Educents Savings

Educents is already a site full of great deals. Now you can save even more.  Now through 4/27 visit this link  and enter code COOK010. You will save an extra 10% on their already awesome deals just in time for the end of the school year. 

Skype With Amy E. Sklansky

We had a wonderful experience in our classroom last week. We skyped with an author and poet for Poetry Month.  I connected with Amy E. Sklansky through her Etsy Shop Little Knits Studio. She generously donated to our CO Blogger Meet Up and mentioned she was an author. I immediately checked out her website, bought a couple of her books and was thrilled that she would do a workshop for my students.

We got ready for her visit by reading some of her poems from Out of This World and From the Doghouse . These are beautifully illustrated books full of engaging poetry. The students were very excited that someone who wrote a book would want to talk to them.

Amy started off the Skype workshop having students look at some different pages from her books. The students were to pick out which one was a poem. Then she read a few of her poems, some of her favorite poems from other poets and talked about her process. She interacted with the students and asked them questions. They loved it and you could feel the excitement in the room.  Amy showed the students some of her rough drafts and told them that she sometimes revises 12 times. (I loved hearing this and keep reminding my kiddos who think that the writing process ends at the draft.) As she interacted with the students she shared a powerpoint with great information and examples of her work, other poets and even some students.

Their writing task for the workshop was to write a list poem. Amy helped them brain storm ideas after sharing her own list poem Packing For The Moon, about what the astronauts packed on the first trip to the moon. The students had wonderful ideas and even my struggling writers did a wonderful job.

The students loved  every minute  of this experience and it was perfect for poetry month. Check out some of their list poems and their creative places to pack for. Amy told them to play with the word placement and words themselves you will see that they really took this piece and ran with it. 

The workshop ended with the students asking questions which they really enjoyed. I think this is something my students will remember for years to come. They even asked me today who the next author was they were going to Skype with. If you want this experience for your classroom you should check out her site! If you live in the St.Louis area you might even be lucky enough to get an in person experience. 

Earth Day Resources

Image Credit A Sketchy Guy

Earth Day is coming.....

Do you promote Earth Day in your classroom? If you do you should head over to Educents to check out some great FREE resources. If you haven't signed up for Educents you can now and receive $10.00 towards your first purchase. This will only work if you have not signed up before.

Here are some of the great resources you can use in your classroom from Educents and some of its talented sellers!

10 Earth Day Freebies for Kids

1. Earth Day Sort - Help kids learn the difference between reducing, reusing, and recycling!
2. Happy Earth Day Writing Activity - Kids of all ages can reflect on ways their family, school, and themselves can help keep the Earth healthy. Also encourages handwriting practice!
3. Earth Day Coloring Pages - Creative kiddos can color the Earth with their colors of choice, or follow the color-by-code page to add critical thinking to art hour.
4. Earth Day Poof! Subtraction to 5 - This Earth Day themed game builds fluency with subtraction facts to 5. It can be played in a small group or as a partner game. It is a fun way to practice those facts!
5. Earth Day Word Search Freebie - Enjoy this Earth Day themed word search puzzle with 21 eco-friendly terms like atmosphere, compost, and recycle.
6. Earth Day Bookmarks - The perfect Earth Day treat for your students. Available in full-color and black-and-white.
7. Earth Day Survey and Graph - A fun and different way to practice graphing in your classroom while encouraging collaboration between students.
8. Spring Coloring Book - Let your little ones COLOR & SPELL Spring words.
9. Love the Earth Mystery Picture Graph - Students will love discovering the mystery picture by coloring in the correct squares on the alphanumeric grid using the coordinates given. This is a great addition to an Earth Day or recycling unit!
10. April 2015 Journal - A month of free journaling for learners age 8 to 100! Read about important historic, artistic, and current events that happened during the month of April - including J. Robert Oppenheimer's birthday and Earth Day on April 22nd. Then develop vocabulary and critical thinking skills.

Want to turn your Earth Day celebration into an educational experience? Discover new ways to learn about the amazing planet we live on (without breaking the bank!) --> Earth Day learning resources<

Giveaway

Countless Smart Cookies reached 500 TPT followers! I am participating in her giveaway!

You can enter to win $5.00 product of your choice from my store and other great resources here: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Check out her store and all of the others participating! If you are not a 3-5 teacher thats okay because she has a giveaway for every level! You can find all of that info over at her site!  There are over 70 TPT sellers participating!

Best Sharpener Ever!

I have blogged about this awesome product before but I have to share again! If you haven't checked out Classroom Friendly Supplies you need to. I still can't believe how well it works! I was sitting in class when one of those moments came up... you know the one where EVERYONE needed to sharpen their pencils. My students could not stop talking about how great the sharpener was. True story I had 16 third graders going on and on about it.

Not only is their product WONDERFUL but this company is too. They have so many wonderful opportunities for teachers. You can partner with them for a giveaway, you can review their products and they were even generous enough to donate to our blogger meet up.

You need to check them out! I have a blue one in my classroom and I am thinking about getting the cute car for home.

What are you waiting for? Grab one for your classroom! Head over now. 

Run Quick!!!

There is just a few hours left to visit educents and follow my store! If you do it comment below by midnight tonight and I will give everyone who does the product of their choice from my educents store! Comment that you followed, your email and the product of your choice! PLUS if I reach 200 or more followers I will do another big giveaway on here tomorrow!!!! (IT WILL BE HUGE!!!) RUN AND FOLLOW ME ON EDUCENTS!

What is educents you ask? Read this post! I am not on educents you say. Sign up here!!! I have never given away so much so take advantage and tell your friends.....

Fight For Your Write

I love using technology in my classroom. I love technology period! However in a world where my two year olds know how to use an iPhone it is important to still focus on and teach fundamentals. That's where Fight For Your Write comes in. BIC believes that fundamentals are important too, like teaching handwriting in schools. I have taught at three schools only my current school focuses on writing cursive. I remember how excited I was to learn to write cursive. Kids need to learn how to type and be technology literate but they also need to learn how to properly write throughout school.

Visit the site and look at the great resources and facts to support the importance of teaching writing. Here are some of the interesting facts.

If you like what you see and support it you can even sign the petition. Not only does BIC create some of my go to school supplies but they also want students to succeed! 

Don't Be A Fool

Happy April Fools Day!  Don't be a fool..... run don't walk to the grand opening of the Educents Market Place! If you are not familiar with Educents its a teacher deal site. They run great deals on things you need for your classroom. If your interested you can sign up here! The market place is where you can buy teacher made resources!

To celebrate this exciting opening I have a forever freebie that you can only find on Educents! It is my Test Taking Strategy Posters. This is perfect for this time of the year with all of the high stakes testing. Once you get there make sure to follow my store! You will be up to date with any sales, deals, and new items that I have!

There is a group of third grade teacher sellers on Educents that are giving away $50.00 in edubucks! This $50.00 can be spent on anything on the site! Enter below!!!!!

Educents Marketplace $50 in Edubucks Giveaway #4 - Third Grade Stores


Now I am linking up with all of these other sellers! That way you can check out their new Educents Store and grab their awesome forever freebies!

An InLinkz Link-up

I hope you take advantage of this awesome new site!