The Big 500 Giveaway

Can you believe it?  I made it to 500 followers! YIPPEEE!   This calls for a celebration!  You know me, I like my themes and I like things simple!  So here's the drill! The theme will be in 5's (in honor of my 500!)    The winner gets all 5 of the following:  


1.)   $50.00 TpT gift certificate (Yep!!! 50 buckaroos to spend JUST IN TIME for some back to school shopping)


2.)  5 things from my TpT or TN store (Your choice!  Anything goes!)


3.)  5 items from 5 of my bloggy friends with great stuff in their stores!  

A.  Nicole from Teaching with Blonde Ambition   Nicole is giving away her 45 Reading Response Sheets unit.  WOW!  This item is LOADED with incredible graphic organizers and goodies!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/45-Reading-Response-Sheets-for-Common-Core-Standards


B.  Katie from Queen of the First Grade Jungle is giving away one ITEM OF CHOICE from her incredible TpT store!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Katie-King-Queen-of-the-First-Grade-Jungle/


C.  Lisa from Learning is Something to Treasure is giving away her Kids of Character pack, which is perfect for those new students you're about to get!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kids-of-Character-Character-Education-for-Every-Week-of-the-School-Year


Kimberly from Love of Teaching is giving away one ITEM OF CHOICE from her growing TpT store! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/For-The-Love-Of-Teaching


Pamela from Teaching 4 Real is giving away a Rounding to Tens, Hundreds, and Thousands Sorting Activity, which is Common Core aligned!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rounding-to-Tens-Hundreds-Thousands-Sorting-Activity


4.)  a $15.00 Starbucks gift card (Who DOESN'T need to grab a coffee or two, or three, on that first week back to school?!)


5.)  5 Free "Shout Outs" through social media  (I can either blog about a post you've done, PIN something for you, tweet about an item, Facebook post for you, etc.)  Anything to help you promote your store, blog, items, freebies, etc.  (Who doesn't love free traffic?)


The giveaway will be done through Rafflecopter, because I HEART Rafflecopter it's easy and Rafflecopter does all the work for me!  :-)  There are lots of ways to enter!  So come help me celebrate!  


Bananas for all 500+ of ya'! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dollar Days are HERE! $$$$

Today and tomorrow ONLY you can grab some items for only $1.00 or $2.00 on TpT.  (It's like a trip to the DOLLAR STORE! YAY!) The BEST way to get there, though is through the Lesson Cloud!  The Lesson Cloud authors got together and listed over 200 items on sale by grade level to make it easy.  Here's the Road map:

1.)  Click the Lesson Cloud Sale image for a list of items you'll be able to find on sale by grade level.  (While you're there, become a follower....Lots of great posts daily!)
2.)  Find a grade level that works for you and click on any of the images for a direct link to that specific TpT store.
3.)  Most of the Lesson Cloud authors listed anywhere from 5-7 items each on the master list, HOWEVER, you might want to browse their store carefully.  Several (including myself) put MORE items on sale for $1.00 and $2.00 in addition to the ones listed.  Think of it as a big treasure hunt!   (I have 16 items in my store available for either 1 or 2 bucks! )  Here's a sneak preview of just a few of the items:

**Don't forget to enter the $75.00 gift certificate giveaway to Really Good Stuff while you're there too!  


Happy hunting and shopping!  Good luck in the giveaway!  If you find some time, stop BACK by here and let us know what "MUST HAVE" treasures you found!  :-)


Bananas for good bargains,

Lesson Cloud DOLLAR DAYS Sale and Spotlight Saturday!

Jump on over to the Lesson Cloud tomorrow morning July 29th and Monday, the 30th for some fantastic deals from some of TpT's finest creators.  Lesson Cloud authors are putting a few select items on sale these two days for either $1.00 or $2.00.  If you check back tomorrow morning, there will be a direct link to the Lesson Cloud site where you'll find these items listed for you (with direct links to the TpT store where they can be found) categorized by grade level for some easy shopping!  Have fun and LOAD UP for your new school year!

It IS Spotlight Saturday too!  You ought to go check out Lindsay's Common Core Journal Prompts.  It includes 19 different journal prompts that are great to use with any non-fiction text!  I think I like them so much because they are easy to cut apart and use in a variety of ways:  exit tickets, bell-ringers, reading group discussion topics, "parking lot" responses, etc.   It's 22 pages of quick, informal assessments on your students' understanding of non-fiction text!  As always, leave Lindsay a thank you note for her generosity!

Finally, I'm at 497 followers!  WOOHOO!  500 is quickly approaching.  I have a fantastic giveaway planned...JUST IN TIME for some Back to School shopping for you! 

Bananas for great sales, freebies, and my last "official" weekend of summer vacation.  

Dollar Days Sale $1 or $2

Don't you just love a good sale AND giveaway?  The authors of the Lesson Cloud are having a Dollar Days Sale this Sunday and Monday ... July 29th and 30th.  A lot of our items will be temporarily marked down to $1.00 or $2.00 for those two days only.  On the morning of the 29th, I will post a link directly to the Lesson Cloud site where you can see a list of items (categorized by grade level) to choose from. These items will have direct links to the creator's TpT store, where they can be found for 1 or 2 bucks!!  It's that easy!  While you're visiting the Lesson Cloud, be sure to become a follower if you're not already!  There are some great blog posts that appear daily, often times with links to great freebies. 
 I'm participating in the sale! I'll have 7 items available for $1.00 or $2.00 in the categorized list, but will throw in a few extra that will NOT be on the list.  So check my TpT store to find some additional savings!  


In addition to the big SALE, the Lesson Cloud will be hosting a giveaway for $75.00 to Really Good Stuff!!!  Be sure to enter!   


Speaking of giveaways, I'm SOOOOOO excited that I'm approaching 500 blog followers!  YES, I have a celebration giveaway planned, so stay close!  


Happy Shopping and Good luck in the Lesson Cloud giveaway!


Bananas for bargains,

Spotlight Saturday Freebies and a Growing Blog Roll

Yay!  It's SATURDAY!  You know what that means! I've got a few freebies lined up for you, so get your clicking finger ready to go!
1.)  Teach fact and opinion?  If you do, you'll want to click on the frog image for an adorable download from Pamela @ Teach4Real.  This one is a keeper and already in my Fact and Opinion folder.  Super for independent work, center activity, homework, etc.  If you have a frog theme or animal unit going, it's simply a bonus!  


2.)  Julie and Krista have a whopping 30 page packet for you FREE if you're looking to challenge your kids with root words and prefixes/suffixes.  This is one of 10 sets in their Greek and Latin roots reading program.  It's designed to increase vocabulary skills in a fun way.  It comes with quizzes, organizers, keyring cards, word wall words, awards, etc.   If you teach upper primary, this is SOOOOO worth investigating.  

3.)  If you're a teacher, I know at some point you're dividing your students into groups.  Need an easy way to put them into teams, groups, or pairs?  Aileen has a little 11 page packet with a variety of cards and ways to do just that!  These would be great to print off, laminate, and keep handy forever!  


My "To copy and print" file folder on my desktop is bursting at the seams.  I'm counting down the days until my "Craftivity" day with a couple of teacher friends.  We plan to fire up the printer, laminator, and whatever else we can get our hands on that day to create all the goodies we want to create.  


I say this every Saturday and probably sound like your mother, but don't forget to THANK these creators for sharing their stuff!  If you truly like it, tell them that.  I know when I get positive feedback on a freebie that I've taken some time on,  it drives me to create more and more for teachers!  Show them the love.  


Faithful bloggy friends--If you are a follower and want to link up your blog to my "blog roll," please do. Just link up (preferably once) in the right category!  The link up will be open a few more days.  Follow the yellow brick road BLOGS TAB at the top! :-)  Happy Saturday!
If I'm "M.I.A." a little bit this week, it's because my friends from Ireland are here along with some additional family.  (The last count was 16 in my house!!!)  In my best Arnold S. voice...."I'll be back!"  


Bananas for a house full...my motto is the MORE the MERRIER! 

Visitors from Ireland and a Lost Freebie

We are in the process of redecorating a room, planting 9 new shrubs in the yard, re-staining furniture, and about 10 other things in preparation for our company from Ireland.  This will be their 3rd year visiting us.  Long story short...my parents met this couple on a cruise a few years back.   They were "table mates" at dinner each night.  They became great friends and the next thing we all knew is that they were coming over for a visit.  My parents are 77, going on 35.  They still travel, golf, work, or whatever they feel like.  So I was expecting their "new Irish friends" to be about their age.  They ended up being my age!! They have two beautiful children (yes... adorable, red headed, and boy do I love to hear them talk!) and have become very dear friends of our entire family.  So every summer we all get together for more fun and visiting.  We've been to Disney World, Kings Island, the Smokey Mountains, etc. together.  I am anxiously awaiting their arrival tomorrow!

In the process of cleaning my office  the dining room table for their visit, I found a "lost freebie" that I meant to post, ummm...probably 4 or 5 months ago when I was actually teaching shapes.  It was like finding a little treasure to share.  So....while I'm thinking about it, grab it and throw it in your Geometry pile and use when you're teaching 3-d shapes.  Yes, it has the little detective clipart on it (again).  It seems like anytime I do a discovery activity, I'm throwing on that adorable clipart.  It's probably the best $3.00 I've spent this year.  (Scrappin doodles)   :-)
During my solids intro, I  placed a variety of 3-d shapes at each table and allowed the students to explore them and fill out this graphic organizer together.  It prompted some great discussion since some of them weren't sure about the word vertices.  It's simple, but fun.  We checked together, discussing the solids' real names, fixed their errors, etc.  It's a great little intro to solids if you need one. Click on image to grab!

Bananas for my Irish friends and the little treasures we find when cleaning!

Back to School Binders & a Freebie

My dining room table is no longer a dining room table, but a teacher workstation.  I know we have an office, but I can't spread out like I can on my dining room table.  :-)  Anybody else having this problem?  What room have you turned into a temporary classroom this summer?
One of my projects this summer was to redo my binders.  My students are required to have a 3 ring binder that they carry with them back and forth from home to school EVERY SINGLE DAY!  It becomes such a habit, and they feel lost without it!  The parents know to look for it and it has become a survival tool for all of us.   My team and I try to keep it pretty simple for everyone involved, so it has 5 key ingredients!  

1.)  The first is the COVER sheet.  Each of the 3rd grade classrooms have a different theme.  (Hmmm...can you guess mine?)  Yes, it's monkeys.  So my students' binder covers all have monkeys on them.  If they get lost in our school of 800+ students, everybody knows it belongs to one of my kiddos!  If a fish, puzzle, owl, bee, or rock star notebook get lost, they know to look for my teammates!  


2.)  A clear plastic pocket (page protector) is the first item on the inside.  I label it with MONEY & NOTES!   It's transparent AND has a pocket on the bottom so nothing falls out! The parents and I can SEE if anything crucial is coming home or to school.  Kids put their field trip money in there, transportation notes, etc.  I put positive (mostly positive) notes about their child in there!  


3.)  Our school orders student planners for each and every student.  It contains a yearly calendar and other special things in there unique to each grade level.  The kids really like these!  We use them to do a Daily Agenda in.  It's my students' first job of the day to come in and copy  their agenda from the board into these planners DAILY.  That way when they go home, their parents can see exactly what topics were covered that day. Parents initial them nightly.  I cannot remember who our school orders them from, but they're available everywhere.  Amazon even has them!


4.) Two folders with pockets are the next items in the binder.  One of them is labeled "Take Home."  The stuff that goes in here goes home and DOESN'T come back!  It's mostly graded work, mail from the office, etc.  It's emptied nightly.  The second folder is labeled with SOCIAL STUDIES & SCIENCE.  Our 3rd grade actually changes classes for Science and Social Studies.  I teach my kids Social Studies for 4 weeks straight, then they switch to my teammate for Science for 4 weeks, while I teach her kids Social Studies.  Therefore they're either in S.S. OR Science...never both.  So that folder is used for those subjects.  We create and work on a lot of things in 4 weeks that we don't want to send home permanently.  The students have a unit test at the end of those 4 weeks, so a lot of the material they need to study with is IN this folder.  Parents (and students) are "trained" that everything in this folder STAYS PUT until after the test!  

5.  Most binders come with that extra little pocket in the front and back cover.  We label this pocket "HOMEWORK POCKET."  We do homework packets instead of nightly homework.  Students are given a packet on Monday, and it's due the following Monday.  So homework is NEVER LOST, okay, ALMOST never lost.  


That's it!  In closing, I have good news and bad news!  Bad news always goes first, right?  I have a bunch of binder covers...REALLY cute ones! (monkey, owl, rock star, giraffe, sports, frog, ocean, puzzle, etc.) available in my Back to School Packs on TpT!  They're not free though, because the packs are many, many pages long full of activities for the first few days of school!  The binder covers are included in that pack!  HOWEVER, that being said, you know I DO LOVE ya' and I can't really stand NOT giving you something to work with. :-) So I do have a binder cover in 4 different colors that's generic enough that you could use with any grade level and any theme....and it IS FREE!  So grab your favorite color and go!  Click on image to take you there!  


Bananas for organization tools that work,