Where I've Been (plus a giveaway!!)

Boy, oh boy, has it been quite a while since I logged into blogger and published a post!  Some of you have been so kind to think of me and email me to make sure everything is alright...

...and yes, everything is alright! Everything is more than alright!

You may have already caught  a glimpse of my news on Instagram, but I am so excited to announce that my husband and I are expecting our first bundle of joy in September!

It was a long road getting to this point. We struggled with infertility for close to a year before we were finally blessed with the wonderful news that I was indeed pregnant!  Our journey to "expectant-hood" was an exhausting and overwhelming one, and I found myself putting blogging and creating on the back burner more and more as the months wore on.

Then we got pregnant, and well, I was so darn excited and wrapped up in it that, again, blogging and TpT just weren't a priority.  I was still writing down ideas for resources, and I still managed to get a Facebook post or two together, and amazingly I even created a resource, but most of my free time was (and still is) going towards pregnancy blogs, books, and nursery ideas.

Even more of my time has gone towards doctor's appointments. Because of a medical diagnosis I've had since I was very young, I am considered high-risk.  Well, according to my doctor, "on the low end of high-risk."  I feel fortunate to get extra monitoring, but I've never been to the doctor's so much in my entire life!

I'm writing this post because I finally feel like I am at a point in my pregnancy (20 weeks and counting!!) where I am ready to put more attention towards blogging (I've missed sharing and DISCOVERING great ideas and resources) and creating. I don't think I'll ever have the drive I had at the beginning and that's okay with me!

On our "baby moon" last week :)

In honor of my exciting news and my return to the blogosphere, I am giving away a copy of my Mother's Day craft "My Heart Blooms for Mom".  My students loved creating their little flower pots last year and I am excited to do the craft with them this year!  And I'm so looking forward to receiving a few (TpT inspired, I'm sure) Mother's Day crafts of my own a few years down the road!

Check it out here

Winning is easy, all you have to do is comment below with your email.  I'll announce a winner this evening on my Facebook page!

Thank you again to all of you who checked in on me!  It felt nice being missed ;)

~Halle

A "Silly" Freebie

Are you celebrating a certain Dr.'s birthday this week?

We are, and I can't wait to share pictures of all the fun stuff we're doing to celebrate!

I have a fun freebie for you to throw in with all your other festive Seussy-stuff!

It's called "Silly Parts of Speech"

 It's not actually all that silly. But I'm not allowed to use a certain author's name in my products!

This freebie is great as a hallway hunt. read the room, or center activity!

Students read the words on the cards and decide what part of speech the word is.

Adjectives. adverbs, nouns, and verbs are all covered in this Hallway Hunt, as is a recording sheet.

You can grab it for free from my Facebook page. Just make sure you're a fan!

I hope you can use it in your room this week :)

~Halle

Resources That Keep Me Afloat

I am so excited about this blog hop that involves so many of my favorite owls and their favorite resources.  Not only are these girls some of the sweetest, funniest, and smartest girls around, but they make some kick-butt resources that I use in my classroom everyday. Make sure to read all the way to the bottom of this post!!

I use so many of their resources, but today I'm gonna show off my friend Jen's "Tasty Facts (Addition & Subtraction Facts).  And down at the bottom, I'll list a few of my other favorite Owl Resources!

I think it's a common complaint that many math programs are lacking in fact fluency. I know ours sure does. I was cringing earlier this year when my kids were using their fingers for double-digit addition and subtraction!!!

Jen's Tasty Facts make it easy for me to supplement fact fluency.

I copy all levels in advance and cut and paperclip them. Sometimes I need to make additional copies if a group of students get stuck on the same level for a few rounds.

Oh, and there's the whole "tasty" part that makes it fun for my kiddos.  Right now we're working through our addition facts to earn an ice-cream sundae party. Apparently ice cream is a pretty super motivator because my kids are flying through their facts. Fly-ingggggg....

These kids know how to make their teacher smile :)

This guy finally made it past his 2s today and he was grinning from ear to ear!

I give timed tests twice a week, and my kids get to color their parts of their sundae as they pass each level of the tests.

They can't wait to trade in their sundae craft for the real deal.

I hold on to students' sundaes. Once all their parts are colored in, I'll let them cut them out and put the sundae together on construction paper to display in class.

My kiddos have until the end of March to earn their addition sundae, then we will move onto subtraction, where the kids earn...wait for it...a pizza party!

I cannot rave enough about these tasty facts. Jen provides everything you need to keep the tests organized (like checklists), and even provides 4 different types of quizzes of each fact (2 versions with additional facts and 2 versions of horizontal facts).  That sure helped for any wandering eyes I might have had during any quizzes.

And if you have any brainiacs in your class, or you teach 3rd or 4th grade, Jen also offers a multiplication and division version of her timed quizzes. You can even get the bundled version!

Grab the bundled version here!

I really hope I've convinced you to scoop up these "Tasty Facts" (get it, scoop, sundaes, get it?!?). You can click here to check them out. Don't forget, there's a BIG SALE over at TpT this Thursday and Friday, so you can grab them at a discounted price!!!  What a deal steal!

Jen offers a great explanation of how she does timed tests in a post on her blog. She has it set up in an easy to follow Q&A format. Check it out here.

I also want to give a shout-out to some of my other favorite Owl Resources!!!

But I'm gonna cheat and tell you my OWN resource that keeps me afloat...

My Reading Comprehension Packs. I'm getting ready to pull out my Spring Edition next week (now if only the weather would cooperate ;))

Click here to check them out on TpT

These things don't just keep me afloat...they SAVE MY LIFE!!

We use them for...
*Close Reads
*Restating (a skill we need a lot of practice with, but we're getting so much better at)
*Homework
*Early Finishers (believe it or not!!!)
*As companions to other things we're learning about in class for text-to-text connections.

I have Spring, Summer, Back to School, Fall, Winter Holidays, and Winter Editions available in my TpT Shop.

You can grab them bundled now, and when I upload the Non-Fiction Edition AFTER the SALE it's like you're getting it free!

Check out the Bundled Version by clicking the picture below...

As for my other owls...

Right now, we're loving Linda Kamp's Landforms Unit!

Check it out here.

We started our landform book yesterday:

I also could not survive without Rachel's Genre Posters. We refer to them before, during, and after every single story or book we read in class. My kiddos get genres so much better this year! Plus, you can't beat that they're super cute!

Check them out here!

Of course we LOVE Miss Katie King's Busy Teacher, whatever the month!

Check out the February Edition here.

There really are so many more resources I use from my favorite owls, but I'm gonna let some of the other girls show them off!

Anddddd...I'm super happy to offer you a chance to win an item from my own little shop (up to $10), so you can save some money and put it towards one of the awesome resources above!

All you have to do is comment below with ANY ITEM that keeps you afloat during the school-year. It does NOT have to be a TpT product (though I wouldn't be surprised if it was!). Don't forget to leave your email in the comment, and make sure you're a follower of this blog too! (by email, bloglovin', or Google Friend Connect...your choice).

Giveaway Closed

Winner: Courtney

I hope I was able to show you some items to stock your cart with!

Have fun shopping the TpT 3 Million Strong Sale!

Click the adorable button below to head to my shop, or any of the links above to grab the items I talked about!

Button courtesy of Rachel (The Tattooed Teacher)

Happy Shopping!

Check out the other "Resources That Keep Us Afloat" below:

An InLinkz Link-up