February 15, 2017
Styling With Stitch Fix | February + Gift
Referral links are used within this post, but all opinions are 100% my own.
This month was a fun fix because my amazing stylist, Whitney, was able to find a number of pieces that I have had my eye on for a while. Due to the weather beginning to feel a lot like spring during the day I am in need of new knitwear both in the form of dresses and tops. My capsule wardrobe already has jeans accounted for, so finding new tops that fit well and are lightweight is the name of my game. I told Whitney that I wanted to begin to look ahead to spring with this fix and she found me the cutest pieces. Let’s take a peek!Oh! But before we do Stitch Fix has a gift for you!
Stitch Fix is providing all of my friends (guys and gals!) who use my special link here to $25 off their first fix. This means your first fix is on them! So, if you were ever looking for a time to try it out FREE of cost to you, take advantage of this opportunity today! Just sign up and schedule your fix before 2/21/17 to receive your $25 off!Loveappella - Madras Embroidery Detail Knit Top | ??
I was very excited to see this item in this months fix considering I had pinned a top very similar! It’s sleeveless, which I love because it makes layering easy without a fear of getting too hot. The material is super soft, another quality I really enjoy. My wardrobe palette tends to stay pretty neutral so I like the prospect of adding something with a pop of color. The embroidery detailing adds a fun touch to the top and makes it unlike anything else I own. I do wish the top was a bit more flowy or lightweight since it’s slightly more snug than I was expecting. Nonetheless I enjoyed the top - just not sure whether or not I want to keep it. What do you think?
Staccato - Alun Woven Hem Knit Top | KEEP
This is by far my F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E top because it takes the peplum and opens it up just a bit, which makes me feel 100% comfortable and confident when wearing it. The shirt overall is billowy but fitted in the arms and bust, which is a perfect fit for me since I’m looking for pieces to hide my trouble areas, but are still cute for spring. I also love this top because it covers my tattoos, so it would be a fun top to wear when heading back to work in the future.
Apologies for the wrinkles as it’s straight from the box!
The back is just as flowy and the lightweight material makes it the perfect top for this transitional spring weather we’re having.
Le Lis - Kano Textured Knit Dress | KEEP
Whitney did a fantastic job finding me this textured knit dress as it was one of my favorite pins from my style board. I’m loving the deep blue color and the fit is exactly what I requested. I paired this dress with my favorite knit cardigan from my December fix. The length is modest, the fabric is comfortable and the fit is flattering. What more could you really ask for in a dress? I like that this dress can also be worn more casually or dressed up for more special occasions!Market & Spruce - Nic Knit Dress | RETURN
When I pulled this dress out of the box in this months fix I was excited about the pattern, but noticed the fabric (although very soft and comfortable) appeared to be more fitted than a fit and flare. I asked for fit and flare knit dresses because I needed a lightweight fabric that hugged me in all the right places and hid my tummy without looking drabby. Unfortunately when I tried it on it wasn’t a flattering fit at all. I’m still carrying a bit of baby weight and self-conscious about my midsection and this dress, although cute, didn’t work for me. However, I still wanted to share a few photos to show you all how cute it is!The criss-cross of the horizontal lines is flattering, but perhaps on a slimmer frame. I also wished the dress itself was cut more modestly to fall about knee length. When it comes to dresses, especially ones I’d like to wear when going back to work as a teacher, I need them to be longer and not as fitted. However, if you have legs for days and have a smaller frame this dress may be perfect for you!
Franco Sarto - Alora Strappy Sandal | KEEP
Pinspiration!
One of the ways I love communicating my style needs with my stylist is through my Stitch Fix Pinterest board. It gives her a chance to see what styles or particular pieces I’m looking for and writing a quick note tells her what exactly about the photo I love and would like to see in a future fix.Here are a few of the pins I’ve added before scheduling my February fix: embroidered loose tops, knit peplum tops, fit and flare knit dresses, and strappy sandals. As you’ve seen, my stylist picked up exactly what I wanted and came through with some fun pieces to try on! So if you’re questioning how much your stylist uses Pinterest or whether or not it’s worth having a board dedicated to your style inspirations, question no more!
So, what is so great about Stitch Fix?
I’ve journeyed with Stitch Fix through the ups and downs of my weight and even through my pregnancy with their maternity styles. Since it’s been a couple of months since my last fix, I was so excited to see that they offer shoes now in addition to a new mens line. This just proves to me that Stitch Fix has a finger on the latest trends, but also keeps the needs of their customers in mind. I can only imaging how they’ll grow and expand into the future!
What about those referral links?
Because I created a free style profile I now have the ability to share my love of Stitch Fix with others. A referral simply allows me to earn a credit of $25, which essentially covers my styling fee for the next time I schedule a fix. Once you create a style profile you are given a special referral link and begin earning your own credits. Why not get a credit for something you use anyways? I am so appreciative to those who use my link because it helps me as a SAHM enjoy the little things. So, thank you.
Don’t forget to you grab your first fix for free during this special promotion!
February 10, 2017
Five For Friday {Feb 10th}
Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching today for her Five For Friday linkup and this week has proven to be quite the whirlwind - yes, even for this SAH(teacher)M. I’ve been busy creating some pretty exciting resources, enjoying family time, and gearing up for our big trip back to D.C. in a couple of weeks.
Here’s what’s filled our week!
ONE | Greyson turns 11 months old!
This sweet boy mine turns 11 months old today! He’s just beginning to walk on his own and absolutely loves his Pout Pout Fish book (can you sense reading is huge here at home, haha).
TWO | Greyson also begins at My Gym!
Since Grey is up and moving around more than ever these days, my husband and I decided to enroll him at our local My Gym! It’s a pretty fantastic place where once a week he gathers with babies his age to participate in fun activities, learn gross/fine motor skills, and socialization. With him being an only child (and most likely will only be an only child) it’s up to us as parents to provide Greyson with plenty of opportunities to interact with other children. We loved our first class and can’t wait to continue taking him every weekend!
THREE | All About Math!
This is the newest product I put into my Teachers Pay Teachers shop and I’m so happy with the update! I first created an ordinal number resource a couple of years ago but knew that I needed more than just posters for my room. So, I decided to spruce it up and make some necessary changes to make it more useful not only in my classroom but other classrooms as well.
I knew I wanted to incorporate more hands-on learning whether it be for independent practice or skill review. These handouts use those unifix cubes, wooden shapes blocks, and those fun Do-A-Dot
paints!
FOUR | My Teacher Is Missing! ELA Substitute Plans
Miss Nelson Is Missing is always a fun story to read and incorporate into sub plans whenever I find myself out for the day. However, the actual act of pulling sub plans together...I’m going to say it...SUCKS. So, to make this necessary task easy for the next time I’ve put together an easy ELA lesson plan that covers all the important Common Core reading standards.
FIVE | A Unit On Famous Americans
I love teaching our Famous Americans unit because I can always see my kiddos minds growing as they learn about the people of the past, their struggles during their lifetime, and how they’ve impacted our country (and world!). Every year I’ve always wanted something that made my lessons more engaging and kept my student’s desks clear of unnecessary handouts or notes. Thus I created this fun flip-book style of notes for each American we covered.
Oh and just for fun...does anyone else other than me (and secretly my husband) watch The Bachelor? Last week’s episode had me like, whaaaat? And even though Corinne is ridiculous and not at all wife material at this point in her life, she does make for entertaining TV. However, Nick is starting to get pretty annoying with how unsure he is about any of the girls - I mean, who sends a girl home who just said she was beginning to fall in love with him?! I’m starting to understand why being on this show never worked out for him!
What are your thoughts about this season so far??
February 9, 2017
A Review In Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers are amongst the first set of number skills that I teach at the beginning of each year. They are numbers that describe an object’s place and thankfully students tend to catch on this concept fairly quickly. I love incorporating multiple ways to engage my kiddos and read alouds, skill practice, and daily review help ensure that they are working with these skills each day and work towards mastery.
Here’s how I introduce ordinal numbers with my students!
Read Alouds
Bringing reading into the fold is one of my favorite ways to introduce a new skill. These are a few of my favorite storybooks that help students recognize that ordinal numbers are found all over the place. I also love a reason to read a good book with my kids! Plus, Pinterest has a million ideas on how to incorporate these books into large and small group math activities.
Do you have any books that you love to teach ordinal numbers?
Large Group Instruction
I always use these manipulative cards as a means to introduce ordinal numbers. I love that I can use these cards in multiple ways afterwards, too! Typically I place these cards on the board and ask my kids what they notice about them. They’ll give answers that range from, “They’re in a line” or they’ll notice some kind of pattern (which is another way you can use these character cards!).
From there I lead them into a discussion about how when placed in a line each character card holds a specific place. Beginning with the line leader in first place and so on until I (or the class) labels each place. This way they are exposed to the word and numerical form that ordinal numbers can be recorded.
We’re going on a number hunt!
I love using scavenger hunts in my classroom whether it’s in a reading or math center. Getting kids up and moving (quietly) around the room keeps them engaged and completely immersed in their learning all throughout center time.
I simply print both the word and numerical form cards, laminate, then hide them all around the room. Then, during center time students use the recording sheet to locate each card and write the ordinal number on their sheet. This demonstrates that they recognize and can write each form of the ordinal number. This center is perfect for the entire week and, again, can be reused throughout the year or in small groups for remedial practice.
Because who doesn’t like a poster?
I love providing my students with resources displayed in the classroom. It teaches them that the answers, or at the very least a little help, can be found right in front of them! These ordinal number cards can be placed anywhere around your room and be used yearlong.
This year I’ve added the circular floor cards that I laminate and tape to the floor where my students line up. Instead of using electrical tape as a marker, I use these dots to mark the place for each child. That way there is a time for daily skill practice for each child to recognize ordinal numbers in everyday life AND it doubles as classroom management. ;)
Individual practice
A small group or center activity that is a popular one are these ordinal number cards and clothespins. Each clothespin has the matching word form written on them and students must clip them to the correlating numerical form on each card. This is just another way students can independently practice recognizing and matching ordinal numbers.
Do-A-Dot fun!
Another tool I love using are these Do-A-Dot paints and they make these number hunts a lot of fun. I have ordinal numbers 1-10 and students must highlight both the numerical and word form found on the page. This activity can easily be independent practice, review, or even an activity for students who finish an assignment early!
Getting hands-on with our learning!
Using both unifix cubes and those wooden shapes, students select 10 and line them up. Then they use that to help answer and demonstrate their understanding of ordinal numbers!
I love using these resources during my ordinal numbers unit because it allows my kids to discover, engage, understand what ordinal numbers are and how we use them in everyday life.
How do you introduce and teach ordinal numbers in your classroom? What is your favorite tool or resource?
February 7, 2017
Share The LOVE | TpT 2-Day Sale!
Teachers Pay Teachers is back and having a site wide 2-day SALE just in time to spread the love this holiday. That means shops who are participating are offering fellow teachers an opportunity to stock up on favorites for up to 28% off! I mean, wow! This is a perfect time, outside of summer sales, to think about winding down your year AND preparing for the beginning of next year!
Thanks to Creative Clips for this graphic!
New Products Just Added!
I’ve been excited to share these new guys that have just made their debut in my shop recently.
Read More #ontheblog
Guided Reading Resources
These are my most popular guided reading resources and have really helped me get organized during my reading block.
Engaging Writers!
Writers Workshop always seems to be a tricky subject considering the lack of confidence my kiddos have at the beginning of each year. Here are some writing prompts to get you started and keep your students engaged in their writing all year long.
Basic 'How-To' Template
This product doesn’t have a theme and includes the basic templates that all of the other themed downloads use. It is designed so that teachers can use them year-round and customize them to their own curriculums or writing topics. These pages can also be used in a writing center!
Carving A Jack-o-lantern!
Introduce how-to writing at the beginning of the school year by connecting their writing to a task we all love during the fall: pumpkin carving! This themed writing download is perfect for teachers because a lot of the work is done at home! Students carve and decorate their pumpkins (an option to bring them in to share) at home then come to school with the schema to begin their writing piece. The entire writing activity is already planned for you and includes an editable parent letter outlining the activity and the required at-home components.
Catching A Leprechaun!
Bring how-to writing into spring with this fun leprechaun trap writing prompt! Students are to design and create the perfect trap for catching that pesky leprechaun at school. At-home components include initial brainstorming and creating their traps - developing that schema and allowing parents an opportunity to share in the activity. Have students bring their traps back to school and begin writing their pieces!
Super Science Investigations!
Classroom Management Ideas
One of my most popular categories of resources teachers love are my behavior and classroom management products! Take a look at what I love about these simple implementations that are a great fit for any classroom!
What are you looking forward to stocking up on today and tomorrow??
February 6, 2017
My Teacher Is Missing!
We have all been there. Watching the hours slip by as the teacher does her substitute lesson plans knowing she’ll be out whether it’s due to sickness, needing a much needed ‘mental health day,’ or one of the many teaching conferences that one must attend every year. It’s almost easier to just show up than it is to make plans for a substitute; not knowing just how much learning will be going on while you’re out.
However, putting together sub plans and prepping materials shouldn’t be a daunting task.
Today I wanted to share a quick ELA lesson plan that’s the easiest thing to prep when you plan to be out of the classroom. It takes the popular story of Miss Nelson Is Missing by James Marshall as a read aloud and allows your students to practice those reading skills they’ve been working on all year long. You can use these pages as whole group, individual work, or even place it in a reading center for continued practice.
Let’s take a peek shall we?
Missing!
A missing poster is the ultimate little project for your kiddos while you’re out. It mixes a little fun with skill practice such as character traits (physical and personality). Students get to draw and color their own missing poster, come up with a unique reward for finding the teacher, and portrait.
Story Map
This story map asks students to recall key details and information about the story from beginning, middle, to end. It also guides students, making it easy on the substitute, by asking questions for each part of the retell. Also, at the end students must think about what lesson the students of Room 207 learned from their experiences with Miss Swamp.
Before & After
An important skill students should be able to have a grasp on by the end of second grade is being able to understand how characters change over time and because of the various events throughout the story. Miss Nelson’s students definitely go through a change from their behavior at the beginning of the story and at the end. This worksheet helps guide students to make connections from the class and determine that changing event.
Point of View Practice
Another skill-set that’s important for kiddos to learn, which can often be a difficult one, is point of view and how different characters feel in certain situations. This handout pulls quotes from the story for students to explain what that character is thinking during that part of the story!
This download comes complete with a full writing prompt from planning pages (for both male and female teachers!) and publishing paper. There are three different kinds of publishing paper: one with space for illustrations, full writing page, and additional pages for those lengthier writers. The planning sheets can be folded and glued into the kid’s writing notebooks (for safe keeping) and the final drafts can be displayed in the classroom!
Every page in this download is geared towards specific Common Core standards. At the top of each page there is a specific standard that is provided, making it an easy tool for anecdotals or just simply a tailored practice for each skill.
Comic Writers
A fun take on the traditional writing prompts is this comic book writing sheet! Have students take their planning sheets and develop their work into a graphic novel! Writing skills can be more than just the written word, so for some variety have your kids share their stories through illustrations.
Inferring
Making inferences can be another tricky reading skill for students and these worksheets, again guide students into making conclusions from what they already know and clues from the story.
A group activity that can be a great guiding lesson about inferring is the popular: What’s In My Bag? Have a purse or bag pre-prepared for the substitute that has various items inside. Have the sub pull out one item at a time and on an anchor chart record student responses. The kids should be thinking about what they know about that item and what they can infer about their teacher.
Example: public library card - the teacher likes to read
Students think about the item (the library card) and what they already know about it and why people have them. Then, they are to connect that with what they can infer about their teacher and why she/he would have it in their bag.
This Substitute ELA lesson plan and accompanying activities will surely be a snap to throw together and ensure every teacher that skill practice is happening within the classroom while they’re out!
Did you hear that Teachers Pay Teachers is having a 2-day sale this week?! Grab this new product as well as my many other popular resources on sale Feb 7th-8th only!
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