giveaway

How is it already February – with Valentine’s Day staring us down? Where has so much of the school year gone – but how do we keep our students engaged through the monotonous days of winter – and the even harder days of spring?

As much as I love the continuity that this time of year provides my students, boredom can easily set in, too – and that’s why I love that the TpT Winter Sale is happening next week! You can save up to 25% with the code FEBSALE23 – and my entire store will be on sale.

Here are some resources that may fit that seasonal need for you in the coming weeks:

This PBL project is the perfect way to sneak in some math and collaborative learning while your students plan a fictional Valentine’s party. The resource sets creative parameters and your students work together to plan a fictional class party – all the while doing math and practicing their writing, planning, and organizational skills.

It’s almost time for that famous basketball playoff event … ahem, apparently it’s a big deal to sports fanatics? I’m clearly not one of those, but I love taking that same enthusiasm and hype and applying it to something more my speed – like digging into creative poetry in fun ways. This Poetry Bracket Challenge for Elementary Students comes with hyperlinks suggested poems to use for this activity, unit study-style activities to extend learning, and printable poetry pages where copyrights allow – as well as the actual bracket you can use to customize this project with your students. Simply choose the activities that you’d like to use and do as much or as little as you’d like.

Joan Bauer’s Soar is the perfect middle-grade novel for book clubs, book choice, a read aloud, or a whole-class pick in the spring. With baseball as the vehicle that moves the story along, this story deals with surprisingly deep topics, and this resource will help you flesh those out in appropriate ways – and how to discuss the humor that keeps the mood light. This bundle will save you money will providing everything you need no matter how you choice to use it in your classroom: discussion and writing questions, creative writing prompts, and novel study activities in a wide variety of subject areas.

Since spring is the time for wedding planning, I have to share this newish resource there – and because my students loved it! Create a Wedding Album for Romeo and Juliet is a digital resource designed to help your students do just that. It makes the perfect summative project, but your students could also work on it as you read the play, and it can be done individually or cooperatively. It’s very open-ended, so you have lots of room to make the assignment what you want it to be – but there’s enough here for your students to be super creative and demonstrate their understanding of the play while giving you some room to breath.

I love resources that you can use over and over, don’t you? That mileage is important to me – and that’s one reason I love these Hexagonal Thinking Activities for Any Novel. There’s serious bang for your buck here, but more importantly, kids love’em – and by putting manipulatives to critical thinking and literary analysis, students of all skill levels can be successful. Want to know more about hexagonal thinking? Check out this post.

There you have it! These are my top resource recommendations for the upcoming weeks. What do you need to help your spring go smoothly?

I love picking out TpT resources that will save time for me or that will expose my students to a concept in a way that I wouldn’t have thought to use. I want you to get these things for your students, too! That’s why I’m offering a $10 TpT gift card to one winner on Tuesday, February 8, just in time for sale shopping. Enter to win using the rafflecopter below.

Teachers are the best – we all know it, right? I’m here to make sure you feel it, too! As we head into the last days of school with all the craziness that entails, know that you’re seen … and heard … and appreciated.

That’s why I’m participating in TpT’s Teacher Appreciation Sale happening on Tuesday, May 3, through Wednesday, May 4. With the code THANKYOU22 you can save up to 25% on everything you buy.

These fun but educational resources might help you out:

Linked by Gordon Korman is excellent for putting historical context to the Holocaust – and also for discussing forgiveness, tolerance, and redemption. This printable resource has more than 100 questions for discussion, essay, and short answer, all sorted by chapter. It also features creative writing prompts in a variety of formats and rubrics for grading. This is perfect for book clubs, literature circles, co-ops, and whole classes.

Did you know that Chris Grabenstein is releasing a new Mr. Lemoncello book next month – the prequel story that put Luigi L. Lemoncello on his path to fame and gamemaker stardom? I’ve had the chance to read it – and it’s amazing! Get ready to have some Lemoncello-flavored fun with the book that started it all with these hands-on resources.

My kids love doing mock trials, and I love seeing how excited they get about doing them – and how hard they work to play their role well! Pulling that off requires lots of creative and critical thinking, and these types of activities inspire both – as well as teamwork and a bit of friendly competition. This bundle includes both a print and digital version of my bestselling Three Little Pigs resource, with everything you need to hold this mock trial in either format.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

I’m giving away a $10 TpT gift card to help you make the most of your purchases next week. Enter via the rafflecopter below. Good luck!

Teaching through the pandemic days and the aftermath isn’t easy. Combine that with spring fever and Easter candy and … whew! That’s why I’m giving away a $10 TpT gift card just in time to use it in next week’s sale. One lucky winner will have this code in hand to get $10 off any purchase!

TpT’s Special Spring Sale will run April 5-6. You can save up to 25% off your purchases with the code FORYOU22.

Everything at A Nest in the Rocks will be on sale! Here are some resources that may be particularly timely at this time of year:

Linked by Gordon Korman is excellent for putting historical context to the Holocaust – and also for discussing forgiveness, tolerance, and redemption. This printable resource has more than 100 questions for discussion, essay, and short answer, all sorted by chapter. It also features creative writing prompts in a variety of formats and rubrics for grading. This is perfect for book clubs, literature circles, co-ops, and whole classes.

Did you know that Chris Grabenstein is releasing a new Mr. Lemoncello book next month – the prequel story that put Luigi L. Lemoncello on his path to fame and gamemaker stardom? I’ve had the chance to read it – and it’s amazing! Get ready to have some Lemoncello-flavored fun with the book that started it all with these hands-on resources.

My kids love doing mock trials, and I love seeing how excited they get about doing them – and how hard they work to play their role well! Pulling that off requires lots of creative and critical thinking, and these types of activities inspire both – as well as teamwork and a bit of friendly competition. This bundle includes both a print and digital version of my bestselling Three Little Pigs resource, with everything you need to hold this mock trial in either format.

So there you have it – my favorite spring resources. What are you teaching this spring?

Don’t forget to enter to win at the rafflecopter below!

How is it already February – with Valentine’s Day staring us down? Where has so much of the school year gone – but how do we keep our students engaged through the monotonous days of winter – and the even harder days of spring?

As much as I love the continuity that this time of year provides my students, boredom can easily set in, too – and that’s why I love that the TpT Winter Sale is happening next week! You can save up to 25% with the code FEBSALE22 – and my entire store will be on sale.

Here are some resources that may fit that seasonal need for you in the coming weeks:

This PBL project is the perfect way to sneak in some math and collaborative learning while your students plan a fictional Valentine’s party. The resource sets creative parameters and your students work together to plan a fictional class party – all the while doing math and practicing their writing, planning, and organizational skills.

It’s almost time for that famous basketball playoff event … ahem, apparently it’s a big deal to sports fanatics? I’m clearly not one of those, but I love taking that same enthusiasm and hype and applying it to something more my speed – like digging into creative poetry in fun ways. This Poetry Bracket Challenge for Elementary Students comes with hyperlinks suggested poems to use for this activity, unit study-style activities to extend learning, and printable poetry pages where copyrights allow – as well as the actual bracket you can use to customize this project with your students. Simply choose the activities that you’d like to use and do as much or as little as you’d like.

Joan Bauer’s Soar is the perfect middle-grade novel for book clubs, book choice, a read aloud, or a whole-class pick in the spring. With baseball as the vehicle that moves the story along, this story deals with surprisingly deep topics, and this resource will help you flesh those out in appropriate ways – and how to discuss the humor that keeps the mood light. This bundle will save you money will providing everything you need no matter how you choice to use it in your classroom: discussion and writing questions, creative writing prompts, and novel study activities in a wide variety of subject areas.

Since spring is the time for wedding planning, I have to share this newish resource there – and because my students loved it! Create a Wedding Album for Romeo and Juliet is a digital resource designed to help your students do just that. It makes the perfect summative project, but your students could also work on it as you read the play, and it can be done individually or cooperatively. It’s very open-ended, so you have lots of room to make the assignment what you want it to be – but there’s enough here for your students to be super creative and demonstrate their understanding of the play while giving you some room to breath.

I love resources that you can use over and over, don’t you? That mileage is important to me – and that’s one reason I love these Hexagonal Thinking Activities for Any Novel. There’s serious bang for your buck here, but more importantly, kids love’em – and by putting manipulatives to critical thinking and literary analysis, students of all skill levels can be successful. Want to know more about hexagonal thinking? Check out this post.

There you have it! These are my top resource recommendations for the upcoming weeks. What do you need to help your spring go smoothly?

I love picking out TpT resources that will save time for me or that will expose my students to a concept in a way that I wouldn’t have thought to use. I want you to get these things for your students, too! That’s why I’m offering a $10 TpT gift card to one winner on Tuesday, February 8, just in time for sale shopping. Enter to win using the rafflecopter below.

This year has been one for the record books, hasn’t it? Whether you’ve been teaching in person, online, a weird combination, or whether you’re a new or experienced homeschooler, we’re all tired of living with the stress of not knowing what’s next and what’s safe to do. Making decisions is exhausting – and I want to help you with that. It’s time for a little teacher appreciation.

If you’re like me, when you make a purchase, you weigh the benefits of the purchase against the cost of it to decide: is it worth it? In this case, will the time saved be worth the money?

I want to make those decisions easier for you. That’s why I’m giving away TWO $10 TpT giftcards – just in time for the sale next week!

The Teacher Appreciation Sale begins Tuesday and ends Wednesday night at midnight. You can save up to 25% with the code THANKYOU21. All of the resources at my store A Nest in the Rocks will be marked down these days – but if you win a gift card, those dollars will stretch even more!

Here are some of my favorite products:

I love this digital version of the print-based Discussion Questions & Creative Writing Prompts for The Hunger Games! It’s designed to be Google compatible and with full screen slides and large font sizes, it’s ideal for 1:1 or distance learning classrooms. It even features a writing project designed just for this digital product! Of course, if you need both versions, you can save money by purchasing the bundle here.

What might Romeo and Juliet’s wedding scrapbook have been like if they had waited just a few days and invited people? Have your students design a digital scrapbook using character- and plot-based evidence from the story. They’ll love this fun project – and you’ll easily see how much your students understand!

Of course, staging your own mock trial for the Third Little Pig is always popular, and now it’s easier than ever with both the print-based and the digital versions available! You can even score both versions and save even more.

If you’re reading Chris Grabenstein’s middle-grade novel Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, these games and printables are for you! They’re perfect for hosting a culminating event to your time, no matter how in-depth you’ve gone with the book. With games, printables, and even a recipe, this is a fun way to celebrate good books – and you can even use it for an informal assessment!

So are you ready to win? Enter using the rafflecopter below – and let me know in the comments how you’re doing this year!