Happy July!!!

I have my July Currently to share with you tonight. Before I do, I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon and remind you to follow me on Bloglovin before tomorrow when Google Friend Connect supposedly goes away.  It seems so strange that they'd do that since it's such a big part of Blogger, but just in case....all you have to do is push the Bloglovin button on the right sidebar!  I actually love it for reading my blogs!

Soo here's my July Currently. Thanks again to Farley from Oh Boy, Fourth Grade for hosting!

Listening: Zac Brown Band: LOVE and I'm not even a country music fan. I am going to his  outdoor concert with Kenny Chesney at Target Field in Minneapolis the Friday after next! SO excited!!!!

Loving: The weather is sooo gorgeous today. Perfect days like this just don't come often in Minnesota (as I've blogged about often). I spent the whole day outside at my parents house lounging on the deck and in the hot tub!!

Thinking: Okay, just got home, dinner time, no idea....looks like we're calling Jimmy John's!!

Wanting: Love the 4th of July and thankful that we get to spend it "up north" at the cabin this year with family!

Needing: A pedicure...I guess that's a pretty spoiled thing to "need" BUT  my current pedicure is from a wedding I was in. On May 13. Yucky, yuck, yuck.

Tip: I always see people asking the top TPT sellers how to do things/make things, etc on the TPT Q and A area. While I'm sure most TPT sellers are happy to help each other out, there is an easier way. Just Google your question. There are SO many great tutorials and blog posts about TPT and teacher blog techy issues. It's so much faster to Google it than waiting for someone to respond! Erica Bohrer has several great posts about TPT issues, and Ladybug's Teacher Files has some tutorials that really, really helped me out when I first started blogging. I think that Ashley Hughes has some awesome tutorials about making products, too.

Blend Friends-Chance to win

I posted awhile back about teaching initial consonant blends to my kindergartners. I started making a TPT product about blends to go with my mini-unit wayyy back in February. I am usually not one to shelve a product that I'm making, but I got overwhelmed with work and put it on the back burner. Just yesterday, I finally finished my blend unit- it's called Blend Friends. Click here to see the whole description on TPT.

So what is a Blend Friend, you ask?  They are cute stick puppets that help teach your class about consonant blends. I included paper versions in the packet so you can make your own stick puppets. In my classroom, I used puppets and stuffed animals and the kids loved them! The were SO engaged during our whole-group mini lessons on blends. The Blend Friends even got to sit with a few of the kiddos who were doing a great job listening!

Here are the blend friends printed out and all ready for a cute bulletin board! Just add craft sticks and laminate to make stick puppets! 

The blend friends "write" the class a letter to introduce a pair of consonant blends (Flippy the Frog introduces the FR and FL blends, for example). Below is a sample of a letter written by one of the Blend Friends:

Last year, my student teacher had a great idea! She made a mailbox where the letters from our Blend Friends magically appeared each day!The kids totally bought into it and went bananas when they discovered a new letter in the mailbox! This summer, I made my own mailbox...so I guess I'm ready for one unit...that we don't teach until February...OH well! :) BTW you can see that I won't be doing a mailbox making tutorial anytime soon...this is definitely a very basic elementary valentine party-style Kleenex bog rig!

In the unit, I have included activities to go with each Blend Friend's letter to the class.  You can do the activities as a whole group or as a center. The packet also contains hands-on literacy centers to practice consonant blends.

Comment below with your email and I will send 2 random friends a copy of the Blend Friends unit!

Dollar Store at my TpT store!!!

OK so I know I've been a HORRIBLE blogger and I do have big plans to get back on track with some regularly schedule posts but for now I'm just dropping a line to let you all know that I've marked everything down at my TpT store to only a buck!!!! So stock up now on some new things for next school year:).

I put some of my fave back-to-school products below! Let me know if you pick anything up that you love!

First Day Fun with Chester Raccoon! 

Build community in your classroom with this fun set!

Make your classroom a "hoppy" place with my Frog Themed Classroom Set!

And I just made a Frog Themed Word Wall to match my  classroom set!