Sale, Sale, Sale! And some New UNITS!!

Happy Sunday Everyone, 

I have been missing in action for some time. It has been hectic, but things are finally starting to slow down. Just wanted to stop by and talk about my excitement over the fast approaching Holiday Season and of course to let you all know that I will be taking part in the TpT sale on

 Monday and Tuesday.  

Here are just SOME of the units I have been working tirelessly on in the last few weeks. These will all be included in the sale along with the rest of my store!

Students will create a recipe for Santa's favorite cookie

Students will write about mischievous elves who are having a pajama party 

Students will create a profile for a new reindeer in town

Santa is on strike! Students will write about Santa on vacation

You can also get all four of these activities in my Bundle Pack!


Happy Shopping!
Ms. Nicole

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A Healthy School is a Happy School!

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday, our school had an awesome time promoting physical activity. I am a part of the Healthy School Committee and took part in a great initiative to encourage students to stay active during recess and playtime. We have many students who enjoy playing sports such as, soccer and basketball, however many of our students wander around the yard with "nothing to do." We mostly wanted to cater to these students but also show our athletes that they can play other games at recess too. 

We have many games that are painted on the playground, however students are not familiar with the rules and procedures. Many of these games are childhood favorites of mine and my colleagues. Do four corners, hopscotch, and elastics ring a bell?!?! Well, you wouldn't believe it, but most of the kiddies have no idea how to play these wonderful games! Enter the Healthy School team and we've now got many students who are great fans of these simple and fun games. 

The students took part in a sportsmanship assembly and we're introduced to The Team. We explained that we would be wearing funny hats outside and would be teaching new games. We then went outside at recess and animated the games, teaching students the rules and cheering them on along the way. They had so much fun and even asked when we would do this again!

1/3 of our Healthy School Committee!

We have decided to do this once a month and shall teach games according to season (as winter approaches, our yard will be full of snow). Another component to this project is to train senior students to become animators as well. The goal is to have older students engaging their peers and younger counterparts in games. 

We are hoping that this endeavour will motivate students to become more active, interact with one another, learn new games and most importantly have a positive and enjoyable recess.

Here's to healthy and active students!

Until next time...

Ms. Nicole xo

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Cheers to Friendship and a New Look!

Hello Sweet Friends,

This evening, I want to talk to you about my very good friend Valerie. She has to be one of the greatest people I know! She is an awesome friend, great blogger, and even better teacher! We met during our second field experience in teacher training. We were thrown into the very same classroom and almost expected to compete with one another. That's not how Valerie and I decided to roll! Instead, we helped one another and shared ideas (probably should have known that years later we'd become bloggers). Soon, we became good friends and our friendship as grown and  I can proudly say that she has been my GREAT friend for the last 10 years! 

Wow, time flies when your'e having fun and have amazing friends!

Well, you must be wondering why I am writing an entire post about this amazing woman. It's quite simple you see! She did the greatest thing for me today and I just had to share. I don't know about you, but I have my share of great days and not so great days. Today, was really not such a great day! Let me tell you all about how my friend Valerie made it all better! I know my cyber friends will truly understand me (it's a blogging thing)!

It all started a few days ago, when Valerie revamped her blog. Did I mention she's a fellow blogger?! Well, she is, and quite a great one at that. She is the author of All Students Can Shine and she is definitely stalker worthy :) As I said, she redecorated her blog and did an awesome job (if you are looking for a new look and want a great designer, check her out). I was so in love with her new look and couldn't stop telling her how much I loved it! I also love the graphics she used. They are so vibrant and pop right off the screen. You can check those out at Just So Scrappy Too. All this to say, I was extremely proud of her work and couldn't stop telling her how wonderful she is (cause she really is) and what a great job she did (cause it looks really awesome). 

Fast forward to today, and I am having the most overwhelming, action packed day EVER! The kids were amazing and we got a lot done, but I simply didn't have a chance to catch my breath. Throw in the looming report card deadline and a bunch of meetings, and needless to say, I was feeling swamped, frustrated, stressed, and overall on the verge of  breaking down! 

Well, you wont believe it but Valerie turned my frown upside down with a Facebook message!

This is what it looked like!

I was on break when she sent this to me! Not to worry, I don't teach and text!

So she made my day and then made my night when she actually revamped my entire blog for me!!!! Isn't it amazing! Both the blog and the act of kindness of course! 

I'm so happy with my new look and can't wait to add a few more finishing touches with her this week! 

We shall be celebrating with a girls night real soon! Val you rock! Thanks a bunch! Love you!

Here's to another 10 years of friendship! Friends like you don't come around all that often!

So cyber friends... Here's to friendship!

Until next time...

Ms. Nicole xo (extra kisses for my buddy Val)

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Rounding Fun Freebie

Hey cyber friends, 

I don't know about your kiddies, but mine sure have difficulty getting the whole rounding bit sorted out. We have practiced many ways and have all kinds of tricks up our sleeves, but somehow it just doesn't stick for everyone! I came up with a little idea that I thought might help my little guys and gals and it did just that! They loved it and had a clear visual of what number to round to.

I simply made schoolhouses (well scrappindoodles made them, I just tweaked them a little) with the numbers 0-100 (by tens). I stuck them on the board and drew a number line between each schoolhouse. Then I had the kiddies place the school buses on the right place on the number line (one at a time, not all at once) and asked them which school was closest. I said Winter is on its way and the students on the bus will feel cold outside, so we need to send them to the school where they will have to do the least amount of walking! Who knew this would actually help!

I thought some of you might like to try it out the next time you're trying to teach about rounding to the nearest ten. It surely was a great help for me and so I am posting it for my very special cyber friends! 

Hope it helps!

Grab yourself a FREE copy right over HERE!

Oh, we started our Fairy Tale unit today and the kiddies started writing some amazing stories about princesses and princes! So cute! Can't wait to share!

Until next time...

Ms. Nicole

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Thanksgiving Fun!

Hey everyone, 

I gotta say, I really love daylight savings time! I woke up at my usual "work" time this morning but didn't feel the habitual exhaustion and lack of motivation to get up! So happy! WE are an early school and I gotta say, it was rough getting up in the dark these last few weeks (it was also rough being at school when it's still dark out!).

As I've mentioned before, I love Fall and so I have created a few activities to celebrate the season! My kiddies are loving my "Jump in the Leaves Craft."

Grab it!

And, of course my kiddies had a great time, back in October, making these funny little turkeys! 

 Grab them right over HERE and HERE!

I'm starting a Fairy Tale theme with the kiddies this week! Can't wait!

Until next time...

Ms. Nicole xo

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Take Home Freebies!

Hi All,

I can't believe we are already in November AND I especially can't believe I actually got my freebies up and posted!I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and got lots and lots of candy! I love Halloween and I had a blast with the kiddies at school. They had such original costumes and were just so stinken cute!

Last year I had a celebrity theme going on in my classroom and the students were celebrities of the week! I got the idea from Cara Caroll over at The First Grade Parade and absolutely loved it. This year, I turned my classroom into a jungle and so I decided to tweak my star student of the week! 

The result is this...

Students will fill out a two page package about themselves, share it with their peers, along with their favorite storybook, and special object. 

They will also get to spend the week sitting at, DRUMROLL PLEASE...

The Explorer of the Week Jeep!

Let me tell you, this was such a big hit! I simply covered a regular classroom desk with brown paper, made headlights out of construction paper and used small baskets to hold up the jeep bar (also made out of brown paper). I covered the small baskets with zebra print duck tape (available at your local Michaels!). The chair is covered in zebra print felt (also Michaels! Man, I love that place and now we finally have one in Quebec!). 

I googled safari themed classrooms and saw a picture from a GREAT BLOG: Buzzing About Second Grade. Go check it out! She is awesome! The jeep is thus, a borrowed idea! This teacher, however, had turned all the students desks into jeeps! It's quite a sight!  

You can grab yourself a copy of this sweet little freebie right over HERE!

Now for my second freebie! Yay, two! 

Last year, during my circus theme craze, I sent home a little guy by the name of Walter the Elephant! He was such a hit that I decided to do the same again this year, except I put a little Jungle spin on it! 

Now the kiddies get to bring home CHEECH! 

He just so happens to be a leftover Baby Shower decoration that my attendant brought in

 (she likes to get into the themes too!). 

Every few days, a lucky student gets to bring Cheech home for an adventure. The student writes about his/her time spent with the monkey and then shares with the class. 

You can grab yourself a copy right over HERE!

Hope you enjoy the freebies!

Until next time...

Ms. Nicole xo

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