Australian Animals

Hi everyone,
We're settling in to our new life in Australia........I have a NEW Kindergarten teaching position that I will start next year (which is in January over here)........I am soooo excited and CAN'T wait!!!!

I've created a new pack based on Australian animals.....If you're interested, check it out below {and make sure you enter the giveaway}......

In this pack, you will find 16 SIMPLE crafts and facts for the following animals:

Rainbow Lorikeet

Echidna

Bilby

Cockatoo

Possum

Emu

Wombat

Cassowary

Saltwater Crocodile

Flying Fox

Galah

Frilled Neck Lizard

Quokka

Platypus

Koala

Kangaroo

Step by step instructions, patterns, 2 sets of facts (in cloze passages) and answers are included. You will find one single copy of each pattern and a class set of each piece to make it easier to copy for you.

An easy and harder Cloze passage are included for each animal…..you choose what suits your kids the best! Do you know what a baby Koala eats for the first six weeks of life? The answers will gross you out and is included in the fun facts your kids will learn..

You can use the pack in the following ways:

1.Are you learning about a particular Aussie animal? Have the whole class make a page with the facts and display them.

2.Make a class book and have each student make a page and share what they found out!

3.Have each student make their own book with as many (or as few) pages as you want.

4.Make the craft and have the students write a story about that animal or find out their own fun facts!

All of the crafts were made by using colored construction paper.

You can check it out at TPT by clicking any of the pictures above BUT if you want to win one, all you have to do is follow my new blog {go to it HERE} and leave me a message over there :-) I will randomly choose a winner in 48 hours!

Just Popping In

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know that we've settled (for now) in Australia :)-) The kiddos are getting big and I've gone back to full time teaching (it wasn't really in the plan for this year but it was perfect timing for us). You can read about it all in my NEW BLOG!!!!!
Yep, I started a new blog that focuses on teaching. I'll have weekly ideas and freebies so come on over and check it out :-)
Thanks for those of you who have emailed to check in with me..........its been a crazy few months :-)
Here's the link to my new blog....they'll be a give away when I reach 100 followers!

Love to Learn Centers Winners

Thanks to everyone that entered my give away! I loved reading all of your favorite Valentines books and suggestions for future packs. I’m currently working on a St. Patrick’s Day pack and then a Spring pack.

Sorry that it’s been a few days since the give away ended. My intention was to post the winners on Tuesday night HOWEVER on Tuesday afternoon we received Hadley’s Aussie citizenship in the mail (we’ve been waiting for it every day) so we decided to pack up and go to Washington DC to get her Aussie Passport. In the end, we raced down there, stayed the night and thought we had everything filled out correctly but yesterday we got a call saying that we had completed something incorrectly. Yesterday was spent racing around trying to get it fixed! Hopefully we’ll have her passport by the end of next week. We’re looking at booking tickets this weekend and it looks like we’ll be touching down on Aussie shores before the end of February. I haven’t been “home” in 5 years so I’m pretty excited to see everyone.

It’s certainly going to be a whirlwind trying to find jobs and getting settled but it should be a great adventure!

Here are the winners – you’ll be hearing from me soon.

Have a great weekend!

Valentines Freebie

As promised, here is a Valentine freebie for you to add to your February centers.

Students pick a card, write the number in the heart (on the recording paper) and then draw the correct number of tally marks. The download includes numbers 11-30 and also 2 pages for the recording sheet (so you can photocopy front and back). You can nab this freebie by clicking on any of the pictures above. Hurry though because TPT has now put a limit on freebies and so I’ll have to take it down soon to add another.

While you’re there, check out my new pack:

You can win it FREEE (but today is your last chance to enter) by clicking HERE

Love To Learn (New Centers) and Meet My New Love!

Wow, life has certainly changed in the last 7 weeks! Here’s what I’ve been working on in my “free time”.

You’ll find all the things listed below in ONE pack (and for ONE price).

13 Literacy Centers:
All Mixed Up (Sight word Scramble)
Flipping For Love (Flip Book)
Happy Hearts Ordering (Alphabetical Ordering)
Hearts Full 'O Blends
Love Letters (Before and After Letters)
Love Notes (Making Words With Word Families at, at, it, in and ig)
Love Splat (Vowel Sounds)
Happy Hearts (Short Vowel Sounds)
The Love Bug (Sight Word Game)
Beginnings and Endings (First and Last Sound)
Cookie Love (Word Family Sort (at, an, og, eg)

Math Centers:
Base It On Love (Base 10)
Comparing Hearts (Comparing Numbers)
Count The Room (Tally Marks)
Counting On Love (Counting On)
I Love Counting (Number, Word and 10 Frame)
It All Adds Up (Addition)
Love Makes "Cents" (Money)
Melt My Heart (Subtraction)
Missing You, Numbers (Before and After Numbers)
Patterns Of Love (Patterns)

If You’re interested , you can click on any of the pictures above to find it in my TPT store. I would also LOVE to give 3 away…….read to the end of this post to find out how you can enter!

Meet Hadley …….she is my new love She was born Dec 3rd and was 8lb 13oz.

And here she is more recently. She is SUCH a good baby! I am totally blessed that she is so easy going with all the change that has happened since her birth.

Yep, it’s all gone (well actually, it’s all on a boat somewhere headed to Sydney). Next Monday is our official “termination” date  from our job (as we violate the 2 child policy). Thankfully the school has moved us to a furnished apartment where we can stay until our flights to Australia. As of today, we’re not quite sure when that will be………we just need to get Hadley’s Australian citizenship papers and her Aussie passport and then we’ll be off (we’re thinking mid February). The only thing left to do is sell our Durango! The boys have done very well with everything…they ADORE their sister and really like the little apartment we’re staying in too. they’ll be more on everything that’s going on in a later post.

Let’s get to the giveaway

Here’s how you can enter:

1. Follow my TPT store and leave me a comment below with an email address to tell me that you do.

2. Leave me a comment with an email address telling me what packs you’d like to see me create.

3. Leave a comment with your email address telling me your favorite Valentine book.

EASY! This giveaway will be open until Tuesday (22nd, 2013) at 6pm (EST).

Make sure you stop by tomorrow for a Valentine freebie!