Election Fever and a Busy Bee Giveaway

Election Fever

Election fever has taken its grip. It may seem that it's an American thing, but there's a lot of interest on this side of the pond too. I know who I'm rooting for - but that would be telling.... shhhhhhhh..

It's difficult to find a "way in" to teach young learners about the election process. Heaven knows it's hard enough over here (and our system is a little easier to get to grips with..), but boy is the US Electoral College system hard to grasp. So I feel for all your young kiddos. Yes, they do need to know something especially as they move into the higher grades. So... I've been busy!

Some of you may have already had a quick glimpse of part one of my my Presidential Election 2012 pack - an animated slide show. I posted it under cover of darkness last night as I didn't want to tell you all about it until part two was ready today. I spent most of today putting the finishing touches to part two - a huge activities pack which supports the slide show. They are both aimed at our older learners (who sometimes get overlooked in the process of resource-making - I hold my hands up to being guilty on that score sometimes...).

The slide show presents the facts about the electoral system in easy to understand child-friendly language, with cool kids graphics, lots of speech bubbles, sounds and animations.

The activities pack begins with a Cool Kids KWHL chart to brainstorm facts already known, things they want to know, and how they will go about finding out. Through teacher input and independent research, children then build up biographies of the candidates, and research the key issues they represent. Finally, they use books and websites to research information for their own presentation to the class on their chosen candidate.

I am so proud of this one! You can get the slide show and activities pack separately if you'd rather not have both. If you decide that you want both, the whole package is available at a discounted price of $8.50 when bought together - that's a saving of $1.50! Click the images for Teachers Notebook or the links for TPT.



slide show and activities pack discounted package through TN and TPT

Activities pack through TN and TPT



Animated slideshow through TN and TPT

Busy Bee 500 Followers Giveaway

Now for some really exciting news (drum roll please...)!

There seem to be lots of fantastic giveaways around lately. I have been lucky enough to participate in a few, and have made lots of new blogger friends and found lots of fantastic blogs that I never knew existed. Tomorrow Sara at Miss V's Busy Bees will be opening her huge 500 followers giveaway - and I mean HUGE..! There are so many wonderful prizes up for grabs. I'm really excited to be a part of it too. So for a chance of winning, pop on over to Miss V's Busy Bees and start clicking away at that Rafflecopter.

I'm off to bed now - travelling to Birmingham tomorrow (Mia has an audition for a part in CATS..) and I'm up with the lark at 5.30am.... So much for my extra hour in bed last weekend!

If you're in the path of Hurricane Sandy, stay in and stay safe.

Fall Blog Hop Day Three - and Something Special

Fall Blog Hop Day Three

Hop Across and Take a Look

Heather's Fall Blog Hop has taken off in style. There are some fantastic freebies and Fall ideas there, as well as loads of opportunities to meet new friends - and it's not too late to check it all out. The Linky Party is open until 30 September, so if you want to join in just click on the banner below for all the details.

Now for something completely different...

Well, almost. Those of you who have been reading my Fall posts will know that I'm offering a free "Five Little Pumpkins" flip book in the Fall Linky Party. You'll also know that I've been hard at work on a "Five Little Pumpkins" slideshow - and you won't be disappointed. It turned out much cuter than I could ever have imagined. It's in my shops now, so do check it out and let me know what you think - Would you like more like this? Or is it totally rubbish?

                                             

See y'all tomorrow!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back To School We Go - And a FREEBIE!

Tonight I'm feeling blue. Fitting, because it's a Blue Moon tonight, but also because tomorrow is officially the first day of Autumn and I go back to school on Monday. And it's more than a little fitting that it's happening today, the day of the funeral of one of my heroes - it's like the moon is paying its own tribute...

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Walking with the stars now, Neil

We don't seem to have had a summer at all in the UK - it's rained since, well since.... I can't remember, it's been that long! For those of you who managed to catch some of the Olympics, I admit that it did look pretty good - and fortune smiled upon us for that 16 days. But the Olympics was in London where the weather is always better than the rest of the country, and I live 130 miles back the other way in the mountains where it always rains (or snows in winter).... I love Autumn, but I always feel just a smidgeon melancholy...

This weekend will be hectic. I've been lumbered with arranging a school reunion which, after four months on the case, is finally happening tomorrow (allelujah!). Sunday will be planning day for the new school year. Isn't it funny that, after having 6 weeks off school and full of good intentions to get on top of things, I've left it until last minute - again! Is anyone else like me on this one..?

So, if anyone else out there is feeling the effects of the Blue Moon tonight, I've got a little freebie to cheer you up. Click on the picture to bag your copy.

It's the latest design in my Open House Slideshow range - cute stars. It's fully animated and ready to run on a loop - all you have to do is put in your information and you're good to go! If stars doesn't fit in with the theme of your room there are plenty more to choose from in my shop - pirates, cheerleaders, carnival, jungle (giraffes, snakes and zebra), owls and cute birds.

Enjoy the moon tonight - it won't happen again for a while.

Rah Rah Rah! Teamwork for the New School Year

I was asked to put together one of my slideshows for one of my wonderful blog followers, and I thought her theme was so cool! We all know the importance of encouraging team spirit and collaborative working in the classroom, so why not start from day 1 and promote it through your Open House - after all, parents are just as important in encouraging team spirit. The slideshow is now ready and it really fits in well with the Team theme. There are 24 slides that can be adapted to your needs and played on a loop at Open House - so no more sore throats or croaky voices... I hope you love the sport/cheerleader theme as much as I do. Click on the image to see more.

Roll up, Roll up! All the fun of the fair!

Wow! It's late! But I just can't put this down... I had a request for a carnival themed Open House slideshow - and here it is. Do take a peek. Stars and Team themes next - but I need some shut eye. Thank goodness I'm still on summer break - phew!

Open House Slideshow - Pirates

Ahoy me 'earties! Shiver me timbers, it's another Open House slideshow, this time with a cute pirate theme. I've l-o-v-e-d making this one - well. what else is a girl to do on a stormy Bank Holiday...?

Currently working on three new themes - sports/team players, carnival and stars. All still just $2 - amazing value when you count up how much time you will save preparing for Open House..

See y'all tomorrow



Open House Slideshow - Pink Owl

Today's treat is a cute owl themed slideshow. I'm very proud of this one - this little fella is just so cute. I'll also have him in three other colours. You can bag it by clicking on the image below.



Teachers Notebook



TPT



I've had some requests for pirates and carnival, swhich I'll be posting later today. Watch this space.

Expo and Open House

Well, it's finally here. At 12pm CST (that's 6pm GMT) the Expo officially opened, and 848 free tickets will be available for some lucky teachers to claim. I'm a lucky girl - I got my ticket. You'll need to be quick and visit the Teachers Notebook site to stake your lot.

Yesterday I posted about the Expo and how attendees can claim a huge 30% discount on items being sold in the Vendors' Hall - do take a moment to pop along and have a look. And while you're there, remember that when you purchase one of my resources from my vendor booth I will send a free extra surprise as a thank you - an opportunity not to be missed...

Now for something else... A few weeks ago I posted a resource that I thought you'd find useful for Open House - a really useful slideshow with a cute bird theme that you can run on a loop at Open House to give parents all the information they need about your class. Well, I've been busy creating slideshows with lots of different themes. So far, we have a giraffe theme, snake theme, schoolkids theme and a really funky zebra theme. They are all available from my TN and TPT stores at a giveaway price of only $2 (that's about £1.50) and will save you oodles of time when it comes to Open House. To see them in more detail just click on the pictures below. 





Click for Teachers Notebook



Click for TPT











Click for Teachers Notebook



Click for TPT














Click for Teachers Notebook

  



Click for TPT

 













Click for Teachers Notebook



Click for TPT













I really hope you like these. I'm hoping to work on more designs this weekend. Let me know if you have any requests. For now, I'm off to the Expo - see you there!

It's Back to School Time!

I don't know where the summer is disappearing to... We are sitting here watching the amazing Olympic Closing Ceremony on TV - what will we do with ourselves now that it's all over...? It's been amazing watching the best athletes in the world compete. I'm not a good spectator - I much prefer to get stuck in and have a go myself. But I have to say that it's been an exciting watch. I was sucked in with the best of them... Most impressive for me were the thousands of ordinary people who left their day jobs for two weeks and volunteered to be Games Makers - the people who made it all happen on the ground. And each and every one of them happy to do it for nothing other than the desire to be a part of it. I hope you've all managed to catch some of the Olympics and that you've enjoyed it as much as we have.

Moving on to less random stuff... There is no feeling quite like when your child starts school for the first time, or moves to a new class. Teachers organise their classes in different ways and have different procedures for homework, class management, behaviour etc. There are lots of questions that parents want answering, and Open House is a great time to meet the new teacher and find out a little about what the new school year will bring for their child, They also want to know how they can help their child and how they can help the teacher. Thinking about my own experiences in the classroom, I always find it useful to have something to hand ready for parents. There's nothing worse than having to repeat your speech umpteen times as one set of parents leaves and another arrives - not good on the voice... So I've put together a little slideshow that you can run on a loop during your Open House. It contains all the information you need to pass on to your parents, from classroom expectations to grading policies, to what you will be teaching across the year. From field trips to special events. From Daily 5 to Math, Science and Writer's Workshop. From morning arrival to afternoon dismissal. This one has a cute bird theme and can be amended to suit your schedule and activities, and put on a loop at Open House so that parents can get all the information they need at a glance. Other themes will follow.

For the next few days only, you can get this slideshow at a discount of 28% through my TPT store or a massive 40% in my TN store. Don't let it get away!