Turn the Music Up! ~ Linky Party

I am linking up with Amanda from Teaching Maddeness for her Turn Up the Music Linky Party!

First up, I love Ron Brown of Intelli-tunes!  I went to a workshop he did at the big Texas Summer Math Conference a few years ago and fell in love with his songs.  I think I bought almost ever math CD that he had with him.  Click the image below to check out his math CD's, but explore the site because there are a ton of great thing, including freebies! :)

Source: http://www.intelli-tunes.com/

As a side note, it is such a small world.  Ron's daughter has become a bloggy friend of mine.  She is having a big ole giveaway right now! Her giveaway pushed me right over into a follower milestone, so be looking for a giveaway from me as soon as her's ends. Click the image to check out her fabulous giveaway.



 

Now, back to the music!  

Second, I love using Lucas Miller.  He is a singing zoologist.  His songs are fun, upbeat, and the kids love him! Some are super silly, but they are still educational.  Here is a video for his Metamorphosis Song about the a tadpole changing into a frog.  

Check out a sample of his music by clicking {here}. 

Next, Dr. Jean probably has a song for almost anything you might want to sing about in the classroom. She is so much fun!  Here is a link to her blog: Dr. Jean and Friends.  She also has a website with great resources, but while typing this post it was temporarily unavailable. It is www.drjean.org.  Hopefully, it will be back up soon and I will update this post! :)  For now, check out her blog and this video of birthday ideas and songs.

Finally, what primary classroom is not complete without Greg & Steve?  They are super fun and great for energizers or indoor recess. 

Now click on over to Teaching Maddeness to check out the rest of the great classroom music that is out there!

BLOGS Gone Wild

Blogs, Blogs, everywhere there's blogs. 

Fillin' up my Reader, makin' my eyes start to fog. 

Click this, click that, can't I read all these blogs?!?

This post has three sections containing some really important stuff about blogs.  Well, it's not really important, but  will be really happy if you read it anyway. :)

 First section of this post: 

Seriously folks, there are so many GREAT teacher blogs out there!  I have so many that I follow, it is hard to keep up.  During this school year, I had to take a little break from blogging and blog hopping due to lack of time for anything ever. HA!  When I got back, I was amazed at the number of new blogs I found.
The whole point of this section of the post is this:

How do you keep up with all the great blogs out there?

Please comment and let me know! Once upon a time, I was a big commenter.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE leaving comments, but I have so many blogs to visit that sometimes I forget and get sucked into this blog hopping vortex.  I feel sad just thinking about it. :( I want to know how Jennifer and Gladys do it! They always leave sweet comments. :)

I often find myself going to my go to blogs, stalking certain blogs for a period of time, or checking pinterest and going to the blog from there.  Does anyone else do this?

Second Section of this Post:

I have been working like a mad woman to get some blogs designs done!If you do not have a bazillion blogs that you are following like I do, here are some more for you to check out.  Even if you do follow a bazillion blogs, you should still check these ladies out.  They are great.  Click each button to visit the blog.



I have been finished with Sarah's Blog for a little while now, but it is so cute and she has so many great things, I've just got to share it!  Sarah always has awesome freebies and units.  For each month she does a Literacy Menu Packet.  They are AMAZING.  She covers so many skills.  I love them!  You can check the latest one out on TPT by clicking {here}.

At Home in First is a brand new blog.  However, she came up with such a cute name and had such a clear vision for her blog, that I know she will have great things to post. So, just go on and follow her anyway!  :)

 Dana is funny and totally sweet!  She has a ton of great ideas.  I love her blog's bright colors, and I got to use graphics from one of my favorite places, The Digital Bake Shop. I am totally obsessed with Jaime's stuff! Her blog can be found {here}.








 Stacy was great to work with!  She is wonderful   Her blog will definitely leave you seeing stars. :)   Check out the way she has her students pose for pictures.  I absolutely love it.

Third Section of this Post:

 My friend Sam and I started a new blog!  Yeah, we did. We love to read and would like to get some advanced reader copies of our favorite series.  We thought, what a better way than to blog about them! I am still working on the design of the site.So, don't hate on it or I will get all sad again! :)   We have much more to come. There will be a section for children's books and books we use in our classroom along with the books that are sitting on our night stand.  Please do go visit it and follow if you love to read books too.  You can click the image to get there!

Thanks for sticking with me until the end!  Have a great Sunday Summer Night!

BBQ and Boo-Boo's

Hey everybody!  I've been working on this Backyard Barbeque unit for a while now.  My internet has been going down daily and it has definitely put a kink in my extracurricular  activities. :) Anyway, it is finished now!  Click the image to check it out on TPT. It is on the clearance rack until Friday.

Here's a bit of what is in it.

I am offering this unit along with a basic blog design (header, background, and button) in Katie King's 1000 follower giveaway.  Click the pic to find out how to win.  There are so many fabulous units offered!  I want to win it myself!

Now for the Boo Boo.  Jen from The Teacher's Cauldron very kindly let me know that a blue text box was popping up on some of the pages in the New Grade Advice Writing Paper packets.  Weird because I just duplicated the slides and changed the top and bottom lines.  Anyway, they are fixed now. You can download them {here} for free.

Oh, and P.S.: The first person to comment, telling me their favorite cookout food along with their email address, gets my new unit for free.

Advice from a 1st Grader...for free!

My kiddos have been working on writing some advice for the Kindergartners who will be 1st graders next year. As they finish, they have been presenting to the Kinder classes. They are totally loving it! After presenting, some of them will say "Are there any questions?" It is too stinking cute. Here are a few examples of what they said.

"Do you listen to your teacher now?" :)

"My favorite place to go was school, and you will like it too."

Oh that  second one just melts my heart!

Are those bubble borders not the cutest?! I found those in a set on TPT for $1. Yeah. ONE DOLLAR! They can be found in Ms. Talley's Store.

You can DL the writing papers by clicking the pic below.  They go all the way up to 5th grade because that is what my mom teaches and she wanted to do it too. :)

Hope you like it!

Fascination Nomination!

I was so super excited to get an email saying that my post A Birthday Card for Dr. King! earned me a blog nomination for the Fascination Award: 2012's Most Fascinating Elementary Teacher Blog.  I don't know how these nominations come about, but I am total honored to be in the same category as so many wonderful bloggers!  Thanks to all you great bloggers and readers out there who share ideas and support.  I love you all! :) 

If you would like to vote for my blog click the "Vote for Me" badge above.  Thanks everyone!!!

Winner and a Linky Party!

Congrats Sarah from Sarah's First Grade Snippets!

Now I hope I am not breaking any linky party rules by adding this to my winner announcement, but I am linking up with Hadar, Teri, and April for the Summer Bucket List Linky Party. :)

1. Lose weight and get healthier.  This school year has been a tough one and I am a stress eater. Ahh Lawd... Enough said!

2. After I get my workout on, I am going to relax in my little above ground pool and read lots of books (because I don't have to take any Master's classes :)). 

3.  I have kept a list of units that I've had ideas for throughout the school year but no time to make them. So, I plan on making some units for TPT.

4. I want to make these to hold my jewelery.

from http://www.maillardvillemanor.com

5. Laminate and fix up the literacy centers I have bought and made this school year with my favorite little helper ever: 

Last but not least, I plan on staying up way too late and sleeping in!  Thanks ladies for hosting this fun linky party!!!

Have a Laugh!

Tomorrow is Friday y'all!  As if you needed another reason to smile, here is a Mother's Day letter one of my funny firsties brought me today during writers' conference. First he added middle dotted lines to the regular notebook paper, I guess to make it like primary lined paper.  Instead of writing on it like you would primary paper, he wrote on top of the dotted line.  Anyway, have a look. 

  

I know it's not the bet pic but I was trying to snap quickly with a classroom iPod.  Here is what it says: 

Dear Mom, 

          Happy Mother's Day!  You are the best mom I've ever had in my life, because you are my only mom I'm ever going to have for everyday for the rest of my life.  You are the best mom really because you are the bestest. 

Love Your Dear Son, 

_________

I love it!  I got tickled every time I thought about it today. 

What are y'all doing for Mother's Day??

Remember to enter the Blog Design contest!  It ends tomorrow night!!!!