From This Side of the Pond....

HAPPY LABOUR DAY!

(Yes, I know that's not how it's spelled in the US, but as I'm British....) Wishing all my American friends a wonderful day - you deserve it!

To celebrate, I thought I'd give everyone a chance to stock up on back to school goodies. I have marked everything for sale in my Teachers Notebook shop. If you missed the TN and TPT Back to School Event, this is a great time grab everything you need at a discounted price. For the next 2 days everything is on sale at 40% off! Here are a few Golden Oldies you might like to check out:

A wonderful teacher friend requested a unit suitable for G2-4 to celebrate individual talents and strengths. This is what I came up with - and I absolutely loved creating it! Perfect for circle time or as a stand-alone unit.

Another commission. There was nothing around that quite hit the mark for this particular teacher friend, so I came up with this. Lots of images and great activities to engage learners in what is a very tricky area to grasp.

I am a huge fan of the work of British Author/Illustrator Anthony Browne. So I created this unit to celebrate mums everywhere. It is inspired by Anthony Browne's wonderful book "My Mum" and is perfect as a stand-alone unit or for Mother's Day.

There are lots of other great resources available in my TN shop. Pay me a visit and browse but never feel obliged. And if you have any requests for particular themes or units do let me know - I'm always on the lookout for things that will help you in the classroom.

New Kids on the Block - First Day Jitters

There are new kids on the block - or should that be new kids in the class... And all of them are probably having nervous jitters. I last had first day jitters when I started my new job a few weeks ago - we've all been there and all know what it feels like.

Last year I used "First Day Jitters" with my new class, and they loved it! For those who are not familiar with the book, I won't spoil the ending, but suffice to say it's a good one. The children predicted lots of things, but no-one worked out this ending...

This book is a real gem, perfect for those first few days with your new class. It shows kiddos that teachers are human too, and sometimes feel the same way as them. Not only that, but it opens up a whole world of activities. If you haven't already, or fancy a change from "The Kissing Hand" of "Chrysanthemum" (both of which are fantastic books), why not give this a try this year? To help you along, I have pulled together my favourite activities in a bumper pack, containing everything you need to settle your kiddos in and chase away any "first day jitters".

The pack includes pre-reading prediction activity, post-reading discussion activity, visualisation, sequencing, story map, letter to Sarah, My Perfect Day at School writing activity,What's in your lunchbox? My First Day Jitters Two Truths and a Lie, word wall, student v teacher venn diagram, compound words and congratulations certificate.

Clicking the image above will take you to my Teachers Notebook store, or click here for my TPT store. As always, I really appreciate your views, so please leave me a note if you have a spare minute.

Here's wishing you a great start to the new school year!

It's a Back to School Bonanza - Take Advantage of a Huge 40% Discount

Teachers' Notebook's Back To School Bonanza Sweepstakes for a share of $2,500 in gift certificates will kick off tonight at 12:01am CST and will be divided into two individual sweepstakes: one on August 9th and one on August 10th. Members can visit the site and enter to win each day and the winners will receive a $25 gift certificate to Teachers Notebook. Winners will be notified by email and on the site and will be able to redeem their prize just in time for this weekend's big Back To School Sale. Clicking the image below will take you straight there.

To make this a success for everyone I am also running a Back to School Giveaway and a Back to School Sale to coincide with the Bonanza.

Back to School Giveaway

Between Today and tomorrow three lucky winners will have the chance to win a copy of my full First Fractions resource pack.

Back to School Sale

Between August 11th and August 13th I will be running a Back to School Sale in my shop, with everything on sale at a huge discount of 40%. Click below to explore my store.

 

It's a great time to take advantage of huge discounts right across Teachers' Notebook, so make sure you drop by and explore.

How Do You Teach Phonics?

An Update

Only Tuesday and I'm already flaked out...! If I can just make it to the weekend..... Then it's just Monday and I'm on summer break until September 3rd...  But-it's-sooooooo-hard......

A few days ago I blogged about teaching EAL (ESOL) children to read, write and speak English, and the difficulties involved with using phonics. You can see my post and download a free resource by clicking the image below:

I have received some really kind comments about my Monster Match resources. It's great to have feedback from all you wonderful teachers about how you manage EAL (ESOL) children's learning - hmmmm, I feel a linky party coming on....

Without further ado, here is the second resource in the set - Set 1 sounds for letters I, N, P, G and O. All of the Set 1 sounds resources will be available in my TN and TPT stores (I prefer TN because I don't pay commission there) for the very small sum of just $1. The word family resources (when available) will be a little more, simply because they will be longer. I hope you enjoy, and please remember to leave me feedback - every little helps.

 

  

Have a fab day!

The Dreaded Summer Dip And Then Some - A Linky Party.

Happy Sunday everyone! Today we have a window of opportunity - to wash and dry the laundry in between showers! It's rained nonstop here for more than two weeks, and some of you may have seen news reoprts of the flooding that's been happening all across the UK. The lawn needs a good cut but it's just too wet - it's already knee high! Today we have a little breathing space - there are a few clouds but on the whole it's looking pretty good. It won't last, we're told. Something to do with the Jet Stream lying lower than usual. My summer clothes are still packed away, which tells you a lot about the kind of summer we've had so far. Hopefully it will all change when the schools break in two weeks.... I can but wish..

 Now you may have noticed that I've been a bit quiet over the last few weeks (nothing to do with the rain...). I started my new job in June and it's been all hands on deck ever since. I just don't seem to have a minute to down tools. I can always tell when things are busy in work because I tend to work things out in my head at night while I'm "asleep".  I have been known to teach a full lesson in front of an interactive whiteboard in my sleep...

Take the other night, for example. A lot of my students will return home to Poland, Portugal and further afield over the next weeks or so, where they will spend the summer, returning in time for the new term in September. This is great for them because it's so important to see their family and friends, and maintain strong cultural links. Not so great for me because they will have lost much of their English language skill due to not needing to use it. This is the summer dip and then some!

So, on Friday night while I was asleep, I had a revelation. My favourite book store was selling off 2012 diaries (for real) for just 25p (around 40c). I dreamed I went out and bought a load. I gave the diaries to the children with instructions to make sure they wrote in them in English every day while they were away. It could be just one sentence or a whole diary entry. This would help them to remember their summer holiday when they got back (we all know that children have no concept of time and can't remember what they did in school today let alone remember what they did 6 weeks ago!) and also keep their English language skills on the boil. A simple idea, but better than a homemade version that would probably end up in the bin or stuffed at the bottom of a school bag. A proper diary is a little bit special, not to mention grown-up...

So I got up yesterday morning and rushed down to the book store only to find that they'd sold all of their cheap diaries (perhaps someone had the same idea as me)! Not to be thwarted, I scoured the town and managed to find some for the same price. They're not as bright and interesting as the ones I'd originally seen, but they'll serve the purpose.

How do you deal with the dreaded Summer Dip? I'm throwing my first linky party, so join up and leave your tips.

Big Jubilee Lunch Craftivity

Here is the third resource in the Jubilee series. This one focuses on street parties, and includes lots of activities for children to plan a street party, design an invitation, plan a menu and make bunting and paper chains to decorate the venue. There is also an activity to design their own emblem/logo. Clicking the thumbnail takes you direct to the resource. Enjoy!

TN

or

TPT

Happy Saturday!