Pool Party Blog Hop

I'm excited to be working with Celeste again from The Education Highway to celebrate her 30th birthday.  She's worked hard to put this "hop" together and I'm honored to be a small part of it!

You can grab some great ideas, lots of freebies, and a chance to win THREE prize packs full of awesome products.

Here's my special freebie just for you.

(Click the pic to download)

4th of July Handmade Tees

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Cute, right?  All you need are a few white tees or tanks, some fabric paint, and a few fun kiddos!  

Be sure to download our eBook below!

Check out these AWESOME giveaway packs!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Stitch Fix Review and a HUGE Giveaway

I'm super excited to be teaming up with Melanie from A Trendy Teacher and a few other awesome bloggers for a HUGE Stitch Fix Giveaway.  We are giving away a $100 Stitch Fix gift card!!  WOW...right?

If you aren't familiar with Stitch Fix, you are really missing out.  For only $20, you can have your very own personal stylist that sends five hand picked items right to your doorstep.  Just try them on and keep what fits and mail the rest back in the postage paid bag they provide.  Easy...peasy!  You can read more about it here.  There are NO hidden fees or commitments, either.

Before you enter to win, let's take a look at my latest "fix." 

Always leave a note for your stylist letting them know exactly what you want or don't want.  This is KEY to a great fix.  I requested a pair of white jeans with no holes, to wear to work.  The only other thing I was specific about for this fix was that I did NOT want any jewelry or dresses.  I switch this up from time to time.

Leslie, my personal stylist, wasn't able to find any white jeans without holes but she did send me a pair of Margaret M Emer Textured Cropped Straight Leg Pants in mint green.  These, like all Stitch Fix pants, felt like butter.  You can read in my previous reviews, how much I LOVE their pants.  The fit is always amazing.  It's much better than the pants I find when I try to shop for myself!

Next up was this boho inspired Brixon Ivy Diaz Embroidery and Crochet Detail Cotton Top.  I could tell that Leslie had taken a look at my Pinterest~My Style page.  This shirt was a perfect fit and felt great on.  It does look a lot like another shirt I already own, so I'll have to decide if I want to keep this one.

I also received this Le Lis Haney Mixed Material Knit Top in a light peach color.  Again, the fit was amazing and the varied textures made this shirt very appealing.  I may actually ask for this shirt in another color in my next fix.  

Everybody loves a good cardigan, right?  Well I'm a sucker for a comfortable, wash and go cardigan.  The Dahlya Poppa Open Cardigan is a great staple for any wardrobe and its neural color will go with almost anything.  I wouldn't mind this in a bolder color, in a future fix.

And lastly, is the Daniel Rainn Triton Spaghetti Strap Silk Blouse. This is super cute and a little bit sexy!  It's double layered, so it's not see through.  It was a little big around the arm holes, so I'm not sure this is a keeper.  But, I think this is worth asking for in a smaller size.  This could easily be dressed up or worn casually.

So...what are you waiting for?  Go sign up, you will NOT regret it.  You can get started HERE.

Now, if you're interested in entering to win a whopping $100 gift card to use on your Stitch Fix order, head on over to A Trendy Teacher or just click the button below.  Good Luck!!

All About Earthworms and a Giveaway

If you follow me on Instagram,  you know my firsties are studying earthworms.   

This is a directed drawing activity we did just for fun.  You can find the details here.

We always start our studies out with some research.  I created fact cards, printed them on orange card stock, and placed them around the room.  They clipped their research collecting sheet (printed front and back) on clipboards and began roaming the room to collect information.

After we get some background knowledge we jumped right into the good stuff.  Of course, we did a few experiments. 

This one is called "DoesTemperature Matter?"  We used ice and hand warmers to create the different temperatures.   A little gross, but fun!!   Also included in the packet is an experiment called "Does Moisture Matter?"

We used our gathered research to do several other activities. Here's a look at a few of them.

We even created a mini-book!

We ended the study by placing the earthworms in our school garden.  We made predictions and timed the worms to see how long it took them to burrow and disappear into the dirt.  I was surprised at how fast they work.

Another fun activity we completed was Saving Sam.  You can find out about it here.  

You can take a look at everything that is included in the All About Earthworms in the preview below or in my TPT store.  This unit is perfect for 2nd or 3rd graders.  I used it with my gifted and talented 1st graders and they loved it. 

Enter below for your chance to win your own copy.

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Stop, Swap, and Roll~Product Swap

I was excited to participate in a product swap hosted by Melissa from Jungle Learners.  She was kind enough to pull this thing together and matched me with Michelle from Teaching Ideas for Those who Love Teaching.  I choose a product on onomatopoeia from her store.

This was a perfect fit for my little gifted learners.  I used this product with my 1st graders.  I started out by playing the song, "What Did the Fox Say?"  

Then we discussed some of the sounds the animals made in the song.  Next, the big, fat word "onomatopoeia" was introduced!  I tried to make this as fun as possible!!  We discussed the definition and brainstormed for more examples.  Then the pages from Melissa's packet came into play.  We listed and practiced writing sentences using onomatopoeias.  I'll admit it was fun just hearing them try to pronounce "onomatopoeia." 

When I thought they had a good grasp on the skill we moved on to a paragraph, where they had to locate and list the onomatopoeias.  This is also included in Melissa's must-have onomatopoeia packet.

Also included is a quiz to assess knowledge gained in the lesson.  We will be doing this in our next class.  I feel certain they will do great with all the practice this packet contains.  There are several other activities included we didn't even have time for.  If you are teaching onomatopoeias to your little ones, this is the product you need!

You can enter for a chance to win your very own copy of this below or head on over to her TPT store and get it now.


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For more product reviews and giveaways click the link below.

Halloween Hop 2014

The gals from my collaborative blog, The Teaching 2 Step, have put together an awesome Halloween Blog Hop with a ton of goodies!! 

So let's get started!  First, I wanna share an easy Halloween craft that my mom made for me years ago to hold candy corn.

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A clay flower pot, a little masking tape, some craft paint, and you have a masterpiece!!  Cute decor for the classroom or your house.

Next, a fun recipe.  Your students would LOVE this or it would be perfect for a spooky Halloween house party. 

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz. package of orange Jello 
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 cups of boiling water
• 4 liters of ginger ale
• 1 can pineapple juice (46 oz.)
• 1 can apricot nectar (46 oz.)
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve Jello and sugar in a large bowl with boiling water.

2. Stir in the pineapple, apricot, and lemon juices. Place in freezer container and freeze.

3. Remove from freezer 2 hours before serving and place in punch bowl.

4. Crush up the frozen mixture into big pieces.

5. Pour gingerale over mixture just before serving.

Makes about 2 gallons of punch

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Click on the pics below or here to grab this FREEBIE.

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Countless Smart Cookies 3-Day Giveaway

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This giveaway will close at midnight on Thursday, October 2.  Winners will be notified within 48 hours.  Good Luck!!

Five for Friday on Saturday

Wow, was that a fast week!  I'm back with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday...on Saturday!

So let's get started...

I'm finishing up my manatee mini-study with my kindergartners this week. As part of this study, we collected money and adopted a manatee.  You can even choose the one you want to adopt, we chose Annie.  You can learn more about Annie and saving the manatees here. 

My first graders have started a mini-study on kaleidoscopes.  So far we've done some research and created some fun pictures of kaleidoscopes. I'm on the look out for an EASY way to make kaleidoscopes.  I've seen several DIY projects online but none have really caught my eye.  Suggestions?

My second graders are finally finishing up our shark study.  We have learned so much and they've had an awesome time.  Our last shark hooray is a field trip to a local museum to participate in a Shark Lab.  I've never done this, so I'm really excited about this trip.  I'll be back next week with pics and details.

You can grab this fun shark acrostic over at Stepping into Second with Amy Lemons.  And don't be jealous of my "bulletin board" aka the back of some filing cabinets!!

Brooke from Countless Smart Cookies is celebrating her birthday and I've donated to this HUGE 3-day giveaway.  It will run September 29-October 1.  Mark your calendars.

Here's the link to enter.

I'm so ready for fall. The temps were supposed to be lower last week so I cooked up a big pot of taco soup.  But mid-80's is NOT cooler.  Oh well, I enjoyed the soup in a sundress!!  Fingers crossed for cooler weather this week.

Have an awesome weekend and relax. That's my plan...and maybe some day drinking.  Sometimes that's the best answer to a busy week!  See ya...