Are you ready for the big sale?

I'm not going to say that dreaded "A" word because I don't want to think about what comes at the end of the month. BUT I do have exciting news that you may or may not have already heard.

TPT is having a sale! Go ahead and fill your cart with all the amazing products you know you've been waiting to purchase and had sitting on your wishlist for who knows how long.

My entire store will be 20% off, and then don't forget to enter the promo code at checkout for an extra 10% (which ends up being 8% when all is said and done)! I need to start making my list today since I'll be on vacation. Did I mention I was going to the beach? Sorry to those teachers who are already back. Maybe this will be a nice pick-me-up for the first day?

And here's another two bonuses: be sure to head over to my Facebook page for a chance to win $10 to my store. THEN head over to Mrs. O "Knows" for her Blogiversary giveaway where you could win a TPT gift card or Fifth Grade Bundle!

Teachers are HEROES!

After a solid week off from school for snow and really cold temps that wouldn't let it melt, we finally went back yesterday for a normal week (that is, if the snow doesn't really come Thursday). It took a lot of work to actually get out of bed and get ready, but I'm glad to be back into some kind of routine!

With the upcoming TpT sale, we want to help you find "heroic" products that have helped others in their classrooms. I recently received some wonderful feedback on my Brain Teaser Puzzles. These puzzles are geared toward upper elementary/middle school students. They are great as independent, fun practice for drawing conclusions and critical thinking.

Click on the image above or {here} to go to the products. This is just one example of the puzzles. I used to love them as a child and hope your students do, too!

Now head to Diane's blog for more superhero products and information on how to link up. Happy shopping!

Some (okay, lots of) Product Facelifts

I've been working hard to update products so they all have a cleaner, more uniformed look. It's taken a lot longer than I expected, but it's something I've wanted to do for a while. I've learned a lot in the past 2+ years since I first opened my store, and I want all of my products to reflect that style. So here are some of those products that you may have already purchased and may want to download again.

These two products got a TOTAL overhaul. I just didn't love the look of them (they were some of my earliest) with all the distracting fonts. I'm SO excited how they turned out, and you will definitely want to redownload them. The Bats unit is in my store for $4, but the pumpkins are my freebie. I would love some sweet feedback!

My literacy units are a growing section, but the covers were all messy and mismatched. I decided to go very simple and was very pleased with how they turned out. If you downloaded these, the only difference is the cover. No big changes here.

The literacy centers now take you all the way through the year, but people had been asking for answer keys since I started them. Now ALL answer keys are included along with the updated look (and some may have a new station added to them)!

And finally, these didn't need updates because they are the most recent, but there is a FIFTH skill pack included in my centers to last all year: Context Clues! It felt like forever to create it, but it's done! Keep your eyes out for more of these to come along!

Sorry for the shameless plug, but I've put a lot of work into them and wanted to share. Next up: Mystery sets!

A Two for Tuesday You Don't Want to Miss

 

It's that time of the week again, and I think you'll be really excited with my choices today!

For those who are new to this linky, every Tuesday bloggers choose two items in their store to put up for 50% off regular price FOR THAT DAY ONLY! This is a great chance to score some amazing products, so I would recommend clicking on the picture above to see who else is participating. Of course, that is, after you finish seeing what I have to offer. :-)

 

This is my newest product and includes all 9 of my popular "Case of" mysteries for drawing conclusions. I have also created a preview for this file so you can see the exact format for each mystery. Two of my most popular mysteries that are included are:

 

   

 

This file is regularly priced at $30, so it's a STEAL today for $15! I almost can't believe I'm doing it.



 

 

My other choice for this week is much smaller but still great for those planning for specific skills. I know our 5th grade students begin the year with a lot of character analysis. I created this file to really help them dig deeper into character. It's only $1 today!

 

Go check out what else is on sale, and be sure to come back tomorrow for my second to last book talk!

 

Two for Tuesday: Back to School

Week four, and I know some of you are going back to school very soon (or maybe even there already). The stores have all gone into back-to-school mode, and I'm even beginning to think about it this week while working on a committee for VDOE (which is why I will probably only post this quick one today and my book study tomorrow).

For those who are new to this linky, every Tuesday bloggers choose two items in their store to put up for 50% off regular price FOR THAT DAY ONLY! This is a great chance to score some amazing products, so I would recommend clicking on the picture above to see who else is participating. Of course, that is, after you finish seeing what I have to offer. :-)

Anyway, in honor of back-to-school, I'm featuring a few great choices to help you get you school year started on the right track!

These are some of my most popular products! Great for teaching inferences, this one can be used at the beginning of the year, although it's not necessary. Students have to use the clues provided to solve the case. In this mystery a boy finds someone's backpack, then he searches to find the owner. Only $2 today!

My other product is not back-to-school themed, which some of you may prefer. My camping literacy centers can be used any time through the year and are geared toward students in grades 3-5. I include more comprehension-based centers (fact & opinion, main idea, cause & effect) along with context clues, guide words, synonyms, antonyms, and suffixes. These are only $3 today!

Two for Tuesday: Week 3

And the deals continue! For those who are new to this linky, every Tuesday bloggers choose two items in their store to put up for 50% off regular price FOR THAT DAY ONLY! This is a great chance to score some amazing products, so I would recommend clicking on the picture above to see who else is participating. Of course, that is, after you finish seeing what I have to offer. :-)

These Duck Dynasty themed centers were a BIG hit with my students last year, and I love that you can use them any time of the year. Centers are geared toward students in grades 3-5 and include Fact & Opinion, Cause & Effect, Main Idea, Context Clues, Guide Words, Suffixes, Synonyms, and Antonyms. Today you can get the pack for only $3!

This Synonyms and Antonyms pack actually has TWENTY-FOUR different stations (12 centers for each), making it my largest pack so far! Today you can purchase it all for $5!

As always, happy shopping! And don't forget to come back tomorrow for week 6 of my book study on Bringing Words to Life.

Two for Tuesday

I don't know if Two for Tuesday will be back this week or not (last week was supposed to be the end), but I am so bummed to have missed the first 5 weeks that I decided to go ahead and do it even if I'm all alone!

»»»»UPDATE: It's still on!!!!

So, for TODAY ONLY you can purchase these two products for 50% off the regular price! Tomorrow, they will be back at full price, so hurry and tell your friends!

This is one of my newest sets of literacy centers which includes 4 comprehension centers and 4 word knowledge centers specifically created for students in the upper elementary grades. These regularly sell for $6, but today you can score it for $3!

And since my brand new packs for Main Idea and Cause & Effect did so well last week, I decided to offer my new Face & Opinion pack this week! It includes TWELVE themed centers to take you through the entire school year. This pack is usually in my store for $9, so you will have some major savings if you purchase today!

Happy shopping!

Winners, Feeling Appreciated, and One More Day!

Warning ahead of time: this post is very much a hodge podge of events. Sorry.

My giveaways ended last night and winners have been chosen!

You should have received an email from me. Please let me know if you didn't get it!

Have you been getting pampered? Our PTO did a potato bar on Tuesday, and today was dessert day. My goodness, they outdid themselves! There were SO many goodies that I had to really plan it out so I didn't get too many. Every single bit was delicious, and I'm glad it was only today because I would be in big trouble if we had this all the time. Good thing I'm going to Body Pump tonight!

I've seen C.Jayne Teach around the blogging world, but can I just tell you that this picture alone makes me want to go buy everything? I'm obsessed with the fun, bright colors! Collaboration Cuties is hosting a giveaway right now that I seriously am only telling you about so I can get an extra few entries. Otherwise I'd pray you missed it and I won. I know, selfish. But it's SOOO cute!!

Finally, the TPT website couldn't handle all the traffic it received yesterday, so they extended the sale ONE MORE DAY! If you had trouble (or just forgot or want to buy more), enjoy some more shopping!

TPT Loves Their Teachers

It's here! It's here! I don't know about you, but I love Teacher Appreciation Week. We are always treated to some goodies at school courtesy of our sweet PTO (Potato bar today, yay!), and there are usually a few freebies around town to pick up as well. This morning, the hubs and I stopped by McDonald's for free small McCafe drinks. Yummy hot chocolate always helps start my day on the right track!

But anyway, you may have heard that TPT was throwing a sale to honor us as well! My entire store is 20% off today and tomorrow. Then you can use the code TPTXO to receive an extra 10% (totaling 28% at most stores)! You can't beat it! I'm emptying some of my humongous wish list today :-)

Graphic courtesy of Michelle at The 3AM Teacher

And don't forget that my big giveaway also ends tomorrow at midnight!

And I'm sorry for all the short, non-teacher related posts recently. I promise to share something more substantial soon. We're in MAJOR crunch time because by this time two weeks from now, all of my 3-5 students will have finished their Reading SOLs. I'm a little freaked out!

Happy shopping!

My first Pin it to Win It!

I've been working on these centers for over two weeks now (my surprise winter break last week didn't help), and I'm SO excited to say that I finished with one week to spare before the Olympics actually begin!

TPT or TN

These centers are very similar to my others. They include:

• fact and opinion (with a more in depth graphic organizer to make kids really think)
• cause and effect
• main idea and details
• drawing conclusions (students have to guess the sport)
• prefixes
• synonyms
• antonyms
• abc order (with flags!)

And two lucky people are going to get them for FREE!! All you have to do is visit my pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/153333562287234274/ 

Click on the link and repin it to your boards. Then copy the URL of your pin and paste it in my comment section. Be sure to leave your email address so I know where to send the pack if you're a winner. Otherwise I'll have to choose someone else, and I'd HATE for that to happen.

I will choose a winner on Wednesday morning. Good luck!

My two wonderful winners were Monica and Erin. Thank you to EVERYONE for pinning!

Thirteen in '13 and a SALE!!

I saw this link up a little while back and thought it would be fun to participate. I think I did it last year, too!

 I think it's safe to say I love my skinny jeans! I would wear them every day once the weather gets a little cooler and I'm not in dresses anymore. Plus I love my boots (a close second), and the jeans are some of the few pants I can wear them with!

 Steven and I almost never go to the movies because they're so expensive, so we've only been once all year (although I really want to see Catching Fire).

 

I know this book was assigned when I was in high school, but I honestly couldn't remember ANYTHING about it except that it was set during the 20's and they liked to party. Thinking I didn't actually read it...but I really enjoyed the movie. And the music was really fun!

Still Big Bang Theory. We don't watch a lot of tv, especially now that we've gotten rid of cable/satellite. This show probably won't get old to me for a while!

We have this local restaurant that Steven and I discovered and LOVE! It's a little pricey but not terrible, so we go when we can. It's called Mint, and now their new chef is from The Next Food Network Star a few seasons ago (when we still had cable and were addicted to Food Network), so we really need to go again!

 

Malcolm Mitchell, chef

This year, I did two of those painting classes at this local shop. It was so much fun, and you get to bring home a piece of art! If you have one at home, you really should try it out.

My brother bought me the cutest leopard print shoes from Target! They're really comfortable, and my boots have been able to take a little bit of a break. Plus they're WAY cheaper than the adorable Tieks that I've been seeing around the blogging world but will probably never be able to afford.

I really haven't done a whole lot of pinning this year, but I did decide to go DIY for some Christmas presents, so I will share that idea - chalkboard coasters! They were so easy, and my aunts loved them!

Back in the summer, I participated in a VA blog hop that was so much fun! Even though I haven't had the chance to meet most of these ladies yet, I have enjoyed getting to know them online through the blogging community. We put together some great freebies for you to have (and I may be adding a new page to mine so this could be a reflection on the year as well).

I had a goal with my TPT store to make enough for a check in the first quarter (before they went to monthly payouts), and I made it! Going to premium seller was scary, but it has definitely been worth it. Thank you to all of my wonderful followers that love my stuff enough to buy it! You've already paid for my ticket to see my sister and her new baby in the spring!

That's a tough choice, but I think I have to go with this one. I like that it kind of shows how we're watching our little boy grow into something amazing!

Anything with Keagan is a great memory, but I would have to say this Christmas! He has really had a blast learning about the traditions, the food, and he had fun meeting some of my family for the first time.

I want to be more organized with my time so that I can focus more on my family. This may mean that I blog less (or at least only during scheduled times), but it's important that I take time away from the computer to make more memories!

Possibilities

Alright, we just got in from flying with a toddler who wouldn't let his mommy put him down, so I'm going to take a nap. You can stop by my store and treat yourself to something nice because I am having a sale!