Tax Day and Ice Cream…..Does One Lead to the Other? ;)

…it is "Tax Day" and I've jumped on the TpT bandwagon and put my entire shop on sale for 20% off. That's on top of some other discounts on popular products, like my Hatching Ducks Powerpoint, "Waddle We Learn?" Duck Pack, and my BRAND NEW (just posted!) Ice Cream Pack.  Check out the ice cream link below, and the 20% off pic will bring you to my TpT home page.  As I move closer to 100 likes on my FB Page, A Fun Second, I will be sharing information about a GIVEWAY!  Horray!

Goin' Buggy…..and My First "Linky Party!"

I vowed to myself that over Spring Break (this week for us in the Northeast!), I would devote some time each day to this blog and my Teachers Pay Teachers products.  I have followed so many great teachers for so many years and want more than anything to share my ideas with teachers from all over the country (world!).  Because I've been a devoted follower, I've been on the receiving end of so many freebies, and The Creative Chalkboard has been having daily freebies to celebrate her milestone of 10,000 followers on TpT!  Wow!  I decided to jump in on a Linky Party that is part of her celebration by offering a freebie made exclusively of her clip art.  Her work is great and I hope you click through the "Linky Party" and find something you can use with your class.  The link to my freebie is below, as well.

Check out the "Linky Party!" for some great FREEBIES!

#Mystery Skype….Mystery Solved!

Today we had our first "Mystery Skype."  I heard about this from a co-worker who was taking a class with a tech guru….basically, you connect on Twitter with another classroom somewhere in the country and set a date/time to Skype.  Through the wonders of technology, the classes meet and try to solve the mystery of where the other class is.  It all came together today at 2:00pm (our time---because time zones matter in an activity like this!).  We had greeters, note-takers, mappers, questioners, answerers, and even "photographers" who documented everything for us.  It took my second graders just seven questions to determine that the other class was in Indiana (which is the same time zone as NY…..who knew!?)  Then, it was our turn to answer and the Indiana class was excited to discover that we reside in the same state as "The Big Apple."  I was so proud of my class for their know-how and so proud to be part of a school that is investing in technology so that these kinds of activities can take place.  We do it all over again tomorrow afternoon….can't wait!  Here are a few pics from the Mystery Skype!

An Egg-cellent Review of Counting Coins

One of the trickiest skills each year is counting coins.  Identifying the coin, knowing the value, counting on, skip counting….there are multiple building blocks that need to be in place for students to be successful.  The best way for students to make progress in this area is definitely through continued, hands-on practice.  This year, our money/time unit happens to fall right around Easter.  I created a simple coin counting math station for students and incorporated the fun, colorful plastic eggs that kids just LOVE hunting for.  Instead of candy, I filled them with plastic coins.  Anytime you can "trick" a student into doing work with fun manipulatives is a definite plus for the teacher.  I hope your students LOVE it as much as mine did!  It's a FREEBIE on my TpT shop.  Enjoy!

Click on the image below for a TpT FREEBIE!

Mystery Skype - No longer a MYSTERY!

This week our class is about to embark on our first MYSTERY SKYPE!  Basically - I found a teacher on Twitter (#mysteryskype) and set up a date/time to Skype with our classes and figure out what state they are in using geography-based yes/no questions.  Each student has a specific role and all in all, it sounds pretty.darn.amazing.
We are so excited to meet another class and solve the mystery of where they are from!  We actually have a few "appointments" and will run through a few practice mysteries to make sure we know our roles and what questions are best.  This was all new to me and I had a lot of questions about it when I first heard the idea.  So, I created a little guide that helped me set my mind straight and get organized - I hope it does the same for you.  The link to the packet is below as is a FREEBIE for Mystery Skype Note-taking.  Have you Mystery-Skyped?  Share your experiences and ADVICE, please!!

Freebie…Click on image

"Waddle We Learn?"

It always amazes me how once March and April arrive, how "duck crazy" teachers become.  I get notifications throughout the day that my Hatching Ducks Powerpoint was sold/downloaded.  While it's no longer a unit we do in our school (budget cuts don't allow for us to purchase eggs and they are quite expensive for us to get on our own!) - I created a few resources that I know many of you will love and that I will hopefully be able to use again someday.  The freebie on my TpT store is actually within this packet - it's called "Breaking News, Eggs Hatch!" and is meant to be a student-written "news" article about the ducklings debut.  I hope you enjoy it - and check out the new stuff, too!

It's Time!!!

It is the eve of my most favorite unit of the year - CHARLOTTE'S WEB!  Maybe it's the overall theme of friendship, maybe it's the promise of SPRING - but whatever it is - this book sure is magical every.single.year.  I've been reading it for at least five, but this will be just the third year of digging deep with vocabulary and extended comprehension activities.   I just posted a brand new unit/pack on Teacher's Pay Teachers - a comprehensive unit for all 22 chapters of the book.  It includes an overview with daily vocabulary words, a resource list, and a student packet.  It's on sale for $5.00, so please check it out.  I will be posting a Charlotte's Web FREEBIE in the coming days - a fun assessment for students to use towards the end of the book.  For now, I am off to dream of spiders and pigs. ;)