Hold the Phone! Check out this AMAZING Dollar Tree Find

Hi y'all! Ok... so I know I've been M.I.A lately but I have had so much going on these last couple of months that it has been truly crazy.  First, let me say that I have so many new things to share {I just hope that between taking my LAST 2 classes before internship and then my actual internship that I will have time to post.} Bare with me my blogger friends because as soon as May rolls around I will have so much more time on my hands {fingers crossed} that I will be able to get back into the swing of things and hopefully I will be posting from my FIRST Elementary classroom EVER! {Just wanted to put that into the universe!}  So, anywho... I had to take a break today from my essay on FCAT reading... don't get me started on how much I hate the FCAT {can I get an amen!} that I decided to take a stroll in one of my favorite vacation spots THE DOLLAR TREE and can I just tell you that I found the most amazing thing I have yet to see in that store EVER! Check it out guys!  It's a Word Wall Spinner... how amazing is this for Literacy Stations and Word Work?! I can't tell y'all how I excited I was when I saw it! I liked it so much that I am thinking of getting at least 3 more so that I have an even 4 {one per student, since I plan on having 4 students in each center}.  Here's what it looks like...

Isn't it just the cutest?! I love the bugs!!! They had one with smiley faces, but I wasn't into that.  I love the faces on the bugs... I'm into the huge-eyed critters, they look so darling!  So, anyways I thought I would share this fabulous find and for those of you who can't read what is on the spinner I'll put it down below for y'all.  Stay tuned cause I might even upload some Recording Worksheets and some other spinners that I have working themselves out in my teacher brain!

• Choose two words that end in the same letter.
• Choose any word with a long vowel sound.
• Choose any word and define it.
• Choose any word and use it in a sentence.
• Choose two words that start with the same letter.
• Choose any  word with a short vowel sound.

Happy Shopping!

Meet ClassConnect

Y'all this is the most amazing teaching tool I have seen in a while and I thought I would re-post and share it with you all after I saw it on the Teaching Blog Addicts blog. This is a truly amazing teaching resource and you can sign up for it for FREE so head on over to www.classconnect.com to sign up! I hope you all find this little gem as *exciting* as I did and that you are able to find a use for it in your own classroom.

As always,
Happy Teaching!

Pinterest

For those of you that have not already heard about this marvelous site... here's the low-down and how it works:
Pinterest is a website where you basically "pin" (like you would on a corkboard) ideas that you find interesting or things that you would like to remember while you're on different sites.  For example, as a teacher, you may surf the internet often and come across oodles and oodles of ideas and then as time goes on you either can't remember where you found the idea or what the idea was because our brains are chalk-full of things as it is! So, when you become a member of Pinterest, you basically add a button under your address bar and whenever you go on ANY website you can pin ANY picture that you like and then you can write a description with any notes you like so that you can remember it.  And, if that is not enough you also create files (known as "boards" on pinterest) so that you can categorize all of your images to make it easier to find when you need it... it will all make sense once you see it, so if you're interested then go check mine out... I promise you, you will not regret it.  I only wish I had found this sooner, it sure would have saved a lot of trees since I tend to jot down everything that I find on teacher websites that I absolutely LOVE! Click the link below...

The Teaching Bug Pinterest

P.S. If you're on Pinterest and have gazillions of teacher boards on yours then leave me your link so that I can explore what you've come across!!! :) Or, if you'd just like to comment about how A.MA.ZING Pinterest is, that is also welcome!

As always, Happy Blogging! :)

First Grade Fever is having a fabulous Word Families Giveaway!

Fingers crossed! I hope I win... I really love the Word Families unit that Christie over at First Grade Fever has created:



Best of luck to everyone who participated in her giveaway.  By the way, even if you are not interested in giveaways you should definitely check out her blog... it is so stinkin' cute!