MAJOR SALE!

In celebrating the end of the quarter as well as Easter, I have slashed all my prices in my TPT store!!! All of my items are $1.50 or less. My units and lesson packs are even marked down to $1.50!

Stop by my store and grab some goodies to make your life a little bit easier this quarter!

Happy Easter to all!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ashley-Ann

"Snow WAY!"

I, like every one else, am ready to head out on a groundhog hunt for Puxsutawney Phil. Seriously... it is March 26 and there is snow on the ground. Not to mention, we were totally robbed of a snow day yesterday. It is beautiful... but I'm over it. 

I have been all kinds of absent from the blog world lately. I haven't even been reading blogs I am subscribed to. I almost always used to read them during my lunch time, but I am not sure what is going lately. I have no motivation to be any type of creative. I am really hoping that it is just this weather. We have school tomorrow and then we are off for a marvelous 7 days of spring break. I need some battery recharging.

"I have a share!"
My kids have had SO much fun learning about fractions. We have been using our SMARTBoard like wild to practice. I grabbed these fantastic fraction centers from The Teacher Wears Prada. They were some work to prep, but my planning was so minimal for a 1.5 weeks following. It has been glorious. 

One more thing!
I am having an Easter weekend sale on Sunday and Monday! Check out some of my items :-)

Have a great holiday weekend!

Money Games!

We have been working hard on counting sets of coins this week. While we were in the computer lab on Wednesday, my kids were able to get in some great practice! They got such a kick out these games that I just had to share! 

I've mentioned before that having a 45 minute block each week to teach technology/computer skills gives me the shakes. Having all of my kids in one room on 20 different computers is intimidating. The hands get to flyin' up as soon as their hot little hands hit the mouse. To help with their internet navigation, I put ALL of the sites I want them to visit during our computer block on my classroom webpage. They are able to find them super quick! It has been a huge time (and sanity) saver.

I had some kids who were really struggling with where to begin counting coins. This lesson and activity has a cute little hopping frog that shows them how to start with the largest value and count on. Click on any of the pictures to try the games out for yourself!

A treasure hunt and some comparing! 

             

You've got to love technology!!

They love using those computers to practice their new skills :-)

Happy (almost) Friday!!

Miss Slacker

My word! Have I been neglectful or what? I wish I had a good reason, but I really don't! Is it just me or does it seem like February, although it is the shortest of the months,  has been draaaaaagging on with no end?

I can't complain TOO much I suppose. We were blessed with a snow day on Friday. Pretty fabulous. I finally finished up my latest creation. A money activity pack!

 When I first started using TPT as a buyer, I always thought how great it would be if, with those outstanding activity packs, you had the option to purchase corresponding smartboard interactives. SO... when I started creating, that's what I included with my packs, smartboard lessons! 

I have only created 2 units for TPT. One is the money unit above, and the other is my "Look Whooo's Multiplying" unit. They are a TON of work, but it is pretty spectacular knowing that there are other educators out there who think that something I have created is good enough to use with their precious students. It makes me a better teacher.

I have nothing new to share about work/school. Seriously. How sad is that? It's not that we haven't been super busy learnin' and creatin', I just have nothing new to share about my littles. Besides the fact that they are starting to go wild with the weather. Stir crazy I tell ya'. If we have one more day of indoor recess, I may scream. 

We are starting some new and exciting things this week, so hopefully I will have more to share soon! 

Habitats

One of my favorite projects during the year is our Steve Jenkins animal habitat research project. If you haven't seen any of Steve Jenkins' books... get your booty to a bookstore or library and check them out. They are FABULOUS. He was our January author of the month. He creates beautiful non-fiction books about animals. The kids were completely captivated by his books all month. 

I use Steve Jenkins to teach habitats and study non-fiction text features. My kiddos were in charge of researching an animal. They had to use books as well as the web to find several facts about their animals. We used the NatGeo Kids because it has such a great selection of animals as well as videos. They loved exploring! 

They chose three facts and word processed them to present to the class. I have a whole new respect for computer teachers. Getting 18 seven/eight year olds to type three sentences was TOUGH. 

Anyway.... they turned out great and I just had to share!!!  

Valentine Freebie!

I decided to create my own valentines for my kiddos this year. As I have said before, I am obsessed with clip art and fonts... so I figured this was another excuse to use the super cute Valentine stuff I got from Letter Delights. 

I'm sharing them for FREE! I took out my name so all you have to do is download, print, and sign! Click on the photo below to check them out :-). 

Technology Linky!

I'm linking up with Katie King over at First Grade Jungle!

 I have to share this great resource that my students and I absolutely adore. It has helped them become such great problem solvers! 

It is called Thinking Blocks! We use it on the smartboard during whole class instruction as well as independently in the computer lab. It is super easy for kids to navigate and offers help when they get stuck on a certain step of a problem.

It fits perfectly with the Core's mathematical practice "model with mathematics". I'm seeing students carry these skills over into their independent work on a daily basis. 

Check it out!