Friday, July 31, 2015

Texas Size Link Up -- I Mustache Ask you, What are you doing? (1st Week School)


Hello y'all!! I am so excited to be part of this great Link-Up!!! I DECIDED TO EXTEND THIS FREE PRODUCT UNTIL TONIGHT, AUGUST 1ST!!! :)
Some great ladies and I have come together to bring you some great stuff!
I just finished a unit that is PERFECT for the first week of school! I have to be honest, when the whole mustache theme came up, I didn't really get it back then. But I started finding more and more stuff and I just fell in love with it! Now, I can't stop my love for it!!!
I have created other units with mustaches, but this is a bright new unit! You will find 56 pages in this unit. It comes with different activities, Some can be done in groups or whole class; some others can be done in partners or centers. These are all simple and fun; just perfect for the first week of school!
The best part?! You get to choose the unit in English or Spanish!!!


I would like to show you what's in it and hopefully you like it as much as I do so you enter on this great giveaway!!

1. I created this made-up story about a kid named Jack, who just moved to a new town called Mustacheville. This kid has a mustache and feels left out by the other kids because he's different (he has a purple mustache). However, the story changes when he meets someone else, someone who is also different than the other kids!
This story comes with a foldable to write the B, M, and E of the story. It also comes with a foldable to compare and contrast the main two characters in the story.


2. Then, I added some ice breaker cards! I usually play some music and when it stops, students grab the first person near them to partner up. I included specific instructions on how to do this activity. They use their ice breaker card and then report it on an activity sheet. 



 3. What more fun than Bingo? An ice breaker Bingo! You can have students in small groups or as a whole class!


4. I also included a writing activity! Students would interview a partner with a Question sheet (it includes 20 different questions) and they can include their own question too! Then they would make this fun poster/Foldable! Don't forget to take a picture with a mustache for your activity! 

And this is what's in the inside. They will compare an contrast themselves with their new friend! 



5. Time for some I have, who has... Game!! Simple addition facts for your class!

6. Last, but not least. I included some addition word problems. This might be a little challenging for the first week. However, I included both low and high level word problems! So you get to choose which level fits best for your class on the first week of school! It comes with an answer sheet and a sheet for them to show their strategy. Every level comes with 10 cards. I figured this is too much for the first week of school, so on the instructions, I said for them to pick three cards and work in partners! But remember you can always change the rules if you think your class is ready for some more :)


I hope you find this unit helpful and you enter on my Rafllecopter. It is very simple to enter, just follow the steps :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There will be more link-ups coming up (we will be doing this link-up once a month)!
So make sure you follow me on BlogLovin' so you don't miss the fun and the chance to win abother unit!!! :) Click on the picture below to take you to my BlogLovin' page :)

If you would like to see what the other ladies are sharing, click HERE to take you to The Little Ladybug Shop!

Friday, July 24, 2015

More of Superheroes Theme and Teacher Contact info Cards

Hello, my Name is Mrs. Nicolau, and I am a workaholic! Yes, I am not back to teaching yet, but I couldn't resist to decorate a door! LOL I was planning on using this to decorate the area that I will be using during tutoring, but being a first time mom did not prepare me for what Pollita could do to this door! Before finishing it, we encountered many events... Let's just say thank goodness she has some kind of compassion and did not destroy all of it before I was able to take these pictures!!
You might think I am crazy for decorating a door in my house, but this is my "me time" and I am telling you, this makes me happy! However, this doesn't mean I want to be back to teaching yet. This is not my time yet. I am where I want and need to be; I am where my heart gets full of joy and love, I am with my daughter... But as busy as I have always been, I like to do other things besides being at home with my Pollita.... If you are looking for a fun decoration, check out my door! It is very simple and inexpensive to do!
I used a roll of blue paper for the background and black paper for the buildings. I used yellow construction paper to make the windows and bought the letters and borders at a teacher store.


I am going to be honest, I was going to stop there. But it looked so empty and sad!!! :( I decided to decorate it before Pollita took over it!!! lol So I used a picture of my face to use as an example. I got some masks and some lighting clip art, print those on color cardstock, and whaalaaa!!



I also wanted to share with you the different Teacher Contact Info Cards I have created through the years. I love to use these because I have barely had parents asking me for my contact info once they have this card. I print these in color, laminate them, and put a magnet on the back so parents can keep these on their fridge. Honestly, I also talk to my students about it. I tell them this card is so important and I ask them to keep an eye on them and make sure their parents put them on their fridge. They take so much pride on having those cards that I know most of them make sure their parents keep them in a handy place.


These following I have used in a personal way. I had a Jungle Theme so I used these:












This picture is the one I used when I had my Circus Classroom Theme.














http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Teacher-Contact-Info-Card-EDITABLE-English-and-Spanish-810587If you would like to have one, I have this pencil design on my TPT. These cards are editable in the text area and they come in two different styles. They also come in both English and Spanish. Click HERE to take you to my TPT store.


Then, I thought... why don't I use just a general card?? So I created and used these in the past. I also have this available on my TPT. These cards are editable in the text area. They come in both English and Spanish. Click HERE to take you to my TPT store.

                                             http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Teacher-Angel-Contact-Info-Card-EDITABLE-English-and-Spanish-1395363
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Teacher-Angel-Contact-Info-Card-EDITABLE-English-and-Spanish-1395363


This is the last design I have available in my store. Since I was creating a superhero classroom theme, I decided to make the teacher cards match the theme. There is a section in Both English and Spanish where you can edit the text. I also added cards for both Female and Male teachers!! :)



I added something extra to this product. I created blank cards, so you decide what type of information you want to place on it. I don't know why I took me so long to think about this. However, I hope this is more helpful in case you don't want to put the information I usually put.

 If you would like a FREE copy of this, please click HERE.

Alright friends!!! That is all for now!! :) I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and I really hope you can use any of these freebies!! I'll be posting really soon about what I usually have on my classroom's walls at the beginning of the school year (before I add all those amazing anchor charts that we use throughout the year)... Stay tuned because what's coming is a whole post with TONS of freebies as well!! Have an amazing weekend y'all!



Saturday, July 18, 2015

I am Back with Classroom Themes and Freebies!!!

Hello Everyone!!!
It has been several months since my last post, but life has been crazy! For many of you, you have enjoying Summer to the fullest, but I can't call Summer my Summer... Since I am not teaching as of right now, I think it's unfair for me to call this time Summer Vacation ;) LOL
Anyhow, before I start with the education part, I wanted to share with you all what I have been up to... Our Little "Pollita" turned 1 YEAR OLD in May.. Where is my newborn?!?! We went to my home country (Peru) to celebrate her birthday along with my whole family... We took advantage that my first niece (my brother's daughter) was scheduled around the same time, and she was born few weeks before we arrived... Let me tell you, planning a first birthday party overseas is MORE THAN OVERWHELMING!! Thank God for my mom, my aunt, and my friends who helped me with all this crazy party! And of Course, Thank God for Pinterest!!! :) Because of this, I got my mom hooked on Pinterest and now she can't get over it!! LOL
Just so you know, on this trip, I barely took pictures!!! :( That is not me AT ALL! I am usually the annoying person with a Camera asking everyone to post to take pictures... After we came back I regreted so much not being the annoying camera girl, but I really had to focus on Pollita and the rest of the things... so I don't have many pictures from our trip.. However, I am supper glad I did a photo session of Pollita before we traveled... So this is what she wore on her birthday!


Believe it or not, we had a hard time looking at the camera and smiling. These are the only pictures where my husband got her to smile. The only problem is that she was not smiling at the camera, she smiled at him, but at least she was smiling :)



Now back to school! Before I share with you my new classroom theme, I wanted to mention the other themes and blog posts I have made in the past. ALL themes have a section where you can edit the words, except for the sheets that have already font. Please be aware that clip art and titles cannot be edit due to copyright of the illustrators... If you want to see in detail please go to the product to find out more! :)

I have A Jungle Theme posts, if you want to read them, please click on Classroom Tour, Snacks. I have several pictures of what I did that year to decorate my classroom. My favorite part of this theme was my Jungle theme door. It took me several hours to finish it, but I loved every single thing of it! :) If you would like to see my product on TPT, please click HERE. I also have a FREE welcome banner that comes in Spanish and English.



I then created a Circus theme, but sadly I don't have any pictures of this theme. This theme was when I had just given birth to Pollita and I just couldn't think of taking any pictures or posting anything about it.. I only had the energy to get my classroom ready, breastfeed, and if I had time, I was able to throw some sleep in it... lol, you all know what I mean!! So I am sorry about that. However, there is a post about it and a lot of FREEBIES that come along that post, so check it out HERE!!
If you would like to see my product on TPT, please click HERE.




Finally, I want to share this new theme... I know most of you are already back in your classrooms, cleaning, and organizing.. But if you are doing this theme this year, you might want to check it out!! I am so excited about this theme. It is so colorful and fun! I really had a great time creating it...

IF you would like to see this product,  please click HERE to take you to my TPT store and check it out! :)


I printed some sheets to give you a little preview besides the one above. So here are some of the things it contains:

1. Name tags: These come in 3 different styles for boys and 3 different styles for girls. You can edit this document by typing the student's name on it :)


2. Calendar: This calendar comes with numbers, days of the week, months, cupcake pictures for those special birthdays, and cards to point out what day is today, what day was yesterday, and what day will be tomorrow :)


3. Material Tags: I have also included blank cards so you can type in words :) 


4. Word Wall: It comes with all letters in both English and Spanish with four different styles. It comes with blank tags so you can write or type the words.

5. Behavior Chart and Subject Signs (ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies).

6. Table Signs in both Spanish and English. My favorite is the Laser Eyed Heroes!! :)

I did not include pictures of the banner, but you can see some of the sheets on the preview picture (the first picture I posted).

Before I go, I would like to share with you a Snack that you can give to your students on the first day of school or Meet the Teacher Night. It is so simple and inexpensive! The yellow cereal is "Kix." I have never heard of this cereal before, but I saw it on a "healthy school list snack" and I tried it; it tastes pretty good! If you do not want to use that one, you can also use Corn Pops. The other colorful cereal was part of the Cap'n Crushs Oops all berries, but you can also use Trix, Froot Loops Loopers.

Click on FREEBIE, to grab yours now! :)




I couldn't resist to post this one. As I was taking the pictures, Pollita grabbed the bags of the cereal she likes! I thought it was too funny and I thought you might laugh along with me! Look at those chunky fingers!! lol 

Wait! What is this doing here?! This should be mine! :)

Hope you are having a great weekend! I know this upcoming weeks are CRAAAAAZYYY, so good luck everyone! I'll be posting very soon with some more superhero ideas and for some goodies for Meet The Teacher Night! So stay tuned!! :)



Monday, May 25, 2015

End of the Year Awards Unit with FREE SAMPLE!!

Hello everyone! I ma sorry I have been absent the last weeks. My hubby, Pollita, and I went to my home country for Pollita's 1st birthday!! PLUS my beautiful niece was born few weeks before her birthday, so my whole family went there as well to celebrate these great and special days!! :)

I will be blogging more about my personal goals and events through the month of June; since school will be out and we all need to take a break of it (I hope I am not the only one who wants to think about something else throughout the summer, am I right?!)

It is that time of year when you start thinking what kind of awards your students will achieve and preparing them. I am here to show you a couple of my Samples that I have in my store for you!



The first I have is on the preview of the product, so you will see the cost of the product and won't see the free sample by itself. 
All you have to do it's download preview and you will find 3 free awards: Smile (boy version, the girl version is in the paid product), hard worker, and perfect attendance. ALL AWARDS COME IN COLOR AND B/W VERSION. You will also be able to see the other awards that are included in the paid product :)
Would you like to download this sample? Just click HERE or click on the picture below:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-AWARDS-IN-PREVIEW-End-of-Year-Awards-685907


The second Sample I wanted to include because this Sample is editable; all you need is Google Docs and Power Point. I have included instructions when you click on the editable section. Editable means you can type your name and the student's name. Please be aware that "editable" means typing names only, I can't make the titles or the clipart editable due to illustrators copyright. Just in case you forget, I have included that information on the product :) This product has a Jungle theme, so most of all (if not all) has jungle illustrations :) I have this product sample available in both ENGLISH and SPANISH


If you would like the paid product, I have them in both Spanish and English. 

Here is a preview of what comes in it...


Thank you everyone for stopping by my blog today, we hope you come visit me again soon!!       

Monday, May 4, 2015

What works - Teacher Appreciation Week Linky Party & Giveaway!


Hello everyone!! I am so happy to be part of this HUGE giveaway to thank all the great teachers out there! As a teacher, I know that sometimes (let's be honest, most of the time) we are running out of money for resources, snacks, classroom materials, holiday/classroom gifts, color ink (you know it's true!), etc. So I have teamed up with great bloggers to bring you some AMAZING prices to just thank you for ALL you do for our children. 
Before I introduce you to the giveaway, I'd like to share with you some tips that are a must in my classroom, hope they are helpful and you get a chance to do those in your classroom as well! If you can show me some love by leaving me a comment! Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy this great linky party!!
Classroom Management is definitely one of the most important areas in a classroom, and I just loved the CHAMPS implementation. The school district where I was working was very strong about implementing CHAMPS, so I came up with an interactive bulletin board in my classroom. I created this for a foam board, but you can honestly just put some magnets and have it up on your classroom dry-erase board (or chalkboard if that's what you have). At the beginning of the school year (maybe the first 3/4 months), I was mainly the one who used this board. We would use this board ALL THE TIME. For every activity, including: independent practice (I would just say independent practice and clarify with my students what kind of independent practice we are working on. In that way, we are not having illustrations for every specific activity), cooperative groups, carpet time, centers, and tests. However, after those months I would start picking students to do it and the rest of the class would participate on answering what was expected. When they realized I started picking students, they all wanted to be "the teacher." I didn't expect them to want that since they were in third grade, but they just loved it!! 



Alright, this board works as followed:
I would go letter by letter "C is for conversation (I would expect the students to answer after months of doing this)" Then I would say "What voice level are we on? Level 1 (Expect students to answer). Then I would say, show me what level 1 sound like (this level is whispering so students would start whispering to me). Then I would go letter by letter until we finish the word CHAMPS.

If you would like a copy of this, please click on the picture below to take you to my store. The only items that this product doesn't contained is the border that I used to decorate the foam board and the foam board. On the product, I included more pictures of how the board looks like and the illustrations come with labels so you know what they are used for. I also included a video on how to use the board, if  you are more of a visual person like I am :)


This is my second most favorite thing to do in my classroom! The big/HUGE plus is that my students liked it even more than I did, so you know that made it even better!!
I was a big fan of cooperative groups/turn-n-talk kind deal in my classroom. My district had principals doing a workshop and they taught us a great and dynamic way to partner up students. So I started implementing the same thing in my classroom and my students would beg me to do it ALL THE TIME!
All that you do is become best friends with Pandora (I am just kidding you can play whatever music you would like), ok here we go:
1. Play a song for few seconds (maybe 15 seconds or so). 2. Students walk around the classroom,  they might try to walk by the person they want to partner up with, but if you catch it, just remind them they have to walk in different directions).
3. When the music stops, students turn around to find the closest partner and they "high 5".
4. If there is anyone left out, they raise their hands so they see if someone else doesn't have a partner and they partner up OR you can find a partner for them (this happened to me when I had an odd number in my class or someone was absent).
Since I am not in the classroom this year, my dearest friend was very kind to create this video for me. I am just sharing this because my classroom would sound just a little different; with Hispanic music and some of my students would dance to it while walking, too funny!!! :)
Here is the live video as an example, please click HERE to take you to my GoogleDocs :)
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE THIS VIDEO HAS ONLY ACCESS TO THOSE WITH THE LINK. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THIS WITH A FRIEND, REFER THEM TO THIS BLOG POST SO THEY CAN SEE IT AS WELL, THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!
Hello, my name is Mrs. Nicolau and I am an eraser addict... YES, I admit it!! (please don't let my husband see this post because I could hear him saying "I told you so!" LOL - Just kidding, he knows that I know that he is right lol). However, I always say it's not an addiction, it's just that I really NEED this stuff! I will prove it!! :)

I love me some mini erasers!!!! and if you could have a bunch like I do, it's even better!! (Just so you know, the picture above was taken BEFORE I found some more online! ooopppsss) You can use these for almost everything; manipulatives in small groups, modeling an activity, cooperative groups, and centers! 1. Manipulatives in small groups: I used them in Math and Language Arts as manipulatives, they could work for counters for the little ones and for the upper grades if you have those students that needed accommodations (I had my little person who was attached to these). I also used them in Language Arts to count syllables or to break down words into sounds (when I was in 2nd, these work amazingly for my low readers and needed interventions in phonics). 2. Use them to model an activity: when I was showing an array in front of my class, graphing activity, creating fractions, and word problems (I used them as a visual while reading and solving a word problem). 
3. Cooperative groups: Since I used them a lot, I expressed to my students these were so special to me, so they took proud and responsibility while using them. So I would have activities as mentioned above and have them use them independently. 4. Centers: I used these in centers especially while doing graphing skills and fractions. Instead of having a sheet of graphics, I would drop some erasers and have them create bar graphs or pictographs. For fractions I would have my students create a foldable, create a fraction with the mini erasers, and then illustrate what they created on the foldable along with the corresponding fraction.
These are only a few ideas that I came up with from seeing other people using other hands on materials, do you have some more?! I hope this idea makes you very excited and makes you an addict like me... I mean, a big fan of mini erasers like me! :)


As I mentioned above there is this HUGE giveaway for all teachers!! There is no prize enough to cover all what we need, but it is just a way to express how grateful we are to have you in this field! Remember that the more entries you have on the Rafflecopter, the more chances you have to win!

Just take a look at everything you could win...One lucky reader will win this entire prize package!!!
Prize Bundle #1 Includes
PLUS....$140 Gift Box of Fabulous Teacher Supplies sent to you from Amazon

We aren't finished yet....take a look at everything a second lucky winner will win!!!
Prize Bundle #2 Includes
PLUS....$140 Gift Box of Fabulous Teacher Supplies sent to you from Amazon

Be sure to enter both Rafflecopters for a better chance at winning one of these amazing prize bundles!

Enter to Win Prize Bundle #1 Here

Enter to Win Prize Bundle #2 Here

You won't want to miss out on all the other great secrets being shared by successful teachers!  Be sure to check out all the other great posts below.