Liebster Award

This is so cool!  Theresa at True Life I'm a Teacher just gave me the nod for a Liebster Award!  What a great way to recognize new and budding blogs, and I send my thanks to her.   

Here are the rules:

1.  Link back to the blog that nominated me.

2.  Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.

3.  Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator.

4.  Share 11 random facts about myself.

5.  Contact my nominees and let them know that I nominated them.

Here are the questions from Theresa:

1. What grade do you teach? What grades have you taught? How long have you been teaching?

I teach 2nd grade.  I have taught 2-5th grades.  This marks my 10th year in teaching.

2. What book do you read to your class each year without fail?

"Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo.  I even read it with a slight southern accent.  The looks on the kids' faces the first time I do that is priceless.  

3. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?

I would be a nurse.  I even strongly considered attending some courses at our local vocational school when I was in high school.  But when I found out how hard it is to find a job, I reconsidered.  Because it's not hard to find a teaching job at all, right?  (insert sarcasm here)

4. What's one thing you're just dying to buy for your classroom?

I would LOVE to get a class set of tablets for the kiddos.  I've thought about going paperless and the tablets would get me going in the right direction.

5. What's your non-teaching guilty pleasure?

I absolutely CAN NOT miss my weekly shows: Bates Motel on A&E and The Americans on FX.  I've also recently picked up Believe on NBC and am looking forward to the new season of Under the Dome on CBS.  

6. Favorite book (non-teaching related)?

I could read the Hunger Games series over and over.

7. What's one thing on your bucket list?

Take an Alaskan cruise.

8. Favorite restaurant?

Applebee's

9. Who would play you in a movie about your life?

Emily Blunt.  She seems to have just the right about of "crass and sass" in her, AND that way my husband could be John Krazynski!

10. What's one thing you could eat everyday?

Haagen Daz Coffee Ice Cream

11. What inspired you to begin blogging?

I was never one to brag about the things I do in my classroom.  But when I began following the blogs of other teachers, I found myself wanting to contribute, too.  I knew I was doing some pretty cool things with my students and I wanted to share that with people who appreciate just how much work goes into it.  

11 Random Facts About Me

1.  My husband is 15 years older than me and I am closer in age to my step-children than I am to him!

2.  I'm pretty sure my 103-year-old house is haunted.

3.  I have never been ice skating or skiing.

4.  I am in the process of getting my Concealed Carry permit.  

5.  I teach at the elementary that I attended as a child.  I even work with my 2nd and 3rd grade teachers and my high school volleyball coach.

6.  I have a three-legged dog named Mira.

7.  I don't like sweet potatoes or squash.

8.  I spent a week in the Bahamas on a 40 foot sailboat scuba diving with sharks and among shipwrecks.

9.  I love to read.

10.  I can't drive a manual transmission car.

11.  I absolutely adore my two boys, Cameron (7) and Benny (6), and tell them everyday to stop growing up.  I want them to stay my little boys forever.

Questions for my Nominees:

1.  What is your favorite recipe to make?

2.  What was the last book you read?

3.  Who would you choose to be the actress in the movie of your life?

4.  Have you met any celebrities?

5.  Who was one of your favorite teachers growing up?

6.  What were you doing on August 21, 1987?

7.  How many years have you been teaching?  What grades have you taught?

8.  What is your least favorite subject to teach?

9.  What has been the proudest teaching moment of your career?

10.  If you could be anything else besides a teacher, what would it be?

My Nominees are:

Alisha @

Lindsay @

Courtney @

Jana @

Meredith @

April Currently

Feels like a lifetime since I've linked up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade for her Currently Linky.  But in reality, it's only been two months!  I guess the school days haven't been flying by as fast as I thought they were.

Listening:  My two boys love to watch documentaries about the earth and animals.  When I came down the stairs this morning, they were watching one on monkeys in the Amazon.  Then we switched to one on caves. (we have the whole series recorded on our DVR)  But this one didn't keep their interests and they've wandered off.  But as with most of the kids' shows, I find myself continuing to watch even when they're not around!

Loving:  Instead of being in charge of 13 kids everyday, this week I'm only in charge of 2.  That's an improvement, if only for a week.  :0)  Besides, we were all needing a little break from one another.  I'm sure I was getting on their nerves as much as they were getting on mine!

Thinking:  Here I am on the third real day on break and I have very little to show for it.  I brought home my stuff to work on TpT products but so far I'm having trouble getting inspired.  Instead, I've rolled out of bed at 8:30 AND managed to take a nap everyday!  I know, L-A-Z-Y.  Getting groceries and a few loads of laundry done counts, though, right?

Wanting:  Wind gusts up to 55 MPH for the last two days doesn't exactly help the temperatures.  The other morning I woke up and listened to a howling wind that could of had snow with it.  To my relief, there was not a snowflake to be seen.  At this rate, I won't be getting my garden in until June!

Needing:  A pothole discovered my husband's rear wheel last week and caused $300 worth of damage and it STILL isn't fixed.  It's a lucky thing I'm on Break because he has been using my van to get to work.  We tried me taking him to work but his day starts at 7:00, which meant I had to get up at 5:30.  Not cool.  So instead, I am stuck at home with no vehicle.  

Hours and Last Day: Though there has been recent talk of lengthening the school day, right now our days start at 8:30 and end at 3:10.  And all the snow days this winter pushed our last day through the first full week of June.  

That's all for me.  Head back to Farley's to link up!

~Stacy

Throwing a Sale!

Who doesn't love a good sale?  Today I am linking up with Mrs. Sanderson at Flying High in First Grade to spread the word about my sale.

All of the items in  my TpT store are 15% off through Monday, March 31st.

Click on any of the images below to go to my store.

Here are a couple of my latest and greatest:

  

And here are a couple of oldies, but goodies:

And just for the fun of it, here are some freebies!

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!
~Stacy

A Little Birthday Selfie Fun!

A fellow teacher of mine was celebrating the BIG 6-0, ahem, I mean 2-9, so we threw a her little surprise party.  Everyone brought a chips-and-dip-type snack and there was even cake!

Also, knowing what a HUGE Illini fan she is, we all wore Illinois gear in her honor.

The party was right after the Oscars and that now-famous selfie.  So we had Ellen photo-shopped into our very own Teacher Selfie!

The birthday girl is just to the left of Ellen.  

And just the other day, I came across this AWESOME clip art!

Sarah at Educlips drew this up.  

Everyone have a great day!

~Stacy

TpT Product Update!

Oh!  I am so excited!  I FINALLY got my latest unit posted to TpT and I just HAD to brag it up!
Here it is!
(Click on the image to see it at my store.)

I absolutely LOVE the Magic Tree House series.  They are such a great way to introduce historical fiction to you students.  Though they are chapter books leveled (mostly) for 3rd grade, any 2nd grader would enjoy these, too!  

See?  I began with only two books and have slowly grown my collection.  With each new addition, I am inspired to create something that will expand my students' knowledge about history.  I have two other units based on the Mary Pope Osborne series: "Thanksgiving on Thursday" and "Civil War on Sunday".  My plans are to continue on with "Mummies in the Morning" and "Dinosaurs Before Dark".

But I digress......  

Here are a few up close views of this unit.

The great thing about the Magic Tree House books is that there is some historical event or element that you can expand upon.  In this case, it was the Revolutionary War.  So here the kiddos create timeline of the war and learn more about George Washington and King George III through research.  They also learn about the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere, and Valley Forge!  

And, or course, EVERYTHING is Common Core Aligned.  

This Unit has nearly a month's worth of work in 164 pages for only $12.

Several posts ago, I had made grand plans to update my "A Chair for My Mother" Mini-Unit. 

  

And here it is!!!!

(Click on the image above to see it at my store.)

All new graphics, with black and white options, and the unit is now Common Core Aligned!

This mini-unit has 53 pages and is only $5!

Okay, bragging done!

~Stacy

TpT SALE and an Eagle Update!!!!!!!!!!!

Start working on your wishlist, ladies.  Teachers Pay Teachers is getting ready for a big sale this week!  Here is a great opportunity to grab some incredible teaching materials at such amazing prices.  

I've readied my store for a whopping 20% off everything.  Use the promo code TPT3 to get another 8% off.

Here are a few of my best sellers.

 

(FYI:  I am currently working on another Magic Tree House Book.  "Revolutionary War on Wednesday" should be out within the next month.  After that I'm moving on to "Mummies in the Morning" and "Dinosaurs Before Dark"!)  

 

And here is my Decorah Eagle Unit.  I recently did a post on these beauties.  You can read about it here. 

By the way!  As of February 23rd, the Decorah eagles have laid their first EGG of the season.  Now begins the countdown to hatching.  In years past, the pair have had 2-3 eaglets.  Incubation takes 35 days.  So by March 30th we should be seeing signs of hatching.

Head over to UStream TV to watch these eagles, then check out my unit.

So click on the sale banner above to check out all the great materials at TpT.  Or click on the Shop button on the right or on any of the product images to head straight to my TpT store.

~Stacy

A {Belated} President's Day Activity

Well, I guess it was a good thing we had President's Day off of school because here in Illinois it would've been ANOTHER snow day!  Yes, 5 more inches fell upon us yesterday.  And there were even reports of snow thunder.  

Since we had the day off for more than just snow or extreme temperatures, I wanted to make sure the kids understood why they got to sleep in and play on the wii all day.  

I started out with this uber-cute FREEBIE by Teacher to the Core.  The kids make a mini book that teaches them more about the two presidents: Washington and Lincoln.  (Click on the image below to go to her store to get your own copy)

The book is packed with simple facts about the former presidents.

And, lucky us, we just started money today and there was a great correlation!

In addition to the mini-book by Teacher to the Core, I also pulled out my President's Day Cootie Catcher.  My kiddos love working with cootie catchers.  It's taken a few practices but they're beginning to learn how to fold the paper just right.  

The catcher has more facts about the presidents and they need to lift the flap to see if their answer is correct.

In honor of these two great presidents, I will be selling my President's Day Cootie Catcher at my TpT store at a reduced price.  Regularly priced at $1.75, now only $1!  Click on the image below to go to my store.

Available for this week only!

To bring all this together, I will be having my students write what they learned about each of the presidents. 

The students are asked to include important information like: name, number president, the years served in office, what currency they are featured on, etc.  They must also include a few other facts that they learned about their president that they didn't already know.  For example, George Washington never lived in the White House.  (Because it hadn't been built yet!) 

 Above is the great peek-over craft we make to hang with the writing.  For your own copy of patterns, click on the pictures above.  I'll do a follow-up post after my students have finished their writings.

~Stacy