Attention: We have a winner (and a freebie!)

Congratulations to Beverly M., who won my 100 Followers Giveaway! Congratulation. Thank you to everyone who supported the giveaway by donating, entering, following, and sharing. I really do appreciate it! I have not been blogging as much this week, because I have been really busy, but I will become more active at again on Sunday. It is my birthday tomorrow (27th!), and for my birthday I get to go get an emissions test,  get my license renewed, and get my tag renewed. Gotta love it :) Until I start back up to blogging again on Sunday, I want to leave you guys with a little freebie!  My math bookmarks freebie that are available in my store. These two bookmarks cover basic angles and fractions, and make a great study tool for your students. Click here to get them! 

I have new Halloween goodies, including writing prompts, borders, and a syllable activity in my store..so check them out! I also have new colorful reading comprehension prompt cards :)

Thank you! Happy Teaching :)

10 Weekly Teacher Finds

common core vocab cards with science and social studies vocab too!

It's time again for another dose of Taking a Walk on the Teaching Side's 10 Weekly Teacher Finds. As a reminder, this is not a top 10 list..but just a list of items I have found and think readers may find useful from fellow bloggers and TPT sellers. Some of these items are from my followers, and some are not, and I always post one by me. Browse this week's 10 finds, follow, link, pin, buy, and enjoy! Come back Wednesday for my BIG 100 followers giveaway! Continue below!

HUGE FALL GIVEAWAY!

Update! I just hit 100 followers, so my own big giveaway will go live Wendesday. Thanks for your support! Until then, check out this awesome giveaway.

Diving into Learning is having a huge rafflecopter giveaway! There are 12 different chances to win..and my fall borders are part of one of the raffles! Check out her blog and the rules there to be a part of the free fall themed giveaway!

 

 CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Check out my 40 affordable common core-aligned fall themed (Halloween, fall, and Thanksgiving) writing prompts. You will love them! I also have writing prompts for all throughout the year in my TPT store :) I have a new freebie that you should check out in my store too. I will feature it in my blog next week.



40 fall writing prompts

Stay tuned tomorrow for 10 weekly Teacher Finds...and I will have my own huge 100 followers giveaway posted hopefully by the end of next week (so long as I have 100 followers by then!).

Thanks!
-Kristin



10 weekly Teacher Finds

It's that time again...time for another weekly roundup of 10 items I've found on Teachers Pay Teachers, Pinterest, and other teachers' blogs. As a reminder, this is not a top 10 list; there are too many amazing items to rank them in a particular order. This is just a list of 10 items that I love and want to share with you!  Some are items that you pay for (but are well worth it) and some are free. Remember, about 1/4 to 1/2 of my finds come from people who are followers or pinners of my blog, so be sure to follow my blog if you are not already, so that I become aware of your blog and your items! You will also be the first to find out about my newest freebies and products for various grade levels and subjects! Feel free to pin as well! Lastly, I am 20 followers away from a big giveaway..so stay tuned! :) Thanks for your support. Here are the 10 items:

1.) Happy Homophones by Cynthia at 2nd Grade Pad- This pack has 30 pages to teach a homophones unit in a fun and engaging way! There are lots of activities and games that can be used with various instructional models.
 

2.) My First Writing Journal by Mechelle at Ms. G's Kindergarten in Heels- This Journal is 27 pages and is for beginning writers. It has a topic sentence that the students finish by using 4 picture prompts on the same page. They trace the rest of the sentence, and color a picture too. It is really cute, clever, and a good price.     

 

 

3.) Respect Classroom Posters Freebie by Leah at Learning 4 Keeps- I featured this bloggers Autumn Pack (check it out here) a few days ago in a teacher swap blog post (here), but wanted to feature these adorable FREE classroom posters today. There are 6 free posters that help teach your students respect using statements and cute visual cues.

 

4.) Editable Teacher Plan Book Freebie from Leanne Baurs Creative Classroom - 7 powerpoint pages for you to type your plans in and print, all wrapped up in a cute and useful template!

 

5.) Reading Response Questions Freebie from Fourth and Ten - This is a reading response questions freebie that students can use with the majority of books. There are a lot of response questions for students to choose from on this 4-page free product!

 

 

6.) Substitute Binder Kit from Kristin at Taking a Walk on the Teaching Side (me) - Yes, I usually throw in one of my products in this list. Well, hopefully some of you will find it useful! This editable, cute, polka-dot themed 28-page substitute binder kit has all of the forms, templates, organizers, behavior tools and more that you will need to have a stress free day away from the class, and for your sub to have a successful day as well!  In addition to the above, there are activities, worksheets, a certificate for good students, a poster for the sub and lots of extra neat goodies!

 

7.) Common Core grammar practice (2nd grade) by Second Grade Smartypants -  The is a set of 30 grammar practice sheets that would be great for morning work, assessments, homework, review, you name it! It's only $1.50 too!  

 

8.) Word Endings Unit (-ed, -ing) by The Teacher Wife - This 33 page pack includes 2 posters, 2 art activities, and 4 games to help students learn word endings. It was also a best seller! 

 

9.) Everyday Heroes Craftivity ( A September 11, Memorial Day, Veteran's Craftivity) from Michaela at I heart Edu. Create adorable military people, firefighters, or police officers with this set of hero craft templates. The firefighter craftivity will make a neat supplementary activity to do with students to teach about September 11, which is tomorrow, but maybe you will see this last minute. There are also writing prompt to go with each.

10.) Water Cycle Book Graphic Organizer by Cutesy Clickables - Just another reason I knew about Teachers Pay Teachers last year when I was teaching 4th grade and the water cycle. This cute little book has useful graphic organizers and makes a neat study guide/water cycle book. Plus it's very affordable!

I hope you found some of these useful. Pin and share away!

Stay tuned for next week's weekly 10 !
-Kristin

Featured Find! Letter School Handwriting APP!

check back tomorrow for my 10 weekly teacher finds!

Letter School Handwriting APP!

While on Pinterest, I came across an amazing app available for Iphones and Ipads. If your school has Ipads, then this would be a great app to add to your Ipad. If not, then maybe you have kids that could benefit from this app. It is $2.99 and from LetterSchool . They have a free version that has a portion of the full app for you to test. What exactly is this app and what does it do?

Letter school describes their app as:

"An amazing, intuitive game to learn all about letters and numbers: writing, counting, phonics and more"

For each letter and number, children can tap, trace, and eventually write the letters and numbers as they fade. It also tells the letter's name, the sound and words it goes with. How cool, huh?

  

The letters and numbers are in really cute graphics, and come in upper and lower case letters, and numbers 1-10.

For more information or to purchase the app or download the lite free app, click here for the letter school web site.

Don't forget to follow my blog for 10 weekly teacher finds, freebies, and more featured products and tips! I am 25 followers away from a big giveaway!

Follow my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for freebies, lessons, units, common core resources, clip art, decor, and more! See products you like there or on this blog? PIN THEM, and spread the love! :)

Teacher-Blogger Product Spotlight: Autumn-Themed Unit with a Freebie!

Alright everyone, Autumn is just around the corner, and to celebrate the season that is creeping up on us, I wanted to feature a fellow blogger and teacher’s unit pack that I think you will “fall” for (cheesy pun intended)!

 

Featured in my first teacher/blogger product swap post is Leah, from Learning-4-Keeps and her wonderful comprehensive Autumn Unit available at her TPT store.  This jam-packed unit includes 39 pages of fun fall-themed ELA and Math activities for first and second graders.  Inside the unit you will find supplements and resources that you can use as morning work, center work, independent work, sub-day work, assessments and more!  I find this unit an excellent value, because it is so full of resources for both math and ELA, which is not the case with many unit packs.

 

 

The math sheets cover everything from place value to measurement to odd and even numbers, all with adorable autumn themed clip art.

The ELA sheets include the topics of contractions, homophones, sentences, alphabetical order, and more.  The ELA section also includes  Literacy Integration sheets for the books  The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston, I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli, and Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur.

 I can definitely see myself using the included reading and writing graphic organizers (such as the prediction worksheet) in my guided reading groups, but of course they’d work in various instructional models. There are also worksheets for the steps of the writing process, using descriptive words, and so on, all of which are integrated with The Lonely Scarecrow. There is also an art project template for this book.

The I know It’s Autumn unit includes a "think, pair, share," activity, a brainstorming graphic organizer, and a few other writing sheets…perfect for writing centers and workshops!

The Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic literacy integration section includes a class project: "Make an Acrostic Book", word web sheet, drafting sheet, and other writing organizers and sheets.

I know I covered a lot, but it feels like I barely put a dent in describing all the useful worksheets you will get. 

The complete list of items included in this Autumn Unit are: (continue reading)

Writing prompt sticks for Common Core Writing and a freebie!

The Common Core writing standards require students to be able to write opinion (persuasive), informational, and narrative writing. Although I loved writing as a student, it is just not something everyone enjoys or excels at. Plus, when it comes to writing tests, they usually do not give students the option to write whatever is on their mind. The students are given prompts, and then must write from there. That is why I think having writing prompts available to your students for writing centers, free time, writer's workshop, writing test practice,morning work, and even days when you have a substitute, is a crucial tool for teachers to have. I have had prompts in my classroom before, but they were just on plain cards or paper. The introduction of Pinterest and Teachers  Pay Teachers, has really inspired me to up my game though.  Earlier this year I began creating cupcake toppers, and using that inspiration I began designing writing prompt cards similar in style to my cupcake toppers, and then gluing them on popsicle sticks. This made my prompts much more exciting for the students, and they never knew which prompt they might draw! Giving  some choices and some excitement in a lesson is greatly appreciated by the students (and the administration). It makes their learning more personal and more memorable.

Coming up with writing prompts can be tricky, and while you can make your own prompt cards, I have also created some that you can buy! I have a 4 prompt freebie so you can preview what the prompts look like, and you can use the freebie for a center rotation or a day of writing. I designed 3 different sets, and each set has 10 informational prompts, 10 narrative prompts, 10 opinion prompts, and 10 creative free write prompts for a total of 40 prompts per set. If you buy them, you can easily print, laminate,  superglue or hot glue them on popsicle sticks, and place in a cute jar or cup for your students to use. Another option, is to put them on a hook, in a photo album, or on a bulletin board. They are versatile in that respect. Each set is affordably priced, but if you want the best deal buy the bundle of all three sets (120 prompts) and save yourself some money. I find these are geared more towards third-fifth grade students, but would likely work for second and sixth as well.  I have also created a set of early finisher task cards, and I use them on popsicle sticks as well.

 

Grab your bundled set of my common core writing prompts HERE!! You can find the individual sets at my store as well.

Become a follower of my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for weekly products, updates, and best of all...freebies! Follow my blog for my weekly 10 teacher finds, freebie finds, and lots of  useful links! Finally, follow me on Pinterest to see amazing collaborative teacher pinterest boards! All of the links are available on my main page and here!

p.s I am about 30 followers away from a 100 follower giveway, and I am planning on doing a big collaborative giveaway, so it's going to be good :) Spread the word, send followers, and stay tuned! Thank you for your support.

-Kristin
This item is also linked up on: and the freebie is linked up on :

Weekly 10 Teacher Finds

Yay..my internet is fixed, so I can now post my 10 teacher finds! Become a follower of my blog so that you have a better chance to get a shout out in the weekly 10. Reason being, I become aware of your blogs and stores and browse them. Therefore, spread the word, and follow so you will never miss a weekly find, a freebie post, or a common core post! I also now have nearly 50 items in my TPT store, including over 10 FREEBIES, and various items for various grade levels. Since I am updating so often, you will definitely want to follow my store so you never miss a new product, clip art, decoration, lesson, poster, or freebie.
You can follow here: My TPT Store .


TIP: Many of your profiles do not have your blog links; and therefore it is hard to find your blogs for products :(

Update: As I mentioned yesterday, I became a first-time aunt a few days ago. Our entire family is so excited! Although not teacher related, who doesn't love a couple of cute baby pics? Without further ado, here is my perfect nephew, Trent Cole. I love him so much already!

 

 

Okay, back to the reason you are all here; my weekly 10 teacher finds from blogs and TPT! In no particular order they are:

 

1. ) Writing Center Starter Kit from A Cupcake for the Teacher: Okay, I love cupcakes, but I really love this writing starter kit with labels and posters to post on a trifold board for a perfect writing center. Pair it with my writing prompt sticks and you got yourself one amazing writing center!

2.) Common Core ELA questioning jar from Little Minds at Work- Daily common core aligned questions with cute graphics. Love it!

3.) Types of Sentences Game by Classroom Confections- A fellow Georgia teacher and blogger with great products is selling this game for helping students understand the different types of sentences. She also has many other games to help your students learn!

Common Core Resources and Links to Ease the Transition :

Oh Common Core.....I have a love/not-so-much-love relationship with you. I love the concept of common core, but revamping can be tough, and changes are never easy. I love that educators around the nation now have the same standards, and I love how they are aligned through the grade levels. I truly do like the concept of common core..but navigating them can be tricky. I, like many of you, have been actively browsing for common core resources on the web to help ease the transition. As I find more resources I will post them to my blog...but please save this post and repin it if you find it useful..because this will be my main blog post about common core resources. I wanted to showcase as many online resources as possible to you in one concise location.  Let me know if you have any additional links or resources that teachers will find useful for their transition to common core. Thanks a bunch, and happy teaching! :)

Before I begin, I do want to link to my colorful common core posters, so that you can easily (and stylishly) post the standards whenever you need to, and print them out whenever also. They are currently available for third-sixth grades, but hopefully more grades soon. The link is for the ELA/Math third grade combo pack..but from there just check out my store for the other grade levels. If you only need ELA or only need Math, they are available as seperates as well...however the best deal is the combo pack :)  They are all the same style with original styles, and have different color themes depending on the strand of standards.



common core posters




 

Now, onto the links and resources for Common Core (click this highlighted link for the official CC homepage). Enjoy ! :)

1.Pinterest: Pinterest is an amazing place for teachers, but more specifically, common core resources! Here is a specific Pinterest Board aptly titled "Common Core Resources":http://pinterest.com/lianec/common-core-resources/

2.Read Works: For Reading strategies, comprehension, resources, and lessons that are aligned with Common Core.

3. Core Planner- This site looks AMAZING! I have not had a chance to really look into it as much as I'd like; but it is free. It is a site created for you to plan, track, record and integrate your Common Core lessons. It looks like a very useful organizing and planning tool for CC.

click the read  more for more resource links below: