Dr. Seuss Theme Welcome Pennant Banner and 120 Chart

Anyone using a Dr. Seuss theme in your classroom this year?  New Dr. Seuss products listed!  I have added a Welcome Pennant Banner and a 120 counting chart to my TPT store.  Check them out!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Simply-The-Middle

More Seuss themed products to come!

Have a something particular you are looking for in this theme?  Let me know and I will try to add it for you!

Thanks for looking!

Amie

Classroom Glass Block Light

I woke up this morning to see new interest in my Quiet Time Glass Block Light thanks to a mention from WeAreTeachers on Facebook.  Wow!  How cool!  I have had several people message me asking about buying the light from me.  I have posted it on Etsy for anyone that may be interested.  You can find the Etsy listing here:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/464209321/classroom-quiet-work-glass-block-light?ref=shop_home_active_1

You can have the light customized any way that you would like by colors or theme.  I have made them with nautical, Dr. Seuss, camping designs among many others.

Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by!

Amie

Chevron Word Wall Circles Now Available

My chevron word wall letters are now available in my TPT store!  I have had numerous emails and posts asking about these letters, so I figured I need to add them to the store!

I really enjoyed using this method for my word wall with my firsties last year.  I will be moving to 5th grade for this coming school year and I'm putting the finishing touches on my my classroom decor plans.  I will post those as soon as they are ready!

You can see the word wall letters HERE.

Common Core - Simplified (yeah right)

I know that there are a lot of questions about the future of Common Core.  Who knows if it is here to stay (although we all know nothing stays in in regards to education standards) or will be thrown under the bus with every other trend in education.  The one thing that we do know is that if we live in a state that has required implementation of Common Core, then we need to hit the ground running.

My school system has been using Common Core for two years.  The first year felt like we were being thrown to the sharks.  You know how it goes, "Here are the Common Core standards.  We don't have money for the textbooks or reading materials required, nor do we have money to train you, but get out there and teach!"  I don't blame my school system.  It was just the nature of the beast at the time.

Some teachers decided to try to jump in using just the copy of the Common Core standards they were given.  Others figured if they ignored it and kept teaching the Georgia Performance Standards the Common Core would simply go away.  Then there were teachers like me.  If I'm going to teach it, then by golly I'm going to figure out as much as I can about it and teach it the best way I can.

This led me to several great resources, but two of the best are the FREE Annotated Common Core Standards that Secondary Solutions offers and the other is the Engage NY website.

The Annotated Common Core Standards is a great resource that simplifies what we are supposed to teach.  It simplifies and explains each standard in a way that just makes sense.  Secondary Solutions provides these for free for grades 3-12.  You can get them by going to their website HERE.

The EngageNY site is a massive, but useful,  amount of information on Common Core.  They have everything from videos to writing exemplars.  It really is a great site.  Plan to spend a lot of time on the site once you're there!  You can find the site HERE.

Do you have any great Common Core resources that you've found?  Feel free to share them here!

Cowboy or Superhero? Fun with numbers!

I made two new games this weekend and totally forgot to add them to my blog!  My mom had surgery yesterday, so the past few days were crazy trying to get everything ready for 2 days with a sub.

I was looking for a fun way for my students to work with the 120 board to help them with number recognition and counting.  I also wanted something they could play fairly quick after morning work.  These games are great in that you can play with as few as 2 players or as many as you want.  I have my students play in groups of 2 or 3 and then have them rotate to play with other players if time allows.

Both games are the same, I just changed the theme.  One has a superhero theme and the other has a cowboy/cowgirl theme.  Students roll to determine how many spaces that they go.  If they land on a box with a number, then they just stay on the number until their next roll.  If they land on a special box that has a treasure box or cowboy boot then they draw a card from the stack.

The cards may tell "-5", "Go To 136", "Skip a Turn", or "Go Again"...among many other things.  I've been playing the games with my students this week and they LOVE them!  I hope you do, too!

You can get the Math Superhero game by going HERE  and the Wild West Math by going HERE.

Sight Word Homework Packet - a entire year's worth!

I've been trying to figure out a way for students to review the Fry Sight Words in a quick way that didn't involve flashcards.  I decided to make Lightning Words handouts for homework each week for the entire year.

I wanted to make the homework fun, so I added a time component to it - hence the Lightning Words title.  Students will get a list each week that they will take home on Monday.  Each night (Monday - Thursday) they will say the 25 Lightning Words for the week as quickly as they can.  An adult will help them record their time on the sheet.  The goal is to increase the time as the week goes on, eventually getting "Lightning Fast".

I've just uploaded the files tonight to my TPT store.  The pack comes with 30 weeks worth of Lightning Words.  The lists start with the First 100 Words list, then the Second 100 Words list, a mixture of the First and Second 100 Words lists, and finally the last 5 weeks are from the Third 100 Word List.  You can snag an entire year's worth of Lightning Words by going HERE.

Chevron Classroom Decor Printable Set

I just loaded my Chevron Classroom Decor Set into my TPT store.  It's a HUGE set!  Here is all that you get in this set:

120 chart poster with turquoise background (I printed this at www.shortrunposters.com for $1.97!)
120 chart poster with white background
Chevron Birthday Poster scaled for 17x24 print (also printed at Shortrun Posters)
Chevron Birthday Poster scaled for 11x17
Chevron Birthday Poster scaled for 8.5 x 11
30 rectangular chevron labels/signs
Chevron "WELCOME" pennant
Chevron Teacher Binder cover
Chevron Data Binder cover
Chevron Emergency Plans Binder cover
Chevron Gradebook Binder cover
Chevron Lesson Plans Binder cover
Chevron Meeting Notes Binder cover
Chevron Parent Contact Log Binder cover
Chevron Rosters Binder cover
Chevron Substitute Info Binder cover

Go check it out!  You won't be disappointed!  Teachers that have downloaded the individual items have left 100% positive reviews!

You can go HERE to snag this bright set for yourself!