Splish Splash Summertime Blog Hop

Thanks for hopping by! 

Summer may officially start on June 21^st, but to me, it starts at 3:30 the day that school ends and the buses are nothing but a faint yellow dot in the distance. 
We only have a few more weeks to go!

I hope all of you have some amazing vacation plans or just plan to relax and enjoy your well-deserved break!

I love the lazy days of summer and always use the time to leisurely catch up on all the things I never get to do during the year.  I love to try to get a vacation in as well, but it's sometimes just enjoying the small things in life that make me the happiest.

I plan to create a summer bucket list with all the things I hope/wish/want to accomplish.  What would be on your list?

Here are a few of mine:

1. Get a chance to stop at a bookstore and read a book or two that people raved about all through the year while I was reading Mo Williems and staying a few chapters ahead in Cam Jansen!

Jennifer Weiner, Emily Giffin, and Joy Fielding are some of my favorite authors.  I love my chick-lit! Check out some of their books:

2. Plans to sit poolside with my dog (wishing this was me!).  There are ocean and pool people and I'm definitely a pool person.  Which one are you?

If my dog had a wish list, this would be on his.  I'm hoping the water in my pool is a bit warmer!  

3. Celebrate my little guy’s 4^th birthday! Fellow dog owners will certainly understand. Whether it's a kid's or fur-baby's b-day, everyone loves to celebrate a b-day for someone who's little.

4. Sit by a fire and make some amazing s’mores with these great recipe ideas. The cookie dough S'more had me at hello!

My Must Have (or must get) Summer Items:

I have to get these pillowcases -- now that the alarm clock won’t be going off at the crack of dawn, I should get some much needed sleep!

I love to hit the pool, so this would be perfect to listen to some tunes while I swim!

My all-time favorite suntan lotion -- I think it’s the scent!

Please enjoy Everything  Birthday! (Editable). It's perfect for the beginning of the year and to keep up all year long.  It also contains a writing activity for children to complete for every child on their birthday!  My kids love this special keepsake!

The file is editable so that you can enter your students birthdays year after year for a birthday display. Students can also graph their friends birthday too!  Hope you and your class have fun with these activities. Feel free to check out more editable items at my store, Josie's Place.

This is a limited time freebie as is all freebies on this blog hop and it will be full price at the end of the hop.  
If you get a chance to leave feedback on TPT, it's greatly appreciated! MANY THANKS!

As an added bonus, grab this Memorial Day emergent reader for FREE!  
Have a wonderful Memorial Day! 
Feedback on TPT is always appreciated!

Enter to win the  *ULTIMATE EDITION* Editable Labels pack.  It was just updated to include 7 MORE styles of labels (in addition to the labels above). 
There are more than 20 styles and 120 labels in all! 

I am definitely a labeler and label EVERYTHING in my class from book bins, guided reading books, journal bins, math manipulatives (click for those already done for you) , tubs, and more.  I laminate the labels and use velcro to attach it to a bin, so I can easily swap out what's in the bin.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONGRATS TO MARY FOR THE WINNING ENTRY! 

I appreciate everyone entering the contest and as a thank you, these labels will be on sale till Monday.

Feel free to grab them in my store!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous summer!

If the picture above doesn't click to the next blog, click here,

Blog Hop Countdown

Almost here! Set the date on your iphone and warm up your clicker finger to click through grab some limited time freebies and giveaways from over 40 bloggers!

See you Monday or follow me for updates!

Summertime Blog Bash Countdown!

It's COMING!!!  Mark your calendars, get ready to click through and grab some limited time freebies and giveaways from over 40 bloggers!
You can start here. See you Monday!

Memorial Day Activities

Memorial Day is around the corner!  We all enjoy the day off and the BBQs, but I always feel it’s so important to teach even the youngest children about the meaning behind the day.  Hope you enjoy this Memorial Day Emergent Reader I wrote as it explains Memorial Day in a very simple way.  Hope you can use it with your kids and bonus, it’s free!  

You can grab it here. 

 Here's a preview:

We also plan to create these flags which are also perfect for Flag Day, so it’s always a toss up to when I should do it, but today’s the day!   

A little trick, when gluing down the red stripes, have the students glue the first and last red stripe at the top and bottom of the white paper. It’s a lot easier for them to fill in the middle stripes without having a big space at the bottom. Then, just put the blue square on top of it all. If you don't want to do the white paint fingerprints, white crayon works well too!

Fern Smith also has some fabulous coloring sheets and writing prompts for Memorial Day.  Be sure to grab those as well here. They’re free too!  Thank you!

Here are some other fun crafty ideas, check them out by clicking on the picture. 

With summer around the corner, I just finished up the Get Ready For Summer Packet with emergent readers and lots of CCSS activities for math and language arts.  Great for K-1!

Check it out here- it's 50% off for the next 48 hrs!

 Don't forget to stop by on Monday for the Splish Splash Summertime Blog Hop.  It starts in just 4 days!!!   There are over 40 bloggers with some fabulous FREEBIES and amazing giveaways just for you!  You'll start here.

Happy start to summer!

Mother's Day Activities

Mother’s Day is around the corner!  If you’re looking for some easy to create, but meaningful activities for the children to give their moms, check out my Activities for Mother’s Day.  It includes 3 choices of acrostic poems for children to write about their mom, a no-prep coupon book, and a reader where children fill in the blanks about their moms.  The answers are priceless!

This was one of my favorites!!

We added a picture of Mom for a craftivity (it's up to you!). The outline of the face is included as well.  I love how they came out!

Below is how the kids created the hair and person:

 We use this method throughout the year and the kids become experts at it.

To make it easier, copy the face on tan copy paper or trace it on construction paper. Children used the white paper to cut out circles for eyes and cut the top two corners off of the rectangle to create the shoulders.  Many of the kids cut a V into the rectangle to create a v-neck shirt.

 Decorate the face. 

For the hair, draw an outline around the face (larger than the face) and cut it out.

Trace the face outline on the brown paper.

 If they want, they can draw bangs and cut it out as shown below.

 Flip it over and glue.

The kids loved creating the face and making their own hairdos!

We wrapped it all up and it was ready for Mother's Day!

Here are some more ideas for Mother’s Day:
Create a bookmark with a meaningful poem (not shown).

Have children design a flower and color/paint it. Then, create a cute card and on the inside they write all the reason why their mom is the best.

Create Stationery 

Divide a paper into fourths and have the  children draw pictures for their mom. Then, copy the paper, cut it on the paper cutter, and create a paper holder to hold the personalized stationery.

This activity below was one of my favorites (this is not my pic) but we used baby food jars or another small glass jar. It's a bit more prep but pretty easy and uses cut up tissue paper and Modge Podge

 Original post found here.

I hope you all enjoy your Mother's Day!