SALE DAY! Here's a little football fun!

Enjoy some great resources for your primary students.  And if you purchase them this afternoon, you can get them all on sale!  Everything in my store on TPT and TN are on sale for 12% off today!  It's a Seattle Seahawk day, so I am having a 12th Man Sale!

For 12 hours....from noon today through noon Monday, you can get 12% off your purchase of any item in my stores.  So head over to either of my shops and enjoy the deal....no, you don't have to root for the Seahawks...but it's ok if you do :)  UPDATE:  Neither site will let me choose 12%...so you will actually get 15% off! Woohoo...Lucky you!

Primary In IDaho on Teacher's Notebook    
or    
 Primary In IDaho on Teachers Pay Teachers

Here are some examples of what you can find....

My Ten Frame Math has been very popular.  I wasn't smart and fancy and put a link in them to the second one I created...

 But there is a Ten Frame Math #2.  It extends the first one in a nice progression for those that want to give your students a bit more practice with missing numbers.  It is a nice transition to getting them to think about subtraction.

And once they start to have a sense of numbers and what addition and subtraction are...then it's the perfect time to move into my new creation.   It's called Building Houses and Number Bonds.  I used them throughout 1st quarter with my 1st graders and it was a very helpful addition to the non-existent math curriculum we have right now.  It made for a wonderful transition into subtraction facts!

 At this time of the year, it would still be helpful for resource students, Kindergarten students, Homeschool students, or those who are still just a bit behind.  The number bond pages are great for homework or entry task pages as well!

Here are two other things I would like to highlight for the sale....

My Fun with Facts Coloring pages.  My first graders love doing these...they don't even consider it math because they get to color!  (I have an easy bunch this year that LOVE to learn!)

And besides math, my other true LOVE in teaching, is writing!  I love to have my first graders write.  They do it from day one in September and we write a couple times a week.  Our new Language Arts adoption has a writing component in it, but sometimes they have a difficult time drawing from personal knowledge to write on those topics.  So I fill in with things they know and love to talk about...here is a great winter one about Snowmen.

Super (bowl) Sale!

Please stop by my TpT or my TN store to get sale prices on all my teacher creations!

I live in Seahawk territory (Shhhh...I'm a Niner fan myself) and all around me are 12th Man signs, symbols and flags.  So I decided that today would be a perfect day to jump on board and have a 12% discount in my stores.

One problem with that.  Neither shop will let me do 12%...they only do increments of 5, so you lucked out and I am doing a 15% discount!

Now if the Seahawks win...there will be a special sale ALL next week to honor the victory, so check back after the game :)

Visit my Teacher's Pay Teachers store HERE

or my Teacher's Notebook store HERE

Nearly Famous!

Woo hoo!!  My day was made today when I opened up TpT and found myself (well, my store) as one of the featured stores!!

I'm not one of those 6 digit earning teachers....yet....but I did break $100 this month!  So maybe this is a good sign for 2014.  14 is my lucky number after all!! :) I believe that right now I have 14 items in my store too...there's that number again! I need to increase that to have more earnings.  It's not that I don't have the ideas or the projects to load...but the time to do it would be nice.

Perhaps you could stop by my store {click here} and see if you can find anything useful for your classroom. I teach in Idaho and we are 17th below the national average for teacher salaries (33rd from the top--yes, thank you Mr. Luna and Governor Otter for perpetuating that!).

I'm not even at the Idaho state average yet!  What a goofball I was to leave my salary in California and move $20,000 backwards.  But if you have ever been to North Idaho, you would understand why we did it.  It is a wonderful place to raise your kids.  Everything balances out in the end.

So, I did notice that a lot of teachers who have stores on TpT are from those states that are hanging with us below the national average!  For me, the reason I do it is because my brain is full of ideas.  I have had co-workers tell me for years (before TpT existed) that I should make a book of what I do.  Well this is one way to start.  Also, there is the cost of college....one daughter is starting college next fall and our second daughter is going to dual enroll next year during her junior year in high school.  Now comes the next 4 or 5 years of poverty for us...so anything I can create and load on TpT will help get my kids through school!

Do you have a TpT store?  Do your earnings go to something special?  Do you have a favorite store you go back to over and over?

ok...gotta go finish the comments on my report cards tonight!  Oh, yeah, and make 14 cheer bows for the Mini Hawk performance at the Varsity game tomorrow. Phew....I'm tired already. lol

Day 72 The Creative Chalkboard

Oh my goodness...I find blogs that wow me all the time.  I wish I had as much time as some of these amazing teachers I find online seem to have.  Maybe I just get too distracted by all the "shiny objects" I find made by others...but I just don't feel like I produce as much as I think about in my head.

But thank heavens for those who do seem to have the time or the energy to get it all done and share it with others!  Today's bloggers is one of those that really made me say wow and to fire up the printer and to load up my wish list on TpT.

Krista has the blog The Creative Chalkboard and she has a wonderful store on TpT.  I found her through the TpT newsletter last month.  She does clip art...(I am a clip art hoarder...just to know...they haven't made a tv show about that yet though--guess Honey Boo Boo is more interesting...lol)  and Krista creates things to use with your class as well.

You can get a good freebie taste of it in her TpT store.  I love her writing templates.  They are so darn creative while still being usable.  Sometimes teachers make great stuff, but they don't have enough room for 1st grade writers to write anything on them.  Or they are so full of clip art that there may only be a few math problems actually on the page.

Krista has a nice balance to her creations.  And if you want more free fonts...she has those too.  Very cute, easy to read ones for young kids.

I love this hamburger organizer.  It goes perfectly with the poster I have in my room!  My 1st graders love the analogy.

Now...if the TpT treasures aren't enough...go to Krista's blog.  Now I want to find time to redo my classroom!  Maybe if I sell enough on TpT myself I can find the money to spruce things up a bit.  I dug deeper and found the tour of her classroom from last September because I absolutely love how she displays some of the things in her room!  Click here for the link to the tour of her classroom from last September.  Very cool and organized! 

I want to know what she is using the pizza pans on the wall for...and those lovely large compare and contrast posters...and the fact poster...and...well I think I just need to go to her classroom! I think I need a trip to Delaware!!

And here is a treasure...shows me that I don't go to the Dollar Tree near enough!  She found these cool eyeballs for her readers to inspire them to track with their fingers!  Now I am on a mission to find these!  Monster fingers are cool...but these are cooler...or the coolest (that was our spelling pattern a couple weeks ago -er and -est endings)

I'm still hopping along...this was blog number 72.  I can't believe that the year is flying by so quickly!

Accelerated Readers in My Class

Once the 1st graders learn all the letter sounds and can begin blending the race is on...read, read, read.

In Idaho, Fluency is the only thing in 1st grade that is tested by the state and it's the only way they measure whether we, as teachers, are doing our job well enough.

I could go deeply into that subject...but I will skip that because it's like hitting your head against the wall.  The wall will still be there, but your head will hurt...a lot!

So, what we do is get them to read and read and read.  And being the good teachers that we are, we push comprehension while we push fluency.  What point is being able to decode quickly when what you really want to be able to do is READ.  Reading is not just decoding it's comprehending!

Ok...I had to say it.

So one of the fun things I do in my class is 'LET' them be independent readers.  No, you see, I WANT them to be independent readers, but it's a game.  You want them to WANT to be independent readers.  And it works too!  When you earn things it always means more than if someone hands it to you.

So I have leveled reading baskets that they are assigned to choose from once they are an independent reader. That alone usually sells it.  THEY get to choose the book, not me.

Then I made these bookmarks... {they love bookmarks as much as pencils}

This is a freebie sample you can download on my TpT store.  You can buy the whole set...I made 17 different variations so I can change them out every few weeks.  

I made these so the students could keep track of how many times they read their book.  They have to read their book 5 times before they can do an Accelerated Reader test on the computer.  In the beginning there are the kids who try to cheat the system, but this is easily solved when they don't pass a test.  Then they have to conference with me and either have to move down a basket level or I have to choose their book for them or they have to read the first and fifth time with me.

They don't like losing their independence...so it only takes once or twice and they are following the routine by the 'rules'.

Teacher Pay Teacher Super Sunday Sale

It's cold this morning...I turned the heater up a little, wrapped myself in a blanket and ate some oatmeal with craisins and I'm still cold.  So I have to think of another way to warm up...

Shopping a good sale always helps!  Teachers pay Teachers is having a big Sunday Super Sale.  I don't have a big store...but I have a few things...and they are all on sale!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Primary-In-Idaho

Actually the sale is available today too!  All the items that aren't freebies are on sale!  Visit and empty your wish list!  Make some purchases, give some feedback and earn some TpT credits off another purchase!

So head over to my TpT store and check out my deals.  Stock up for a rainy day. You can purchase today for 20% off or shop tomorrow -- Sunday -- for 28% off!  Use the code SUPER when you make your purchase on Sunday.  Thanks and happy shopping!

Day 15 Fun in First Grade

Yes, sorry, another 1st grade blog.  I do think that the 1st grade teachers are the most prolific at blogging.  Not sure why. It must be that we have so much more free time on our hands because our students are so independent -- tongue is definitely in cheek right now :)

But Dana's blog, Fun in 1st Grade, is full of great ideas and links to even more that she finds online.  She seems to be a linky queen.  She would be the person to connect with if you want to start connecting along the linky path.  This is something I'm still learning about myself.

She has over 60 items in her TpT and Teacher's Notebook stores and links to lots of freebies on the blog.

Stop by and check out her blog...sit down in a comfortable chair because I assure you that you will be there for awhile!

Day 14 First Grade Fever

So I don't get it...one of my teenage daughters has this love of these mustaches...

They are everywhere...and the marketing is genius...because they are on everything. And of course the kid wants to buy these needful things with mustaches on them.  I am trying to think of what fad like this there was when I was her age.  I guess there was the Izod alligator...we all had to have the shirt with the stiff little gator sewn onto it.  O.K....so not nearly as exciting as a mustache on your shirt, your wallet, your shoes, your pants, your backpack...everywhere!

So Christie decided to go with the flow.  She is from the blog First Grade Fever and she discovered sheets of these fun mustaches at the dollar store and decided to use the fad for good and not evil!

She made the most creative writing unit out of it!  She used them to re-teach her students the difference between an asking and a telling sentence.  If I can find those mustaches, then I am buying this one because it's so dang cute...and you know what happens when you teach cute things?  The parents love it, your co-workers ooo and aaah it, and the kids engage and remember it!  Win win all around!

Christie has a great preview of it on her blog.  You can buy it on her TpT store or from her Teacher's Notebook store.  It's only $2.50...which is a steal and maybe can add a few hours back to your prep time because you wont have to make it.

Welcome to my journey!

Have you been following my blog to find out who I discover on my 365 Blog Hop Challenge?

Who will I find next?

Day 9 A+ Firsties

Just discovered this blogger through the linky party that 2nd Grade Pad has.  You should link up with us...you never know who might discover your blog and whose life you could help make a bit better with your awesome ideas!

Tanya is a teacher down in Texas...enjoying the tropical 48 degree weather down there right now.  (Just kiddin' with you -- it's 16 degrees here this morning and there's a herd of elk huddling in the woods outside our house right now because they are trying to stay warm -- more snow on the way this week!)

A+ Firsties is an A+ teacher blog.  She has some very clever ideas and resources that she shares.  I am in love, love, love with the money cubes she found at Lakeshore Learning.  Bummer! We used to have one of those stores over in Spokane...but it closed 2 years ago!

Now we have to do everything online -- which is why I started blog hopping and haunting the Teacher Pay Teacher store in the first place.

As my mind tends to hop around before my morning caffeine...Let me get back to A+ Firsties...Tanya also has a TpT store with almost 30 selections to amaze and inspire.  Her downloadable freebie about Abe Lincoln is a must to download.  Very creative ideas to use whole class or in centers.  I've already pinned that one!  Check it out!

Don't miss out on a single blog this year!

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Freebie Math Center

So here is a math center I made for my 1st graders.  I have a balance that sits on my bookshelf collecting dust.  The Saxon activities were boring to say the least.  Who cares how many pennies something weighs...it's not as exciting or as challenging as the little activity sheet I created for my math center.

After everyone has an opportunity to complete the worksheet (I let them do it with their center partner--but they each have to do a recording sheet) we then go over it as a class. The challenge for the class is to figure out which item was the heaviest in the basket.  the debate among them was fun.  For some of them, it was the realization that just because an object was the largest in the basket, it didn't mean it was the heaviest.

So they liked it so much, they talked me into making another one.  So when you download it, you get 2 versions.  Click HERE for the Freebie.  Enjoy!

Early Happy New Year!

Our disrict has a weird schedule this year.  We don't go back until January 7th.  New Year's will seem to be done and gone by then.  Then to make things even more complicated, we will be having our "Christmas" parties on January 11th.

It seems that some very naughty kids decided to spread rumors about shootings and bomb threats at some of our local schools.  They posted and spread rumors on some of the social networks locally and so we had school cancelled in the three largest districts here in North Idaho.

So we will come back to school in January enjoying some Christmas/New Year activities...combined with the end of the quarter assessments of course.  Piece of cake.

So, optimistically, I've come across some fun things to celebrate the New year with--in a perfect world of course.  Perhaps some of these ideas will be useful for you too.

I thought this poster would be a good start!  This poster was made by +Sarah Winchell.  She posted it on her blog: I Dream of First Grade.  

Fun in First has a fun poem she posted last January.  She also included a goals worksheet that you could adapt for your class and the new year.

Here is a great time matching game to start the New Year.  The First Grade Parade (one of my favorite blogs to visit because she has wonderful freebies!) created this one.

Jennifer Drake's TpT store has a lot of fun, low cost activities for the New Year.  This coloring page is a freebie in her store.  It will be great for the end of the first day back when my first graders burn out and are ready to go home :)

And here are an assortment of freebies on TpT related to the New Year.

New Year's Resolution Friendly Letter

New Year's Writing and Craft project (perfect for hanging in the hall!)

New Year's Creative Writing Stationery

New Year's ABC Order

New Year's Clip Art

Explaining what a resolution is can be difficult with young children.  They haven't had time to make all those mistakes that we resolve to fix each year :)  But here is a fun book that puts it in terms that kids can understand.

Squirrel's New Year's Resolution

I am certain that this is more than I could ever complete in a week.  But it's a fun list to choose from just the same!

Happy New Year everyone!!

Zebra Fun

Sometimes I do goofy things...sometimes without really thinking they are going to be goofy, but because I meant something else at the time.

This morning was one of those moments.

I typed "zebra" into the search on TpT because I was looking for something that had to do with the "Sam Likes Fried Zebras" saying that goes with Vowac.

Well...I didn't find what I was looking for...but instead found out that you could purchase everything with a zebra theme on TpT.  Apparently it's not just for the junior high girls anymore, but us teaching gals have a thing for it too??

Laura Carson, from South Carolina has just about everything Zebra for sale on her TpT site.

D'Ann Haffner has these alphabet cards...I think her kinders are going to throw up zebra with these alphabet cards and banner.  They are bit too hard on the eyes in my opinion.  Young eyes need a better contrast.  But they are pretty even if they are a bit over the top for kinders.

Mrs. Croak has a Punk Rock Zebra package.  I would have thought with a name like croak that maybe she would have leaned toward frogs...but perhaps her wild side is coming out for TpT.

Crayon Box Learning has a very bright pink zebra theme that will be all over your room in no time.  If you like pink and you like zebra...this is the one for you! lol

Here is a different spin on zebra in your classroom.  How about teaching about zebras!  This is a cute little unit on zebras.  Megan Mitchell from Ohio put this one together.  At least now you can have  a purpose to all the stripes showing up in your room!

There is a whole lot more on TpT.  The choices went on for pages.  There were multiple choices for everything from calendars to word cards to name tags to lesson planning pages and more.  So if you need to add a little zebra to your life...just know it's already out there and already been made...at least half a dozen times!

November Fun Stuff

So I spent part of my weekend avoiding my report cards.  Starting them always overwhelms me because they start out so empty and it seems like there is so much to fill out! lol

As a break, I hop around looking for fun new ideas to make learning fun.  I don't just mean for my students, but for me too!  I never do everything the same every year.  I would get bored, and if I'm bored, I sure can't be all that inspiring to my students.

I love Pinterest and I post what I find on my board...because I am sure I wouldn't be able to find things again otherwise.  Here is my November board: LifeInIDaho

I found this one on Erica Bohrer's 1st Grade blog. It is such a stinking cute craft project.  It would take a glue gun to get it done and a parent helper...so it is not very feasible for my class of 22 kids...but cute just the same.

Here is a fun freebie that I am going to do at least parts of it on Tuesday.  It's from First Grade Fever on TpT.  I love the little characters for the two nominees.  I'm not sure which site she got them from....but these are the ones she listed as purchasing her art from:

Scrappin’ Doodles, KPM Doodles, Melonheadz & From the Pond

Then we also have Veteran's Day this month.  Here is a cute parts of speech sorting activity.  Perfect for my blue chart at centers!  The only thing she didn't include was a response sheet for them to fill out after they sort the words.

I found this one on TpT as well.  It's FREE.  I like Free!

And one more for the big turkey day....Blair Turner posted a freebie on TpT that is awesome.  It's a template for turkeys.  Perfect if you want to teach about writing main ideas and details or if you want an art project that includes writing about what the students are thankful for.  I have an older version that I made...but it's not on my computer...was before I was such a computer geek.  So Blair's project can help you out:

Common Core Math Assessments part 1

I wish there were more hours in a school day.  I just can't do everything that I would love to do. It is so frustrating.  But on the upside...my first graders are learning.  I love my little sponges!  They make getting up at 5:00 every morning so worth it!

It has been awhile since I posted anything.  I have really wanted to...but I also need more hours in my day!  It's crazy some weeks.  Running on 5 hours of sleep...not a good thing.  Mochas on my way to work...a very good thing!

So scary thought...the end of 1st quarter is two weeks away!  Eeek!  Got to get those end of the quarter assessments ready.  With Common Core, things have changed and so must my assessments.  Saxon doesn't have great assessments.  So much spiraling that I get dizzy.  So I have been making my own assessments over the last few years.  This year I am updating them.

So I am posting them online.  Here is the link to the first posting.  Still learning the best ways to manage uploading on TPT while still keeping things saved and organized on my laptop.

Here is the link to the first of my assessment posting.  I can't figure out how to add the link to the picture...so click HERE to go to my TpT store :)  You can see a preview of it in my store.

It is assessing for CCSS1.NBT.  They are my naming numbers and writing numbers assessment sheets.  Quick and easy...and cumulative.