Wednesday, February 22, 2017

$25 L. Paull Designs Gift Card Giveaway - Amazing Teacher Shirts!



When I saw these amazing teacher shirts from L.Paull Designs, I was in LOVE!  I knew that I wanted to giveaway one of these fabulous designs to one of my favorite teachers (i.e. YOU!), and I was so excited when Lindsay said, "YES!"

Check out some of these options you can get if you win:






GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 L. Paull Designs Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 





Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 3/1/17 and is open in the US only.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!

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Monday, February 20, 2017

Scholastic Printables Giveaway

I absolutely love Scholastic!  From their book orders to their warehouse sales, what's not to love?



The one thing I wasn't 100% sure about was their printables site.  As a general practice, I don't use a lot of worksheets in my classroom, so I wasn't sure it would be worthwhile to me.  Boy was I wrong!

I was asked to try out their resources for a year to see what I think, and (THE BEST PART) to host a giveaway to give one of my lucky readers an opportunity to try them out for a year as well!

Since subscribing, I have checked out many items from language arts to math to art lessons.  I have been very impressed!  Not only has it saved me time in my own lesson planning, but it has also come in handy for sub plans!

One lesson I really loved was this lesson on comparing two poems.  I chose this lesson to help my students prepare for our upcoming SBAC assessments.

Students use two poems filled with figurative language to explore seasonal changes, and complete critical thinking and word work questions.  Best of all, this resource includes step-by-step instructions for 3 levels of differentiated instruction.







Notice how it is so much more than just a worksheet!  It includes lesson plans, ideas for differentiation, comprehension strategies, vocabulary strategies, and more!






About Scholastic Printables

Scholastic Printables gives you instant, unlimited access to thousands of skill sheets, activities, lesson plans and more.  These classroom resources are created by teachers and vetted by your trusted friends at Scholastic.  Save time and money, and browse with confidence.  To start your free trial, please click here.

I am teaming up with Scholastic to give away a free 1-year subscription to Scholastic Printables!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: One (1) winner will receive a 1-year subscription to Scholastic Printables.  

Giveaway Sponsored by: Scholastic


Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 2/28/16 and is open worldwide.


This post was sponsored by Scholastic.  I have partnered with Scholastic to host this giveaway. Prizing and sample subscription provided by Scholastic. All opinions are my own.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!


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Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway


Every week we give away a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card to one of our lucky readers!  Enter to win using the Rafflecopter below!




GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 



Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 2/27/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!


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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Things We LOVE Giveaway

In honor of Valentine's Day, some of my blogging buddies and I have gotten together to give away teaching supplies that we LOVE!  Check out all of our favorites and scroll down to enter to win ALL of them!




Mr. Sketch Markers are my absolute favorite for making anchor charts!  I love the bright colors - and the fact that they smell good doesn't hurt either.  My students also love when I use them to grade their papers!  I buy them on Amazon using Subscribe and Save to save money!


Flair pens are another favorite of mine for grading purposes.  I let students use them to revise their writing as well, because they love writing with them, so they always want to add details!


I do not know how I would live without my laminators.  Yes, that is plural! I have one at home and one at school and it is so convenient!


Even though I love my laminators, there are times when I need something quick and easy.  I love these dry erase pockets for being able to quickly re-use worksheets.  My students get extra practice, and I save time at the copier.


And speaking of dry erase, these are the absolute best dry erase markers out there!  My school buys a cheaper version, so I always stock up on my own, because they last so much longer! Again, I buy these on Amazon using Subscribe and Save.


Something about color makes everything better!  From boring worksheets to letters home, Astrobrights paper makes everything a little more fun!


Just like I don't like to compromise on my dry erase markers, I also don't like to compromise on the pencils we use in class.  Ticonderoga pencils are by far the best.  They sharpen so much easier than any of the others and they hold a point longer.


And last but not least, no teacher favorites list would be complete without Teachers pay Teachers! If you win this giveaway, you will also receive a $50 TpT gift card to spend however you like!

So, onto the giveaway...




GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: Things We LOVE prize pack including: Mr. Sketch Markers, Flair Markers, Personal Laminator, Dry Erase Pockets, Dry Erase Markers, Astrobrights Paper, Ticonderoga Pencils, and a $50 Teachers pay Teachers gift card.

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)




Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 2/21/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!



a Rafflecopter giveaway


This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  


Thursday, February 2, 2017

Reasons Why I Love My Class - Valentine's Day in the Classroom Freebie!


I wanted to do a little something special for my class this Valentine's Day, so when one of my friends posted this Valentine Heart Attack post from Skip to My Lou on Facebook, I knew I wanted to adapt it for the classroom. I wanted to share with my students all of the Reasons Why I Love My Class!



This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. 



I made a sign that said Reasons Why I Love My Class.  Then I printed a heart template on several pieces of card stock and cut them out.  I wrote various reasons why I love my class including:


They are smart.
They are kind.
They always try their best.

On February 1st, I hung up the Reasons Why I Love My Class sign and the first heart.  Today, I hung up the second heart. 





 My students were racing to the door to read what the new heart said.  

I printed out all of my hearts ahead of time on colored card stock and will be hanging up a new one each day until Valentine's Day as a sort of countdown.  Here are a few of the other hearts:




I have made a freebie for you just in case you wanted to try this project out with your own students.  You can download it here.  




You can start a few days late and add hearts as you go, or put up the whole display on Valentine's Day instead.

If you decide to do this project, I would love to see pictures!  Please email me at kellys3ps@sbcglobal.net or tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter!

Here are a few pictures from other readers:




This display is from 3rd in the City - I LOVE how she displayed in on a clothesline bulletin board!



I love the first reason Ms. Cullia shared with her Pre-K kiddos - "They come in with smiles everyday!"

If you would like to see the other months' projects you can find them here:




Before you go, head on over to our giveaway page to enter our current giveaway!  Every week one lucky winner gets a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card! 









Monday, January 30, 2017

Bouncy Bands - Help Keep Students On Task


I have very active students in my class, so when I was presented with the opportunity to try out Bouncy Bands I took it!




This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

Bouncy Bands were invented by an Elementary School Counselor, Scott Ertl, who created them to help students at his school who needed a way to move while sitting at their desk.  


As soon as I read the directions in the box, I could tell that someone who knew a lot about student needs had developed this product!



Not only were complete instructions included, but there were also tips for having your students try them out.  Scott suggested giving each student a chance to try them out for one hour, and then give their opinion. I am not going to lie, they were a bit difficult for me to install on my own, but with a little help from the hubby, they were good to go!



Even though Luke is no longer in my class this year, he jumped at the opportunity to be the first person to test them out!

After our initial testing, I had my students use them for the week.  To say that they loved them is an understatement! They didn't want to leave their seat!  (Please excuse my messy science supplies in the background)!



Here are the survey results:



Some of their comments:


"We need 23 more!"

"It was good because it helped me concentrate."

"It was good because I need to kick my feet."

"I love the bouncy chair because it relaxes my feet."

I loved that they were so quiet!  Once the students were using them, I really forgot they were even there except for the fact that my students really seemed to stay focused longer. You can see how quiet they are in the video below:




As you can see from the survey, many of my students want more of the Bouncy Bands in our classroom, so I appreciate that Bouncy Bands even has suggestions for writing a Donors Choose proposal!  

You can buy Bouncy Bands at the Bouncy Bands Website or at Amazon

Have you used Bouncy Bands in your classroom?

Disclaimer: I received this product in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and are not influenced by the company or product.

Before you leave, don't forget to enter our weekly giveaway to win a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!






Saturday, January 28, 2017

Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson


My students struggle with vocabulary!  Research has shown that my students are not alone. By the end of second grade, the average student has acquired approximately 6,000 root-word meanings, but the lowest 25% have acquired only 4,000! (Biemiller, 2006).

I noticed a big problem with my own students (4th graders) when they struggled to understand the word brave used as a character trait!   We ask them to be able to:

Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions.  CCSS.RL.4.3

How can they possibly do this if they don't have the basic vocabulary to define character traits?  Here is one of the lessons we used to help develop their vocabulary.

This post may contain affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. 


Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson

We chose some common character traits that were connected to characters we had been reading about in class.  We then searched for pictures that would match those words. You can just type the word in Google and then choose an image search.


We printed out the pictures we found, and wrote the words and definitions on index cards.  We passed the pictures and words out to the students and asked them to find their match.


Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson

Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson

Once the students found their match, we asked them to present the word, the definition, and the picture to the class to see if everyone agreed. 

 Most of the students made a successful match, and for the ones who didn't we were able to have a productive discussion about why their choice was not quite the best one.


Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson

Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson

We put the matching cards on an anchor chart for the students to refer to.  


Character Trait Vocabulary Lesson

We used this activity as a whole group, but you could easily modify it to use in a small group, or have students work in partners to match up all of the words and pictures.

If you use this activity, I would love to hear how it goes!

Before you leave, be sure to head over to enter our current giveaway!





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