Saturday, June 29, 2013

Under the Sea...Star of the Week with an Ocean Theme!

Hi Bloggy Friends!  Next year I’m going to do a Beach/Ocean theme with my class as we loop up to second grade. I love to do a Star of the Week activity with my classes. In the past we had a Hollywood Star of the Week and an Explorer of the Week. So, for our beach theme, I designed an Oceanographer of the Week pack.
Let me tell you about how I use these Student of the Week materials. I send home the parent letter with one boy and girl who will be the Stars the following week. I have new students go earlier in the year so we can get to know them. Then, I "randomly" choose students for the rest of the year (but I have my shy kids and kids who need to make new friends go first--don't tell!). On Mondays, the Stars share their posters that they worked on over the previous weekend. They are also allowed to bring a special item for sharing. This is a big deal because the kids don't get to share toys or things like that normally—only items related to what we're learning in class. Each day of the week the kids have the option to share other items or stories about their hobbies, families, etc... On Thursday, the class writes a page to go in a book that each Star gets. Usually, kids write compliments or tell why they like the Star. The writing is just priceless. “Hanna, I thenk yu are beeyutifol.” Then, at the end of the week, the stories are collected and bound into a book for each Star to take home. The kids LOVE this! Even the shy kids want to talk about themselves! I laminate the posters, 3-hole punch them, and bind them with binder rings. The Star of the Week big book is by far the favorite buddy reading choice in class!
In addition to the Oceanographer of the Week, I also made two other versions, Sea Star of the Week and The Big Fish of the Week, which are included with the Oceanographer of the Week materials.
The set includes:
3 Styles of Star of the Week Posters in color and B&W:
   Oceanographer, Sea Star, and Big Fish.
2 dated and 1 undated book cover for each style
4 styles of student book handwriting sheets
1 parent letter for each style

They are available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I will give away a copy next week to a follower who leaves a comment. The winner will be chosen with a random number generator.
Have a lovely weekend!
Corinna

 
 




 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Show Me Some BlogLovin' Giveaway!

Hello Fabulous Followers of Teaching Fabulous Firsties...& Second Grade Smarties!  I am giving away TEN free products from my Teachers Pay Teachers site for followers of my blog on BlogLovin'! 
Google Reader is going away on July 1st (I’m sure you’ve heard this a lot by now).  It may go away, but I don't want you to go away, so please consider following my blog through BlogLovin’’!  This will take a few minutes of your time, so to make it worth your efforts,  I am going to have a giveaway for all of my wonderful followers that switch over to BlogLovin’.  Even if you have already switched over, you are still eligible for prizes!
 

Tori at Tori’s Teacher Tips has a detailed post with REALLY GOOD visuals and an explanation of how to do all of this.  It was super easy to follow.  Or you can try these steps.  It really isn’t hard to do on your own.  She is also hosting a linky party so you can find more fun blogs to follow.
If you have not yet switched or are not following our blog through BlogLovin’, then there are a few easy steps to follow.  Click on the blue heart button on the left that says, “Follow me on BlogLovin'"

You will need to set up an account with BlogLovin’ so that you can follow this blog and any other blogs that you love.  Please be sure to leave your BlogLovin’ username in the Rafflecopter entry.  Then, go to this post on BlogLovin’ and "like" it.

If you want to go ahead and move all of the blogs you follow from Google over, you can go to this link and it will take you through the easy-peasy steps.  Be sure to go to my BlogLovin’ link and make sure that the blue button at the top of my BlogLovin’ page has been clicked (it should be gray with the word following- if it's blue, please click it to follow!)
So, if you follow me by BlogLovin’, please enter my giveaway!!  Ten followers are going to win a free pick from my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
Thanks for reading this loooonnnng blog post!  Be sure to click on the other blogs in this linky to follow other great bloggers on BlogLovin’ and maybe win a prize from them, too!
 
Congratulations to these fabulous winners of my 300 Follower Giveaway!  You should be contacted soon by to get your prizes.  Thank you to all of my bloggy/TpT friends who donated a TON of great prizes!


WENDY McC.

DORA G.

CHERIE O.

SUSAN F.

ERIN B.

VERONICA V.

KRISTI H.

SEEMI

HOPE T.

ASHLEY C.

REBBECCA Z.

LUPE R.

JANET R.

KIMBERLY C.

CHERYL M.
I'm also giving away a BOGO coupon to the first ten people who leave a comment & leave their email. You can purchase one item from my Teachers Pay Teachers store and then I'll email you your freebie choice (of equal or lesser value).
 
Have a great week, Everybody!
Corinna
 




Sunday, June 16, 2013

300 Follower Giveaway! Woo-hoo!

I'm having a huge 300 Follower Giveaway!  Seventy fabulous Bloggers/TpT Stores have shared items to give away to you!  It is easy to win.  Just click on the link and follow these Bloggers/TpT Stores, then click on Rafflecopter to enter for your chance to win. You only have until June 24th, so enter now.   Good luck!
THE GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED! 
THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!



 

 

 

 
Thanks to all of my awesome TpT friends for donating such wonderful resources!
♥Corinna

Friday, June 14, 2013

I'm Free...and a Freebie for You!

It seemed as if this day would never arrive!  After spending two full days packing up my classroom (with the help of my sweet Mama), I finally was able to check out of my classroom.  It was so delicious to turn OFF my alarm and not have to wake up on time even though my stupid body clock woke me up at the same darn time as usual) and be on a schedule!  However, this would be super fabulous if I wasn't sick!  My allergies/asthma combo was mixed with a serious dose of First Grade Germs and I've been sick the past two weeks.  If it weren't for the fact that we only had a bit of school left, I would have called my favorite sub (Mama) so I could recuperate faster.  I thought I had finally started to get better, but then two days of stirring up cotton ball-sized dust bunnies in my classroom kicked my behind (or should I say, "lungs?") and I feel awful again.  I swear it feels like I've cracked my ribs from all of the coughing.  Sooooo...since I can do nothing more than lay her like a lump, I figured I'd better get back to blogging before everyone forgets me. 

It has been too long since my last post, so you know me, I'm throwing you a freebie with my apology. Usually, I give chocolate with my apologies, but since that won't work, here are some graduation borders that I made for some fellow teachers.  I'm hoping that you won't have to use them until next year because you're already on summer break, so tuck them away in your files.  Click on the link or the picture above to grab one for yourself.  Enjoy!

I'm off to the doctor to see how my ribs & lungs are doing...
♥Corinna

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