Presidents' Day

Somehow it's mid February and I'm not sure where the time has gone.  Presidents' Day is right around the corner and it's time to pull out my Presidents' Day Activity Pack.  This includes everything you'll need to properly teach your "littles" about President Washington and President Lincoln and have some fun, too!

Click here to see what all is included:

Presidents' Day Activity Pack

 

I've attached a FREE friendly letter template below.  This is addressed to President Trump.  It's a great way to review the parts of a letter and learn a little about our current president, as well.

FREE Trump Friendly Letter Template

Enjoy!

Math Based Logic and Critical Thinking Challenges

My little cuties are always finishing assignments at different times.  I'm constantly looking for new things to keep them busy and engaged in meaningful tasks.  I created this interactive bulletin board a few years ago.  I just change the directions and the numbers from time to time and it's as simple as that.  This is a great way to improve problem solving skills, critical thinking, and logical thinking skills.

This year I took this idea and made it into early finisher/center activities. Some bright colored card stock and a little lamination go a long way!

I got the small containers at the Dollar Tree and the rest is history.  So far the kiddos are loving them.  The bright colors help, too!!

The goal is to solve for the given sum using the numbers provided in each container.  For example, if the container says, "solve for 18" the numbers inside is what they need to get a sum of 18.  Each row and column must add up to be 18.  Got it?  Easy, right?  Well, not at first.  In order for them to not be overwhelmed, I model, model, model.  I teach them the secret to getting it right every time.  Place the three biggest numbers in different rows and columns and it makes Magic Squares MUCH easier for them to solve. I also allow them to use a number line or 100s chart, if they need them. 


The set I made contains materials to solve for 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30.  You can find it here.

Hello Fresh Review

So...I jumped on the Hello Fresh meal subscription bandwagon!  I stay busy and only cook about three to four days a week.  I get tired of preparing the same meals each week and rarely take the time to try out a new recipe.  I listened for weeks as several fellow teachers raved about Hello Fresh.  I finally logged on and bit the bullet!  I signed up on a Saturday and my first box was delivered on Thursday.  I was SO excited, even though I chose the meals from the weekly menu and knew exactly what was in the box.  

The mister was just as excited and helped unload the goodness.  Our biggest hurtle was deciding which meal to prepare first! 

Sizzling Beef Stir-Fry...This was my favorite of the three meals. 

Each week you have seven meals to choose from.  I picked a pork, a chicken, and a steak based meal.  There's usually a seafood or fish meal each week, which I steer clear of due to my shell fish allergy.   

Chicken Gone Nuts with a Walnut Crust, Glazed Carrots, and Roasted Broccoli

I was able to pack a couple lunches for the next day.

You can pause your meal subscription for up to 8 weeks and of course, you can cancel your subscription at any time.  Due to travel plans I have paused my meals for three weeks and have already picked my menu for my next delivery.  I'll admit I'm a bit obsessed with looking at the weekly menus! 

Creamy Mushroom Pork Chops with Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Crispy Potatoes

In the process of attempting to pause my subscription, I accidentally cancelled.  A customer service representative called asking if I was displeased with Hello Fresh.  I explained what happened and he immediately emailed me detailed directions on how to pause my subscription and corrected my account to reflect a pause instead of a cancellation.  I can't express how kind and caring this gentleman was in assisting me.  Good customer service is SO hard to find.  Honestly, this made me what to continue using this service even more. Kudos...Hello Fresh!!

Easy to follow step by step directions.

I'll keep you posted on my next shipment and in the meantime if you'd like to try Hello Fresh for yourself, simply click the link below and you can get your first shipment for less than $20.  Yes, that's $40 off!!  

Click HERE for $40 off your first Hello Fresh order.

Winter FREEBIE Link-Up

Thanksgiving is over and the next three weeks has teachers all over the world counting down to Winter Break.  Let's make life easier for one another and link-up with some freebies.

Rules:
1.  Only link ideas or products that are FREE.  NO paid product links, please.

2.  If you create a blog post, use the graphic above and link back to this post.

3.  Add the link directly to the product from your TPT store or add your post below. Please make sure your link goes directly to a specific post about this linky party, not a main page.

Five for Friday and a B2S FREEBIE

AND... just like that, summer is over.  I'm heading back to school on Monday and I'm NOT ready.  I created an easy weekly planner that I will be using to keep myself organized. I had something similar last year but wanted a little something different for this year.  I'll just keep this on my clip board and jot down things to keep me on track.  Here's the link to download it for FREE.  Let me know what you think.

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that this summer we went on a nine day road trip to Kentucky to tour the Bourbon Trail.  I DO NOT drink dark liquor, but since I'm a good sport I smiled as the mister and I toured SEVEN distilleries!!!  It was worth it because we got to take this little cutie along with us.

I'm pretending to enjoy myself in this pic!!!

I was very lazy this summer but I did manage to get in some Cross Fit about 5-6 days a week.  Has anyone else drank the Cross Fit kool-aid?

This was my personal record for my back squat.

Last week I attended the Tennessee Education Association's training to become a Candidate Support Provider.  So basically I'll be able to mentor new NBCT candidates and get paid.  We've always helped candidates but never got paid, so I'm pretty excited.  

This is my 9th year as a NBCT and I just renewed in May.  Has anyone else renewed yet?

I'll leave you with this little funny.  It made me giggle!!  You can see more of my silliness on my Facebook page.

Head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to see other Five for Friday's.

End of the Year and some FREEBIES

How did this happen?  It's the end of May already!  Don't get me wrong, I'm ready for summer but WOW.
If you're like me you are trying to keep things in your classroom as normal as possible to keep the kiddos calm.

Here are a few resources I'm putting to good use right now.
These are activities that require very little explanation so you can even copy these and make them into booklet for your early finishers.  You can get it HERE.

This one is a fun one, too!  Get it HERE.

Now for the FREE stuff!!

(Click the pic to go to link)

This is PERFECT for some independent writing time.  The word bank with pictures is a life saver.

And I'll leave you with this BUMP addition mat.

(Click the pic to download)

Giving Back to our Earth with Crayola ColorCycle

Looking for an easy way to give back to our Earth? 
You may have already heard of this, but if not, listen up!!

The Crayola company uses old markers and recycles and repurposes them to create energy and other natural resources.  To read more about this green initiative and many others click here.

                                    

It's so easy!  Just place a box or bin in your classroom or in a central location at your school and instead of throwing away those dried up magic markers and dry erase markers, drop them in the ColorCycle Bin.  When it gets full, count them, box them up, and print a postage paid shipping label and let FedEx Ground pick up!!  It doesn't get much easier than that!







When you introduce this initiative to your students you can use some of these fun, fact-filled lesson plans to assist you.