Win a Custom Blog Design!

So you know we spruced this little 'ol blog up about a month or so ago.  And can we just say that we are in LOVE and so happy with our new look!  And I'll tell you that our designer, Gabby from Gabby's Classrooms, came highly recommended.  We had seen a recent post from Miss Kindergarten showing off her new look, and we were hooked right away.  We actually emailed Gabby that day and got the ball rolling on our blog design.  And can I please just tell you that she was a dream to work with...truly.  And guess what...I'm teaming up with 3 other happy customers to share the makeover LOVE!

I am pretty sure Gabby doesn't sleep...since I noticed emails coming at me time stamped at 2, 3, and 4 am.  Now let me just say, I never READ them at those times...this woman likes to sleep!  But my point is, Gabby is super fast on emailing replies and addressing any input you give her. Take a look at some of the fabulous goodies she created for us...on top of the beautiful blog layout!
How's this for an adorable button!

 Loving our business cards and am waiting on 500 of these babies to land on my doorstep soon!

 Gabby even made us this cute button on request!

She made us 3 watermarks for our blog post photos.
There really is a 3rd one...but it's white..so there you go! ;)

And last but not least, she even made us a banner for our TPT store.  (Don't even look at the Save on Bundles image...I'm about to revamp that to match the banner!)

So...are you feeling some blog makeover LOVE?  Well, we've got you covered!  

Here's what you'll get in your $75 package!  We are also throwing in 1 add-on (either a FB Cover/Tab OR a TPT Banner/Widget) bringing the total blog value to $80! You can always add on other goodies on your own if you are feeling some love for them too!

Thanks so much to Jackie over at Neat, Sweet, and Hard to Beat for organizing this AMAZING giveaway worth $80!  So enter the rafflecopter below, visit these other great blogs, and start planning your very own BLOG MAKEOVER!  Who knows...you might just be the LUCKY WINNER!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Thanks so much for reading...and GOOD LUCK!

Sight Word Practice That's FUN

I've been out of school for 2 1/2 weeks now.  I'm not exactly sure what kinds of things to blog about since most of us like to take a bit of a break from school things...but there's just so much that I MEANT to blog about earlier in the year and just never made it to it.  SOOO...I think I will be sharing some random things that I should have shared sooner, but you can hopefully tuck them away for when you actually give a dang! ;)
One of the easiest and most FUN ways we practice sight words is through movement.  We tap the word out on our shoulder, elbow, and wrist and then slide down our arm as we say the entire word.  But I have to say that their VERY FAVORITE way to practice them is through little chants that we make up.  They love them so much, that I actually think we are going to make cards just for sight word practice and add it to our store.  We have a little FREEBIE that we did a few years back, but I think the kiddos and I have come up with a TON more over the course of the last few years.
You can grab this freebie here!

Here's a little peek at what it looks like in action!

We lovingly named this one TURTLE TIME!

The kiddos slowly crawl around while they spell the word (in this case we were working on the sight word ARE).  When they say "A-R-E spells ARE", the little turtles curl up into their shells.  
This is a great way to reach your kinesthetic learners for sure.  And of course we follow it up with some written practice as well.  Here's the Interactive Sight Word Practice Pack we used for the word ARE.  It has 3 leveled mini-readers, an interactive practice sheet, and a flip flap book.

You can grab this pack for $1.00 in our store.  If you would like to try it out first, you can snag our sight word pack for COME for free!
Anyway, hopefully some of these tips will come in handy once the school year kicks back in.  I know some of you guys are just getting started with your year...so maybe this is a post that's right on time for you.  

TPT Seller Challenge in Effect!

Thank goodness for motivated and focused people!  The Peppy Zesty Teacherista, Third in Hollywood, Sparkling in Second, and Teach Create Motivate have come up with a FUN yet motivating summer challenge for all of the TPT Sellers willing to get on board.  (If you're not a seller, but you enjoy shopping on TPT, then this is great for you too.  You'll reap the benefits of product makeovers and more!)
So to begin the challenge, you are supposed to post your stats before the challenge begins. 

 Next up, you face 1 TPT challenge per week.  Week 1 begins with MAKEOVER MADNESS!!!
Yep, that's right.  It's time for us to look in our store with our hand over our eyes, with fingers spread, and cringe at that product (or 2, or a few) that need some SERIOUS help!  Maybe they were 1 of our first products we ever posted...and trust me...we just didn't know any better.  Or maybe it's a top seller that we just haven't taken a look at lately.  
We have several products in mind.  We'll get to working on them soon and show you the changes we made later this week.  So stay tuned and get ready for some serious upgrading!!!