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Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Back to School Blow Out Sale with Educents!

I am so excited to announce that Educents.com is having a HUGE back-to-school blowout sale and I am going to be featured in one of the curriculum bundles! From July 30 - August 2 (Wednesday - Saturday), they are bringing back all of their favorite and most popular bundles for INSTANT download at up to 77% OFF! There is something for everyone and it is their BIGGEST sale of the year! Take a peak into what is on sale! Tell your friends, because there is something for everyone who teaches children in PreK-8th grade!
BTS_Newsletter
I have two products in this Tricky Math bundle!
Grades3-5(trickymath)

There are just some math concepts that are so tricky for our upper elementary students. The standards have become more rigorous and I have found myself constantly looking for new ways to address the standards to reach all the students. One teaching tool I love to use that makes a huge difference with my students mastering math concepts (or any subject) is using task cards or engaging, fun center activities. Students forget that they are actually learning and will go out of their way to complete these activities.

The two products I included in this bundle will surely be loved by your students!  
My Line Plots with Fractions centers are a fun, engaging way for your students to practice this tricky standard.  
This packet (19 pages total) contains two variations of a math center where students make line plots using fractions and then interpret the data represented.

The first center game, "Pizza Party", instructs students to flip cards showing pieces of pizza. They graph the fraction represented on the card using the line plot and try to "earn" more pizza than the other player. Four different fraction line plot game boards using the pizza cards allows the teacher to differentiate the game based on the level of the students. 

The other center game can be played using dice at a center instead of the pizza cards. Use a die with whole numbers or customize the other line plot according to fraction or specialty dice from your supplies. Directions and a worksheet with questions for players to answer using their line plot are included with each center.


I laminated two sets of pizza fraction cards for my classroom and mounted them each on a different color paper to keep the piles separate.
Here are a few students playing the Line Plots with Fractions game.

The other product I have in the Educents Tricky Math bundle are two centers for Multiplying Fractions by Whole Numbers.

Multiply Fractions by Whole Numbers includes 25 pages of two fraction math centers aligned to the Common Core Standards for 4th grade. The centers can also be used for review for 5th grade or for challenging advanced learners in 3rd grade. The centers included are:

1. "Monster Land Race to the Finish"-Students play a game where they move on the number of spaces on a game board according to the card drawn that reads like a fraction problem (move 2/5 of 15 spaces!). Three variations of a game board, student directions, and an answer key for students to self-check answers are included.

2. "Word Problem Task Cards"-These are twelve word problem task cards where students solve a variety of problems involving multiplication of fractions by whole numbers. Some task cards also have students answer which two whole numbers their answer lies between and directs them to graph it on a number line. Students can record their answers on the task card (each a half page in size) or a separate answer sheet for all twelve task cards is included. An answer key is also included.
I also laminated two sets of cards for the "Monster Land Race to the Finish" game so two groups could use it at a time. My students loved this game!

The Educents bundle also includes these other great products so there is sure to things you love!  
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Check out all these other Educents bundles on SALE for back to school! They won't last long!

Preschool Full-Year Curriculum Bundle - 72% OFF

Preschool

Kindergarten Full-Year Curriculum Bundle - 75% OFF

Kindergarten

K-2 The Write Stuff ELA Bundle - 68% OFF

GradesK-2(writestuff)

First Grade Literacy Bundle - 74% OFF

1stGrade

School Year Curriculum Bundle (Grades 2-3) - 74% OFF

Grades2-3

Poetry Curriculum & Activities Bundle (Grades 2-6) - 75% OFF

Peotry

Tricky Math Curriculum Bundle (Grades 3-5) - 69% OFF

  Grades3-5(trickymath)

Complete Full-Year Curriculum Bundle (Grades 6-8) - 77% OFF


Management, Decor & Organization Bundle - 76% OFF

Management(allgrades)

You have about three more days to shop until you drop! :)

Don't Miss It!

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Tried It Tuesday (July)

This is the last week for the July link up for Tried It Tuesday! There will be a new link up next week for August. Many of you are starting back to school soon (we start officially after Labor Day), so save up some "Tried Its" to share starting weekly in September! I am enjoying my summer vacation (it's half over...wah!). I'm off to school today and tomorrow for curriculum work with my team. :)

It's Time for Tried It Tuesday! 
What have you tried at school or home?
If you've never linked up with Tried It Tuesday, just link up any idea school or home related and what worked or didn't work. Simple! 
This Tried It Tuesday will be open for the whole month of July. Link up anytime!
My Tried It:
Business Cards
You may have heard about the first ever Teachers Pay Teachers conference being held in Las Vegas on July 11th!! I decided a couple months ago that I couldn't pass up the chance to meet other bloggers and  fellow teachers! I am SO excited to meet everyone and learn from some amazing educators!! :)

For the occasion, many of my BBB's are ordering business cards for their blog/TpT stores and I tried making some too. I am not a designer (at all!) but I had some help from my BBB's (especially Diane from Fifth in the Middle...Thanks Diane!).
This is how the business cards turned out:

I used Power Point to make them with help from my BBB's again.
Change the "page setup" to 30" x 17.5" for the business cards.

I ordered the cards using Vista Print.
 I chose "Use your complete design"
Choose file to upload your design
I chose "Crop this image" and selected "scale to fit" to ensure the entire image is displayed.

I used QR Code Generator for the QR codes.

Do you have something you could use business cards for? Vista print was so easy to use and I will let you know what I think of the quality when I receive them. They were $25 for 500 cards I think. It was $5 less for 250, so I just ordered 500 (not sure what I'll ever do with that many but it seemed like a good deal when I was ordering in crunch time!).

I am so excited to meet up with fellow bloggers at this blogger meet up hosted by Kristen from Easy Teaching Tools and Courtney from Ramona Recommends! Thank you so much for organizing this ladies! :)
Also, the amazing Christy from Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road is celebrating 1,000 followers! Check out this awesome giveaway!



Friday, July 18, 2014

It's Vegas Baby!!

I think I am FINALLY recovered from the excitement of Vegas and the first TpT conference ever last weekend! Whew! What a whirlwind of a few days! One of my BBB's, Deirdre from A Burst of First, is hosting a linky party all about the conference in Vegas. Fun!
I had fun shopping before heading to Vegas and bought these wedges to match my Stitch Fix top. My bestie (and Vegas roomie!) Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching inspired me!
Of course, I had to buy some snacks for the five hour flight and hotel room! I am such a sweets junkie! It's a good thing I had these because Joanne can attest that I ate Twix for breakfast two mornings before leaving our room. :) Everything in Vegas was super expensive (to be expected) but I couldn't afford much more than one "real" meal a day! Lol.
I've never flown solo before, but my favorite part was the people watching at the airport. OMG! Anyone with me?!? It is especially interesting when I sat there with headphones in. Haha! As soon as I stepped off the plane in Vegas, the airport had slot machines right there! Wow! I've only ever gambled in a casino once in my life and spent a whooping $20. So, guess what I spent on the slots in Vegas? Yep...a grand $20!! I didn't win anything besides a dollar here or there and then gave up quickly. Also, the smell of smoke in the casinos gives me a headache. What a culture shock though!
 We stayed in the Bella Suite at the Venetian. Can you say Holy WOW?! Here is a picture of the lobby.
Joanne and I coordinated our flights to arrive in Vegas about the same time (I was coming nonstop from NY and she was coming nonstop from FL). I arrived at 7:30 Vegas time (10:30pm NY time) and her flight was delayed until about 9:00pm Vegas time due to thunderstorms. So, I had more people watching time! We took a taxi from the airport to the Venetian. I recommend that after a long day of travel. It was only $30 and we split the cost. I guess the shuttle takes a LOT longer. The funny thing is, the taxi ride from the hotel to the airport on our way to go home was only $17! What a deal for the two of us! 

After checking in, we went to the food court and met up with another BBB, Jessica from Ideas by Jivey! I LOVE her and it was amazing to meet in person finally!! Her top selling mentor sentences literally changed the way I teach grammar completely! So, we finally went to bed about 1:30 am Vegas time. I left my house at 1pm NY time to head to the airport and got to bed at 4:30am NY time. LOOONG day for this girl!

The next morning, we were up bright and early to register for the conference and have breakfast at 7am. They provided a nice spread for us and I ate up! :)
 I was THRILLED to meet so many of my BBB's that I have formed relationships with in the blogging world! Not only are they passionate teachers, but they are just wonderful women!! I hope I get to meet more BBB's in the near future! :)
In the picture front row left to right: Jessica from Joy in the Journey, Molly from Lucky to Be in First, Deirdre from A Burst of First, Rose from Rosie's Rambles
Back row left to right: Michele from Coffee Cups and Lesson Plans, Me, Christy from Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road, Amanda from Collaboration Cuties, Diane from Fifth in the Middle, Erin from I'm Lovin Lit, Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching, Jessica from Ideas by Jivey
Throughout the day, I attended four conference sessions on topics such as copyright, improving TpT seller success, and data interpretation. It was so informative. I loved the session where my BBB Erin from I'm Lovin Lit was the presenter! I am so disappointed that I didn't get a picture with her. She was amazing to hang out with and is so down to earth even after all her quick success on TpT. I love her INB and have blogged about them HERE.

I was also so impressed with the session I attended by Rachel Lynette. I have followed her for a long time and have so many of her products. I have blogged about using her task cards in my classroom many times such as HERE. It was surreal meeting her in person!
I also met Laura Candler and had to get a picture with her! I love her Book Clubs and have blogged about using them in my classroom many times including HERE and HERE!
Friday night we hung out at an 80's bar right at the Venetian. Isn't this guy hysterical in this picture?
The Venetian hotel was like a city!! Joanne and I are both self confessed women with no sense of direction and I am still laughing thinking about us trying to navigate this hotel for three days! It never got easier and we would go from fits of laughter and to being super annoyed that we seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. Even the workers would steer us wrong! These are all pictures from the hotel below!
 Shops everywhere...

On Saturday we celebrated with a bachelorette party for our BBB, Jivey in our hotel room. Check out the decorative signs made by Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching!

Saturday night I went to see Shania perform with Joanne and Michele! WOW!! It was so amazing!
On Sunday it was time to head back to Buffalo and look who happened to sit right next to me on the plane! What are the chances of that?!? This is Karen from Mrs. Jones's Kindergarten and Everything Primary! We both had our lap tops open working on TpT products and realized we had both been at the conference. She is a top seller and well-known in the TpT world so I felt like I had just met someone famous! :)
Check out all the other fun adventure in TpT at A Burst in First! I am already looking forward to the next time I can hang out with my BBB's!