~~Summer is Coming~~

6 more days...I can't believe this school year is almost over.  It seems like only yesterday it was the first day of school.  I am beyond ready for the summer, but I will truly miss my precious babies!  It is amazing how much they grew since August, not only academically but socially.  I wish all my students a very happy, safe, and blessed summer vacation--You deserve every minute of it!

I am still in awe at all of the awesome and amazing products  Creative Teaching Press has for Back-to-School.  All of the new products are due in CTP's warehouse any day!  Not only were you the first to see the new items, but you can be one of the first to receive them!  You can order your items now and have them shipped when they arrive in the warehouse.  Check them out (HERE) and place your order now!

I want to thank Creative Teaching Press for having me as one of their Exclusive Bloggers!  If you haven't checked out their website, please stop by and browse their online catalog.  You will be amazed at all of the products they offer for teachers!  I can't wait to get my hands on all of the new products and more!!!

~~Winner of CTP Giveaway~~

I'm very excited to announce that my sweet friend Laura @ Love to Teach  won all of the amazing Creative Teaching Press products that I featured!!!  She will be one of the first teachers to get her hands on the new Back-to-School products before they are available for purchase! All products will be live online during the week of May 26th.  Please check out the new products (HERE).



a Rafflecopter giveaway


Guess who I met on Mother's Day in New Orleans???  Heather from Creative Teaching Press and the crew!!!  I had the chance to meet up with CTP at the International Reading Association Conference.  I was beyond thrilled to meet everyone!  I had the opportunity to check out the conference and watch the talented CTP crew in action!!!!   AWESOME...is all I'm going to say!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I hope your day was filled with love and laughter! I want to wish my beautiful mom a very Happy Mother's Day.  You are always there when I need you!  Thank you for the countless hours you spent helping me make and wrap gifts for my students for the past 19 years.  Also, thank you for helping me with just about everything!!!! 

my beautiful, sweet mom with my crazy, awesome daughter

~~Giveaway Time~~

Don't you just love all of the Creative Teaching Press Back-to-School products? I can't wait to get my hands on these products for next school year.  As a CTP Exclusive Blogger, I can share all of the new products with you.  I can even let you win a copy of EVERYTHING you see!  These new products are going live on the CTP website May 13th.  Why wait?  You can win them here!!

I am totally in LOVE with these chevron books!  I am definitely using them next school year!!

How cute are these cupcakes?!  

Can you say "Chalkboard Adorable"?! These will be perfect in any classroom!!!

OMG!  I can't contain myself with these letters!  I LOVE them all!!

Look at these awesome 5-Star Common Core Charts!

I'm in love with these borders and bulletin board set!

You can win EVERY product you see!  For chances to win, use the Rafflecopter below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


For more chances to win, enter at the following CTP Exclusive Blogger's Pages!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

~~Sneak Peek from Creative Teaching Press~~

As a Creative Teaching Press Exclusive Blogger, I have first-hand knowledge and insider information about their NEW & EXCITING Back-to-School products!! Of coarse....I would LOVE to share everything with you, BUT....I'm sworn to secrecy!  I can give you a sneak peek at a few things!  Are you ready???   You can say you saw them here first (they are not even available online for purchase)!  Come see me again next week, I just might post a few more products with you and host a giveaway too!!!!

 

Aren't you just totally, positively in complete awe with the chevron lesson plan book?!  I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!!!  And...how cute are those bright letters?!  I bet any classroom would look great with these on the walls!

I hope you are as excited as I am about CTP's NEW PRODUCTS!  Check back next week, I have more products to "leak out"!  Who knows.....you may even be able to win a few of these new products too!

If you want to see more, hop on over to The Adventures of Miss Elisabeth, Diary of a First Grade Teacher.  She has 2 more Back-to-School products to share with you!!!!

~~So much News~~

Oh my ...I have been so bad to my little blog!   My life has been super crazy for the last few months. Where do I even start?!   First of all, I enjoyed a family vacation to Disney World during our Mardi Gras break.  Mom and Dad came with us and had a blast.   Spending time with them was great and so many memories were made at Disney.  I must say....My absolute favorite characters are Mike and Sully!!!!  I couldn't wait to meet them!!!  Here are a couple of pictures from Disney.

  Mardi Gras Day with Mike & Sully

Mom & Dad looking precious

Dinner with Tigger & the gang

Now...for some sad news...I made the decision to leave my current school and will not return in August.   A lot of thought and prayer went into my choice, and I have mixed emotions about leaving.  There were several deciding factors that went into play on why I am leaving.  But, I do know that I'm very excited and sad at the same time.  To be honest, I am very upset about leaving my team in 3rd grade, especially Laura.  We have worked together for the last 5 years and became very close.  We know everything about each other, we're like sisters.   When Judy joined our team this school year, I knew that she would fit right in with us!  Judy was in 1st grade last year and moved up to 3rd this year.  The 3 of us rock 3rd grade!!  I am going to miss my buddies dearly!!!  And if you are wondering...NO, I do not have a job lined up for August.  I am still looking and hoping to find a job soon. I am open to whatever challenge God puts into my path, teaching related or not.

Some VERY overwhelming and exciting news...I am officially a Creative Teaching Press Exclusive Blogger.  I couldn't be more thrilled to be working with CTP and their awesome products.  I just received my first package in the mail this week.  Check out all of the products I get to preview and try in my classroom. Today my precious students were able to make "cootie catchers" or fortune tellers in math.  We have been learning about perimeter and area so I was ecstatic to see a fortune teller math book in the package.  Guess what??  There was one on data and perimeter. The look on every one's face was priceless when I told them we were making "cootie catchers".  They had no idea what I was talking about until someone yelled out, "You mean fortune tellers?"  LOL  My students had an awesome time playing with their fortune tellers.  They even played them during recess outside!!!!  Definitely a hit with my class!!!

Look at these awesome products I get to try out

area & perimeter cootie catchers

Whew....that was super long for a post!  I can't wait to share more Creative Teaching Press product reviews with you soon!!!  Keep checking back!!!

~~~Penguins & Sneaux Days~~~

"Sneaux" Day Louisiana style!!  Yes, we are having snow days in Louisiana, third one to be exact.  Who would have thought we would have snow here!!  It's sad that everything closes because of a little snow and sleet.  I don't know how to drive in icy weather and neither does anyone else here!  Check out our "Sneaux"!!!

                     

I am trying to keep up with my New Year resolutions and blog. So far, I have accomplished all of my goals EXCEPT blogging more!  I just can't find the time to write!  At least I am working out regularly and eating healthy every day~~Yahoo!  

Penguins, Penguins, Penguins~~We love Penguins!!  My third graders wrote an informative nonfiction essay about penguins.  We started by reading several penguin stories.

Here are the books we read. 

 

Our favorite was Antarctic Antics.  There is also a video (which is my favorite too!). The video can be found on the Discovery Education site.  Our school has a subscription to this site so I am not sure if you can access it.  After reading several books and discussing what we know and learned about penguins, students did a prewriting activity.  They had to write several penguin facts.  The facts could be about anything we discussed as a class or something they read  from the books.  You can download your free copy of the fact sheet HERE. Then, they made penguin puppets and wrote the facts on the back using a bubble map.  Check them out below. Sorry, I do not have a pattern to share for the puppet. 

 

 

 

Students wrote their rough draft using the bubble map.  I found a cute way to help them edit their writing.  I used skittles after each complete sentence.  This way they could see if a sentence had to be changed.  Check them out below!

 

 

Last, students wrote the final copy of their penguin essay.  They made penguins from toilet rolls and puffy paint.  The puffy paint was made from liquid glue and black paint. 

 

The finished essay came out adorable! 

 

I hope you enjoyed our Penguins!  Now, I'm off to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate!!

 



 

~~Currently January & Challenges~~

I know...I know...I have neglected my little blog (I feel so bad about this!).  I didn't mean to ignore it, time just got away from me.  School and family are really keeping me super busy!!

As I sit down to type, I am thinking about some things I want to challenge myself to this year. I made a list of goals I want to accomplish in 2014!

2014 Resolutions

 

The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans

 

52 Week Money Challenge

(Here is the site I found, but there are MANY out there!)

 

 



 So...to keep up with my challenge of blogging, I am linking up with Farley @ Oh' Boy 4th Grade. So, here goes my January Currently with Farley! Don't forget to link up!!!