A Super Swap and a Giveaway

Yesterday was the wonderful "magical product swap" hosted by Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's Class!  I just love these product swaps, and I'm always thrilled to have the opportunity to participate!

I reviewed one of Fern Smith's products and Fern reviewed one of mine!  Make sure you check out Fern's blog for tons of great tips and some awesome freebies!

I got to try out Fern's Halloween themed multiplication center games, and the kids and I loved them!  Pick them all up from her store for just $5!  

She tested out my scoot game called rounding robots!  It's one of my best selling products on TPT, and it is great practice for rounding to the nearest ten and/or hundred!  If you liked her review and want the chance to win your own copy of the game, enter below by Wednesday at midnight!  All you have to do to enter (and maybe win!) is follow my blog!

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Multiplication - Scary or Sweet?

Scary or sweet?  Tricks or treats?  How do your kids see multiplication?

Each and every year we work...and work...and work...on multiplication!  It is a big focus for our kids after Christmas, but I'm starting early with our review this year!  Our third graders should come to us knowing how to multiply by 0's, 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's, but you know how that goes!  Thanks to Fern Smith, of Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas, my kids had a great time reviewing their 1's, 2's, and 5's this week with some Halloween fun!

Jessica Stanford is hosting another wonderful product swap, and I was paired up with Fern! 

 Looking through her TPT store, all of the great products made it so hard for me to make a choice, but I absolutely loved her Thirteen Halloween Multiplication Center Games!

Here's Fern's description of her product:

"This 110 Paged Halloween Themed Center Game has one game for every times tables ~ Zero to Twelve!!

* 13 Different Halloween themes in full color with student directions included.

* 110 PAGES of printable center games including a variety of different ways to play the game.

* Distinct Cover Sheet to glue on folders, or place in a Ziplock Baggie.

* Each theme has two pages of Matching Problems & Answers in Color to be cut apart as playing cards. Or use one page as a game board and one page cut apart as the matching playing cards.

* Everything also comes in Black and White if you want to save on color printer ink!

** Extra Bonus! A Cover Sheet for your students to organize their own folder for individualize center games.This center game is designed to be printed, cut apart for your classroom and laminated if desired. It is cute, colorful and is completely designed to be an independently led student activity. EXCELLENT for when the teacher is working with small reading or math groups. It also contains the ENTIRE file in a black and white version so that you can copy it and send it home as weekly homework. Great for the students to cut out and practice fine motor skills as well as reinforcing their multiplication times tables! Placed together or apart, the concepts in this center game helps a child learn to have quicker mental math!"

Not only do you get thirteen great multiplication games with cover (title) pages and student directions, but you get them in color and black and white and you get extra ideas for different ways to assemble and use the games!  I didn't take pictures of my preparation (I forget so many things lately!), but it was super quick and easy.  It took me maybe one 45 minute planning period to print, laminate, and cut out the color game pieces, title pages, and directions for three games!  I started with the 1's, 2's, and 5's because, like I said, that should be review for my kiddos!  I used large manilla folders to store the game pieces and directions with the game's cover/title page on the front. (forgot to snap a picture of that too unfortunately...)  But on to the game!

Check out these cute game pieces that can get us all in the Halloween spirit!

I loved Fern's tip for making the games self-checking!  I have TONS of small stickers/chart seals that I used to label matching cards.  Thanks for the idea, Fern!

The kids had a great time reviewing these multiplication facts when there was a fun game to help them out!  And with the self-checking cards, they all had the chance to be successful and make their own adjustments and corrections!

Fern has so many great products and tons of freebies in her store!  Be sure to check them all out.  She has great Halloween themed addition center games too if you're kids aren't quite ready for multiplication!  

Visit Fern's blog to check out her review of one of my products and to find all kinds of great ideas!

And don't forget to visit Jessica's blog to read reviews of lots of great teacher created products!
Come back here tomorrow for a quick giveaway if you like my product reviewed by Fern!

Hershey Bars...Yes, Please!

If you asked for one of my scoot game freebies over the weekend, check your email!  They've all been sent!  I had about 3 people who didn't leave their email address.  And guess what...you're no-reply bloggers too, so I can't send you the game you requested.  {Check out Jessica's tutorial to fix that!}  If you already commented on that post and didn't get your freebie, email me!

Now...on to those Hershey bars!  Who doesn't love tasty chocolate candy?  {Remember my chocolate drawer I told you about?}  Using chocolate for math makes it even better!

I joined in with Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's Class and over 100 other teachers for her magical product swap, and boy am I glad!

Thanks to this little party, I got to meet a great new blogger!  I swapped products with Julie from Math Is Elementary!  Julie is a third grade teacher from Florida who teaches math and science.  You have to go check out her blog!  She has terrific math ideas {a blogger after my own heart =)} not to mention great ideas for other subjects too!  Click on her button at the bottom of this post to visit her blog!  And don't forget to visit her TPT store to grab some freebies or one of her other great products (like the one I'm reviewing today)!

I got to review Julie's TPT product "We Love Candy Bar Fractions"!  Here's her description of the product.

"Candy Bar Fractions (16 pages) is a math literature unit designed to coordinate with Jerry Pallotta's Hersheys(TM) Fractions Book. It contains models of whole candy bars and all the fractional parts as well as equivalent fractions recording sheets, fraction cards and fraction comparison work mats. Aligned with Common Core standards for 3rd and 4th grade, it can be used for any grade working with fractional parts / equal shares."

As soon as I opened the file and looked over it, I loved it!  I can see this being a big hit in my classroom!  As much as full size Hershey bars cost, I can't buy one for every child, so the printable Hershey bars in this product will be great (and less messy) to use for manipulatives along with the fraction cards for 1/2 through the twelfths!  And after the activity maybe we can share a few bars or each get a mini bar as a treat for a job well done!  You get whole bars, halves, fourths, thirds, sixths, and twelfths.

Laminating and cutting could take a while, but this would be a perfect and easy task for a parent volunteer you may have!  I find it really difficult to ask for help sometimes, but I've found that a lot of parents really do want to help and just need to know what to do.

When you have all of those Hershey Bars and number cards ready to go, grab your work mats.  You get three work mats - one for comparing equal fractions, one for less than, and one for greater than.  They'll be easy for the kids to use alone or with a partner!  In my class we'll be comparing first with the bars and then adding the number cards.

As they work, each student will record the equivalent fractions on a recording sheet.  You have three variations of the equivalent fractions recording sheet.

You can choose the recording sheet that lets the kids find and write any two equivalent fractions.

Or you can choose the recording sheet that has them find all of the equivalent fractions they can for any fraction they want to begin with.

My favorite is just like the second option I showed you, except for one thing.  The first fraction is given so students have to find fractions equivalent to it.  If you plan to check their recording sheets for accuracy, I think this one would be the easiest and quickest to check!

All in all, this is a great product!  I can't wait to see more of what Julie has to offer as she continues to add products to her store!  Be sure to check out her blog (click the button) and her TPT store (click here)!

And don't forget to check out all of the other product reviews linked up on Jessica's blog for her "Magical Product Swap"!

Are there any products you've found on TPT or TN that you just love?

And The Winners Are...

My giveaway is over...Thank you to everyone who entered, commented, pinned, and blogged about it!  Make sure you stay tuned even if you didn't win, because you have more chances to get my mega pack and other scoot games!  But more about that later!  First our winners...

Congratulations to...

The Fabulous First Place Winner: Allie E.

&

The Super Second Place Winner: Lacie B.

Allie, from The Gypsy Teacher, won for pinning one of my new products!  Check her out on pinterest - click on her pin below!

Allie, you'll be getting the Scoot Parts of Speech Mega Pack from me soon!


Lacie, from Polka Dots & Pencils, won for commenting on my blog post!

Lacie, I'll be emailing you soon so be picking your prizes!  Remember, you can choose 2 individual games or one combo pack!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, if you didn't win, don't fret!  There are more chances to win some of my scoot games!

April, from The Idea Backpack, is having a 300 follower giveaway, and you could win my parts of speech mega pack or one of my combo packs!  Enter before midnight on Monday!

And coincidentally, Allie, from The Gypsy Teacher, who won my mega pack is preparing for a giveaway too!  Keep an eye out for it because from her giveaway you could win any two of my individual scoot games! 

Finally, stick with me over the next few days because I have some celebrating to do! I have reached 250 followers {yay!} and my blog's birthday is coming up!  My first post was July 28th of last year, so you'll be seeing a little giveaway for ALL of my great followers soon!

Linking Up, Giving Away, & Scooting into Grammar

I went in to my classroom today to check things out and tackle a bit of the mess!  Well, first things first...let's just be honest...I had NO CLUE where to start!  Secondly, my floors still need a couple coats of wax so I can't set things up just yet.  So I went about the business of running my errands - Lowe's to get my teacher toolbox {yay! =)} and Wal-mart for groceries (yuck...).  Does anybody else hate grocery shopping as much as I do??  Then I went to my mom and dad's house to paint her new home office for her!  That should be a nice surprise when she gets home from her training this week!

Tomorrow we are off to buy some goodies for our classroom (if we can track down the principal for a p.o.)!  Another third grade teacher and I are going.  We still don't know who we'll be working with this year since one of us retired {we hated to see her go, but we're trying to come to terms =)}, but we'll have some goodies for whoever joins us!  Hopefully I can share what we find with you guys tomorrow or Friday!

Now, on to some blogging business!

Whooo Loves Fonts?

Michele from Run! Miss Nelson's Got The Camera is having a favorite font linky party!  Here are my favorite fonts (from Kevin & Amanda - find their button in my sidebar).  Jen from Hello Literacy has a lot of great fonts too!  I really like Hello Firstie, and she has some new fonts since I last looked!  Check them all out in her sidebar!

Giveaways

First off, Cassandra is hosting a giveaway and I'm pleased to be a part of it!
Stop by for a chance to win $10 worth of items in my TPT store {and others}!  You have 6 days to enter!

Ends in about an hour!  Hurry, hurry, hurry!

Ends on July 20th at midnight

You have 4 days to enter to win some GREAT prizes!

More ELA Scoot Games

Now...I need your help!  Again...I've finished up a few more parts of speech scoot games, and I need some proofreaders!  I have games covering pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs.  If you're willing to proofread a game, look over it carefully for any mistakes, and email me your thoughts, suggestions, and corrections that should be made, I'll give you the finished version for free!  I'll need you to please look over it tomorrow, and email me your thoughts by tomorrow night!  {These games will be part of a giveaway soon!  Keep an eye out for which blog you should be following if you aren't already!}

The first three people to comment and leave their email address will get one of my scoot games.  Remember to tell me which game you want to proofread.  I'll give away one of each!  

And go enter those giveaways!

Target Goodies & Terrific Giveaways

This has been a busy, busy week!  I told you before that my hubby's birthday was Wednesday so I've been baking and made him the dinner he wanted for his special day!  {Don't forget to download your birthday postcard freebies!}  He opened most of his gifts from me and the gift from his parents on his birthday, and yesterday we visited my mom (who just got back in town) and dad, and he opened his gifts from them and the rest from me!

All the smoke from the candles cracks me up!

I FINALLY surprised him!
My big gift for him was the new iPhone 4s and a lifeproof case!

His favorite gift from my mom - a new dirt bike helmet!

Target Goodies

{From the Dollar Spot, of course!}

Unfortunately {or maybe fortunately =)} my closest target is well over an hour away, so I'm not there often, and I can't run out to grab all of the great things everyone blogs about...BUT, my mom was working out of town this week and I sent her to the dollar spot!  As she browsed I asked question after question about the things she told me they had so I could make my choices!  Yes, I have the best mother ever! 

So this is what I ended up with...2 cute paper trays, 4 pocket charts (no plans for most of them...but they were only $1), 3 - 5 minute Quick Quizzes for multiplication, and 7 great chapter books!  I'm so excited about the chapter books!  There's a variety of classic titles that my readers will love!  The Quick Quizzes will be used for math centers or fast finishers.  I will either laminate them or the kiddos will put them into the DIY Dry Erase Boards I made! 

Terrific Giveaways Going on Now

{Some are ending soon!  Hurry on over to enter!}

Teacher Created Resources is having a back to school giveaway where you could win an iPad!!

Sara from Fourth Grade Fanatics is giving away two $10 gift cards! One to TPT and one to Target! 

You can win a great mini unit (structures of a plant) from Polka Dots & Teaching Tots!

Chanty from The Teaching Bug is giving away a 6 pack of Scentos markers!

You can win a $25 Target gift card from Teacher-ific in 2nd Grade!

Dana from Fun in 1st Grade is giving away a custom May Book {love} and some items from great bloggers!

Megan is giving away a lot of great items, just click on her button!

Check back soon {hopefully =)} for my thoughts on The Daily 5, Chapter 5 (I'm a little behind...)!  And I'll soon be in need of some more proof readers for my other "parts of speech" scoot games!  Be on the lookout if you're interested in a free copy!  

What great finds have you come across at Target (or anywhere else) for the coming school year?

What Luck!?!

I'm feeling very lucky and very blessed tonight!  Can you believe that I was given an award and I won 2 giveaways??  I can't either!!

First off, thanks so, so much to Amber from Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher (great gal, great blog...check her out) and Kayla from Primary Junction (stop by to see all of her great ideas)!  I won $25 worth of items from Amber's TPT store, and I'm excited to pick out what I want!  I won a one year subscription for my class to Samson's Classroom from Kayla's giveaway!

And, if you can believe it, there are even more giveaways going on now!  Click on the pictures to check them out!

Luna Interactive Projection Camera

HearAll Assessment Recorder        3 Units, 2 gift cards 

9 Products           Up to 21 products

Now go and enter, enter, enter so maybe you can win too!  Good luck if you do enter (or if you already have)!

Now, thank you so very much to Sara from Miss Elementary, Aimee from Pencils, Books, & Dirty Looks, and Colleen from Totally Terrific in Texas for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award!

There are 7 rules you're supposed to follow when you get this award:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their site.

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.

6. When nominating, include a link to their site.

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.

So I guess I'm on step 4...I'll try not to bore you!  I'm not very exciting!

7 Facts You Probably Don't Know About Me!

1 - I'm an only child, and believe it or not, I can not remember ever wanting a brother or sister when I was little...

2 - I am named after my grandmothers whom I love dearly!

3 - I'm much more of an introvert than an extrovert!  I'm good with working alone! {But I love blogging!  Does that make me more outgoing??}

4 - I honestly wish I wasn't so shy and quiet and was more outgoing (like my husband)!

5 - I love to cook and especially to bake!

6 - School was always extremely important to me!  I was the valedictorian of my graduating classes in high school and college with 4.0 gpa's and 2 of my 3 Praxis scores were in the top 10 - 15% of all scores!  {I should've had a little more fun, I think!}

7 - My husband and I have been married for 6 years (on July 8th) and together for 9!  I hope to be a mommy soon!  I'd love to have my own little one by the end of next year!

I don't share numbers 6 & 7 (the last part) often, so it's a little scary...that's number 3 coming out in me I guess...

So because I am exhausted and it's waaaay past my bedtime (yes, sad I know...) I'll be back soon to nominate 15 other bloggers for the award!  Hopefully I'll get that done in the morning, but we're having a heat wave with no rain in sight, so tomorrow will be spent on the boat and in the water!  It might be Sunday before I'm back! =)

Thanks again, Aimee, Colleen & Sara for the award!

P.S. Remember oo.com and how you all so graciously helped me get my project funded??  There are two great teachers out there who need your help now!  Could you please head over and vote for them!  I know they'll appreciate it as much as I did!


**Shawn left a link on my oo.com & donors choose post, and he needs your help getting his project funded!  Click on the link to get there! http://www.oo.com/safkids/detail/projectid/791196
**Jessica, who many of you probably know from her blog needs help getting her project funded too!  Click on the link to get there! http://www.oo.com/safkids/detail/projectid/757894
I'd love it, and I know they would too, if you could help these two teachers give their students a little more technology in their classes!  Head on over and vote!  And remember, you can vote every day!  Check out my post if you missed it and won't to know more about oo.com or donors choose!

Brighten Your Day

Doesn't a cheerful, colorful classroom make your day a little brighter?  I know it does mine!  I'm doing a little classroom makeover this year since we're switching themes and switching rooms.  Our school wide theme is peace, love, & {our mascot}.  I don't want everything in my room to be tie-dyed though! I'm tying in the bright colors I love with our theme, and hopefully I'll be able to use it with our future themes too!  I'm linking up with Tara's "Monday Made It" at 4th Grade Frolics and Michele's "Make it, Bake it, Sew it, Grow it" at Miss Nelson's Got The Camera and

 

This pin on pinterest was something that I immediately knew I wanted to make for my classroom.  It was so easy to do and didn't take up too much time!

You just need a few supplies to get started...paper dixie cups (I used the 5 oz. size), scrapbook paper (I used solid colors - bright of course), pencils, scissors, a box cutter or knife, and some type of adhesive (I had some glue dots and used them).

The first few steps are listed on the picture below.  This part takes the most time.

Here are my covered cups (and my Roxie in the background)!

Now you're ready to hang the "shades" over the lights!  Find the center of the bottom of each cup, and cut a small x in it.  Then just gently push the light through the x in the bottom of the cup!

And voila, you're done!  I love how it turned out!

Hopefully, I'll have another project ready to show you on Friday for the Pintervention linky party from Third Grade Is A Hoot!