Cyber Monday and Tuesday, Advent and Pictures

Aloha friends! Who's ready for some Cyber Monday sales!!!


My store will be on sale Monday and Tuesday, so stock up and be Merry!

Tomorrow is also December 1st so stop by the Primary Chalkboard for some Advent Calendar fun!!


We will have a little surprise for you each day!  Make sure you stop by everyday as they will only be available then!

One more fun thing that starts tomorrow is a my Instagram Picture party.


I'd love for you to share your holiday pictures and link up with hashtag #instacheer14.
I can't wait to see all of your festive pics!

Are you ready for a fast and furious month!!! Ready, Set, Go!!!


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Easy and Cute Craft Ideas for Christmas

Aloha everyone!  It's officially here...


December 1st is Monday and the Countdown Begins!  Our school has a Winter Program so the students will be getting ready for that along with lots of other Christmas activities I have planned.

I am going to make an Advent Calendar for my students.  I found this cute idea at MessForLess.com.
Make a festive jar and write on popsicle sticks.  I am going to add fun ideas that we can do in the class each day like Brain Breaks, Class Picks for a Story, Extra 5 minutes at recess, Class Game, Drawing Time, Dance Party.  Anything fun that will only take a few minutes at the end of the day.


We will also be making paper stockings like we do every year, but will be adding a twist. 


I was so inspired by Art With Jenny K's Pop Art activities.


I am going to have my students decorate their stockings using this Pop Art technique!  I can't wait to see how they turn out!

We will also be Elfing ourselves.


These always come out so cute!  I laminate them and they make adorable ornaments.


Now the hard part is deciding what I want my students to make for their parents for Christmas!  I jumped on to Google and found some cute ideas.



Handprint Calendar from The Sharpened Pencil



ModgePodge Pictures From PositivelySplendid.com

This fingerprint light picture frame is just adorable, but I couldn't find a link!

This Cute Crayon Picture Frame from Mrs. Terhune's First Grade

These adorable ornaments from Tonya's Treats For Teachers

Love these precious Hand Print Jars from All Kids Crafts


Reindeer Ornaments from Mom vs The Boys

A cute twist on Popsicle Stick Frames from eighteen25

I love these simple and cute ornaments from A Teeny Tiny Teacher

Maybe I can add a tropical feel by adding sand and shells in with the their pictures.

I have 1 week to decide what to do.  So many choices!! I think it will all depend on what I find at the local craft store and how much it will cost for 21 kiddos!

What do you do each year for Christmas gifts? I am always looking for new ideas!


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Black Friday Deals

Aloha friends!  I hope you had a fabulous and restful Thanksgiving day.  The weather yesterday was gorgeous and my family and I cooked, ate, watched movies and ate some more!  It was so wonderful not to leave the house and just relax!

I wanted to share a little something we have been working on in class the last few weeks.


I have been creating lessons for our Maps and Globe unit since August, but I have just finished putting it all together to share.

All of my Social Studies units are created to fit inside their notebooks.  I always start with a cover page.


There are a variety of interactive activities and my 2nd graders could do most of them on their own.  I think 3rd graders would be able to complete them all independently.

 The format is the same for all of my other interactive units.  The left side usually teaches or reviews a concept and the right side is an activity that the students do to go along with it.

 This week my class will be doing the Globe Hunt.  I borrowed a few globes from other teachers so that my students can work in teams to complete this activity.  I am sure they will love it!

This unit is available in my TpT store. Just click on the picture to take you there.


I have also bundled up all of my Social Studies units and you can purchase them all together at a discount.  


Since today is Black Friday they are both on sale!  Head over to my store and stock up!!



Are you a brave soul that headed out into the Black Friday craziness!!?  I am not a Black Friday shopper.  Crowds and I do not do well together!  I may head out to the beach, and try to swim a few Thanksgiving calories off.  Hope your weekend is fabulous and that you score some great deals!!


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Thankful for Donor's Choose!!

Aloha Friday friends. I bet some of you are hootin' and hollerin' because you are officially on Thanksgiving break.  I am officially jealous!  I have never had off the whole week for Thanksgiving, but I can't really complain.  This was the first week in a LONG time that I have taught 5 full days!

This post finds me happy and excited about having another Donor's Choose project funded!!

My latest project was funded a few weeks ago and I just received all of my items.  I was very fortunate to have it funded by Chevron Fuel Your School.  They funded all projects in Hawaii for the month of October.  You can check them out on Facebook if you want to learn more.

So here is what I asked for - 4 new iPads and the cases to go along with them.


Isn't that the most beautiful sight!  I now have 8 iPads and they were all funded by Donor's Choose except one, which was given to us from Admin.

The kids literally flipped when they saw them all!  Of course the bright colored cases make them even more alluring for my 2nd graders.


The cases are from Amazon.com and they are really cool.  They are made of a thick foam like substance. Perfect for my tropical colored classroom! 



Now my only problem is organization.  How to store and charge all of these and keep it looking decent.  (If you didn't already notice the horrible wires everywhere, check the picture)

So I headed back over the Amazon and found this storage unit.

It has 8 slots for each iPad.  It seems like it will be sturdy enough, especially with the thickness of the new cases.

Now I just need this little gadget to get them all charging without a huge powerstrip!


Ahhh, I could go on and on, but for now I am excited with what I have!

With 8 iPads I can use 4 for our listening center and 4 for word work during Daily 5.  During math rotations I have 6 students in each group, so they can use these to access our Reflex Math program.

I can also use them for small groups to do research, and during my intervention block my higher kids can read KidBiz articles and play enrichment games.

I am really excited to plan a lesson using QR codes.  Once I get it all going I will share what we do.

I posted this on my Facebook page yesterday and I had a few requests for apps to use in the class.  I am working on a new post and will get it up soon.

I would love to hear how you use iPads in your classroom and feel free to share any apps that you love!! I am always on the hunt for great apps!

I am also linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five For Friday post.  Go check out some other fun blogs!




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Educents Deals

Aloha friends! Just a quick post today to tell you about a deal going on over at Educents.  Educents is a daily deal site for educators.  Whether you are in the classroom or homeschooling, they have some amazing deals on educational resources.

If you aren't a member you can sign up to receive updates on all of their latest deals.  Right now if you sign up you can receive a $10 credit to use within the next 6 months!  Just click on the picture below to find out more.




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Making Pumpkin Pie In Your Classroom

Aloha friends!  Just a quick post today to help you get planning for that fun 3 days before Thanksgiving!

Every year my class makes this yummy No Bake Pumpkin Pie!! That's right NO Baking.


Kids mix ingredients together, smash up their own graham crackers for the crust and add some whipped cream to top it off!

I have parents/families donate all the ingredients.  I usually bring in the Pumpkin Pie spice and have some parent volunteers who help with all the fun.

For a class of 20 students you need a few cans of pumpkin, 1 box of graham crackers, 4 boxes of pudding, 2-3 tubs of whipped cream, and one can of milk.  (I dilute the milk in water since it is so rich, plus you don't have to worry about keeping it cold.)

Just click on the pictures below to download them in Google Docs.






I have a full post that I did last year over at the Primary Chalkboard.  
Click on the button below to head over and check it out.







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Morning Work

Aloha friends and happy Sunday!  I have been working like a mad woman trying to get so many projects finished.

As many of you know Hawaii adopted the Reading Wonders curriculum this year and it has kept us all pretty busy.  On top of that I enrolled in an online Wonders class.  We were required to go through the online course along with implementing and recording 5 different lessons.

I thought the due date was December, but when I checked last week is was November 3rd!! Gulp!  I called everyone I knew that was taking the course and they all thought the same thing!

We all contacted the instructor and luckily she extended the date to November 12th. Phew!!
So I spent all day yesterday putting together my portfolio for the class.



I am so glad to be finished!! It actually was  a really good way to familiarize myself with all of the components of the series. My focus was on written response and finding text evidence.  I plan to share more in my next post.

Another project that I have been working on, is creating a morning work pack with all of the skills that we have been learning with the Wonders program.  I actually have adapted my teams morning works since the beginning of the year.


I included the morning language and grammar work along with one of my daily word problems.  It has been a great way to cover all of these skills.   My kids are able to complete these in 15 minutes or less each morning.  I usually sit with my lower group and help them as needed.

I thought other teachers might be wanting a morning work pack aligned to the Wonders series, so I created this.


It covers the grammar and language skills for each week.  You can check it out in my TpT shop and download the preview for the first week free.

I plan to make them for each unit, but I'm a little behind!  Now that my course is over I should be able to get Unit 2 and 3 completed in the next few weeks.

I am off to do my regular chores now!!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


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