Gearing up for Sochi!

I am a sucker for the Olympics.  I love learning about the athletes and feel so proud cheering for the best of the best.  Anyone who knows me also knows my love of organization.  I think this is why my favourite thing to teach is graphing.  In honour of the Olympics and my love of graphing I have put together another Find it, tally & Graph pack.  I think this one will be a gold medal winner with my kids.

I will be making this pack a flash freebie later today on my FB page.  Don't miss out.  

https://www.facebook.com/OnceUponAClassroom

My Name is Erin...And I am an Addict...

A Melonheadz Addict that is!  Woot Woot!  I am so excited to be part of Nikki's exclusive Melonheadz Addict club.  As you can see I am proudly displaying my addict number 96 badge on my blog.

Good news - if you would like to be a member of this exclusive club you can too!  Here's a link to check out Nikki's offering on her blog :)  Melonheadz Addict Club!

9 more sleeps until Christmas - Be safe everyone!

Holidays Around the World, Facebook & A Follower Freebie!

I'm back!  Trying to manage a household with 3 kids under 6, work, work out at the gym and work on my TpT resources (WOW...that's a lot of stuff with the word "work" in it) my blog is like an old friend that I'm able to catch up with about once a month.

At least I always seem to come back with good stuff.

First up is my newest unit - I can't tell ya'll how many hours went in to this one!  Holy Hannah - even my kids did a happy dance for me when I finally posted it on TpT last night.  This unit is SO SO much fun.  5 Holidays, 5 Posters, 10 Original Readers, 1 awesome paper bag passport + crafts, procedural writing and more.

Holidays Around the World!

Next up is my brand new FB page!  I'm hoping to tend to it more than my poor lil' old blog.  Please check it out and "like" it if you want to follow along!  Once Upon A Classroom FB Page

And last but not least..a little freebie for you!  Thanks for sticking around.  It means so much that you care enough to lend me your time and interest.

See you in 2014!

Superhero Spelling & A Bookmark Freebie!

Phew!  I really need to dust the cobwebs off of my blog - and not because we just had Halloween!  I have been very busy working on a few resources and have let things slide a little lot.

I wanted to tell you a bit about my newest resource - 'Superhero Spelling'.  I've included all of the Dolch Pre-Primer words and put them into 5 different graphs.  Each word is written in a different font to help kids learn how to recognize letters and words even though they may look a bit different.  Each word collage has a tallying and graphing student recording sheet.  Once students have found all of their words, they make tally marks and graph their data.  Finally, there are 5 super fun follow up activities.   What's great about this resource is that you can start it in class and then send the follow up activity home or use it at the center.  Sending it home is a great way to get parents involved in their child's learning.  Here is an example of what one of the word collages looks like:  

And here is one of the follow up activities:

Click on the cover to see this resource in my store!

And now for your freebie!  Your students will love having their own superhero sight word bookmarks.  Use these as a reward for learning all of the Pre-Primer words or give them out to students to use during quiet reading time.  Click on the pics to download!

Happy Teaching!

Erin 

Happy Early Halloween Freebie!

I know, I know...we JUST started back.  However, the fact that it is only September has not deterred retail stores from stocking their shelves with halloween stuff since July.  Seriously...JULY peeps.

When I saw these adorable graphics from Nikki over at Melonheadz I knew I had to use them to release a new FREEBIE reader in honour of my favourite holiday.  So here it is!  It's a cute little rhyming book that includes contractions on each page.  After reading the book, students must write out the contractions at the bottom of the page where indicated.  There's even a page at the end for your kiddos to draw a picture of themselves all dressed up for halloween!  Click on the picture to grab your own copy!

And don't forget my Spooktacular Halloween Math & Literacy Fun Unit.  It's FULL of activities like sorting, patterning, graphing, sequencing, making words, class book, sight word bingo, and a cute pumpkin life cycle craftivity!  Click on the 
picture to check it out.

Happy Teaching!

Erin

Chatty Chipmunk and Likewise the Owl

While back to school shopping for my own kids yesterday at Walmart, I happened upon these little gems!  Meet Chatty Chipmunk & Likewise the Owl.  

Chatty Chipmunk has two features - "Quirky Questions" and "Amusing Activities".  He asks questions like "Which person in the room would you like to be stranded on an island with and why?" and "If you could travel through time, where would you go and why?".  This would be excellent set up as a writing centre or whole group writing activity.  Press the button, record the question (there is even a repeat button) and start writing!  

Chatty's other feature is "Amusing Activities".  Press this button and you will hear things like "Say the alphabet as fast as you can - backwards!" and "Try to touch your elbow to your nose!".  How fun would this be as a brain break, end of the day activity or partner activity?  How about as a reward for doing something great or for the birthday boy/girl.    

Likewise the Owl speaks english and spanish.  Press the "Play Word" button and you will hear "The word is candy.  If you would like me to say the word again, press the repeat word button".  Other words include car, little, pizza, house, large, quiet, party, ice, cookie just to name a few!  This little guy would be great as an oral partner activity, pop spelling quiz, class team game (split the class into 2 teams - boys vs. girls etc.) and even as a word work centre.  

I'm going to use them as brain breaks, rewards, spelling practice, oral assessment, milling to music, as a literacy centre - the possibilities are endless.  The best $9.95 (each) I ever spent!

 What kind of brain breaks do you use in your classroom?

Community Helpers & A FREEbie!!!

I hope you took advantage of the Teachers pay Teachers back to school sale!  I know I spent WAY too much money on the cutest digital images from my favourite artist - Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating!  My wish list is definitely smaller now.

I worked day and night to get my newest resource done in time for the sale.  I'm really proud of this one y'all.  It's an integrated unit on Community Helpers with the most A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E trading cards and anchor chart posters!  Click on the picture to take a peek!

And now for your FREEBie!!!!

Here is the Doctor Anchor Chart Poster from my Community Helpers Unit.  I'm only offering it here as a huge thank you for following my blog!  I appreciate each and everyone of you!

Happy Teaching!

Erin