Two for Tuesday

It's time to join The Teaching Tribune for Two for Tuesday!

Tuesday is a terrific day to read education blogs because many bloggers are offering two items in their TpT stores at a FIFTY percent discount.

You can grab my 3-2-1 Back to School ELA bundle for only FIVE dollars today!

Are you looking for FUN and ENGAGING Back to School themed ELA activities to review or introduce key language arts concepts? Look no further! This bundle contains SIX products to help your intermediate students practice identifying parts of speech and kinds of sentences, as well as recognizing fragments, sentences, and run-ons. Included are THREE Zap! games, TWO Mystery Pictures, and ONE pack of Scoot cards. Each item is available separately in my TpT store...

Back to School Zap! Fragments, Run-ons, and Sentences
Back to School Zap! Kinds of Sentences 
Back to School Zap! Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs
Mystery Picture Schoolhouse
Mystery Picture Apple
Back to School Scoot Revising Sentences

... and if purchased individually would be much more costly. By purchasing the bundle, you save a considerable amount!!!

You can also grab my newest product, Moon Over Manifest Figurative Language Scoot cards for only $1.25.

These 24 Scoot cards may also be used as task cards in a literacy center or for a Scatter/Scavenger Hunt activity that provides students practice with identifying the type of figurative language (simile, alliteration, personification, onomatopoeia) used in a given sentence. All of the sentences are taken from the Newbery Award novel Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool; however, it is NOT necessary to read the novel in order to complete the activity. QR Code answers are provided on each card allowing for self-checking when desired.

Be sure to visiting The Teaching Tribune today to receive more savings on great teaching products. Tuesday is the time to do your TpT shopping for sure!

Speaking of time...

There's still a little time left to win your choice of a Teacher T-Shirt. Hop over to this blog post before midnight tonight ESTand enter to win! There's no obligation or cost so give it a whirl! You won't be disappointed if you win. The t-shirt is a great product! I am LOVIN' mine.

And there's some time, two days,  to get your Throwback Thursday posts ready.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

This is going to be a JAM packed post today: several linkies, a giveaway reminder, and a party invitation all JAMMED into one. Sit back, hold on tight, and let's get JAMMIN'!

First up is The Teaching Tribune's summer linky Monday Meet-up. They announced today that this is the last Monday Meet-up for the summer. You know what that means? Shhh! We'll not say those words aloud yet!

Next up is the weekly Anchors Away linky hosted by Deb from Crafting Connections.

If you have been following my blog or Deb's linky then you'll know the value of anchor charts, in all shapes and sizes, traditional and non. I'm always on the lookout for great anchor chart ideas. I FOUND AN AWESOME ANCHOR CHART over at Just a Primary Girl that I just HAVE to share with you!

I have used the annotation strategy for initial reads of all text genre for eons; however, with the emphasis on close reading as proscribed in the CCSS, I knew it was time to formalize and expand the strategy in my classes. My first inclination was to create bookmarks with an annotation code; however, knowing my students as I do... unh-uh! Those bookmarks wouldn't last a week! Then, I came upon this anchor chart and knew I HAD to do something like this. LOVE it! Gonna use it! Can't wait! Read more about this chart and how to develop it with your students HERE.


The last linky I'm joining this week is 4th Grade Frolics' Monday Made It.

Last Friday I mentioned that my family was joining me for Independence Day dinner and they had requested Auntie's famous chili. I had gathered all my ingredients and was poised to begin, but... I had NEVER made chili for so many people... 10 in all, and of these ten only three of us are under six feet tall, and four are taller than six feet six inches... I'm hinting that these folks are BIG eaters. I wasn't sure how much of everything to use.

I am not a cook who measures or follows a recipe, I just dump and stir things in. I knew I had to use a BIG pot to make enough chili to feed everyone so I borrowed my niece's 21 qt. stockpot. Here's what I ended up using to make my chili:

• FIVE pounds of meat... three pounds of ground beef and two pounds of hot sausage (normally just two pounds total)
• Four cans of diced tomatoes (normally one)
• Two large cans of sauce, five small cans of sauce (normally one large can)
• Six cans of beans: chili, dark kidney, light kidney, white kidney, black, chick pea (normally three)
• Two cans of whole kernel corn (normally one)
• 12 cloves garlic (normally two or three)
• Two large onions (normally one)
• 2/3 jar chili powder (normally a few tablespoons)
• pitcher of water (normally a can or two to rinse the sauce)
• salt and pepper to taste

When all was said and done, I ended up making about 18 quarts of yummy, spicy chili.

By the end of the evening there wasn't a drop of chili left! I can NOT believe my family plowed through all that chili, and I was looking forward to leftovers on Saturday. LOL!

On to things other than linkies. How 'bout a giveaway? There's still one more day left to win your choice of a Teacher T-Shirt. Hop over to this blog post and enter to win! There's no obligation or cost so give it a whirl! You won't be disappointed if you win. The t-shirt is a great product! I am LOVIN' mine.

Finally...  And I'm REALLY excited about this... You've heard me talk about Jamberry nail wraps, how I'm enjoying them, how cute they are, how easy they are to use...

I'm throwing an online, in real time, Jamberry party via Facebook and you ALL are invited.

You do not need to be a member of Facebook nor do you need to be my "friend" to attend this party. All you need is to visit this LINK and click the join/going button. The only requirement is that you register for the party before it begins so that you reserve your space. Once nine o'clock EST on July 17, 2014, rolls around no one will be able to join unless you have reserved your place. There will be games and prizes while we learn more about Jamberry wraps, hear about some special offers, and make some new Jammin' friends! There is no obligation to purchase anything. Since this is an open party, please feel free to invite your friends to attend as well. Just send them the party link so they may register.

The party consultant who will conduct the party is WONDERFUL! I've been to one of Bev's parties and had a great time learning about these fun fashion wraps. I'll be sure to post several reminders between now and the party date; however, I encourage you to reserve your spot right away. As soon as reservations start to roll in, Bev will begin posting information on the page that you won't want to miss.

Just click this link,

 https://www.facebook.com/events/1537142123180257, 

to reserve your space. 

Can't wait to Jam with you on July 17, 2014.

Five for Friday; Happy Fourth!

I'm sharing FIVE on this FOURTH! Happy holiday to all my U.S. bloggy friends and followers and happy Friday to one and all!

I was thrilled early in the week when to my surprise I saw this when I visited Teachers Pay Teachers. I had never seen my store on the front page before. There I am on the bottom left! LOVE it!

Poor Miss Daisy did not feel well again this week, sneezing and sneezing. 

Last month she had had a problem with a bad tooth, actually one of her upper fangs which had broken off several months ago and was infected. Sneezing is a symptom of a tooth infection in a cat.  Off to the vet we went where she was treated with antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs. It seemed to do the trick but the infection began to flare up again this past weekend so off to the vet we went again. Because of her advanced age, the doctor wants to try to treat her with the drugs, hoping that the piece of tooth that still remains causing the infection will eventually fall out. I'm hoping this is the last trip we have to take for this tooth for if there is another, we may be looking at surgical extraction.

Daisy (on the right), feeling MUCH better already,  is ready to take on Lulie.

As soon as I finish this post and publish it, I'm off to the kitchen to make my famous chili. It's probably the best dish that I make. I know it's a strange one to have for the Fourth of July, but we've all had a hankering for it. Thank goodness the weather is cooperating and it's really cool here in NE Ohio today, a perfect day for chili!

About two weeks ago I blogged about Jamberry nails and how I really was enjoying them.

Two weeks ago

I was promised that they would last a LONG time, but I was skeptical... not any more!

Yesterday

Notice that the polish is chipping away though! I do have to admit that I had to remove two of the wraps on my right hand. The Jamberry wraps were fine, but I had smashed two of my nails moving furniture. I removed the wraps, filed down my nails, and polished them to match.

NEWSFLASH: Mark your calendars for July 17, 2014, at 9:00 pm EST. You are invited to a Facebook Jamberry party... more info. and sign-up coming in a few days.

Finally, if you haven't entered my super fun Teacher T-Shirt giveaway, hurry and do so. The giveaway ends on July 8, 2014. Click HERE for more details and to enter. GOOD LUCK!

Before you leave, be sure to visit Doodlebugs for more Five for Friday posts where you'll be able to catch up on the world of teacher bloggers!

Throwback Thursday 7.3.14 Recipe for Success

Welcome to another edition of Throwback Thursday where we teacher bloggers share our PURR-fect Previous Posts, Pics, and Pins.

How does Throwback Thursday work,  you might ask? Simply look through your PURR-fect Previous Posts, perhaps a particular favorite of yours, and re-post it! Then add the TBT badge to your post and include your link below! Purr-fectly easy and simple! Your post doesn't have to be from LOOOONNNGGG ago; it can be from last month. And if you don't have a post to share, perhaps an old photo or two from WAYBACK will do! Even a favorite pin is PURR-fect! Just join in the Throwback fun!

Speaking of pins... I was rooting around my Pinterest boards, checking on what ideas I had squirreled away when I decided to check out the analytics for my account. There are some interesting stats included there (I'm a little into that kind of "stuff"). One piece of information I came upon was "most repinned". I was a bit taken aback by the pin that fit this stat, a pin for a super, simple crockpot recipe that I constantly turn to during the school year.  Last summer I blogged about this very recipe. BTW, not only is the recipe my most repinned pin with almost 500 pins, the original blog post is my most visited post with well over 1500 visits. Who would've thunk it?!?! 

This post originally appeared on The Teacher's Desk 6 on June 18, 2013...

I'm not much of a cook (at least I don't think so), and I definitely don't have the patience to make extravagant, complicated dishes. As far as gathering ingredients and measuring... NOT gonna happen! However, my family will tell you differently! They love coming to my house for dinner and they beg me to bring certain dishes to their house when I visit. What's up with this then? Simple, no fail recipes! And here's one of them, probably the family favorite... for a while I was making this one nearly every week... until I got tired of it! LOL! The best part of this recipe is that it's made in a crock pot. I can prepare the ingredients the night before, throw it in the pot before leaving for school, and it's ready when I arrive home. LOVE IT!

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients

1 bag (32 oz. bag) frozen tater tots

1 bag (3 oz. bag) bacon pieces

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

2 c shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 c milk

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Prepare your Crock Pot by giving it a good coating of non-stick cooking spray.

2. Next, begin layering in your ingredients. Start with half of the tater tots, followed by 1/3 of the bacon and then 1/3 of the cheese. Now layer in all of your chicken; sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. On top of the chicken, layer on another 1/3 of the bacon pieces and a 1/3 of the cheese. Top with the remaining tater tots, then layer on the rest of your cheese and bacon. When done with your layers, pour the milk over the entire thing.

4. Cover and cook on low about 4-6 hours. Be sure to check for the doneness of your chicken, some Crock Pots take longer to cook than others.

FYI... I double all the ingredients except the bacon pieces AND I mix a can of cream of chicken soup with the milk for added flavor. I originally found this recipe on Pinterest...




...but it is all over the internet with people giving it rave reviews. I can say that my family gives it a definite thumbs up, too!

Now it's your turn to THROWBACK! Choose a fav post, picture, or pin to share once again. I can't wait to see what you THROWBACK this week.

I'm  linking this same post with The Teaching Tribune today. They, too, are hosting a Throwback Thursday this week as part of their summer blogging series. Be sure to stop by their blog to read more TBT posts.

Second Grade Shenanigans is also hosting a Throwback Thursday linky so I'm linking up there as well!

Wordless/Worksheet Wednesday 7.2.14

Wednesday has become my favorite blogging day of the week. I really enjoy sharing in two linkies held weekly on Wednesday. First is Wordless Wednesday hosted by Miss DeCarbo of Sugar and Spice and the second is Worksheet Wednesday hosted by The Teaching Tribune.

I'm cheating a little bit for Wordless Wednesday this week since I posted the same pic yesterday, but I really am excited! Besides having a cool, new Teacher T-Shirt to wear, I took my first selfie! LOL!

How many of you have taken a selfie?

How many of you would LOVE to have a t-shirt like this?

If you like this t-shirt, be sure to stop by THIS POST to enter a giveaway for your choice of Teacher T-Shirts. You have until July 8, 2014, to enter.

The worksheet that I am sharing this week is really a bit more of a brainstorming sheet or pre-writing organizer.

A "take three" can be a fun filler activity, or it can be used to spur creativity. I've had students be more focused in their responses by asking them to write alliterative phrases or similes in the boxes...... the possibilities are limitless. If you'd like a copy of this year's back-to-school "take three," you can download it HERE or by clicking on the pic. HERE is the link to last year's back-to-school "Take Three" if you'd like a different version.

Don't forget... tomorrow is the day! Are you ready?

Currently Tried It Tuesday Will Suit You to a "T" w/GIVEAWAY

Here it's time to link up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday already!

Where are the days going? Summer is passing by all too quickly. Before you know it, it'll be time for school again. Time for having to get dressed again! I have to admit it, I am one of those women who runs around in a housecoat and flip flops, not getting dressed unless I HAVE to leave the house. Scary thought, hunh? I think so. This prompted me to try something fun from Teacher T-Shirts in the way of clothing that suits me to a "T".

This arrived in the mail yesterday...

I couldn't wait to open it...

Once I saw how cute my new t-shirt was, I was even more excited to try it on. I shouldn't show this next pic since I threw it on over my housecoat.... I told you I was excited!

FIRST EVER Selfie. lol!

I liked my new t-shirt so much that I actually got dressed for the day; I wanted to show off my new t-shirt from Teacher T-shirts for you and do it justice. Selfies are certainly harder than everyone makes them appear!

I just love the colors. They match my new classroom color scheme. Brown is my fav, go-to color since I wear khakis a lot (I have them on in the picture even though you can't see them). Don't think my kiddos won't notice the matching colors either! They will go wild over this shirt. This group of sixers is fashion conscious, even the boys! I can't wait for them to see it. I'm torn between posting this pic on our classroom blog or waiting for the first day of school.

Wouldn't you LOVE to have a shirt like this also?

Go take a look at all the styles and colors available at the Teacher T-Shirt website. Leslie from Teacher T-Shirts has graciously offered to allow me to give away a Teacher T-Shirt on my blog. You can win your choice of a Teacher T-Shirt by entering the Rafflecopter below. The contest runs now through July 8th.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I almost forgot... I lost track of the date AGAIN! It's July 1st so you know what that means... It's CURRENTLY time... time to link up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade for that fun linky we wait for each month.

It's all pretty straight forward this month, needing no explanation... simple, just like me.

And before you leave, be sure to stop by Holly's blog to see what others have tried for this week! There are always great, fun ideas shared there. Also, don't forget that Throwback Thursday is only two days away. Get your PURR-fect Previous Posts ready to link-up here at The Teacher's Desk 6.