Birthday Fun & Follower Freebies!!

I am so excited! Why, you ask?! Well, in just 10 days, I will be celebrating my birthday! In honor of this occasion, I will be offering up some special freebies across multiple platforms, plus some store discounts! So make sure that you follow me here, on TpT, and on Instagram to be part of the fun!

Also, if, by some miracle, I hit 100 followers on here OR on TpT BEFORE my birthday, there will be a GIVEAWAY!! :)

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New Blog Design!! (and a GIVEAWAY!!)

I am so, so happy to finally launch my brand new blog design! I was hesitant to jump to a paid design, but set a TpT goal and decided that if I met it before year's end, I would go for it! Well, on December 14th, I met my first  sales goal!! For the past couple of weeks, I have been working with the ever-so-lovely Jana at Little Web Writing Hood to develop everything you see here!
She was so patient with me and my bazillion and a half questions and ideas and her prices are super affordable!
Seriously, if you're in the market for a new design... check out her page HERE or her Etsy store HERE!
Also, in honor of my brand new design, I'd like to give away a copy of my Dolch Print & Go Assessment and Practice Pack! This pack includes approximately 350 pages of word lists, parent letters, flash cards, and student printables that may be used for morning work, centers, homework, in small groups! This pack spans Pre-Primer - Grade 3 Dolch words allowing for differentiation galore!

 Enter below!

If you're not interested in the whole pack right now, check out the individual packs!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Working On It Wednesday!!

Good evening, one and all! I was so excited after the TPT Cyber Sale last night, that I jumped right on creating!! Below are a few things that I am working on!!

My kiddos and I are working on different phonics generalizations. We are currently introducing one generalization a day, then will circle back and spend about a week on each one in more depth. My kiddos love trying to work out which words are real and which are nonsense, so I am working to put together some new activities for them to use and will post to TPT as soon as it's done!

Last year, as a Kindergarten teacher, I swore up and down that I would start using Math Journals with my kiddos. We never really got around to it. Now, in 1st grade, we're into December and I have been doing a daily quick math prompt that I put on the board, have them copy, then complete. I would really like to pull something together that I can print for them to maximize our time and help them get directly to the problem-solving! I have already blogged about how busy this month is, so it would be awfully ambitious to think I could have my December prompts completed anytime soon, so I will start with a set of prompts for January. Keep an eye out for the full set! What types of problems would you like to see the kiddos solving in the January pack? Comment below! :)

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Show Us What You Bought!

Yay! I am so re-energized now after checking off SO MANY wishlisted items during the TPT Cyber Monday/Tuesday Sale!! Now, I'm linking up with Bloghoppin' to show off my purchases!!

I can't wait to hop around and see what the rest of you have purchased!!

SHHHHH!!!! Don't tell my husband how much I spent!! ;)

I started out by getting some new clipart. I'm relatively new at making products and I think that it is finally time to up my game! Enough of living off of freebies! (though, there are some pretty awesome ones out there!) Time to go all in! So, I grabbed a handful of packs fro Creative Clips. Ugh!! I am OBSESSED!! Even with all that bought, I probably have at least another 10-15 packs sitting wish listed! ...who am I kidding, I'll probably go back tonight and buy them!

I am so unbelievably excited about this CVC bundle! I have just started cycling back with my kiddos to short vowel sounds and I think that this bundle will be a HUGE help in creating high quality packs with my kiddos in mind. I am honestly always searching for CVC work online -- why not just use these images and make it?! This will definitely be a major boost in the materials I am able to provide my kiddos!

I have been eyeing these bad boys for a bit. My school hasn't wholly committed to Fry or Dolch words and has, instead, been using a sort of hybrid list. BUT... these Star Wars Fry Phrases are just so engaging and I KNOW my boys are going to love them!! My husband is more than a little obsessed (the first major gift I ever got him was a film quality replica light saber!) and he asked that I print a second copy for home for when we have kids. Seriously?! ...Slow the roll, buddy! :)

I have been wanting to take on interactive reading journals for quite some time now. I have tried to get my grade partners to collaborate with me on setting them up, but no one seems to be biting quite yet. I am so glad to have found this pack to use a jump-off! I can't wait to see how my kiddos take to the journals! (Any recommendations for starting out?!)

Join the link up to share what you picked up during the sale! And click on any of the images above to purchase! :)

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Book Talk Tuesday!

This week, I'm linking up with the lovely Deanna Jump for her Book Talk Tuesday! 

For today's book, I chose to move away from the picture books that I so love. Instead, I chose You Read to Me, I'll Read to You; Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together.

 As you can see, there are a number of traditional tales to choose from!

Each story is roughly 2-4 pages, rarely longer. 

Don't you just LOVE those illustrations?!

Additionally, the text complexity varies throughout the book, making it an absolute gold mine for differentiation!

My absolute favorite thing about this book is that it merges traditional tales with grade-level appropriate text while still introducing some rich vocabulary.

I love to use this book to pair up students for fluency work. They get a kick out of experiencing such popular tales in a new and different way and especially love getting the opportunity to act out each tale! Once we become familiar with these tales, it functions as a fantastic fluency center where students are given a choice as to which story to read. Additionally, I will often copy lines of text onto sentence strips and have students work with them in a sequencing activity. When I student taught, I mixed up the tales and had students create their own fractured fairy tales. I hope to do it again this year and will definitely be sharing out once I do! :)

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Currently

Alright, so I might be late with this, but I am linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for my November Currently! Check it out below and join the link-up!

Listening: I got turned onto Parks and Recreation and couple of years ago and I am obsessed. They just posted Season 6 to Netflix and I'm one of those people who needs a little ambient noise to get through her work. So, Parks and Rec it is! Lesley Knope all the way!

Loving: Sunday mornings with my husband are my favorite time of every week, especially in the fall! We throw something in the crock pot the night before (this week was french toast) so that it's ready first thing in the morning. Then we curl up by our electric fireplace (I swear, someday it will be a real one!) with the puppy, eat our breakfast, and just enjoy each others' company. Sometimes we read together, sometimes we catch up on trashy TV, sometimes we just listen to music. There's nothing better.

Thinking: I am so, so close to the long weekend! Aside from Thanksgiving being one of my favorite holidays, I'm sure we all feel the need to take a little break from work. This has been a long stretch and I am so looking forward to turkey, football, and kicking back with family!

Wanting: I started to adapt my Sight Word Assessment Pack (available HERE) into a Dolch pack and a Fry pack. I have so many ideas swirling around about pieces that I would like to add that it is taking way longer than I anticipated. I'm looking to post it by the weekend! So, keep an eye out!

Needing: As part of my weight loss adventure, I am working on making meals ahead of time. This morning, I cooked up 3 pounds of turkey bacon for some grab and go breakfast burritos. As soon as I finish this post, I need to get up and grill some chicken for lunch for the week.

Reading: This is my 4th year teaching, all at the same school. In my time here, I have watched teacher collaboration improve and school climate go up and up and up. This year, we have experienced a number of changes and staff morale is on the decline. A co-worker of mine and I have been working desperately to pull everyone out of this funk and have turned to the internet for some help. I am working on a blog post about our efforts so far, but any ideas you may have, things that work for your staff, let me know! I would love to hear all about them!

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Shipping Out!

My husband and I have just finished packing for our cruise and we leave for the boat in... 19 minutes! Talk about LAST MINUTE! I hope we haven't forgotten anything!!
I can't be too upset with myself, as per usual... I got stuck at work late last night. There is just something so incredibly satisfying about engaging in rich conversation with colleagues with the same drive and passion. I know that many of you can relate!
Yesterday, to celebrate the end of summer school, my Principal and a few of my co-workers had a chicken wing party! Living in Connecticut, you really haven't lived until you've tried the wings at the Dew Drop Inn in Derby. I wish they had a website that I could link up to, but... check them out on Facebook. They have something like 80 different varieties of wings -- ALL ARE DELICIOUS! My favorite are Parmesan-Bacon-Garlic, Peanut Butter & Jelly (with a fluff dipping sauce!), and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I know, I know... they sound ridiculous, but NOMNOMNOM they are just... oh, so good! I won't even begin to pretend like I know how to explain how a combination of chicken and candy work, but they just do. Trust me! :) REGARDLESS! While we were chowing down, we began to talk about the the school play for the coming year. During each of our 3 years under the PCAH Turnaround Arts Grant, we held a school production:
Year 1: The Wiz Year 2: The Jungle Book Year 3: Hairspray, Jr.
This year, we were planning to present The Little Mermaid, but made a switch to Annie, Jr. after learning about the new Jamie Foxx-Cameron Diaz movie. 
Through our discussion we began to brainstorm the many ways we are able to integrate the play into our instruction as aligned with the CCSS and district curriculum for grades Pre-K through 8. Our discussion lasted for nearly THREE HOURS! We were unexpectedly productive, building off of one another and now we have been set to task -- as soon as I return from the cruise, I will be putting together a packet for our staff complete with arts vocabulary and ideas for lessons, units, and PBAs (Project Based Activities). I am so optimistic for this school year and really cannot wait to delve into it and share all of our ideas with you!  But now I'm curious! At this point through all of my training, substituting, and now teaching, I have working in 6 different school districts (over 20 schools total!) and have seen arts integration at all different levels. I'd love to hear about your arts integration experience. Answer the question below and feel free to give more info in the comments! I apologize in advance for delayed responses since I will be out of the country until August 2nd!

surveys & polls

Also, don't forget to follow me here, on bloglovin, or on Instagram (Shoelaces_SweetFaces) before I get back on the 2nd. All followers by then will receive a FREEBIE of my completed Sight Word Assessment Pack!
Happy blogging, all and soak up all the sun you can! School will be back before we know it!! :)

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Blog Recommendation!

One of my favorite things about moving from blog watcher to blogger is building relationships with other bloggers. I am still very new at this, but I love the many opportunities and doors that are opening up ahead of me. I want to thank Amber over at Sweet School Memories for her advice and input on my TpT products. After perusing her blog and her TpT store, it is clear that she has a real passion for what she does and is incredibly knowledgeable. I highly encourage you to hop on over there and take a peak at all that she has to offer!
Right now, she has a giveaway going on. Click HERE and you can go straight to the giveaway! She poses the question -- how do you teach Character Education? From there, she gives some of her recommendations and some books to help with your teaching. 
Take moment to enter and you could win:

• TWO Children's Books
• TWO Character Education Packs -- aligned with the 2 books
• $25 Gift Card to Amazon or TpT (your choice!!)

Seriously! Check it out!! :)

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Let's Talk About Books and a FREEBIE!

And now for one of my favorite linky parties of the summer... Thanks to Mrs. Jump for hosting!!

This week, I am highlighting a book that I have JUST discovered by one of my favorite Children's Book authors, Chris Raschka! First, let's talk about Mr. Raschka for a moment! He is the author who brought some serious favorites including Yo! Yes?, A Blushful Hippopotamus, and many others. Chris' books are special because they do a spectacular job at conveying particular feelings using vivid illustrations and simple, kid-friendly text. This year, I was extraordinarily lucky to receive a $100 grant for a local library book sale. While purging their Children's Book section, I came across...

Charlie Parker Played be bop!

I had never heard of this book before, but I LOVED John Coltrane's Giant Steps so I snatched it up. As many of you know, our school is currently under a MAJOR arts grant and anything that we can do to more fully integrate the arts is a thumbs up! I tossed the book in the stack with all of the others and just this weekend got around to looking through it.

What I found exceeded my expectations!

Each page offered engaging illustrations. Full of color, line, and expression, they hit on many different points. I cannot wait to use this book as a mentor text with my firsties!

Throughout the year in Kindergarten, we worked diligently on developing stamina for writing and strategies for editing and revising. This year, we will be delving into Author's Craft! This book will be a great kick-off to onomatopoeia as it will allow the kiddos to put an image to each sound.  

I have created a small set of graphic organizers that the kids can use before or after reading the book. Before Reading: Use the pages to imagine what each word could mean and stand for. See if their representation in the book matches your own! After Reading: Create alternative meanings or representations for each sound word -- OR -- use the images given to There is also a space where students are able to create their own word to use in their writing. Feel free to let me know other ways you would use this book/activity! And check out the activity in my TPT Store HERE! (FREEBIE! FREEBIE! FREEBIE!) Also, check out my Sight Word Assessment Pack -- Currently one sale for... 100% OFF! This is a FLASH FREEBIE and will be free for 24 HOURS ONLY. PLEASE, I only ask that if you download the pack, you leave a quick review. Thank you so much!! You can read about the pack HERE!

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Summer School Overview and Highlights

As I have mentioned, in previous posts, I have been working summer school this year. It is such an interesting and truly different experience than teaching throughout the school year. In typical Tiffany fashion, I have stretched myself a little thin, taking on 3 different summer programs. Currently, I am working in 2 separate programs both set to end July 25th, the 3rd program will begin immediately following our return from our cruise. Program Overview and Highlights Program #1: District Summer School

• Required for all students considered "Substantially Deficient" as determined by the DRA2, alone. No other assessments considered.
• Lasts 18 instructional days, 4 hours each day (includes 30 minutes for breakfast and 30 minutes for lunch).
• No pre-test (May DRA2 administration considered to be Pre).
• All students must take the DRA2 the final week of the program.
• Participating students in grades K-3
• Students grouped by DRA level
• Curriculum provided, but not enforced.
• Class Breakdown:
• 13 students
• 5 girls, 8 boys
• 3 Kindergarteners
• 3 1st graders
• 3 2nd graders
• 4 3rd graders
• DRA2 Scores
• Not Tested: 1
• BA: 1
• A: 1 student
• 2: 1 student
• 3: 3 students
• 4: 7 students

Program #2: Principal-Funded Cusp Program

• 100% voluntary -- students referred by teachers at end of school year.
• Designed for students not qualified for summer school (scores above "substantially deficient" range), but also not yet on level.
• Lasts 18 instructional days, 2 hours each day (immediately following regular summer school).
• No curriculum provided.
• Minimal student data available.

Program #3: WELL (World & English Language Learners) -- Regional Program

• 100% voluntary -- all students in the region invited with emphasis on ELLs.
• Designed for students in grades 4-8 to gain instruction in Chinese and/or Spanish language/culture as well as support for regional ELLs.
• Began in April. Ran every other Saturday for a total of 5 classes, to be concluded in August with 10 classes running Monday-Friday from 9-2:30.
• Pilot program, all curriculum and materials created/designed/acquired by staff.
• Follows a co-teaching model
• No pre-requisites, no student data available.

There is a clear difference between the three programs. Two are voluntary, 1 is not. 

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Five for Friday

Time for FIVE FOR FRIDAY with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

On Sunday, the Hubster and I went to the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, CT. We are incredibly lucky to have such a lovely place so nearby. We had an incredible time, but my FAVORITE was when we met this little fella (Fred)! (He's actually not so little... 4 feet long!) Sadly, he was very much abused and had to be rescued. HOWEVER, he is now a teacher! He educates kids nationwide. Dave and I greatly enjoyed the presentation, even though Dave got squeamish when they brought out the boa constrictor!

At the end, we got to meet Fred and pet him! His skin felt so very different than I imagined! Loved every minute!

Did I mention that we are only 8 days away from our vacation?! Dave and I have only been away alone together once before in our entire relationship and that was the Honeymoon! I guess we just really love traveling with others! :) We are recreating our honeymoon by taking the same cruise we took last February. It will be nice to unplug for a little bit and decompress after my first 2 summer school experiences wrap up.

It's that time of year again! Time to get organized for the new school year! Many of you know how truly OBSESSED I am with plastics and storage containers! And from following all of you, I just KNOW that you are just as obsessed as me! :) I was beyond excited to find this incredible deal on Walmart Mobile! Sterilite File Crate 12-Packs for only $3.47!! They were unavailable in the warehouse and could only be ordered through your local store. I placed an order for 2 with big plans for all of the crate! I got my email yesterday confirming that my order was ready! So I headed down to my local Walmart, waiting 25 minutes for someone to find my order and BAM! Only 2 crates. NOT 2 DOZEN. 85 minutes later, after speaking with 3 supervisors, a store manager, and a representative from Walmart.com, it was explained to me that there was a glitch in their system and that the item was listed incorrectly. My husband encouraged me to return the bins, but I really need some more seating for my library, so even though my face in the picture below doesn't look too approving, I will be starting a new little DIY project! Lemons into lemonade, right?

During one of our summer school programs, students have the opportunity to work with Kenzie. Kenzie is an adorable pup that was rescued from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. She is now used as a therapy dog and for educational purposes I will be posting more on the Paws to Read Program later, but this week was the first time I actually got to see it in action! The kiddos LOVED meeting Kenzie (obviously) and were so much more motivated to read! I can't wait to see just how this program develops!

I am so excited to be running my first-ever 5K! Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I have struggled with my weight for quite some time. As long as I can remember, I have dreamed of running in the Annual Disney Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World in Florida. Though, while this has always been my ultimate goal, I have never even run a measly 5K. I am so very blessed to have such amazing co-workers and friends that have rallied around me. We are a terrific support system for one another and all have similar goals. We will be running in the Run or Dye 5K in Hartford, CT tomorrow morning and I am PUMPED! I set it up so that my race packet would be sent to the house. I was SQUEALING as I unpacked it all! Can't wait to update and post pictures from the event!! :) I hope you're all enjoying your summer vacation! Anyone else teaching a summer program? I'd love to hear your thoughts as I prepare my blog post about my experience! XOXO

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