a merry little christmas.

wishing you & yours a very merry christmas 

& a beautiful new year.

Currently.

It is so hard to believe that December is already here. 

I am embracing this season with open arms! 

Today I'm linking up with Oh Boy 4th Grade today to share this month's currently…

Listening: to She & Him Christmas pandora station.  I found this station yesterday morning while decorating our tree & I just can't turn it off.

Loving:  being surrounded by Christmas decor.  The holiday season is in full swing around our house.  My husband and I put our tree up yesterday morning & decorated for Christmas.  I'm currently sitting on my couch with the tree lit next to me & holiday tunes playing throughout the house. hello December!

Thinking: I could use just one more day of Thanksgiving break before heading back to my kiddos.  The past four days have absolutely flown by.  Each day was filled with so much family and friend goodness.  I could use another day just to catch up on the everyday before heading back to the daily.

Wanting: to enjoy every single moment of this holiday season.  The month of December always seems to pass so quickly.  With all the holiday celebrating, good eating & wonderful times with family & friends the days pass in the blink of an eye.  I hope to slow it down and take it all in this year.

Needing: to get my grad school homework done.  I have one last assignment that needs to be completed for my class this semester.  I just need to power through & get it done. (See how that "one more day" would be useful here!)

Favorite Tradition: Putting up the Christmas tree.  Every year, my husband and I pull out the tree and all the decorations together.  We turn up the Christmas music and slowly take out all the ornaments, reminiscing about each one, sharing stories from our years past.  This year was especially full of thoughts & stories as we'll have a little one crawling at our feet next Christmas!

& don't forget tomorrow kicks off the great TpT Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale.

Everything in my shop will be on sale!

Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale!

hello December! where has the time gone?  The holidays are right around the corner 

& I just can't wait!  To kick off the holiday season, my whole shop will be 

on sale Monday & Tuesday! 

Be sure to check out some of my favorite goodies that are in my shop!

Reading Response Flap Books:

This set of 15 different flap books that can be used with any fiction and non-fiction texts  to monitor comprehension and practice reading strategies.

Number of the Day:

These Number of the Day (or Calendar Math) pages are a great tool for ongoing practice with number sense. With this pack, you can differentiate based on the needs of your children! 

Time for Time:

These Time for Time Printables & What Time is it? math centers provide students with differentiated practice telling time to the fifteen minute and the five minute. 

Place Value Centers & Printables:

This pack of centers and printables is perfect for differentiated practice 
with place value including ones, tens, 
hundreds, and thousands! 

Classroom Decor:

& of course you want to surround yourself with great classroom decor that is both 

catching to the eye & useful for your students!

 I'll also be doing a little TpT shopping of my own to prep for the coming months.

Happy Shopping!

Time for Time

This week we switched gears in math and turned our focus to telling time.  I have been busy finding, printing & laminating all kinds of fantastic centers & activities from all over TpT & the blog world. I'm so excited to dive into this unit.  I've also added my own creations to my plans & I can't wait to see them in use!

I recently listed two different time packs on TpT. The first is my What Time Is It? pack that includes four different center activities that focus on telling time.  The second is my Time for Time printables, a set that requires absolutely no prep - simply print & you're ready to go!  Both sets allow for differentiation so you kiddos can get exactly what they need.

Enjoy your weekend!

Five for Friday

Happy friday! 

yes, I took quite the blog break, but I'm back & it feels good.

So here I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching 

to share what I have been up to this week.

1.

I made a little announcement this week, 

giving a reason for my lack of posting for the past couple months.

2.

We absolutely loved math centers this week.  My kiddos are rocking place value!  They were engaged & enthusiastic during math centers all week & they all did amazing on their assessment today.  Consider me one proud teacher! 

3.

Speaking of place value, I added a new unit to TpT this week.

This resource was a major part of what we have worked on in math these past few weeks.  I loved it & my kiddos loved it - a win, win in my book.

4. 

My awesome teammate also created this fantastic jeopardy game that we used as review before the assessment.  The room was filled with cheering, excitement 

& so much focus on math!

5.

 Finally, I have been gathering some activities that are Thanksgiving focused to use over the next couple weeks. I'm so excited to make these sweet little thankful turkeys with my second graders.  My group this year just loves crafts and they have so much goodness in their hearts. I can't wait to see what they come up with for the writing.

Enjoy your weekend, friends!

Fall into Place!

The past few weeks have been all about place value in our little second grade world. We've done centers galore, we sorted numbers, we highlighted digits in certain places, we made numbers with base-10 blocks & we practiced expanded form until we were all experts.  These kiddos seriously know their place value now & they are loving it.

My awesome teammate created this fantastic place value sort. I'm so grateful for having a creative partner at school with me. You can check out her TPT shop here.

& we just had to make our hallway bulletin board match the season 

while displaying all that we were learning about place value.Throughout these past few weeks, we have been using all sorts of goodies from my place value centers & printables pack. This pack of centers and printables is perfect for differentiated practice 
with place value including ones, tens, 
hundreds, and thousands! It includes seven different centers with coordinating printables all focused on place value concepts. Each center and printable can be differentiated to best fit your students needs. We used these like crazy and my kiddos loved them all!

grab a set for yourself at my TpT shop.

& then there were three.

I realize I have not posted for quite some time - months actually, 

but I do have a great excuse . . .

That's right, there's a baby in there! The husband and I will be welcoming a sweet babe to our family at the end of April and we are absolutely over the moon excited for this adventure!

The past few months have been exhausting.  The first month or so of teaching is always tiresome, but wow, combine that with the first trimester and I was finding myself napping on the couch as soon as I was home from work and crawling into bed by 8:30 each night. Thankfully, as I made my way into the second trimester, my energy has slowly returned and I'm starting to feel back like my usual self.  I have even found myself struck with the creative bug once again, so stay tuned for more lessons, ideas & tpt products! & despite my exhaustion, we have been plenty busy in second grade so I will be sure to be back to share the happenings that have buzzing about my classroom.

Five for Friday

It was my last week of summer this week. I go back to work on Monday & my new group of kiddos arrive at my door after labor day. In hopes of getting in every last minute of summer's goodness, the Mr. & I headed to Chicago for a few days.  So, this week's five for friday is looking a little more like Chicago's five.

1.

 The Mr. & I hopped on a train Tuesday morning and we made our way to the city.

We spent the day exploring, doing some furniture looking (CB2, West Elm & Design Within Reach, oh my!) & enjoying dinner with friends that live in the city.

2.

We spent some time just sitting on a bench by the beach. Watching the people 

go by & taking in the sights of Lake Michigan.  It was pure relaxation. 

3.

 We visited the bean, we checked out Stefan Sagmeister's The Happy Show 

& we walked around Art Institute.

 4.

We took an architectural boat tour through the Chicago River and out into Lake Michigan, which we loved! It was so cool to see the skyline from out in the lake.

5.

I guess the trip wasn't all play.  I spent the train ride home working on a new place value unit. Spending six hours on a train working on school stuff somewhat helps to transition you back to reality. somewhat. 

Now i'm off to enjoy my last couple days before my work reality sets in.

Happy Weekend!

Reading Response Flap Books

I love when I have a resource that can be used in a variety of ways and can easily be differentiated.  So I just had to share a little something that I have been working on!

These flap books are a fun way for students to demonstrate their understanding of a text and practice different reading comprehension strategies.  I used a few of these in my classroom throughout the year last year and my second graders just loved them! So, I have been busy updating them a bit and adding to the collection. 

 The set now includes 15 different flap books that can be used with both fiction and non-fiction texts! Simply print, fold & cut along the flaps to create these reading responses.

Click here to check them out at my TpT shop. 

& don't forget, my whole shop is on sale for the rest of the day!

Back to School Sale!

Back to School is here! To help you prepare, my whole TPT shop is 20%!

AND don't forget to enter the code BTS13 at the checkout for an additional discount! 

In case you need some ideas of what to buy, 

here are a few of my favorites that I will be using in my classroom this year. . . 

My Chevron Calendar Pack is a great way to add a touch of chevron to any classroom.  

The set includes everything you'll need for your classroom calendar!

 Start out your first week back to school with some fun! This pack includes 6 different activities that will help you get to know your new group of students & engage them during the first week of school.

My Number of the Day Pack is a great tool for ongoing practice with number sense. With this pack, you can differentiate based on the needs of your children!  

Add some punctuation & parts of speech posters to your classroom 

for student reference or teaching tools.

I also just added a new Birthday Bonanza Pack that includes everything you'll need to make birthdays extra special in your classroom!

So, head on over to my shop

& grab everything you'll need to get your year started off right!

Teacher Week: Classroom Digs (a sneak peek!)

 

I just went into my classroom for the first time this week. I spent quite a few hours there yesterday doing a little painting and a whole lot of staring at the space.  I had planned on doing some rearranging this year but I still needed to figure out the specifics.  I left yesterday with a plan in my head. Then I headed straight to Michael's to pick up the necessary supplies. I returned to my classroom this morning ready to roll.  A few hours later & it's beginning to come together.  I still have A LOT to do, but I'm feeling good about it so far. Take a peek...