my MLK unit.  The glyph includes a materials list, instructions, full-size patterns, a creative writing reproducable, and a cute glyph key printable.  You can get the glyph here. Check out the entire "Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." unit here.

Have fun!
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A Weekend to Remember

Well folks, I finally did it! I graduated with high honors from college! My wonderful husband sent me this breathtaking bouquet (the photo does not do it justice). The ceremony was lovely, and my family and best friend were in attendance.  It felt so good to walk across that stage!

Now if I could just get a job...

Molly Monster

Meet Molly...

Molly is a shape/letter/number/word, etc. monster who is ALWAYS hungry!  Her mouth is a huge "pocket" that is attached with Velcro for easy emptying.  The words "letter"are interchangeable.  She's made from poster board and construction paper, and laminated for durability because she's so loved by the children!  She makes a great whole group, small group, or center activity to reinforce skills.

Be creative!

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Place Setting Literacy Center

My boys and girls loved this center!

I simply printed pictures of different objects to correspond with the letters the students needed help with and glued them onto a paper plate.  I then took matching forks and spoons and wrote the corresponding uppercase letters on the spoons and lowercase letters on the forks.  The children matched up each "place setting."

Too cute!
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Blog Button

I did it!  I FINALLY created a blog button!  Yippee!  Feel free to grab it by copying the code underneath it and pasting it to your site.  Thank you so much!

Whisper Wednesday

Dr. Jean has done it again!

I love her new post about "Whisper Wednesdays!"  Check it out here.

Just for you, I created a "Whisper Wednesday" sign.  You can download it free here.

Enjoy your Whisper Wednesdays!

Adorable Penguin Glyph

My students love to make glyphs, and I love displaying them!  Here's my latest:

This glyph, complete with patterns, materials list, directions, and a cute glyph key printable are available here at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
I also recently uploaded a penguin multidisciplinary thematic unit that contains the glyph as well as lots of other great activities for your classroom.  You can get it by clicking here.

Be creative!
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Dr. Jean Cheers

I just love Dr. Jean!  Her cheer cards are a hit in the classroom!  The simplest things can really motivate students!  I keep mine in this cute little "Cheer" box... the children love it when they see me pull it out!

You can download the cheer cards from her website by clicking here.

Kristen at "A Teeny Tiny Teacher" created some cute ones to add to the collection.  Check them out here.

I created one called "The Oreo Cookie" that was a class favorite!  You can get it here.
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Standards

As most of you know, Common Core Standards are becoming more common place in our school districts.
You can access these standards by clicking here.

For my local peeps, the South Carolina learning standards can be found by clicking here.  Please note, however, that S.C. is in a transitional phase of implementing the Common Core Standards.  Check with the school district you are working with for more information.

Happy Teaching!

A shout out for you...

Here's to all of my fellow Kappa Delta Pi  and T2 friends... thank you Janna for sharing my info!

I hope you find lots of inspiration and ideas here.  There are tons of resources available to you, so do not reinvent the wheel!

Click on the links or buttons on the right to visit lots of other sites that will be helpful as you plan for your classrooms.

I'm always available if you need help, and I love to share!

~Kimberly

Peppermint Cutie

Here's my latest ornament endeavor:

The front is made from felt and is stitched together with white embroidery floss.  I then glued the felt piece to a Pringle's lid, covered it with cellophane, and tied the ends with ribbon.

This could easily be made by students using construction paper or cardstock and a white pencil.  They could be as large or small as you'd like.

Be creative! 
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French Fry Fun

This is a great math game that the children can't get enough of!

My son (who luckily works at McDonald's) was able to get unused french fry boxes for me, but most location managers are gracious enough to donate them to teachers.  I simply programmed the boxes with the numbers 0-10 and cut the "fries" from yellow all-purpose sponges.  This makes a great math center activity, and the numbers can be higher, based on your students' needs.  The boxes can also be programmed with simple addition and subtraction problems and the fries used as counting manipulatives.

Have fun!
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Christmas Literacy Center

I just placed a freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers... it's a Christmas Read-the-Room literacy activity.  I LOVE using these in the classroom!  The children have so much fun searching for their words.  I plan on creating more for Valentine's Day, Spring, St. Patty's Day, and Easter.

Click here for your free download.

Enjoy!

Too Sweet to Eat

I just finished making two dozen of these adorable mini-cupcake ornaments!  They were time consuming, but worth the effort.

For this project, I used miniature foil cupcake/candy liners, 1.5" styrofoam balls, white glue, hot glue, artificial snow, diamond dust, artificial floral berries, and embroidery floss.  I applied the white glue to the balls with a brush, then rolled the balls in the artificial snow and sprinkled them with diamond dust.  Once they dried, I ran a line of hot glue along the top of each cupcake liner and placed the "snowballs" inside.  I then applied a dot of hot glue to the top, set in the floss, then added the berry. 

This would be a fun classroom project, with the teacher being responsible for the hot glue factor.

Yummy!
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Katalina Matalina

You've gotta love Dr. Jean!

I crafted this puppet after her adorable song "Katalina Matalina," which is found on her "Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs" cd.  The children LOVED her!  I attached  paint stick (not pictured) to her back to make her "walk" around the classroom.

A free accompanying songbook download is available by clicking here.  I made one for the classroom library center, and the students really enjoyed it. 

Have fun!
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Why didn't I think of that?

I've been collecting bread ties for YEARS... not joking... just waiting for a great idea on how to use them. 

Found it!

Check out these cuties:

What a great way to wrap up homemade Christmas goodies!  For complete directions on how to make them, click HERE.

Enjoy!

From Trash to Treasure

Meet Dotty...

She's a revamped trash can that will be the hit of your classroom!  I've used Dotty a number of ways, from collecting estimation guesses to feeding her beginning sounds pictures cut from magazines.  The possibilities are endless!  The children love her and cannot wait to see what she'll be "hungry for" from week to week.

To make one of your own, simply get a desktop trashcan with a flip lid (mine came from Dollar Tree) and decorate it to your taste.  I used a hot glue gun, fun foam, construction paper, and ribbon to create Dotty.

Have fun!
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Here's to new beginnings...

Student teaching... check.
Perfect resume... check.
Cute blog... check.

Now, about that job...

Here's to sharing ideas, making friends, and finding my way.