Thank you!

Can I just say how much I love being a part of the teacher blogging world! I have just been blogging since September but I have met so many wonderful people through my blog. I can't tell you how much it means to me and how excited I get to see a new follower or to receive a comment or email from you. It feels like Christmas!! Seriously! So here's a shout out to all of you! You all make me feel like a part of the much bigger "whole". It is so comforting to know there are others out there who get a kick out of the things their students say, their successes and the love that happens in the classroom "family". It is also very comforting to know that I am not the only one who has bad days, who is dealing with stress and sometimes negativity at work....it's comforting to know I'm not alone. Thank you for being a part of my life and for keeping me smiling and even laughing!
There is only Love,
Rebecca

Free Web of Blends Sort/ Crazy Day at work!

I have a new cohort student who started today. I can't believe that I used to be that young and so new to teaching. This is her first experience in the classroom and she is just soaking it all in. We only have a month together so it will go quickly! I feel badly that she started on such a crazy day! We had backwards day today and all the students wore their clothes backwards in order to "Turn Our Backs On Drugs" day. Needless to say, many of my firsties didn't come with their clothes on backwards, but once they saw those who had, those arms were pulling out of the sleeves and those shirts were turning around! It was a crazy start to the day. If she can make it through Halloween she can make it through anything! ;)

Speaking of Halloween, we have been working on my Itsy Bitsy Spider Packet this week. This free Web of Blends sort is part of my Itsy Bitsy Spider Packet on sale until tonight over at TpT. My class has loved using this center the past week and I thought I'd share with you!
Enjoy!
Rebecca

Click here for your Freebie:

Web of Blends

Freebie and Winner of the Walmart Gift Card

Congratulations to Martha! She is the winner of the $15 Walmart Gift Card. Thank you all for following and supporting my blog and TpT store. All of your comments made my day! Here's a little freebie for all of you for following me! (This is from my Fall Packet that I am making and hoping to finish this week! Stay tuned!!) It is a Noun Sort. It has lots of little cards for your students to sort and place under People, Places and Things. My class did this today and had a lot of fun with it!
There is Only Love,
Rebecca

(Graphics by ScrappinDoodle.com)

Click Here for your Freebie!

Fall Noun Sort

Eighty Followers Sale and Walmart Card Giveaway!

I'm throwing a 15% off sale at my TpT store on ALL ITEMS!! Wow! I can't believe I have over 80 followers! I know that sounds like small potatoes to most of you, but that is quite a bit for this new blogger! My next goal is to reach 100!! I'd love to make that goal by the end of this month so please let your friends know about my blog and about my 15% off sale on ALL ITEMS going on at TpT to celebrate my first 80 followers!  I am also giving away a free $15 gift card to Walmart to a random follower!

To enter for the free give-away (three entries per person):
1. Post a little blurb about my blog/give-away or TpT sale on your blog and leave a comment telling me
2. Leave me a comment below that you are a follower of my blog
3. Leave me a comment below that you are a follower of my TpT store
(Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you!)

 My sale and entry to win closes Monday night at 5 pm Mountain Time. =)
Thanks for your love and support!
Rebecca

Monster Energy Drink

I don't know about you, but when my work environment gets stressful everything at my home seems to go by the wayside and I just kind of let things slide. Well, let's just say, work has been stressful the past month and my house wasn't exactly something I was proud of. Then, my parents drove across country last week for a visit. I did my best to get things tidied up and presentable, but I have to admit, I WAS sick all last week with a sore throat and I was exhausted by the time I taught in the before school program and all day....putting in 10 hours plus daily at work....so yah, I told my parents to enter at their own risk!

Oh, and did I mention that on top of the stress at work (not from teaching but from the Powers That Be) I have had a student off his ADD meds for two weeks now. Yah, the mouse licker one I told you about earlier...Yah, I called mom a few times and she insisted he had taken them (it was on his information sheet that she had filled out for me otherwise I wouldn't have called). So, yesterday, I casually mentioned to this child that his mom told me she had given him his meds, and he says "No, I haven't taken any since I told you I did. Unless....unless that can with the three lines that says 'Monster' on the front but it's not a real monster but a pretend monster is my medicine...." "Huh??!! What can with the Monster on the front? Does it SAY the word monster or is it just a picture of a monster??" "No, it says 'Monster'. You know, with the three lines (he draws three lines in the air)."   Oh boy! Yah, you got it,  he's been getting "medicated" with Monster energy drink! ------------------------ Speachless

Which brings me to today....I was emotionally wiped out from the stress of work, ADD child and then having my parents here has been WONDERFUL but I haven't had a ton of time to spend with them since I've been working, and the bell rings and I turn around and there's a Twinkie on my desk left for me by one of my students. And there sat  the two notes given to me yesterday from a parent and a former student thanking me for being their teacher....and then my ADD student came with his real meds having been taken this morning.... and the day...it was peaceful and calm and there was this great vibe. I smiled more today and laughed more.  Today, two of my students told me they were going to miss me when they go to second grade next year. And to top it off, as we were cleaning up the room at the end of the day, right in front of another teacher, one of my boys came up to me and said "I love you Miss Sutton" and walked away. My mouth dropped. I smiled. And I came home to my parents having cleaned my house and done my laundry for me! (It was a kind gesture that I totally appreciated under the circumstances!) And I realized life is good!

And the best part is, tomorrow is Fall Break. I have a whole day to spend with my parents before they have to head back home to Illinois and then I have the Friday through Sunday to just chill! This is one Fall Break that I need!

There is only Love,
Rebecca

Fabulous Follower Giveaway!

You are not going to want to miss out on this fabulous follower giveaway that Ms. Preppy is having over at her blog! As part of her giveaway I am giving not one, not two, but THREE of my packets away!
My Moon Activities Packet, Itsy Bitsy Spider Packet and Halloween Bingo and Activities are all being given away!

 Not only that, there are three other blogs that have hooked up with Ms. Preppy and have donated a packet of their's as well! Kindergarten Kiosk is giving away 90 Halloween Activities.

 The First Grade Jungle is giving away her Add It Up Packet.

And Froggy Friends Fun is giving away her Amazing Apples packet!

And, (yep, there's MORE!) Ms. Preppy is giving away a membership to Graphics Factory! 

So, hurry on over! All you have to do is leave a comment on Ms. Preppy's blog that you are following my TpT store and blog, and that you follow the other's blog and TpT stores, too! Not bad for a chance to win all those free items! I'd love to hear from you if you are entering this give away so leave me a comment below!
There is only Love,
Rebecca

Great Cartoon

A fellow teacher sent this to me yesterday and I love it! Happy weekend everyone!

Winners of the Free Moon Unit

Thank you to everyone who entered to win my Moon Activities Packet (which is marked down to $5 in my TPT store!!)  And thank you to those of you who blogged about it on your blogs already! I hope you enjoy it!  I only had twelve of you enter (less my own comment) so I drew out of 12 entries. And the winners are:

 

Congratulations! Stay tuned for another fun give away coming soon with Rowdy In First Grade and me. We'll be giving away our Thanksgiving packets to some lucky winners!

More Free Grammar- !, ? and .

Here's one more for you! This one covers commands as well as statements and questions. =) Get it here for FREE!!
There is only Love,
Rebecca

Download FREE here!

Capital letters and punctuation marks

I am reviewing question marks and periods along with putting a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence and I made this little center activity/seatwork. Some of the sentences are pulled from the Treasures Unit 1 Week 5 grammar book. If any of you would like to use it, here it is! =)  The graphics I used are from  Kristen Mcgrath's Digital Doodles Etsy shop.

Hugs,

Rebecca

 Click here to download

Give Aways Around the Globe!

Besides my own give away (below) there are other give aways going on around the blogging world that I found durning my Sunday morning blog reading time! Here are just a few:

   

Ladybugteacherfiles has a great give away on her blog! She hooked up with KPM Doodles (graphics) to do a free graphics giveaway!! KPM is one of my favorite graphics stores on Etsy! Go check both of these places out!

















Mrs. Preppy is having a Holly Bloggy Christmas Exchange! This sure looks fun! Take a look at her blog for all the details.









Fabulous in First has a Fall ABC Order freebie on her blog. It's super cute! Just click and you have a free download!

I Love to Teach has some cute Phonics Chants that are free to download! Go check her blog out!

Herding Kats is also having a wonderful give away!! She is giving away a free blog design by Kelly's Avenue Design! Who wouldn't want to win a free blog makeover?? Go check her blog out!

Mrs. Bainbridge's Class is giving away a free copy of her Little Critter Unit. It looks super cute! Go check her blog out!

If you have a freebie you'd like mentioned on my blog, send me an email with the link to teachingfirstabc@gmail.com and I'd love to spotlight your blog!

Happy blogging!
Rebecca
Teaching First

Another Give Away!! Last Day of Sale!!

I have worked on my Moon Activities (yes, new name for a new look) unit all week and it is finally posted! It went from 21 pages to 54! And in celebration, YES another GIVE AWAY!! All you have to do is mention the unit on your blog once you win. (If you don't have a blog, please show it to some teachers you know.) I will choose three winners at random on Wednesday. (Random day!) Just leave me a comment and your email! Cool!

In the mean time, I hope you will take a peak at it! It is on sale along with my Halloween Games packet and my Itsy Bitsy Spider Packet but the SALE ENDS MONDAY MORNING! Yikes! So hurry over to my TpT Store to check them out before the sale ends.

On another note, I'm FREEZING!! I had to turn the heater on the other night and it is STILL on!! We went from summer right into winter! Ugh!! If only I could see the sun through those gray clouds and hope that it will warm up again soon. Send me some warmth!!  ;)

There is Only Love,

Rebecca

First Grade Quote of the Day

While trying to get all her First Graders lined up to go home yesterday, my co-worker said to her students, "Hurry up and get your coats on, I'm not your mother and I can't do it for you." To which one of her students replied, "Ya know, teachers are a lot like our Moms, except we have to listen to them!"
=)
Happy weekend!

P.S.
We had our first snow shower of the school year yesterday! The students were so excited! (Me, not so much....)

P.P.S.
We also had a malfunctioning fire alarm going off for twenty minutes giving all of us a heart attack.

P.P.P.S. I also had a student forget to take his ADHD meds and while working on the computer, picked up the mouse and licked the entire bottom of it. Yah, yesterday was one of THOSE days! ;)

Rebecca

It's All Fun and Games!

So, I've decided we all need to relax and have a little fun this October! No more stressing and worrying! How about a trip to Hawaii!?.....Yah, not in my budget right now either....Well, I do have a quick fix that will get you through Halloween.... I just posted a short little game packet for Halloween on TpT. It includes BINGO, concentration, pin the wart on the witch's nose, pin the spider on the web, and a pumpkin seed activity. And it's on sale 20% off this week! It's not much, (I wish I could take us all to Hawaii!), but it might just be the little something that will get ya through that Halloween day at school! ;) AND the first 5 to follow my blog and comment on this post will get it FREE! (Please include your email!)
Sending hugs,
Rebecca

P.S. My Itsy Bitsy Spider Packet, All About the Moon Packet, and Apples and Seasons Unit are all now 20% off at TpT. =)

Halloween Bingo- Games and Activities

Things kids say that make you go "hmmmm..."

I love teaching first graders just because of the things they say sometimes. Today, we were brainstorming what the moon looks like and one student raised his hand and said "The moon looks like a banana. You know, when it's kinda shaped like a C in the sky."  Genius!  I had never thought of it that way before and loved it!

Last week my grade level had that glorious job of bus duty. We have signs that are posted on our classroom door so that parents know where to look for us. One of my co-worker's students came in to school one morning day freaking out. She grabbed her teacher's hand pulling her to the door and said "Look teacher! There's a swear word on your door!" When asked what she was talking about the little girl pointed to the word "Hall" in Hall Duty and announced "It says Hell!!" The rest of the week we had a good laugh as we went out for "Hell Duty". ;)

There is only Love! And boy don't we know it working with these precious little ones. Must get to bed!

Happy Monday

And the Winner of Science Take Home Bag is....

The winner of the Science Take home bag from Teachers' Bags, Books, and Beyond goes to Delighted!

Congratulations! Delighted chose the cute Apple Pickin' Bag

Delighted chose the cute Apple Pickin' Bag! Congratulations! 

For those of you interested, Teachers' Bags, Books and Beyond has the homework take-home packets without the purchase of the bag itself for about $7.00 each. =) 

Thanks for participating everyone!

There is only Love, 

Rebecca