0 Fun Freebies for February!

Don't Eat Pete is a fun game to play at your classroom Valentine's Day party! This game will quickly become a class favorite!  Click {here} to check it out and download it for free. I also have a Halloween version {here}.

DIRECTIONS: Place one candy heart in each square of the game board. Send the first child away from the room, and have the remaining children choose which love monster will be "Pete". Then have the first child come back and begin eating the candy hearts, one at a time. As soon as the child tries to pick up the candy heart that is on the "Pete" love monster, everyone yells, "Don't eat Pete!!!!" Refill the game board with candy hearts, and play again with the next child. (You can also put sight words on top of each monster and have each child read the sight word before they can eat the candy.)

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You can send your students home with LOVE POX! This is always such a fun activity and parents love it, too! Click {here} to learn more and get the free printable.

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Your students will love these glow stick Valentines! Click {here} to get this free printable.

To make these Valentines, just print onto white card stock, cut out, sign your name, and tape onto a glow stick. Super easy, right?! Your students will be so excited to get these!

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If you are a teacher, then you already have a drawer full of fun {fancy} pencils! Pull those pencils out and download this Valentine tag {here} and you'll be ready to go on Valentine's Day. *Note: You might want to sharpen all of the pencils ahead of time... otherwise you'll have an instant line at your pencil sharpener. 

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These packets are also perfect for February! Click on the pictures to learn more!

(The Classroom Kindness Project is a great February activity, but it can be used all year!)

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Detail: Fun Freebies for February!

0 Silly {Little} Pumpkins

Please Note: This post may include Amazon affiliate links.

October is my favorite month! I absolutely love pumpkins, fall, and all things Halloween. So, when I saw this fanged pumpkin tutorial from Martha Stewart, I had to try it right away! I made them with my family and they all turned out so cute. (Side Note: At the end of the night, we were all covered in eyeballs and we were talking to each other while wearing vampire fangs. HOLY DROOL! Have you ever tried to talk with vampire fangs in your mouth?)

I found everything I needed at the grocery store. If you want to order through Amazon, you can find the fangs {here} and the googly eyes {here}. I used sticky googly eyes that stuck right on. Some of the kids had a hard time making them stay, though! You may want to use hot glue and have a parent volunteer help you out.

If you want your whole class to make these fanged pumpkins, then cutting out the mouth ahead of time is a MUST! Ask a parent volunteer to come in the day before to help you out. 

Mmmmmm.... Pumpkin Guts.... ;)

 The finished product is so darn cute and so fun. I have an assortment of these fanged pumpkins decorating my hutch and they are the best Halloween decorations I have out!

Be prepared for your students to get out of control with the googly eyes. I let my nieces and nephews put on as many as they wanted, but you may want to set a limit! 

The little guy who decorated this pumpkin sure is proud of it. :)

For other fun and engaging Halloween activities, check out my Halloween packet on TpT. Click on the pictures to check it out!

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

Detail: Silly {Little} Pumpkins

0 A Teacher's Plan Book

I have so many summer projects going on, and I am excited to show you my first finished product!

This Plan Book will help you get organized for the upcoming school year. 

This Plan Book can also be easily used from year-to-year! 

This Plan Book is also affordable, practical, and ink friendly. All the planner pages come in B&W and the cover pages come in color and B&W. This Plan Book comes in two forms: Editable and Non-Editable. 

Planner Pages Included: Personal Information, Student Birthdays, Student Information, Student Behavior Log, Student Transportation, Student Passwords, Student Whereabouts (for student who are pulled out of class), Volunteer Information/Calendar, Parent Contact Forms, Emergency Substitute Information, Substitute Forms, Daily Schedule, Notes (for meetings, ideas, etc.), For Next Year (idea page), Year At-a-Glance, Weekly Planning (available in PDF and PowerPoint), Monthly Calendars, Student Scores (by subject)

*If you don't use a Plan Book, these planner pages will work great on a clipboard!*

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Detail: A Teacher's Plan Book

0 All About Biographies: Update

I have updated my All About Biographies unit on TpT and I've added four new activities! (BTW: You can view my original post about this unit here.) My students started their autobiographies last week and they will present their final pieces at our school's Literacy Night! I love teaching my students about biographies. They get SO EXCITED to learn about famous people. The Justin Bieber biography is a favorite in my classroom right now {last year it was Emma Watson... kids are so funny}!

The first three people who comment with their email addresses will get this packet FREE!

How do you teach about biographies in your classroom?

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you remembered to wear green! ;)

Detail: All About Biographies: Update

0 Gold for Good Behavior!

Oh man... when it comes to behavior my little sweeties have been struggling lately! I think spring fever has kicked in and all they want to do is go outside and play in the sunshine (too bad it is going to snow this weekend)... My old tricks haven't exactly been working, and so I had to come up with something new. 

Since it is March, I created a behavior management packet called Gold for Good Behavior. I have been using this with my students for a few days now and it is working like a charm! 

I have divided my students into three teams: Team Shamrock, Team Leprechaun, and Team Ireland (these teams, and lots more, are available in the packet). Whenever I see a student with exceptional behavior, then they get to add a gold coin to their team's pot-of-gold. When a team fills up their pot-of-gold, then they get to have lunch in the classroom with me (lots of other reward suggestions are available in this packet, too)! 

I put everything on a black poster board and then laminated it. My students put the gold coins on with sticky tack (I sticky tack each coin ahead of time). The poster is in a place where everyone can see it.

I am excited to use this behavior management system the entire month of March!

What are some of your behavior management tricks?!

The first three people who comment with their email addresses will get this packet FREE!

Detail: Gold for Good Behavior!

0 Shamrock Measuring {A Mini Unit!}

 I have transformed my Candy Corn Measuring unit and my Snowflake Measuring unit into a March themed Shamrock Measuring Unit!! It is the exact same unit as the other two, just with a different theme {for all my friends who are teaching measuring this month}. 

This Unit Includes:

- Shamrock Rulers 

- Measurement Board Game

- Measure and Graph Activity

- Short/Medium/Tall Activity 

- Measure the Classroom Activity

The first three people who comment, with their email address, will get this unit FREE! 

Happy March, Sweet Friends! xoxo

Detail: Shamrock Measuring {A Mini Unit!}

0 Are you sick with LOVE POX?

On Valentine's Day I am sending my students home with a note that says:

I wish I knew who wrote this poem... it has been floating around my school in different variations!

Cute huh? And just in case you want to know what Love Pox looks like,

my niece (who was also one of my first graders) is modeling it for you:

I am going to give my student's Love Pox at the end of the day. I will give them a high five, and then I'll put a sticker on their face.  {For some reason, they all think this part is hilarious.}  When all my students have one sticker, I'll tell them they have Love Pox and what Love Pox is. Then I'll give them the note and 10 more heart-shaped stickers.  Before I send them home, they will put the 10 sticker on their faces. When they get home {I tell them to wait until they get home before they start spreading the love}, they have to spread the disease by giving a hug. When they give a hug or a high-five to someone, they have to give one of their stickers away to that person.

Click {here} to get the Love Pox note!

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Need some V-Day activities? Check out my February packet! 

My students are going to start making their Love Monster Sacks tomorrow!

I always love how different they all turn out, so I'll be sure to post pictures.

What fun things do you do for Valentine's Day in your classroom?

Detail: Are you sick with LOVE POX?

0 Have you met SUPER E??? {CVCe Words}

This week I introduced my students to SUPER E! Let's just say that they are CrAzY about him now! When I hung up their artwork in the hallway, they were so bummed that I wouldn't let them take them home the same day. One little boy said, "But Mrs. Erickson, how will I teach my mom about him if I can't take him home?" Sweet boy! Don't worry, I'll let them take their creations home soon! But for now, they are staying at school while we continue to learn about how awesome SUPER E is.

We haven't gotten through all the practice pages available in my CVCe Packet yet, but in all the pages we have done, SUPER E has made an appearance and he's kind of a big deal... :)

Last year, when I first posted about this unit, some great readers told me about this awesome YouTube video by Mark D. Pencil. Ummmm... WOW! It goes PERFECTLY with this CVCe Packet! My students beg me everyday to let them watch it again!!! {Have I told you lately how much they love SUPER E????}

Next week I am going to show my students the Word Caper. It is a great little Leap Frog video about adding silent E to the end of words.  Check it out for yourself {here}!

This Unit Includes: CVCe SUPER E posters {color, b&w, and draw-your-own}, a CVCe lesson suggestion with an accompanying worksheet, an original CVCe story with SUPER E as the main character {in color and b&w} with an accompanying worksheet, a SUPER E craftivity that your students will love {pictured above}, CVCe game {easy prep. work}, and 2 practices pages. 

Click {here} to check it out this unit for yourself!

How do you teach your students about CVCe words?

Detail: Have you met SUPER E??? {CVCe Words}

0 True or False?

Let's face it -- we teach in a world where our students NEED to know what true and false mean.

Just knowing what these words mean will give our students the upper hand on any test. 

In math right now, my students are learning about this true/false concept, but they aren't quite grasping their meaning. {Naturally, this motivated me to make a mini unit with some extra practice activities.}

In this unit, I have mixed a little vocabulary practice with a lot of math!! Here is to hoping that {by the end of the week} my students will really understand these words!

You can snag this mini unit in my TpT Shop for $3.50:

{Be sure to check out the preview to see exactly what is in this unit!}

The first person to leave their email address will get this mini unit FREE!

Detail: True or False?