Sailing Into Summer Blog Hop

The end of another school year is quickly arriving and there are still a bazillion and one things to do before your students pack up their belongings and leave your classroom for the final time.  I find this time of year to be a complete blur despite having gone through it for 15 years.  I find that no matter how organized or prepared I am for the last days of school, I am always racing to Starbucks for one last gift card or racking my brain working to find the right words to say to a colleague, parent, or my children's teachers. 

This year, thanks to this blog hop with my secondary buddies, I feel like I have my act together, I am happy to report.  While you may be up to your ears in paperwork and completing final exam grades, here are a few ideas to grab right away, or store on your Pinterest board for next school year to make it easy to show gratitude and say thanks to those co-workers, parent volunteers, cafeteria/maintenance staff, student helpers, etc. 

Classroom Appreciation Printables 

I am BIG on thank you cards and notes.  I feel that it is essential that we take the time to show gratitude toward those that we care about, have given to us, or done some kind gesture.  As adults we must set a good example, so that our children and students learn this important deed.  To help with the task of showing thanks, and making my life as easy as possible throughout the school year, I created this $1 resource.  It is 20-thank you printables that with a simple signature and $1 Spot goodie from Target, are so meaningful.  The person that is on the receiving end of one of these, truly feels appreciated.

Click on the image to grab this appreciation FREEBIE!

Character Pals

I am one of those people that tends to give gift cards to others for all gift giving occasions.  I want the receiver to be able to pick out something that they can truly utilize and not duplicate something they might already have, or have to worry about a return.  Some call it impersonal, I think it is ideal.  I love gift cards!  This end of school, I vowed not to do that.  Instead, I came across this clip artist on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Lauren from Polka Dots & Pals, creates characters in the likeness of people and she is truly GIFTED!  I wasn't sure what I would do with the images, but I had her create my children's teachers.  I sent her a picture, filled out a brief inventory to assist her in creating the image, and VOILA, I had two adorable characters. 

Mrs. Bell, my daughter's kindergarten teacher!

Mrs. Chancey, my son's third grade teacher!

I took to Powerpoint and Vistaprint to create these adorable post-its and bags.  Every teacher needs bags for stuff, and post-its are another teacher essential.  Lauren also gave me the go-ahead to send them their jpeg character pal to utilize with resources and blogging fun.  I can't wait to give them these fun end of year surprises.

My friend Lauren will give away one Character Pal to one LUCKY winner, so enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win.  I can assure you that you will LOVE her creation.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I would love to hear about any teacher appreciation or end of year gift giving that you do to show your gratitude...I am always on the hunt for fun ideas!  Happy End of Year!  You have almost made it! Check out some more ways to make your life easier these last few weeks by checking out these other amazing bloggers.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spring is Here! Poetry Hop

I have joined up with my AMAZING literacy friends from The Reading Crew and we have put together this Poetry Hop in order to share some poetry ideas, poetry resources, and FREEBIES...

POETRY! 

That one, 6-letter word can send shivers down the spine of an unsuspecting 6th grader.  I have learned that depending on previous experience, it ranks right up there with these other horrors...

HOMEWORK!

DICTIONARY!!

STUDY!!!

My sweet students:

"Mrs. Beers, I hate poetry!"

"Isn't Dr. Seuss a poet?  Dr. Seuss is SO kindergarten!"

"Can I just rhyme a few lines and be done?"

Me: "Sorry to hear that!  Dr. Seuss is actually quite clever, even for adults, but we will not be focusing on his work.  Poetry is not about just rhyming a few lines.  Stick with me, I promise you will LOVE it!"

So I do what I hope every teacher works to do-CHANGE their impressionable minds into LOVING poetry with TRICKERY!  Just kidding, instead of trickery, I utilize two AMAZING novels by Sharon Creech that seamlessly incorporate INCREDIBLE poems that will both challenge and engage students, and I teach them strategies to analyze poems that encourage them to feel more comfortable reading and understanding poems-Love That Dog and Hate That Cat! In addition, I give them the task of becoming the teacher and helping their student, Jack, find his way into accepting poetry and becoming a superstar poet in the process through poetry analysis and journal writing.  You can check out these novel units, and then hop to my FREEBIE below...

If you don't have time for novels, grab this FREEBIE sampler that I created.  The entire We HEART Poetry!  A Poetry Analysis BUNDLE gives your students the tools they need to make poetry analysis successful in 8-LESSONS.  I know that there are years of extra snow and less school days, so I need to get my students where they need to be in the time frame that I am allotted.  This is the ideal poetry resource to connect your students to poetry and make them LOVE it in a snap!  Grab this snippet and let me know what you think!

Enter to win all of my poetry resources below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

I hope your students learn to HEART poetry as much as mine have!  Now head to my friend, Sandy's blog, Sweet Integrations, to find another FANTASTIC resource.  Happy Poetry Hopping! 

A special thanks to these clip artists for their festive work...
Educlips, Jen Jones, and Epiphanous Owl.

Jumpstart January Blog Hop and $50 Target Gift Card Giveaway

My Lesson Delicatessen friends and I wanted to make sure that you were set and ready to get back in action with your students, so we are giving you the Jumpstart January Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY.  Follow through each of our 10 posts for an AMAZING FREEBIE, personal blog giveaway, and at our final stop, enter to win our $50 Target gift card giveaway and find the links to all of our $1 deals! 

My January always seems like a bit of a blur...the students come back from the break tired, but excited, and I need to get them right back into the swing of things because we have a TON to accomplish!  In order to meet their needs to share, along with my needs as a persistent teacher, we begin with writing.

Jumpstart your January with Me...in 2015!  This self-relection writing resource will engage your students and encourage them to get right back into the swing of things.
 
When my students return from the winter break inspiring them can be very overwhelming tricky.  They have been out of the school routine for just long enough to need redirection and motivation.
In addition the school year is almost half over, and I want to engage my students and get them thinking about what they are hopeful to accomplish in this New Year, but remaining time of the current school year.  I often refer to my students at this point in time as 6 ½ graders!  So I created this Me…in 2015! resource.

Directions...
This writing resource is a tool I print out for each student, hole-punch, and help them navigate through to complete.  It is a tool that we then place in our writing binders as a reflection of what we hope to accomplish. Grab it here and check out the other great uses...

Here are a few more perfect ELA resources to Jumpstart January in your classroom for only $1...

 

  

Enter my giveaway and then check out another amazing FREEBIE from my Lesson Deli friend, Karen, and the other grab and go resources from my other teacher friends.  Best wishes for 2015!

a Rafflecopter giveaway