Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Cursive Song...FREEBIE!

click here to snap this freebie...don't forget to follow my TPT store :)
As you will see...I love using music in the classroom in meaningful, engaging ways. So the night before I was about to start teaching the uppercase letters to my eager 3rd graders I realized that when I began teaching them cursive I emphasized that the number one rule was that you never pick up your pencil when writing a word in cursive.

Once again panic ensued inside of me...and the thoughts of students blurting out "Miss Holmes but you said we never pick up our pencils" on uppercase "F" day.  So I decided to make lyrics to the "we will rock you" beat.  And the next morning I would explain that the uppercase letters are different and sometimes they are "rule breakers" unlike the lowercase letters.

Since we did cursive as the last 15 minutes of our writing block, the song also served as a successful transition and re-committed the students to learning while reminding them that some of the uppercase letters are "rule-breakers" when they don't connect with others.

Now, the kids sing it all the time and catch me if I forget to start it...hehe.
Hope you get some use out of this lil' ditty! :)

Helpful and Harmful Insects: Review Chutes and Ladders File Folder Game. Temporary FREEBIE!

click here to snag this bundle
So I made this chutes and ladders game a while back during our insect unit. The kids really had a good time playing the game and did really well using it during our science centers review day.

The basic gist of the game is just like the regular chutes and ladders game where the first person to the 100 spot is the winner, except every time a student lands on a chute or a ladder they choose a chute or ladder card and read a helpful or harmful fact.  The students are encouraged to add any facts about the insect on the card.

The bundle also includes 2 assessments: a fill-in-blank worksheet and an exit slip :)

Bundle Details 
LOVE <3 this game

The bundle is a complete print-and-play package that can be easily made in multiples and the easy directions and game board can be glued and laminated onto a file folder.

This is for sale on my TPT site for $3...but the first 12 people to comment will get it for free!

All you have to do is follow my blog and TPT store! :)

Happy Teaching!


Friday, January 25, 2013

Friday Freebie!! Teacher Fonts *Janda Style

As I mentioned before...I absolutely love different fonts! Frankly, the fonts offered for a typical blog are quite boring if you ask me, but hey a girl can't have it all, right! For all your other ventures in creative life, I have compiled a list of my favorite "Janda-style" fonts. I came across Janda about a year ago and have been obsessed ever since! The style is whimsical, cheery, and very cute for classroom printables! 



Click here to get your hands on these funtastic fonts!
The link below the picture will take you to dafont.com. This website it totally free, easily searchable, and trustworthy!
The website gives you directions on how to download the fonts, but I have found it easiest to do the following: 

On a Mac: 
1. Click 'download' on each font you like
2. Click stay on dafont.com and download all the fonts you want
3. Then go to your download file or go to 'finder' to find your recently downloaded fonts and click 'install font' 
4. Sometimes you may get an error message, just simply click through accepting that the font might have an error and the font will automatically be in you 'ipages' folder

On a PC: 
1. Follow the first 2 steps as you would with a Mac
2. As each font downloads it will prompt you to extract the file; accept the extraction
3.  Then there will be a drop down button that asks to 'install' click on that 
4. Follow this process for all your fonts
5. Restart your computer and all of your fonts should be in ready to use inside MS Word

I hope you find these fonts as fun and cheery as I do; they really brighten up my classroom and personal creations!  

Happy Friday! 


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Quantum Learning: Classroom Management Posters: LIMITED TIME FREEBIE!

So...I have been attending 8-hour workshops on the Quantum Learning environment and it has truly been motivating and inspiring to gain such insight and knowledge! I am very excited to utilize the Quantum tools I have been given once I have my own classroom.

I know what you're thinking... "oh really, miss new teacher...you think you have it all figured out and as soon as you get your own classroom you're going to change the world...not gonna happen!" Believe me, I am the last person to embrace the latest trends and that is the reason I love Quantum so much ! It is not a trend, its a way of life in the classroom; positive affirmation, ownership, intrinsic motivation, and choices are all staples of a good hearty Quantum diet. :)

My unemployed boredom inspiration led me to create this poster pack, it is filled with positive classroom posters that I have already enlarged and laminated for my own (future) classroom! Even if you don't feel like reading up on how to 'OTFD someone'...(which I highly recommend if you're like me and have a difficult time with confrontation) there are some cute, totally useable classroom posters in here for you to enjoy!

Click here to grab these little beauties!

Here are some samples of what is inside this pack...
How to have difficult conversations...and once you master this and share it you will totally know when someone is OTFDing you! hah
Truer words have never been spoken!

How to show that you are READY TO LEARN!


This 12-pack is a FREEBIE, but only for the first 12 entries.  Here's how the giveaway will go, pretty easy peasy!
1) Follow my blog: fakeitandyoullmakeit.blogspot.com
2) Repin an image from this post onto pinterest
3) Leave a comment after this post

That's it! The first 12 commenters will get an email from me with a FREE zip file of this package which is selling for $4.25 on TPT!

Happy Teaching! 




Monday, January 21, 2013

"In this classroom..." FREEBIE

As you will come to know...I love positive affirmation posters for the classroom.  The one I created is a spin-off of many I have seen before, but I love crazy fonts and silly borders so I decided to make my own.  It will be for sale at my TPT store, but below you can download your own... for FREE!


                                      Click here to download: In this classroom FREEBIE

Pancake Creations

So the other morning I was scanning pinterest for...well nothing in particular, just browsing around.  After aimless pins and wandering, I came across pancakes that were made into the shape of a someones initials.  I thought..."How clever" and then the daily pinterest self-loathing feeling of "well why didn't I think of that!"




JJL are both of my Bubba's initials :)
So I did pin these pancakes and then I quickly realized that I had pinned them the night before while trying to fall asleep! (I must of been more tipsy tired than I originally thought!) I must keep myself away from pinterest after 2 glasses of wine while half asleep- as to not 'like' too many inappropriate someecards and wake up with pinterest walk of shame feelings.

As I am a rule breaker wrapped up in a rule follower's body...I attempted to make the pancakes by following the recipe exactly, but I quickly figured out I would have to improvise as I had not been grocery shopping in a week and the basic needs that even prisoners have were not available to make pancakes.

These pancakes are fairly simple: make a normal pancake batter and add a little more liquid than usual. Then transfer to a large ziploc bag and cut a tiny hole from one of the lower corners to make a poor person pastry bag and then squeeze letters and shapes onto your griddle like you were piping icing onto a cake.

**The thicker your lines and shapes the easier they are to flip.

(I give Lilly over at recipebyphoto some mad props for making her dainty designs look like food porn, but I don't have those magic tools. So if you're like me, make your lines thicker and your pancake designs should flip over nicely with a little spatula gymnastics.)

My Recipe 
2 cups Bisquick pancake mix
1 cup half and half (remember I hadn't shopped in a week...so use whatever milk product you have)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (2 eggs if you're a normal person and have basic staples in your fridge)
dash of cinnamon
dash of sea salt
tablespoon of honey
juice from one meyer lemon

-Mix all the ingredients together and let sit for 5 minutes while the griddle gets hot.
Spray griddle with cooking spray or lubricate it to your liking.
Then pipe your pancake creations onto your griddle, once you see bubbles on the uncooked side you can carefully perform your spatula gymnastics and flip those babies over!