Bushels of Fun With Apples Unit On TPT Reminder

Hey bloggie buddies! I just wanted to remind you all of my Bushels of Fun With Apples Literacy & Math activities unit that I posted on TPT back in June. It was my very FIRST unit and is perfect for back to school fun or September when learning about Johnny Appleseed! TPT is having a site wide sale starting tomorrow and offering 10% off! The code is B1T1S. I know I've got my eye on several goodies! :) 

Click the picture to take you to my TPT store! :)

 This unit includes the following:
10 apple themed math journal prompts
Johnny Appleseed art project & activities
Apple Adjectives art project & activities
2 math games (1 game has some blank cards included in case an alternate version wants to be created! :) )
1 vowel game
All About Apples Book
Comparing Apples/Pumpkins Venn Diagram
Apple glyph art project/activities
Favorite Apple Class Graph

I also uploaded a free game as a supplement to this unit that you can also find in my TPT store!


And since I didn't give one away when I first posted about the unit I will give one away now to the first person to comment! :) Please leave me your email in the comment and I will send it your way! :)


I've been working in my classroom trying to get things ready for a new group of kiddos! Gosh.. so much to do and time is running out! Anyone else feel this way?? I will post pics when it is finished! I'm having trouble deciding on what to do about classroom jobs... This is something I've never been great at managing in the past. I would love to know what you're doing in your class for jobs and how you manage them!!



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It's Been A Good, Good Day! Target visit!

Well folks.. it doesn't take much to please this ole gal right here. Me and Mr. E had the best day together today! Since we live in the middle of nowhere and when I say nowhere I mean nowhere (no stop lights, no nothing!) and the closest Target is 2 hours away we made us a trip to Bowling Green, KY to go to Target! ha ha  Since I have been going on and on about how all the blogs I'm following (stalking) are stocking up on all the bits of heaven the Dollar Spot at Target holds for literally weeks now I guess E decided it was time to shut me up and take me to one! ha ha  We started out our day with waffles and bacon! And then hit the trails to Bowling Green! I was super pumped and told him how great he was the whole way there! It was totally his idea to get up and go. And the sweet part is he is currently nursing broken toes from an accident at work and wanted to go anyways. Precious right!!???...RIGHT!!!! I suggested he use the hover around but he resisted temptation. HA! I think he was just a tad scared because I was nearly foaming at the mouth when we walked in and I saw the bright bins staring at me saying BUY ME, BUY ME! I hurried and grabbed me a cart and started grabbing stuff left and right like a MAD WOMAN! Scary... but true! After Target we went to O'Charley's for lunch and then onto Sam's club. Fun day, right? :)

Here is a pic of some of the loot I got! I totally felt like a lottery winner and when I say this I'm not even kidding.. considering I don't get to go often.. today was a jack pot day for this teacher gal! 

I got 10 paper tray tubs.. they were out of the bigger ones but this size will work out just great! I got several packs of mini dry erase board erasers and markers, alphabet stickers, alphabet stamps, ink pads, some Dr. Seuss note pads & pins, a lesson plan book, foam sticker letters, and a magnetic dry erase board with a to do list. There was a ton more I could have got but tried to resist best I could. 

Thanks again to Kelli at Castles and Crayons and Meghan at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for the Target gift card giveaways they recently had that I was the lucky winner of! I put those little babies to good use today! :)

And I got this in the mail!!!! I've been wanting to jump on the bucket filling wagon and winning Mel D at Oh The Places We'll Go's recent giveaway is a good, good reason to get started!!! Isn't this the cutest darn thing ever? Thanks again Mel you made my day! And she is giving another one of these away! So get yourself over there and enter to win!!!




Since it has been such a good, good day and since I have so much to be thankful for I feel that it is appropriate to end this post with the lyrics from Good Life by One Republic.....


Oh this has gotta be the good life 
This has gotta be the good life 
This could really be a good life, good life 

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight 
Like this city is on fire tonight 
This could really be a good life 
A good, good life 




I hope everyone's day has been half as good as mine! :)


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Vacation Recap & I'm A Winner!!

Hey blog pals! I have been MIA from my usual blog stalking because we went on vacation... a much needed one I might add! I've been trying to get caught up on all that is going on in blog land! I feel like I've missed out on a ton! haha  

Anyways, here is a little peek at what me and E have been up to lately.....

We went to Myrtle Beach, SC with another couple for a week getaway! We had a blast just relaxing on the beach and in the lazy river! Where have these lazy rivers been all my life!?? Pure greatness! We ate and ate and ate and just enjoyed relaxing! Needless to say I didn't want to come home. 







We played putt-putt on our last night! I got a hole in one! :)


This is the cute little couple we went on vacation with. :)


 Recently I was the lucky winner of 3 giveaways!! I couldn't believe it because I never win anything! ha  I told E I should probably go play the lottery I was on FIRE!!!! Today I received two of my prizes in the mail! Talk about one excited girl to open the mailbox and find not one but two gift cards to Target with the sweetest little cards!! I just wanted to give Kelli at Castles and Crayons and Meghan at Oh' Boy 4th Grade a shout out and say THANK YOU for being so kind and offering the giveaways on their amazing blogs! I will put the gift cards to good use in the dollar spot or for some sort of storage for my classroom! THANKS again!!! If you haven't checked out these lovely ladies amazing blogs.. GO.. NOW! :)  I was also a winner of a super duper cute Bucket Fillers bucket that Mrs. Dillard gave away that I will blog about with pictures when it arrives! I'm excited! :)


Today me and Dexter dog had a date with the doggy groomers for him a hair cut. Isn't he just the cutest little thing ever!!??? 

I also jumped on the Pinterest wagon and created me an account. You can view my boards here. A couple are bare but I'm working on it!!!! :) Talk about addicting! 

With only a couple weeks left until teachers go back to work at my school I feel the clock ticking on things I need to get done!! I need to get busy.. anyone else have so much they want to do you get caught up and not sure where to begin???  Hope everyone has a great week!!

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Dollar Tree Finds, Math In-service, and Junk Boxes

Yesterday me and my friend Stefanie who teaches Kindergarten at the same school that I teach at attended an out of this world math in-service and got a TON of ideas to use with our kiddos next year!! We were so inspired we decided to take a trip to the Dollar Tree on the hunt for classroom treasures. And it was a complete success.. we found a ton of little treasures that we can't wait to start using!

 My brain is literally in information overload and I feel like I need to get busy right this second making some of this stuff I learned at the in-service! One awesome thing that we saw at the in-service was something called "junk boxes." What is a junk box?? Well it is a plastic container that contains a variety of items like buttons, erasers, plastic pop lids, rocks, pebbles, coins, stamps, pom poms, Barbie shoes, legos, etc, etc, etc!!! What is the junk box for?? Well whatever math standard/objective you are teaching at the time you can incorporate these junk boxes into your lesson to help reinforce the skill. They could also be used as a review tool. Here are some examples of ways students could use the junk boxes....


  • show me 5
  • show me less than 5
  • show me a pattern
  • put objects in a straight line
  • use your objects to make a square
  • show me groups of 5's then count by 5's
  • sort by size
  • sort by texture
  • sort by color
  • sort by shape
  • open sort--- let them decide how they will sort them
  • use them to show positional words
  • Put 3 objects in front of you and then 3 more. How many do you have in all?
  • addition/subtraction problems
Another idea we learned was to make a bead counter and a number bracelet. The bead counter can be used as a tool for students to keep at their desks to use to help solve math problems. The center of the bead counter is called the "work space" and that is where you move beads to work out a problem. The number bracelet can be used when you working on ways to make a certain number. For example if you are working on ways to make 8 then you might work with that for the entire week. Put a label in the middle of the bracelet to show what number bracelet you are working with that week. 


"Sure I will"
We also learned a little a management tool for those kids who just love to say NO to everything! If you have a little fella or gal that has the problem of always saying no to whatever you ask of them then make a "Sure I will" grid chart on white chart paper using the Crayola Color Switchers markers. Throughout the chart make some invisible x's and stars. Explain that when your little cutie says "sure I will" to whatever is asked of them then they will get to go up to the chart and use the color switcher marker to see they reveal an x or a star. An x will earn the kiddo a Skittle and a star will earn the whole class one! Our presenter said she found this idea in a management book called "The Tough Kid Book."

This idea could also be used as a whole class incentive and when they are caught as a class being good, following directions, receiving praise from other teachers then let one of your little cuties come up to see if they can reveal a treat. Perhaps hide letters in the chart for a special treat like pizza or ice cream and when they reveal all of the letters then they receive the treat. (thanks Stef for the hidden letter idea!) 

Here are some pics of our Dollar Tree finds, junk boxes, and number counter/bead counters...


I plan on using the colorful tubs to organize my materials for each month. The packs of little plastic bowls are for my junk boxes, and I found some baby shower favor items to use for the junk boxes and tiny hair clips, colorful band-aids, paper plates and bingo markers (I plan on making flash plates for number recognition with these two items.. we also saw this idea at the in-service.) I picked up some popcorn containers that came in 2 packs... these could be used for a center or for the calendar area to keep up with the days of the school year. I got a couple of fun ice cube trays that I plan on making a math game with, and lastly some velcro! They also had some small dry erase boards for $1!!! But I had already gotten some. I was hoping to get a class set of those colorful trays that I have seen on some blogs but unfortunately they only had 3 left. :(  Maybe next time!


A start to my junk boxes.... hair clips, pop lids, and baby shower favors!


And here is a pic of a number bracelet and the bead counter.


We received a bag of goodies at the in-service and our names were even drawn for some free Crayola Color Switcher markers. A successful day??? I think so!





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