Hello Mrs Sykes

Whew!  I finally finished the most recent addition to my Teachers Pay Teachers store, Rainbow Phrases !  I am super excited to share them with you today.  First, a bit of background... Y'all know I was a Literacy Specialist for years in my district, and I use this system (though it din't look so pretty then!) with my kiddos in grades 2-5 who needed fluency interventions and already knew their sight words.  Teachers in my district have been using Rainbow Words extensively for years, and I thought that Rainbow Phrases were the next logical step. My at-risk kiddos loved these!  They each got a "book ring" with their phrases on them, and as they passed each "level" they received more phrases in another color.  The parents (who were typically the ones who weren't sure how to help their child at home) raved about how easy it was to help their child learn their phrases at home.  Then I moved back into the classroom, and these fell by the wayside as I

As a teacher, y'all know I'm kinda broke, and you may have figured out by now that I love, love, love anything that helps my kiddos with reading, so this was a fabulous opportunity for me!!   The day after Samson's marketing director contacted me, I had access to this incredible reading resource!  Since then, I have had an opportunity to explore this on-line reading software resource with my students and with my own green beans at home. Here are the highlights of this program and then I have an incredible giveaway for you ! First,  Samson's Classroom   offers three different products in their package:  Sight Words, Spelling, and Reading.  All are for learners from kindergarten to grade 5. Sight Words:  This part of the program offers 224 commonly used words.  I plan to use this with targeted 2nd graders, as many of my kiddos already know their sight words . There are five different activities:  learn the words, build words, identify words, spell the words, and fi

By now, you all know how much I {heart} Vistaprint !  Today, I wanted to share another resource I use for printing in the classroom - Zazzle!   They always run great deals for business cards, mugs, t-shirts, etc.  If you sign up for a free account, they will send emails (just like Vistaprint ) with deals. ~~~~~~~Squirrel~~~~~~~~~~~ A bit of advice: use a "throwaway" email account for the emails from both companies.  That way you just check it when you feel like shopping, and don't have clutter in your inbox.  My most recent email was $10 off any order of $10 or more!  Love it!! ~~~~~~~Back on Topic~~~~~~ Here are a few things I've created for my classroom with Zazzle .  Feel free to pin, or hop over to Zazzle  and check them out yourself. Skinny Business Cards make fantastic bookmarks! You can even customize the back with no additional charge, and skinny cards come in a cute little plastic dispenser. Assorted Business Card Designs for the classroom...

Omigoodness, y'all!   I know I've got some issues with my clipart addiction, as I'm looking for clipart instead of Christmas shopping!!  :) I just had to share this very cool freebie I found from the blogger  Crunchy With Ketchup .  {{Love the name!!}}  He is a self-proclaimed Monster Wrangler (5th grade teacher) who is sharing some of his cool clipart with the blogging community.  Go visit to snag this super-cute multicultural clipart. Krista Walden has a fabulous set of Doodle Borders - love these!  I could use these borders on everything!! :)   What fabulous freebies have you found lately?

I get asked this a bunch - "How did you add that cool link to your comment on my blog?"  Well, here's the trick... (Doncha just love the graphics from The 3AM Teacher !?!) Here's what it looks like when I leave a comment: Here's the code: <a href="PUT THE LINK HERE">TEXT HERE</a> Happy Blogging!!  :)

It's officially December, since Currently  is here!!  I seem to be addicted to ellipses lately, so... My family is amazing.  Right now my kiddos are running around giggling like mad.  It can mean they are playing... (fingers crossed) or they've just done something I'm not supposed to find out about...  I'll just believe they are giggling because they are playing!!  ;) My awesome team mate, Casey , is the person who single-handedly saved me yesterday.  Thankfully, she planned an amazing afternoon of craftivities for our classes to do as we became "roomless" before dismissal.  {I work at a year-round school , and I had to move out to give the next teacher an afternoon to move her stuff in... make a seating chart... ya' know)  It was awesome!!  All activities came from the unit by MOM Printables .  I can't tell you how great it was to sit back and watch over 40 kiddos work away at this.  :)  Highly Recommended!! I'm trying to think of some add

Truly, I have much to be thankful for.  I hope that you are able to enjoy time with your families this weekend, and remember how fortunate we all are in so many ways. By the way, good news!!  I won Ms. Bainbridge's 2600 Follower "I'm Thankful for You!" giveaway.  Her products are amazing (as you all know!)  My absolute favorites?  Glad you asked.  :) Partner Reading Comprehension Activity Pack {Partner Reading Party!} Pet Shop Math 2nd Grade Common Core Center Set Gobble, Gobble, y'all! Have you heard?  There's some crazy shopping sales going on... and I'm participating!!

This post is a personal one for me.  Don't judge - it just makes me feel better to put it out there.  ;) Some of y'all might know I'm a *bit* stressed   crazy   nuts  stressed about report cards, assessments, Profile Cards that do not align with my county's pacing guide, developmental expectations being thrown out the window as I prepare 7 year olds for standardized testing (complete with bubbling), and tracking out of my classroom for the first time in years.  It's The Super Teacher Myth . What isn't helping matters is my personal battle with depression .  I have been battling this illness since being diagnosed when I was 15.  Most days, I am fine, but during periods of high stress, it becomes unmanageable.  That's when I rely heavily on the village of support I have around me: family, friends, coworkers, my amazing therapists, my kids' teachers, strangers, etc.  We have more frozen meals, more cozy family time, and a messier house.  I am learn

I was inspired to write this post after a chat with my buddy Casey , and we were talking about the way I use music in the classroom.  I have different music that goes with different moods/tasks.  For example: For Writing, we listen to Enya .  Specifically, Watermark .  (Really, anything by Enya  would probably accomplish the same thing.)  It's dreamy, new-agey background music, and my kiddos can still focus on their work.  I play it softly, and if our conferences are getting too loud, I simply ask someone at the other side of the room if they can still hear the music.  They stop and listen, then tell me they can't hear it.  That's the cue for the class to be quieter - they know if people can't hear the music, they can't have their calm, focused writing time.  Love it!! For Partner Work and Math, we listen to Vince Guaraldi .  This year, we're listening to Oh Good Grief!  My kiddos love it, and they recognize that this is "Charlie Brown" musi

My green beans have really been making me laugh lately... Kiddo (with an apprehensive look): "What is Gooey Dance?" Me: "I don't know.  What is Gooey Dance?" Kiddo: "Mrs. Sykes, it says on the schedule we have Gooey Dance tomorrow.  I don't know how to Gooey Dance." Me: "We are having a Guidance lesson tomorrow.  No worries!"  :) Kiddo #1: "Do you know who you're going to vote for?" Kiddo #2: "My dad said I should vote for Omaha {{Obama}}, but I don't know yet." Kiddo #1: "You need to vote for Omaha if your dad says to.  He's probably right." Kiddo #2: "I know, but the other guy is named Mitten.  That would be pretty cool." Hope all's well with all of y'all, and the folks impacted from Hurricane Sandy can begin returning to a bit of normalcy soon - know that you're in our nation's thoughts.

Y'all know  I have a huge crush on VistaPrint, right?!?  Check out my latest order... My personalized 2 G flash drive Magnetic Clip Stress Ball - for a couple of ADHD kiddos A measuring tape - since I can never find mine! Grand total - 4 items, including shipping and tax...  $11.05 (I had 30% off from an email).  Absolutely love these!  If you are new to VistaPrint , be sure to click here  to get a special discount using my code.  I haven't quite figured out how the code-thing works, but we can give it a shot.  :)  All of these items are located under Promotional Items, and prices are given for large quantities.  Click the item you want, and look for the words "Try a Personalized Sample" - only $7.99 for the flash drive. I think I'll be picking up a few more as teacher gifts - what teacher doesn't love personalized stuff? What are you going to shop for?

Happy Monday, y'all!  Here's  a quick  "Mini-Pack" of 12 Task Cards , covering these ELA standards from CCSS:   RF.2.3a, RF.2.3d, RF.2.3f, L.2.4 a,L.2.4d, & L.2.4e. Click the picture to download from  TpT ! Also, I finished my Author's Purpose Task Cards for CCSS RI.2.6.  Click on the picture for more information...