Books Teachers Love: April Read Aloud Freebie & Giveaway

SO.....April?! How did this month creep up so quickly? I'm not complaining, but still so hard to believe. April is the month for many "spring-y" things, including a teacher's fav...spring break! It also welcomes everything bunnies, pastels, Easter, warm weather, and Earth Day!

Earth Day is a popular topic for us teachers! It's a great opportunity to introduce important topics, such as recycling and caring for the earth. One book I love reading with my students is Why Should I Recycle? by Jen Green.

Here is a short excerpt about the book courtesy of Amazon:

 

"What if everybody threw away old bottles and newspapers, littering the world with glass and plastic and tin cans that should be recycled and made into new products? Mr. Jones is a teacher who sets a good example for kids by separating his trash for recycling. When he takes them on a class trip to a recycling plant they learn the value of recycling. Part of every child's development involves asking questions. Today, some of the most important questions kids ask are related to the natural environment. The enlightening and entertaining four-book Why Should I? series demonstrates the importance of protecting nature. Books present brief, entertaining stories that answer children's questions and feature amusing color illustrations on every page."



 

 

This book is a great introductory book for recycling and where all our "trash" goes and what happens to it at a recycling center. It teaches the importance of recycling and reasons we should all do it! Following the read aloud, my students and I brainstorm the reasons given by Mr. Jones for why we should recycle. We share out about the different items we can recycle and what we might do at home and school to help recycle. Then, students use this FREE graphic organizer to set-up their persuasive writing about why we should recycle! Grab your copy of this freebie below!

 

Click HERE for your FREEBIE!



 

Grab your freebie, then be sure to enter our giveaway for your chance to WIN 4 of the April read aloud books in the Books Teachers Love series!

 

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Find more great read alouds for the month of April now!

Click through the blog posts below for more free lessons and activities!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Some Winter Reading Fun! New for the Books Teachers Love Series

Hey everyone! Thanks to Steph at Mrs. D's Corner I am actually blogging! Even though it's solely been for the Books Teachers Love series, I am still here blogging! Giving myself a little pat on the back for this! Blogging is the one thing I don't make enough time for, especially this time of year! Between the Christmas shopping, the holiday events with family and friends, the this, the that, it's just been a blur of a month! To think Christmas is really just around the corner is crazy to me!

As an intervention teacher, finding the time for read alouds isn't always easy! But, there is a time and a place! There are just a few books that I always find appropriate to squeeze into my 35 minute blocks. Usually, I follow up with a writing piece, or an activity to further support the students' needs.

One book that I have recently discovered is Dear Yeti by James Kwan. This is this author's debut book and it's simply adorable! It tells the story of two hikers on the hunt for a Yeti. With the help from a little bird, the hikers send letters to the Yeti in hopes that he will come out of hiding!

 

 

 

With a little convincing, the Yeti finally comes out and saves the day when the hikers are confronted by a big, hungry grizzly bear! After this rescue, a friendship is born! The book ends with the Yeti getting the hikers safely home and a note in return saying, "Dear Hikers, See you soon! Yeti!" This leaves open the door for a potential sequel to the book! (Crossing my fingers!)

 

It's a FUN and adventurous book that both my boys and girls simply love! It really sparks their imagination and even provides opportunities to introduce new vocabulary! One of those words being morale. Which I know, woah, big word for the little ones, but they feel fancy saying it afterwards. 

 

 

 

So, now, as an intervention teacher like I said, I want to ensure my short time is used wisely. As any teacher knows, time is precious and we don't have much of it! Therefore, what I like to do is add a bit of creativity to a writing piece for my kiddos! When the students are engaged, they write! When the students are engaged, they enjoy their learning! This we know! So, how do I engage the little ones in a follow-up writing activity? With the Dear Yeti Hiker Application! Check out this FREEBIE below!




Click HERE for your FREE copy!

 

Grab your freebie, then be sure to enter our giveaway for your chance to WIN 4 of the January read aloud books in the Books Teachers Love series!

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Find more great read alouds for the month of January now!

Click through the blog posts below for more free lessons and activities!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

 

 

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' {Books Teachers Love Series}

It's coming! Whether you are ready or not! November is right around the corner! It's hard to be believe we are already nearing the end of 2016! This girl has no complaints though! November brings lots of holidays and fall weather....my favorite!

November is also the time for some fun read alouds! As an intervention teacher, I don't always incorporate read alouds, solely because in my 35 minute blocks, I am already stretched to squeeze in everything else. But, read alouds do have a place in an intervention block and I try to include of few of my favorites when I can.

One of those favorites is Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' by Eileen Spinelli. It's a book my teachers read to me as a child. Maybe that's part of the reason I love it so much! So, when I was asked to join in for the Books Teachers Love series this month, I couldn't say no!

Thanksgiving at the Tappletons' is a story of the unexpected events that lead up to the Thanksgiving meal. (Sounds a lot like all my family gatherings!) In this book, the family was hoping for a typical holiday meal, but it turns out that Thanksgiving is nothing like they thought it would be! The book ends with a lesson from Grandmother Tappleton that "there is more to Thanksgiving than a turkey and trimmings."

This book is entertaining and offers great opportunities for students to make predictions, as well as work on sequencing and cause and effect.

 

 

Students always like making predictions! Especially when their predictions turn out to be correct! After we read about how the turkey slithered away into the pond, the incident at the bakery with Mr. Tappleton, and how Kenny fed all the vegetables to the rabbits in Mr. Butterworth's class, we stop reading to make predictions about what will happen in the rest of the story. Students share their thinking about whether the Thanksgiving dinner will be ruined, or if the meal will still be a success!

{This is the page I stop at!}

 

 Every year, I always get a new prediction that makes me laugh. The students really get creative and really enjoy imagining what might happen in the rest of the story.

We use this writing paper when sharing out predictions. You can grab this FREE WRITING PAPER by clicking HERE!

Grab your freebie, then be sure to enter our giveaway for your chance to WIN 4 of the November read aloud books in the Books Teachers Love series!

 

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find more great read alouds for the month of November now!

Click through the blog posts below for more free lessons and activities!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Swap 'Til You Drop

Hi everyone! I’m totally excited to share with you about the product swap some of my amazing bloggy friends did! Ok, so it’s simple, we paired up, swapped products, and then tested the products out! It was so fun because not only did we get to use products from some amazing sellers, we now get to share about them here with all of you!

I was paired up with Sarah from A Sunny Day in First Grade. The thing I just LOVE about Sarah’s products is they are all so kid-friendly. The kiddos love them and are always so engaged. A few weeks back we used Sarah’s Penguin Pack and it was a huge hit! It includes a penguin craft and some other adorable printables. Being that it is still a full blown winter here in Rhode Island, a penguin craft was perfect to use with the K-1 class I was in for. I wish I had some pictures of the penguins, but my iPhone always seems to die on me at the most convenient times! L Regardless, they were adorable! You can check out Sarah’s blog for pics of how adorable her students’ penguins came out!

Now that we have entered March, I am in St. Patrick’s Day mode though. The students always seem to love this holiday, and so do I! This is why I was so excited when Sarah also shared her St. Patrick’s Day Math Pack and Over the Rainbow Games with me! We will be testing them out this week and I cannot wait! I will certainly be back to share some pictures of these products in action! Until then, I have to share all about what’s inside of these two packs! Also, even better, you can WIN them below! Be sure to check out the Rafflecopter below for your chance to get these amazing products for your class!

Over the Rainbow St. Patrick's Day Math Games & Activities 

Sarah's Over the Rainbow St. Patrick's Day Math Games & Activities has kid-friendly, engaging activities for this fun week of school! The games and activities are perfectly aligned with the Common Core too! Can't beat that! ;-) One of my favorite games in the pack is her Over the Rainbow game you see there in the bottom left corner of the image above. The students must roll two dice and make a 2 digit number, then put that number on the correct cloud depending on whether it is greater or less than 30! Don't you just love that?! It's perfect! I really love the number puzzles in this pack too! Sarah has included both color and black and white options so it will be great to laminate the colored set for centers, and have the students color, cut, and build the black and white set.  

St. Patrick's Day Math Madness - 15 Ready To Go Math Pages!

 This product is just as simple as it sounds. After the hectic weekend I have had, this product is just what I needed. Not only do I love this product, but I know the students will too. Take a look above at what's inside! Lots o' Common Core! ;-) The printables have simple directions, adorable clipart, and are perfect for what the kiddos need to be working on for math. I can't wait to test these babies out this week!

Now, here are the details for the giveaways!

1. Start anywhere on the map below.

2. Stop by each blog and read about the products swapped between each set of bloggers.

3. Enter to win the resources that are featured by each blog pair. Each pair of bloggers has the same raffle, so you only have to enter on 1 of the two blogs. While you are are each blog, if you are not already a follower, show some love and sign on to follow! 

4. The raffles are open until midnight March 15th.

Enter to WIN our products on the Rafflecopter below! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WE LOVE OUR FOLLLOWERS GIVEAWAY

I'm baaaccckkkk! Yup, I had a blog following out, but I am back and have the best news ever! GIVEAWAY!!! Britney from Tailor Made Teaching and I are SO excited to host our WE LOVE OUR FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY! There are so many fabulous teachers that helped make this Valentine's Day extra special. Trust me… this giveaway is PACKED WITH A LOT OF LOVE. (:

Please help share the love we have for you by entering into our giveaway. It is as easy as this: Follow the Tpt stores/blogs listed below in the form that they request and enter into Rafflecopter. That's it. The more entries you have, the higher your chances are of winning. Period. So what do you have to lose? Feel free to pass this giveaway on to others! 

Thanks to YOU... we could make this all possible. XOXO.

Britney and I are so thankful for all our the teachers who donated these amazing products! We love our teacher friends, just as much as we love all of you lovely followers! Happy Giveaway! Start entering on the Rafflecopter below! Crossing my fingers for you all! <3
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Tis the Season....to DIY and Decorate for Christmas

 I’m baaaccckkkk! It’s been far too long since I last blogged and I couldn’t let it reach December before I posted again. So, here I am! I’ve been a busy little bee this holiday season. It’s crazy to think Halloween and Thanksgiving are both over. But, that’s music to my ears because that means Christmastime is here! I will admit that Christmas has been on my mind for a while now. I watched Elf in September! Can you blame me though? The movie is great!
 

With Thanksgiving over (the food coma too!), my family and I have been gung ho about Christmas. Yesterday was the tree hunt and the hauling down of the decorations from the attic. Today is the fun part! We get to decorate the inside of house and the tree. Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to create some new decorations for the inside of the house. Check out my no sew sock snowman below!

 

 

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• Children's white socks: I purchased size 6-8 1/2 socks from the Dollar Tree
• White rice: a 5lb bag is plenty to make 6 snowmen. I got my bag of rice from Wal-Mart for less than $3
• 3/8" buttons: Michael's craft store (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• Colored string and ribbon pack: Michael's craft store (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• 9mm Jingle Bells: Michael's craft store (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• Bows: 10 pack holiday colored bows (40% off for Black Friday weekend!)
• Googly eyes: Dollar Tree
• Toothpicks: Dollar Tree
• Sharpies: orange and black
• Rubber bands: thin rubber bands work
• Tacky glue or hot glue gun

***You can use whatever you would like to decorate your snowman. These items are just what I used***

 

 

To make your snowman, simply pour a little less than a cup of rice into the sock. Wrap a rubber band around the sock to section off the base of the snowman. Repeat the previous step but use less rice so the middle section is a bit smaller than the base section. Again, do the same for the head of the snowman.  

 

With the remaining part of the sock (the pleated part), fold it up and over the snowman's head. Lift the bottom part back up to create the look of the hat. Look at the picture above for a closer look.

 

 

Use Tacky Glue or a hot glue gun to hold the sections of the snowman in place. I simply put the glue in between the sections and let it dry.

 

Now for the fun part: Decorating your snowman!

 

 

Glue the googly eyes, the bow (or ribbon), and the buttons to the snowman. Use black sharpie to make a mouth. Color the end of a toothpick orange and poke it through the sock. Do not break the toothpick to shorten it because the end will not be able to poke through the sock.

 

For the hat, I strung jingle bells on this colored string and tied it around the front so the bow can be seen. Put a dab of glue over the knot to seal it.

 

Ta-da! Your snowman is done! See how easy that was?! After you are ready to make your snowman family like I did. ;-) My little family (Mom, me, sister, brother, Dad) is now sitting on the mantel in the living rom.

  

Email me @meetmissparker.gmail.com with any questions about making snowmen of your own!

 

CHRISTMAS AT THE PARKER HOUSE 

 

While I was busy making snowmen for the inside of the house, my dad has been working even harder on getting the outside of the house ready for Santa. Take a look at the pictures below of the CRAZY holiday fun that happens each year at the Parker house!

 

The North Pole comes to little Rhode Island. My dad does an amazing job with his display! He has done it since before I was born. Each year it gets bigger and bigger! We are at the point now that Santa's workshop has made it to my lawn. I can't imagine what it will be in years to come! I love it all though! ;-)

 

Welcome to the inside of Santa's Workshop! Santa greets you at the end of the hallway in the chair that my dad built this year! (He is very proud of it!) <3

Here's a peek into the elves' toy shop! I love the tools on the wooden bench!

  Elf Quarters: Where Jingle, Hermie, Jangle, and Jolly sleep in their teeny tiny elf beds! ;-)

One of the reindeer peeking through the window!

Nutcracker standing by Santa!

Santa's (hard) bed! I will have to stuff some pillows under that blanket to make it a bit more comfy for Santa.

And of course, a Christmas tree!
Just when you thought the North Pole might be enough, there's more! Take a look at the outside part of our Xmas display!

This tree is my favorite! It looks so pretty decorated and covered in snow! <3 

My parents have always gone all out for Christmas. Even to the point that they dress as Santa and Mrs. Claus......

<3

My mom might kill me for posting that picture, so I guess I can sneak in a "normal" pic of my amazing parents!  

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday! Now, time for me to do some more shopping! ;-)