I've been featured!

Mr. Hughes over at An Educator's Life is featuring ME on his blog this week!  You must check it out!  I'm honored to be featured in his latest blog post, and I hope you will go take a look.  :)  

In other news, we had newborn photos taken of our sweet baby boy.  My amazing photographer, Rachel Elaine Photography, sent me a few sneak peek photos, and I just had to share!

 

 

I can't believe I'm a Mommy!!  This will be an extra special Mother's Day for me and my little family!  

I promise more blog posts and FREEBIES soon...As soon as I get a handle on life with a newborn, hehe.  Have a happy weekend!

Currently May!

Better late than never!  

Currently May Linky Party with Farley from Oh'Boy 4th Grade...

Don't forget about the Teacher Appreciation Sale over at TpT... 

May 7th & 8th... What are you shopping for?  

If you need some activities and printables to keep kiddos engaged over the last few weeks of school, check out my End of the Year Essentials!  The best thing about this pack is that the activities require NO PREP TIME!  {Other than making copies, of course!}  If you like this product, leave a comment below, and I'll choose a few lucky winners who will receive this item for FREE!  Yippee!

 

 

 

 

 

Giveaway Winner & My Sweet Baby Boy!

Hey friends!

I wanted to update you on the winner of the giveaway I was hosting with Laureen from Teach with Laughter.  The lucky winner was Michelle J.  Thanks to everyone who participated!  Michelle was the lucky winner of these three fabulous math products.  

 

 

More good news to share!  TheHappyBaby aka Reed Campbell Pledger was born on Monday, April 22nd at 9:29pm.  (Earth Day baby!)  He was 6 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long!  He's perfect in every which way, and I'm the happiest Mom alive!  We've been home for four days now, and we are slowly but surely figuring out how to take care of a newborn!  We are loving every minute of it...even the hard parts!  Here's a few pics of my sweetheart!

{On the way to the hospital...}

 {Sweet Baby Boy!}

 {Home sweet home}

 {Our first outing...trip to the doctor's office!}

Baby Baby!!

Well friends...today is the day!!  I'm having a BABY!!  I'm writing this blog post as I sit in the baby's nursery.  I'm going into the hospital at 7:30am to be induced!  I SHOULD meet my little man sometime TODAY.  (Earth Day is a cool birthday to have, right?)  Anyhow, I wanted to post this little update for you and let you know I may be missing in action for a little while until I get a handle on being a Mommy!  :)  I promise I'll stop in and post a baby picture or two though!  Here are a few nursery pics...

 For more nursery pictures, projects, and BABY stuff, check out my personal blog: The Pledger Family.

 Wish me luck!!!

The Magical Product Swap!

I'm super excited to be participating in my third Magical Product Swap, hosted by Mrs. Stanford!  I was lucky enough to be paired up with Laureen from Teach with Laughter!

Laureen has 114 products in her TPT store!  Wowzers!   I chose to review a product called "Tens and Ones Mystery Picture Bundle."

This product is AMAZING for several reasons:

1.  Students are working on PLACE VALUE/Tens & Ones!  This is one of the hardest concepts for students to master, so a product that effectively reviews this concept is awesome.  

2.  The bundle includes 17 different mystery pictures, and Laureen is always adding more to the bundle!  After you've purchased it, you can redownload it when she adds new mystery pictures.   Yay! 3.  There are a variety of themes, holidays, and occasions represented in the bundle, such as 100th Day, Christmas, Earth Day, Easter, Groundhog Day, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day.  There are also non-holiday printables included in the bundle, such as penguins, lady bugs, gumballs, snowmen, apples, ice cream, and flowers!  I love that I will be able to incorporate this product throughout the school year because of the variety of themes. 4.  The product comes with an "I Can" instruction card so students know what to do at centers!

5.  An answer key is included for each activity so students can check their own work!  

Here is an example from the bundle: 

These are the student work pages:

 You could copy them front/back to save paper!  =)

Students can check their work using two different answer keys:

 

I LOVE these printables because students are working on place value in a fun, bright, and colorful way!  It's not a boring old worksheet!  My kids LOVE them already!  =)  

Here are the ways I plan to use them in my classroom throughout the year:

1.  The holiday themed mystery pictures are PERFECT for actual holidays!  It's a go-to activity on the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas break.

2.  These printables are ideal for math centers/stations.

3.  Awesome for morning work/bell ringer...

4.  Easy and fun activity to leave with a substitute.  

5.  Great activity to send home with kiddos who need a little extra practice!  

The Tens and Ones Place Value Bundle from Teach with Laughter is an awesome deal!  You get 17+ products for only $9.00.  Can't beat that!  You can also purchase individual mystery pictures from Laureen's store if you just want a particular holiday or themed picture (i.e. Earth Day mystery picture for Monday, April 22nd!)  

If you'd like a chance to win this awesome product, you can enter using the Rafflecopter below!  

Don't forget to check out the Teach with Laughter blog to see which product Laureen reviewed from my store!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

In honor of the Magical Product Swap, I'm having a sale!  All of the products in TheHappyTeacher's TPT store are 10% off from April 20-23!  Happy Shopping!

Earth Day Freebie!

Earth Day is April 22nd, and I have a little freebie just for you!  There are two printables: a making words activity and a word search (with answer key).  I think they will be perfect for morning work or for fast finishers!  Hope you like 'em.  =)

Heads Up, Seven Up Sight Words!

One of my students' favorite games is Heads Up, Seven Up!  Heck, it was one of my favorite games to play at school when I was little too!  :)  It's easy to add an educational spin to the game.  Read on to find out more!

The only materials you need for this activity are your students and sight word flashcards.  You can use cutesy ones like the ones above, or just write the word on a piece of construction paper!  =)  

How to Play:

1.  Choose the seven students who will be "it."  Give each of these students a flashcard with a sight word on it.  Read aloud each word and have the class repeat.  Tell the class to use their imagination because you have changed these kiddos' names to the sight words they are holding.  {First graders think it's hilarious when you "change" Taylor's name to THIS or Ben's name to THAT.}

2.  The rest of the class puts their heads down and covers their eyes.  Then, the students who are "it" walk around the room and secretly choose ONE person.  When a child is selected, he puts his thumb up.  

3.  Announce "Heads Up, Seven up!"  

4.  Have the students with their thumbs up guess who selected them.  They MUST call out the SIGHT WORD that the person is holding, not the person's name.  Make sense?  

After a few rounds, I change out the sight words that the students are holding.  I think this game is genius because it doesn't take any prep time.  Students are engaged because it's fun, and they are reading and rereading their sight words dozens of times throughout the game!  It's a great transition activity or game to play when you have 10 extra minutes before lunch.  It's also a lot more fun that traditional flashcard practice!  Try it out with your kiddos, and let me know how it goes!  

Mother's Day Linky Party!

As many of you know, I'm expecting my first child at the end of April!  My little man, Reed Campbell Pledger, could arrive any day now, and I'll celebrate my first Mother's Day as a new mommy on May 12th!  What better way to celebrate this special day then with a blog post and Linky Party dedicated to MOMS!  

I created a sweet and simple acrostic poem FREEBIE to share with y'all.  Click on any of the images below to download:

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day to all that Mamas out there!  =)