20% OFF SALE on Teachers Pay Teachers!

In honor of bringing in the New Year, I am having a sale at my Teachers Pay Teachers store!  It is 20% off of everything!  This is the perfect time to grab those games you've had your eye on or to purchase some games at a really cheap price to use for next year!  You know what to do...click the pic below!

Winter Kids Girl Clip Art Set

Alrighttttt here is the girl version of my Winter Kid Clip Art!  Only $3.00 at my Etsy shop!  Click below to go there!  Thanks so much for all of the support & shout outs that I have been getting lately!  It means so much to me!  I will be sure to return the favor in an upcoming blog post!

Winter Kids--Boy Clip Art Set

Can you tell I have a clip art obsession?  Yes, indeed!  Here is a Winter Kids clip art set.  It is the boy version and yes, I will be posting a girl version within the next day!  Only $3.00!  Click the picture to go to my Etsy shop!

Polar Animal Clip Art Set

I'm on a roll!  I made another Clip Art set for sale at my Etsy shop!  It is of Polar Animals!  This is perfect for any upcoming winter activities!  :)   It includes a Polar Bear, Caribou, Arctic Fox, Snow Rabbit, Leopard Seal, & Snow Owl!  Click the picture below to purchase it for only $2.00!

Colorful Winter Penguin Clip Art on Etsy

Okay!  I have a new clip art for sale at my Etsy shop!  Click the picture below to check it out!  This would be cute to add to any winter literacy or math centers!  :)   And it is only $2.50!

Winter Berries Digital Scrapbook Paper

Hey!  I just added a new item to my Etsy Shop!  It is a Winter Berries Digital Scrapbook Paper pack!  The pack includes 12 different backgrounds.  They are each 12 x 12 inches and are 300 dpi.  It is on sale for only $2!  Please check it out and grab a copy!!!

Clip Art for Sale on Etsy!!!

I am so excited to announce that I am now selling Clip Art on Etsy!!!!  :)

My first is a set of 8 adorable snowmen in colorful hats & scarves!  It is available for $2.50

and is open for personal or commercial use!  This is the perfect clip art to use to jazz up your

Winter math or literacy centers!  Or just throw it in your January newsletter!  :)

Click on the picture below to visit The First Grade Diaries Etsy Shop.

Christmas, Snowmen, and...Robots?!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I am officially the worst blogger ever.  I fail to post things in a timely manner!  We were so busy with Christmas activities that I completely forgot to post things to my blog!  But my New Year's Resolution is to start posting things early enough so that my followers can actually use them before it is out of season!  Hahaha...we'll see how that goes!

Here are a few very random things...

This was how I decorated our classroom door for Christmas!

It was so easy & cute!  It looks like a giant wrapped present!

I wrote the names of my students on the polka dots, just for fun!

The cute jingle bell door hanger was from the Dollar Tree for $1!  Score!

  I already had the wreath, which fit perfectly over our circular windows.

I got the wreath from Big Lots last year!  They had other colors, too!

I absolutely LOVE decorating my Promethean Board with tacky tinsel!

When it is Halloween, I have an orange border with pumpkins that I put up!

The green/red tinsel & the two candy canes are from the Dollar Tree...$1 each!  Wahoo!!!

And this cute, soft elf came from Dollar General for a few dollars.  He is very adorable!

"Sadly", he did not cause a lot of mischief this year...

Maybe next year I will get into the whole "Elf of the Shelf" thing with my students.  

Okay...UPDATE!  I had originally made a Snowman Poke subtraction game that only covered facts from 10.  But I am happy to announce that I spent wayyyyy too much time making one that covers facts from 20! Yeah, it ended up being 230 cards!!!!!!!!!  AHHH!!!  But hey, more is better than less...right?  RIGHT?!

Click the picture below to go to my store and purchase this fun game for $5.  I'm telling you, my kids LOVE this game.  Plus, there are SO many cards that they never get bored playing it because they are all different!

Last game for this post!  Starting the first week back in January, 1st grade will be learning about Fractions.  This is a new unit that has been added along with our Common Core standards.  I am excited to try it out!  So I made a game to help my students practice identifying fractions, both numerically and as pictures.

This game is called Build-A-Bot:  Fractions.  Students will roll a die with fractions on it.  They must identify the fraction and find the matching numerical fraction on their robot game board in order to add a robot part. The first one to finish building their robot is the winner!  Fun fun fun!  Can't wait for my kids to try this out!

Click on the picture below to buy it from my TPT store for only $3!

Whew....thanks for hanging in there!  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Treats

Okay I know that Thanksgiving is long and gone, but I meant to post these pictures from our class!  They are too awesome to just forget about.  :)

Here are my precious kiddos!  We made the cutest turkey hats during morning work on the last day before Thanksgiving break.

The turkey hats are easy to make!  There is not much preparation needed.  Die cuts make everything a lot easier, too!  If you would like for me to upload a pattern for this, let me know!

My sweet room mom also made a bunch of AMAZING treats for our class.  Below is a picture of the most adorable Mayflower gift bags that she sewed together herself!  She added a stick & stationary card with their names on it and then filled it up with goodies.  I don't know who was more excited...my kids or ME!

She even made the most delicious Pilgrim Hat Cookies!  They were made from E.l.f. Fudge Striped cookies & a marshmallow dipped in chocolate!  WOW!  They were definitely enjoyed by everyone.

And my room mom even gave me a HUGE gift basket full of Thanksgiving goodies!!!  There were Yankee Candles, candle holders, notepads, candy, a Turkey doll, lotion, etc.   She is just amazing.  I am so thankful for all of her help this year.  She always puts so much time and effort into everything that she does!!!

I know it was a few weeks too late but I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving.  I know that I have SO much to be thankful for.  :)   I am very blessed!

**NEW Snowman Poke Subtraction Facts to 10

YAY!  Another new math game.  I know, I am obsessed with math games.  :)

This one is called Snowman Poke.  My students absolutely LOVE this game.  They play in partners or groups, taking turns drawing a card.  They solve the subtraction problem and on the snowman's belly are holes punched out where his buttons would be.  Each hole has a "difference" next to it.  Students will poke their pencil through the hole that they think is the right answer.  With the pencil still poked through, they flip the card over to check their answer.  I've circle the correct hole on the back.  If they got the right one, they keep the card.  If not, they add it back to the stack.  Fun huh?  Seriously this game never gets old to my kids.  Click on the picture below to see the game in my TpT store.

Free R.A.F.T. Graphic Organizer

Hey hey!  So this week in first grade we are writing friendly letters.  As part of our school's training in the 6+1 Traits of Writing, we are trying to help our kids focus on the Voice trait.  One great tip that I learned from another teacher who came to visit our school is the R.A.F.T. method.  It stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic.  This is great to use when you are trying to help your students change their perspective and become more creative in their writing.

So I decided to make this cute little graphic organizer to help my students plan out their ideas.  That way, when they go to actually write their letter, they can refer back to this worksheet for help.  It is available at my TpT store for FREE!  Just click the picture below to get it!

Our format will be a friendly letter but it is up to my students to decide who they want to be when they write their letter and who it will be addressed to.  It will be Christmas themed, so students may choose to be a reindeer, an elf, a toy, or even themselves. The possibilities are endless and this really gives the kids a chance to think outside of the box!  The topic is Christmas but within that broad spectrum they can steer the letter in any direction that they want to! I am really excited to see what my kids come up with!  I will post some of their work later this week when we are done! 

The Sweetest Students Ever!

I just had to write a quick post about how precious and sweet my students are!  I absolutely love when they bring in pictures and notes that they have made for me.  It is just so heart warming that they think about me even when they are at home or at after school programs.

Jenna wrote this one in her journal one day.  It says, "I LOVE my new teacher Mrs. Thompson.  In fact, I love Mrs. Thompson so much that I love first grade."  Hahaha how funny and sweet!

Then Andrew brought this picture to school one day.  It says "Mrs. Thompson is the best teacher in her classroom."  HA!  I'm glad that out of all of the teachers in MY classroom, I am the best one, hehehe!

They are just so precious and funny!  Things like this can really
 make my day and help to remind me why I am a teacher in the first place!  :)

**NEW Christmas Counting Set--Numbers 0 to 25

I made this Christmas themed math set for some kindergarten friends!  It focuses on counting and representing numbers 0 to 25.  It's on my TPT store for $3.00!  Please check it out!  And also let me know if you have any requests!  :)  Enjoy!

**NEW** Reindeer Race Subtraction Game

I wish you could hear the sound I am making right now!  It's something like a high-pitch squeal!  I am just SO very excited to be making games/activities for my TPT account!  I worked my fanny off ALL DAY LONG trying to make this game.  I struggled with print margins, file sizes, merging PDF files...but finally, finally, FINALLY...I GOT IT!!!!  :)   Then I had it all ready to upload and then I realized that my first upload on TPT had to be free.  Bummer.  Not that I don't want to give away Free things, because I do!  But I had already put in all of the info for my other game...blah.  I hate having to start all the way over.  But it's worth it!

So I uploaded a one page sheet for FREE.  Unfortunately it is a little late because it is Thanksgiving themed.  But hey, there is always next year, right?  It is an Acrostic Poem using the word "Thanks".  My kids loved this.  After they fill out the poem, they get to color and decorate the border.  It is definitely cute enough to hang up!  Click here to get it!

The game that I uploaded is called "Reindeer Race Subtraction".  It focuses on subtraction to 20.  My first graders and I will continue to focus on this skill all the way until Christmas break.  By that time, I am sure they will be subtracting experts!  And this is just a fun and cute way for them to practice since we are quickly approaching Christmas!  Everything is more fun with some reindeer or elves involved, haha!  I will upload some pictures soon of my classroom with all of our Christmas decor.  But until then, please go on over to my TPT store and check out this game!  Whether you are focusing on subtraction right now or not, it always makes a great review game!

Confession: I Am Addicted to Blogs!

I never thought I would be the type of person to spend so much time looking at blogs online...but it is truly addicting!  I love seeing what other teachers are doing in their classrooms.  I have gotten so many new ideas for activities in my classroom and I thought...why not share some of my own ideas?  So here we are!

I am a first grade teacher to 19 lovely boys and girls.  I really look forward to sharing our classroom with you!  I plan on trying to do at least one post a week (that may change, for better or worse...haha).  I also am really excited because I am going to start designing some cute printable games/activities!!!  Some will be free and others will be available on TeachersPayTeachers.com.  I will give you my TPT info when it is ready!  :)