Take a "bite" out of learning!

On my way to hunt for shark's teeth with my family! I love to use them in my classroom when we talk about fossils. I also bury them in sand and give students toothbrushes and toothpicks to pretend they are junior archeologists! They love this activity! More to follow with pics from our daytrip later!

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FREEBIE! Print below!

Reading Strategies Arrows

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Join The Children's Place on Facebook tonight!

Head on over to The Children's Place this afternoon/evening to participate in their Million Fan Party!  All who participate get 20% on children's clothes (think back-to-school) and have chances to win their gift cards!  I'll be on tonight! 

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Best Bargain Place to Shop

I love when Scholastic does its Dollar Days online!  You can get such great deals!  Also, Staples has amazing back to school sales where you can get the supplies your students need! 

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Direct Link to Your Blog

Okay, so for some people this might be "elementary" (no pun intended), but for me, it was tough to figure out on my own.  I would comment on other blogs and then type in the entire address of my blog as a link at the bottom of the post.  I would look around and see others with cute little direct links with their blog name only!  Here is what you do if you want to be cute, too:

In the place where you would normally type out or copy/paste your blog address, you type this:

In the spot where the web address is, put your web address.  In the spot where you see, Teaching Tales, put your own blog name.  That's it!  You should see your cute little direct link at the bottom!

Happy Linking!

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New Year's Resolution (School Year Style)

Okay, so Clutter Free Classroom is having a linky party that asks about New Year's Resolutions for the new school year.  This year, I resolve to be as creative as I can be!  I am dreaming up hallway displays, notebook ideas, and exciting cooperative learning activities for my students!  I want to integrate art, music, technology, and movement more than ever before!  Happy New School Year!

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Mrs. Bainbridge Contest

Hi there!  You know, I could spend all day entering contests on blogs, printing out freebies, and linking up to other blogs.  I now understand how someone could be a "teaching blog addict".  I must say, I am officially addicted!  Mrs. Bainbridge is having a contest if you click here:

http://bainbridgeclass.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-in-action-giveaway-time.html?showComment=1311610641831#c6107846421556637781

Hmmm...with all these contests, I should probably hold one of my own!  Details to come within the next few days! 

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Fun in First Amazing Giveaway!!!

Wow!  A fabulous blog I follow, Fun in First, is having an amazing giveaway!  Simply click on the link to that blog, follow the directions, and wait to win!  She is giving away so many printables from so many awesome blogs, you won't want to miss out!  The contest ends on August 1st so what are you waiting for?  Head on over to Fun in First and ENTER NOW!  I HAVE!

Click here:  http://fun-in-first.blogspot.com/2011/07/1000-follower-giveaway.html

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Incredible Dollar Buys at Target!

Everyone MUST go to Target and look for these DOLLAR ITEMS!!!  I've always purchased a few things here and there for my classroom from Target's dollar section but now they have TEACHING MATERIALS!  For someone who is moving from 4th grade to 1st, this was a God-send!  I purchased the following items:

*colorful pocket charts (small size) for vocabulary words

*rainbow star stickers for my progress charts

*a cute star pointer

*colorful star and rainbow borders

*adorable crayon erasers which I will use as a first day gift

*bookmarks to go along with the erasers on the first day

*great reader book awards

*"Great Work" and "Super Star" large stickers

*desk name plates with alphabet and numbers

*a "Welcome" banner

*"Today is..., Yesterday was..., Tomorrow will be..." bulletin board set

*new monthly headers for my calendar

*2 Dr. Seuss notepads (Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham) for Dr. Seuss's birthday

*colorful congratulations awards

*cute tab dividers

I am soooo happy!  I know the Dollar Tree also has similar supplies but these were so darn cute AND they were at my favorite place...Target!

I have to share my last favorite purchase there which I may use either at home or at school.  It is modeled by my son (who thought I was funny sharing this with him) here:

Happy shopping!  Just make sure there are plenty of "dollars" in your pocket because they all add up when you're buying out the whole section!!! ;-)

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Share Your Resources!

Happy Friday!  I spent my whole day inside trying to avoid the 105 degree temperatures outside!  It made for the perfect day to create new materials for the upcoming school year.  If you are a second grade teacher, you need to check out my newest product on TeachersPayTeachers called Set for Second!  It has many activities and printables for the first weeks of school. 
Here is the link:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Set-for-Second-Back-to-School-for-Second-Grade

Has anyone else been busy creating?  Be sure to comment and add a link to your newest products on TpT, TeachersNotebook, and other sites.  It's almost back-to-school time, so go ahead and share your resources!  

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Fresh from the Garden

As I was trying to find recipes for all of the tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant from my friend's garden, I was reminded of an idea that had been brewing in my mind for awhile.  I have always wanted to plant a fruit and vegetable garden at our school.  As always with my crazy ideas, I have no idea if it would work, who would fund it, and whether or  not I should just come back to reality and forget about it.  One of my favorite memories of my grandfather was helping him to garden when I was a child.  He lived on the outskirts of Baltimore City with a tiny backyard but there in that limited space was a wonderful garden.  We would pick the ripe fruits and vegetables and then find recipes to create using these resources.  I can't help but wonder if the students are missing out on memories like this one.  Our school has a fruit and vegetable program, but how neat would it be to have students grow their own?  As the wheels have turned, I also started brainstorming a teaching packet that would track the progress of this garden.  I could see tracking growth through measurement, making graphs to compare the progress of the plants, counting seeds and estimating them, sorting, and the list goes on!  I may begin to work on this throughout the week.  What do you think?  Is this a project that would work or might I be taking on too much?  Any thoughts on who could help?  Has anyone ever done something like this before?  Thanks so much for your input!


Check out this link for an interesting story connected to gardens at schools...
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/food-politics/moco-schools-say-food-gardens.html

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Fabulous Find

I was surfing the Internet the other day when I discovered wikispaces!  I had always heard of "wikis" but had never tried to create one for my class.  It just so happens that right now K-12 educators who will use the wiki for education can get a premium account for free!  I love free!  It is really user-friendly and I would highly recommend the site to any teachers who have some knowledge of technology.  Happy Wiki-ing!  :0)

http://www.wikispaces.com/

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