Five For Friday: May the 4th Be With You and a Contest!

This week is a week of appreciation for teachers everywhere! Gifts, flowers, cool drinks,  and special lunches abound!  But it is also the week that I look forward to all year-because of International Star Wars Day on May 4th!  Here's the quick lowdown on how to have a GREAT May the 4th Be With You!    

Wear an awesome Star Wars shirt!  This is a must because it signals to all the Star Wars fans in the building that you know exactly what day it is!  Before I hit the front door I was told, twice, May the 4th Be With You!  While walking around the halls in the morning I was greeted with this same phrase over and over!  Whenever and wherever I went, we were one with The Force because of my shirt (we are a uniform school).  

Get some really great music going!  I found this gem on YouTube! One hour of musical greatness!  And, honestly, the kids really enjoyed listening to it-for real!  

Get some great curriculum activities.  There is no reason you can't jazz your curriculum up with real activities tied to a Star Wars theme.  I made the paper on the left as their math warm-up.  They still worked on their math projects for area and perimeter.  The picture on the right is a Webquest I found on TpT by Mrs. Tech.  It was simple and easy, but best of all, I could use it as a close read.  This activity actually gave me a good idea of how to start using my Kindles in a variety of ways!  

Play a great game!  This is one I thought up last year and just adjusted for this year.  It is a Jeopardy style game.  However, the idea is based on subtracting points instead of gaining points so that the Wookie can win!  They LOVED it!  (Due to copyright, I cannot post this online. )

Make some great Star Wars themed treats!  The first one is a tie fighter.  Super simple-Chocolate Graham Crackers, a marshmallow, and some frosting.  Simply put frosting on the end of the marshmallow and put the Graham Crackers on!  Super simple!  For the light sabers you buy rod pretzels and food coloring.  There is enough frosting left to then color it. Frost the pretzel rods and enjoy!  YUM!  

So, as you can see, this is an easy and fun way to celebrate International Star Wars Day!  Now, onto how we will appreciate you!  Teacher's Appreciation was or will be celebrated over the course of these two weeks!  I've joined with 9 other Teacher-Authors to celebrate YOU!  

Teachers truly do light the way!  So, click on the Rafflecopter and follow all 10 Teacher-Authors on their TpT store to have a chance to win a $50 TpT Gift Card!  It's that easy!  The contest is open from May 5th - May 7th, with the winner announced on Monday, May 8th!  Thanks for all you do!  

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5 for Friday: The "Real" 5 For Friday

    Today I'm trying the "real" teachers of Five for Friday philosophy.  Normally I pick five related things and post how they all go together.   This weak I'm trying the "real' teacher idea of just posting 5 actual things that happened in my week or are coming up. So, here we go!  

     I really pushed myself last week and added a number of new products to my store!  This is part of a group challenge and I'm plugging along!  Here's a couple of the covers.  If you click HERE, and choose "recently added", you can see all my new goodies!   I'm proud of my hard work this past week!  

     

     Weight loss-over break-YE-AH!!  I was totally shocked to discover that I had lost 7 pounds over break!  WHOOT!  How is the next thing people have been asking.  There are a number of ways that I did this.  First, I've been really coving myself in prayer.  I've never done this before and I can honestly say, I think this is the biggest thing!  Next, I started calorie counting right after New Years (in my new planner!!)  And, finally, I've been exercising more.  My husband got a new bike and we've been taking rides together!  So, all of these together equaled 7 pounds!  It is lovely!!  

     I've been working furiously on getting a Fairy Tales unit together for my class.  The goal of this unit is to get my students focused on Point of View and how some characters are lacking it and others have an over abundance!  This will draw an eye to how the story is told-first, second, or third person!  We need a bit of practice in this, so I'm excited by some of the things I've developed. Here's a quick screen shot of one of the documents! 

     Just down the road from my house, this is happening!  It is the Manatee County Fair!  Last year I spent a good amount of time on the weekends volunteering there!  This year, I've started before the Fair even opened!  I helped set up the Arts and Crafts displays and it was so much fun!  I will be volunteering again this year, looking for kids and adults I know as they pass by the cookie booth I work at!  

     I'm excited to be joining Zoe over at Zippadee Zazz to celebrate her blog launch!  Zoe is one hard working Teacher-Author who focuses on clipart in her store!  She runs an awesome Teacher-Author group too! So, take a minute and join this great giveaway celebrating her blog!  

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Fall Door Decor!

Happy Friday everyone! I'm hooking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share a Five for Friday! This week I've gone around my school and found 5 great doors for Fall! Door décor-on my campus it is a big thing! Each season teachers and parents work together to create many door displays for each season. Some are simple, some are more complex. Not every class does this, but it is always fun to check out the Pinterest and non-Pinterest displays. Here are some of the fall themed doors found in our building right now!

This door is very Pinterest.  In fact, it was one of three doors in the building.  It is adorable though!  

This cute door is across the hall from me.  The leaves have the kids names on them.  I like how the tree comes off the door and is on the wall.  

I think this door is great! Each pumpkin has writing by the kids in this class.  Yes, all those kids are in this class.  This is one of our co-teaching classrooms.  

This door is a"door"able!  The cute owl on the door is the teacher.  Then the VERY artistic mom in this room had the kids make those cute owls hanging on the wall.

Here's one up close.  I just LOVE these adorable owls.  I am going to save this craft idea for next year.  The owls, mountains, and other parts are made of foam.  The wood is paper.  LOVE these!  (I read my students Poppy and these can totally be a Mr. Ocax craft!)

This door is AWESOME!  I have to admit, it is mine! It is really awesome though!  My mom's worked really hard at it and it extends down the wall.  Each student has a picture on a pumpkin and the wall says, "Welcome to Our Patch!"  I just love it!   

So, there you have it!  5 Fall Door Decor that you can enjoy or try out! Don't forget to pin them to your Fall Pinning Boards to keep for later!  While you are there, feel free to follow me!  

https://www.pinterest.com/jsantello/

Why Every Teacher Should be Wearing LuLaRoe!

Hangin’ out today because I’m off due to Hurricane Matthew.  I figured today would be a great day for a 5 For Friday post.  I figured I would talk about IT!  Have you heard about IT yet?  Have you tried IT yet?  If you haven’t, this is your chance to win IT!!!  IT is LuLaRoe!  LuLaRoe is a clothing line developed by a woman who was raised in a household that valued self-sewn clothing.  A family who was looking for quality clothing that didn’t break the bank.  She was also looking for a way to help working  women who had too much to handle to constantly go shopping to look for those deals.  Within all of this, an idea grew to a business which grew into a brilliant ray of sunshine in many women’s  (and now men’s) lives!  Here we go with the 5 reasons you should be wearing LuLaRoe! 

                                                   QUALITY!  

As you may know, I sew.  Honestly, I don’t pay lots of money for clothing unless the quality is there.  I know what to look for after years of doing this myself.  The thing about LuLaRoe-this is TOP QUALITY for a very valuable price.  Let’s break this down.  Most really quality knit material runs about $12.99+ a YARD!  There are at least two yards in a pair of leggings, due to length.  That is $25.00 a pair if I were to try and make them myself.  Guess what you pay-$25.00 a pair!  Simply doing that math show’s the level of commitment to their price line.  Yes, they are making them for slightly less, but probably not a ton less! 

MATERIAL! 

It is like butter!  I am not kidding you!  The level of quality of the material allows it to be soft to the touch and   thick to cover! This is the real deal!  You don’t have to worry about skin showing through on leggings.  That’s the nicest part!  You are covered all the time!  And, like butter!  I’m not kidding!  They are the softest clothes I’ve every owned!

VARIETY!  

These are most of the leggings I own personally!  That's variety!  

LuLaRoe limits their items per material type!  I only have one pair of leggings that I’ve ever seen anyone else wearing.  That is because the company was still in the taking off stage and there were less people buying.  It is this pair of leggings. 

Notice my top, that is my PERFECT TEE!  The wind is blowing a bit, so it is swinging out.  Otherwise, I LOVE this top!  So, another way you can add variety is mixing patterns!  I’ve always been on the conservative side,  so mixing patterns was not easy for me!  But, I LOVE this variety!   And, that’s not all for variety!  There are so many wonderful styles and I haven’t even tried them all yet!   I haven’t even tried more than leggings, the tops, and my maxi’s (which I LOVE)!  Yet, the variety is there with dresses and skirts of all types!  And, with more variety choices, you can dress them up or dress them down!  Here’s an example of a dress-up leggings look. 

I have also worn my tiger ones with a red urma to football games at my son’s high school! My fun, swirly multi-colored leggings I’ve worn with my BB-8 t-shirt!  Anything goes! 

EASE OF SHOPPING!  

This is completely TRUE!  You can shop from the comfort of your own home, literally!  The consultants  post their products on their Facebook accounts.  There are many kinds of consultants, but I have to say, my main consultant, Emily Goodyear is the BEST!  Her site is super easy to use. You just enter her store, click on photos, got to albums, and there is all of the information you need!  She organizes her items in these albums by type-leggings, Nicole dresses, Sarah tunics, etc.   Once you are in the album, you can click on your size range and see what she has.  If you see something you LOVE, you type SOLD and your email.  She will send you an invoice to purchase and then send it right to your house!  AWESOME!  You can also host parties on your own personal Facebook or even at your house, if your consultant is close!  There are Open Houses where consultants open their homes so you can browse their stock!  This is all super exciting and super fun!  And, you look great too!

COMFORT!  

And I mean COMFORT!  Between the awesome fabric and the terrific style you might as well be wearing your pajamas to work!  I’m serious!  I look forward to Wednesday or Thursdays when I wear these outfits to school because I feel so relaxed and comfortable, like pajamas at home.  Yet, it doesn’t appear that way at all!  I look great!  Yet, totally comfortable! 

So, now you know about IT!  If you haven’t had a chance to experience LuLaRoe, here’s your chance!  Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the chance to win a FREE pair of leggings!  You need to use the sizing chart below to determine which size leggings you want to try for.  Then, enter the contest on that size!  Both sizes offer the same exact chance to win, so you don’t need to complete both Raffelcopters, only one!  I will then email the winner to get your address!   I will then send you your free pair of leggings!

**VERY IMPORTANT-YOU MUST LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ON MY FACEBOOK POST ABOUT THIS BLOG POST SO I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!**

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This contest is open to all.  These leggings are a random pair and will not be exchangeable for any reason.  If you do not provide your email address as directed in the blog post, there will be no way to contact you to mail you the prize.  Please be sure to do provide your email on The Best Days post on her Facebook account.  LuLaRoe Emily Goodyear VIP and The Best Days are not responsible for lost or damaged products in connection with this contest.