The Christmas Questionnaire 2014

I'm linking up with Michelle for her annual Christmas Questionnaire Linky Party!

1. When do you decorate?

This year, Scott insisted that we go ahead and get a tree BEFORE Thanksgiving.  I have always bought one the day after but considering we traveled this year for Thanksgiving, I'm glad we went ahead and got it done.  I had new stockings from Pottery Barn monogrammed last year and I am very much enjoying them this year :) 

Since we are newlyweds, we are taking our time purchasing a few things here and there after the holidays (so that it's on sale).  It was fun opening up all the boxes this year because I had totally forgotten about a lot of the things we bought last year!

2. Elf or no Elf?

Ugh - I'm kinda sick of the Elf mayhem.  It just looks like so much work to move that thing around every stankin day.  Yet, when Scott and I finally have kids and if the Elf on the Shelf is still the thing to do, I'm sure I'll jump on the bandwagon and be part of the Elf craze.

3. Christmas cookies or no baking for you?

I love baking Christmas cookies and that's usually where the extra weight comes from.  I have an awesome sugar cookie recipe that uses cream cheese...yum!  I actually just got these gingerbread cookies in the mail from a friend of mine.  She ordered them from Williams and Sonoma.  What a great gift!  They are sooooo soft!

4. Favorite Holiday Tradition?

Scott and I don't have any traditions yet but we've been talking about what we would like to start as newlyweds.  My family has the tradition of Christmas breakfast.  My mom makes breakfast for around 20 people and my parents open their doors to people other than family.  There are usually people there that don't have families to celebrate with.  So we gather with family AND friends and eat sausage gravy and biscuits, egg casserole, grits, bacon...you get the idea.

Scott and I have started collecting ornaments from places that we've traveled together so I guess you would call that somewhat of a tradition...we're still thinking about what else we can do once we start a family of our own.

5. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Ummm, obviously, this is a no brainer!

"Grace!  She died 30 years ago!"

"They want you to say Grace!  The blessing!"

"I told you we put it in too early!"

"Save the neck for me Clark!"

My cousins and I go on and on.

6. Snow or no snow?

Since I'm a Florida girl, I do love the snow.  And I'm obsessed with snow skiing believe it or not.  But there comes a point when I'm sick of it and I need a beach.  We will be celebrating Christmas in Florida this year so there won't be much of a cold Christmas.

7. Favorite Christmas song

Oh Holy Night...it's just so beautiful.

8.  Favorite Gifts to Give and Get

1. Anything from Kendra Scott is a wonderful thing!  I bought my mom the necklace this year and I got the earrings for my sister.  And if you sign up for the email list you can get 15% off your first purchase!

2. I worked at Estee Lauder when I was in college and have always loved their skincare.  Right now at Macy's, they have a HUGE bag of skincare for a very good price.

3. I LOVE Frye boots.  And who wouldn't love the Melissa Button Boot?

4.  Y'all, I love these Y'all tees!  They make a variety of super soft tees and they have every state available.  I know some ladies in my family that would love this Florida one!

5.  I always feel like a good makeup brush set is a necessity.  Sephora has all the best!

6.  I'm obsessed with these LL Bean boots!  The only bad thing?  There's a 2 month wait to get them!

7. Jennifer from First Grade Blue Skies has this camera.  She says it's an absolute must!  I would agree - her pictures are always beautiful!

8. For the girl that's always in the gym, these sneaks will make the workout that much cuter!

9. Being a Florida girl, I do love my Lilly!  This citrus inspired planner will take me back to the orange groves!

1.  Have a husband that is really hard to buy for?  Well at Passionate Homemaking, she gives you plenty of ideas to make your husband happy, happy, happy!

2.  Scott loves the Art of Shaving.  These sets are always a good idea.

3. Scott says he always buys American Eagle boxers because they last him about 5 years.  I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

4. When all else fails, a gift card to Dick's.

5. For the golf enthusiast, golf balls are a great stocking stuffer!

6. I've seen Scott checking out these golf shoes.  He loves Nike Golf!

7. Since we are now North Carolina residents, we can never have enough appropriate outerwear.  The North Face has great outerwear for many different occasions.  My husband works outdoors but has to meet with customers so these jackets still make him look presentable and professional.

8. I bought Scott this same travel bag last year and had his name monogramed on the front.  It's durable and sturdy.  

9.  My mom gave Scott a saddle leather catch all with his monogram to keep by his bedside.  It's come in handy because it catches everything from pocket change to the remote controls.

I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas!

Very Merry Phonics Giveaway!

Okay, so has anyone been falling behind, lacking in a certain department, can't catch up, etc?  I feel like I'm in the weeds y'all!!!  For the past few months, I have been creating phonics packs for my word work station for daily 5.  They have increased in rigor and go in order according to our phonics instruction.  My friends love them and I always try to jazz it up with fun little bags and such.  Well, Very Merry Phonics is finally done.  But since I couldn't get it done in time for the Cyber Sale, I figured I would do a giveaway! 

Reindeer Games is fun because we love spinners! 

 I love spinning.  Spinning's my favorite!

  This spinner focuses on ink and ing.  My friends spin both, read the word and if it is real, they write it on the reindeer.

They love cookies for Santa!  I gave them a spoon and told them to pretend they were baking.  I gave them an actual mixing bowl but then I took it out after 2 minutes.  FYI, metal is WAAAY too loud for Daily 5.

  All they do is pull a cookie from the bowl, read it and sort it under real or nonsense.  I included a cvc set and a set with digraphs as shown.    I found these little Christmas buckets at Dollar Tree.  Now all I need are little aprons...

Just Elfin Around is another spinner they use to practice ang and ank.  Just like Reindeer Games, they spin, read and if it is real, they write it down.  They USUALLY want to color the reindeer and elf when they are done and being that it is almost Christmas I usually give in.

My husband said the title was inappropriate...hmmm...can't imagine why...

I made this activity for several reasons.  One, they are using picture clues, finding the first sound and looking through the whole word.  I explained to them that these words cannot be sounded out and so they have to use their clues.  I also wanted them to get familiar with long vowels even though it is a skill I haven't taught yet.  I also made another activity that sorts long and short vowels that isn't shown.  I'll put that activity in next week when we start with "magic e."

And last, I have another cookies for Santa activity that focuses on ending blends.  I made another cookies for Santa activity because I KNEW there would be fights over the first one.  Oh, was I right.  I only have 4 students at word work at a time but while two are baking real and nonsense cookies the other two could be baking ending blends.  Just add a stinkin' spoon - that makes it ALL the more interesting!

So my friends, there are my activities (minus one) that come with Very Merry Phonics.  If you like it and are interested in getting it (for Free) leave me a little love with your email address.  I would be more than happy to share it with you this holiday season!

December Currently!

Hello cyber friends!  It's been a minute and when I saw that the new December Currently was posted I just had to join in on the fun!

Currently I am:

Listening to the Hallmark Channel downstairs.  I am really into this channel this time of year.  No, I'm not 70 years old - there are some really great movies y'all!  And my husband is out of town ALLLL week so I get the TV all to myself!

Loving that I have almost all my Christmas shopping done!  I started early and only have a few nieces and nephews to buy for.  Wal-Mart!  For the family Scott and I are giving wedding photos.  It's going to be a very vain Christmas for us.  But what daddy wouldn't want a book to commemorate all the money he spent???

Thinking of who else I need to buy for.  Don't.  Stresssss.

Wanting : This one I couldn't think of anything.  Plus, I already have SO much and I have so much to be grateful for.  I am blessed beyond measure.

Needing: Okay now y'all, this is pretty bad.  I like to rub my husbands legs at night with my feet.  He watches TV while I Pinterest on the iPad.  He actually pulled away from me last night because my feet were cutting him!  I have talons.  Yes.

Giving wedding photos.  But I really love the idea of RACK that Farley is doing with her students this year.  I am so doing it too!  That way, I'll be able to spread some cheer all through December.

Merry Christmas, friends!

Place Value Fun - No Worksheets Required!

I LOVE teaching place value - there are just so many things you can do to make it hands-on, engaging and fun!

Some of my students needed a little extra TLC when it came to place value.  I needed some activities where I could work one on one in guided math with struggling students and I also needed some other activities where my students could review some skills in canters.  I also wanted to do something that was worksheet free!

#becausemathdoesnthavetobeaworksheet

Build it was a hit!

 I put all the numbers in a basket.  Students pull a number card, place it in the square and start to build it.  You can use ones and tens blocks but I used play-dough.  (Why not?)

Next, I have comparing numbers.

 I put all the cards in a little bucket.  (I just used the same ones from Build it).  Students choose a card and put it in the first box.  Then they choose another card and put it in the second box.  Then they write the correct symbol in the circle.

The county wanted us to shy away from using the terms "alligator mouth" and wanted us to use the terms greater than and less than.  So some of my friends grabbed my anchor charts from my Crazy Comparisons pack to help them remember.

I felt like this center was utter chaos with all the cards spread all over the floor but my friends LOVED it.

 They really struggled counting and circling groups of ten.  Some of them would circle just one row (thinking it was ten), some of them would have circles all over the page.  This activity really helped them to circle sets of tens in an "odd"circle format.  Then they had to record how many tens, ones and total.

These word problems also threw my friends through a loop!  It has them make sets of ten, with leftovers and count the total.  (Yes, I know that word problem says "car" instead of jar.  That's why I always take stuff I make for a test run :)

To help them count, I used pin wheel pasta that had been spray painted white.  I usually use this as "snow" but they were the perfect size for the jars.  So I put them out and told the students that they were Mexican wedding cookies :)

I also have activities where my students have to count on.  They pull a card and read the number at the top.  Then they have to see what they already have.  Last, they have to add ones and tens to make the number.

 These pieces were all over the floor too.

#justbreathe

So those are just a few of the activities that I have started using for place value fun.  I'd love to hear about some of the things you're using in your classroom!

Five for Friday!

I'm so HAPPY that it's Friday!  We went on a field trip today and it was so stankin' cold!  There were flurries!  And we were in the FOREST!!  But now I'm home, I got the fire going and I have a glass of red wine...it's all good.

So I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.

And what would Five for Friday be without FREEBIES!  I just LOVE them...

 I searched high and low for canvas bags to hold my Thanksgiving/Fall books and CD players for Listen to Reading.  I couldn't find ANYTHING.  So, I decided to make them!

 They turned out SO cute!  And the bags were only $3 from Wal-Mart!

 And they hold everything so perfectly!  My friends just grab a bag and go!

Hmmm...Now what about Christmas???

I started to introduce a few activities here and there from my Feasting on Fonics pack for Daily 5.  For my Word Work station, students have a choice between doing an activity from the "drawer" or a word work app from the i-Pad.  My students love the i-Pads but surprisingly, many of them wanted to do the "drawer" activities. 

This group was so cute.  They were all taking turns using the spinner and then they would discuss the word.

 #weloveanythingwithaspinner

Place value is so much fun for me to teach for some reason.  I quickly made this game on index cards one day and then my friends asked me if I could make it "pretty."  "Hide the Leaf" was born.

 I printed a set of cards from 40 to 50 and placed them in the pocket chart in order.

All of the matching ones and tens cards stay in MY hand.

I look at the first card I have in my hand...

 Then hide the leaf behind that number.

(I make everyone close their eyes so they don't see where I'm hiding it.)

 Then I hand that card to a student and they have to count...

 And see if they're correct!

It's so funny because if the student gets it right, they cheer.  And then if the student gets it wrong, they all go, "Awwww.." I dunno.

You can get this game for FREE HERE!

Place value word problems were KILLING my firsties!  And they were required by the county but my students REALLY needed some hands on.

 I made 2 sets of word problems with the totals up to I think 28.

 Then my friends used pumpkins to help them see how many baskets they could fill up and how many were leftover.

These are also FREE with the place value game above.

I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born, says the Lord.  Isaiah 66:9

One of my best friends of 13 years is having a pretty tough time right now.  I saw this and knew it was for her but then I thought, someone out there reading this blog might be having a hard time too.  So read this and know that there is calm in the storm, a light in the grey sky, and a plan for you.

Have a fabulous weekend friends!