learning zone

Hi everyone! I am so exciting to be sharing this with you today!! Last week, I wrote a post about a phone call with Eric Litwin!!! The author of the first 4 Pete the Cat Books! I am still in shock!!! During the phone call we discussed his newest book, 'The Nuts: Sing and Dance in Your Polka-Dot Pants'.   This book is amazing! It is all about the Nut Family. The book is so much fun, has tons of laughs, is super clever, and an absolutely wonderful collection to his books. It is a MUST for your classroom! While talking to Eric, he was so kind to offer sending me two copies of his book, 'Sing and Dance in Your Polka Pants' for you to WIN! This book just came out on September 22nd!! Well the books came and... he AUTOGRAPHED them for the WINNERS!!! Ahhhh!! SOOO exciting!! I am having a GIVEAWAY for you to win one of the two copies of his newest book! The giveaway is quick and easy to enter! It will be going on from today until the end of Sunday, October 4th! If you would like...

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! This week was full of Apple FUN!! I wanted to make some extra apple themed centers for my students to go along with our apple week and also wanted to share them all with you... for FREE!!! I need to first say THANK YOU to all of you who take the time to check out my blog, read my long and sometimes never ending posts, for being a follower of mine, and most importantly for your kindness and support! I will never be able to put into words that amount of appreciation I have for you all! I am constantly being inspired by you and my students and I wanted to make something a little special for everyone! I have created 6 FREE Apple Themed Math and Literacy Centers . These activities are hands-on, engaging, interactive, and lots of fun! Each activity includes a kid friendly 'I Can' poster, Common Core Standards for each activity, a recording sheet for student accountability, easy to follow directions, and ALL of the activities (of course)! Here...

Eric Litwin. If that name does not ring a bell for you then these next 3 words will... Pete the Cat!!! I am completely honored to get to work with the renown author of one of my favorite book series: Pete the Cat!!! He is a #1 New York Times Best Selling Author who loves to combine music and literacy together. He has always been one of my classrooms most favorite authors! He makes reading and literacy so much fun for students! His writing has also given my students confidence, independence, and a love for reading with his contagiously fun books! Eric Litwin is the author of the first 4 Pete the Cat books: - Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes - Pete the Cat Rocking in My School Shoes - Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons - Pete the Cat Saves Christmas Eric recently got in touch with me to share about his newest book series, 'The Nuts' and more specifically about his newest book in the series called 'The Nuts: Sing and Dance in Your Polka-Dot Pants'. If you loved the...

A day in the life of a teacher is unlike anything we can describe to someone unless they have been in our shoes or have been to our classroom for an entire day. We are on the go ALL DAY long with more things going on than one can believe! On top of everything, we want to make sure our students continue their learning at home in an effective, productive, and fun way!  I remember when my school had a meeting a few years ago about homework policy and how we needed to start sending homework home with the students each week. I was almost in tears because at the time I couldn't imagine putting more on my plate. I pulled myself together though and decided to start making some weekly homework packets.     I wanted to make these homework packets hands-on, engaging, interactive, follow the common core, and FUN for my students. I tested these packets that I created for a year and waited to get feedback from my parents and students. The feedback from them was better than I ever expe...