Coming Soon

Open House is this Thursday.  You KNOW how exhausting exhilarating that is!  I'll post pics soon.  Hubby spent two hours hanging stuff up for me today.  What a guy!  Our field trip was to an aquarium so my theme is "Under the Sea".  I'm displaying narrative writing, informational writing, shark theme CGI with the cutest sharky craftivity from The Glyph Girls, seahorse oil pastel pictures, and fishy oil pastel pictures.  On the desks I will have this great packet from Stephanie Stewart.  Come back soon to see pics of the art, etc.  Thanks for stopping by today!

I'm so excited to be doing my first giveaway!  Only 3 days left to enter.  If you already entered, I thank you so much for participating.  

Summer School Stuff

Here's a few of the art projects I did with my summer school classes this year.  Summer school in our district is enrichment.  My class was "Authors, Art, and Arithmetic".  I had 1st-3rd graders combined in four different periods. I read stories and poems everyday and then completed a writing or art project.  I also did word problems that fit in with the theme of the book.  

This project went along with a book about the beach.  I can't remember what the title was.  We painted the sun and used colored pencils on the rays.  Warm colors only!

"The Little Scarecrow Boy" is a cute story about a little scarecrow trying to learn to be scary.  Here's the drawing we did with that book. 

I loved this project that went along with "Rainbow Fish". 

We used warm color on the fish and cool colors for the background.  

We had summer school on July 3rd so that called for a patriotic project...or two. I got both ideas from Pinterest.  For the first one I gave kiddos a choice of three patriotic songs already printed on cardstock.  They used warm colors to draw designs then did a wash with blue and red for the flag.  They look waaaay better in person.  I will be doing this project in my regular class this year too.  

Flag on Pinterest

I also got this eagle project from Pinterest.  My first graders usually cry when they have to tear paper for a project but these kiddos were going into 2nd grade and handled it just fine!

Eagle on Pinterest

This project went along with "I Ain't Gonna Paint No More". Another idea from Pinterest.  Pinterest totally saved by behind this summer!

Ain't Gonna Paint No More On Pinterest

If you want to see more art ideas you can follow me on Pinterest.  LINK TO MY PINTEREST

Thanks for stopping by!  See you around!  

Lazy Days of Summer Give Away!

I'm so thankful for the wonderful peeps who have purchased my products on Tpt and/or followed my blog or fb. I have learned so much from following your blogs, stores, and fb.  Thank you for sharing your greatness!  


I finally got brave enough to try a give away.  I'm starting simple for practice.  I'm giving away a $10 Tpt gift certificate and any product from my store.  Thank you so much for entering and good luck!

Currently

Farley over at Oh Boy, 4th Grade! is hosting an August "currently" linky.  See mine below and go visit Farley to join in!  

First, listening to my hubby play piano is a bit of a hoot.  I survived my kids flutes, cellos, trumpets...just to move onto "Hot Cross Buns" by my hubby on the piano!  I like to play "Name That Tune" when he practices.  Honestly, in the beginning I used to go into our bedroom and watch my soaps while he practiced.  It was brutal!  

I'm loving summer.  I love the smell of chlorine and Coppertone sunscreen.  That's how I know it's summer!  It's aromatherapy:-)

I'm thinking about discipline...geez...get over it and enjoy the summer.  Why can't teachers just turn it off??  I'm a little excited about not having a clipchart and am already figuring what activities I can drop the first week to have time to spend setting standards of behavior and practicing these behaviors.  Will I fall back to "Move your clip down!".  Wait and see:-)

Wanting to be in the pool...self explanatory!

So this year first grade teachers asked PTA to gift us individual CD players for kiddos to use during Listen to Someone Read.  They suggested Mp3 players.  Can't wait to give it a try!  I need to get all of my books on CD transferred to the Mp3 players.  I also got a little gizmo that is supposed to transfer my oldie cassette tapes as well.  I keep putting this job off.

I think my first day back is Aug. 25th but who am I kidding...I'll be back at least the week before.  

It's almost 2pm and I'm still in PJs.  Did I mention I love summer???  

Goodies!

I  love Walmart! Why????  I'm cheap!  I love a good deal!  What teacher doesn't??  I made a little bit of a haul there this morning.  Happy dance! 

The cutie composition books were $1.50 (I think). They had some cheaper ones but c'mon...cuteness is a factor here!  I have no idea what I'm using them for but that didn't stop me from buying them;-).  I also got 32 (yes, I have 32 students) spiral notebooks.  They were 17 cents each. They had more expensive ones but this time cuteness was not a factor;-).  And...I usually design and print my own planner but this guy was only $3 and some change.  I figured it was better than using up my ink!  I'll put stickers on it to cutesify it a little bit.  "Cutesify" is a new verb I made up.  It was necessary:-). 

Speaking of cutesify...I ordered some new decs from Barker Creek today.  I'm a little bit of a polka dot and ladybug fan these days.    

How cute is this border??  It's reversible!  

Polka-dotted file folders???  Yes, please! I'll make these my M-F daily work folders.

OMG!  I haaaaaddddd to have these accents.  I only hope I ordered enough!  
Here's a link to Barker Creek if you wanna have a looksy:-).  Is that how you spell "looksy"? 

I'll be back soon to share some of my summer school projects.  

Deana 

Back to School Sale at TpT!

It's always fun to advertise a sale!  Make sure to visit TpT on Aug.4th and 5th to purchase all of your wish-listed items for up to 28% off!  Woohoo!

Don't forget to use the promo code!

Almost Summer and a Giveaway!

Woohoo!  I'm heading into the last week of school.  I have had the BEST year ever!  What an awesome class!  It was my second year doing Daily 5 and I am convinced it is the reason all of my kiddos are reading at grade level.  My strugglers had TREMENDOUS growth during the last trimester.  Hooray for them!

Do you teach summer school or are you heading into the last week of school?  You may want to stop by my Tpt and check out the Hawaiian Luau themed unit.

There fun to be had over at Differentiation Station Creations.  Starting at midnight tonight, Laura is hosting a giveaway for preK-2nd grade Tpt products including clipart!  Head on over and sign up!  I'm giving away my Common Core Word Problems for September packet.

Here's a link to the giveaway. 

Have a fantastic summer!  

Looky What's New!

Check out my Peter Rabbit packet!  Love those little Cottontails;-)  I marked this cutie packet down to $5 through the weekend.

You should also take a peek at my new Earth Day packet.  I used it last year with my class and it was a hit!  It includes two informational texts with comprehension questions along with some other goodies.

John over at Educator's Life hosts the greatest "Share the Wealth" linkys!  Make sure you check it out!

What a magical holiday it was!  Both of my kids were home for Christmas.  My son brought his beautiful girlfriend and it was my daughter's and son-in-law's first Christmas together.  How blessed were we to get to spend it with them?

I have taken a bit of a break from creating new products but just finished one January!  It's a penguin paragraph writing activity that your kiddos can do independently.  Visit my store and check it out!

Penguin Paragraph Writing for First Graders

It's time for a Cyber SALE at TPT!  Stop by my little shop and get 28% off everything!  Get your wishlist ready! 

Woohoo! Sale time!!

Don't miss the TpT Back to School Sale!  I hope you'll stop by my store and do a little shopping!  See you there!  

Don't forget to use the promo code!

Wonder Bugs  is having a giveaway!  Make sure you stop by and enter!  

Art, Art, and More Art!

We finished a couple of summer school projects today.  First, I read "Ira Sleeps Over".  Such a cute story and I love bears so it's perfecto!  The story also allowed kiddos to discuss how Ira was feeling and most could totally empathize with the little guy.  Of course, we had to draw a teddy for this one!  

I also read "Owl Moon".  We live in Southern California so I had to do a lot of front loading about snow, cold, wearing scarves, etc.  The story inspired this winter scene using torn paper.

)

Just 6 more days of summer school to go!  (Not that I'm counting)

Congratulations Carla from Comprehension Connection!

Carla from Comprehension Connection is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her 300th follower!  Wow!!  Head over and visit her blog and join the fun.  I'll be giving away my Apples! Apples! Apples! unit.  Who couldn't use more apple stuff??  Good luck!!

Gettin' Artsy in Summer School)

Just finished the 3rd week of summer school!  Two weeks (8 days) to go to my official summer break!  Here's a few of the projects my kiddos did this week.  I hope you like:-)

We read "A Kiss Goodbye" by Audrey Penn.  It's one of the cute Chester books.  I found a chalk drawing on Pinterest and simplified it a bit.  Here's a Kinder sample.

Check out Marymaking at:  http://marymaking.blogspot.com/2013/04/raccoon-portraits.html

We also read "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear" by Don and Audrey Wood.  Holy Cow that little mouse is cute!  For the art project we used primary colors to paint a strawberry.  Kids had to mix blue and yellow to make green for the strawberry top.  We used blue to shade one side of the berry and yellow to brighten the other side.  

Next, on to "Surfer Chick" by Kristy Dempsey.  I just discovered this book and it is adorable!  Loved explaining that  the term "chick" can refer to girls and baby chickens.  I also read "Pig Kahuna" by Jennifer Sattler. Both books talk about kids overcoming fears.  Here's a hibiscus flower we did after reading.

And finally, I read a book about a garden (I can't remember what it's called).  Then we did this hyacinth flower project I also found on Pinterest ( I love you Pinterest)!

Gotta love a project with fingerprints! This idea came from 

http://dalimoustache.blogspot.com/2012/04/hyacinths.html.  Again, I simplified it bunches:-).  

Have a fantastic weekend!  Stay cool!

Summer School is Cool!

I am in summer school mode!  I'm teaching a literature/art class.  I only have two periods so I am done by 10:30 every day!  Yahoo!  My first period is Kinders and my second period is 1-3 graders.  I'm pretty much able to do the same projects with each group but the second period is by far more independent and does a little more detail.  They all seem to like the projects no matter how old they are!  One of the projects we did last week went with the book "The View At the Zoo" by Kathleen Bostrom.  Super cute book that I just got at the end of the school year.  Here's the cutie giraffe we made after reading the book.

I think these were both done by Kinders.  We used a chalk stain to color them.  I loved to hear their squeals of delight when I showed them how to do that.  They were Amaaaaazed:-)

I got the giraffe idea from http://josettebrouwer.edublogs.org/2011/01/15/second-grade-giraffes/.  Thank you so much for sharing such a cute idea!

On Monday we'll be doing a strawberry draw/paint project using primary colors and reading the story "The Big Hungry Bear and the Red Ripe Strawberry".  Check back!

Catching Up to Do!

Holy Cow!  Where have I been???  Let's just say I've been livin' life!  My daughter got engaged about a month ago.  Whoopy!!!  The wedding is August 2nd.  Yes...August 2nd as in three months from now!  AAAAAAAaaa!  We are busy girls getting this blessed matrimony together.  It is a blast!  My family loves our future son-in-law to pieces so we are very lucky.  

So way back in April, I was doing some CGI from my spring CGI packet and I was rejoicing at the fabulous, awesome, amazing brilliance of my little guys.  Here's a pic of one of the problems and how my sweet guy figured out the answer.

I just introduced multiplication a few weeks before and obviously this guy has it down!  I think it is so cute that he drew little circles at the top of each column to represent each bag.  Sometimes when we do CGI I just want to dance down the aisles! 

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week!  I don't know who the brain was behind creating a week for teachers but I'm sure happy about it!  Our awesome PTA provided treats in the lounge every day.  Not just a bagel...it was a massive snackfest!  I'm a little scared to get on the scale at Weight Watchers tomorrow!  One of my parents decorated our classroom door.  It was a definite home run!  That's my kiddos little faces on the baseballs.  

On one of the days, our Principal and AP visited each classroom with a coffee cart and served us!  That was awesome!  I had hot chocolate and a donut hole thank you:-).  My kiddos were a little jealous so I told them after they go to college for 6+ years and become a teacher they can have hot chocolate in front of their class too!

Oops!  I'm out of order.  Oh well.  Here's a little Earth Day activity we did in addition to my Earth Day packet.  Each kiddo created an Earth Day poster as a part of their homework for the week.  I broke them up into small group using the Rick Morris cards, and they shared within their groups.  I loved seeing the pride they showed in their work and the thoughtful remarks they had for each other.  Here's a pic.

This little missy is totally pointing out everything on her poster and explaining what she did.  She is VERY  verbal (which comes in handy when sharing but not at other times).

I almost forgot to share this fab giveaway!  Wendy from First Grade Fireworks is having a celebration for her 50th bday!  Happy Birthday to Wendy!  Head over to her blog and enter the giveaway. I donated my Hawaiian Luau packet.

My hubby is vacuuming right now;-)  Life is good!