Another Link Up & Freebie!

It seems I am on a role lately! Woohoo! I am linking up with Primary Powers for another Christmas Freebie. Go check them out for even more freebies!

It also seems like I am on a writing kick, since my freebies have all been writing oriented so far!

First things first, I got this in the mail today!

I'm pretty much crazy for doing this, but I couldn't make myself stop. I'll be able to add this in right? On top of school, mom stuff, gymnastics, swim team, church stuff, singing stuff, etc? Yeah, sure.

Ok, now on to the freebie! We are writing letters to Santa this week. I was having trouble finding an already made letter that had all 5 parts of a letter in the right places, so I just made one myself. It also includes a generic letter template, just in case you need one. It's nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. Hope it helps you during the holiday season!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

12 Days of Christmas Day 2!

Why do I keep posting these freebies in the middle of the day, you ask? Because I have been at home sick the past 2 days. Yuck! In fact, I got sick on Thanksgiving and still am not over it. Darn germs! BUT, that gives me time to jump in on the 12 days of giving. Yippee!

I am linking up with DeAnne at First Grade and Fabulous again to bring you a Freebie as thanks to you during this Christmas season! Teacher stuff for free! Yippee!

1


Today's freebie doesn't really have anything to do with Christmas, though! Sorry! We are doing fairy tales right now, and I noticed lots of fairy tale stuff being pinned on Pinterest, so maybe you are, too. It's another writing activity today, Jack and the Beanstalk style!

It includes a graphic organizer and the final draft paper. Enjoy!

Don't forget the sale at TpT. Today is the last day! My store is 20% off, plus the 10% savings from TpT. Awesomeness!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

12 Days of Christmas Freebie!

I am linking up with DeAnne at First Grade and Fabulous to bring you a Freebie to help celebrate the Christmas season! Teacher stuff for free! Yippee!


Today, my freebie is about writing. I love writing and have been so excited to bring you tons of writing stuff this year. This freebie contains writing papers for your kiddos' final drafts. There are a couple for the beginning of the year about Friends and Pets, one for September and Apple Season, one about Thanksgiving, and one for Christmas. These are just simple writing pages to help supplement your writing. Hope you enjoy!

Click on the page below to get your freebie.

Plus, it's SALE time on Teachers pay Teachers for Cyber Monday! Woohoo! Check out your favorite stores and use the code TPTCYBER to get 10% off. Plus, all my products are 20% off, making that a 30% savings! Fun Fabulous First  

My very popular Writing is Sweet Packet is on sale now. Go check it out!

Along with my newest packet for December. 

Happy TpTing!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

December Already?!

How is this year just about over? How is it Christmas time? How is the school year so far along?  I had so much to get done these few days off for Thanksgiving Break. I didn't do a very good job at getting them done. I kept doing other things that needed done instead. Sigh. So a lot has been going on around here.

First off, I haven't been observed yet! What?! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I don't like to wait. I don't like to procrastinate. I like things done. I NEED things done. Waaahhhh. I don't want to be first, but I don't like to be last. In the middle is perfectly perfect. It's especially hard this year because I only get one observation, ONE, and it's a surprise visit. I REALLY don't like surprises. I am little miss planner, after all. Plus, I don't know who is coming. This is pretty much my nightmare, unexpected, unannounced, secret, everything rides on this one visit test. So yeah, I have been a bit stressed and need this done. You hear that people?! I need this done. :)

Second, um, I'm starting my Masters. What?! Yep, it's happening. At least I think it is. I have done my part. Next week I have my interview, and then I guess that is it. Lipscomb, here I come. It's not online. I can't work at my own pace. I have no time, but somehow this is gonna happen. Why do I do this to myself? I just kept finding myself filling out the application, taking an entrance exam, applying for scholarships, etc. It was pretty much an out of body experience. I know I shouldn't do it. I do too much as it is, but at the same time, I want to do it. I NEED to learn. It's in my nature. I guess there are worse things to give my time to.

Good news! I have partnered with Peekapack.It's an educational storybook that comes to children monthly. It's got props, materials for crafts, a learning guide for the grown-ups, etc. It's so cute and perfect for ages 4-8 to bring stories alive. They are offering a freebie e-book right now. Go check it out.

Finally, I have finished my December Printables pack! I added a few more pages. I used pretty much every single page from my November packet and I can't wait to get started on this one. I got tons of good feedback from my 1st grade teammates. I hope you like it just as much!

Here are some of the pages, so you can see what is included. 

Have a good start to December!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Turkey Freebie!

Look! I'm back already with a freebie to boot! I'm on a roll. :)

I made up this writing page really quickly, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

We read the book Turkey Trouble this week and are writing an opinion piece about what we think the best disguise for a turkey would be. Normally, we would do some cool art project with it, but our writing time is cut so short, so I'm just going to have them draw a picture.

They are SUPER excited about this writing and have some fabulous ideas. I'll try to remember to come back and share when we are done, but for now, here is the freebie for ya! Just click on the picture.

Enjoy!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Venturing into New Territory!

So, this will be a quick post! I know I'm terrible about blogging this year.

Oops! Hello Friends! :)

I have Progress Reports to finish up, so this has got to be quick, but I posted a new product to TpT. I'm so excited about it! I have gotten my feet wet in the world of printable packs. This is my first time doing this type of product, but I think it turned out awesome. At least I hope so!! Guess we will see what you guys think! Haha.

Since it took me longer than I thought, I'm a little late to the November party, so I put it on sale for the next few days.

I have a bazillion pictures and posts to write. Maybe one day.....

Be fun and Fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Spelling

It's always interesting to me to see how everyone does Spelling in their room. It's so varied for each classroom. I have had several teammates ask me lately about my spelling plan, so I thought I'd write it out here.

I want  the kiddos to become better spellers and not just memorize the words for the week. We focus on spelling patterns, rather than the individual words. After practicing the pattern, students should be able to encode the words (spell) and also decode words (read) that follow the same pattern. The goal is to master the spelling pattern and not just memorize individual words. This helps not only in spelling words, but in reading. I also think it's very important to focus ont he meaning of words, so we really delve into what the words mean so they remember it better and can see the pattern in words.

  

We take a spelling pre-test each Friday. These are over the regular words from our Wonders Reading Series for the next week. These words haven't been taught or practiced yet, so I for sure know if they already "get" the spelling pattern. It is a quick pre-test just to see what they already know. If a student gets all of the words correct, then I know that they are familiar with that spelling pattern. I don't want to just test them to be testing them, so I give them challenge words. These words follow the same spelling pattern, but in a harder format with more advanced spelling patterns. For example, if our regular spelling words were short u and we had the word "mud", then a challenge word might be "club", which sticks with the same pattern, but adds a blend to make it more challenging. I like this because I can differentiate spelling just like I do everything else. 

If they have challenge words, I write it on their pre-test, and circle their challenge words on their newsletter and homework, so they know to practice those words for the week. Some weeks, I have several on challenge words, other weeks, I just have a few.

I give the weekly spelling test on Friday after practicing it in class and on their homework. I call my challenge words friends back to my table and I whisper their words to them as I call out the regular words for the rest of the class. I also give everyone mystery words. These are words that they haven't practiced, but go along with the spelling pattern. This way I know for sure that they have mastered the pattern and not just memorized the words. I also give 2 sight words from our weekly story, so they are practicing them each week as well. Finally, I give 2 bonus words. These are much harder words that follow the pattern. They aren't expected to know these words, but if they get it than yippee! I have given bonus points in the past, but the last 2 years, I have just given a skittle for each bonus word they got correct. They LOVE the skittle! Haha! They love the bonus words and can't wait to see what they are each week.

I love doing spelling this way and I love being able to differentiate and make it fun for them. How do you do spelling in your classroom?

My packet this week is all about spelling! Check it out if you'd like some cutesy spelling pages each week.

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney