Just a blogging baby

Ok so you'll probably think i'm completely crazy but I need some help from y'all.  I know I should probably know this but can anyone tell me how to change my profile so it has a cute little summary about me.  I have no idea how to do this.  Tried poking around in the settings and profile section of blogger.  I'm just a new little blogging baby...not sure what's going on in the blogging life ha!

First Giveaway!

I'm so excited!  I finally posted both of my first activity packs!  My Secret Valentine Pack and America the Beautiful-American Symbols pack are finally posted!

If you want something different to do with your students you'll love these activities!

The Secret Valentine pack is a bunch of activities centered around each student picking a secret friend.  There's writing activities, an original poem, a scavenger hunt with all the materials needed, a craft idea, and multiple writing activities and art templates to accompany them for your wall displays.

The American Symbols pack is filled with games, colorful posters, and labeling/adjective activities for American Symbols, Washington, and Lincoln.  Your kids will love the games!  It's something different for them! :)

I'm hosting my first giveaway!!! SPREAD THE WORD!  I'll be giving both packs away to not 1, but 2 winners!  To enter:

-Follow my blog
-Follow my TPT store
-Leave a comment about what else you'd like teachers/me to make- I love to get ideas of what others are looking for.  It can be anything from curriculum and holidays that are coming up, more center work, more creative activities that are DIFFERENT, etc.

The winner will be announced Friday!  Get excited!

Click on the picture links below to head to my TPT store to purchase these products :)

PS- Does anyone want to give me any pointers on how to host a giveaway with another teacher's products. Do y'all just email specific teachers that you want to team up with to host a giveaway or is there another popular way of doing it?

"America The Beautiful..."

I had so much fun making my new packet "America the Beautiful..."  This packet is filled with two games, two adjective labeling/writing activities, and a collaborative project idea for your American symbols and presidents study.  Here's a preview of this adorable activity pack!

PS- My Valentine's Pack will be posted on TPT tomorrow! :)  This new pack should be up on Monday!

PSS-  I'M HOSTING MY FIRST GIVEAWAY ON TUESDAY!  CHECK BACK AND SPREAD THE WORD! :)

100th Day Freebie

This may be too late for some of you, but every year I read Beatrice's Goat to my students and discuss how lucky we are to be able to celebrate a one hundredth day of school because some children don't get to attend school as easily as we do.

This is a true story about a young girl who actually came to visit all of the education majors at Clemson when I was there.  We were lucky enough to get a copy of the book signed by her!  It's a great story to teach your children appreciation for what they sometimes don't even realize is a privilege- attending school!  This year I made a handout that I will try with my students.  They are probably going to work in pairs.  We'll take a tour around the school stopping in each of the 10 locations on the handout.  The two students will help each other quickly write or draw/sketch 10 things they are thankful to have in their school that other students might not have in rural countries.  I am thinking we'll start out with words and then head into quick sketches.  I want them to see that they have way more than 100 things to be thankful for in our school!  We are a very blessed school to say the least!  I'm talking down to the tile floors and windows; things that rural countries don't have.  We always discuss what it would be like to be Beatrice in this story and have to go to school all day on dirt floors!  The kids are always stunned!

Click on the party hat to grab your free copy!  Enjoy! :)

Help!!

Ok ladies, I need your help!  Obviously, I just starting this whole fabulous blog thing, but I've realized my documents I'm saving as a PDF have this huge white frame.  Would anyone be willing to share how to make documents in powerpoint without the white frame?  I know you're probably thinking, "OMG how does she not know!"  Thanks so much in advance teacher friends! :)

PS- Once I figure out how to get rid of this white border my SUPER CUTE Secret Valentine pack will be ready! I can't wait to use it in my room and post pictures!

My First Linky Party!

I'm ready to party! Linky party that is! :)  I'm linking up with Miss Klohn for A Day in My Shoes.  Click on the picture below to join the party from her website!

So here goes:

5:00 am- My alarm goes off and sometimes I get up to be at school around 6:30.  I like to get there early sometimes to get things done instead of staying late.  

6:00 am- My alarm goes off again and I usually get up around this time ha!  I get ready, kiss these two sweet boys goodbye, and head to work; often stopping at Dunkin' Donuts for a number 1 with 2 chocolate frosted sprinkles donuts and a medium large vanilla ice coffee with lots of cream and sugar!

7:00 am- My coffee has kicked in, I've looked at a few cute blog ideas, maybe made something cute for the room, and I'm ready for my sweet class of 17 first graders.  

7:50 am- The bell rings, I open my door, and greet my sweet little ones.  I announce the lunch choices, remind them for the fifty millionth time what to do when they come in (love me some sweet little 6 year olds!)  and we enter the room. 

7:55 am- I announce the lunch choices again

7:56 am- "Mrs. McCartney, what are the lunch choices?"- BLESS IT!!! Selective hearing is so cute at this age right???

8:00- We are on the carpet ready for our morning meeting where one team gets to share, we listen to the school news, etc, etc.

8:20- We have four literacy/math center rotations while I pull small guided reading groups.  I started this 3 weeks ago with the help of these ladies: Madefor1stgrade I've purchased 4 of their center packs so far and the kids and I are loving them! You must check these ladies out!

10:00- We have some fun with math

11:00- We're all starving and head for lunch!

11:35- We finally leave the cafeteria and head to recess.  I love how it will be raining and the little ones will ask me "Are we going out to recess?"....I don't know are we?

12:15- Recess is over and we have some fun with writing, spelling, and social sciences.

1:00- We start cleaning up and packing up and I answer 50 million questions about all kinds of craziness!

1:25-  We're headed to related arts and I'm thinking about which cute blogs I'll be visiting when I get back to the classroom. haha

1:25- AHHHHH silence and blog stalking time.  :) 

2:10- My sweet little class is back, we grab our backpacks, sit on the carpet and wait to go home! 

3:15 or so- And I'm back in my car to see this sweet face!!! GAH I LOVE HIM! 

First Freebie and a Preview

I'm so excited!  I've been working so hard on some new things.  I'm slowly figuring out how to balance my sweet 7 month old son, husband, and make some cute things for my students.  Here's my first freebie for y'all!  It's a cute fact family Valentine's Day activity.  It can be used as a center or a partner activity if you print multiple copies.  Thank you again to all the fabulous teachers out there for all your inspiration!  Below is also a preview of my first TPT Valentine's Day activity pack.  I'm hoping to finish it up by the end of this week and have it posted for sale! :)

Click the picture below to download my first FREEBIE!!!

Here's a preview of the cover of my first TPT pack.  It's a Secret Valentine Pack!  It's so cute I can hardly stand it! :)  Check back soon to get your copy! There's a scavenger hunt, crafts, writing activities, and more!

Classroom Setup

I thought I'd start off by showing a few pictures of my classroom.  Decorating and setting up my room is my favorite thing to do!  I love organizing everything and finding new ways to make it cuter!  I love polka dots, the "kid drawn" line by Carson Delosa, and primary colors.  So here it is:

Reading station

The pocket chart ordinal numbers are from Doodlebugs Teaching

She is fabulous!

Our classroom calendar for quick date and spelling references of months and days.

We do calendar on the promethean board but I like to have a visual in the room as well. Most of my posters and displays that I buy are the kid drawn line by Carson Delosa.  Love them!

My math materials shelf organized in white bins with labels. 

The back of our room where the kids unpack and turn in homework folders and notes in the yellow bins.

The precious stuffed snowmen heads are an idea from Pinterest.  I'm not sure who's blog they're from but if you know let me know so I can give them credit. 

The back corner of our room with the editors checklist pocket chart, literacy and math stations pocket chart, and supplies organized on a cute shelf given to me by a fabulous coworker!  I like the kids to be able to get supplies that they've lost by themselves so I don't have to constantly stop teaching to get them myself.  The kids go to the back and get scissors, erasers, glue sticks, etc.  The centers cards are from Made for 1st Grade.  I seriously check their blog almost every day.  I am in love with their center packs right now.  

Love my polka dot curtains.  These precious snowmen I found from Pinterest as well.  They're probably from the same teachers blog as the snowmen heads.  Let me know if you know who's original idea this is! :)

I love this long wall of windows in our school.  I have my word family posters for the kids to reference.  My students are separated into four teams: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  Each team has a desk caddy and each child has their own basket from Really Good Stuff.  Each team also has their own early finishers container with three drawers labeled "writer's blocks," books, and file folder games.  I bought the large plastic blocks from Walmart and labeled them with writing topics.  I covered up the back shelves with primary colored fabric and put bows in the corners.  Love some bows too!

Kid Drawn birthday posters.  Love!

Here's a view of the front of my room.  Two "Writing Gallery" displays for the kid's work.  Right now we have Abbey's adorable snowmen gift writing samples up.  This idea is from her Snowman Birthday pack which my students loved!   

Closeup of on side of the writing gallery wall.  The adorable pencil display was originally Cara's idea at The First Grade Parade, but she gave permission to Lindsey at Teacher Wife to make a digital version of it.  Love both of them!

So there you have it!  As you can see, I get a lot of inspiration from so many fabulous teachers.  Thank you so much to all of you! 

Welcome

Welcome to First Grade Heart! I’m so excited about starting a teaching blog.

I’ve been so inspired and amazed by all the fabulous teachers out there. I 

can’t wait to give back and share some creative ideas with y’all!