I appreciate you!

This week is the time that we stop and think about the teachers who have done so much for our kids and so much for us.  I hope that all of you educators take the time to appreciate your colleagues for all they have done for you. 
I hope that we can carry the spirit of Teacher Appreciation Week with us for the entire year! 
Take advantage of my TPT discount coupled with the discount from TPT so you can get 28% off on May 7th & 8th. 
I have added a new product {Genre Subway Art Posters} . This is the perfect time to snag your copy!

Tweet, Tweet, Come get your 3 R's Freebie!

 

 

A little birdie told me that Earth Day is right around the corner!  What a great opportunity to talk about being responsible and taking care of our Earth!  Grab my Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Flapbook to get the conversation flowing or assess learning.  Just click on my little buddy or the link below to get your freebie before he flies away!! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Flapbook-Freebie

Just Joking Around!

 

Visit my store for some great deals with 20% off every item!  Saturday, Sunday (Easter) & April 1st!!

You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours!

Hey guys!  I have been trying to come up with ways to increase traffic on my TPT store as I approach my two year anniversary on the site.  I thought I might try all you peeps in blogger world.  If you download & vote/comment for three of my free products in my TPT store and become a follower of my store, I will give you 1 paid item of your choosing for free. 

Simply follows these steps:

1.  Visit my TPT store
2.  Download and comment on at least 3 of my free products
3.  Become a follower of my TPT store
4.  Leave a comment here with the following:
     - the name of the 3 products you downloaded and voted/left comments about
     - the name of the paid product that you would like to have
     - your email so I can send you the product

It's that simple!  I will send 1 free item to everyone who completes all four steps by Thursday at MIDNIGHT (3/21/2013)

So, go ahead and do some shopping!

Here are a few of my free offerings:
Non-fiction Reading Response Cards
Filing Cabinet Drawer Labels
Guided Reading Rotation Cards
Number Identification Highlighting Activity Pages

And as always, I APPRECIATE you!!!!

THIS PROMO HAS ENDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

App of the Week

I am so excited to share this incredible, life changing app!  Okay, it may not be life changing in a big picture kind of way- but I think it will be in your classroom when it comes to organization.  Have you ever been jealous of your media specialist’s organization and efficiency when it comes to keeping track of book inventories?  Well, I have!
I have an extensive classroom library that I am quite proud of and I am very efficient when it comes to organizing my books.  I have got that part down!  But so many times, my students are “borrowing” books from my library to take home or keep them in their cubbies or colleagues are asking to borrow books. 
Enter, Book Crawler!  Where were you 10 years ago?  This app will help you get a handle on your books.  You can use it for your classroom library and professional library.  How many times have you let a fellow teacher borrow a book to run a few copies and then it just disappears?  Or you couldn’t remember where you put that great resource on fables that you and your team need for an upcoming unit you are teaching?  This app will answer those questions for you! 

Once you purchase this app- yes, it costs $1.99 {well worth it!} you will be able to start taking inventory on  your books.
This app has some really great features.  You have 3 options for loading books {Manually, Google Books and ISBN scanner}.  The scanner is the easiest and most time efficient way, but Google Books works great, too!                       
After you load your book, you can tag it.  This allows you to sort your books into categories.  This is a great feature!  I have my classroom library Lexile Leveled instead of by “theme” to better meet the needs of my students{Go here to find my Lexile Level resources on TPT} So, if I was looking for books on volcanoes I would have to search through all my baskets.  Now I can look for books that have a Science tag and find which titles I have.  I can also add the Lexile Level as a custom tag and find exactly which basket houses the book. 
There is also a comment option.  You can put whatever you want in there.  If you lend a book to a student, parent or colleague you can enter it in the comment!  Genius!  There are so many other great features to this app that I haven’t even figured out yet. 
If you decide to check out this app (there is a free lite option), let me know how it goes.  Feel free to share any tips you may figure out! 

St. Patty's Day QR Code Freebie

Don't you love using technology in your classroom?  I love finding any excuse to get technology in the hands of my students.  
Have you ever tried to use QR Codes in your classroom?  They are a great tool and so easy to make. 

First, you need to go to a site that generates the QR code for you.  Try this one:

http://www.the-qrcode-generator.com/

 

 

Follow the easy directions to create and download your own unique codes.  The best part- it is free!

 

Then, you will need to have a QR Reader loaded on your devices.  These are also free! 

 

In no time at all you, too, can be making your own QR Codes.  In the mean time, why not grab my free St. Patty's Day Riddles QR Code Cards and let your kids have a hand at using them.  Click on the picture below to download.  Please leave me a vote in exchange!

 

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!



March Madness Giveaway!

I am so excited to announce that I am sponsoring Fifth in the Middle's March Madness Giveaway!  Be sure to hop on over to her blog to get "recruited".  Then the March Madness will begin!  There are multiple prizes and winners.  You can find me in the Elite Eight!  Hope you will join us for some bball fun!!

Help me reach my goal!!

I have a personal goal set for the month of February that I am oh so close to meeting (I mean less than $10.00).  It is one that I never thought I would come close to a year or so ago when I joined TPT.  I would love if you could take a moment and browse my store where everything is now 20% off!!  This is a great time to get something off of your wishlist and into your classroom!
I know that March officially starts tomorrow, but I am going to give myself this whole weekend to reach my goal!
Thanks,
Melissa

 

Free Font Fat Tuesday

 

Click on the picture above to grab a cute little cherry inspired font for Presidents' Day!  You may use this font for personal or commercial products.  I would love it if you could give me a vote on TPT!   Have a great Fat Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Touchdown! Super deals on Super Bowl Sunday!

February has finally arrived on this fine Friday!  This month is packed with events.  There's Groundhog Day {tomorrow!}, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day and of course, Super Bowl Sunday!!  Here's your chance to score your own Super Bowl Touchdown during the big sale at TPT!! 

You can score up to 28% off by using the promo code "SUPER" during check out.  Everything in my store will be a Touchdown + Extra Point + Field Goal off (that's 10% for you non-footballers!).  So, skip Beyonce this year and do a little TPT shopping during half- time!

Thanks for reading! 

Valentine’s Day Box Awards

February is creeping towards us at an alarming rate!  I know it is hard to believe (especially in the Midwest where temps have reached almost 60 degrees!).  It is time for pink, red, flowers and lace. It is time for candy conversation hearts and valentines.  My students have always enjoyed celebrating Valentine’s Day- no matter what their age.  For the past few years I have had them create their own Valentine’s Day Box to house the cards they exchange with each other on that special day.  Last year I had the boxes on display in the morning and had my students fill out ballots to vote on the boxes.  Then, while they were at their special class, I tallied the results and filled out an award for each student.   Here are a few of the cute and clever boxes my students came up with last year. 

About a week before Valentine’s Day, I send home my letter to parents that explains the project.  Most students use a shoe box, but as you can see from the picture, some go a little larger!  After purchasing some adorable hearts graphics and pretty valentine paper I have revamped my certificates for this year and have them available for purchase in my TPT store.  Here’s an example of one:

My set includes 24 custom awards, 1 blank award to customize, class ballot forms, a letter to send home that describes the project and candy heart number cards to put on each box for voting.  The set will be revised each year with the proper date.  Check it out! 

Staples Deal of the Week!!

One of my favorite writing utensils!

I had a few minutes to spare last night before picking up my oldest at dance so I dashed into Staples to see if they had any good deals.  Look what I found!  I was thrilled to find the multi-colored pack of Papermate felt tips for a whopping low price of $5.00!  That's like Back 2 School cheap, right?  I grabbed one and proceeded to pat myself on the back.  This was perfect because my set from the beginning of the year is almost non-existent.  I lost a few here and there and the others were used to the death!  Hurry to Staples and grab your set!

Have a great Tuesday evening!!