What a Way to Start the Week!

Okay, I'll admit it.  I was NOT excited about this upcoming week. 

I mean, who would want to come back to reality when you've been staring at this all weekend?  My husband and I along with his whole family spent the weekend at his uncle's lake house at Horseshoe Bay.  We had a GREAT time and I was absolutely not ready to come home!  But then, some exciting things happened.

First off, I won my first blogger giveaway!  As I posted previously, I am super excited about this book!  And then I got another great surprise.  When we pulled up in our driveway after returning home from our trip, there was a package on the front porch.  Want to know what it was?  So did I!  I opened it and this was in it!



Yesss!  Nine new (to me) Kevin Henkes books!  I am planning on using these in my Author's Spotlight that I posted about here, but I only had three of his books. I searched EBAY high and low for a great deal and found this lot for less than $20!  I cannot wait to use them in my classroom!  I now feel that I am ready to face the week...new books in hand!

Mrs. Wolf

I won!!!

I won!  Can you believe it?  Kimberly over at Funky First Grade Fun gave away three copies of her favorite back to school book Hands As Warm As Toast and I was one of the lucky winners!  I'm pumped!  Thanks so much Kimberly!  I can't wait to receive my copy.

Mrs. Wolf

Back to School

The time has come.  Back to school.  Although I don't "officially" go back until August 15th, they opened up the school!  I was able to get back into my classroom to get a jump start on arranging the furniture, reorganizing, and coming up with a million more ideas to finish up before the 15th!  This is what I walked into:

Every piece of furniture that ever thought about being in my room was pushed into one corner of the room.  I love how clean everything is when I first get back.  However, I do NOT love moving my extremely full filing cabinet across the room by myself without the help of a dollie or hand cart.  Literally, from one corner to the other.  In a building with no air conditioning.  In Texas.  In the summer.  Yikes!  Needless to say, that is about the only thing I got accomplished on Monday. 

I got so much more done the following two days, and I can't wait to show you!  Pictures to come soon!

Mrs. Wolf

Back to School Giveaway!

Kimberly at Funky in First is having an awesomet giveaway!  Head on over to her sight for a chance to win this book

or a $10 Target gift card!
Good luck!

Mrs. Wolf

Author's Spotlight

I am getting geared up for back to school!  I have gotten some great ideas from blogs and Pinterest for my class next year and I could not wait to get started on these projects!  One of the great ideas I got (or was reminded of) was an Author's Spotlight.  I plan on "spotlighting" a different author every month by reading different books by that author to the class. 

I have also made a small poster about each author to display in the Library Station.  Each poster contains photographs of the person and images of the books, as well as fun facts about the author. 

Some of the authors I am spotlighting are H.A. Rey (Curious George...my class theme), Dr. Suess, Jan Brett, Stan and Jan Berenstain, Kevin Henkes, and Barbara Park.  I debated doing Barbara Park, but we read several Junie B. Jones books throughout the year and most of the kids are able to read these books by themselves by May (that's when I plan to spotlight her)!  They are always thrilled to be reading chapter books. I am really excited to see how this goes!  Have any of you done something similar?  I would love to hear about it!

Mrs. Wolf

A Mini Unit on....SHOES????

A Mini Unit on...SHOES????  Can there be anything better?  First Graders + Shoes = The Love of  My Life!  Mrs. Tabb over here has an awesome limited-time mini unit giveaway!  She says
 "Because I want to get lucky in Vegas, I'm going to give you some luck too...
I'm going to do this. It'll be free to anyone who blogs about this mini-unit. I don't have enough energy for another giveaway...so if you want it, post it on your blog and tell your friends to snag the limited time freebie, and leave me a comment telling me you've blogged it WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS so I can send it to you...for FREE!" 

So hop on over to her sight and check it out!

Mrs. Wolf

Linky Party!

I know, I know.  You thought I dropped off the face of this earth.  I have been traveling all over this great state of Texas for the past week!  Whew, it's good to be home! I have been working hard on getting stations ready for next year and tons of other cool stuff I can't wait to post, but since I need to rush over to Mardel's 20% off Teacher sale today before all the good stuff's gone, I'm just going to join a linky party!  The Clutter-Free Classroom is hosting a linky party for your favorite school night recipe.  I love this idea since I live WAYYYY out in the country and therefore cook nearly every night.  I have several easy go-to recipes, but here is one of my favorite!

Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork

I know, the root beer part sounds strange, but I swear it's SOOO good!  I usually throw some sliced onion in the crock pot along with the pork and the flavor is great.  Hope you enjoy it!

Mrs. Wolf

Awesome Giveaway!

I love thematic units.  I also love birthdays.  Therefore, I love Mrs. Tabb's awesome printable giveaway!  Check it out here!  I really hope I win!

Mrs. Wolf

Please help!

Okay, I know this is probably a really silly question, but how in the world do I post a comment on someone else's sight?  I've tried several different times and it continues to kick me out each time I try to post.  Can someone please help?  Thanks!

Mrs. Wolf

Great New Buys!

I've gotten some great new buys that I am thrilled to show off!  I recently went to our local Mardel store to find some great new file folder games or activities to make this summer.  I spent all day a little while perusing through the store when I came across these fabulous books:
  .
Last year, I had a few early finishers who became a handful as soon as their work was turned in.  I set up a "Done Box" of activities they could work on, and these are going to be a GREAT addition to it!  Each book contains 70 pre-laminated (YAY!!!) cards that I just have to cut apart and stick in my "Done Box".  The kids are going to love it!

Mrs. Wolf

DonorsChoose.org

I am super pumped!  I have just submitted my first project to Donors Choose!  For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's an AWESOME website that connects teacher's who need help funding projects to donors who want to help.  I have had a few teacher friends who have submitted projects and only one was not funded.  One of my friends, a first year teacher, was able to get $400 worth of brand new books for her classroom!  I have been DYING for a document camera, so I thought I'd submit it and see what happens!
This is the beauty I've requested. 
Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Mrs. Wolf

10 Things to Know About Me

I'm so excited to be participating in my first linky party!  This one is from  Mrs. Owens @ Go Fourth!

10.  I am obsessed with books!  I swear I spend 1/4 of my paycheck each month on them.


9.  I have spent entirely too much of my summer on Pinterest.  Are you familiar with it?  If not, check it out at www.pinterest.com.  I've gotten some AWESOME ideas for my classroom next year!


8.  I spent many recesses while growing up collecting rocks.  I may still have this obsession.


7.  My husband and I have been married for one year and I have thoroughly enjoyed it!


6.  I love owls and other birds!  Not so much the real ones, but the really cute decorative ones.


5.  My favorite vacation spot thus far is Jamaica.  We just got back and I've decided that I could live there for the rest of my life! 


4.  Snakes are the scariest things EVER.


3.  I could not grow a plant to save my life.  I have not been blessed with a green thumb.


2.  I always keep a secret stash of chocolate in my desk. 


1.  I love singing.  Loudly.

A New Adventure

Well, I have decided to embark on a new adventure...blogging! So far I have spent my summer gathering new ideas to use in my classroom and have come across some AWESOME blogs! I am so excited to try my own hand at this. Bear with me! I'm sure my blog will be pretty rocky at first. If you have any hints or tips, please feel free to share!

Mrs. Wolf