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Happy December! Hope this holiday season finds you feeling joyful and blessed! Today I want to share an easy, fun, engaging holiday ornament project. Not only is this ornament easy to complete, but it is very inexpensive! Win-win! The process to complete this ornament is easy, and you can use ANY artwork you want for the students to trace- symbols from any holiday or season can be used. You can find 4 different designs for free HERE - or feel free to make your own. (*Note: The sizes for cutting the paper go along with the designs I have included- if you choose to use something else you will want to measure your design and cut accordingly.) Here are the supplies you will need: Supplies: *leftover scraps of laminating film (or use some fresh you have run through the laminator!) *designs to trace (remember you can find some HERE or create your own) *aluminum foil *tape (works better than glue for this project- DOUBLE-sided tape is the best if possible) *string, ya...

Do you teach the water cycle in your science instruction? If so- here are 5 books you might want to check out... The Water Cycle a Bobby Kalman book Did a Dinosaur Drink This Water by Robert E. Wells All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson Magic School Bus at the Waterworks by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen A Drop in the Ocean: The Story of Water by Jacqui Bailey My very favorite is... This is an excellent book that teaches the water cycle in an interesting format! Kids will love it! Try to find it in your local library or on Amazon. If you are looking for materials to teach the Water Cycle- I have Interactive Notebook Pages available in my TpT store!  Happy Teaching!                                                              

An elementary classroom in December is an exciting place to be! Kiddos are so full of energy and excitement- sometimes it is hard to contain it all! Educational games are a great way to keep kids engaged and learning all the way up to Winter Break. Your kids will love these Holiday Addition and Subtraction (with Regrouping) Math Card Games!   One game that my students have really enjoyed playing is a math game that I created (and is available in  my Teachers Pay Teachers store ) called  Holiday War .  There are 2 sets of cards, one set of addition with regrouping cards and one set of subtraction with regrouping cards. Some prep is required (copying and cutting), but the card games can be used over and over each year.  The game is played like a traditional "war" card game. Each student draws a card, adds or subtracts (depending on the version) and the player with the largest answer gets to keep both cards. The winner is the player that has the most car...

Linking up again today for Teacher Week 2015 with Blog Hoppin' ! I enjoyed reading 5 fun facts about so many teacher bloggers yesterday! Today's topic is Make Ahead Meals! So if you read my post from yesterday you already know I LOVE to cook. Here are a few of my favorite make ahead meals (links to them)- or at least easy meals to fix on a hectic school night! One of my favorite "easy" meals to fix is salad. This one I would consider make ahead because I can pick up all the parts at the grocery store, stick them in the fridge, and then when I get home from work it can be on the table in a matter of minutes with VERY little to clean up after dinner. This is a spin on a salad that I used to get at O'Charley's (sadly the location near us closed!). It is a... Cranberry Pecan Fried Chicken Salad Ingredients: spring mix salad mix fried chicken tenders (already prepared from the deli counter)- sliced dried cranberries candied pecans (Emerald brand Glazed "Pecan ...

I am excited to participating in my first ever Teacher Week sponsored by Blog Hoppin' ! Today's topic is 5 FUN Things ! So... here goes! 1.) I am a tv addict! I have the television on all the time- even if I am reading or doing other things. And I think the DVR is one of the best things ever invented!!! I love Food Network and HGTV. A few of my favorite shows are NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, Nashville, and The Good Wife.  2.) I am also an avid reader! I love to read and the library is one of my favorite places to visit. I occasionally read books on my iPad, but my preference will always be to hold the real thing in my hands and turn the pages myself! 3.) My husband and I are empty nesters. We have a daughter that is 26 who works for Disney and a 19 year old daughter that is in college. She plays softball and we enjoy watching her play all spring. 4.) I was never a pet person growing up. In 2010, I let my youngest daughter talk me into getting a puppy. We now have 4 d...

I am excited to be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday!  Can you believe August is almost over- this month has gone by crazy fast! But... that means September and FALL are just around the corner!!!! I have been (not so) patiently waiting for September 1st to get here. I have been dying to start my fall decorating. Fall happens to be my very favorite time of the year and I love to put out all of my decorations. I might happen to be obsessed with squirrels and have added a few to my collection... I have been excited about the response I have gotten from one of my newest products in my TpT store... I love using an interactive notebook in science and this is a great way to kick off science instruction for the school year! I especially love to see how creative my students can be when decorating their covers! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new Erin Condren planner! My daughter convinced me to get one after she got hers and we have had so much fun decorat...

A necessary part of the school day for most teachers is the class restroom break. In my school our principal encouraged us to go to the restroom as a class to minimize the number of students out roaming the halls.                                 In my class, the kiddos had 4 scheduled opportunities to use the restroom. And as we all know, behavior management can be a challenge while the kids are sitting idly while waiting for their turn.  Several years ago I started having my students take a book to read while waiting in line. I can't tell you the difference it made!!! The kids sit so quietly, engrossed in their books while waiting. Here's how it worked:  1.) when I call them to line up for the restroom, they grab their book from their book bin on the way to line ( in my class the kids have assigned line spots) 2.) when we get to the restroom, the kids sit down in their line and...