Wish List Wednesday

Happy Hump Day!!  Sorry about the late post tonight, but I spent the day at school for a summer planning session with my team.  We have four kindergarten teachers this year, which is new for us.  You might remember I mentioned our school is absorbing half of a local elementary school that is closing for remodeling so our teams this year have changed and grown, and many of us have never worked together before.  We are also absorbing half of the student population, so our class sizes will grow.  After two years, the other elementary school is proposed to be finished. Lots of changes!!  Our school was able to provide a paid summer time team planning day, and my team met this morning.  We were able to completely plan the first week of school and create an outline for the second week.  SHEW, that's a stress relief for the beginning of the year!!  We don't have to take any precious time during those first few days of school before the kids come back to plan since we already got a chance to, so we can focus on making sure our rooms are completely ready for our kinders.  I'm excited, and very glad that we got so much planned!!  I feel like I am starting the year off on a good note, and that I am doing a good job of maintaining my goal to be more organized this year!!

Clipart created by Krista from The Creative Chalkboard.

For anyone new to my blog this week, welcome and thanks for following!!!  YAY YOU!!  :-)  On Wednesdays I like to share with you items from my Wish List.  They could be items from any Wish List I have, TPT or 'real-life', as well as any Wishes I granted myself.  One of my most exciting so far was my trip to the Crayola Factory!!  You can read about my Crayola Experience by clicking on the picture below.

This week I want to share with you some Wishes I granted myself from my TPT list.  What with launching my Facebook page, reorganizing my Pinterest boards, and celebrating my blog's first birthday, I felt in the mood to grant some Wishes.  Here's what I got!

All numbers are clipart designed by Mel from Graphics From the Pond.

This awesome little bundle is from Literacy Without Worksheets and is going to help me with my goal to be more organized this school year!!  This packet is really amazing!!  It has TONS of editable pages to help you develop charts and groups, as well as keep track of your lessons and data.  I'm really glad I got this during the summer, so I have time to play around with it and make it fit my classroom and needs.  SO EXCITED!!!

I purchased this INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC resource from Kreative in Kinder and I am SUPER EXCITED about it!!  Since I am planning on launching Writer's Workshop this year in my room, this packet is going to be a HUGE help!!  It was created BY a kindergarten teacher FOR kindergarten teachers, and I love all the step-by-step directions!!  Another win!!

Seeing as how 2D and 3D shapes are such a huge part of the kindergarten curriculum, I was stoked when I found this AMAZING set of clipart from Ashley Hughes.  How perfect are these graphics for helping my kinders make real-world connections to the shapes!!  I can't wait to start creating with them!!

One of the things I want to work on this year is making my Word Wall more interactive.  I have decided to change the location of my Word Wall in my room and move it to a larger space.  Also, I found this fantastic packet of Word Wall Center activities created by Reagan Tunstall!!  They are a perfect fit for ANY word all, and are super-fun too!!  My kinders will work on these during the Word Work time of Daily 5!!  I'm sure this packet will help my Word Wall to become a center point in my room!!


If you found any of these products interesting, just click on the picture and you'll be taken right to the link where you can purchase a copy for yourself!!

Remember to come and enter my very first giveaway!!  Just click on the picture below to be taken to the blog post where I talk about my giveaway!!!

Wish List Wednesday

My little Lilly is FINALLY napping, so I'm going to try and get some work done before she wakes up again!!  That little munchkin can take a twenty minute nap and be ready and raring to go for the next four hours!!!  Love her though...look at how happy she is!!!

So Wednesday means it's Wish List Wednesday, where I get to share some of the products that are on my TPT Wish List, some of the products I have purchased from my Wish List, and daily life wishes I've granted myself.  Today I'd like to share with you some items that are still on my Wish List.  If you see something you're interested in for your own Wish List, just click on the picture to take you to the designer's TPT store.  Once there, you can click on the 'Add To Wish List' button underneath the 'Buy Licenses to Share' button.

Here's a few more items from my evere-growing Wish List on TPT.

ONE

Michelle from Kreative in Kinder has made this INCREDIBLE packet to help launch the Writer's Workshop program in your classroom.  I have plans to start Writer's Workshop in my room this year so this product would be a HUGE help!!  

TWO

One of my goals for this upcoming school year is to be as organized as possible.  This packet has several editable templates and data recording sheets.  I think that being able to use this awesome bundle from Literacy Without Worksheets will make guided reading run much more smoothly.

THREE

Since I teach kindergarten, shapes are a huge part of my curriculum.  It has been really hard for me to find graphics of real world objects that match the 3D shapes we're learning.  This amazing packet of clip art from Ashley Hughes at The School Supply Addict will be a huge help to teaching my littles their shapes and how to connect them to the real world.

I hope I'll be able to buy these before school starts up in 6 weeks!!  Do you have a TPT wish list? What's on it?  Please leave a comment telling me about your wishes, and they might end up on my Wish LIst too!!!

Share It Saturday

It's the weekend...but during the summer, doesn't every day kinda feel like it's the weekend??  :-) Ssoo....back towards the beginning of the summer I made a few goals.  One of them was a Summer Bloggin' Schedule.  If you remember, it was supposed to go something like this... {click HERE to read that post}

See, the idea was to keep myself on track with blogging every day.  I have this summer problem where, during the summer break, I have a hard time remembering what day of the week it is...  I wanted to give myself daily topics to focus on over the summer so I would not fall out of the habit of blogging every day (ish).  After participating in a few linky parties, I quickly realized that linky was the way to go.  So, my schedule evolved.

I found out the Teaching Tribune was having a linky party for every weekday, and I was stoked to link up with them!!  However, their awesome Summer Bloggin' has ended.  :-(  I'll have to think of something else to do for Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays...stay tuned!!  :-)

I am VERY EXCITED that Book Talk Tuesday, hosted by Deanna at Mrs. Jump's Class, is a linky party that will last ALL YEAR LONG!!  I am really excited to get to learn about so much literature, as well as share some of my favorite favorites.  This linky has really inspired me to look at how I use literature in the classroom in an entirely new way, and I can't wait to see what else it has in store!!

I have been working on an activity that I created to go along with some different literature books to use at the beginning of the year, and I would very much like to talk about it on this week's Book Talk Tuesday, but we'll see if I can get it to look how I want it to before then...

There is also talk that The Teaching Tribune may keep their Two for Tuesday linky party going throughout the year.  That is a fun one too, because you get to find lots and lots of great resources listed at half off.  That linky was fun too, so if they keep that one going I will try to participate in it, too!!

I'm going to continue doing Wish-List Wednesday, because I enjoy getting to talk about the products, graphics, and fonts I find on TPT.  I also like talking about the wishes I grant myself in every-day life, too.  It would be neat to get other people to link up for this, but I don't know if that would be something people would be interested in....

On Sundays I link up with Michelle at Fabulous in First for her Sunday Smorgasbord linky party.  I quickly realized this linky party did the same thing as what I wanted for my Monday posts, but Michelle's blog gets WAY more traffic than mine, so I decided to go with hers. ;-)

So instead of having 'Weekend Wonders' (my original idea), on Sundays I'll be participating in Sunday Smorgasbord, and on Saturdays I'll be trying out an idea called Share It Saturday.  Just a little something I thought I'd try where I could share with you different ideas and activities I find or create.  I would love this to become my first linky party, but I'd like to get some feedback from the followers that I have.  Would there be an interest in a weekly linky party like a 'Share It Saturday' where bloggers get together to share different ideas, tips, tricks, freebies, activities, places to visit, etc.?  Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!!  Thanks so much!!!

For Share It Saturday, I wanted to share some cool freebies I found while floating around TPT. From now on, I am calling this activity 'Research' for my Share It Saturday posts!!  :-)

ONE

First, there's this little gem from Crystal at Kreative in Kinder.  It is an ADORABLE little Monster Math game.  All you need to play are some sort of small items to use as counters, and 1-2 dice per pair. Click on the picture to go over to Crystal's TPT store and grab a copy for yourself!!

TWO

Next, if you are anything like me and LOVE all things clip art, you tend to become obsessed with finding freebies.  Here is an awesome set of pencil graphics, that could be used to set up a Writing Center or Writing Process Chart, as well as labeling mailboxes or lockers!!  Best of all, there are TONS of other freebies at Ashley's TPT store!

THREE

Finally, here is a fabulous packet of Word Work activities that fit into your Writing or Word Work Centers.  This free packet of activities was created by Krsta from Creative Clips.  I absolutely ADORE her graphics and fonts, and she has some great activities in her store too!!

Also for Share It Saturday, I have something I'd like your opinion on.  I'm working on creating another activity to use with my kinders, and would love to hear your suggestions on which frame to use.  Here are  a few things you should know: Each letter of the alphabet would need to be represented at least twice, which would make it easier and less time consuming to go with a frame that has straight lines and can be easily taken to the paper cutter.  However, the circle frames are really cute too.  I'm stuck and would love to hear your thoughts!!

From upper-top let corner:  1. Oval frame - I know it looks a bit like a circle, but it isn't.  It's an oval.
                                           2. Circle frame
                                           3. Polka-dot frame
                                           4. Photograph frame - it needs to be trimmed in this picture, but it's a frame like the 'old-timey' scrapbook photo elements.

I really appreciate all of your feedback, so PLEASE leave a comment to tell me which you think works best and why!!  Also, don't forget to let me know your thoughts on having a Share It Saturday linky party!!  Thanks SO MUCH!!

Wish List Wednesday

For my second post today, I'd like to share with you my Wish List again!  If you remember from the past few weeks, my Wish List Wednesday posts involve me sharing with you some of the MANY items from my TPT Wish List, some of the items I have bought from my TPT Wish List, as well as things I have crossed off my Daily Wish List (nothing to do with TPT stuff).

First, I HAVE to share with you an AWESOME wish I granted myself on Monday.  I took my nephew and went on a day trip to Easton, PA.  What in the world could I find in Easton, you ask??  Why, the Crayola Factory, of course!!  Oh. My. Goodness.  This place is a teacher's DREAM!!!

AAHHH!!!  I had such an AMAZING TIME!!!  The whole factory smells like brand new crayons!! There are so many amazing murals all around the building, with lots of Crayola history on each.  This is the left side of the front of the building.  I took almost 200 pictures that day, so I shall try to contain myself with the sharing!!  :-)

 Crayola Factory selfie with my nephew!!  The sun was seriously bright that morning!!  :-)

Here, my nephew Mason is standing next to the World's Largest Crayon!!  Yes, it is a real crayon that you could write with...if you could pick it up!!

There is just SO MUCH to see and do at the factory, it is called 'The Crayola Experience".  I got to make crayons, melted crayon wax paintings, and so much more!!  I am already planning my next trip!!

Check out the crosswalk from the parking garage to the factory!!

I made a Color Blend marker!!!

I got to make a whole set of crayons to match my dragon-themed classroom!!  I tried to pick some dragon-type names to go with each color!


I just wish I could share ALL of the amazing pictures I took at the factory, but that would make this post a book!!  Let's just say I CAN'T WAIT to go back!!!  I have a few things from the Gift Shop on my Wish List now, like the 2 pound crayon and the 'Fill Your Own Tin' of crayons from the 'Pick Your Color Wall'.  LOVE!!!


As for my TPT Wish List, I allowed myself a few more purchases.  Here's what I bought!! {click on any of the picture to go to TPT and get a copy for yourself!!}

ONE

This AMAZING bundle from one of my very favorite clip art designers, Krista Wallden from Creative Clips.  This really is an ULTIMATE kids bundle, with 41 different kiddo graphics.  It's a steal for only $8.00, and it won't be in her store forever so make sure to grab yours while you can!!


TWO

Another AMAZNG set from Krista, her long-awaited and much-anticipated Zoo Animals clip art set.  There are so very many super-cute animal graphics in this set, it's just PERFECT for creating activities to go with a unit on animals!  I got it on sale (lucky me!!), but you can grab a copy for the low price $10.00!!


THREE

This HUMONGOUS alphabet kid clip art was created by Mel from Graphics From the Pond. I got mine for a super-low introductory price (it helps to stalk my favorite designers on Facebook so I can get advance notices of their amazing deals!!), and if you want a copy it's only $18.00 for 104 graphics!!

FOUR

Another AMAZING set of background papers from Krista Wallden.  Have I mentioned she's one of my very favorite designers??  :-)  This pack of 18 super colorful background pages was a steal at $2.50!!


FIVE

This awesome little activity was created by Lola at Preschool Wonders.  I just recently found her blog and TPT store through participating in the Two for Tuesday linky party hosted by The Teaching Tribune.  It is such a cute activity that can be used during the beginning of the year when littles are still working on learning letter formation and the most common letter sound.  You choose an ABC card, call it out, and students color in the matching space on their recording sheets.  How cute is that!?!  After introduced during a small group lesson, I can totally see this activity being used during Word Work time of our Daily 5 Rotations!!  You can grab a copy for yourself from her TPT store for a super low price of $2.50.  If you're quick, fast, and in a hurry, you can grab it while it's still on sale for the SUPER low price of $1.25!!!


I hope you are able to grab a few wishes for yourself!!  To all of you in Vegas for the conferences this week, I'm super jealous!!  I hope you have an amazing time and learn lots of awesome things!!  It is on my Daily Wish LIst to go next year, I am already starting to save up my fundage!!!  

Worksheet Wednesday AND Wish-List Wednesday

It's the middle of the week, so that means time for a post about my Wish-Lists.  Oh, and I also decided to link up with The Teaching Tribune for their linky party, 'Worksheet Wednesday'.  I'll start there today.

This is the first time I'm participating, so I thought I'd share one of my most downloaded worksheets.  This worksheet was designed to meet the Common Core Standard K.OA.3: Decompose numbers less than or equal to ten into pairs in more than one way.  The activity has kinders working on figuring out number partners for given numbers by drawing some marbles inside a jar and some out of a jar.  The worksheet gives them the number to create as well as the colors to use.  Best of all, it's FREE!!

Don't forget to go back to The Teaching Tribune and see what other bloggers have linked up to share their worksheets for this Wednesday!!

Last but not least, my Wish List Wednesday post.  Today I'd like to share with you some items I have checked off of my TPT list.  There have been so many awesome summer sales that it's been easy to grant some of my wishes!!  :-)  p.s. - Since 5 is my favorite number, that's how many wishes I granted myself.

ONE

I was able to scoop up this sweet creation from one of my very favorite clip art designers, Krista Wallden from Creative Clips.  Doesn't this set of clip art just make you want to high-tail it to the nearest cupcakery?!?!

TWO

I have been looking all over for a font like this, and there it was just chilling out on my TPT Wish List.  So, I made sure to buy it!!  It's from Mel at Graphics from the Pond, and is PERFECT for creating different activities to use during our Word Work time during Daily 5 rotations.  If you've ever worked with elkonian letter boxes, this is pretty much the same thing!!

THREE

Another purchase I have made off of my Wish List recently is a great set of candy store themed clip art that I got from Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah Designs.  This set of clip art is what I'll be using to completely revamp how I track sight word mastery in my classroom.  Make sure to keep checking back so I can share with you how I'm using this!

FOUR

I don't know about you all, but I simply LOVE adding to my Font Book!!  I have been actively searching out additions to my FB (Font Book) and came across this little gem.  It is only the first of many such packets created by Cara Carroll, so I made sure to add the other packs to my TPT Wish List!!

FIVE

Last, but CERTAINLY NOT least, of my Wishes Granted that I'll share today comes from Laura at Whimsy Clips.  I just LOVE how cutesy her clip art is!!  This set is DEFINITELY going to be helpful when I start creating Word Work activities my kinders can complete during Daily 5!!  I was so excited to find this packet that contains ALL 5 vowels and their long vowel sounds.

I hope that my sharing some of my Wishes has inspired you to go and make a few of your own!!  I am eagerly anticipating a new release from Krista Wallden and CAN'T WAIT to add it to my collection!!  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for Throw Back Thursday!!

Wish-List Wednesday -and- a Book Talk Tuesday FREEBIE!!!

It's Wednesday, and what a HOT one around here!!  Not nearly as hot as those out in the Midwest, but the humidity here MORE than makes up for the difference!!  SO GRATEFUL to now live in a house with central AC, as opposed to an ancient window unit....  :-)  (a few hours after I took this screen shot the temperature shot up to 97 with a Real Feel of 104!!!)

My Summer Schedule says that today is the day I talk about my Wish-List.  Remember my Summer Blogging Schedule?

Wish-List Wednesdays will cover all sorts of Wish Lists, not just the one I have going over at TPT!!  For this first Wednesday though, I'm going to talk mainly about my TPT Wish List and at the end of the post will add on a few Wishes for my summer list!

Like many of you, I joined TPT as a buyer a few year ago and the very first thing I did was search around for different resources I could use and many of them ended up on my TPT Wish List (in case you've never 'wish-listed', there is a small button underneath the orangey purchase button.  This says 'Add to my Wish List' and is a great way to set aside different resources you would very much like to purchase but can't at the moment.  Your wish list can be visited any time, and anything you ever wished for can be purchased whenever you want to.  When I became a TPT seller, my wishes changed a bit but I still utilized the Wish List.

Today I checked my TPT Wish List for the first time in a LONG time and decided it was past time to start actually BUYING the resources I had pinned.  Today I granted myself 1 wish...and added 3 more!!  Just a bit ago I purchased another AMAZING creation from Krista Walden who is the creator of Creative Clips Digital Clipart, which I LOVE!!!!  You should really go check out her TPT Store!!

Here is the Wish I bought today.  Isn't this clip art just too precious!?!?  I have been tossing around an idea for a few months now about how to revamp the way I introduce and encourage sight word mastery, and this is exactly what I was searching for!!  Silly me forgot ALL about it being on my Wish List and I was honestly excited to find it on there because it reignited my desire to change how I handle sight words.  Now I can start turning my ideas into creations, all thanks to the awesomeness of Krista!!  I am so in love with her creations that I simply HAD to join her Summer VIP Membership!!

I am IN LOVE with this idea of hers!!  Each week of the 10 weeks of summer, she will send out a new set of EXCLUSIVE clipart along with a newsletter chock full of tips and tricks for how to get the most out of your clipart.  She started this on June 1st and membership was only $10, but I just now found out about it on Week 3 and paid $14 (still WAY WORTH IT!!)  If this sounds at all interesting to you, you really need to go grab a membership for yourself before the price increases next week!!

**PART OF KRISTA'S PACKET, NOTHING I CREATED**

This shows some of the goodies that Krista included in the Week 1 set.  I love the brightness of those neon papers, and the flowers are just too cute!!

**PART OF KRISTA'S PACKET, NOTHING I CREATED**

Week 1 has these super cute thank you cards that you can print out and use.  Week 3 also has a set of note cards with smaller versions for student desks.  So wonderful!!

**PART OF KRISTA'S PACKET, NOTHING I CREATED**

She also included this little surprise, where each week she will include a different kidlette graphic. I'm so excited to see which graphics are added each week!!  I'm telling you, it's like a little bit of Christmas all summer long!!

I also added a few things to my TPT Wish List that I'm actively saving up for.  I REALLY want to be able to use these little gems in my creations...but it will definitely require me to save up my funds!!

Here is one of my newest Wishes.  This totally awesome Alphabet Clip Art Mega Bundle from Pink Cat Studio.  I am ALWAYS on the look out for new clip art sets to add to my 'beginning sound library', since they are so very useful when creating materials for my kinders.  This bundle of 312 graphics is $99 on TPT, and is one of the top Wishes on my List.

Another one of my top Wishes is an alphabet clip art set from Mel at Graphics from the Pond.  I love her creations SO MUCH that I am proud to call myself one of her 'Clipart Addicts'!!  This set has 533 graphics for the alphabet, and is also listed at $99.


The last of my BIG THREE WISHES is definitely the most expensive wish I have ever listed, but once I can purchase it I know it will be SO WORTH IT!!  This wish is from Kimberly Geswein from KG Fonts, and is a lifetime license to use every single one of her fonts in my products.

This license gives the buyer unlimited usage of over 230 fonts in all commercial products, and it is definitely worth the price of $259.  I can't wait until I'm able to purchase this!!!  I love her fonts so very much, and cannot wait until I get the chance to use them in my TPT creations to make them even more amazing!!


Here's a few things on my Summer Wish List:

I am SO GOING to the Crayola Factory this year!!  My parents took my nephew a few summers ago, and I have been DYING to go ever since!!!  All my faithful readers know how OBSESSED I am with all things Crayola.  I am totally touring the factory this year!!

The Great Wolf Lodge, complete with large indoor water park, is somewhere my family and I would like to spend a few days.


I have a few other Wishes on my Summer List, but I'll share those on a different Wednesday!

Now, for those of you who read through my whole post, here's a reward!!  Yesterday I posted about David Shannon's book David Goes to School as part of my Book Talk Tuesday.  {click here to read that post}  I had a very kind and thoughtful comment left by Mrs. Brown, who commented about something she does with her kinders.

She makes a reading response sheet to go along with the literature books her class reads during the year, and at the end of the year she binds them all into a book for her littles to take home.  I LOVE this idea, and I can totally see a use for it in my classroom!  My school does a 'Guess That Book' trivia game on the morning news, and my kinders would definitely be able to benefit from a resource they could refer back to in order to find out the mystery book.  Thank to Mrs. Brown's comment, I decided to whip up a simple response sheet that could be used with this book. Since I tend to use this book during the first two weeks of school, I'm keeping the sheet SUPER simple for my kinders!!

I used some of Krista Walden's Summer VIP Members Only Newsletter and clip art to make the cover for this resource.  Pretty cool, huh?  I hope that you are able to use this in your classroom, and I hope that the sweet Mrs. Brown will be able to use it as well!!