New Year's Eve GIVEAWAY!


3......2.....1....Happy New Year!
What a great way to ring in the new year....by winning this HUGE giveaway!
 
Here's what you can win:
(Some things are so new they aren't even available for purchase yet!  You could be the first to have them!)
 
 
 
 
 





 





Enter below using Rafflecopter before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st (EST)!
One lucky winner will be chosen!
 

Click {here} for Mrs. Jump's blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Mrs. Wills' blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Lori (Teaching with Love and Laughter)'s blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Erica Bohrer's blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Kim (KinderGals)'s blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for The 3am Teacher's blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Donna (Kinderglynn)'s blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Michelle (Fabulous in First)'s blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Kindergarten Smorgasboard's blog and click {here} for his TpT store.
Click {here} for Kathleen (Growing Kinders)'s blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Mrs. Parisi's blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
Click {here} for Mrs. Albanese's blog and click {here} for her TpT store.
 


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Remembering.....and celebrating

It was hard to go to work today....my mind kept thinking about last Friday's tragedies.
I didn't want to leave my own kids at home.  I wanted to stay with them all day long, play board games and eat ice cream.  I wanted to hold them and kiss them endlessly.
Then I remembered that I have special kids at school too, that I hold dear to my heart, who are expecting a teacher to come to school today and teach them, make them laugh, and show them that school is an amazing, safe place to be yourself.
So that's when I knew where I had to be today.
 
I wasn't sure if any of my students had heard the news this weekend, as every channel, every radio station and nearly everyone that I ran into was talking about it.
No one did.
And I was happy about that.  I really wasn't sure how I was going to handle it.  And if it does come up tomorrow or the next day, or even next week or next year, I really can't say what I will do.  All I know is that it's my job to make my students feel like school is the best place to be.  After all, I want my own children's teachers to do the same for them.
 
And so I am celebrating....celebrating all the wonderful students in my class. Every.Single.One.Of.Them.
They are all special and have touched my heart in so many ways.
 
It was business as usual in my classroom today, well, maybe I was a little more "easy-going" than normal.  We had Fun Monday - I usually only have Fun Friday on a weekly basis, where my students can choose whatever they would like to play with and with whomever they would like to play with.
But between dress rehearsals for our Christmas concert tomorrow night and trying to squeeze in some last minute activities I thought I would let things slide just a little bit today...and maybe for the rest of the week :)
 
Working on our Pocket Chart activities...one is from last week and one from this week.
You can find these in my best-selling All Year Long Pocket Chart Fun Activities.
 
The kinders made their parents the *cutest* handprint calendar (idea originally taken from Little Giraffes).  Thank you to Ms. C and Mrs. Sampogna for helping us with this big job and for laminating them, binding them AND wrapping them!  Phew!  What would we do without you?!?!
This is the card that my kinders made which will go with the calendar.
The one on the left is done by my SK students and the one on the right is by my JK students.
Adorable!
 
I pulled out this cute game that I made last year.  We have been getting really good at identifying the numbers on a die.  I had ALL the kids running to this centre today!
 
Click HERE to read my post from last December and download your FREE copy of my
Roll-a-Number centre.
 
I had a very L-O-N-G day (it was my ___-th birthday today, yes, you fill in the blanks!).  So I'm off to bed.  But I wanted to let you know that if you are looking for a few last minute things to do with your kiddies this week (which are extremely FUN, I might add) you must check out Tanya Solano's Holiday Fun pack.
My students just loved the Alphabet Maze today!  Hmmm....I think I'm going to use the Picture Crossword tomorrow....
 
Have a good night everyone!


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Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary


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Writing Center Posters FREEBIE and a peek at my week!

Last year I wrote about how I use these posters in my Writing Center.  I change them thematically or by season.  You can read about that post here.
 
I also uploaded them onto Google docs as a freebie....but lately I have been receiving e-mails from some of you sweet friends that they aren't downloading!  I don't know what's going on with Google docs so I decided to go to the best, most reliable place I know to download things...TpT!
So here you are, folks, ALL of the Writing Center posters I made for you to download for FREE!
Just click on the picture to download your copy.
 
 
Here's a peek at what we started on this week.  We read the Gingerbread Man and Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett as our theme this week is.....drumroll....Gingerbread! (hmmmm...what gave that away?)
 
Learning how to count and read 5-frames....we will be learning about 10-frames in the new year.
 
Roll and cover game....my students LOVE these games and insist on them each week!
(I love the fact that they are learning to share, take turns and wait patiently for their turn! HA!)
 
The sight words were mixed up and the kiddies had to unscramble them.  You can't see it in the picture but I had a poster of the words nearby so the students could cross-reference their answers.  I thought this might be a little challenging but they did a great job!
 
Counting out the "gumdrops" on the gingerbread houses and recording our anwers.
 
You can find these activities and more in my Gingerbread Literacy and Math Activities unit on TpT.
 
Phew!  We have a LOT to pack in before Christmas Break.  Our play is in 2 weeks and we are busy rehearsing every day!  AND we are nearly done our Christmas craft....just putting the finishing touches on it!  I promise to post when they are done!
 
If you are getting ready for the new year, I created this new unit, The Mitten.
We do a whole book study on Jan Brett's book.  It's a perfect book for the long winter months!
I included lots of hands-on center activties, an original song written by me, a fun art activity and LOTS more!
AND....it's one SALE this week!!!
You can click on the picture to check it out!
 
 
Hope you have a great week!

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Rockin' Reindeers FREEBIE!

Horray!  It's nearly December!
Can you believe how fast November flew by?  I still can't believe that in a few weeks we will be off for Christmas Break (a well-deserved one, too!).
 
I have a volunteer in my classroom a few times a week...wait....let me stress what an AMAZING artist she is!  I know I have mentioned Ms. Josie in other posts but the wall art she put up is truly fabulous.
And she made all the cute pictures FREE-HAND!
Yes, if it were me I would have pulled out the old overhead projector, photocopied some clip art onto transparencies and started tracing, painting and cutting. 
But not Ms. Josie.
She whipped these pictures up in no time!
I just love the reindeer wearing earmuffs - he's my favourite!
 
 
I told her to open up a clip art store so other teachers can purchase her amazing stuff and use it for TpT units.  She's a pro on the computer too!
What do you think?
 
I've made this cute little reindeer craft before.  I found it online years ago and don't know where it came from!  I'd love to give credit!
It looks like a TLC art activity.  I love the way they all come out a little differently.
 

 
I had all the shapes pre-cut and the students simply followed my direction in gluing the pieces in the correct order/spot.  Easy and so much fun!
Plus it makes for a great Christmas display!
 
Here is the rest of the wall that Ms. Josie created for us.
 
 
You can click here for a copy of the reindeer craft - please excuse my hand drawn instructions.  My computer was giving me a hard time so I just scanned it in.
 
Horray.....TGIF ... almost!


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Cyber Monday {and Tuesday} sale

I am sooo jealous of all of you who got to enjoy deep discounts and savings for Black Friday.
There is no such thing as Black Friday in Canada.
Well, let me refresh that...
stores here "say" they are having Black Friday sales but that usually means just saving the tax, no big-time savings let me tell you!
 
Thank you, Ashley, for creating this cute image!
So that's why I am so excited and am gearing up for Cyber Monday tomorrow!
I'm joining in on the TpT sale by offering all of my items 20% off both Monday and Tuesday.
And if you use the coupon code "CMT12" at checkout you will get an additional 10% off!
 
 
It's full of lots of fun things for the holidays!
And if you are looking for other ideas for the winter months, be sure to check out these fun things I created!
My Winter Wonderland unit was on the Best-Sellers list last winter for 3-weeks in a row!
 
 
 And my best-selling Write the Room - The Complete Set (which includes both a Christmas and Winter Write the Room activity plus LOTS more!) will also be on sale for an incredible price!
 
I'm definitely not going to miss out on this big sale....so I'm off to fill my shopping cart on TpT!
Happy shopping! 


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My l-o-n-g week...and THE doll!

I had the l-o-n-g-e-s-t week ever!
So my sincere apologies for not posting earlier this week and wishing all my Blogger friends in the USA a very Happy Thanksgiving!
I know we aren't celebrating here in Canada (although, to tell you the truth, I could really use a few days off to spend with my family - who doesn't like that?) I am hoping that all of you are enjoying the weekend...and any Black Friday shopping (again....jealous!).

I am so very thankful for the wonderful friends I have made over the past year.  We not only share the same profession but we have so many other things in common and we just "click".
It's so nice having such great friends!
 
My husband and I were away last weekend in Chicago with his partners from work and their wives.
What a beautiful city!!!
I've never been there before but I had the best.time.ever!
The shopping is, by far, much better than here! 
I HAD to buy my daughter an American Girl.
I first discovered this store last summer when we were in NYC.  Honestly, I thought it wasn't real.  We were making our way through the 8 levels of the store only to find a "Doll Hospital" (if your doll's arm, say, falls off!), a "Hair Salon" where for just $20 you can give your doll a full hair do, and an entire section devoted to shoes....for the DOLL!
But I totally got suckered in this time while I was walking through the Chicago store....don't judge me, please! HA!
I found a doll that looks JUST LIKE my daughter and, since she's now 4, I thought she would love it (she better since it wasn't cheap!).
Her face absolutely lit up when I gave it to her and it's now become her best friend.
(Thank goodness or my husband would really have killed me for buying it!)
 
Anyways, back to my week.  So after returning from that great weekend getaway, I was beat!
And I had to go straight back to work.
And I'm still beat from the weekend!
But to top it off, last night at school was Parent-Teacher interviews.  I stayed until nearly 9:30 last night so today was H.A.R.D to get through!
I'm so very glad it's the weekend!
 
Here's a look at what we did this week.  We're just about done with our Bear theme.  I loved teaching my kinders about Bears!
 
Sight word practice
 
Beginning sounds
 
My kinders LOVE these type of games....spin, count and colour!
 
Identifying shapes
 
Completing our own Brown Bear book by filling in the missing colour words.
(I have had this booklet for years, don't know where it originated from, so if you do, please let me know so I can give credit!)
 
My JK's are getting really good at reading sight words!
I had them practice with this emergent reader I made.  They circled the sight word "little" and coloured the bear the matching colour.
They were so excited when they got to 'read' it to a friend!
 
Here is a picture of all the Kindergarten teachers dressed up in pajamas for our Teddy Bear Picnic last week.  I work with amazing ladies....Mrs. Linigari, Mrs. Parisi, and Ms. Laface.
It's so nice going to work and having wonderful friends to spend the day with!
 
You can find all of these activities (except the Brown Bear fill-in-the-blank booklet) in my Bears Literacy and Math Activities unit on TpT.
 
Fill you shopping carts on TpT and get ready for Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) this coming week!
Everything in my store will be 20% with an additional 10% off (for a total of 28% off!) by using code CMT12.
 
 
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!



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