Back to School Books

Well I can never resist anything book related so I have decided to join up with Blog Hoppin' for the "Back to School Books Linky Party and Giveaway!" School has still not started for me, but I only have a few more glorious summer days before it is back into the classroom. I know there are a million fantastic books I could have chosen, but I decided to narrow it down to 3:


1.    

I was actually introduced to this book at the end of last year, and I read it to a Grade One class who absolutely LOVED it and requested it over and over. It goes with the ides of excitement and also patience, which are important to cover on the first day.

2.

Along with excitement, I think the first day should also touch on the worries that most students (and teachers!) are probably feeling. I think this is a classic book to open up that discussion for students.

3.

To finish off the list, a little humor. This book opens up a discussion about classroom rules, and does so in a humorous way for students.

So there are my 3 Back to School book picks, what are yours? Link up with Blog Hoppin' and you could win $50 from The Clever School Teacher (which ,if you do not know, is a fabulous online store where you can buy booksets to coincide with author studies, comprehension strategies, writing traits etc.).

Here's to the last few days of summer!

A Little Freebie

Well it feels like just yesterday I was counting down the days until Summer and now here I am, one of the lucky few, counting down the days until school starts once again. The weather is still quite nice here, so it doesn't quite feel like school should be starting in just over a week. I don't know how much work I would ever get done if I worked in a warmer climate!

I was working on some new units the other day and suddenly I had a new idea pop into my head. I had to stop what I was doing right then and made up this freebie to share. I love the idea of making basic skills (such as place value) fun in any way possible and for some reason, I always think adding the idea of mystery makes things a little more fun. So here are my "Place Value Mystery Number Cards." These can be used in an independent math center, or as a quick assessment. I am always for any kind of formative assessment and these can be used as just that. Give each student a card and an assessment ticket, and get a quick idea of which students need some help with the concept of place value.

Click here to go check out this freebie.
Hope everyone is having a great start to the year!

Huge Sale!

Thanks to Amy for making the graphic

That's right, I'm having a sale! I will be joining in with a gazillion other TPT sellers for the "Back to School" Sale. Everything in my store will be 20% off. Make sure to use the Promo Code: BTS12 to get an additional 10% off your purchases. Some to the Back to School items you will find in my store include the following:

Back to School Daily Math for Third and Fourth Grade:

  

Back to School Units for Primary and Intermediate:

Make sure to head over to Blog Hoppin' to check out other sellers who are joining the sale!

Productivity and a Giveaway

Well it feels like ages since I have written a blog post. I wish I had a legitimate excuse, but I don't. I will say that the weather has finally gotten warm for me (for all of 3 days) and I was slightly more productive over this past week then I have been over the rest of the summer combined. I did complete a few units, including these two back to school units (click on the pictures to go check them out):

I have never done a giveaway, nor have I entered one, but I would love to give away these two units. If you'd like to enter just leave a comment with your email address and the unit you would like. I will give the primary one away to the first primary commenter and the intermediate one away to the first intermediate commenter (hope that makes sense, I feel like I was rambling a bit).

Hope everyone is having a great summer, and if you're already heading back to school - Good Luck! I have never had to go back to school in August, so I would like to hear if anyone does have to do that. Is it hard to go back when the weather is so nice and warm outside?

I know I should have more to say, so hopefully I'll be back within another week!