Monday Made It ( Bridal Edition!)

Helllllooo!

I'm so excited because it is Made it Monday!..... which means that my summer has officially begun because I am doing my first Monday Made It. 

Today, I am sharing all of my bridal "made-its" from the past couple months! I have tried my best to get crafty and am oh so pleased with a couple of my items to share with you today! 

Disclaimer: My picture quality is well.... downright terrible. I took them as a I crafted along and was so excited to get them off to my girls that well.... I didn't take quality pictures. 

But without further ado, I link up with 4th Grade Frolics for 

Let me begin by saying I got engaged back in February and we have decided on May 7th, 2016 as our wedding date. We chose May because both of our parents were married in May and we thought it would be neat if we were too! 

Peach and Gold are our chosen colors for the big day. My first project as an engaged woman was to create something special to ask my girls to be in my wedding. It all started with a box! 

I got these cute little wooden boxes from Jo-Ann's and painted them with our colors. Each box had a different design on it. This was one of my favorites. After I had the boxes, I had to think of something to put in them! 

So I filled them with a ring (in the gold heart box), a gold bangle, and my mom crocheted these cute little bags for me! Inside the little bag are two mini nail polishes. One is gold and the other is peach.  In the little pocket (made with my mom's Silhouette Machine), was a color palette and a letter asking each girl to be my bridesmaid. 

I have 8 bridesmaids so I wanted to do something fun but affordable. Each box only ended up costing  me around $25 dollars. I was so proud of them! 

I got the rings and the bangles from Jane.com and eleventhavenue.com. If you haven't checked out these places... do it now!

My youngest sister is only 13 and she is not super into jewelry or polish, so I made her  a Frozen box. I like to call it the " Do you want to be a bridesmaid?" box.  Underneath, the ring pop, magnet, and little Olaf, is  a super cute Anna outfit for her American Girl dolls. 

I couldn't forget about Aaron's dudes. So on my two favorite sites above... I found these cute little super hero cuff links. They were $8.99 a piece! I made these cute little cards up on PicMonkey and ba-da-bam! He had something cool to ask his dudes with. The guys are going to wear these cuff links on the wedding day because Aaron and I are nerdy... and we know it! 

Stay Tuned....

For more Monday-Made Its. I have some school ideas in mind and in progress! 

And that's all she wrote,

Sarah

Must Read Monday!

Hi all!

I made it back for Must Read Monday! How perfect is it that my book club meets on Mondays also? Mondays really are for reading!

Well first off, the theme this Monday is friendship and we all know this is an important topic for kids, especially in Kindergarten when they are developing their social skills. Sometimes it is hard for those little kinders to get along with one another. 

I have tons of favorites on friendship, but I wanted to share my new favorite that I purchased this year and actually read today when I tutored! It actually reminded me that today was Must Read Monday. 

This book is so cute and when I read it, it reminds me of finding that one friend that just gets you, no matter what. I like reading it to Kinders because it talks about how at first Beekle and and Alice do not know what to say to each other. This leads into a great discussion on how to make friends. I read this book at the beginning of the year, and the kids really thought Beekle was cute!

Last, but not least, I have one more book to share. It is actually out of my teaching zone but I remember my teacher reading it to me waaaaay back when I was in second grade! ;) 

This teacher really got me into reading, because she chose the BEST (seriously) read aloud books. I can remember just about all of them. I think maybe they were so awesome because she just had one of those reading voices that the story come alive. The books she read still stick with me as childhood favorites to this day.  However, not all of them align with the friendship genre. Here is a personal favorite: 

I just bought this last night! I found it at Books-A-Million and had a flashback to 2nd Grade with Mrs. K. So, I told my youngest sister we were going to read it together because she missed out on this one. 

In case you aren't familiar with it, it is about a young boy in the colonial days that is left behind to guard the family home while his father returns to Massachusetts for the rest of the family. While his father is gone, a stranger steals his only gun. This leaves Matt (the young boy) with no way to protect himself or provide something to eat until his family gets back. He strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Native American boy named Attean. Attean teaches him new ways to survive and in return Matt begins to understand and respect the Beaver clan's way of life. 

It is a great story about friendship overcoming differences. If you are a 2nd or 3rd grade teacher and still read aloud to your students I definitely recommend it! I am also a little jealous I can't read this to my kids. It just wouldn't be the same! 

Get out there and Read, Read, Read! 

And that's all she wrote.

Sarah

Must Read Monday( err.... Wednesday)

Hello!

Remember me?

I have to admit.... I had to neglect my blog for the past couple months.... HOWEVER

I'M BACK!

To the teacher bloggers out there that blog weekly, you are my heroes! I wish I was that good! I am so excited to get back into it this summer. When I got on today, I saw that Alex over at the the Kindergarten Connection started a new weekly link-up with Kindergarten Planet. Well, it just so happens that like probably most of you I am obsessed with books (and of course, reading them too!). I am so excited to  join this linky! 

I wanted to share my favorite Last Day read. I love this book because it makes me hopeful for my students' future, yet makes me reflect on the awesome year we had together. For the last two years, I have made reading this book the last thing we do as a class before leaving for the summer. 

So on the last day of school, I call them to the carpet on last time to read this gem. 

The Last Day of Kindergarten by Nancy Loewen. 

If you haven't already heard about it, do check it out! It is a great read!

Well, I can't promise a weekly update, (I'm trying!!) but I am really excited to share what you missed in my absence and what I am working on this summer. 

Can't wait to see/hear what you are all up to! 

Keep calm and summer on!

Sarah

Five for Friday

Hey ya'll! 

I haven't linked up for Five for Friday in a looooong time! 

But here I am and I'm ready to go! 

I decided since it has been forever since my last post that I would pick 5 things from the last month or so and share them.

Well, first things first.....

I'm engaged!!! 

Woohoo! Blessed with an awesome guy I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with :)

We are planning a May 7th, 2016 wedding!

Ok, the news just keeps getting bigger..... We bought a house!!

Can you see why I haven't blogged in forever and a day? 

In February, I did my first teacher directed drawing. The kids loved it and so did I! They turned out great and went out in the hallway for all to see!! 

Here are my other two favorite crafts we did the past two months. The first one was our shrinking leprechaun hats. The kids went wild over these! Our class leprechaun named Lucky shrunk them the night before St. Patty's Day. They were just regular old styrofoam cups when we left....

Lastly, right before spring break we made these little minions with cardboard eggs. They turned out really cute!

Linking up with Farley for her April Currently! I love this link up! 

Any Bones fans out there?? I am on season 6! obsessed....

Hope you all enjoyed/are enjoying your spring break!

and thats all she wrote,

Sarah

February Currently

Oh. My. Word. 

How is it February? 

HOW?

So, I did not keep up with my January goal of blogging more. Sigh. 

In my defense, I think I blinked and missed the whole month. I am not even sure we were there! 

But alas, here I am with the February Currently and linking up with Farley! 

Listening: To the sound of rain...so much for the blizzard we were supposed to get!

Loving: Getting stuff done! Oh yeah! I know you fellow teachers feel the same. Nothing quite like crossing things off the to-do list! Oh and I am LOVING the show Bones. It is soon good. I am flying through season 1!

Thinking: I am thinking that I have slacked so far in 2015 at blogging! Wah. Really hoping to get at least one more post up this month! Wish me luck!

Wanting: I have been loving my new Fitbit and have been having lots of fun doing the work week hustle with a co-worker! My goal this week is to hit 10,000 steps everyday. I almost did it last week, but forgot to wear it one day. Talk about a sad teacher!

Needing: Like I said above, I want to get at least one more post up about my Valentines day treats, I have for the kids and also my sweet boyfriend. I handmade everything this year and am feeling quite excited about them!

Pageant Title: If I were to name a pageant, I would name it The Blue Jean Queen, because in a perfect world I could wear blue jeans to work every day! Love them blue jeans! Just can't have enough pairs! Am I right?

I am off to work on my February behavior calendars for the kids. I swear I just did the January ones yesterday. I swear it! 

And that's all she wrote,

Sarah

January Currently

Linking up late, but joining Farley for January Currently. I have been in a blogging slump! So that is one of my New Year's Resolutions...to blog more! 

But for real, teachers, if you don't have one get a fitbit. It is so fun to track your steps at school! I LOVE IT.

Stay warm out there!

And that's all she wrote.

Sarah

Christmas Post

Hi!

Oh.My.Word.

It has been a while. 

And I have to admit, this month flew by and I hardly had time to snap pictures, let alone get a post up. 

I don't know how all you teacher bloggers remember to take pictures. I see a new goal for 2015 in my future:

Take more pictures!

Well, I want to share with you some of my pictures I did manage to snag over the short but sweet month of December. I am most excited about the craft the kids and I made for them to take home to mom and dad! It turned out great!

We made melting snowman picture holders! Of course, I couldn't resist adding a little Frozen twist to it!

To make these little cuties we used fake snow, orange foam, and teeny tiny little black pom-poms.
And then on a black chalkboard I wrote: "Family is worth melting for." -Olaf.
I dressed the kids up in a hat and scarf and Viola! We had our Christmas gift for our families this year!

Lastly, I wanted to share some of the gifts I made for my fellow Kindergarten teachers and my AR helpers! I had so much fun making gifts this year!

Here are some pictures that I made for my fellow teachers! They are wonderful and I am truly glad we get to hang together! 

I loved making these EOS lip balm gifts. They were so cute and I may have given one to just about everyone I knew. So easy and so stinking cute! I want to make them again!

Last, but not least, I created these cuties for my 3rd grade AR helpers. They are so sweet and do such a great job that I wanted to give them a little treat. 

I used some super cute Enlightened Elephant Clipart (easily my favorite!) and made these for the kids!

After some technical difficulties, I finally have this up and posted! I will also be doing Farley's January Currently in my next post (Hopefully tomorrow)!

I hope you are all getting ready to head back to school. I have been working on things today.

Here is to hoping I get more posts up each month!

And that's all she wrote,

Sarah 

December Currently

Happy December!

Wait... what??

I.Can't.Believe. It. But it sure is exciting!

I hope the rest of you are ready for one of the busiest months of the year. I also hope you are almost done with your Christmas shopping! (I am!)

I am linking up today with Farley for her famous currently link-ups! This is one of my favorites! 

Listening: Once Upon a Time... my new favorite show. This week's episode was AMAZING. I am currently re-watching it with my sisters. 

Loving: I got a lot of wonderful Black Friday deals for my family for Christmas gifts! I can't wait to give them! Did I mention that I did all of my shopping online and did not have to go shopping in all the madness? It was wonderful.

Thinking: No school tomorrow! I have a to-do list! Including getting my last few gifts to complete my Christmas shopping list. Fingers crossed I get it all done! 

Wanting: I mentioned in my last post that I had one assignment to do before the end of the semester. ONE! And it should be done tomorrow. Best. Feeling. Ever.

Needing: I have to make my December Calendars and flash card log. Totally slipped my mind. Oops!!

Giving: This week my store is an additional 20% off. Don't forget to put in the code TPTCYBER at the checkout for additional savings. I have a couple of freebies in my store as well, including my new favorite: What Did the Fox Say? You can check out my store here! 

I have a few goodies in my cart already too!

Don't forget to link up with the other lovely teachers and see what they are up to! 

Have a fantastic week!

Sarah :)

Five for Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am taking full advantage of my break from school to write a post, and of course I am linking up with Doodle Bugs. It has been a busy two weeks! ( I feel like I say this every time I post, BUT it is true every time...I swear!)

Some big things have happened since my last Five for Friday and I am SO excited to share them! 

I am going to start out with the fact that I have only one (that's right you heard me!) assignment left between me and my first semester of Grad school. One. one. One!!!

I can not wait for the break. Hopefully while I am on break I will have more time to blog because lets be honest that is what is slowing me down. Ok, but for real I am so excited. 

My favorite Thanksgiving related craft we did this year was our Teepees! The kids loved these and totally got into it. A couple of the kiddos even wrote stories on their bags using just the picture symbols.  After we finished our craft we watched the movie Spirit. Always a kid favorite.  We also did super cute turkey handprints to give to our families, but I forgot to get a picture of those. They turned out super cute too.  Did I mention that these teepees were super easy also? Just a brown paper bag with a triangle cut out and some twine to tie it together at the top. I will definitely do them again!

I'm gonna take you back in time here, y'all. This is going to happen for two reasons. One, this event happened about two weeks ago and I didn't get to blog about it, and also because well for one whole week we channeled the 1950s. 

The event, you ask? The 50th day of school! Let me tell you, it was the best day of the year so far. 

Here is a picture of me and the three lovely pink ladies that I teach with. They are so much fun!

We started out the day with a sock hop. I made a youtube playlist of songs from Grease, The Beach Boys, and other classic hits. As soon as the announcements were over we were dancin'. We danced so hard my ribs hurt from doing the twist! 

The kids had so much fun and I think they were totally worn out!

In the afternoon, we had Rootbeer floats and Tootsie Rolls and did the limbo. It was a great time!

One of my team members and I purchased Renee Dooly's Nifty Fifties Unit and used that for activities throughout the week. It was such a great find. You can find it here in her store!

I found these huge glasses at Dollar Tree and couple of months ago and finally found something to use them for! ---That sentence would only come out of the mouth of a teacher, am I right? :) I had been doing my sight words a little differently, but I made a change and I think I am totally loving it. I know the kids are. I choose one person every day to first read all the sight words to the class and then lead the class in reading them as well. Of course the whole time they have to be wearing the glasses to improve their eye sight! I am sure that this has been done before and it isn't some huge shocker of an idea, but it is just so fun and we are guaranteed to get at least one big laugh in. Plus, you should see the hands shoot up in the air when I ask for someone to read the sight words now! 

Going to end it today with a reminder of the Cyber Monday Sale on TPT! My store will be on sale and you can shop here! Enjoy the rest of your holiday break!!

Monday Made It: Freebie Edition

Hi all!

It is time for my favorite link up: Monday Made it! 

This post will be kinda short because I'll be honest between conferences, report cards,  Fall party, and Grad school I didn't have to much time to get creative! (Wahhhh.) 

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics anyways, and so here it goes!

Ok, so I had to start with the one I was most excited about! I was inspired by Teaching in the Tongass' new fox clip art last night and just had to make a writing freebie for y'all! My kids still LOVE to dance to "What Does the Fox Say?", so I figured I would let them write and tell me what the fox really does say! I included two writing prompts, one with a speech bubble for more advanced or older kids to write in as well as the lines, and one with just the lines below. But really, how cute is that fox??? 

You can pick up this freebie here in my TpT store. I would love some feedback! :)

Ok, so I might have shared this on the last Monday Made It... I can't remember? It is pretty new as well and a freebie! I use this in my small groups during Daily 5 to help get the kids excited about sounding out words! I either let the kids use counters to put in each circle as they sound out the word, or play-dough to make it a little more fun. I also made one for four letter words! 

You can find that here as well. Enjoy! :)

Ok, so this one does not include a freebie and I am posting it because well, it has taken me a while to get these done and I am just so excited to be moving on to the next part of Daily 5. You might be shocked to read that... as you have probably already introduced all the parts. But, I am a first year Daily 5er and have really taken my time introducing the new parts. I also kind of did my own order for introducing. So far, all is well and I LOVE IT. Let me say that one more time: I LOVE DAILY 5!!!!

It's true. I do. I think it has helped my kids tremendously and the kids LOVE it just as much. Seriously, I get asked all day to do more rounds of Daily 5! I wish I could tell them yes, but I guess we have to do math too! ;)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you picked up the freebies! Have a super week!

Stop by and see me on Instagram! 

Sarah :)