Fabulous Giveaway: Win up to $130/a day to Spend on Products of Your Choice!

My friend Danielle over at the The Learning Center is having a fantastic giveaway that you don't want to miss! 84 fabulous Teacher/Authors have donated either $10 worth of products or a Winner's Choice item over the next 5 days. Today is Day one and you can win $10.00 of free products from me and 12 others. You can enter right here on my blog and then click on the image above to read about some other details from Danielle. If you are still looking for some BTS items or some great fall materials, then this is a giveaway for you. I would love to have one of my followers win!
Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a fantastic Labor Day holiday weekend!
Don't forget to check out all my new Pinterest boards by clicking HERE.

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September Celebrations Fun Literacy Activities and a Freebie

I love September! Here in Tallahassee it's been 100 degrees or hotter for the last 4 days but with September right around the corner I know cooler weather is on its way. All my grand kids started school last week and love their teachers and college football starts this Saturday. I decided to do a little research to see what daily, weekly and monthly celebrations are in September and was amazed at how many there are. Besides Labor Day, Grandparents Day, Patriots Day, Constitution Day, and Fall, I found some really interesting ones. Did you know that September 13th is International Chocolate Day? I love chocolate. There's National Cheeseburger Day on the 18th and International Eat an Apple Day on the 20th. September is also National Save a Tiger Month. Click HERE if you would like to read more about it.

Many teachers have enjoyed my "Welcome to School" Making Words and Sentences Freebie so I decided to make a unit with 17 of the September Celebrations and Observances that I found. This packet also includes 12 Writing Prompts for 12 of these celebrations and observations. They are all Opinion Piece writing activities. Here is a Preview of the packet below. Just click on it to read all about it and download the Preview file to see all the Celebrations and the ones that have Writing Prompts.

Did you know that September 19th is "Talk Like a Pirate Day"? I remember when my grand son dressed up as a pirate for Halloween one year. Well I put together a fun free packet called "Talk Like a Pirate Day Literacy Activities"

 It includes some of the words that pirates say and what they mean.

Making Words and Sentences and Writing Prompts. Just click on the image below to download your free packet.

Hope your students have fun on "Talk like a Pirate Day". Arrrrrrr!

If you you are looking for some new Pinterest boards to follow I hope you will check out mine by clicking HERE

Here is my most popular one.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a great week and Labor Day Weekend!

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Wordless Wednesday: Bonus Sale Linky

Today Teachers Pay Teachers is having a 2nd Back to School Sale. Everything in my store is 20% off on August 20th- then add the PROMO CODE: BOOST and get a total of 28% off your total purchase. Clicking on the photos below will take you to my products.

I'm linking up with Ms. DeCarbo's Wordless Wednesday.

An InLinkz Link-up

A Special TpT BTS Boost Sale: Save 28% August 20th

This is the very first time that Teachers Pay Teachers is having a second Back to School sale! It's a win-win for teachers to have a second chance to get some extra great deals especially if you didn't get everything you need to get for your new school year and your first few months. It's only for 1 Day-August 20th so you may want to to some browsing tonight and get your cart ready for tomorrow, especially if you are teaching or working in your classroom. Everything in my store will be 20% off plus add the PROMO CODE: BOOST at check-out to save 28% on all your purchases. You can click on the picture above to access my store or on any of the covers below to check out these products. Many have a free activity when you download the Preview file.

I've revised a few products that you may need for September:

and added a Fall Readers Theater to my Fall Play Unit

If you are looking for something for 9/11 for the Primary Grades you may want to check-out my Heroes Unit

I also have some other Fall units such as: Fall Reading and Writing Unit: "What Happens in Fall?", Fall Edition of Making Sentences with Sentence Frames, and "Fall Leaves, Fall Leaves."

Of course I have my 2 Fun Activities for the 1st 2 weeks of school"

and my new Back to School Fluency, Writing, and Literacy Activities Packet.

Do you like to take your class for a walk around the school to meet the people that work there? Here's a fun Reading and Writing Unit to do after you do.

There are also some freebies for Back to School:

Thanks for all you ado to make a difference for your students. I hope you have a great start to the new school year. I hope you will checkout out all my new Pinterest Boards and follow. Just click HERE.

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Bright Ideas: The Importance of Morning Meetings

Do you start the day with a morning meeting? Do you have a class meeting once a week? Many elementary and middle school classrooms around the U.S. start each day with a morning meeting. It is a time where teachers and students gather in a circle, greet each other, and listen to each other share news and respond to each other. It is a time to practice social skills and build a community of caring and motivated students. When each day is started with everyone gathered face-to-face, welcoming each other while sharing news and listening to each other, it sends a powerful message that everyone matters. It creates an environment of respect and trust. It promotes positive behaviors and most of all improves academic learning.

There are different kinds of class meetings. The Morning Meeting has the following components:

• Greeting
• Sharing
• Group Activity
• Announcements

Morning Meetings are everyday at a set time. If you work in a Title I school or have lots of behavior issues in your class, you may want to consider having a morning meetings. The 20 or so minutes spent each day will be well worth it to help make your whole day and year run smoothly. Less behavior problems equals more teaching and learning time! Morning meetings are for all grade levels. Here is just one example of a morning meeting that I wanted to share.

I recently came across "Dialogue Circles" which is another type of morning meeting. Dialogue Circles promote a safe and supportive space where sensitive topics can be talked about, differences can be worked out, and consensus can be reached. Having worked in a Title I school, I know that many of my students lived in gang infested neighborhoods and their home environment was far from ideal. They knew that the one place they could count on was school and the teachers and staff to be there for them. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch this video.

Establishing positive behavior and getting your class management under control during the first 2 weeks is critical for setting the tone for the rest of the year. I hope you will consider some type of morning meeting to get your year started on the right foot. Hope it's a great school year!

Hope I've given you some Bright Ideas. If you have enjoyed these Bright Ideas I hope you will consider joining me on Pinterest, Facebook, or Bloglovin to see more Bright Ideas.

For more Bright Ideas from over 100 bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic or grade level that interests you. Thanks so much for visiting and thanks so much for making a difference for you students.

An InLinkz Link-up

Meet the Teacher

Today I'm joining my friend Stephanie over at Falling into First in her "Meet the Teacher" linky. What a great way to get to know more about some fabulous teachers and bloggers.

Hi everyone. My name is Arlene and I'm happy to be able to say that I'm 65! I'm a retired teacher with over 33 years of teaching experience and 4 years of consulting. I've taught mostly elementary grades and special education and ended my career as an elementary ESL Resource teacher/Specialist. It was the most challenging and rewarding job of all. I've traveled around the world with my now retired military husband with our daughter and son who are now all grown up and married with children. We all live in Tallahassee, Florida and I'm so happy to be able to spend so much time with them and watch grand kids grow up. Here we are at a family gathering a few years.

Every year we go on a family ski vacation to Lake Tahoe. Here I am with my husband at my happy place on top of Heavenly. We will be celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary this Sunday. We met at a summer camp in the Berkshire Mountains in Connecticut a long time ago. We're both from New York and although I miss the excitement of Broadway and all the city has to offer, I don't miss the winters and traffic!

When I retired from teaching I was given this poem in a frame. It truly sums up who I am and my wonderful life as a wife, mother, friend, teacher, and person.

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

My grand kids, Dark Chocolate, Skiing, Singing, and White Zin 

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

If I wasn't a teacher I would want to be singing and dancing on Broadway. 

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Creative, Quirky, Friendly

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________, SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

I never bring home work to do on the weekends, said no teacher ever!

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

Josh Groban, Billy Crystal, and Abraham Lincoln

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

"She Did it Her Way"

Q: YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

I would wave my hand and end violence and war.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" JFK

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

"Someone to Watch Over Me"

Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

Probably a morning person. I started out a night owl when I was a lot younger but moved to a morning person.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

I love writing both poetry units and reading and writing units. Here's one of my poetry units:

Here's one of my favorite Reading and Writing Unit

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU!

I was the 2006 Alaska State Teacher of the Year, it was the highlight of my teaching career.  

Wow! Now you know so much about me it's time to click on the image below to find out more about some other fabulous bloggers and link up with Stephanie, too.

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Back to School Sale at Teacher's Notebook August 9-12th

Just wanted to let you know that everything in my Teacher's Notebook Shop is 30% August 9-12th. You will get an extra 10% off at checkout making your total savings 40% off. If you shop at Teacher's Notebook and still need some great Back to School or Fall items then this sale is for you. Just click on the picture above to see all my product on sale.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a great beginning to the new school year.

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Back to School Literacy Activities and A Freebie

Literacy activities help students become better readers and writers. Activities can target specific skills such as building vocabulary, decoding words, improving grammar and writing skill, and activities to  improve fluency. When literacy activities are used with thematic units they give students more opportunities to use the words associated with the theme and become more proficient at reading and feel successful. 

I have been busy with creating new "Back to School" packets for Fluency and Writing and just finished and uploaded my new "Back to School Literacy Activities" Packet. There are 9 Literacy activities included. All can be used as Literacy Center Activities and there are some Whole Class Activities to teach and review the skills to assess students' understanding. There are Picture/Word Card Activities and 2 different Noun Sorts: People, Place, or Thing and Proper Nouns, Compound Nouns, and Common Nouns. Students will also make Compound Words with word cards and write sentences using 3 of their words as well as Sort Schools Words into 1, 2, 3, and 4 Syllable words.

There is an End Punctuation Sentence Sort where students will sort sentences that end with periods, question marks, and exclamation points and then writing them correctly. There is a set of sentences for end punctuation only and one set where students will have to make the 1st letter a Capital letter as well as add the end punctuation. The final 3 activities include, ABC Order, an Initial Blend coloring activity and a Write the Room activity with School words. 

Just click on the image below to check out this packet. When you download the Preview you will see sample pages of all the activities in this packet.

I have put together a great Freebie packet of 2 "I Spy" literacy activities where students will match a clue with picture/word card or word card and then write their answers on their recording card as you can see below. (B/W copy included.) There is one activity with School Things and one with School People and Places.

To download your free packet just click on the image below.

Hope you will check out all my new Pinterest Boards by clicking HERE. You will find specific grade level boards from K-5 as well as preschool, seasonal boards and my most popular:

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for students. Have a great start to the new school year.

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LMN Tree is Having a Back to School Sale!

It's that wonderful time of year when school bells ring and TpT throws it huge BTS Sale. My cart is loaded and I'm ready to buy. The sale begins on Monday August 4th - 5th this year. Everything in my shop is 20% off but don't forget to add the PROMO CODE: BTS14 at check out to get an extra 8% off making your total purchase 28%. Today is a great day to leave feedback on all your purchased products to get TpT Credits which you can also use to purchase products. Can't wait to use mine!

This year I added 2 new BTS Packets you might like to check out. Here's my BTS Writing Packet for Grades 1-2. Just click on the image below to read all about it and download the preview to see all the materials and activities. You can also checkout my blog post and get a fun free packet by clicking HERE.

Here is my new Back to School Fluency Activities for Grade 1-2. You can check out all the materials and activities by clicking on the image below. You can also read my blog post about it and grab a Free BTS Fluency Packet by clicking HERE.

I have also revised, updated, and added new activities to my 2 Back to School Fun Activities packets which you can check out by clicking on the images below. The 1st is for K-1:

This one is for 2nd through 4th

If you are already thinking of September then you may want to check out my new and Revised September Poems by clicking on the image below:

I was really busy this summer revising and creating!

Of course there are freebies, too.

and

Hope you find some great bargains! 

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest. I've added so many new boards this summer. Just click HERE to follow.Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a wonderful start to the new school year!

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