Friday, January 31, 2014

Freebie Friday With A Giveaway!

Tomorrow is the first day of February and boy do I have a great Valentine Math Pack for you! I'm so excited with how every page turned out!



It includes over 80 pages of Valentine themed and CCSS aligned Math for the month of February! Activities are suitable for Kindergarten and first grade. The majority of the pack is no prep, but for those that LOVE colorful centers like I do, it also includes hands-on centers for number bonds, fact families, whole part part, roll & remove, tens & ones, and telling time. 

Don't want a pack that requires a lot of prep and color printing??
Then, this pack is still for you! Use it with or without the colorful centers as I have designed the center recording sheets so that they can be used with the center or also work just as a printable worksheet!

Here is a preview!





 Here are two sample worksheets from the pack that I'm offering for FREE!

Just go {here} and download the preview to snag these two freebies!

I'd also love to give another one away! Just pin it or share it on your blog or FB page. Leave me a comment below with the link to your share and I'll pick a winner Sunday night!



Oh, and isn't the "Be My Valentine" bunting banner on my cover page so adorable? You can get it and two other adorable banners for free from Paula Kim Studio {here}

Freebie Fridays

Happy Friday!!!

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Review For Educents!

Did you know that Educents is looking for bloggers to do reviews? They are also now featuring creations from TpT sellers on their site as well!! I signed up to do a review and was contacted within two days to review 3 TpT products. And it just so happens that the products they asked me to review were from the wonderful and talented Mrs. Hoffer's Spot. What's more exciting....is one of the items was on my wishlist! Yay!  

Here are the 3 items they sent me to review! 




All of them AWESOME and perfect for my students. The number sorts are perfect for kinders still working on base ten number knowledge. The activities allow your students to see the number four different ways......using a ten frame, dice, base ten blocks, and the number word as representations. Students love to cut and paste, so that makes these activities very engaging for students. Each set also comes with cards that can be used as a matching center for additional practice. I am planning to print these on colored cardstock, laminate, and put in my math center. 

The letter sorts set is the same format. Students cut and paste the pictures that match the beginning sound for the consonants and the medial sound for the vowels. What I love too about this set is that a color set is also included. So you can have worksheets for your students and then use the colored set for a center to provide additional practice! 

Here are some of the activities in action in my classroom!







If you're a blogger and interested in doing a review for Educents, go {here} to complete the interest form. If you're a seller and are interested in having a product featured on Educents, go {here}. 

If you haven't visited Educents, I suggest you head over and check them out by clicking on any of the Educents links above. And don't forget to grab Mrs. Hoffer's letter and number sorts while you're at it! 

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Monday, January 20, 2014

K5 Learning Review

A couple of months ago I was asked to review an educational website called K5 Learning. K5 Learning is an online reading and math program for children in grades K - 5. Math and reading are included as well as spelling and math fact activities. Four of my students received a free 6 week trial for participating, so they have been using the site for the last 6 weeks. I must say they really enjoyed K5 Learning and it kept them engaged. Previously, these students were working on the Compass Odessey Learning program during their technology time and they were frequently off task or asking "How much longer?" With K5 Learning, my students were engaged, having fun, and didn't even realize they were learning. They didn't even want to get off the computer when it was time. 

What else is great about K5 Learning is that students take a placement test to start and lessons are individualized for that child. Lessons are adaptive so the program adjusts lessons depending upon their success or their need for review. The program automatically assigns the lessons making it simple for parents or teachers. However, parents or teachers have the freedom and ability to assign specific assignments as they see fit. This is also nice for special education teachers or those who are working with students below grade level, because you have the flexibility and access of every grade level. 

Another thing that I loved about K5 Learning is that with many of the educational sites I have previously used or tried with my students, there were too many games for them to get on, thus distracting them from learning and allowing them to avoid the learning tasks. With K5 Learning, while the lessons and activities are presented in a gamely fashion, they are all learning centered, so there is never any learning time wasted playing games. Even with Compass, students tend to go to the "fun" areas and avoid the curriculum. With K5 Learning, it's all FUN and all EDUCATIONAL. 

Oh and did I mention, reports!?? Progress reports are automatically generated so that you can see and check your child's progress at any time on any given activity! 

And the best part, all four of my students that used the program made gains in reading and math.....and especially with their math facts!!

Why wasn't something like this around when my children were younger.? If I still had children at home in grades K - 5, I would most definitely invest in this program for them. I would also highly recommend it for homeschoolers, and after school or tutoring programs!! As teachers, it is a great program to recommend to your parents for students that need extra practice. I have already recommended it to a couple of my parents.  

I am very sad to lose this program in my classroom and that is the only downfall of the program. K5 Learning is designed for "home use." While it is very affordable for home use, it is not very affordable for purchase for an entire classroom. Subscriptions are as follows:

Monthly Subscription
$25 for first child / $15 for each additional child

Yearly Subscription
$199 for first child / $129 for each additional child

GOOD NEWS is......K5 Learning is offering everyone a FREE 14-day trial!!! So whether you're a teacher, homeschooler, tutor, or parent....head on over, grab your free trial, and check it out!!! Just click on the button below to get your free trial or purchase your subscription!

Online Reading & Math Program for K-5 

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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Who Says You Can't Make Snowmen Without Snow!!!

HAPPY 2014 FROM THE BENDER BUNCH!!!!!


Aren't these hats adorable? 
This craftivity is FREE from "A Cupcake for the Teacher," and my kids had a blast making them! 

And who says you can't make snowmen without snow, right? We live in the Mohave Desert in Southern Nevada and I have seen it snow here once in the 20 years I have lived here! Even then, it was barely enough to even call it snow. Many of my students have never seen snow, much less played in it or built a snowman!!! 

So today, we made snowmen.............
with SHAVING CREAM!





This is one of the boys that is very sensitive to loud noises that I bought the sound defender ear muffs for. See them around his neck? Enter to win a pair below!

Other things we did this week, that you might enjoy doing with your kiddos are our popsicle stick snowflakes!


And our Borax Crystal Snowflakes!
These turned out beautifully!
This is a google image as I forgot to take photos of these, but this is how they looked! We did this as a science project and soaked them overnight!

Here is the video I followed, only we used red solo cups and no straw. The snowflakes fit down nicely into the center of the solo cup and stay wedged there without needing to go to the extra trouble to hang them. We filled the solo cups almost to the rim with water and then added 1/3 cup of Borax to each cup.




Enter here for a chance to win a pair of the Sound Defenders!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

See....even in the desert, WINTER can be fun!

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Monday, January 6, 2014

Monday Made It Time!

Yay!!!! Monday Made It is here! I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for her fun linky! I thought it was only on the second Monday now, but guess I was wrong.....so I get to share a little early!



My first MMI is a retirement gift for my long time teacher mentor and good friend that just retired today! He loves to cook and can and wins blue ribbons at the AZ state fair every year for his jellies, jams, and pickles! His dill pickles are the BOMB and being that dill pickles are one of my faves.....he keeps me stocked.....so coming from me, his favorite pickle lover, this was the perfect gift!



It's a case of canning jars with an apron on the top that reads...................

This is also perfect for him as he was pretty fed up with administration during his last few months! He really liked it alot! The apron was purchased from cafe press {here}




I'm hosting a baby shower in two weeks for my sister-n-law!!!! Her theme is sea animals. FUN FUN! I think I'm having more fun than her! So my next two MMI's are baby shower related...........and I'm not done yet! This one is a little "premature" as I wasn't expecting MMI until next week, but I love it so much I just had to show it! 




You're probably wondering what in the world it is and again, it is a little premature! It is the baby shower guest sign in! Inspired by this pin!




My son actually made the ENTIRE frame himself for me.....and took this nice photo for you to show the dowel rods he put in in order to allow it to stand!



I will cut the little onesis' from my Cameo and hang them with mini clothespins and I still need to write or paint "Guest Book" or "Guest Sign In" on the corner plaque. It's going to be so cute for the shower!




The shower invitations I made!!! I couldn't find the perfect paper or invite on Etsy, so I decided to try and make my own and I love how they turned out! Thinking maybe I should open my own Etsy shop!!! HaHa!








Rekenreks!!! Of course!






Lastly, the winter activities I created for my kiddos for their return from winter break!


Speaking of WINTER!!!! I'm giving away a pair of ear muffs.....but these aren't traditional ear muffs. These are Sound Defender Ear Muffs!!! If you have special needs students that are over stimulated with loud noises, or freak out over fire drills, you'll definitely want these ear muffs! I just got three pairs for my classroom and they're awesome! Enter below to win a pair!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Now head over and link up your projects with Tara!!!

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Most Popular Posts of 2013

Hi Friends,

One of my blogging resolutions for the new year was to provide you guys with more interesting content. So what is interesting to my readers? To find out, I'm linking up with my friend Julie over at Highhill Education to take a look at what my best posts were from 2013. Which posts received the most views? Here are my top three:

Behavior Management
Freebie Friday With Three
Monday Made Its, Blogoversary, & Manic Monday

If you've been reading my posts over winter break, then you know I've been contemplating doing more posts on behavior management....and this was before seeing that it was one of my most popular posts in 2013! So it looks like you will definitely be seeing more! 


It looks like you guys also like freebies and giveaways.....who doesn't, right? 

So......why not ring in the year with a little of both!
Get your penguin freebie {here}. This freebie also includes a color by number sheet and a labeling the parts of a penguin activity.

Over the break I ordered these for my classroom and I'd like to give a set away!! Ear muff Sound Defenders for those students who get over stimulated by too much noise. Before my students would use regular headphones to block out bothersome noises, but they didn't really block out very much of the noise at all. Then, my son & little woodworker, got a pair of these for Christmas and I thought......."This is just what I need for my classroom." You can't hear anything with these things on!!!! They're actually intended for woodworkers or others working in loud industries and man.....they really work!!! If you'd like to win a set for your classroom, you can enter below! Sorry, but please U.S. residents only!





a Rafflecopter giveaway



What were your most popular posts in 2013? If you're not a blogger, what were your favorite posts? Link up your most entertaining and educational posts with Julie over at Highhill Education! 





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