My FIRST Giveaway... I reached 100!!!

This past week I took a trip to a couple of stores just to browse and as I glanced around {couldn't believe my eyes that they were already stocking shelves with back-to-school supplies mind you!} I was immediately drawn in by these cutie patootie monster faces and bright colors! Upon closer inspection I noticed that (1) They were markers (2) They were scented (3) Were reasonably priced for a Teacher's budget (4) They are collectible and (5) my Teacher brain was in high gear with the endless possibilities for these markers... so, I said to myself, "Self, this would be an A-MA-ZING giveaway!" because let's face it, what teacher do you know of that doesn't like cutesy stuff?! Especially, said stuff that is scented and has monster faces on it!!!! I mean... Be.Still.My.Heart!

So, I contacted the manufacturer to see where I could find more {because I did what any rational teacher would do upon seeing this small marker goldmine and bought all the ones they had in stock!) and found out that they sell them in various places {if you can find them at your particular location!} and Mike (bless his heart) from WeVeel offered to send me a set to give away on my blog! So here it is... one lucky blogger will have the opportunity to receive a set of 6 {SIX} Scentos markers in the mail.  All you have to do is...

(1) Blog about my giveaway on YOUR blog!

(2) Follow Me @ www.theteachingbug.blogspot.com

(3) Leave me a comment with your blog address so that I can reach you when you win.

The giveaway will run from Monday, July 9th - Friday, July 13th at 9pm! Best of Luck!

Side Note: Be on the lookout this week for a label that I will be making for the Scentos markers (on one of those Dollar Spot pails from Target) so, if you're heading out... grab one of those pails to store your Scentos! :)

Trash to Treasure...

So, this weekend I decided to stop in at a Goodwill store to "see what I see" and I found a ton of books for my classroom library at a whopping 75 cents each {including some A to Z Mysteries! LOVE!} and then I made my way over to the housewares section and stumbled upon this...

Note: It did not LOOK like this when I bought it... unfortunately I did not take a "before" shot because I was so excited to get started on painting it that I forgot to! So sorry! But anyways, I ran into this beaut... I believe that someone made it to hold plates and pots, it was just plain un-finished wood when I found it and after some coats of paint... Voila! I turned it into this awesome paper/file organizer that will be adorning my classroom desk for years to come! It is a perfect reminder to us all to always think outside the box and find new uses for old gadgets! LOVE how it turned out... you will definitely be seeing this when I do my Back-to-School classroom photos post in the near future so keep your eyes out for it.

I also happened upon this...

I took a "before" shot this time thank you very much! And I will be posting about it when I finish painting it so that y'all can see how it turns out.  This beauty is a wooden utensil and napkin carrier... like the ones that you would use for a party or picnic outdoors.  I, however, will be using it as my teacher toolbox for my guided reading table and it will house materials that I will need to have handy {i.e. pens, highlighters, index cards, post-its, etc.}

Don't forget... tomorrow is the day that I will announce my very FIRST giveaway item... so stay tuned because I'm sure that you are going to be as excited about this product as I am!

Happy Sunday! :)

Keep Your Eyes Peeled...

I am so excited to announce that I will be hosting my very FIRST giveway to mark the beginning of Back-to-School shopping for teacher's AND my very FIRST year teaching! I found this amazing product, which I am sure that you are going to love every.single.bit as much as I do... and the best part is that the company is still coming up with more and more of this product because they are collectible!!! LOVE  it!!! Have I got your attention yet... are you curious to know what it is??? Well, tune in on Monday where I will post the amazing giveaway and explain how I will be using it in MY classroom.

Here are a couple of hints to help you guess the mystery giveaway item:
* They smell good enough to eat!
* Great incentive for getting students to "do their very best" on their work {Gotta LOVE that! Ha!}
* They are super-dooper-ooper-shmooper cutie patootie!
* And, they come in collectible sets so the fun never ends (I've got my eyes peeled for them whenever I go  shopping so I can get all of the sets!!!)

As promised...

Okay, so... I am still working on giving the Whisper-ma-phones a second coat of spray paint and trying to decide how I am going to cutesify them but I wanted to make good on my promise to at least give you the freebie label for the crate where you will store your class set of Whisper-ma-phones.

I couldn't find clipart of the Whisper-ma-phone that is featured in the story of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss so like the old adage says, "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself" so I went on the Paint program on my computer and created my own Whisper-ma-phone!!! Hope you guys like the Whisper-ma-phone Bin Label! Click on the link to snag your copy of my super cute bin label! Enjoy!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Whisper-ma-Phone Tutorial

Hi Friends,

Hope y'all had an amazing time on the 4th of July... we had a HUGE downpour {picture cats and dogs falling from the sky} but thankfully it cleared up in time for the fireworks.  Today I began my next Pinterest summer classroom project... I'm calling the Whisper-ma-Phones (from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss).  I've seen these puppies all over pinterest and decided to make them for my classroom to help my students during "Read to Self" for the Daily 5.  I compiled a picture tutorial for all of you to follow and as soon as I glue these bad boys together and paint them I will post the finished project... but for now, I didn't want to keep y'all waiting in case you wanted to head to Home Depot or Lowe's to begin your own Whisper-ma-Phone project.

 The Whisper-ma-Phone Project

Materials Needed (Makes 25 phones):
* One PVC pipe 3/4" diameter by 10ft. (its the LONG ones that aren't cut yet)
* 3/4" (90 degree) PVC Elbows (5 packs of 10)
*PVC Cement
*Ratcheting PVC Cutter (only if your store does not cut the PVC into 4 1/2" pieces for you)
*Spray Paint (any color)

Directions:

1. Purchase all materials (minus the PVC cutter if a store associate can cut the PVC pipe for you).

(Diet Coke from Wendy's not included! Ha!)

 2.  Skip this step if the PVC pipe pieces were pre-cut for you at the hardware store.  If not, take the LONG PVC pipe and use a measuring tape and a sharpie to make lines all-the-way-down the pipe every 4 1/2".  Then, carefully, have a  male relative (I believe that women can DO anything, including this... but it does take a lot of upper-body strength to make the cuts using the cutter) make the cuts where your sharpie markings are. 

*My amazingly, wonderful husband cut mine... thanks baby!!!*

3.  Once all of the pieces are ready you can begin gluing.  Shake the PVC Cement bottle before opening.  Then, using the little foam brush that is inside of the PVC cement bottle, add glue to the inside holes of the 3/4" Elbows do one end at-a-time and then attach to the pipe.  Make sure that you apply pressure so that it gets pushed all the way into the pipe.  Lastly, let it dry  for 2 hours to be certain that it is adhered properly.

4.  After 2 hours, lay a cardboard box or posterboard on the ground and begin painting {be sure to shake the spray paint bottle well before spraying).  Note: The reason I say to use something that is cardboard or posterboard is because the spray paint can make the newspaper stick to the phone as it lays there drying and it will look horrible.

I will edit this post tomorrow to include the finished Whisper-ma-Phone and a FREEBIE that you can use with your phones.

Happy D-I-Y-ing, Y'all!

Happy 4th of July! and Story Leads FREEBIE!!!

Hi Friends,

Just wanted to stop in and wish y'all a very bright and happy 4th of July! As I've been mentioning in my posts... there's going to be an overload of FREEBIE'S and ideas on my blog because it is going to be my first year teaching and I believe that everyone, especially teachers, should "pay it forward" because we all had people that helped us along the way to become the fabulous and highly effective teachers that we are now.  So, with that said... here is another pinterest project that I re-created for my classroom and that I wanted to share with all of you.  I am providing the freebie now and the classroom pictures will appear when I get into my classroom so that you can see how it all comes together.  This project was re-created from the idea of the fabulous Lori over at Teaching with Love & Laughter {make sure you check out her site because she has TONS of amazing ideas (most of which are floating around on Pinterest! Ha!)}.  Thank you Lori for this great idea... I am sure that my students will really be able to understand these concepts all thanks to you...  You rock!

All of the clipart that was used to make these Story Leads posters are courtesy of DJ Inkers and Google.  I made the posters kind of simple-looking so that you could back each page with whatever type of cardstock or scrapbook paper that you choose to match your classroom decor.  Hope you enjoy.

Below is a sample of the Title/Heading poster and one of the Story Lead posters... click HERE to download the set!

Enjoy!

The Great Postcard Exchange {School Year: 2012-2013}

Hi Y'all! I can't tell you how *to infinity and beyond* excited I am to have joined the 2012-2013 postcard exchange for my very first year as a teacher... this year is proving to be a year of many "firsts" for me and I am so blessed to have the opportunity to share it with all of you as I begin this marvelous adventure as a first year teacher.  There are so many things in store for me and for all of you followers! I have tons of ideas for the summer as I continue to get ready for the upcoming school year.  My teacher brain is in overdrive!!! But, I had an epiphany after signing up with Mechele from Barrow's Hodgepodge for the great postcard exchange.

Epiphany: FLAT STANLEY!!!

Stay tuned for my next post to find out what I plan to do with my Flat Stanley epiphany! :) Oh, and if you are interested in signing up for The Great Postcard Exchange... you can do so by clicking on the link above (all of the directions and information are on the link).

Have a Happy 4th of July!

Too good not to share IMMEDIATELY!!!

I am usually not in the habit of double-posting... but this just could not wait! I wanted to make sure that y'all had the opportunity to go and pick up the Skippyjon Jones collection at Kohl's before they run out...

For those of you that are not aware of this, Kohl's has a program called Kohl's Cares (the program IS NOT featured at all of the Kohl's stores) and about every month they will feature a children's book author and will sell certain books and stuffed animals from that author at a whopping $5 each, the proceeds go to kids' health and education...you can't beat that! Help the kids and get great deals on books for your classroom library! LOVE it!!!! Oh, and to boot... the books are all HARDCOVER books! Anywho, this month features the Skippyjon Jones collection.  I headed there today and picked up the Skippyjon Jones plush, the bee plush and the book "Skippyjon Jones Class Action" {which was the ONLY book that I was missing from the collection} for a total of $16! You can't beat it! I checked out the prices on amazon and that book alone is over $11! So, if you are a Skippyjon Jones fan then head on over to Kohl's a.s.a.p and if you're not sure if your Kohl's store is a "Kohl's Cares" store then click on the store locator tab on this link and to view the selection of plushes and books for Skippyjon Jones that are being offered you can also click on this link and it will take you directly to the Skippyjon Jones Kohl's page. 

Happy Shopping!

P.S. Make sure you pick up the book, "Skippyjon Jones Class Action" it would make a fabulous read aloud for back to school! I just bought it and am looking forward to reading it to my 2nd Grade Sweeties!

It's Official...

For my FIRST year teaching I will be in Second Grade! I can't tell you how BEYOND excited I am.  I have been following so many amazing 2nd Grade Teacher bloggers for the past year and a half and I will finally be able to use all of the ideas and knowledge that you have all shared on your blogs.  So, with that being said, all of you 2nd Grade teacher bloggers out there {I'm sending up a 'bat signal'} for your help! I'll be *blog stalking* the rest of the summer and upcoming school year!  And for anyone interested, you can follow my adventures as a first year teacher right here on my blog! I look forward to beginning and sharing this journey with all of you... so come follow me as I navigate us through my first year! Eeekk!!! In the words of Sid the Science Kid, I'm "super-duper-ooper-shmooper" excited!

As of right now, as I understand it, the school that I will be working for has sister schools and from what I heard one of the sister schools is a *theme* school so their theme for the upcoming school year will be Superheroes.  Now, because they have a theme, one could deduce that my school will also have a theme, if not the exact same theme, but until I find out more information I am basically STILL unable to start planning for my classroom. Y'all can imagine the frustration that I must be feeling (since it is my first year and all) at not being able to get started so for now I am just passing the time and letting my teacher brain go into hyperdrive as I "pin" everything that I like and blog stalk all of you... although I must say, I am so jealous of some of you that are able to work in your rooms during the summer and/or are at least able to begin the planning and projects for your classrooms.  But, I am practicing patience and trusting God that it will all get done in His perfect timing {even though my watch is ready right now!} because He has never let me down and has made everything that seemed impossible, possible.  So, y'all keep checking back because I will continue to make and post whatever projects I can make in the meantime the projects that are neutral for the classroom and don't require anything having to do with any theme for now and I promise that as soon as I find out what the theme of my classroom will be for the upcoming school year... you'll be the first to know! So stay tuned.... because this is sure to be quite the adventure!

Happy summer, y'all!

By Our Powers Combined...Pickles and Ketchups Unite!

I want to say a BIG 'thank you!' to some of my bloggy friends who had nothing but positive and kind words for me in regards to the trials and tribulations that teachers, especially first year teachers, face as they take their first leap of faith to try to establish themselves in the teaching world... thanks to your kind words and loads upon loads of prayers (especially on my part) I should be getting called in either this week or next week to sign my paperwork to teach this coming school year.  That I am aware of, there are 2 teaching positions available at the school (Kindergarten and 2nd Grade... my *preference* is 2nd, so hopefully they place me there) but nonetheless I will be in my FIRST classroom and experiencing my FIRST year teaching Elementary!!! I am "to infinity and beyond" excited!!! So, be on the lookout as I post the rest of this summer and upcoming school year.  I might even need to revamp my site to match!

Anywho, in other news... as I stated in a previous post, this is definitely turning into a "Pinterest Summer".  I gotta start getting the ball rolling (especially now that I have a job sorry I just love saying that it is still very surreal that after all my hard work I am going to have my very own classroom!) and going into overdrive making all of the amazing things that y'all have posted on the internet to get my classroom ready.  This is going to be overwhelming, stressful, blissful, exciting, nerve-wracking and any other adjective you could name to describe my excitement and nervousness all at the same time!

Sorry, I guess I ramble a lot... but on to the post for today.  Pickles and Ketchup! So, I am sure that many of you have seen this amazing idea online and I traced it back to Callie over at Teach-a-Roo.  She offers it as a freebie {so go and print them out HERE if you like the idea for your classroom}.  Below is my version of her fabulous idea... maybe it will give you some inspiration to create your own, just as Teach-a-Roo inspired me! :) So, here's the low-down on what this is... basically, on Fridays you put these up on your board and you or the students can come up and write their names themselves under the appropriate heading and if they have no missing/incomplete work they go under the "pickles" heading {which means they can 'pick' from various options (depending on what choices you want to offer for them) like: games, tubs, stations or activities that they can complete while the "ketchups" catch up (pun intended! Ha!) on whatever work they need to finish! Genius I tell you... just genius!

Here's the original that has been making appearances all over Pinterest...

And here is my version... I used the Cricut: Accent Essentials cartridge to do the cutout of the frame on some pink and green design paper cardstock that I had lying around; then I pulled out a pencil and a sheet of red and green paper and got to drawing my ketchup bottle {didn't like any online} and pickle {again, didn't like any clipart online} and then made the headings and labels on microsoft word using the font MTF Cutie Patootie, which can be downloaded HERE  for free-99! {P.S. while you're on her site, browse around cause there are some super-duper-ooper cute fonts that are also free on her site}.  Now all that's left is to laminate these babies and attach some adhesive magnet to the back of each and they will be ready to make their debut in my FIRST classroom!!!

Happy Pinning!

It's a Pinterest Summer Ladies!!!

If you follow me on Pinterest then you know that I have a board for practically everything that you could possibly think of  including the kitchen sink! except for the kitchen sink! So, in anticipation of my first year teaching and because of my O.C.D. tendencies I created a board titled "Projects to complete over the Summer for my classroom"... well, I am here to say that I have officially checked one of those "pins" off my list and I have ONE very talented individual { from: Create*Teach*Share}to thank for this fabulous and extremely organized Teacher Toolbox.  Considering that this will be my very FIRST year teaching I figured that it couldn't hurt to make my classroom as organized as possible so that while I'm running around like a chicken without a head teaching in my beautifully decorated classroom I can find everything I need with ease.  So, it is with a GIANT thank you, thank you, thank you... for this amazing idea that I check off my very first Pinterest project of the Summer.

P.S. Even though I have absolutely NO IDEA what subject/grade or even what school I am going to be teaching at yet I have decided that my color scheme will be: black, white, raspberry/watermelon pinkish and turquoise... so, with that in mind, I hope you like how my Teacher Toolbox turned out and be sure to look for more projects that I will be posting this summer.  And if you'd like to follow me, The Teaching Bug, on Pinterest you can click on my "Follow Me on Pinterest" button at the top of my page.

Happy Pinning!

Keeping the Faith

Catching up... I graduated on May 12th and am now officially on the job hunt.  It seems that no matter how many hurdles, molehills and mountains you climb as soon as you reach the top you find yourself staring at another one! *Sigh* such is life! It's almost the middle of June and I still have no idea where I am going to be come August but, I have faith and I know that God would not have given me the will and desire to be a teacher without providing me with a classroom to teach in.  In the meantime, while I can't begin to prepare things for my classroom {since I have no inkling whatsoever of what grade/subjects I am going to teach} I have determined to use my time wisely by pinning all of the amazing ideas that I love that are out there in the Internet Universe and joining some of your book studies.  So, I will be posting some thoughts and activities/worksheets that I create along the way as I follow along with all of you through the book studies of "Guided Math" and "Daily 5/CAFE" so stay on the lookout for freebies.  Until then, please pray for me as the job hunt and interviews continue and best of luck to any of you who are on the same boat as I am and are trying to start your FIRST year teaching!

Daily 5: Spelling Scrabble for Word Work

Hi Friends,

So... I've been reading both of Debbie Diller's books, Literacy Work Stations and Math Work Stations, in addition to seeing so many amazing ideas and inspirations on other blogs and Pinterest {LOVE!} so I came up with this little Spelling Scrabble recording sheet set.  To use as a work work station simply print out the attached  Spelling Scrabble worksheets, staple them, add a set of Scrabble Tiles AND also your Spelling Words for the week from your respective Reading Series to a book ring and place in a station...and you're all set! This is a short post...but I hope that y'all find this little freebie useful.  Enjoy!

And, as always, Happy Teaching!

Here is a sample of what the file looks like:

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Hi Friends,

I know I've been M.I.A... it seems like that is the story of my life lately but I have good reason! Internship is FINALLY over and I finished it with a BANG! Graduation is coming up soon (in May) and then after that I can begin applying for a teaching position and I know that I am going to need all of the prayers I can get to find a spot here in Miami... but, in the meantime, I have been reading all of the amazing books that have been recommended by all of you in blogland.  I just finished reading The Daily 5 and I will probably work on some posters and rules for each soon so be on the lookout for that and I have begun reading No More "I'm Done!" by Jennifer Jacobson because I want to make sure that I have as much knowledge as possible to run Writer's Workshop in the classroom as effectively as possible so that my future students can benefit from it so look for some posts on that book soon as well.  In the meantime, here are some cooperative learning strategies cards that I created.  The explanations on how to implement each strategy in the classroom are featured on this link HERE and the classroom strategy cards I made can be found HERE .  My suggestion would be to print out the strategy descriptions first so that you can keep them as a reference as you introduce and use each strategy in your classroom and then print out the strategy cards I made.  I didn't decorate them too much on purpose because I know that all of you have different themes and colors in your classrooms... this way, you can print them out and glue them to any kind of scrapbook paper you wish to use and then laminate them for durability... I would also adhere some magnetic strips to each of them so that you can line them up on your whiteboard and have them ready in a moments notice.  If there are any strategies that you use in your classrooms that I did not feature in the file, please feel free to comment and I will add them to the set.

Note: When you download and print the strategy cards please make sure that you do not make any changes to the original cards... it took me a L-O-N-G time to put these together and I put a lot of thought into how I wanted them to look.  Thank you and Enjoy!

 Also, I did not make cards for every single strategy that is featured on the website (link above) because I do not use all of the strategies listed in the Primary grades; but if you find the file useful to your individual classroom needs then I hope you will take the time to comment and let me know how you like them and/or how you plan to use them in your classroom.  The teaching blog world is a collaboration of ideas and by us sharing our ideas, it allows other teachers (especially NEW teachers, like myself) to "beg, borrow and steal" those ideas to benefit the students because, after all, that is what we are here for! :) So, until my next post... happy teaching friends!

Here is a sample of one of the pages that is featured in the Cooperative Learning Strategies file:

Clipart used courtesy of DJ Inkers

I get by with a little help from my Bloggy Friends!

Hi Friends!

Sorry I haven't posted... this upcoming week is going to be total madness! So, if you can just bear with me for 1 more week, I promise it will be worth it.  I have loads of activities and pictures to post but I am having my final observation this week and trying to finish my Showcase Portfolio and Lesson Plan Binder, which I need to submit to my Seminar Instructor for my final grade. YIKES! Wish me luck.  Anywho, the reason I made this post is because I need a little help from my friends.  For the last couple of weeks there have been a couple of teachers who have made posts about a new site that they use that is similar to storylineonline.net and all I've heard are some great things about it... now, I know I made a note of it somewhere but for the life of me I can't find it.  I believe it started with an "S" but I can't be certain... supposedly, it has tons of stories that are read aloud with videos on the site... if anyone has any idea what I'm talking about please comment and let me know because to be honest... its driving me all kinds of crazy and bonkers! It is basically comparable to when you are trying to remember something (i.e. a movie title or song name) and for the life of you you can't remember it and it drives you crazy until you figure it out... y'all know what I mean?! Well, that is how I feel right now.  So, if anyone can help a sista out, it would be greatly appreciated! :)

Happy Blogging!

P.S. Here's one activity that I did this week for Women's History Month.  We use the HM Reading Series and since we're getting our Sweeties ready for the S.A.T.  We decided to do the Biography section of the Reading Series.  So, I did this little activity with my Second Grade Sweeties after we read the Vocabulary Reader: A Biography of Faith Ringgold.  I even created a powerpoint to go with it, but here is the activity the kids completed.

For those of you who may not know who this important Woman is... Faith Ringgold is famous for writing complete books and stories onto quilts so... since the kiddos returned from Spring Break on Monday, I had them create their own quilt pattern with the story of what they did on their Spring Break and then I put them all together and voila! :)  Enjoy!

Our day with the Lorax!

Hi Friends,

As promised, here are the pictures from the Lorax freebie that I posted about earlier.

After reading the story, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.  I had the students sign a pledge on the "We Speak for the Earth!!!" chart paper above and then I handed them a Lorax Bookmark that came with a Truffula Seed (which I picked up at iHOP Restaurant... along with a delicious omelette and pancakes, of course!).  Then, they completed the Lorax writing craftivity with the following prompt:

"I would help the Lorax save the Truffula trees by..."

I also wanted to say "thank you" to all of you who used my Lorax writing craftivity in your classroom.  It was quite an honor to see the pictures up on your blogs and on Pinterest!  I hope your students had a seuss-tastical time working on it! :)  Please be sure and leave a comment below with a link to your blog if you used the activity so that I can check out how you used my Lorax activity in your classrooms!

Happy Teaching!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I big "THANK YOU" goes out to Field of Poppies for giving me the Top Ten Award! If you haven't been to her site you must check it out... she has some A-MA-ZING ideas and activities! :)  Thanks again, Field of Poppies!

Oobleck Experiment Freebie for Dr. Seuss Week

After searching high and low for an Oobleck Experiment worksheet on the internet to go with my experiment and coming up empty handed...I decided to create my own.  I hope you are all having a fabulous Seuss-tastic week! Hopefully y'all can use this in your classrooms this week and if not, you can always print it and file it for next year.  My Second Grade Sweeties had such an amazing time with this experiment and I overheard talk of them wanting the Oobleck Experiment Worksheet so that they could go home and make some more.  Apparently the Ziploc baggies of Oobleck that I sent home with each of them yesterday after the lesson did not do it justice.  I must say though that I was a little worried when one of my sweeties came up to me and asked me what would happen if they poured it on themselves... YIKES! That's all I can say... poor parents! I did tell the whole class though NOT to go home and pour it down any sink because it would clog the pipes just like it clogged the "trumpeter's" trumpet and other things in the story, Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.  I also told them NOT TO EAT IT, even though the "Captain of the Guards" decided to eat some.

Click HERE for your copy of the Oobleck Experiment worksheets I used!

Just a Note/Suggestion:  For the "Analyze Your Observations" portion of the Worksheet (on the second page) I had the students write adjectives that describe Oobleck by making lines (to look like a web) all around the picture of King Derwin of Didd.