Mark it!!!

 If your students are anything like mine, they’re always losing their spot in a book. Regular bookmarks slip away, get bent in backpacks, or disappear into desks. And I'll be honest--I'm a big kid with the same problems!  That’s why I created my BIG bookmarks — oversized, durable, and full of fun designs that kids can’t help but use.

📚 Why Big Bookmarks Work in the Classroom

• Easier to Spot – No more tiny scraps of paper. These bookmarks are tall, colorful, and stand out in chapter books and picture books.

• Kid-Friendly Themes – From emojis to seasonal designs, students love picking out “their” bookmark. It turns reading into something special. 
• Encourages Independent Reading – A fresh, fun bookmark is a small but powerful motivator to keep kids engaged in their books.

You can find these fun bookmarks and book displays in my tpt store! 

BIG BOOKMARKS PLUS EMOJIS

 Looking for a great way to add some fun to reading with kids from kindergarten to middle school--or even high school? Say hello to these fun BIG BOOKMARKS that add fun, function, and motivation, to readers of all ages.

From classrooms, libraries, homeschool rooms, or just a book loving grown up--you know the power of a good bookmark. 

These bookmarks are filled with emojis that send encouraging reading messages.

I am LOVING this large format. Aren't you? For size reference...

They are ready to print. I laminated mine because--laminating is life!

Check them out here! 

Big Squishy Bookmarks

 

Anyone else needing some summer and beginning of the year fun? Have you read anything that was just so good? I've been reading the Emma M. Lion series over the past year and I think I am going to revisit that. It just sounds so perfect for summer.

My kids have also been reading a lot. We've had some pretty massive library hauls and it has been so perfect. However there just haven't been bookmarks big enough for some of their nonfiction reads and so I whipped these up for some summer fun.

Fries and flies--pineapple and Dinos--penguins and party animals--all the bookmarks our books needed and perfect for classrooms and libraries.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Big-Bookmarks-Reading-Pals-Edition-13951649

Perfect for your libraries --at home or at school 

Book Time! New Kid!

Ah! Does anyone else get excited when the ALA announces the Newberry and Caldecott winners each year? I do! I've never participated in a Mock Caldecott or anything mainly because I'd just rather read the winner or winners--depending on how busy my book situation is ha!

You can get a copy here!

Here's the rundown on this years book:
Jordan, a smart kid with crazy artistic talent, his going to be the new kid at a fancy private school. Yikes! It's always hard being the new kid. He is paired up with a friend to show him around and during his first day finds himself with Andy, not the nicest kid in school. Because he is quick on his feet, Jordan finds a nice friend group. Now while this is a surface skim summary, Jordan and his friend ___ struggle with the fact that teachers can never remember their names and assume their athletic abilities based on their skin color. There are in's and out's and up's and down's but the book portrays what it's like to be a regular African American kid in a rich white school.

This year's Newberry Award Winner is New Kid by Jerry Craft and every page of this book eye catching and awesome! It is definitely worth reading. I am so glad that they chose this graphic novel (!!! what! what!) and I love the story.

The main things that I love about this book is that they are
1. SO FUNNY--so of course you are going to keep reading
2. Relatable--Jordan (the main character goes through so many
3. SO much DISCUSSION--this book is jam packed with things that need to be discussed in today's classrooms.

I also spotted this at the book fair--so keep your eye out for New Kid--it's completely worth it and your students will love reading this Newberry book!

Easy Peasy Prep Candy Heart Challenge

Looking for an easy activity to make it through Valentine's Day?! This is it--perfect for you K and 1st grade friends!

Also, it is February!!! And halfway through February! Are you glad that we made it this far?

All you need are these CANDY HEART CHALLENGE pages and some candy hearts and you are good to go.

You can find this activity in my TPT Store Beth Van or by clicking HERE

Organizing a class party? Homeschool party? Candy Heart Challenge is perfect.

I needed an activity for a class party that I was helping with and the kiddos ATE UP THESE challenges.

It's a lot of building and creating and counting and pulling things that your students already know...just translating them into candy hearts--which we all know playing with candy is lots of fun.

It's also a great STEM center or activity that can be done in groups or a rotation.

I love that candy hearts are relatively not the messiest thing and are a great manipulative to have on had during the month of February.

And candy hearts are always an excuse to go to Target too--like we need another excuse, right?!

Get your hands on this activity in my TPT store or click HERE

Tips for Christmas Delivery Treats!

It's that time of year! We made it through Black Friday and Cyber Monday and we still have a few packages coming our way. So before it was cool we have been leaving treats on our front porch for our delivery drivers haha...before it all made the news. I know all of those men and women are up early and out late this time of year making sure all of our packages make it.

I thought I would share our sign that we post with our treats!

Feel free to download and sign your family's name--or leave it blank--and share with friends!

It just been fun to surprise our postman and UPS gal that always drops our packages off and Fedex has been coming by too

Here's what we have found our people--yes, people who deliver our packages are totally "our people" love

1. Cheez-it's and something salty
Cheesy crackers and Doritos are the hot items in our basket! They haven't really been into cookies in the past. This year we are trying out peanut butter stuffed pretzels and twizzlers too--for something fun!

2. Leave it out late at night
I didn't realize this until we missed a delivery person but UPS is out delivering well into the night--I checked my email for packages and it arrived at 8 PM so leave your treats out so you don't miss a Christmas helper!

3. Set it up early
The month of December I see mail trucks out earlier than usual so before taking kids to school just set your treats out. Our local USPS guys are out early dropping off packages and then the regular mail comes later in the day.

4. Restock! You don't need to set everything out. I set a budget for about $25 for all of the treats and things and just put a few things out for them to choose from. I rotate things so some of our same delivery people have some variety of snacks.


Here is the sign! Just print and you are good to go. I laminated our sign to survive crazy weather--mainly just humidity and rain because Texas never really has winter!



I know you and your family will love setting this up and all the delivery people stopping by your house will be so thrilled with a little treat during this busy season of the year.

Please print and pin and share!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2019 Gift Guide: Kids Who Aren't into Toys

Here's your gift guide for the kid that is more into art and creating than toys! Our daughter rarely plays with toys but can turn our playroom into a blizzard of an art studio in a hot minute. Just wanted to share things that we love for our budding artist because sometimes it's hard to find things that aren't toys! :) Merry Christmas!

#1 WATERCOLORS We are hitting watercolors hard this year! We need something more than the Crayola water palettes and this is paint set that we LOVE. It has all the colors and more and is perfect for the budding artist. Want an experience with this? Gift your child a water coloring class from Jones Design Company/Simplified Classes and they will for sure be busy all Christmas break.

#2 COLOR HAPPY I love RAD and HAPPY. This coloring book is not your average coloring book. The pictures are so fun I find myself sneaking this book away so I can do some coloring myself. Rad and Happy also offers a monthly coloring subscription that we love and other classes. Lots of options on this site that I highly recommend.

#3 SMOOOOTH CRAYONS Thought it didn't get better than Crayola?! Well, try these out. It will be smooth operating for your artist while they color away.

#4 SCRATCH ART This is a stocking stuffer for us this year and with so many reviews I know it's going to be a hit.

#5 FRAME PAPER Looking for some fun paper that automatically frames art? IT EXISTS. This paper is so fun and makes everything a masterpiece. It's out of stock but check back--I know our local teacher supply shop has it so I'm picking mine up from there this year. We've already gone through 2 packs since summer so I'd say it is a hit!

#6 DRAWING BOOKS We checked these out from the library this summer multiple times and they are currently already wrapped under our tree (I get my elf-ing duties out of the way early). Hours of fun and I love that they are always a source of inspiration. You can find the comic book here and the mermaid and fairy book here

#7 SENSORY KIT These sensory kits--play dough plus all the accessories to create-- are a home run. Young, Wild, and Friedman has the best boxes and are totally worth the price. Open ended play for hours and bonus...you don't have to mix the play dough or run to Hobby Lobby and buy #allthethings. It's all here! The dough is so smooth and smells good and all of the accessories make for awesome play. There are subscriptions offered and I am so tempted to subscribe--Check out the weather, fairy, and baking kits. Swoon. I think I want one for Christmas too!

#8 WATER COLOR BRUSHES After a trip to the Crayola Experience we had to have these! These water color brushes create fun effects and are a perfect stocking stuffer. They stand up to even the most aggressive of watercolorists so you'll get your monies worth.

#9 WASHI TAPE What's better than regular tape? Washi tape! These fun colors add all the flair to paper made crowns, super hero capes, and art projects.

#10 ART SPINNER My daughter asked for a potter's wheel this Christmas after a fun camping trip where she got to do spin art. Well a potters wheel is out of my budget but this is just right. I love this brand! We purchased this and reviews say you need extra paint--we have Crayola paint on hand. It's just a perfect art activity.

#11 ART FOR KIDS HUB SUBSCRIPTION If you don't know about Art for Kids Hub then jump on youtube right now! It's perfect for kids 4 and up and has EVERYTHING you could think of to draw. It's like the ultimate treasure trove of art lessons. While there are lots of lessons up on youtube their subscription is priced right and has even more goodies for your little artist--drawing guides, coloring pages and more! We spend every Christmas break drawing and watching these so it's a tradition now! I recommend starting with the snow globe.

#12 ART CADDY I am swooning over this art caddy from Lakeshore Learning. Everything from Lakeshore is top notch quality and it has ample storage for your artist to store everything they need.

Last thing, PAPER in bulk. Each year our Grandma gifts a big box of paper from Sam's Club and it is PERFECT to get our artist through the whole year. So check out your Sam's or Costco for supplies like paper, colored paper, tape, and fun markers for your artist. What are you getting for your favorite artist this year?

Love this list? Share it with a friend on FB or pin it!

Skip Wrapping Those Christmas Books

It's THE MOST wonderful time of the year! I just wanted to share out Christmas picture book countdown with you...and with a FREEBIE to help you countdown to Christmas Day! Whether you are in the classroom or wanting a countdown for your family at home this is for YOU!

                                

But first a short story...Last year I lovingly wrapped every book for my daughter. As the Christmas seasons went on we starting going through unwrapping fatigue...my little girl got tired of unwrapping the books. Then, I needed a book for a school event and it was wrapped up so I was guessing which one it was to unwrap it. Man. It was such a bummer to have this fun thing I was so excited about fall flat.

Fast forward to this year and I decided I want the books out! I love looking at the covers of the stories. Books are always festive and fun decor...right?! Sometimes, my little girl wants to read a book that might not be on the "Christmas book reading schedule" so UNWRAPPED CHRISTMAS BOOKS IT IS. Let them be free. I made this fun countdown for us to read every night. 

It has been so nice!

 I love that we can read "Santa's Book of Names" whenever we want too--and however many times we want. Caroline can read "Fat Santa" whenever she wants too because sometimes she just wants to read the pictures--and she loves the pictures in that book. Also, the Jolly Postman is just so fun to play and read that it needs to be out all year!

Below is a freebie that you can print to countdown picture books throughout the Christmas season too.

Please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store and give me a follow there! 

This is SIMPLE y'all! Just hover your mouse over the pdf below and a dark gray box with an arrow will pop up...CLICK ON THAT to DOWNLOAD this free Christmas Bookmark Countdown!

You can print in color and I provided a black and white version too..just keep scrolling on the pdf.

PLUS all the NUMBERS--if you are the queen of being festive and like to read Christmas books starting in November--I've got you covered :)

Merry Christmas!

Let's Talk Shapes--Composite, Square, Rectangle

Let's talk area and perimeter. More specifically about area and perimeter of those combined shapes, complex shapes, what ever you want to call them. 

I remember my first year teacher I was like "This is the same as finding area and perimeter of a square or rectangle but you just combine it". Well, the spelled recipe for disaster. Ha! We got it figured out but time sure does make it easier.

So. This is NOT just the same as area and perimeter of "regular shapes". I'm always looking for fun ways for students to explore area and perimeter...less telling and more DOING.

It takes a lot of breaking down of the shape to find area and perimeter--I have a blogpost about there HERE

But instead of breaking things down I think this activity is perfect because students are BUILDING, using their number knowledge, problem solving, demonstrating, and evaluating--all of the good things that you want them to do to find the area and perimeter of squares, rectangles, and complex shapes.

I have them build using manipulatives but if you just want them to build shapes on graph paper or grids that totally works too. I have different sized grids that students can show their work on--#accountability. Area and perimeter works like that too.

These "Build-a-shape" activities are perfect for that! Students read the task and try and build--most tasks are totally possible while other tasks test their area and perimeter knowledge. 

The cards build on one another! I totally recommend doing these a day at a time or they could be used as something to complete after other work--or a fast finisher--even though these aren't necessarily all that fast.It's a super meaningful activity.

You can find this activity HERE in my TPT Store! And I have a few other area and perimeter things too--so check it out!

Be sure to click the green star on my TPT store for updates and sales!

Happy Printable Reading Bookmarks

Who doesn't love a good bookmark?! AND especially a printable one? When I was a little girl I remember collecting all sorts of bookmarks from the book fair and on trips to Barnes and Noble. I am totally loving these printable reading bookmarks...and astrobrights paper made them extra happy with the bright colors.

Just sharing here because I think they would make a perfect class gift this holiday season--well, and anytime of the year! Everything from Dinos to tacos are included...what could be better than that?!! Just print (laminate if you want) and go!

How are you going to use these with your class? I'd love to know!

Happy reading friends!

Book Love With Book Notes

How do you let your kids spread the word about a book that they absolutely loved? Sometimes things get lost via word of mouth and forgotten after class meetings! Ack! I wanted a way for students to share their love of books with each other beyond those class meetings.

I personally love when I would walk into a Borders (RIP) and there would be book recommendation cards by books...and now Barnes and Noble does the same thing.

Translating that to the classroom is tricky because of TIME and SPACE.

I've been using these book notes and they are EVERYTHING!

They are so easy for your students to use! Just print, fold, and have students write their raving reviews about the books that change their lives. It's so easy to tuck the notes in books and fun to discover as they are starting to reading a book or looking for their next book to read.

We are all about hashtags....are your students? Anyways, they get to leave a note and create a fun little hashtag for the book. It's legit and they love it.

What are some RAD books that you have read recently?!

I just finished Once Upon a Marigold and Princess Academy--kind of on a princess kick after reading LOTS of historical fiction.

There is a book note for every student--seriously--all the fun. Where were these when I was a student?

Anyways, you can find these in my TPT store HERE

Genre-ly Speaking

Let's jump into READING GENRES! Do you teach and discuss reading genres? I feel like with the ever so popular 40 book challenge genre is a buzz word in education right now...and I love it! I think its so good that we get the opportunity to explore to books with our readers.

Gerne is so important because it's a springboard into reading! I wanted to share some of my favorite tips and activities for teaching about reading genres and weaving throughout the curriculum throughout the school year.

#1 Make it RELATABLE

First--the word genre is kind of fancy. But if you break it down and explain that it's really just a genius word for categories then it isn't that intimidating. Just about everything has categories...food, movies, music...and books too!

My favorite tool that we use are genre notes and we use them throughout the year. As a class we brainstorm keywords that could be found in a book summary or events that happen in a book. We make a list of these key words that are dead giveaways as to what a books genre is.

#2 Make it Hands On

If you are going to focus on genres we have to put books in the hands of our students. I round up chapter books and picture books and create genre mystery bags for students to sort, categorize, and discuss.

There are so many ways to spin this activity! Sometimes I have students search through the books for a specific genre, sometimes they need to "gene-lize" all of the books. It's a great way to get your readers thinking and talking.


#3 IRL Practice (In REAL LIFE)
One of my favorite and super authentic ways to help students determine genre is to print up Goodreads and Amazon book summaries. You can as a class go through the summaries and highlight those keywords and clues...it's real life and real easy. After some class practice it's easy to then have students go through summaries on their own.

A bonus to this activity is often students read a book summary and they want to read THAT book. It's a great assessment but also exposes students to different books. Doesn't get better than that!

#4 Talk the Talk

If we are talking about it then your students will see the importance. When we are reading our #picturebookaday picture book you can bet that we are discussing genre. When students share some favorite books--you know that's the perfect time to ask and tell about genre.

During guided reading/reading groups and book conferences have students share what they know! They can share events in books or keywords that they spot in their reading.

Genre should be a talking point throughout the whole year. I love using these genre posters to write down books that students know in that genre. It's also a great resource if they are searching for a particular book to read in a certain genre

What do you do to teach genres?

You can find the GENRE NOTES here in my TPT store
Those student centered GENRE POSTERS? They're in my TPT store too

If you would like a copy of the mystery bag or what's my genre summary pages just leave a comment below with your email and I'll pass them along :)...until I get them uploaded to gmail or my TPT store.