All Things Apple in 2nd

A Spark of Inspiration Blog Hop

Hi everyone!! How are you all? Well, I'm so glad you're here today!! Thanks Angie (Lucky Little Learners) for sending all of you my way!! :) Welcome to A Spark of Inspiration's Blog Hop!!!

Today, we're celebrating a new start on one of my collaborative blogs, A Spark of Inspiration!! Here's how this blog hop works!! Stop by each blog to grab an awesome FREEBIE!! THEN, enter to win some awesome prizes before you hop over to the next blog!!! Simple, right?!? Well, let's get it started in here!

Here is my FREEBIE!!!

We work a lot with point of view in reading AND writing so this freebie looks at the writing side a bit more in a fun, engaging way!! :) Hope you and your kiddos enjoy it!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Now, click on the button below to hop on over to your next FREEBIE stop at Journey of a Substitute Teacher!! Don't forget to enter the giveaway below!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

THE Ron Clark Academy & EDexpo 2015!!!!!!

Happy Sunday everyone!!! I am so excited and giddy for this week that I had to share it with all of you!!! If you have been following me on Instagram, you may have seen me posting pictures of 2 things: THE Ron Clark Academy & the EDexpo 2015 in Atlanta!!! Well, let's dive into each one of these!!!

THE Ron Clark Academy!!!

First, I get to meet Ron Clark and Kim Bearden FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vist RCA HERE!

I still remember when I first learned about Ron Clark with the Lifetime movie, The Ron Clark Story! As you all know, I'm a Lifetime and Hallmark channels fanatic so of course I watch EVERY GOOD teacher movie that comes their way! His story inspired me, moved me to tears, and showed me the potential that we all have!!!

I learned more about Kim Bearden while reading her INCREDIBLE book, Crash Course, as well as some interviews she's been in. Her truth and experiences are so relatable and inspiring!! Her book completely motivates you to go outside your comfort zone. It also makes you reflect on your own experiences which, in turn, makes you a better educator and person!

So...to say I'm excited is a complete UNDERSTATEMENT!!! I have wanted to go the Educator Training since I learned of it so for me to be able to go is a dream come true!!! AND I get to see one of the first bloggers I ever followed, Hope King, in action!!!! She is definitely the real deal!! I had the privilege of meeting and talking with Hope at the TpT Conference in Vegas last year! She is amazing!! So I cannot wait to see her teach!

This is one of my favorite pictures from Vegas with Hope King and Ashley Schroeder!!

I will definitely be back next week to share ALL about The Ron Clark Academy!!! I can't wait to be "Slide Certified!"

How can this video NOT make you smile and want to get up and get changing things!!! AHHHHH I'm at Panera, or I would totally start jumping up and down screaming...I'm going to RCA!!! I'm going to RCA!!!!!

NOW, let's look at the 2ND AMAZING event going on this week!!!

EDexpo 2015!!!!!!!

You all, I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be getting opportunities to travel, meet-up with other teacher bloggers/FRIENDS, and share with all of you!!! Pinch me now!! So next weekend, I'm attending the EDexpo 2015 in Atlanta as well!!! This expo is going to have ALL the latest and greatest in teacher and classroom materials!! OH.MY.WORD!!! Teach heaven anyone?!? I mean, you all know the feeling you get when you walk into a teacher store! Well, this is going to be like that times 100!!! I'm getting to go around to all the vendors, testing out materials, talking, and deciding which ones I think would be the most useful in classrooms!!! HERE is the list of all the teacher bloggers that will be there too!!

If you're in the area this coming weekend, definitely check it out!!!

I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

The cherry on top...I get to hangout with some of my favorites all weekend!!! We're even going to the Georgia Blogger Meetup as well!!! Holy cow! Can we get this week started already!! I can't wait to share EVERYTHING with you!!! Make sure to check back throughout the week and next week to get caught up on all of the fun!!!

Skip Counting to a Tune!!! with FREEBIES!!!

Hallmark Movie Channel...I'm addicted to this station! I came home today, did my Insanity Max 30 (awesome workout if you haven't tried it:), and sat down to write my post. When I put on the Hallmark Movie Channel, I kid you not, a movie pertaining to music in the classroom was on! A sign...I think so! :) The movie's called Notes From Dad. It's about a trumpeter who becomes a music teacher at a high school and helps out these kids that are going through tough times.

MUSIC+TEACHING=WIN-WIN

I'm completely going on a bit of a tangent, but I couldn't help it!! I'm a sucker for any teaching/sports/music/dance inspirational movie! I mean, I seriously LOVE them!! I love the fire it lights inside of me! I love that I want to go conquer the world when I watch them. I love that music has the power to define cultures and life itself. A song comes on, and it can instantly take you back or motivate you forward!

I don't know if I'm just emotional or what (winter blah), but just thinking about music's influence and connection to everything brings a tear to my eye. I always think, if music inspires us in so many aspects of our life, than why not bring it into the classroom??

I've had music in my life since I can remember! My mom always tells me the story of the time I was belting out "Tomorrow" from Annie in the grocery store! The manager gave me a sucker!! :) Ever since I started teaching 12 years ago, I have had a guitar in my room. My kiddos beg for me to play so we can all sing! Any time I travel abroad or different areas of the US, I get an instrument to take to my classroom. I have instruments from Spain, China, Mexico, Costa Rica, Disney World (Africa, LOVE Animal Kingdom), and from stores. We use the instruments to celebrate birthdays in our classroom and for chants and songs throughout the year.

So if there's a chance or idea that includes music, I'm there!!! Which ~~finally~~ brings me to my point tonight!!

SKIP COUNTING TO A TUNE

A few years ago, I walked into one of my friend's classrooms at school and just happened to walk in when they were chanting to skip counting. I instantly LOVED it! Fact fluency is something our kids really need to be strong in to have that foundation for basically everything in math. So I just had to use those chants!! So he told me he found them on You Tube but changed a couple around. So, of course, I went to You Tube. You can check out the video here. Kimberly Rimbey did an awesome job finding the perfect songs to go with the skip counting patterns. I added in a 2s, 5s, and 10s chant, titles, along with creating a PowerPoint with posters and smaller sized posters to make practice books for your students!

My kids LOVE SKIP COUNTING TO A TUNE!!!!! AND so many can now multiply way better and quicker by using these chants!!! I posted a video of my class getting "down" with skip counting and was AMAZED at the response from all of you!!! There have been over 8,000 views on my Facebook page!!! WOW!!! This definitely told me that we all want to bring music into our rooms!! SO I had to help with this!!

Below, you will find both videos we made, the PowerPoint presentation, as well as the PDF file for the posters and smaller student booklet posters. I need to work on my video skills which I'm sure my friends I worked at Apple with will cringe when they watch haha!!

The first video I had one of my students take was portrait view. hah It doesn't include the 10s chant. The second video I wanted to show the PowerPoint slides more so you all can actually use it in your classroom too so to teach your kids the chants!!! This video does include the 10s chant. We do these chants and songs every day at the beginning of our math time! They lead us right into our objectives!! I let a different student ring the bells and control the slides each day too!! :) We're making the student booklets now!! One of my boys definitely came up to me asking when they were going to get them!! :) Love them!!

I hope you are able to incorporate these chants into your classroom and bring music in!!!! You'll be hearing these chants EVERYWHERE!! Yay! ;)

1st Video

2nd Video

Skip Counting to a Tune~PowerPoint Presentation!!

Skip Counting to a Tune~PDF File for Posters!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!! Hope you and your kiddos love SKIP COUNTING TO A TUNE!!!

There's SNOW Better Time for a DOLLAR SALE!!!

Hi everyone!!! I've missed you all, and I'm so glad to be back at it!! :) If any of you live in the midwest, you might recall last year at this time, we had a huge snow storm that shut down our schools for an extra week! Well, we don't have huge snow amounts, but it's COLLLLDDDD outside!! So we have the day off of school today! Am I happy about this...not really since we will have to make it up! However, keeping our kids and staff safe is number one priority so I'm going to enjoy this day and use it to get caught up on things!!

OHHH, and ALSO for a DOLLAR SALE!!!!!

We decided to have another DOLLAR SALE like we did last week during this same week! haha Funny how history can repeat itself!! Click on the covers below to see the 4 items in my store that will be $1 for today and tomorrow! Don't forget to check out the other DOLLAR DEALS with the links below!!! :)

SOLVE it! Mult./Div.- A new TWIST to flashcards!

This is the 2nd set of SOLVE it! cards with my first set (add./subt.) being one of my best sellers!!! I don't know about you, but the same flashcards can get kind of boring. So I made these cards in an attempt for higher order thinking, longevity, and FUN!!! Students have to find a way to make the number in the middle. With this set, they use multiplication or division. There's also a recording sheet, if desired, to record some of the facts they use. This is another highly requested game in my room!!

In a New York MINUTE!

This game is part of my MASSIVE time unit you can find here Nothing but TIME! Make sure to check it out before in case you'd like the discounted HUGE set with 10 centers, pre and post tests, teacher notes, pictures, and more!! :)

3 of a TIME!! Finding 3 ways to represent the time card game!!

My kids absolutely LOVE this game!! It is always a requested game to play, AND it has 4 different sets to play with! With 4 sets (o'clock, half past, quarter after, quarter 2), this game will have your kids mastering time in NO TIME! :)

My Bounce Card

I created these cards to help my literature circles carry on discussions about their books. They give them starters and ideas as to how they can respond! My kids have done so well with these, and they have really carried it over into guided reading small groups and other subjects too!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!!! I love having visitors!!! Stay warm!!! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Savings Circular!! A Weekly Linky Party!!

Hi there!!! Welcome to the Sunday Savings Circular!! I'm so glad you stopped by! Each week, bloggers can link up to showcase products, share sales/deals, etc.! It's been great getting to see products I may have missed or grab some deals!!!

If you'd like to link up today, check out the instructions at the end of this post!!! I'd love to have you!!! :)

Here is my Sunday Savings Circular for this week!!

Clip art and fonts by Krista Wallden of Creative Clips, Sarah of Educlips, Kimberly of KG Fonts, and Redpepper!!

This week, I'm showcasing 2 of my favorite and best selling products!!!

First, my Reading Skills Posters and So Much More!!!

Second, My Self Reflection Desktop Name Tags + Posters!!! Color & Black/White!!

Both of these sets would be a great way to kick off the new year!!!!

Come join the party!!!

2 options for you to choose!!!

This linky party works the way you want it to!! Every Sunday, you can send out a Sunday Savings Circular that displays a sale that you are going to have that day, new products you want to showcase, deals like dollar deals/bogo/etc. It is completely up to you!!! This week, I've included 2 template options for you to pick from!! Thanks so much for joining!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Start Your CYBER Shopping EARLY!!! Sunday Savings Circular!! (Nov. 30th)

Start emptying out those wish lists and filling those carts because it's time to get your SALE on!!!!! Since we are all getting lesson plans ready and materials prepared today to start the next 3 holiday weeks of school, why not start the CYBER SALE a day early with a little sale of my own!!!

This week for my Sunday Savings Circular, I'm having a 20% off SALE to kick off the CYBER SALE!!! I'm also joining TpT for our site wide CYBER SALE starting tomorrow, Monday, and going through Tuesday where you can get up to 28% off using the code TPTCYBER at checkout!!

This adorable button is by Dragonflies in First!!! Thank you!

I wanted to share some of my top and favorite products in my store that you may like for your own classroom!! :) You can click on the covers to go to the product page. You can also click on my button to go directly to my store!!