What's On Your Wish List?

Believe it or not we are still eating turkey leftovers at my house! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Did you shop til you dropped on Black Friday? I prefer to shop online and not deal with all the traffic and people on Black Friday, so I'm ready for Cyber Monday and Tuesday especially at TpT.

My friend Jen over at Teaching in the Tongass is having a fun linky party of our top wishlisted items for the Cyber Monday and Tuesday TpT Sale! Here are mine. This is one of my best sellers for December and I loved creating it. If you teach 2nd or 3rd grade you may want to check it out. 

My 2nd top wishlisted item is Animals in Winter. It is for K-1. Just click on the image below and download the preview file to see sample pages of all the materials and activities in this packet.

Finally my #3 top wishlisted item is Snow Poetry. I love writing poetry and this is truly one of my favorites. There are literacy activities that go with each poem.

Everything in my store will be 20% off on November 30th and December 1st but don't forget to add the Promo Code: SMILE at checkout to save a total of 28% off. If you have been leaving feedback, you can also redeem your credits to save even more. Just click on the image above to check out my store.

It's a great time to get bundles which will be 28% off the discounted price. You might want to check these out. Just click on any of the images below.

I have been working hard this school year to redo my Preview files so you can see sample pages of all the materials and activities in my products. If you are looking for December Holidays, Winter, New Years, or Penguins, products you will see lots of sample pages in all those products.

Don't forget to check out all the other Top Wish Listed products at Jen's.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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Celebrating Native American Heritage Month with Free Resources and Free Activities

November is American Native Heritage Month so let's celebrate their heritage and culture. Having spent 10 years in Alaska I was able to learn so much about the Alaska natives and even visit a Totem Pole village. I was fascinated with their myths and legends and how much they understood about taking care of the land and the animals. Did you know that many scientists believe that the first Americans traveled from Asia through the Bering Sea to Alaska before moving east and south more than 10,000 years ago? Of course I have put together some wonderful websites where you will find lots of free resources, lessons, crafts, and activities. One of the best websites I found you can access by clicking on the image below. You will find everything about Native American Tribes, History, Clothing, Legends, Myths and so much more.

If you are looking for information and free lesson plans about Totem Poles just click on the image below. Did you know that it can take up to 9 months to carve a totem pole?

How about some Totem Pole crafts?  Just click on the image below. You can find lots of other Native crafts to make by clicking HERE

Education World has some wonderful free activities, lessons, and resources about the Native American and Alaska Native culture and heritage for grades K-12. There are so many activities to choose from.You can access all of them by clicking on the image below.

I finally had a chance to revise and update my Celebrating Native American Month Thematic Unit which you can check out by clicking on the image below. It includes 3 differentiated reading texts for ESL Students and Struggling Readers as well as 2nd and 3rd grade level texts about the "First Americans" as well as reading texts about the Legend of the Dream Catcher and the beautiful art of Totem Poles. Students will create and write about their own own dream they would like to catch and design a totem pole. There are map activities, poems about famous Native Americans, and a report writing activity about a Regional Native Tribe. You can check it out by clicking on the image below. When you download the Preview file you will see sample pages of all the reading texts and many of the writing and other activities in this packet.

I have lots of new Pinterest Boards for you to follow. Just click HERE. Here are a few of my most popular ones.

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Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. I truly appreciate all that you do each and every day.

Amazing Owls: Free Resources and Activities

I have always been fascinated with owls. Owl themed activities and fall seem to go hand-in-hand. I have been doing lots of research over the last few weeks about owls and I have some great free resources and activities to share with all of you.

I always like to start with books for read alouds. I found a list of good books like the one below on Amazon. Just click on the image below to check them out. Hopefully your school library has some of them.

For those of you who love the Book, "Owl Moon" I found a few websites that offer free lessons that go with the book. One is Scholastic that has activities for Pre-K-K, 1st and 2nd and the other you can access by clicking on the image below. There are also links to other "Owl Moon" mini lessons.

I found several websites that give wonderful information about owls and many owl species. The first is The Owl Pages which you can check out by clicking on the image below. This may be more for Grades 2-3. You can click on different species to find out what they look like, where they live, what they eat, and even what they sound like.

Another great website is the Owl Research Institute which has links to many different species of owls with information about each one. Just click on the image below:

Another good website is called Owling.com. You can access this website by clicking on the image below.

If you are looking for fun facts about owls you might like to check out these:
20 Fun Facts about Owls and Easy Science for Kids. For older grades you may want to check out 10 Amazing Facts About Owls by clicking on the image below. Yes, this owl is turning its head upside-down!

I have thought about creating an Owl Reading and Writing Unit for over a year and finally uploaded it yesterday. All of the Informative Reading Texts are differentiated at the 2nd and 3rd Grade levels and it includes Informative text and Opinion Piece Writing Activities. There is also an Owl Report Project and other fun activities. To see sample pages of all the reading texts and many other activities in this packet just click on the image below and download the Preview File.

Finally, one more free activity from me. I put together this fun "Owl Scavenger Hunt" Packet where students can find out where different species of owls live around the world and answer other questions. I've included websites where they can find the information. It can been done individually, in pairs or small groups, or even as a contest.

If you would like to download this freebie just click on the image below.

Hope you find some great resources for teaching your students about owls.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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Fabulous Fun Fall Free Resources

Fall is my favorite season of the year. Although it still feels like summer here in Florida, as the days get shorter I know it won't be long to feel that cool fall air.
To get you in the mood I've put together some great websites for you to check out to find some free activities, crafts, games etc.

When I taught my fall unit, I read a book about fall everyday for Shared Reading time. It's a great way to teach new vocabulary words and get students interacting about the signs of fall and fun things to do in fall. At Apples4theteacher you will find lots of great resources. First is their list of fall books which you can check out by clicking on the picture below. You can check out their free activities, printables and poems by clicking HERE.

There are some great fall crafts to make and I found a few great websites to check out. Just click on the pictures below to access all the details and instructions.
                                             
                                              No Time for Flashcards

                                                   
                                                  apples4theteacher

Looking for online fall games and free printables just click on the pictures below.

I just revised my "What Happens in Fall?" Reading and Writing Unit. The original was 50 pages and my 2015 product is 114 pages! It has an original shared reading book, 3 leveled guided reading books, writing activities at the K-2 levels and so much more. You will also find Differentiated Writing and Fluency Activities and more. To see sample pages of all the differentiated reading books, writing and literacy activities just click on the image below.

You may also like this revised and updated Fall Play and Readers Theater: I added a fun Readers Theater Script for 2nd and 3rd Grade. Here is a sample of the Fall Play and Readers Theater:

You can see all the materials and activities by clicking on the image below.

If you like using poetry with your students you can check out my September Poetry and October Poetry Units.

Looking for some new Pinterest Boards to follow? Just click HERE. Here are a few you may like:

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope it's a fun fall where you are.

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What is your favorite fall book?

All New September Holidays and Celebrations Free Resources, Poems, and Activities

There are many special days in September and of course the beginning of school that I've revised updated some some of my old posts to bring you these great websites with free resources and activities that you may like to check out. I've also included other resources that you may find useful.

First of all there is Labor Day which is celebrated on the 1st Monday in September. It is a great time to talk about the different jobs that people do. You can find some great free resources and free printables about Labor Day at Apples4theTeacher and thematic books about workers. You can find more free resources at Education World which would be great for grades 2-5.

Grandparents Day which is celebrated on the Sunday following Labor Day is a special day for children and their grandparents. Many teachers in the younger grades invite grandparents to their classrooms. I found this great website with a fun song at National Grandparents Day.com You will also find other teacher resources and free lesson plans. If you are looking for some fun crafts to make then you will want to visit dltk.

For those of you who want free resources about September 11th you may want to check out these at TeacherHub. I have a great bog post with lots of free resources that can fine HERE.  For younger students you may want to do a lesson about Heroes. I also have a Heroes unit which you might like to check out which is for Grades K-2. It has been revised and updated and includes a S'more Hero Book that students can make. Just click on the image below to check it out.

I have just added a new freebie for September 11th for K-2. You can download your free Hero Poetry Packet by clicking on the image below. I hope you will leave feedback.

September 17th is Constitution Day. Many 2nd and 3rd graders learn about the constitution. I found a website that offers teaching units about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights which you can access by clicking here You can also find free resources at Scholastic and apples4the teacher. You may also want to check out my "Celebrating Constitution Day" which has been my best seller since 2012. It has been revised updated twice so if you had purchased the original or first revision please be sure to go to your purchase page and download this latest one. When you download the Preview file you will see sample pages of all the reading activities and many of the other activities in this packet.

Of course fall begins in September although it may still feel like summer in many places in the Unites States. It is my favorite season of the year. I have not only written a few Fall Poems but a fun Fall Play called "How Will I Know When It Is Fall?" There are character cards for students to wear as they act out their parts. Some teachers used the play as Readers Theater. There are poems about School, Labor Day, Grandparents Day, Fall, and more. You can see all of these poems and activities in my new and revised September Poetry Unit by clicking on the picture below. The Preview file has sample pages of all the poems and many of the activities that go with each poem.

If you are interested in just my Fall Play and a new Readers theater Script called "The Signs of Fall" you may want to check out my revised and updated Fall Plays and Readers Theater Packet by clicking on the image below.

Did you know that September 19th is Talk like a Pirate Day? I have put together this free "Talk like a Pirate Day" Literacy Activities Packet.

You can download this freebie by clicking on the image below.

Wow, that's a lot of September resources. I hope you find something useful for your students. 

 Be sure to check out all my Pinterest Boards and follow so you can find lots of great resources and educational tips and information.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. I hope you have a wonderful start to the new school year.

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