Voting Freebie: Obama vs. Romney

It's Freebie time!  It's Monday and what is a better way to start the week with a FREEBIE?  I just wanted to share a quick election day freebie since it is coming close!  Who is ready for the Elections to be over? I AM because I tired of all of the political ads and commercials, telephone calls, and general political talk 24/7.

This is just a tiny FREE preview of my election unit packet you can purchase from the TpT and TN stores.  Click on the Store names to check it out!! :)      TpT store       TN Shop

This small freebie includes voting ballots with both political candidates' names on it and a class prediction graphing sheet.

Click on the picture below or here to check out this awesome freebie!!!  I would love to hear your comments and feedback if you will use this in your classroom! Enjoy and Happy Monday folks!

Once Upon A Time...

Do you read a book at the end of each day to your kids?  We always do, but sometimes you are too tired, losing your voice, or coughing up a storm to read a book.  So lately, I would put a "book on video" for the kids.  I stumbled upon this awesome website called Storyline Online.

This website was created by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation and a SAG member/actor reads a children's picture book aloud.  I love this website because not only does it provides a YouTube link of the actor reading the book, it shows the pictures of the pages ("Reading Rainbow" style), gives related activities for teachers and parents, and a short bio about the actors, writers, and illustrators.  Another great use of this website is if you need something to fill extra time, this is perfect because under each book, it shows you how long the movie is.  Some are short like 5 minutes and others are long like 15 minutes. The best part about this website and videos is that it is all free!

If you school blocks YouTube, don't worry because they also provide the same videos on SchoolTube.

Today we watched Stellaluna. Here's the video and link if you want to check it out yourself.

Some of my favorite stories from this site are:
Harry, The Dirty Dog- Bette White
Thank You, Mr. Falker- Jane Kaczmerak
A Bad Case Of Stripes- Sean Astin
Someone Loves You, Mr. Hatch- Hector Elizondo
Me and My Cat- Elijah Wood

My kids love watching and listening to these stories.  They always clap and cheer with the movie is over.  This is great to show off the SmartBoard, computers, etc.  I guarantee these videos will be a hit in your classroom!  Let me know what you and your kiddos think!

First Year Bliss Linky

I'm linking up with Michelle from The 3AM Teacher!  She is so awesome and sweet to her followers.  I love her work, especially her clip art.  Michelee's blog is a definite must-see!

My first year blog memory?  I have so many to choose from since this is my very first year of blogging! My blogversary (is this the correct blogging term?) was on October 11, 2011.  I didn't even know that I past the date until today!  Time flies so fast and I can't believe how much I have learned and grown this past year from the blogging and teaching world.

So here are my top memories of my first blogging year:

My first comment ever! I couldn't believe other bloggers were clicking onto MY BLOG to read MY POSTS.  I definitely felt the blogging rush after that moment.  The more comments you leave, the more and more I want to blog and talk with you!

My first freebie.  I was such a newbie, I didn't know what to expect after posting it.  But I received a lot  of sweet comments that made me keep making more.

Winning my first giveaway and starting my own giveaways.  I seriously didn't think I would ever get a shot in winning any giveaway but receiving an email on the prizes I have won instantly puts a smile on my face.

Monthly Currently's!  :)

Deciding to create my own TpT and TN stores!  Best decision ever.  Selling my products to teachers that care and respect my products is an amazing feeling.  Being thanked for the products I make motivates me to create more!!  Who else is addicted to these two wonderful sites?!

Since I'm still looking for my "forever home", I've met many wonderful bloggers who tell me their district or area in their state are looking for teachers  This has helped me with my job search and I am grateful to have blogging friends who think of me since the job market is tough out there!

There are so much more memories of my first blogging year but I tried to sum it up to five BIG ones!  This has be a very blissful year for me and I hope for another blissful year!

Link with The 3AM Teacher to read about more blissful memories!

Allergy-Free Signs (freebie)

Do you have a student with a food allergy in your classroom?  I've noticed every year more and more kids are developing all kinds of food allergies other than the typical peanut/nut allergy.  I know it is very important to keep our students safe from allergic reactions.  By having allergy safe and awareness signs in the entrance of your classroom will alert people like staff, parents, and visitors know what foods to avoid bringing into the classroom, especially for classroom parties and snack time.

Some kids are very severe, such as one student I work with.  He is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and gluten.  As I walk around my school building, I noticed many of the allergy classroom signs are bland and boring looking.  So I decided to create my own and I thought why not use the popular favorite, chevron designs, to decorate my classroom signs!  I've made the signs with 8 different chevron colors to match your classroom decor.  Let me know what you think by clicking on the respective TpT and TN stores link or on the pictures below.

TpT store

TN shop

Included in this packet are signs for peanuts, all nuts (tree nuts), gluten, soy, milk and eggs.  Also, I made combination allergy-free signs for students who have multiple food allergies.

Let me know what you think of my new classroom signs!!  If you don't see a food allergy combination in my packet that you need in your own classroom, please email me or leave a comment below and I will create one for you!  Have a great Tuesday!

Currently October

So I definitely failed to post my freebie up this past weekend!  Life caught up with me over the weekend/ I was doing some major house cleaning with my dad.  My poor hands are tired from all the scrubbing!

Because of my procrastination, I will post a freebie that I have been working on tomorrow!!  Stay tuned tomorrow because I can't wait to show you what I worked on the past two days.

Since it's midway through October, I'm linking up with Farley's Currently October Linky Party.

I always seem to be very busy when Once Upon A Time airs on Sundays!  So I'm catching up on it online (I just discontinued my DVR, but at least the commercials are shorter).  Anyone else obsessed with this show?  I love the whole twist with the classic fairytale stories into a modern "Lost" drama.

Some people have cold hands, I have cold feet!  One thing I love about the fall/winter seasons are FUZZY SOCKS!

Halloween is coming up and everyone in the teacher's lounge are talking about their outfits this year.  I have no idea what I want to be this year! My previous school I was at didn't allow staff and students to dress up for Halloween.  Any suggestions?!

I've been craving apple pie since I went apple & pumpkin picking with the BF a couple weekends ago. I definitely need to make more ASAP!  Also, I need to start carving my pumpkins soon!  I Can't wait to crack open this bad boy up.

I need to make an appointment for a massage! My whole body hurts.  I think it's the change in weather...I might have to have a spa day with some girlfriends. Don't we all deserve a little girl time once in awhile?!

Stealing Heaven is actually a young adult novel and I saw it recommended to me through my GoodReads account.  I just started and it's a pretty good book and it's a fast read.

Here's an overview:
Dani has been trained as a thief by the best-- her mother.  Together, they move from town to town, targeting wealthy homes and making a living by stealing antique silver.  They never stay in one place long enough to make real connections, real friends-- a real life.

In beach town of Heaven, though, everything changes.  For the first time, Dani starts to feel at home.  She's making friends and has even met a guy.  But these people can never know the real Dani-- because of who she is.  When it turns out that her new friend lives in the house they've targeted for their next job and the cute guy is a cop, Dani must question where her loyalties lie: with the life she's always known-- or the one she's always wanted.

America Votes!

For the upcoming election, I finally completed my Election Day unit!!  Check it out by clicking on the picture below or the links for either TpT or TN store!

TeachersPayTeachers Store

Teachers Notebook Shop

Included in this 64 page bundle are literacy center activities (ABC order, Write the Room, Alphabet Challenge, Make a Word), tree maps and bubble maps, labeling, writing prompts, vocabulary cards, How To Vote activity, and comprehension pages (history of election day, president's job, political parties, how to vote).

In addition, I have included a class voting activity with voter registration cards, ballots, voter sign-in, prediction sheet, and voting signs. Also, there is an activity of students coming up with their own presidential slogans and buttons.

As with all of my units, this election packet is aligned to the Common Core Standards.

Stay tuned this week because I will have a freebie up by the weekend!

Tech Tip Tuesday

Looking for new apps to put on your classroom iPad?!  I was talking with one of our school's speech pathologists today and she showed me an app great for students with autism.  So forget the old-fashioned flashcards and get this awesome app!

My favorite app is called Word SLapPs Vocabulary.  This app was designed by a Speech Language Pathologist that allows you to teach any student at any pace.  You can use any image and save them to your own recorded questions.  My kinders are still learning all of their peers and adult's names so this was easy-peasy to take everyone's picture with their name voice-recorded.  This app is the best because you can easily personalize it. This app is $4.99 but they did a 50% off back-to-school sale in August. So keep your eyes open to see if they will have another sale.

This is what the app button looks like on the iPad.

After student's touch the correct image, they are rewarded with a fun, exciting sounds, animation, and/or visuals.  When you first download the app, it comes with pre-loaded animal and color categories.  You can buy pre-made categories from other people or you can create your own.  I just want to let you know that it is REALLY EASY to make your own! It takes about 10 minutes!  You can teach all kinds of words like nouns, sight words, action, and "where" questions.

Here are other images of what you can do such as sequencing and making stories.

To learn even more about this app check it out at the iTunes store here.

Stay tuned tomorrow because I will be posting my new Election Day unit at TpT and TN!! I finally completed it yesterday during my day off school!  I can't wait to show you guys this awesome unit!