FLASH FREEBIE!

It's about time, teachers, for a flash freebie!

Today, for a while, this product is absolutely free.  Grab it while you can.  Then, please leave feedback on TpT.  TYIA.

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Unbearably Cute Critical Thinking Puzzles

It's about time, teachers, for a new product.

If you are looking for a challenge that is beary good for promoting problem solving, honing critical thinking skills, and increasing stamina, this is it!

Bears Square Puzzlers are unbearably cute and differentiated. They are perfect for enrichment, fast finishers, centers, and are especially helpful at times when the class may be restless (think end of the year, holidays, field trips, etc.). The attention and concentration required to solve these puzzles will settle any group.

WHAT YOU GET
✔ Three bear themed Square Puzzlers
    ✓ The 2x2 square is perfect for introducing the task. It is also most appropriate for K - 2nd grade students. 

    ✓The 3x3 square is quite challenging and can be used successfully with 2nd – 5th grade students.

      ✓ The 4x4 square is for experts! 

✔ Labels for your center storage envelopes.

HOW TO USE SQUARE PUZZLERS
✔ Centers or work stations
✔ Fast finishers' challenge
✔ Enrichment
✔ G/T students
✔ Critical thinking exercise
✔ Differentiation
✔ Individual, partner, or small group collaboration

And, for the first 48 hours, Bears Square Puzzlers are 50% off!  So hurry on over and scoop it up.

In case you find these brain teasers as engaging as I think you will, I have just finished updating and refreshing all of the square puzzlers in my TpT store.  There are square puzzlers for most holidays (the Christmas version is FREE).  Moreover, there are square puzzlers for each season, a bundle of the season puzzles, and several square puzzlers that pertain to a theme.

Remember, square puzzlers require time and concentration to solve.  They are the perfect activity to settle a restless class as the end of the year.

Update 5/12/18:

I just completed a bundle of the Holiday Square Puzzlers.  It is now available in my store at 50% off through Sunday night (5/13/18).  

It's About Time, Teachers, for Spring!

Just in time for spring, I have finished updating and refreshing these spring products:

 

 

• Spring Square Puzzlers - an excellent activity for exercising your students’ problem solving and critical thinking skills. These puzzles provide a quick and easy activity for teachers looking to challenge fast finishers, create differentiation opportunities, and provide enrichment exercises. The challenge with these puzzles is to reconstruct the square so that all of the images match on every interior side.
• SCRATTLE: Spring Edition - a learning center activity that combines word work with computation; individual effort with competition. As in Scrabble™, students use a set of letters to create words. After recording their words, they calculate each word’s score using the letter values. Then they engage a friend in a battle wherein they compare their scores using >, <, and =. The pupil with the most >s wins the battle! (SCRAbble + baTTLE = SCRATTLE!) This product offers instant differentiation in that it provides 3 different recording sheets. SCRATTLE can be played by students with basic addition capabilities. This makes it useful for primary teachers and as an RTI resource. Students capable of advanced multiplication will be best served by the second recording sheet. Those skilled in solving mixed operations in complex equations will enjoy the third option.
• Poetry Possibilities for Spring - a collection of 20 poems about spring celebrations and activities with custom designed skill lessons. This poetry unit incorporates poetic elements, poetic forms, writing, grammar, multiple subject areas, and craftivities. There are even directions for a class play! 
• Poetry Possibilities for Animal Poems - a science and literacy unit incorporating multiple subjects through poetry. This collection of 12 animal poems provides teaching points, skill lessons, and activities custom designed for each poem. It masterfully combines language arts with science.  It even includes center activities.

If you already own these resources, please download the new version.  You'll be glad you did.  If you don't have them, try them!  I think you'll like them. 

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K-5 iPad Mini 4 Giveaway

You can win this iPad Mini 4, complete with a child-friendly case, just by going to the rafflecopter. Once there, you have a variety of ways to enter for the chance to win.  It's 100% free. 

"Springtime is the land awakening.  

The March winds are the morning yawn."

                              -Lewis Grizzard

It's About Time for Some Monster Love!

Children love monsters.

Monsters love synonyms.

Therefore, children love synonyms!

At least they will when you set up this literacy center:

Monsters Love Synonyms is a literacy center in which your little monster lovers will find pairs of synonyms. 36 monster cards are provided, allowing your students to find up to 18 pairs. You should tailor the number to fit the age and stage of your students. 2 versions of the recording sheet allow you to easily differentiate the task. Moreover, 2 versions of the cards are included: 1 in color, 1 in grayscale. If you choose the ink saving version, I recommend printing the cards on colored cardstock to add a little more pizzazz.  

Don't let the love stop there! Try Monsters Love Antonyms, too. In this center, your learners will find antonym pairs.  

Share some more monster love with Monsters Love Homophones. Did I mention that all of these centers include an anchor chart for display in your center?

You can share even more love with Monsters Love Contractions!

But wait! There's even more love to be had. Get all of these centers in one big bundle of love:

While these monster-ous centers have overtones of Valentine's Day, monsters know no season. There are no references to the holiday, so you can use these centers any time of the year. Remember, children love monsters!

It's About Time for Valentine's Day Parties

It's About Time, Teachers for Valentine's Day Parties!

The class party for Valentine's Day is my absolute favorite party of the year.  That's because I have my students create their own treat! It's such fun to see how creative (and excessive) 1st graders will get.

Here's how it works:

• Ask your room parents to bake heart shaped sugar cookies for the party. They should NOT decorate them!  Ask them to use the largest heart shaped cookie cutter possible. That way you will need only 1 cookie per student. Since many children now have peanut and other nut allergies, I recommend using Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough since it is safe for those with allergies. That is, of course, if the bakers are not making dough from scratch.

        

• The room parents should also provide tubs of frosting; 1 tub for every 4 or 5 children. That's way more than is needed, but it certainly cuts down on the sharing problems that 6 & 7 year olds can exhibit.

• Have enough plastic knives to allow each child to have their own. If you are nervous about knives, even tho' plastic, tongue depressors also work well.

• Your students should gather around decorating centers (paper covered tables) supplied with the above mentioned frosting tubs, plastic knives, and a generous supply of decorative sprinkles and colored sugar crystals.

• Now stand back and let your children have the time of their lives.  They will almost certainly create cookies that are piled high with every decoration within their reach and that are nearly inedible.  But, they will have fun.
• Clean up is as easy as whisking the paper covering the tables into the garbage. Woo hoo!

This party plan will take up most of your allotted celebration time, so room parents will not need to plan any games or crafts.  You may even find that there is insufficient time to open their valentines at school.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day party with your little sweeties.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

It's about time, teachers, for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

MLK, Jr. Day is Jan. 15.   Do you need resources for it?  Try this one; it's FREE!

This FREE poetry unit provides 3 poems about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Each of the poems in Poetry Possibilities -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Edition has a page of possibilities for teaching. The poetry possibilities are custom designed and include a teaching point related to poetry, as well as activities and skill lessons from multiple disciplines. Topics covered include:

POETIC DEVICES
• metaphors
• rhythm
• sensory detail
POETIC ELEMENTS
• meter
• iambic foot
CREATIVE WRITING
READING SKILLS
• accented syllables
• unaccented syllables
GRAMMAR
• capitalization
• punctuation
ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES
RESEARCH TOPICS
ART PROJECTS
BOOK LINKS

These poems are copy ready and, thus, may be added to your students' poetry anthologies. The range of reading levels in these poems makes them appropriate for all intermediate classrooms. This unit is CCSS aligned. 

"The time is always right to do the right thing."
                                                            -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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