Laminator Info

 

Happy Saturday to you!

I get emailed at least once a week about a laminator question. I am going to be honest and tell you that I only respond to about 1/2 of these emails. I swear.. as many times as I have answered this question I can never remember the answer.

My laminator is in my office- and I read most emails on my phone. I am never in my office and I always forget what brand I own.

Here is my info…

I owned a small laminator for probably 4-5 years and used it A LOT!  It was a Monroe ML900 brand.  This little guy worked flawless for all those years. It never gave me a minutes trouble.

Then one day.. it died! Bless his heart!

I immediately went to Amazon and ordered a new one.

I didn’t do any research or look for another brand/model. I knew this one worked great and I reordered the same exact one.

Except.. when I got the box it was not the same little guy. They shipped me the wrong one! I was furious!

As much as I love Amazon.. their complaint/problems with your order system is terrible. It took days of me trying to get someone to reply to my messages. It sat in the box unopened because I wanted to return it and get my trusty little Monroe ML900 back.

Finally, I was in a bind and I just plugged the new guy up and started using it. The new brand and model is a Techko LM1910.

It worked just as well as the Monroe brand except it took 1/2 the time to warm up. The Monroe brand would take 20-25 minutes to get hot. This little baby takes less than 10 minutes. Probably closer to 5. I have had the Techko LM1910 for over a year now and it has not given me one minutes of trouble.

I hope I don’t jinx it!

Now, for the pouches. I buy my pouches at Sam’s Club.

{except the box I buy doesn’t look like this.}

I buy them at the store.

Here is what the box looks like at the store.

200 pouches are $20.68. Trust me people.. this is a deal!

Here is the Sam’s Club Link: Laminator Pouches

 

xoxo,

kacey

Dinosaurs! Part 2

You can see and read Dinosaurs! Part 1 HERE!

I am  back to share the rest of my dinosaur activities.

This unit is listed on Teacher’s Pay Teachers.

Here is the link: Dinosaur Unit

Here is our book table filled with Dinosaur books. Thankfully, I had a nice supply but I also checked out several from our town library and I borrowed some from our school library.

Days and Months of the Year cards and recording sheet. We used this as an afternoon center. Students sorted and put the cards in order using the pocket chart then they wrote the words on the recording sheet.

The cards and the recording sheet are both included in the Dinosaur Unit.

One BIG skill we have been working on is counting by 3’s. I ran these papers front & back. We did the counting chart together {they had to color the numbers to show counting by 3’s.} Then, they finished the rest of the paper later independently.

Both of these counting by 3’s worksheets are included in the unit.

This money paper was one of our morning work activities. I gave them paper money to cut and glue in the boxes. You could easily use money stamps or just draw the coins.

The money paper is included in the Dinosaur unit too.

Here are two more practice sheets. We used the tally marks as an “early finisher” activity after centers one day. The math fact sheet was morning work one morning.

Every day we learned about a different dinosaur. I would introduce the dinosaur with a poster of facts. Then we would fill out an “info map” for each one.

The facts that are written on these posters are in the Dinosaur Unit.

Also included in the unit are the 4 different dinosaur info maps.

The four dinosaurs we learned about were: Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Apatosaurus.

This simple cut and paste is also in the Dino Unit. We did this on the last day after we had discussed the 4 dinosaurs.

whew! This is a BIG unit. There are 15 different activities included and I am really proud of myself for stepping outside of my comfort zone. I usually teach the same “units” each year and just add new stuff. My first graders LOVED this. Even the girls. I was really expecting them not to enjoy it that much.. but they loved it.

The dinosaur books and posters are still out in my room. Mixed right up with the Easter Bunnies! HA!

xoxo, kacey

Dinosaurs! Part 1

Every year- I put out a “basket of dinosaur” books. And that is the all I would do in regards to dinosaurs. I would hardly discuss them with my students.
“I can hardly say the names.. why do I want to teach them?”
So, the week before Spring Break I was in a rut.. I needed something new to do. And somehow I talked myself into teaching DINOSAURS the week after Spring Break.
I asked my mom {30+ year of a teaching and my boss} if she had anything on dinosaurs. She pulled out a file folder that looked as old as I am and told me good luck!
Luckily, I had ALL of Spring Break to get my thoughts together and get a “plan!” While others were soaking up the sunshine at the beach or avoiding school at all costs- I was knee deep in dinosaurs..
I put most of everything we did in a pack and have it listed on Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s PACKED full of dinosaur activities. I am really excited to share it with you!
Here is a link: Dinosaur Unit on Teachers Pay Teachers

I made this dinosaur for our door.. but I strongly believe it looks more like a pregnant monster than a dinosaur.

We started the week with a small “overview” of dinosaurs while we were on the mat after we did our calendar.

Our book for the week was Danny and the Dinosaur. It was PERFECT for our Dinosaur week. I have multiple copies of this book and we read it every year {that’s when I normally put out the dinosaur books} but my first graders REALLY got into it this year!
There are 4 pages of story/comprehension questions in the Dinosaur Unit for Danny and the Dinosaur. I broke the story up into 4 parts and we read it Monday-Thursday of our dinosaur week. So, there are questions for each of the 4 parts.

My students put color words that were on dinosaur cards in ABC order. This activity is included in the Dinosaur Unit.

They found days of the week in the dictionary. This was one of my weekly centers. This is in the Dino Unit too.

They stamped number words- also available in the unit on TpT.

This was another center for my class. A color and ordinal word following directions activity. I copied the dinosaurs on constructions paper. They had to get one of each color and glue them in the correct order. They fit perfect on a sentence strip when you glue!
There are also pocket chart cards too to go along with this activity.


This follow the directions activity is included in the Dinosaur Unit. It was a GREAT center for my first graders!

We also did these tally mark cards and recording sheet as a center too.

The tally mark cards and recording sheet are in the unit too.


And of course. .. we made dinosaurs for our hall bulletin board.

The patterns to make these precious dinosaurs are also in the Dinosaur Unit.

… to be continued!
I hope to be back tomorrow with the rest of my dinosaur pictures!
Here is a link: Dinosaur Unit
xoxo, kacey

Teachers Taking Care of Teachers

 

Crystal at Kreative in Kinder took on a HUGE job and organized a “Teachers Taking Care of Teachers” project.

Sign up sheet

Basically, several schools were completely destroyed in tornados earlier this month across the United States. She has organized a list of schools with teachers and grade levels. You sign up to send a teacher {or two} something. There are several ways to help: digital downloads, tangible goods, gift cards, and even hand written notes. Anyone can help out.

I just jumped over to grab the address to ship my box of goodies- and saw that there are several open spots. Please go take a look at the sign up sheet and see if you can help!

I signed up to help a first grade teacher and a kindergarten teacher.

I included books, personalized stationery, calendar cards and a few office supplies.

This package was basically the same- except instead of calendar cards it has a counting by 1’s pocket chart activity.

I packaged them up and since they both teach at the same school I mailed them in the same box.

Here is the sign up sheet link again:

Teachers Taking Care of Teachers Sign Up Sheet

Some things to know:

{1} There are tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet with different school names. There are 4 schools total- not just the first one shown.

{2} At the top are the categories for the different type of donations.

{3} The school addresses are listed on the sign up sheet.

 

xoxo, kacey

{Let’s Celebrate .. Easter!}

 

Tomorrow we start our Easter festivities. We will do fun Easter activities for the next two weeks. But, the last week will be cut short. We have a huge egg hunt/party on that Thursday and we don’t go to school on Good Friday. So, we really only have 8 days to enjoy the bunnies and eggs!

I wanted to share some of my Easter plans with you.  The links to everything are scattered through out this post and also will be listed at the bottom for easy reference!

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I have a pack of Easter Math Centers listed on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Here is the link: Easter Math Centers

There are five great center activities in this pack. This is definitely  geared more towards first and second graders. Sorry kindergarten friends.. my first graders are at the point where I am challenging their brains and making them work harder! {There is only 8 weeks left until first grade is …over!}

Here is what is included:

Double Digit Math Facts- we are working on having to rewrite the math facts going “up and down/ vertical” so that they can do the one’s place then the ten’s place. This center has 12 cards with math facts going horizontal. Students have to rewrite the math facts on the recording sheet and answer. There are no regrouping math facts in this activity.

** If double digit math facts are something you are working on .. I do have another Easter center activity listed on TpT.

Easter Basket Double Digit Center

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Counting by 4’s

We have been working on counting by 3’s and 4’s the last few weeks. My first graders are LOVING this challenge!

In this activity students put the number cards in order from 4-100 then fill in the recording sheet.

If counting by 4’s are a little too hard for you..

I do have a counting by 2’s activity listed on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Easter Bunny Counting by 2’s.

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Story Problems

There are 6 story problem cards and a recording sheet. Students are asked to write the math fact and answer for each story problem.

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Telling Time 3 Part Match

This is practice for telling time to the five minute intervals.

It’s a three part match. There are 16 clock cards, 16 digital clock  cards and 16 word cards.

The clock cards are also numbered so you can use the recording sheet too.

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Money Match

Oh boy! I am really excited about this center.. but it is going to make my little one’s brain really work!

They will have to match 2 cards {a pink and blue} that have the same money amount to a green card that has a given total.

There is no recording sheet to go with this activity. I plan on using it just as a matching game. I also will have a bucket of “play money” for them to use. If a card says “7 nickels”.. some of mine will probably need to get 7 nickels out of the bucket so they can actually use them to count. That’s ok.. I believe that’s a great thinking strategy!

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If you are interested in buying these centers. They are $5.00 and listed on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Easter Math Centers

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We will also be making this REALLY simple bunny this week!

You can download the pieces for free if you interested in making it.

Easter Bunny Craft

 

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I also have two cut the letters apart and spell the word activities. One spells Easter and the other spells April.

The letters fit perfect on a sentence strip.

Sometimes, I just copy the letters on construction paper and have my students use whatever color they want to spell the word. Other times, I copy on white paper. Then, I give them directions using ordinal and color words. For example: Color the first letter pink. Color the fourth letter blue.

You can download both of these from google docs.

Cut and glue the letters to spell words- April & Easter.

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Here are all the links:

Easter Math Centers (TpT $5.00)

Easter Counting by 2’s (TpT $2.00)

Easter Double Digit Math Facts (TpT $2.00)

Easter Bunny Craft (TpT- Free)

Easter Cut and Spell the Words – April and Easter (Google Docs – Free)

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Have a blessed week! I am thankful that I teach in a school where we get to talk about the real meaning of Easter. My first graders will be going to Bible class first thing in the morning. Last week they were told the story of the crucifixion and tomorrow they will hear about the resurrection.

Because HE lives.. I can face tomorrow.

xoxo, kacey