What the Teacher Wants!: November 2014

Holidays Around the World and Cyber Monday and Tuesday SALE!

There's a lot going on around here! I've added one more country to my Holidays Around the World {Part 2}. I had a request from a sweet buyer to add India (Diwali) and I did just that! This update is available in both the Holidays Around the World {Part 2} and the bundled pack.

The sweet ladies from All Y'all Need wrote this about my pack on the TpT Blog:

This is what my plans look like this year. I'm excited to teach my students about Diwali!

I use both Holidays Around the World Part 1 and 2 in my plans:

For those of you who teach older grades, Natalie is working on (and allllmost finished with) a Holidays Around the World Webquest.

This webquest will be a fun way to integrate technology into your classroom and is a great research project to add to your December lesson plans.

Look for more details on this project coming tomorrow!

And don't forget about the HUGE SALE this Monday and Tuesday on Teachers Pay Teachers. You can get up to 28% off! Use the code TPTCYBER!

Please click on the buttons below to see some of the products we have in our stores.

Getting Crafty {Silhouette Black Friday Sales Event}

If you're not sure what that is, a Silhouette basically cuts all the things in the world for you. Here are a few of our favorite projects made with our Silhouette Cameos. AND great news! They are having a HUGE sale for TEACHERS! Use promo code SAVE4TEACHERS on Black Friday, November 27th (see details below).

I made the Oh, Hello above my door and the arrows on the side with my Silhouette Cameo.

The READ letters in the frames were made from my Silhouette.

1st Grade Words: Silhouette Cameo

For my bestie's daughter's birthday, I made a cute Minnie Mouse themed pennant banner.

Seriously...having any model of the Silhouette is a TEACHER'S DREAM! You can use any fonts or clipart from your computer. They also have a library of graphics you can purchase from. The best part is that it is VERY easy to work!

Check out these AMAZING deals!!

Sale Details:

Portrait Bundle

Portrait machine & 1 free year to Club Silhouette for $179.99

CAMEO Bundle #1

CAMEO machine, Designer Edition software upgrade, Dust Cover, 4 Tools and $25 Download card to the Silhouette Design Store for $269.99

CAMEO Bundle #2

CAMEO machine, Design Edition software upgrade and 1 free year to Club Silhouette for $299.99

CAMEO & Portrait Bundle (One for you, one for a friend!)

CAMEO machine, Portrait machine and 2, $25 Download cards to the Silhouette Design Store for $299.99

Already a Silhouette user?

Use my code for 40% off at SilhouetteAmerica.com (*excluding machines, design downloads, download cards, subscriptions and gift cards) PLUS Free Shipping on orders over $25 for the lower 48 states

50% off all designs at SilhouetteDesignStore.com – no code needed!

Don't forget to check out with code:
SAVE4TEACHERS

25 Ways to Thank a Teacher

I love being a teacher! Even though some days are hard and I come home tired and exhausted at the end of the week, there are lots of reasons why I love what I do!

Feeling appreciated by my students and their parents is definitely one of the most rewarding parts of the job. We asked our Facebook followers to help us make a list of some of the small and easy ways that their students and parents have helped feel loved and appreciated.

Here is our list of ways to say thank you to a teacher

Give a sincere thank you in person to let them know how much you appreciate them
Slip a thank you card on their desk
Write a special note in your child's homework folder
Send a kind email to thank them for something specific they did for your child
Have your child write a note or draw a picture
Stop in real quick before or after school just to say thank you
Tell the principal and other administrators how much you appreciate your child's teacher
Send in supplies for the classroom (soft tissues, sanitation wipes, etc)
Volunteer in the classroom
Chaperone a field trip
Volunteer to help with something at home (cutting out lamination, organizing files, etc.)
Offer to come in and help make copies or work on a special project
Give them a gift card for Christmas or during Teacher Appreciation Week
Donate an iTunes gift card so the class can download new apps
Buy a book to donate to their class library
Bring in a homemade treat
Deliver a cookie, doughnut, or cupcake from a local bakery
Find out what their favorite snack/treat it and bring it to your parent teacher conference
Recognize them on their birthday
Surprise them with some take out for lunch
Make a bouquet of pencils or highlighters or other school supply
Compliment them on Facebook
Bring in their favorite drink
Give flowers on the first day of school - or the last - or any day in between
After parent teacher conferences or another stressful time of the year, bring them something to help them relax - a gift certificate for a pedicure, bottle of bubble bath, etc.

Of course there are lots of ways to show teachers how thankful you are for them, but this list is sure to give you some good ideas.

Help us add more ideas to our list!

Comment and share ways that you

have been thanked by a

student or parent.

Disclosure: We have been compensated by Chevrolet for advertising their Educators Discount Program.

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but this Random Acts of Christmas Kindness pack was one of my favorite projects that I've ever done with my kiddos! It's best to start it right in December...so that's why I'm posting about it today!

I was inspired by that AMAZING Cara Carroll and her family Random Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar she did with her family.

Since I have no children of my own, I decided I wanted to do RACKing it in my classroom!

Now you can RACK, too!

Here was our first RACK that was for our principal last year. My students were so excited and they loved that this whole thing is secretive. ;)

Click {here} to check it out!

************************

Can't do Christmasy things in your classroom or just want to do random acts of kindness all year? Check out this Random Acts of Classroom Kindness pack that you can do all year round!

Click {here} to check it out!

Here are some books suggestions:

*******************************

Rhyme to Read (App Review)

As the computer specialist at my school, I am always looking for great apps that will get students excited about learning. I was recently introduced to a fun reading app for beginning readers called Rhyme to Read.

Rhyme to Read is a fun reading app that helps teach students word families and sight words. It was developed by two teachers who both have advanced teaching degrees.

The app contains 20 books that each focus on a word family. The books build upon each other for a cumulative review of each word family.

One of the great things about this app is that all the word families are color-coded. This will help students learn to discriminate different word patterns.

Rhyme to Read is ideal for beginning readers and for any student who needs RTI in reading. I would recommend it for children ages 4-6 or anyone else who is struggling with reading.

Rhyme to Read is available in the app store by clicking HERE!

Want to try it first? Download the 1st book to try for FREE.

*Disclosure: This post was paid for by the creators of Rhyme to Read. All opinions expressed are my own.

Equal or Not Equal?

Can I just start by saying that I'm not quite sure I'm ready for winter weather? This week at school it has been FRIGID and we've already had an inside day because of it! WOW! How's the weather where you are? I feel like teachers are the only profession who check the weather right when they get up in the morning. HA!

Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and show you how I introduce equal and not equal to my students! I would not do it without these scales....for real... the BEST:

I actually love the Monkey Math scales so much that I bought 4 of them so my students could play this game in large groups:

On the left side of the monkey there are 7 bananas and on the right side there are 3+4 bananas. The monkey's arms are even and straight because the equation is equal. If it wasn't equal, the monkey's eyes go crazy and the arms aren't straight.

The students draw a card and place the bananas on the according sides. They find out if the equations are equal or not equal. Then, I have them check the equations by adding the numbers (if applicable).

Clipart and/or fonts copyright Dianne J. Hook (djinkers.com)

A Veterans Day Celebration

Veterans Day is coming up and I love finding great ways to integrate my curriculum with anything social studies related.

Last year I made this fun Internet-based activity called

'A Veterans Day Celebration' where students are led through the six steps of a webquest: introduction, task, process, resources, evaluation, and conclusion. In this activity, students will learn about the history of Veterans Day, conduct a research project, and they will get do a fun activity where they plan their own Veterans Day celebration.