Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs again, for a quick Five for Friday!

This week we covered the letter Jj and the _ap word family. We continued to work on basic addition and the life cycle of a plant On Thursday we had Heritage Day. I'm off to see Barnum & Bailey Circus! Have a great weekend!

Link up with Doodle Bugs to share with others!

Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs again, for Five for Friday!

This week some of my kiddos have been working on the _ap word family. The children really enjoyed these puzzles and several students asked if they could play with them during free choice centers!  You can get this "Short a: CVC/ Word Family Puzzles" pack at my TpT store. This pack includes 37 CVC/Word Family Puzzles. Children start with the picture clues then move onto reading the words. These puzzles are great for learning centers, independent practice, partner work, and for reinforcement at home.

During "free choice centers" students get to explore and play in a variety of centers. At times, students will ask me to pull out manipulatives that are typically used for math. These two students enjoyed playing with the vehicle manipulatives. I wanted to see where their imaginations would take them and build on some skills, so I drew a road for them and asked them to think of others things to include on their map. They drew an airport, runway, railroad, train station, and lake. This has been the new go-to during free choice time!

We worked on basic addition with the "Add It" game, a domino count, and...

Lakeshore Simple Addition Instant Learning Center. This student asked to write the addition problems, as she has been eager to "show what she knows"!  

For Mother's Day, we made these colorful fingerprint picture frames inspired by HGTV and then placed their first day of school picture in them. They turned out so adorable! What a great keepsake!

Happy Early Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mommies out there! How was your week? What did your kiddos make for Mother's Day? Link up with Doodle Bugs to share with others!

Join the Movement for Have Fun Teaching!

Have you ever heard of Have Fun Teaching? In my opinion, they make the best FREE educational music videos on YouTube that children really enjoy! In my classroom, we use a lot of engaging songs to reach all learners! I especially use Have Fun Teaching videos for letter recognition, letter sound identification, and word associations.

So, what's all this raving about?! Have Fun Teaching needs YOUR help! They have just launched a BIG IDEA on KickStarter where they will create 220 Animated Sight Word Music Videos that will help teachers and parents with a fun and effective way to engage children and help them become better readers! In these new videos, they will be introducing BRAND NEW original Have Fun Teaching characters, called Funzies! How exciting and cute is that?!

JOIN THE MOVEMENT!
 

Here is a sample video for the Sight Word, "IS"

 Every little bit helps and you can even receive awesome Rewards for backing this project!

Wordless Wednesday: Mother's Day

Getting over the hump by linking up with Christina over at Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday! 

 What special keepsake are your kiddos making for Mother's Day? This week we are making fingerprint pictures frames inspired by HGTV! 

TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale

If you haven’t heard the news, TpT is having a site wide sale for Teacher Appreciation Week!  Use the code TPTXO to get up to 28% off new resources!  My ENTIRE store will be on sale, so be sure to stock up on everything you have been adding to your wish-list!!

My First Stitch Fix!!!

It's finally here! My first Stitch Fix arrived in the mail on Friday and I couldn't wait to try on all my new goodies! I have watched many other bloggers update their wardrobe through this online personal styling service and I just had to try it for myself! Now I love to shop for clothes in stores! I mean LOVE... but there is something so exciting about being surprised for what's under that robins egg blue label and tissue paper! 

When I opened my box I first saw navy!... I like love navy!

The first piece is a navy & cream striped blazer! It is $72... a little pricy for my frugal budget... but I thought it fit great, felt great, and looked great! When I did my style profile, I said I was looking for colorful blazers... so my stylist hit the nail on the head, but I do have two blazers that have stripes very similar to this one... one from the Loft that is navy and cream and one from Express that is black and white. So what am I going to do with it?! Return it. It was a hard decision, because I really REALLY like it, but I just can't see having 3 striped blazers. 

The second piece is this adorable navy dress with a stripe hem for $68. It is a little long for my short 5'3 frame, but I debated about this one also! I thought with the thicker straps and the length, it would be perfect for school, but then I decided not to keep it because it looks like it will wrinkle easy and be a pain to iron. The third piece was this cute royal blue chevron necklace for $34... I thought it was adorable and at first I was going to purchase it, but as I tried to take pictures it kept flipping and I have way too many statement necklaces that do that, and I end up playing with them all day... so I decide not to keep it. 

The fourth piece is this lace detailed button-up for $48, which at first I wasn't too sure about, but when looking back at the pictures... I like it tied with a cami under it and would probably like it a lot tucked in! The last piece are these amazing grey-blue skinny jeans for $78 that I absolutely love!! They problem is they are a little too tight and I know I need a size up. I will definitely be adding a long comment to the final survey about how much a love them and would want them in every color! I am sad I have to send them back :(  

Overall, I liked every single item! It's the sizing or the fact that I already have similar pieces that has me sending most of it back. The lace detailed button-up might be the piece I am keeping... I just can't see sending all the items back and losing my $20 styling fee credit. What do you think?! What should I keep? I have one more day to decide! I'd love your input!!! 

Are you sold yet?! Are you going to make the leap to order your first Fix? Here is how it works: You make an account through Stitch Fix and complete an online style profile by providing information about your clothing style (likes & dislikes), sizes, and price range! It took me about 10 minutes and I found it to be a lot of fun! Then you schedule when your first Fix will be sent to you and patiently wait! Since Stitch Fix has been very popular lately, I had to wait about 5 weeks for my first one! It was worth it though! As you are waiting... a personal stylist hand-selects five pieces of clothing and accessories for you. Once your Fix arrives, you have three business days to ship back any items you do not want.  Returns are free... yes, you heard that right, returns are FREE! You will be charged a $20 styling fee each time you arrange for a fix, but if you decide to keep any of the items, the $20 free is applied as a credit to your purchase. What is even more exciting.... is that if you keep all 5 items, you get to save 25% on the entire Fix!After you decide which items to keep, log in to your Stitch Fix account and complete a final survey to let the them know which items you wish to keep or return, and share any comments you have on each piece so that your stylist can get to know your styling likes and dislike, which helps for more successful future Fixes.

Five for Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs again, for Five for Friday!

This week students were involved in many activities relating to the essential questions, "What is the life cycle of a seed?" 

...Some of the kiddos sorted _ap, _an, and _at pictures!

On Sunday, I bought two new pairs of shoes because I desperately needed navy shoes for school... and they are both comfy too! The left pair has a slight wedge and is from Macy's and the right is from Payless! What type of shoes do you wear to work?! If I could be in flip-flops every day I would, but I typically revert to flats or shoes with slight wedges.

I received my first Stitch Fix in the mail today! I was like a kid in the candy store... it felt like christmas! I couldn't wait to open it and see what my "stylist" would pick out for me! I have to say, I love every article... but I will recap you on what I decided to keep tomorrow after I try it all on :) Funny thing is, there is a navy theme too, which made me chuckle as I just bought two new navy pairs of shoes! 

If you live in New Jersey, Duke Gardens is a must see! I went here for my first time and there are nice paths where you can bike, run, or walk on through a variety of gardens and it's for FREE! It's the perfect thing to do on a sunny day and to get out and about for fresh air!

How was your week? Link up with Doodle Bugs to share with others!