All About Apples! An Apple Finale!

I like to end my study of Apples with a day of cooking in the classroom. There is always so much joy when I bring a cooking activity into the classroom. Magic seems to fill the air while curiosity and engagement fill the students eyes. Plus, an added bonus if you make something with a delectable aroma such as this delicious and easy Applesauce Recipe!

I must admit, I found this recipe from Persnickety Plates. I love to cook, but I am still a novice in creating my own recipes! Thank goodness for blogs like hers!

This freebie is included with my Johnny Appleseed product (read more here) as well as my Bushel and a Peck of Numbers (read more here) all together in my All About Apples Bundle here!

     

Check out all the details below!

Keep your head in the clouds!

1200 Followers! THANK YOU!

When I first moved back to Jersey in 2014 from my wonderful time in Boston, I decided I would take the summer off and not work. With my newfound free time (and a boyfriend living two states over), I began exploring how to create products on Teachers Pay Teachers. I made one single product and posted it. It became more popular than I anticipated and thus started my adventures in TPT!

There were years I didn't touch my TPT store (in 2015 I my boyfriend moved back home, we bought a condo, got a puppy, got engaged and I switched school districts!), yet the followers still trickled on in. And so, I THANK YOU! It's always been fun for me to create things for the classroom, but it's so fulfilling to share it with fellow educators.

My 1200 Follower Freebie is here!

There are four different templates. Some pre-made and others completely editable for you to make it work for your own classroom needs! Below are my weekly templates, but each template comes in monthly as well!

THANK YOU for choosing to follow my products on TPT. If you don't already, click here to do so! Then you'll be the first to know when I post my next follower freebie!

Keep your head in the clouds!

500 Followers {freebie} THANK YOU!

THANK YOU!

Thank you loyal followers who have helped me boost my TPT Store up to 500 followers! I cannot thank you enough! Three years ago I posted one product on my store to test the waters of this whole Teachers Pay Teachers thing never knowing how much it could turn into. A blog, instagram and store full of products later, I can hardly believe I've hit 500 followers. The sky's the limit now on what this passion for teaching can accomplish inside and outside classroom walls.

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING ME!

To better show my thanks, I decided to upload a freebie for you all!

Click here to download!

Some of my favorite teaching quotes and classroom mottos have been put together for you as a FREE download to help decorate your room. Great decor in a pinch for back to school or anytime of year!

Don't miss out on catching the follower freebies! Follow me by clicking the green star on my TPT Page here!

Next freebie comes at 600 followers!

Enjoy and THANK YOU for your support!

Keep your head in the clouds! :)

Winter Reading {Freebie}

It was COLD last week in Jersey! Too cold to play outside, too cold to have the snow melt away, and too cold to even THINK! My principal was kind enough to have an impromptu Hawaiian Day! Staff and students were invited to come in with their Hawaiian shirts on, were greeted with upbeat hawaiian melodies playing on speakers in the hallways and our principal even handmade Pineapple Smoothies in the teacher's room during lunch! (Is he not the best at cultivating a happy school culture for his students and staff?!)

In honor of keeping the warmth moving strong, I figured the only right way to contribute to the winter blues was to upload a simple, no prep, FREEBIE for your budding independent readers!

My kiddos have been working hard on their VERY first sight word: CAN

Since we are already masters at our uppercase letters, now we can read sentences that start with, "I can" if we use picture clues to help! Check out our picture clues below for some of the pages of our I Can Winter Freebie Independent Reader

Download your free Winter Reader here!

Enjoy this little piece of sunshine amidst the bitter cold!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

The Kissing Hand: No Prep Freebie!

Now that my new air conditioner is installed and up and running (YES- I lost air at the start of the summer! EEK!), and I've gotten my fair share of good reads in at the pool (was I the last one to read Me Before You?) I've got another bundle that I'm really excited for!

One of my FAVORITE read alouds for the little ones is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn! It is the sweetest story about little Chester Raccoon and his first day of school. His Momma kisses his hand and tells him her kiss is always with him! I'm not even a mom yet, and it makes my heart melt!

Since I read it EVERY year, I figured it's about time I began to add some new activities to go along with the beloved read aloud. And now, the best news of all, it's NO PREP and.. drumroll please.. FREE!

The pack includes these First Day of School Certificates- they look fantastic printed on neon paper!

This sweet poem can go with any handprint art you may make!

You can find my craftivity that goes with it here!

Color by numbers are some of my favorite things to do in the first week of school. It's fairly straightforward, fairly independent, and coloring is a great way to ease nerves for the little bubba staring up at you! Plus- instant fridge art for home!

From my own experience, children tend to be fascinated by the fact that Chester Raccoon goes to school at night. I figured this year I would go into nocturnal animals just a bit to help them understand better and give them great knowledge to share at home! Plus- another coloring page for independence and calming butterflies in the stomach!

You can download the whole freebie here!

If you're riding The Kissing Hand train like I am, take a peek at my other Kissing Hand products! 

(I'll be blogging about them throughout the week!)

Keep your head in the clouds!

(and your toes in the sand! Summer is flying by!!)

xo

SaveSave

Shine in Kindergarten! {freebie}

Okay friends, I can't help myself. I am loving the Kindergarten readiness skills in my Sea You in Kindergarten bundle, that I cannot help but share parts of it with you FOR FREE!

Check out Shine in Kindergarten!

You'll get the parent letter and Kindergarten Readiness Skill List FOR FREE!

Download them here!

And remember, if you like those, you'll LOVE the complete packet!

Download it here!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

The Very Hungry Caterpillar {Part 3}

I am so enjoying my time teaching The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I had to share this freebie!

I originally saw the inspiration picture on Pinterest, but it just linked to the picture and not the source. Then, the lovely people at Libraryland gave a tutorial, but still no template. Alas, I found that primary teachers needed a template for this hat, and what better way to get it in their hands than as a freebie!

I just cut extra long red construction paper in thirds, and stapled two thirds together to create the base of this headband. You may want to use red sentence strips if you can find them! (and if you can, send that link my way! I'd love to purchase them!)

Now, besides the awesome freebie, I have to brag about my kiddos for a moment. We were super excited to come back from the weekend to discover that our caterpillars have grown big and fat just like the very hungry caterpillar! Take a look below! (Squeamish stomachs, beware!)

WHOA.

However, as you know, most children LOVE this kind of growth and my class was no different.

Check out their awesome Week 2 Observations! What great preschool scientists!

Now, for tomorrow's work: teaching them that it is not a web, but the exoskeleton shedding! Awesome science!

If you want to try out these observation sheets with your kiddos, buy them here with The Very Hungry Caterpillar No Prep Pack!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

Start of Spring Break + {freebie!}

Do you ever feel like the weeks leading up to a school break all you can think about are your days off? Then, once the break comes around, I find that all I can think about is school! It's funny how that works. Sometimes I think taking time to get some rest, relaxation, and a breath of fresh air can help the brain focus on tackling what used to seem like work-related stress.

In an effort to keep that breath of fresh air continuing back into the classroom next week, I decided to find ways to get my students outside next week. I'm hoping to embrace Spring (and hoping that in doing so, the Spring weather will come here to stay!) by kicking off the home stretch of the school year with a Bug and Insect Unit.

While the unit as a whole is still in the works, I decided to give you all a sneak peek with this Bug Hunt freebie! Take a look!

You can download it here!

Check back later this week for more pieces of my Insect Unit.

It will all be up on my TPT store soon!

Keep your head in the clouds! xo

Blondie Got a Blog!

The day has happened.. I have succumbed to the world of blogging! After the past few years of reading blogs, pinning blogs, and creating my own ideas for blogs, it's time my classroom made it's debut on the blogging scene.

So Welcome to A Classroom on Cloud Nine! I am thrilled to begin my new journey this school year with all of you. In celebration, let me share with you a simple Back to School freebie- perfect for a Kindergarten or First Grade setting. Click on the picture below to purchase from my TPT store.

This is only the beginning friends!

Keep your head in the clouds!

-Dianne Bacsik