My Truth Monday: One Word

Well, Denise over at Sunny Days gave me a pretty enticing reason to come out of my blogging slump…

all I had to do was come up with one word for 2014.



I chose appreciate because I kind of forgot to feel appreciate all the good things in my life towards the end of 2014. I’ve hinted before that this school year has been beyond stressful for me, add to that some struggles in my personal life and I’ve been feeling pretty unappreciative lately.

The truth is, I have SO MUCH to be grateful for.  A loving, supportive, encouraging, funny, and handsome husband.  Georgie, who so much more than just a pet…she’s a cuddle-bug, stress-relieving, furry bundle of joy (and my cat is pretty cool too).  My mom is my biggest fan and seriously the smartest, wisest, strongest person I know. I'm thankful for our relationship everyday. My grade partners make a stress-inducing year so much more tolerable.  So many bloggers that have offered a support-system, and family and friends that have provided an outlet time and time again.

Add to that all the other good stuff, like a new, cozy, warm home, financial security, good food..,and wine…and there is so much to appreciate.

I vow to pay attention to all that a little more in 2014 :)

Go link up with Denise and share your word for 2014!



Halle

Roam the Room Christmas Freebie!!!

Hi Friends!

6 more days until a much needed Christmas Break for me, how about you?

I’m just popping in with a quick freebie for you tonight!

It’s a FREEBIE designed after my “Santa’s Little Helper” Hallway Hunt.  We’ll be using it all next week to review some common core concepts in a fun way before we head off on Christmas Break!



You can read more about “Santa’s Little Helpers” here.

For this freebie, your students roam the room (or the hallway, in my case)  completing a mission for Santa. To help him, they need decide what part of speech is written on the word cards. 



Directions, word cards, and a recording sheet are included in the freebie.







To grab it head over to my Facebook page and click the “Freebies for Fans” tab at the top of the page. 

You will need to “like” my page to access the freebie.  Once you do, it will link you to a folder with tonight's freebie, as well as previous Fan Freebies. Grab them all while you’re there :)

I hope this little activity helps you get through these last few days before break!

Goodnight :)

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas {{GIVEAWAY}}

It’s officially December and I am officially in the Christmas mindset.

Christmas candles are lit, Christmas lights are up, and our tree is completely ornamented.

{{Ornamented might be a made up word}}

I’m also in a pretty darn good mood because the TpT Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) SALE starts tomorrow!!!!

My cart is stocked. 

See, I like to shop on Monday, earn credits, then go back for more on Tuesday.

It’s my version of “extreme couponing”.

My lil’ store is so stockpiled with Christmas goodies you might think I don’t sell anything else.

But I do!

It’s just, I love Christmas so…

Here are my NEWEST Christmas items. Hot off the presses and posted today! Today, you guys!!!

My Winter-Holidays Comprehension sheets are up.  They’ve also been added to the BUNDLED version, so if you own that, make sure you redownload before the holidays!



There are 8 passages, and they cover such topics as…
*German Christmas Markets
*Santa’s Many Names
*Traditions
*Christmas in Australia
*Hanukkah
*Santa Claus
and, of course,
*Christmas!

I can’t wait to use them with my kiddos starting this week.  We have just really been getting into going back into the text to support our answers. These passages are beyond perfect for enforcing such an important skill.



I’m a million kids of excited about my newest Christmas addition…”Santa’s Little Helpers”



It’s an “Elf-Themed” Hallway Hunt/Read the Room Activity with 3 R/LA and 3 Math activities.  Common Core Aligned and Perfect for 1st and 2nd Grade!

To get your kiddos excited about the Hallway Hunt, I’ve provided some fun printables that they’ll need before they board Santa’s sleigh…

An “Official Letter”…


Boarding Passes…


ID Badges…

PS: They're not really gray. I don't know why Blogger is doing that.  

and then, of course, there are the “missions”

Not all “missions” are shown. There are 6 in all, plus recording sheets to keep your students accountable!

And a few days ago I added my Christmas Clues Inferring and Context Clues Center. If you’ve seen my “Costume Clues” or “A Feast of Clues” it’s set-up a lot like that!






Those are the new items, but my hands-down favorite item in my store is my “Christmas Around the World” unit.



I created it because I wanted my students to have resources to read about each country’s celebrations.  I didn’t want to have to buy a bunch of books from Amazon, or rent them from the library, and I wanted my students to do the reading…



All mini-books are interactive, which means students read about different customs and traditions for each country and then complete an activity on each page…







It’s a HUGE hit and the best part is that my kiddos RETAIN what they’ve learned because they’ve done the reading themselves and interacted with the pages.

Read more about Christmas Around the World in my classroom here.



And here are some other items you might want to add to your cart..

Click the image to check it out on TpT!

Now, for the GIVEAWAY…I’m making it SUPER SIMPLE!  Just comment below with your email…I won’t even make you answer a question this time!  I will pick one winner to pick $20 worth of product from my store. You can have anything you want! It doesn’t have to be listed here!

I will pick a winner before I go to bed tonight. The winner will be announced on my FB Fan Page, so make sure you like me :)

Last time I did a giveaway a few people had trouble commenting. If that happens to you, email me (acrossthehallin2nd@gmail.com) and I'll add you to the "Husband Random Numer Generator List". Please only email me if you cannot leave a comment.

Whatever you’re buying, I hope you have shopping the sale tomorrow and Tuesday :)