End of the Year Trivia!

4 days.

FOUR.

I am really saddened by this. Normally I am jumping up and down and the days feel like they are crawwwlllinnngggg. Not this year. My last days at my school are coming to an end and I actually want it to slow down... just a bit. I just want to hang out with my kids and chat! I am going to miss them SO dang much :(

In the meantime, we are having fun reviewing what we have learned this year!

I made this trivia game last year as part of my end of year pack and my kids are loving it.

I display the gameboard on my smartboard and the students work in teams to answer the questions! It is huge motivation to keep my kids learning and listening throughout these last few wild days.

Some of the questions I included:

Reading: 

What is the problem and solution in the story _____? 

What is a glossary?

Math:

The sum is 27.

a) 10 + 9 + 8

b) 17 + 10 + 1

c) 5 + 5 + 11

Language:

What is an adjective?

What is the difference between a verb and a noun?

Science:

What is the life cycle of a plant?

What are two reasons we should take care of our earth?

Social Studies:

Name a president we have learned about this year and give me 2 important facts about this person.

Who were the pilgrims?

I also have bunches of blank question cards and I will have my students come up with their own questions tomorrow!

Here are my teams and their points before we went out for an afternoon brain break:

In case you couldn't tell by my obviously amazing drawings that would be: team puppies, team tigers, team zebras, and team seals - HA! My kids think I am an excellent artist...

Before I go finish report cards, I have to share this photo I put on my facebook page the other day:

One of my sweet students came in really early the other morning and took this out of her backpack while yelling "HAPPY SQUASH DAY!!!!!!!!!!" She was so excited!!!! I don't think this is a real holiday... but I went with it.

Now I need to learn how cook something with a squash...

TGIF!

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New Look - Blog Design!

If you have followed my blog for some time now, then you know my fiance, Parker, LOVES to design blogs and other websites.

Well... he was at it again this weekend...

Introducing TGIF 3.0!

This is the last makeover for awhile soooo I hope you like it!

Parker has been designing blogs/websites for family and close friends for the past couple years and he is ready to take on more clients!

Whether you are interested in a small makeover or a whole new blog design feel free to contact him at
PLJONES05 at gmail.

His designs start at $50 with plenty of options for you to choose from!

I mean c'mon... who wouldn't want a blog from THAT guy ;)

Happy Memorial Day!

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Summer Bucket List & Some Lucky Winners!

I am so excited to join a FUN linky party hosted by some of my favorite bloggin' friends!

 Thank you Hadar, Teri, and April for hosting the 2nd annual Summer Bucket List linky!

This will a busyyyy Summer for me.. so here it goes!

{1}

WE'RE MOVING!!!! Cross-country, that is! Back to Massachusetts to be with the fam. Parker and I surprised our family last weekend with a fun gift and now we get to plan a road trip! [You can click here to see the video of the surprise reveal - it went great!] I get out of school June 5th and we are set to leave June 30th. I want to spend the a couple weeks planning a memorable road trip with Parks!

{2}

I want to get a job!

 I feel ya, kid
Wahhhhhh.... Moving back home is VERY exciting... but I need to find a job - ASAP. I have just started applying to schools back east and I am hoping some more positions will open up as the Summer season begins.

{3}

I want to plan a wedding!

Marriage date is 9/20/2013 and it is finally getting closer!!

 

source

Wedding bands, centerpieces, flowers, invitations... the list goes on...

I am loving coral dahlias in bud vases and I am thinking of centerpiece ideas as I type!

{4}

I want to decorate a house!

source

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you would know that Parker and I had been looking for a house in Vegas. Well, obviously that has changed (see #1). This means we will likely have to rent for a bit in Mass. before we can save more money to buy a home. I just want to decorate something - even if I have to settle for a little apartment. While I wait not-so-patiently, I will be stalking Pinterest looking for fun decorating tips!

{5}

I want to organize!

 source

Jewelry, kitchen stuff, school stuff, office, bathroom - LIFE! I want to organize my life.

If you don't know of the blog, IHeart Organizing, I grant you full permission to leave here immediately and go scour her website for days. Then, take a bathroom break, and go back for a few more days. I drool in jealousy while looking at her organization skills. I have started making a list of all the things I need to organize and I think if I can take the time to tackle one project at a time, I will be off to a good start!

So there you have it - my Summer bucket list of 2013! 

Oh and if you are here looking for the winners of my 1k Giveaway!

I will be sending out emails soon! Congrats!!!

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1K GIVEAWAY!

Last weekend I was feelin' quite blessed! This little ole blog was started just over a year ago and I cannot believe that I have reached 1,000+ followers! I am so thankful for all of the friendships I have made through this blog! :)

To thank all of you I have asked some of my amazing friends to help me out with a giveaway!

I have lots of changes coming up next year and I am in a "mode" of trying to finish up this year with a bang...while simultaneously preparing for next year! Since that is what's going on in my life I thought I would throw a dual giveaway!

Every new beginning comes from another beginning's end

Thanks to KG Fonts and her husband, Mr. Magician, for the fonts and graphics!

To celebrate I have created an end of the year "survival kit" giveaway and a new year "starter kit." Both should help you either finish out the year or begin your new year. I will pick a winner for each so make sure you enter both giveaways - who knows... you could be lucky enough and win both!!

First up - the SURVIVAL KIT!

I have 11 school days left and I need all of these to help me and my kids get through these last few days! Summer fever has hit us here in Vegas and it is h-o-t and my kids are antsy! My friends donated some of my favorite units and I threw in a $25 Target gift card for fun! Maybe a new pair of summer sandals? A good book to read by the pool? Whatever you want!

What you can win:
Michelle's Dollar Store Superlatives - End of the year awards!
Kelley's Summer Countdown Survival Kit!
Rachelle's Out of this World - End of the Year activities
Reagan's Last Week of School activities
My Writing Through the Seasons {Summer}
$25 gift card to Target!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next, the STARTER KIT!

I don't know about you.. but about 2 weeks into summer, my brain starts reeling. How will I set up my classroom?! What will I do those first few days?! Again, I got you covered! I asked some of the best to donate their packs and if you win, I promise you will be SET for those first couple weeks in school! As you can see, my amazing practicum student included a $50 credit to her store, Simply Cute as a Button so you can get some custom signs to decorate your room as well!!

What you can win:
Hadar's First Day of School Craftivity!
Amy's Beginning of the Year math lessons and activities!
Katie's Classroom Decor set!
Lyndsey's Friends in First Back to School pack!
My First Week Fun! activity pack
$50 credit to Simply Cute as a Button

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am home in Massachusetts for the weekend to celebrate a friend's wedding and visit the family, so I will pick a winner Tuesday when I am home! Good luck to all and I hope you have a faaaaaantastic weekend! I know I will :)

Thank you all for following along my silly journey through life! I am very appreciative!

xoxo

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I get by with a little help from my friends!

Sick yesterday.

School today.

Off-campus meeting all day tomorrow.

School Thursday.

Doctor's appointments & Flying home for the weekend on Friday.

That means only 2 days of school this week for me - ahhh! These types of weeks are stressful for me and it is even more stressful seeing as my kids are already off-the-walls CRAZY and ready for summer!

Thankfully, some of my blogging buddies have helped me out big time with their products!

Here are few snapshots of our day (which we will be repeating on Thursday!)

 

We always start our day with Kelley's Good Morning Work! These math and reading pages are a HUGE help with my kids to keep reviewing the skills we may not have gone over recently!

In reading, we used Teeny Tiny's Partner Plays!

 I seriously love reader's theater and so do my kids. Teeny's partner plays are just perfect for students to practice reading with expression! My kids thought these were pretty darn funny and I took plenty of videos to show to parents! Unfortunately most of my pics have my kids faces... so just imagine 22 adorable 6 year olds reading and acting out their plays with EXPRESSION!

Next up - math! My students have been needing some major practice and review with graphing, so I pulled out a pack I have had for awhile that I love. Sandra's weekly graphs! She has a survey question for each week with common core aligned questions to go with each one.

 

 These were the perfect review for those pesky "How many more..." questions!

Lastly, in writing we used Lori's interview pack! I thought this would be such a fun way to get my students talking (nicely) to one another and to work on our listening skills!! I paired up my students and told them that they would become news reporters for the afternoon and their job would be to interview their celebrity classmate. I passed out a bunch of interview questions to each pair and my kids got to interviewin'! They wrote down all their "reporter notes" in their writing journal and Thursday afternoon they are going to write their report to share with the class. They thought this was SO cool and they loved being both the celebrity classmate and the reporter. Win-win.

 

 ^^This little guy is using his pencil as a microphone while conducting his interview - ha!^

Sometimes my brain is fried and when this happens, I am grateful that I have some genius blogging buddies that can save me!! If you happen to find that your brain isn't working anymore with only a few weeks left, check out any of the packs above and I promise they'll be worth the money!

Before I go wanted to share that I hit some major milestones on the bloggy-blog this past weekend and I have a big-ole giveaway in the works! Make sure to check back on Saturday for some giveaway goodies!! They won't disappoint!

Happy rest of the week!

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A fun 5 for Friday!

Five for Friday is here and so am I!

I had such a fun week - here is a little snippet:

 

If you are lucky to have a teaching "bestie" than you know how special those relationships are.They are there for you whenever you need them and they make your hard work day immensely better. This is a picture of me and Lindsey and I have been lucky enough to work with her for 3 years. We plan together, goof around together, eat lunch together and vent together. We recently found out we won't be working together next year and I must say my heart is broken :( I have NO idea how I will teach without her, but I am so grateful that I have gotten the opportunity to get to know her better and she has become one of my best friends. I LOVE YOU LINDSEY!!

My practicum student, Ms. Paddy, had her last day on Wednesday and she made me the SWEETEST gift!!!! I was already loving it when I saw the Ms. Moran sign... and then she flipped it around and showed me that the other side says Mrs. Jones for when I am a married lady! I am in love!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Ms. Paddy will be missed by all my students - and ME!

This is my view on the way to work every morning. Once Spring begins, the hot air balloons take over the sky and against the mountains, the sight is just beautiful. It is such a peaceful way to start the day.

This week was teacher appreciation week and my kids and parents SPOILED me!! I felt so appreciated and I love my kids so much!! I wrote a whole post about it over at my personal blog if you want to read more: Late Nights and Lattes

If you weren't living under a rock this past week, then you must've known there was a SALE! A big one too! I shopped a bit myself and I am very excited about my purchases! Click below to see what I got!

I bought Jessica's fonts that I have been wanting for-e-ver:

 {Jessica's fonts}

Katie's Busy Teacher which saves me every month:

 {Katie's Busy Teacher - May}

Kelley's morning work - we use this EVERY day (I got the reading and math!):

 {Kelley's Good Morning Work - May}

Doodlebug's directed drawings for Spring - my kids love art and these are so simple and fun:

 {Doodlebug's Spring Directed Drawings}

Rachelle's Rabbit Research - everyone knows I love a good research project and this one is spot on:

 {Rachelle's Rabbit Research}

Michelle's dollar store superlatives - I can't wait to use these for the end of the year:

{Michelle's End of the Year Awards}

Happy Friday and I hope all the momma's out there have a great Mother's Day! 

xoxox

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Mother's Day Finds and Freebies!

My moms this year are getting the five star treatment this year!

I went searching on TPT this year and found tons of cute and unique ideas for our momma's!

**If you happen to be a mom of one of my kiddos this year TURN AWAY NOW! Do not scroll down!! You will get your gifts on Thursday!**

Okay... back to business...

First up, we are making a book of poetry for our moms!

I whipped up this little cover:

I glued these on pink construction paper and laminated them for the front covers of our books! Inside our books, my students chose lots of different poems from my poetry pack to describe their mommas. Shape poems, acrostic poems, cinquain poems, sensory poems... whatever their little hearts desired!

Inside the book is also one of my favorite little questionnaires that can be found everywhere:

Click on the image above if you want my free copy!

These always crack me up.

After all the poems, my kiddos made made their little hand prints on the bottom of a Mother's Day poem and I laminated that as the back cover. I plan to bind all our poetry books tomorrow so they are ready to go home Thursday!

Another fun thing we did was create these little accordion fold mini-books:

 

My friend, Lisa created these and they were super easy and they came out really cute!

Click on the link above to see what the final product will look like!

The next Mother's Day project required a little help from our 4th grade buddies (Thanks KT!) This freebie was found on TPT and it really let the kids be as creative as they'd like!

 

We are going to laminate these signs, hole punch each side, and add some ribbon so the students can hang them up as a banner for their moms! Each letter has specific directions for the kids to follow and they came out pretty darn cute if I don't say so myself!

Lastly, I am going to have my students complete this "Recipe for a Mother's Love." It is a freebie I made last year and essentially the students fill in the blanks on how to "make" a mother's love!

 I also include a tried and true sugar cookie recipe that I make each year! I make enough for my students to bring some home to their moms and some for us to try in class. I usually print the cookie recipe back-to-back with the mother's love recipe and send it home with the cookies! You can see my old (read: ugly) version from last year HERE.

Okay... that's all... I think!

I hope you all treat your mommas well this weekend!!

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Fabulous Feedback!

I am linking up with Christina Bainbridge to share some of my fabulous feedback before the big TPT sale!

I have had some really sweet buyers leave feedback that has just blown me away! I read and truly appreciate every single piece of feedback I receive on my products.

Here are a few pieces of feedback that made me grin ear-to-ear:

Thank you Julia Fuchs for such kind words! I am so happy that you liked it :) We get butterflies each each year and my kids love seeing the life cycle process. This year, I thought I would create a whole pack filled with Common Core aligned butterfly activities to keep my kids engaged and learning all Spring long!

This sweet feedback is from Natalie Harbold and I was thrilled to be able to help someone new to first grade! Many of you already know that I love teaching writing in 1st grade. The growth is absolutely incredible in this one, short year! I tried my best to make a cohesive writing unit for each of the three major common core writing standards in first grade and this has quickly become my best-selling pack!

This is my newest product and I was so happy to have a repeat customer love my writing packs so much that they had to come back and buy the bundle! I have a "Writing Through the Seasons" pack for each of the 4 seasons and they include writing prompts with graphic organizers, writing centers, crafts, and plenty of other fun activities that align to the CCSS! "mmuntean" Y-O-U are the one who is amazing!

As I am sure you have already heard by now, but TPT is having their annual Teacher Appreciation Sale! All of the products above as well as EVERYTHING in my store will be 20% off all day Tuesday & Wednesday (5/7-5/8)! Click on the button below to head to my store.

^Thanks to the amazing Ashley Hughes for the button^

Happy Shopping & Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!

xoxo

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Swimming into Summer!

I gave a little "face-lift" to my end of the year product I made last year!

It is amazing how much you can learn in a year...

Here is a preview of the pack:

Swimming into Summer!

My favorite thing in this pack is our end-of-the-year trivia game! 

I made these questions based on the 1st grade common core standards and I have sample questions for reading, math, language, science, and social studies. There are blank cards as well for you to make your own questions!

This is a veryyyyy popular group game in our class at the end of the year.

Some other activities in this pack are:

Language activities:

-Long/short vowel review

-Digraph seach and sort

-Inflected endings board game (3 sounds of ed)

Math activities:

-I have, who has? 2D/3D shape and fractions game

-Froot Loops graphing activity.

There are also some opinion writing prompts for the end of the year as well as a simple end of the year medal craft!

If you bought this last year, please re-download!
If you want to get your own copy, click HERE!

Happy Sunday :)

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May Currently!

May 1st has come and gone... along with a new month comes a new Currently!

I am linking up with Farley to share what is going on in my neck of the woods:

Listening: 

The Voice! I am in love with Blake Shelton. Like forrealz. No worries though, I'm pretty sure Parks has a pretty big man crush on him too.

Loving:

I went dress shopping last Summer and ended up buying a dress that I loved at the time. Quickly after I bought it, I realized that it really wasn't the vision I wanted. Just this past weekend, I went shopping again and I bought my princess dress. I feel like a bride in it and it makes me put a big, goofy grin on my face :)

Thinking:

The end of the year always sneaks up on me, but I swear I didn't feel it coming this year... and now it's here! Ahhh! This is when I freak our and review every gosh darn standard we have learned to make sure my kids are ready for 2nd grade!

Wanting:

My eyes are droopy, my head feels hot, and I am exhausted. I reallllyyyyy want to hop in bed right now. But....

Needing:

.... I N-E-E-D to do INSANITY! Yes, Parker and I are still going strong! 4 months til wedding time and we have got some work to do! Once this post is finished I will have no shame and begin nagging Parks until he does INSANITY with me :)

Summer Bucket List:

Travel, travel, and more TRAVEL - Parks and I have big plans this Summer. Lots of fun and big, BIG plans! I have also just started my personal blog, Late Nights and Lattes, where I plan to document all of our exciting times to come in the new few years and I can't wait to start sharing more this summer!

^Follow along if you'd like!^

Alrighty... time to go nag!

Go link up with Farley and see what everyone else is up to this May!

See ya in a few days with our Mother's Day plans :)

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