I'm BAAACK!! And let's talk SQUIGGLES!!

Hiya Peeps! Kerri here...
I'm back in good ole Cali and I can't believe I go back to work tomorrow! BOO!! But also, YAY! because I missed my chitlins! 
Our trip was SOOO AMAZING...here are just a couple more pictures from Oregon!

Snowing on us at the Timberline Lodge!! My girls LOVED it!

These flower petals were an instant draw to my Katie Bug!

Mt. Hood is SOOO GORGEOUS!

Yes, those are 3 REAL LIVE deer that crossed the road in front of us!!

We also almost got lost in the woods snow shoeing but that's a story for another time!! :)


I also uploaded a new writing pack to TPT...check it out!

Squiggle example from my Writing pack!

This writing pack pays homage to my mom, who is my teaching inspiration, and was a teacher for 35 years. She used to do squiggle stories with her students, back in the ‘olden days!’ and when I started teaching, she introduced me to the good old “squiggle story!” 

Your students will go bananas for these squiggles and the pictures that they turn them into will BLOW YOUR MIND! I use these weekly in my Lit. Centers and my students just lOVe to write about their squiggles! They also LOVE when I share them with the class (Instant motivator!) and these will DEFINITELY keep them motivated to continue writing through the end of the year!

Included in this pack:

-20 squiggles for writing 

-extra lined writing paper

-a cute cover so you can make their stories into a book!

Click on the picture above to go to my TPT store!

I will be back on Thursday for the first of 2 big GIVEAWAYS from Learning Resources...Ooh la la!! How exciting! Hope your Tuesday is GREAT!

Blogger Meetup and Easter Break!

Hey friends!  Lindsay here . .  .


Well, that melancholy, I-can't-believe-my-Spring-Break-is-almost-over feeling is starting to set in.  But really, where did the time go?   I guess I have just been enjoying lots of snuggles with my sweet boy.  He is sitting up already!  Can you tell that he LOVES playing with all the big boy toys now?

And of course, although you can't tell in this photo, I am SURE he was lovin his super sweet Easter outfit as well!  We had a bow tie to match, but we weren't exactly able to locate Jack's neck underneath his numerous chins.  Oh well.  Next year maybe?

One of the highlights of this week was our Blogger Meetup last Saturday.  We had a HUGE group of girlies, including Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants, who came all the way from Utah!  So fun! Here is the whole group at the Cheesecake Factory! (Thanks Annie for sharing the great pic!)

It was super fun to chat with all the ladies, but my jaw seriously dropped to the floor when SHE walked in.  Yep. It was Heidi.  As in Heidi from Heidi Songs.  Love her!  At the end of lunch I awkwardly excitedly approached her and asked for a picture.  I was like a 14 year old girl meeting Justin Beiber or something.  So nervous!!  I think I said something like "I just love you!  And my kids love you!"  Anyway, she was super sweet, we took a picture, AND she brought a free DVD to share with everyone!  Yahoo!

And of course, Fran (NEVER a dull moment with Fran!) brought these "Hey girl" cards that she passed out.  They all had different Ryan Gosling photos with funny "Hey girl" pick-up lines aimed at teachers. HI-LARIOUS!!!  Mine was:

I had no idea these even existed, but I then had to google more "Hey girl" photos, because I heard there are so many varieties (for teachers, for quilters, for Disneyland fanatics, you name it!) . . .  Here is what I found.  Which one would be perfect for you??

First, for the ultime DIYer . . .

Ha ha . . . Kerri wasn't able to come to our Blogger meetup (dang Seatle trip!) but this one is PERFECT for her!

Of course, here's one for the "I-love-wasting-time-on-Pinterest" girls . . .

I love this one so much . . . for the Golden Girls lover!

This one could also work for me . . .

But this one is TOTALLY perfect for my "being-so-lazy-on-spring-break-in-my-stretchy-pants" self:

Ha ha.  So much fun!  I highly enourage you to print one out and put it right next to your desk . . . ya know, just in case you need a little Ryan Gosling pick-me-up during a hard day's work!  

Well, that's it for now folks.  Happy Friday!

Lindsay

My Northwest Adventure! and an Earth Day FREEBIE!!

Hi Friends! Kerri here...
Yes, I am currently on Spring Break so I'm gonna keep it short, so my husband doesn't JUDGE me too much for blogging whilst on VACAY! I know, I know, I have a problem, but in my defense, it IS 10:00 p.m., the chitlins are in bed, and the hubs is laying next to me watching TV, so I feel no guilt! :)
Here are some photos from our Washington/Oregon adventure so far...

NO rain!! YAY!

Gum wall outside Pike's Market. TOTALLY weird, but cool!

My sweet baby brother who we went to visit! He's such a cutie pie!

And an awesome uncle! I made him take this pic with Katie and he did it for me! 

Aren't gorillas so AWESOME!!

As are orangutans! This girl was chillin like a villain staring at all of us!

Trying to get my girls to take an artsy fartsy picture was like PULLING TEETH! I must have taken 20 and every single one was SILLY! Grrr...

Underground Seattle tour. FASCINATING! Did you know the old city is underneath?

Multnomah Falls. SOOOO gorgeous! YEs, those are bright lime green rain ponchos and yes, I am ROCKIN it!

Ahhh, feel the sisterly love! And the Columbia River in the background!

A teeny tiny flower and a teeny tiny bug! So pretty!

Me and the Hubs! He's the ying to my yang!

Lastly, here is a little Earth Day FREEBIE for all of you, just in time for Earth Week next week!! Number Puzzles for numbers 13-24. 

A sweet follower emailed me with the request and I thought, hey, why not!! 

I KNOW!! I have a problem!! I know I shouldn't be doing this on VACAY, but TinTin was on and I was only semi-into it, so I needed a diversion! Click on the picture below to go to my TPT store and download for FREE!!

Can't wait to share my Northwest Adventure Part 2 with you all later! Tomorrow we go to the Timberline Lodge! Can't wait!!

XOXO Kerri

Spring Break baby!! and a TPT sale!!

WHOO HOO! I did it! Spring Break is FINALLY here!
Hi Peeps! Kerri here...
In less than 24 hours I will be on a jet plane to Seattle to see my baby brother (11 years younger than me!) and then to Oregon to see Mt. Hood! Sooo excited!
We had bunches of fun today in class! Here is what we were up to... Spring Words Writing!

Simile! I am a proud teacher!

Of course the boys like to make their writing a little bit gross (Love it!)

He is very proud of his stinky, smelly pond!

We were also working on our American Symbols Unit...

American symbols ABC order

Betsy Ross Contraction Match-Ups

The next 3 things I just had to share because they are just too darn cute!! Look at my ADORABLE April/May door that one of my wonderful moms did for me. I positively LOVE it!

Another sweet mom made our yearbook page and framed the original for me for Easter. Isn't is AWESOME??

I think this idea is GENIUS!! How easy and cute it is.  One of my little girls brought them in to share!

In honor of Easter on Sunday, I will be having a little TPT SALE!! Everything in my TPT store will be 20% off through Easter Sunday! I uploaded a couple of new writing centers...

And you can pick up any of these...

All on sale for 20% off~~ Whoot whoot!


When I get back from my VACAY, it's gonna be Earth Day madness and then all things Rainforest! I can't wait!!
I hope you all have a safe and blessed Easter! He is risen!

Earth Day art FREEBIE, ICE CREAM, and the tale of the V-word!

Happy Wednesday, Peeps!! Kerri here...
There is a spring in my step, and that is because not only was it our FABULOUS Jog-a-thon today, but I also only have 3, count them, 3 more sleeps until SPRING BREAK, BABY!! That's right, come Saturday I'll be on a jet plane headed for SEATTLE and OREGON!! YAY!! 


Here is a little Earth Day art project FREEBIE for all y'all...

Here are the dimensions:
9 x 12 light blue background
5 x 12 skin color (I folded it in half, traced my daughter's hand and then cut it out once)
Earth pattern (click picture above to access this)
3 x 4 red folded in half for the heart (I used pretty scrapbook paper)
Writing paper so the kids can write how they love the Earth (also included with download, click photo above)


This art project ties in perfectly with my Earth Day Math and Literacy Unit, found here:

and my Earth Day writing center, found here:

Thank you SOOO much to those of you who have already purchased it! 


Here are some photos of our ice cream making on Tuesday. We did this very scientifical experiment to wrap up our unit on Matter...

Shakey Shakey Shakey, turning a liquid into a solid!

YAY!! In approximately 5-8 minutes, ICE CREAM!!

Here are the ingredients if you would like to try it with your class:

1 sandwich baggy per student filled with:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Seal baggy tight and then place this baggy inside a gallon sized baggy filled 1/3 full with ice and about 3 tablespoons of salt (I eyeballed it). Fold over  or seal the gallon sized baggy and shake like mad for 5-8 minutes. When ice cream is solid, throw away gallon baggy, open up ice cream baggy and eat with a spoon. DELISH!! My kids went BANANAS!

Okay, here we go...The Tale of the V-word (you might have heard of it?? It rhymes with ragina...)

Today, in reading groups, I was listening to a couple of my sweeties partner read while using the fabulous HEAR-ALL assessment recorder (Exhibit A):

My kiddos are reading together nicely, as I am giving them my best and fullest attention (like a good teacher should do, right?) 

At the same time, I am giving the evil eye to any student who dares interrupt the Hear-All recording my students reading. I successfully evil-eyed 2 students away from the reading table, but when this little darling came up, she was ON A MISSION. There would be NO DETERRING this one, no matter how evil my eyes were.

 

Cutie Pie Girl: "Mrs. B, Mrs. B, So and So said a word that is private..."

Me: Gesturing wildly to be quiet, while giving her the stink eye...

Cutie Pie Girl: "So and So said a private word and he said vagina!"

OH NO SHE DIDINT! And, WHILE the Hear-All assessment recorder was RECORDING! GAH! This little diddy recorded her words CLEAR AS A BELL! I was planning on emailing this little recording to the parents of my students who were reading, but NOT ANYMORE, obviously.

Me: (Deep breath) He said what??

Cutie Pie Girl: Vagina.

Me: So and So, come here please.

So and So: What?? I don't even know what it means.

Me: What word did you say?

So and So: Fagina?? I heard it on the playground. I don't even know what it means!

Me: (covering my mouth so he doesn't see me DYING...) Well, it's not a word we say at school and I don't want to hear you say it again.

SERIOUSLY? Va-jay jay? I am not making this up, people!

Needless to say, the actual, REAL Hear-All Assessment Recorder review and giveaway has been postponed while I recover from the V-word debaucle. Stay tuned...

XOXO Kerri