Christmas Helpers {winner}

Just a quick post tonight because Marlee's great-grandma is on her way to meet her. :) But I wanted to announce the winner of my Christmas unit giveaway!  And it is...

Breanne Simons!  {Leave me your email and I'll send it right over!}

Thanks to all who pinned the unit. I can't wait to get out my elf - I mean, Santa's helper - when I go back in  December! ;)

Christmas Unit {giveaway}

I have to admit, I am missing being at work just a bit.  I mean, I'm obviously loving sleeping until it's time to watch Kelly Ripa and hanging out with this beautiful girl all day {shameless bragging here} but I'm just the teensiest bit sad to be missing these months...fall into winter is my favorite time of the year!

{photo credit: The Beautiful Mess}

Because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I can't skip over it and go straight to Christmas.  So remember to download my Pilgrim & Native American unit for some fun this month and check out the other Thanksgiving freebies previously posted.

Ok, now that I've honored the pilgrims, we can move on.  ;)  I previously created a unit to go along with that tradition of Santa's elf coming down from the North Pole to visit...you know, the one that sits in a certain place that rhymes with elf and is all over Pinterest {if you get where I'm going here} but I was asked to take it down due to copyright infringement.  {Side note: It is a super bummer that so many children's book authors don't want us teachers to create related follow-up activities.  Um, helloooo...we're making your book more popular which will increase sales.  Who's losing in this deal?!}  Anyway, rant over.  Many of you have asked where "that unit" went and I happy to say that it has been tweaked, renamed & is back up!

If you would like to read a book about "Santa's Helpers" to your students, this is a fabulous follow-up unit.  There are enough journal pages to use it for writing for a few weeks leading up to your Christmas break or you can print single pages as you please and add them to your literacy or writing lessons.  Since this unit is not affiliated with any particular book, there is no additional work required to use the unit in your classroom or at home so it can be a stand alone activity without any other materials required.  Although a pencil, crayons, some Christmas spirit and Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You would all be nice additions.

Since I miss talking with all of you I'm giving the unit away.  All you have to do is pin the "Being Santa's Helper" unit on Pinterest & leave the link to your board in the comments!  You can pin it from here or my TeachersPayTeachers store, however you like to organize your pins.  :)  I'll pick a winner on Saturday, November 16th.

Until then, happy teaching & pinning my dears!  :)

Little Glamour Baby has ARRIVED

Or did you already figure that out because I haven't posted in a few weeks?!  :)  Since I'm on maternity leave I have no academic tips or fun downloads for you today.  But if you're interested in meeting our sweet girl, I have hundreds of pictures.  Already.  In 3 short weeks!  Here's just a couple:

Promise me you'll return to keep reading and I promise to come back with new, great things!  I'm just going to take full advantage of my time off to spend with this sweet face before getting back into the kindergarten routine.

Lots of love from all 3 of us!

September Homework Calendar

Happy September...it's finally Little Glamour Baby month!!!  I don't think I ever seriously thought that my stomach could get this big...

And while I wait for my little miracle, I also have a fun gift for you!  I volunteered to do our team's homework calendar this year and once I sat down to start writing it up, I figured I may as well make it good...and cute...and meet Common Core objectives.  And if it's going to be that good, I may as well share it, right?!  ;)

I only have September done for now because I've been at the computer all day & need to start helping my husband with the housework.  :)  Since I'm technically a week late, it's yours for free!  Either send it as is or just white out last week before making the copies if you don't want to send it with homework tasks for past dates.

{click to download}

We aren't sending ours home until this week after our Curriculum Night {Open House} which is why I didn't get it to you sooner.  I also assigned our weekly sight words in the Sunday column but didn't want that to prevent any of you from using it because I know our words {and holiday breaks} are likely not the same for the year.  You can always write yours in before copying, though!

I'm hoping to get the rest of the year put together soon so I get the whole packet to you soon.  However, that is all up in the air for now.  This baby is due on Monday...like, 2 days from now...so while I would love to get it put together & make it available soon...just stay tuned & don't get upset if it only comes out month to month, okay?!  ;)

5 {easy} ways to develop early reading skills

When I was asked to write a guest post at What to Expect I laughed out loud. Hello! This is my first pregnancy. I have NO idea what to expect and certainly don't have any pearls of wisdom to share with other pregnant ladies!  Luckily, they were looking for a post on academics. Whew!  THAT I can do!

{click for the article}

I wrote up my tips for developing early literacy skills at home with toddlers and pre-schoolers but think it is totally applicable for young readers, too. I'm going to send the list home with my families so they have an easy place to start the conversations of literacy at home.  Please pass along the link or print it out for your open house if you find it beneficial as well!

Carson Dellosa Winner & Classroom Pics

Yep, I moved again this year.  While I loved pretty much everything about my room last year, it was in the 5th grade hall and left me a little disconnected from my team.  So this year I'm down in the kindergarten hall & had the chance to start over with a new classroom set up!  {see the positive attitude I chose to use there instead of dwelling on the fact that I had to move everything...again...while pregnant??}  ;)

Today was my first day.  The room isn't perfect but it's ready to roll for whenever baby girl arrives and I have to peace out!  Here's a few snapshots...

{view from the back of the room}

{front door & behavior clip chart}

{writing center}

{listening center & computer station}

{guided reading table}

{SUPER organized guided reading cabinet...so pumped about this!!}

{ginormous library for lots of reading}

{calendar & math board...will be added to throughout the year}

{teacher area hiding behind magnet center & unfinished work pockets}

And the winner of the fabulous Carson Dellosa giveaway...

Congratulations Sara!  Check your email!!  :)

Carson-Dellosa Common Core {giveaway}

That's right!  3 amazing things in one post.  I know, I almost can't believe it myself.  But I do have a brand-new Carson Dellosa product to share with you, it is aligned to the Common Core and one of you will win it for your very own!  To shake things up a little bit, watch this for details:

Ha!  I hope you liked my video post.  I thought it was super fun and if you guys agree I'll have to do those more often!!  :)

Ok...here's the Giveaway Details:

{to enter}

*Follow this blog using either Google Friend Connect {over there on the left under "Fellow Fashionistas"} or on Blog Lovin' {the next little button down with the blue + sign}

*Like Carson-Dellosa's Facebook page

*Leave a comment below to let me know which prize you would choose!  {math or literacy & which grade level you need}

That's it!  I'll pick a winner on August 26th when I get home from my 1st day of school!!