Shared Reading.....UGH!!

Alright I need some tips. We have to do Shared reading every day for 1/2 hour in our classroom. I got observed today doing it and I found out I've been doing it all year WRONG!! My literacy coach said it is thinking out loud. You never ask the kids any questions or have them find words that rhyme or a certain skill. She said it is basically reading a book to the class but telling them exactly what you're thinking as you're  reading. She demonstrated this for my class. My class tried to participate but she told them no, it's my turn to tell you what I'm thinking. I have searched the Internet for shared reading ideas and all of the ones I have came across are nothing like she told me shared reading is. Does anyone have any tips? Or knows of any great shared reading lessons on TPT. I would like to find some that are thinking out loud strategies.

Two Truths and a Lie Linky party

I'm linking up with Flying into First Grade for her fun linky, two truths and a lie.

So here are mine:
1. I had chicken pox so bad I had to be hospitalized.
2. I stepped on a needle and had to have it surgically removed.
3. When I was almost 6 months pregnant I had a baby that survived.

In the comments leave which one you think is a lie. I'm excited to see what you think. Go link up too, if you haven't already!

Centers Oh My!!

Do you ever have one of those moments where you say to yourself why didn't I think of that? Well here is my moment. I ran across these amazing little guys off of Amazon. Oh my can I just say? I'm ordering them right now. Do you have students even after you have explained centers a million jazillion times still ask. What are we supposed to do at center 1? Well problem SOLVED!! These are little speakers that you record the instructions on. Then when the students are at their center. They push the little button and it tells them what to do. WOW!!! Seriously this is going to make my life so-much-easier! They're on sale right now on Amazon. So go check them out.

It's My Lucky Day

I'm linking up with Cindy at Granny Goes to school. She came up with a great idea to giveaway some awesome St. Patrick's Day freebies. Who can pass that up?? Seriously? There are some amazing bloggers, giving away freebies. So be sure to follow the complete circle. Cindy is giving away a 20.00 Target gift card. You can enter for each blog you follow.   

I'm giving away my Lucky Leprechaun Shape Swindler activity to you for FREE!! I made this product specifically for this linky party, I hope you enjoy it. Just click on the picture and it will take you to my store.

 Go check out Nicole from Rowdy in Room 300 for your next freebie!

I know I will, I'm excited to get some freebies for St. Patrick's Day. 

Brain Breaks

I don't know about you, but my kids have the WIGGLES like crazy! I love using brain breaks throughout the day to get the WIGGLES out. I found the Just Dance Kids Gummy Bear song and my students fell in love. Everyday they ask me if we can do the gummy bear dance. So I decided I needed to find some more Just Dance videos for them to do. I love that they're only a couple of minutes so they don't take a lot of time to do but they also help them to do their work better. Here are a couple of my favorites:

 Do you use brain breaks in your classroom? If you do what are some of your favorites?

Valentine's Day

Was today as C-R-A-Z-Y for you as it was for me? I had students who are never bad, crawling on the floor and doing all sorts of things I have never seen before. I think we all had too much SUGAR!!

Are you wondering what to do with all those left over Valentine's Day cards? Every year I make a big heart and put all the Valentine Cards on it. To show my appreciation for all my cuties! It always makes their day to see their Valentines hung up. I like to hang the heart on my door. So they see it first thing when they walk into the room.  It think it's a fun way to display it instead of just throwing them away. :(

For our February display, we made these cute bees. They go perfectly with our bee classroom. 

 This is a little late, but if you're looking for a cute idea for next year. Here is one. Have you ever read this book?  I love this book and we read it every year. My kids love it. We usually find someone in the school to surprise with some Valentines love.  One of my teammates beat me to the punch she did our principal. I love to do it to our librarian or the literacy coach. Someone that doesn't always get all the treats from the students but is just as special. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Editable Valentine's Day Card

Are you scurring to come up with something to give your students for Valentine's Day? Or if you're like me you're looking for something for your child to take that is different than the usual Valentine's Day Cards at Target. Well If you're still looking here's an idea.

 I hope my students like these.

  Click on the first picture above to grab yourself one too.

 I also made one if you're not a teacher and want to have your child use them as their Valentine's day card.

 My kids are so excited for Valentine's day. My daughter keeps calling her classmates, mates. She wanted to buy all of the kids in her preschool a stuffed animal. Well on a teachers salary I just can't afford that. So the Sprite idea will have to do. This is the card I'm giving all my family members this year. I love that I know how to create cards now. It saves me a lot of mulah.

 Thank goodness for Powerpoint!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I've joined Teresa's linky party over at Fun in K/1, DoodleBugs Five for Friday, and Mrs. Lilypad's Little's Valentine Linky Party! Go check them out and link up!