Welcome Sheera our new class pet (RIP Leonardo)!

Farewell sweet Leonardo

You may remember Leonardo the turtle our lovely class pet from one of my previous posts. Sadly Leonardo did not survive his last trip home with a student (lost, chewed by a dog or destroyed by a sibling I’ve been told). The class were upset at first but quickly forgot poor Leonardo after their kind teacher told them she would get us another class pet. Not to be mistaken for a softy the children have been told that the loss of the next pet would mean no more class pets!

It was an extensive process choosing another pet. The class was the ones making the decisions.

First was a suggestion of animals (tiger, shark, giraffe, turtle, crocodile and snake).

Voting for an animal

Next a class vote on the type of animal.  Each student recorded votes on paper. They were placed in a tin then drawn out and recorded in a tally next to each animal name.  Tiger was the winning vote.

The votes are in

Tallying the votes

Students loved tallying the votes (they didn't even know it was maths)!

The final numbers

Next Mrs Hayley had to track down a stuffed tiger toy. The mission was finally accomplished by donating to the World Wildlife Fund who then sends a stuffed animal, bag, adoption certificate and photo. 

While we waited for the tiger to come from the USA to Australia another vote occurred to decide whether the tiger was a girl or a boy. Girl won this time.

Then we started thinking about names. Some of the suggestions were Nala, Sheera, Tiger, Stripy and Alice. The winner: Sheera.

It took a few weeks to finally get Sheera to our remote island home.

She has finally arrived.

Sheera the Tiger

After her first week she has sat with students during our carpet time, sat on desks to help with work, played tennis and with hula-hoops, participated in reading groups and helped us with our math. Sheera goes home with students on the weeknights in a special bag with a writing book and pencil. She has been home with 2 students for a sleepover. They have both returned Sheera (unharmed) and presented their talks about what they did with Sheera.

Reading, hula-hoops and tennis fun!

Going home for a sleepover.

The next sleepover

Once again it is great to have a class pet. The students have fallen in love with Sheera and want to spend any time they can holding her in class. It has been great to help with behaviour management, oral language, confidence, writing and hopefully more responsibility looking after her at home!

I’ll be trying to share more Sheera adventures throughout the rest of the year.

Does anyone else have a class pet? Have you thought about donating to WWF. Click here to head over to their website. I’d love to hear your class pet stories.

 
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Back to School (or halfway through) Sale!

Well it has definitely been too long since a blog post! Toooooo long!

Its not like you have not been on my mind dear blog. You have I swear. It’s just that it’s been a hectic time and I’ve been focusing on lots of other things. Its not you its me.

Click on this link to visit the store

I know you’re probably feeling a bit ripped off too because this is just a quick post to share some back to school (or halfway through school in Australia) love and to let everyone know about my Teachers Pay Teachers sale. But don’t fret I’ve got some posts coming your way soon. Too many ideas that will keep you busy and satisfy your every blogging need!

But enough of all that! Yes even though I live in Australia and we are halfway through our school year I am participating in the TPT sale along with so many other great sellers.

For 2 days everything in store is 20% off as well as another 10% from TPT (just enter the code BTS14 at checkout).

I have been frantically finishing some of my half finished products and have 2 more up in store. My Rock On! With Sight Words Bundle and We Rock Our Goals individual student goal display are shown below. Click on the photos to see the products on TPT and download my preview file for a closer look.  I have so many more to add but am still putting the final touches on those so stay tuned.

Head on over to the Teacher Teacher Store on TPT to check out what’s on sale while you can. Time is ticking….

 

Free Product on Teachers Like Freebies

I'm very excited to be featured on the Teachers Like Freebies blog this week.

My Guided Reading Comprehension Graphic Organisers are on show! 

Here is a short sample of what is in the product.

You can find these on my TPT store as my featured freebie or through the Teachers Like Freebies blog page.

If you haven't already head on over to the Teachers Like Freebies blog and subscribe to receive wonderful freebies from many talented teachers.

My Motivational Monday Freebies will start back up again soon (I've been a bit slack on my Easter Holidays). If anyone has any suggestions about what they would like to see free please leave a comment below.

Happy Easter Sale and New Products

So I’ve been absent from the blog world for quite some time! Easter school holidays are almost over (Nooooooo!) and it is back to school next week. I’ve already had 2 dreams (nightmares?) about naughty children and hiding in my office!

I’ve been extremely busy creating new products for my class and have uploaded them in my store this week. Last month I completed my Phonics Pack 1. I’ve now finished Packs 2 and 3 and also created a bundle in my store. I’m very happy to say my Phonics folders are now all organised and my lessons and activities are ready for the next term or 2! No planning, creating and printing necessary. I’ll be having a laminating party tonight with myself and a movie or two.

 

So to celebrate Easter and my new products I’m having a sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

For 2 days you can save 20% off everything! New products and old. The sale dates are April 20th and 21st.  There are many other sellers with sales as well. What could be a better way to spend your Easter Sunday than with a TPT shopathon?!

Here are some pics of my newest products that I am oh so proud of.  And of course these will be included in the sale. Click on the links to find them in my store. Leave a comment below and tell me what you think?

Phonics Pack 2

Part 1: Letter Work

Part 2: Word Work

Part 3: Sentence Work

Phonics Pack 3

Part 1: Letter Work

Part 2: Word Work

Part 3: Sentence Work

Phonics Bundle: Packs 1, 2 and 3 Save $6.00

Pack 1: Letters smtcgpao

Pack 2: Letters rldbfhiu

Pack 3: Letters vxyzjnke

Monster Number Boards for Number and Place Value Work

Monster Number Boards

1 digit number board

2 digit Number Board

I’ll be posting some more details about my Phonics lessons in the near future so stay tuned. In the meantime have a Happy Easter!

Motivational Monday Freebie – Part Part Whole Party Page

How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was fantastic, a relaxing day at the beach and a productive day in the classroom preparing for my week.

Not sure if anyone has noticed but there are only 2 more weeks til Australian Easter school holidays! I’ve definitely noticed and yep the countdown is on. I’ve got a list as long as my arm of goals, things to do and how I’m going to relax around my lovely island home.

But enough about that, let’s get our heads back into Monday.

Today I have a Part Part Whole Party Page as my Motivational Monday Freebie for the 24th March. Once again I print and laminate copies so that we can reuse them. Or you could print and shrink them down to 2 or 4 to a page on a paper copy.

I’ve used this page with the kids while we are learning addition and subtraction. We use counters, cubes or bead strings alongside this to separate numbers into parts then write the addition sentence and turnaround addition sentence. Then we write the subtraction sentence and turnaround.  I used to think part part whole was a bit boring but we love having some fun with these party pages. I have been so happy with the progress of the kiddos. I think they finally ‘got’ how to complete these independently. The students have their first ‘real’ maths test tomorrow that includes showing their thinking for addition and subtraction problems. I hope they do well. Fingers crossed.

Here is the link to the Part Part Whole Party Page freebie or alternatively check out my TpT store and some of my other products.

If you are looking for more classroom freebies I've linked up with the Classroom Freebies Blog: Manic Monday. Check out this fantastic blog full of free resources.