Announcing a chance to win something awesome!

It's back to school season, and chances are good that you have a TeachersPayTeachers wish list about a mile long.  You could probably use a little help getting the resources you need to get your classroom off to a good start.  Not a teacher?  I bet you know one!  Here's your chance to win a $10 TeachersPayTeachers giftcard AND $15 in resources from Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten!

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Back into the Swing of Things #Kinderfriends blog hop

By now you are probably back to school and settling in for a new academic year - at least if you are in the United States.  It's a crazy time of year, with so many things to do, so many things to get ready, and it seems like barely a moment to breathe.  You've probably put student names on 20 different sets of things: locker tags, desk tags, folders, notebooks and more. I'm willing to bet you've already set up student routines and expectations, and are figuring out what ever new system your school has in place this year - there's always something!  You've met the new staff, and you're probably really ready for a nap.  Welcome to the back to school season!

This month the #KinderFriends thought we'd help you start your year with some tips to help you get back into the swing of things, tried and true methods we can share, one teacher to another. Maybe you have an amazing trick or tip you can share too - please leave your best ideas in the comments section below, because if it works for you, it might just help me out too!

One of the things I've learned to do with my students, is to start the complex and difficult subjects as soon as possible, and as simply as possible.  When I taught first grade, learning to count mixed coins was a doozy of a feat for the kiddos, and trying to do it in the 3 week window our math curriculum allowed for it was near impossible.  My solution?  I made it part of our calendar time, and taught it all year long.  Early in the year that meant we learned to count just pennies, then just nickels, and then put them together.  Throughout the year we took more and more baby steps in learning to count money, until the kiddos were experts.  I did the same thing with other concepts that challenged my students, transforming the biggest, toughest concepts into daily 1-3 minute lessons.

I've taken that same concept - breaking difficult concepts down into bite-sized pieces - and applied it to another student challenge: sounding out.  At the beginning of the year I found my students often had difficulty writing anything, because they were learning how to form letters and which letters made which sounds, so the prospect of writing even a complete sentence was overwhelming for many.  I broke the process down, and have my kiddos work on just a few words that all have the same initial letter.  The result?  Successful kiddos! 

Graphing daily with my students is another great way to routinely practice a variety of math skills.  I have a huge selection of graphing activities available in my TeachersPayTeachers store, but this one is designed for back to school season:

I hope this tip helps you to have an amazing school year!  If you are interested in checking out my back to school resources, I'm discounting them 20% from now until Thursday - just search #KinderFriends on TeachersPayTeachers to see all the great back to school resources from #Kinderfriends! 

Thank you for stopping by!  To continue the #KinderFriends blog hop, click here and head over to 1stGradeFireworks for more tips!

"Jawsome" Deals for the last week of Oceans of Steals, Deals, and Giveaways

OH. MY. GOODNESS!  This is going to be an amazing last week for Oceans of Steals, Deals and Giveaways!  Amazing discounts? We've got 'em!  Freebies?  Oh yes!  Gift cards to 16 different awesome stores?  Yes, yes, yes!

On Monday 8/8/16 there will be an abundance of awesome resources marked down to just $1!

I'm  offering School Bus Counting and Sequencing, a great back to school counting to 10 resource, and Fire Safety Hundreds Charts.  You can find all of the $1 deals by searching #ManicMonday - but it's for one day only, so don't wait!

Then there's #Two4Tuesday: with each participating seller offering 2 resources at half price.

For this fun day of savings, I'm marking down my Alphabet Mystery Pictures 2 - which includes mystery pictures for every letter of the alphabet, and each one focuses on the letter the picture begins with, as well as visually similar letters.  This is perfect for preschool or kindergarten, and they're ready to print and go - just what we all need that first week or two back at school!  I'm also discounting Rainforest Bingo, a super fun way to learn about a dozen rain forest animals.

On #WildWednesday there will be flash freebies offered throughout the day.  I'm going to offer two fun fall activities, Leafy Letter Learning, and Sometimes it Looked Like...
 To be notified when these items get marked down to free, just like Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten on FaceBook.  I'll let you know when I mark each resource down, and how long it will be free, so you can scoop up these resources and make your fall planning just a little easier!  Here's an extra incentive: If I get 20 more FaceBook likes by Wednesday evening, I'll do one more flash freebie!  (Quick, go like my page and invite your teacher friends to do it too, so you can all get 3 freebies on Wednesday!)

I'm really excited about #ThankfulThursday!  Last week I finally put together a full year bundle of my very popular 100s chart mystery pictures, and I'm going to mark it 50% off on Thursday!

This resource is HUGE!  There are 86 mystery pictures included - and each one of them is differentiated for 3 levels of learners.  This amazing resource has 324 pages of no prep. math learning. There are hundreds charts for all these popular learning themes:
Apples,
Australian animals,
Christmas,
Dinosaurs,
Fairy Tales,
Fire Safety,
Halloween,
Ocean,
Owls,
Penguins,
Pirates,
Spring,
St. Patrick's Day,
Thanksgiving,
and
Valentines Day.
Purchased separately, these resources cost $59, so it is already an amazing deal at the bundle price of $40, but I'm going to offer it for one day only at half price: $29.50! - that's just 9 cents per page!

To top off the week, we're also giving away 16 $50 gift cards on Friday!  That's $800 in gift cards to fabulous places like Target, Michaels, Kohl's and more!

Enter here - it's super easy, and you just might win!
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Oceans of Steals, Deals, and Giveaways (week 1)

Are you enjoying your summer break?  I'm loving the warm weather, planning some special family time, and devouring all the delicious summer fruits my farmers' market has to offer!  I hope you're able to do all the things that recharge you too.

This week I'm teaming up with an amazing group of teachers to bring you oceans of steals, deals, and giveaways. If you need a little "retail therapy", let me help you out!

On Monday I'm marking two fun resources down to just $1.  Kindergarten is Fun is a primary reader, just right for helping students learn back to school routines, and Dog Dishes Counting to 10 Game is a fun resource for working on numbers.  To see all the great $1 deals being offered, search TeachersPayTeachers for #MondayMadness.

You'll want to shop again on Tuesday, for #2forTuesday deals.  I'm offering my Invented Spelling program and Bye-Bye Summer Slide at half price!  Both of these resources can help your youngest learners to start the year off right. 

On Wednesday I'll have several FLASH FREEBIES throughout the day.  To be notified of exactly when they'll be available, follow me on FB by clicking here.  

I'm really excited about #ThriftyThursday too.  I'm taking an additional 20% off my Sentence Picture Match Bundle #1.  This resource includes 20 complete literacy centers for popular fall themes like farm, fire safety, back to school and fairy tales.  Imagine how much simpler your weekly planning will be when you have your literacy centers already laid out for you?! 

 Finally, you're going to love Friday's special deal: you can enter our drawing to win one of SEVEN $50 gift cards!  I'll post the drawing here on my blog as well as on FB, but all you'll have to do to enter is to follow each of the participating teacher-authors on TpT.  Each "follow" gives you another entry!

Are you excited about this fun week?  Me too!  Best of all, we're going to do this 4 times this summer, with different steals, deals and giveaways!  I'll be looking for some amazing resources this week, and I hope you find some to make your back to school a little easier too.  Ah, summer... life is good!

Christmas In July

Do you love Christmas? I do!  There is so much to enjoy... a certain jolly old elf...

 ...making and hanging decorations on the tree...

 ...seasonal art and craft projects...

...opportunities to explore the changes in the weather...

... and PRESENTS!

You do like gifts, right?  Well, good news!  I'm participating in the Christmas in July sale on TpT, and we have lots of gifts for you!

Do  you want a sneak peek? 

I have the hashtags up in my store, just waiting for the sale to begin.  Happy Christmas in July everyone!