Interruptions Solution and a Freebie!

The beginning of the school year is a challenging time.  We are trying to welcome our students into a new classroom, calm their fears and establish routines (oh yeah, and teach).  It also seems to be a time of a lot of classroom interruptions.  I feel like my phone is always ringing or there is always a knocking on the door.  Perfect time for students to act out and talk!

One thing I teach my students right from the get-go, is to find something to do if I get interrupted.  Usually they get out a book to read.  However, at the beginning of the year I haven't quite introduced the library yet.  So, what to do?

I created an activity packet for back to school time.  The students will keep this in their "Work" folder.  I'll introduce it to them, but only give them a few minutes to work on it.  I then instruct them to get it out if there is an interruption.

There are 7 different activities and 3 writing prompts for the students to work on.

{TpT}

{TN}

Now for your freebie!  A Back to School Word Search!

I'm linking this freebie up with:

Go check them out for more great freebies for your classroom!

All About My State Freebie

In my class, we have been doing the Flat Stanley project.  Learn about it {here}.  We also got some Flat Stanleys sent to us as well!  I really wanted to help my students learn about their state through this process. So this week, since we only have 3 days of school, I thought we would do a mini-unit on our little state, Rhode Island.  To help my students keep track of their research, I created a worksheet for them to record the information they find.  I'm sharing it as a freebie!  Click the picture to get it.

Then, I thought it would be fun to put all our information into a booklet that they could keep.  We'll send some with our Flat Stanleys too.

Check it out in my {TpT store} and my {Teachers Notebook Store}.

Oh, and speaking of my state, all of RI is on vacation this week except my district.  I'm not bitter or anything.

Freebies and a Giveaway!

Aren't those just the two best words in blogland?!?  I had a not so great day, so I'm cheering myself up by helping you!

I created two freebies to share with you.  There's a story behind them, but let's just say they aren't good stories.

A Reading Response Log:

I am going to start using this for my kids' nightly reading homework.  Right now, they just have to write the book title and how many minutes they read (a minimum of 15).  They are going to be in for a surprise on Monday when they get homework that's more challenging!

And an "I forgot my homework" slip to send home to parents when a student forgets their homework.

I used the wonderful clipart from Graphics by the Pond!  I hope these are helpful to you.  If you do use them, I love getting ratings/comments over on TpT.  **wink wink**   Just click the pictures to get your freebies.

Giveaway Time!

I'm teaming up with Karyn over at A is for Apple, B is for Blog for a ...wait for it...31 giveaway!!  I am super excited because I know how much you all LOVE 31!  Here is what you will win:

This exact bag!  I've heard such wonderful reviews of this Organizing Utility Tote and now you have a chance to get a brand new one for free!

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

1. Follow me.

2. Follow Karyn over at her new blog.

3. Follow my TpT store.
4. Add my Teachers Notebook store as a favorite.

4. Blog about the giveaway and leave the link (leave 2 comments for this one!)

Leave me a comment for each one to enter!  Make sure you leave your email, so I can contact you if you are the big winner!  This 31 Giveaway will end Saturday at midnight.  Winner will be announced on Sunday!

And even if you don't win, visit Karyn's 31 Consultant page to get your very own 31 Bag!  I know I'm headed over soon (are you SURE I can't win my own giveaway?!?).

Good Luck!

31 Anyone? And a Freebie!

I love bags.  Bags of all kinds.  I don't like shoes, clothes, etc.  I like bags.  My husband thinks I'm crazy.  I am also very, very picky about the ones I get and have to make sure it's exactly the one I want.  This leads me to my point.  

I have some questions about the Thirty-One bags that everyone loves.  I really want one!  I have all the information to have a party, which I'm going to do...someday.  I need to wait until I move into my house (who knows when that will be) because I just can't fit more than 5 people in my apartment.  However, I really want the Cindy tote.  Like, right now.  The teacher bag I have right now is just too big.  I don't really need all that space and between carrying that and my gym bag, I feel like I'm going on vaca every time I leave the house (and it's an awful big disappointment when I arrive at work and not at a nice beach somewhere) 

Is there a way I can purchase one?  

Do you know anyone who sells them?  

How long does it take to get it?

Does anyone have this tote and recommend it?

And here's my Friday Freebie!  A word search for Valentine's Day.  This is part of my Be Mine, Valentine! unit.  Click on the picture to get the word search for free!

Don't forget to enter Courtney's super-duper giveaway!

Freebie, Giveaways and a very Flat Stanley

I really wanted to link up with all the New Year's Resolutions linky parties, but I just couldn't come up with a good resolution!  I wanted one that would not only make a difference for me, but one that I would actually be able to keep.  After some thinking, I finally got it!  I want to work on using my time in my classroom more efficiently.  I tend to find myself wandering in circles sometimes, forgetting what I need to get done.  I also get distracted VERY - oo sparkles -easily.  To start off on the right foot, I created a checklist for myself, broken into morning, prep period, and afternoon.  Thought I would share it!  Click on the image to check it out for yourself.

There are so many huge giveaways going on in Blog Land right now!  I chose three to share:

Well, this one I don't really want to share because I really, really want to win!  Congrats to Tammy who is now at 113 followers (she's celebrating 100)!

Doodle Bugs Paper is thanking her followers with a $20 credit to her Doodle Bugs Paper Website!

And, lastly, Holly is doing a different kind of giveaway to celebrate 250 (now 255) followers!

Now I'm looking for a little help.  My students are doing a Flat Stanley project.  We read the story about the little boy who is crushed by his bulletin board.  He is fine, but very flat!  Stanley learns that he can mail himself to different states in an envelope.  My students are going to be creating their own "Flat Stanleys" to mail to people around the country/world to learn lots about geography!  We are hoping that our recipients will send back their Flat Stanley with pictures, souvenirs and information about their part of the world.

Unfortunately, not all my students have someone to send their Flat Stanley to.  I was wondering if anyone would be interested in receiving a Flat Stanley from one of my students?  Email me at Livs14@gmail.com if you think you might want to help out.  My students thank you very much!

Where did it go?? (and a freebie)

This post has been moved to my new blog, The Colorful Apple.  Check it out here!

Polka Dotted Freebies!!

I have a new obsession with polka dots. A major, crazy obsessive obsession. It's outta control. So I thought I would share with you! I downloaded these polka dot frames for free from Karen Cox on TpT and my classroom has been converted to full on polka dots! Okay, it's not that bad. But definitely go check out her product - they're awesome!

Here are some ways that I've started to use them in my classroom (and I've included some freebies from my TPT store!)

This is my "Where are We?" (click the link for your freebie!) poster that hangs on my classroom door. I have many, many students who are in and out of my classroom throughout the day. My line leader changes the 'where are we' circle to where we are at the moment. This way, if a student comes back and our class isn't in the room, they know where to find us.

Next, I made a new Book Nooks poster. Learn more about my Book Nooks here. My old one used clothespins and they were just too heavy. So I decided to make a....can you guess?...polka dotted one! This one is just wayyy more colorful too! I love it! Click here to get the freebie!

And, lastly, I made new book basket tags for my classroom. I'm so excited to have ones that all match. The tags are color-coded (i.e. leveled books are black, author baskets are orange, genre baskets are red, etc.). I chose to keep my non-fiction book labels (on the top shelf) because they had pictures on them, which I felt was helpful for some of my second graders. Here's a picture of my whole library and then a close-up.

Now, I just need matching baskets!