Sunny Summer Days Linky and a Giveaway

I still can't believe that it's July already!!  I can't believe how fast June went!  After a week off, we've brought back our summer linky.

First, I am participating in a Giveaway with "Just a Primary Girl" for her 100 Follower Giveaway!  So exciting!!  I just love reading her blog and following her on Instagram!  Click HERE or on the picture below to enter her giveaway.  There are some fantastic prizes and amazing blogs to follow.

We are also participating in Jaime {Bright Concepts 4 Teachers} and Aimee's {Primarily-Speaking} 500 follower give away!! These lovely ladies have teamed up together for an awesome 4 day give away!  Each Rafflecopter will last one week long! Be sure to enter to win some fabulous products!

Here's what I've been up to this week.  During our trip to New York last week, we spent one night in Buffalo, NY.  We didn't realize how close we were going to be to Niagara Falls and ended up taking a spontaneous trip to see it.  We stayed on the New York side and it was beautiful!!

We are on vacation in the Outer Banks, North Carolina with our family.  We rented a house right on the beach with my in-laws - 7 kids and 8 adults.  So far we've enjoyed the beach and relaxed by the pool.  Waking up and falling asleep to the sounds of the waves coming in is heaven.  

I could get used to this!

My husband loves to play disc golf.  So, we stopped at a few courses on our way to New York and then on our way from New York to North Carolina.  I braved the first course and walked with him.  It was a ridiculous walk!  We were in the woods with not a lot of paths.  I'm not really much of a hiker so it was rough!

The second course he stopped at had a pet chicken that decided to camp out by my feet while I was working on my computer at the picnic tables.  I gotta admit - it freaked me out!  I grew up in a small farm town so I'm usually not freaked out by some animals, but it kept making noises and pecking at the ground.  Wasn't really sure what to expect!

As you can see, I was working on a place value matching game.  Getting ready for the beginning of the year!!  

The third course we went to I ended up going to a walk and found a beautiful area with a canoe dock.

Then I spent some time starting my newest project - Super Heroes Decor Pack.  Here's a sneak peek!  I'm still adding to this pack.  Is there anything specific that you like to use in your classroom decorations that would be good to add to it?

 Table Signs

Numbers

Holidays for Calendars

 Name Tags

(I also created some without lines.)

Days of the Weeks

Months

Bunting

So, what have you been up to the last week or so?  We would love for you to link up and share with us what you've been working on, what you've been doing, or where you've been on vacation.

In case you are new to Linky Parties, here are some helpful directions.  

There are a few ways to copy the image for the Linky Party.

1.  You can right click on the picture and choose "Copy Image".

2.  You can take a screen shot.  I'm not sure how you do this on a PC, but on a Mac, press "shift command 4".  Then trace the object you want to take a picture of.  It will save the image to your desktop.

Now you have the image to insert in your blog post and link back up to our blog.  

Please be sure to complete the link below so you can add the link to your blog for everyone to read.

Can't wait to see what everyone is up too!

*Carrie

4th of July Flash Freebie #2

Happy 4th of July!!!  Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday!!  This is one of my favorite holidays.  My husband proposed to me on the 4th of July when we were watching fireworks on the lake with friends in Austin, Texas.  Very special day!!

Anyway, we are enjoying the first half of our vacation in Darien, New York.  Yesterday and today my husband has enjoyed riding roller coasters and I have enjoyed people watching.  

There was a dog show with frisbee catching dogs.  So fun to watch!!!  

Last night was the Dave Matthews Concert.  Despited the rain, it was an AMAZING concert and we had a fabulous time!!!  Summer's not complete without a DMB concert!!  Some old (Rapunzel, Best of What's Around, Tripping Billies, Eh Hee, and Typical Situation to name a few) and some new (Rooftop, Belly Belly, Spaceman, and Shake Me Like a Monkey).  

Starting this blog with Caitlin has been an amazing experience.  I have loved connecting with other teachers and bloggers thru our blog, TPT, Facebook, and Instagram.  I love all of the comments, giveaways I've participated in, pictures on Instagram, etc.  I've learned so much from everyone!

So, in honor of our fantastic followers and 4th of July, I am throwing a Flash Freebie Sale too!  This will only be free for a few hours, so get them while you can!!

Click HERE for my Manners and Expectations Poster Set

Click HERE for my Polka Dot Chalkboard Word Wall Packet

Hope you continue to share the love and help us to create some new milestones!!

*200 bloglovin followers

*150 TPT followers

*100 Facebook followers

*450 Instagram followers

Happy 4th of July!!

*Carrie

*4th of July Flash Firework Freebies*

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with their families and friends!  I am just happy that the weather is actually going to be decent and not so gloomy like it has been these past few days!  In addition to our store wide 20% off TpT Sale, I am throwing 

2

*Flash

Firework

Freebies* 

We can't thank all of our followers enough for all of your support, positive feedback, and love for teaching. Truly each day is more rewarding than the last and we wanted to say thank you! Hope you can continue to share the love of our blog and help us make some new milestones!

*200 bloglovin followers

*150 TpT followers

*100 facebook likes

Click here for the Chevron Blackboard Alphabet Word Wall Headers

Click here for the Non-Fiction Task Cars with QR Codes 

Feedback is greatly appreciated on these products!! :)

*Caitlin

4th of July TpT Sale!!!

It's here!!  Carrie and I are hosting a store wide 20% off TpT Sale for the next three days! We hope everybody has a fun and safe holiday! 

*Caitlin's Store & Carrie's Store*

Be sure to take advantage of these products!   

Some of our newest projects that we have created this summer include: 

Click on the images to grab your very own!

Carrie's New Products

  

     

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Caitlin's New Products

  

 Click here for blog post about this "Non-Fiction Text Feature" Product

    

Click here for blog post video clip about how to use the 

"Dolch Sight Word Assessment"

Package includes 100+ pages of Kindergarten CC Aligned activities that 

target number recognition 1-25

Package includes 60+ pages of Kindergarten CC Aligned activities to help students 

recognize 2D and 3D shapes

Package includes 70+ pages with 4 sets of Word Wall Headers, All Dolch word cards, and Observation checklists 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!

*Caitlin & Carrie*

Winners and July Currently

July 1st?!? What?!?  It's beautiful day out here in the suburbs of Chicago!  Linking up with Farley's Currently July to share what we're thinking about on this gorgeous July day!   But first, we want to share the winners of our Bloglovin giveaway . . .

A big thank you to all of our followers!  We hope you are loving Bloglovin' as much as we do!!

Now, onto July Currently . . . 

Caitlin's Currently Listening: I need a little Dave Matthews Band back in my life!  Always love listening to his music especially while cleaning, driving, and spending lots and lots of time on my computer!  His music is great for just chillin'.  I am getting pumped to go see him next Saturday at Alpine in Elkorn, Wisconsin!! {Below is a picture of the venue!}  Lawn seating at it's finest! 

Loving:  That my husband and I got to spend a long weekend with his family in Montreal, Canada!  It was our first time!  Loved the beautiful architecture of the buildings, shops, restaurants, planetarium, China Town, and the Jazz Festival! The food was absolutely amazing!  Pretty much ate a whole lot of lobster roll sandwiches while we were there! Couldn't get enough! 

Wanting: So my husband & I bought our first home a year ago May and have been doing mini house projects throughout the year!  This summer is going to be our big $$$ project as I want to get wood floors in our dining and living room! I am very excited and nervous about this huge purchase and big project! But I think it will make our space look so much bigger! 

Here's what it looks like now! {Not the greatest pic!} 

Hopefully I will have an after picture by August!

Needing: So we just had a huge rain storm right before we left for Montreal last week and we woke up to a mini flood in our basement!! Ugh, no fun! Thankfully, everything was pretty much fine....Just a sopping wet rug and a stinky basement! Definitely needing to go buy a dehumidifier now!

Tips, Tricks, or Hints: As my mother-in-law always says, "MAKE EACH & EVERY DAY SPECIAL!"  I think this is such an important and meaningful idea to live by each day.  Let go of the grudges and make the best of each day with the people you love most. 

Carrie's Currently

Listening: I am currently listening to Castle reruns on TNT while I wait for the laundry to finish.  Trying to get ready for our summer vacay!

Loving: my newly painted walls in my house.  We are trying to get our house ready to put on the market and we had the house painted.  I don't even want to put anything on the walls now!  

Thinking: about our summer vacation that we are leaving on tomorrow (and how much I still have left to do - I hate packing!!).  We are heading to Darien, NY, to see my most favorite band - Dave Matthews Band.  My husband and I usually go to Alpine Valley (my favorite place to tailgate and see a concert) to see him, but due to the second part of our vacation, we aren't able to this year.  So, we are road tripping to NY to see him before we head to Outer Banks, NC for a week long family vacay on the beach.

*It's really only 3 days till DMB now!!  So excited!!

Wanting: to sell our house!!!  We've been here almost 12 years and we've out grown it.  We desperately need more room - a basement, bigger living room and kitchen, more closet space, and 2 bathrooms!!  We are just hoping we can get close to our asking price so we can move to some place bigger.  Wish us luck!!!

Needing: No Rain on our summer vacay!!  Our DMB concert is outdoors and our week in the Outer Banks is on the beach!  We need good weather!!!

Tips, Tricks, or Hints:  Be yourself and enjoy life because it is way too short!  I'm not good with advice, but my favorite quote is "celebrate we will cause life is short but sweet for certain".   I'm realizing with each birthday that life is way too short to try to please everyone else. 

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Check back to our stores on July 3rd, 4th, and 5th for our TpT Sale...All items will be at least 20% off and there will be some additional FLASH SALES and FREEBIES!! 

Caitlin's TpT Store

Carrie's TpT Store

I've also linked up with Amy at the 24/7 Teacher for her Star Spangled 100 Follower Giveaway.  Head on over there and check out her amazing giveaway and fantastic blog.

*Carrie and Caitlin

Tune Into Technology Linky!

My dear friends over at Learning to the Core and I teach 1:1 are hosting a super fun "Tune into Technology" Linky every week this summer!  All 3 of these teachers have wonderful ideas to share with how they integrate technology into their classrooms! I always get so many great ideas from them each week!!  This week the focus is on integrating technology into reading. I just finished one of my newer reading technology products and wanted to share it with all of you!  Of course my technology integration involves QR Codes!  It's such a fun and simple way to integrate technology into the classroom.  

Some things I love about QR Codes and "I Spy Task Cards":  1. Allows students to get up out of their seats and walk around the room 2. Students get to  pretend to be a detective 3. Students work on specific skills that have been taught-extra independent practice {without even knowing that they are working} 4.  Students can self-check their work using the QR code scanner! 
My 2nd grade team has been working diligently this summer to refine our units so that they are common core aligned.  I created a supplemental non-fiction text feature activity that targets several  CC skills: R.I 2.2 Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
R.I. 2.5: Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
R.I. 2.7: Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
Students will get to "spy" around the room while looking at authentic pages taken from non-fiction books.  Students will practice learning the language of non-fiction text feature skills!  Students will experience various text features and basic to higher level questioning in understanding text features!
Click here to get a copy of this super fun activity!

  Can't wait to see what kinds of ideas and activities you have to share!  Make sure to link up with Learning to the Core and iteach 1:1 for this fun linky! 
*Caitlin