Giveaway Time!

Hi everyone! Be happy...it's the WEEKEND! Woohoo!

Can you tell it's been a long week for me? Oh well...the weekend is here...everything is better...and I have a Super Giveaway to announce!

Two lovely ladies, Anna from Crazy for First Grade and Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade have teamed up to join me in this fantastic giveaway celebrating 500+ followers!

Can I hear a woop, woop?!?

These ladies are soooo super sweet and creativity just ooozes out from them...wish I could be that creative!

Ok...so here's what you can win:

1. Anna's Fun in the Sun Math and Literacy Centers

This sunny packet is jammed packed with 10 fun centers (5 math and 5 literacy) for your fabulous classroom. Your kiddos will have a great time learning! How fun is that?!

2. Leslie Ann's The Princess and the Pea Literacy Activities

How sweet is this Princess and the Pea Packet?!? Perfect to kick off your fairy tale unit!

Ok...so now that you know about the fantabulous prizes...here is what you have to do:

1. Follow Anna's lovely blog Crazy for First Grade.

2. Follow Leslie Ann's lovely blog Life in First Grade.

3. Follow Anna's TpT Store.

4. Follow Leslie Ann's TpT Store.

5. Follow my little blog.
(Please leave a comment for each thing you do.)

That's it...you get 5 chances to enter!

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy...right?!

This giveaway will end on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 11:00 pm CST.

I will announce the lucky winner on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Good luck everyone!

Toodles!

♥♥♥

Guest Blogger: Anna from Crazy for First Grade

Hey everyone! I'm Anna from Crazy for First Grade!

I'm so excited to be a guest poster here on one of my favorite blogs!!

I'm always looking for fun ways to incorporate higher order thinking and differentiation into my classroom routine.

I love doing this by using "Think Dots" choice boards! The activities on each choice board are differentiated by levels and interests. My little loves have so much fun with them:) They roll a die with a partner and complete the activity if it is one that interests them. If needed, I'm okay with my students rolling again to get a different activity. They have to complete at least 3 activities on the board. Since this is a very student directed activity, I act as a facilitator and just circulate the room monitoring/helping as needed.  Not only are they a great way to stretch your students' thinking, but they are pretty easy to use! We have an extension period at my school for students to refine/extend concepts. These have proven to be an excellent activity for my kiddos during that time. However, you could create a "Think Dots" center, or have them ready to go as an activity for when your students finish their center work.

I started out making the boards for math, but just recently decided that they would be perfect for reading and writing, too. Just click on the picture to download my Reading Think Dots boards!! I hope you like them!!

Reading Think Dots

This blue storage organizer is best friends with my Think Dots boards! I think I picked it up at Wal-Mart for $10-15. Worth every single penny!!! They make having materials for several activities a piece a cake!!! I just put everything the kiddos will need for each choice in a labeled drawer! LOVE IT!!!

As higher order thinking and differentiation become more and more of a focus at my school, I have found these choice boards really helpful. When I first started using them, my students and I went over the expectations and modeled how to complete each activity. Please don't get discouraged if the first, second, or even third time you do a choice board is a little crazy...trust me, it will get much, much better with time and practice!!!

 For more resources and information on a TON of awesome differentiated activities check out this awesome website- http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/. It's the site that inspired me to start using Think Dots in my classroom!

Thank you Gladys for letting me blog today on your site! SO.MUCH.FUN!! I would love for all of you to come visit my blog at Crazy for First Grade!

Happy Sunday & New Blog

Hey everyone, I hope everyone is having a happy Sunday!

I'm just taking a little break from lesson planning and grading to let you know about this awesome new blog:


I am sooo excited to have become a contributor...I can't wait to share some terrific ideas!
Click the link to go check it out!
♥♥♥

Hip, Hip Hooray for the Weekend!!

It's been the looooongest week ever and an exhausting one too! I'm seriously all TAKSed out! I'm so glad it's the weekend...and I can recuperate! Pheeww! And just to think that I'll be doing this again the last week of April ugghh! Total boo!

 Oh well...still a ways to go...so I won't stress myself over it.

Stay tuned for a fun little giveaway this weekend...what's the celebration you might ask? 

512 LOVELY followers, of course! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love y'all!

♥♥♥ 

(P.S. Please forgive my overuse of exclamation marks I let my emotions get the better of me. Lol!)

Synonyms and Antonyms

Hey y'all!

It's been a CRAZY week for me...and next week it'll be even crazier with TAKS testing and all. I'm going to administer the test in a small group setting so that means I'll be out of the classroom for 3 days!

Three days...really?! Are you serious!?!

Oh my...I start hyperventilating just thinking about it! In order for me to cope with my anxiety I created this fun little word sort as a review for my lovable Firsties...I hope they enjoy it!

I'm sure going to miss my little ones this week. :(

If you would like this word sort for your own class click here.

Have a marvelous Sunday!

♥♥♥