A Teacher's Work is Never Done - Math Ideas for the Summer

Some of the fabulous TBA ladies are hosting a giveaway to help with their summer book talk. If you follow all 7 of their blogs you can put in your name for the giveaway as well. The ladies are discussing Debbie Dillers Math Work Stations Independent Learning You Can Count On and Guided Math by Laney Sammons. I have read parts of Debbie's book because it is free online. But look forward to reading the rest of it and discussing with teachers who are trying to improve their math skills. If you too want to brush up on some math skills you can pick up Debbie's book with Free Shipping by using the code MATH on offering a free shipping code if you purchase Math Work Stations at Stenhouse. There's no guidelines or restrictions -- it will be valid until July 30 and it's good on orders placed at www.stenhouse.com

The Schedule for the book talk will be the following:

Mrs. Wills - http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com will host Chapters 1 What is a Math Work Station? and Chapter 2 Organizing and Managing Work Stations on June 1st.

Mrs. Parker - http://learningwithmrsparker.blogspot.com will host Chapter 3 Getting Started with Work Stations around June 6th.

Mrs. Kramer - http://www.kindergartencrayons.blogspot.com/ will host Chapter 4 Beginning Number Concepts with Work Stations around June 13th.

Mrs. Saoud - http://www.primarygraffiti.blogspot.com/ will host Chapter 5 Addition and Subtraction Work Stations around June 20th.

Mrs. Arnold - http://oceansoffirstgradefun.blogspot.com/ will host Chapter 6 Place Value Work Stations around June 27th.

Mrs. Patton - http://pattonspatch.blogspot.com/ will host Chapter 7 Geometry Work Stations around July 4th.

Mrs. Evans - http://loryevanspage.blogspot.com/ will host Chapter 8 Measurement Work Stations around July 11th.

Free Books encourage summer reading

I recently found out both Barnes and Noble and Borders are giving away free books to children who read over the summer. As a child I lived at the public library in the summer. Partly because I liked the air conditioning, but mostly because I could devour three books in a day. Yes. I am a bookworm. In fact I recently purchased a cute book all about sharing the love of reading. If you have not read it, I highly recommend it. Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I don't) So stinking cute.

Reading opens children's eyes and brains to new things. So here is the scoop. Use these two links and get the papers you need to receive free books for your kids under the age of 12. Have your child read, record their books, then turn in the paper at your nearest store for a book of their choice. (Borders is a little better than Barnes and Nobel at this, they give you a wider selection.)
Barnes and Noble Link
Borders Link
Happy Reading!

Dictionary Help

The Lesson Plan Diva is giving away a whole unit on using the dictionary. All you have to do is follow her wonderful blog. Take a look.

$1 Scholastic e-books

Scholastic is having their awesome $1 e-book sale again. While some of the books are not worth the money, some of them are great fast finishers and supplement lessons quite well. I am having a hard time keeping it under $15.  :) My advice, look over the book you like before you buy it by clicking on the picture. That helps weed out the books that look really cool, but really only have a few ideas or activities. Happy shopping blogger friends.

Text Treasure Hunt

My children are still struggling with Text Features. So I whipped up a simple powerpoint, made a worksheet and set them on a treasure hunt. They loved it and it seemed to help. So I thought I would share. Feel free to download and leave me a rating. I'm still working at the whole teachers pay teachers thing. Hopefully I will have more to share this summer.

Free Fonts, get them while you can

I love free things and I love to share them with others. 
Lettering Delights is giving away a free font package, but only for a short time. It costs no money to join and the fonts are fun to use on new projects. Feel free to take a look.
Here is a picture of some of the things that are included in the pack:

Click on the picture above to see for yourself.  Hurry because it is only free for less than 24 hours.

Hidden Pictures

Fast finishers are vital as a teacher. So I love finding things I can print off, stick in a plastic sheet, and easily place in my fast finisher bin. My class LOVES hidden pictures. So I switch them out every so often and everyone remains happy. If you want some free, cute, hidden picture fast finishers Highlights is a great place to look.  Let me know if you know of any other great websites.