Fabulous Friday Freebies--Memorial Day

Summer is about to start, and there are a few holidays left to squeeze in!  The first is a holiday formerly known as Decoration Day: Memorial Day.  This day is more than just one last day off for those of us who teach until June.  Below is a list of free resources to use to teach your students what the day is all about.

#1- TeacherVision is a site with Memorial Day printables for all grades.  It is easy to navigate, and can be a useful site for a number of other themes in the future, as well.

#2-For a reading comprehension activity that shares some quick facts about the day click here.  (Note: this is best for grammar school age readers.)

#3-Memorial Day Crafts is a site with a number of crafts including patriotic wreaths and wall decorations.

#4-Click here for a reading on Memorial Day.  There are also some activities on this site that you can use to supplement your lesson.

#5-Play patriotic bump with this free game.

#6-Memorial Day Packet is a collection of activities that include a word search, a template for a letter to a soldier and an acrostic poem.

#7-Memorial Day Cause and Effect Game.  Students flip over flag cards with causes and effects and try to match them.  It is a great activity to teach students to link events.

Free Summer Reading Programs for 2013

As schools get ready for summer break, get your students ready for some summer learning with these summer reading programs!

Scholastic Summer Challenge 

Students can help to break a world record and earn digital rewards by logging on and recording their reading minutes. Teachers can preregister your students and compete with classes from around the world!

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program

Get a free book and summer reading kit by participating in Barnes and Noble's summer reading program.

Half Price Books Feed Your Brain

Students can earn a gift certificate to Half Price Books for logging their summer reading program this year. Students only have to read a minimum of about 15 minutes a day to earn this reward and students up to age 14 are included in this easy program.

Sylvan's Book Adventure

Students read and take comprehension quizzes to participate in this summer program. Points are earned based on the books read and students can select their prizes accordingly.

TD Bank's Summer Reading Program 

TD Bank will deposit $10 into a new young saver's account after they have read 10 books this summer. Students simply read 10 books, record those books onto TD Bank's sheet and bring it into any local branch. This could be a great way to encourage reading and help students learn how to save money.

Chuck E Cheese Reward Your Kids

Students record their daily reading on a printable calendar and turn in into their local Chuck E Cheese. Two weeks of daily reading results in 10 free tokens. There is a catch: food must be purchased for free token redemption.

Books a Million Summer Reading Program

Get a free Dr. Seuss insulated lunch bag by participating in BAM's summer reading program. The program starts May 19th.

Your Local Library 

Almost all local libraries have summer reading programs for kids. My local library even has a summer reading program for adults! It's always worth it to participate.

Happy Mother's Day

We at One Less Headache would like to wish all the mothers out there a very happy Mother's Day!  Also, I (ETC) have also been given permission to share the exciting news that Lesson Lady is celebrating Mother's Day as a mother for the first time this year.  Her first born (a boy) is one month old.  So, if any of our followers out there in cyber space have noticed that our schedule has been a bit wonky lately and Lesson Lady's fabulous contributions have slowed a bit, that's why.  You've been stuck with me because she has her hands extra full right now!  But, mother and baby are doing well.  He is a sweet baby and she is a great mom.  Congrats to her and her family!!!

Fabulous Freebies

We, at One Less Headache appreciate you.  So, this week, for our weekly Fabulous Freebies, I'm doing something unprecedented.  Last year for teacher appreciation day what seemed to be around 100 teachers posted free lessons online for 24 hours in advance of Teachers Pay Teachers's teacher appreciation sale.  This year the only promo was the sale.  So, I've decided to post my three best selling products for free for just 24 hours.  From noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday (central time zone), the following products will be yours to download for absolutely no cost!

Spanish Centers for an Introductory Unit is my number one seller.  It contains eight stations reviewing Spanish vocabulary for time, greetings, calendar and number.  It is so versatile, you'll be sure to find a use for it in your classroom: sub plan, extra credit, early finishers, etc.

My Martian Sketch  is my second best selling item.  It has students use vocabulary for body parts in Spanish to sketch martians according to their descriptions.  It also reviews vocabulary for numbers and colors.

My Snowman Glyph is my third best seller.  Your students will love it.  They will begin by learning what a glyph is and how to use one to convey and analyze data. They will create one of their very own. Then they will look at their classmates' glyphs and analyze the data using fractions, percentages, and graphs (bar graphs and pie charts). They will have fun doing it during the cold winter months ahead. And, when they are all done, the materials can be turned into a colorful class bulletin board! Note: This is the advanced Snowman Glyph activity for 5-8 graders.

Teacher Appreciation Sale Tomorrow and Wednesday!!

Teachers Pay Teachers is throwing a Teacher Appreciation sale tomorrow and Wednesday.  Lesson Lady and Excellence in Teaching and Coaching (ETC) will have our stores marked down in addition to the 10% off offered by TpT for a full 28% off on all of our products.  Don't forget to check it out.  Just enter the promo code: TAD13.  The deals never get any better than this!

Fabulous Freebies: Cinco de Mayo!

Today is Cinco de Mayo! In honor of this fun holiday, here are some fabulous freebies you can use in your classroom this week to help celebrate Cinco de Mayo & Mexican culture. I have found in my classroom that many students love to celebrate the holidays of various cultures around the world.

Check out this Crafts for Kids page to find fun Cinco de Mayo related activities including a Mexican song, printable money worksheets, coloring pages, elementary literacy worksheets and more. There is a big variety of Cinco de Mayo items that are easy to print.

Kaboose has more than ten easy craft ideas for Cinco de Mayo. Most can be made with simple materials that are available in most classrooms. Some of the crafts are sound making and could be incorporated into a music lesson!

Making Learning Fun has learning printables for literacy and math that are geared towards early elementary students. The ideas are easy to click on and print and contain simple, clear graphics.

Find crossword puzzles, vocabulary fill in the blank sheets and more at About.com's Cinco de Mayo printables page. Click on the image of the activity to easily print it. The puzzles and fill in the blank sheets are perfect for older students to learn about Cinco de Mayo and Mexican history.


Thanks for checking out our freebies & have a great Cinco de Mayo!

ABC's of Encouragement

Brian Tracy, a motivational speaker and author, says, "Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy."  In other words, what we think will happen too often directs our path and becomes a reality, even if it needn't be.  Tied to the development of beliefs is the act of listening.  What we hear, we tend to believe, particularly if it is coming from someone we consider to be a reliable source.  If someone who knows and is supposed to care about us tells us we are going to go to college, we start to believe it.  If that same person says that we are never going to be anything in life, the same is true.  We start to believe that too.

As teachers who spend a significant amount of time with our students throughout the school year, we have the opportunity to speak life into them.  So, I've written an ABC's of compliments.  I'm sure you can think of your own, but this is a good place to start...

Amiable, amazing, adorable, athletic, artistic
Beautiful, bubbly, blossoming
Cool, charming, confident, collegiate, compassionate
Diligent, dependable, deep
Excellent, enchanting, energetic, empathetic
Fabulous, fun, funny, fashionable, friendly, faithful
Generous, giving, good, great, gentle
Honest, honorable
Intelligent, independent
Jolly, jazzy
Keen, kind
Lovable, loyal, likable,
Magnificent, marvelous
Neat, nice
Outstanding
Perfect, practical, profound
Quality
Resilient, receptive
Studious, smart, super
Terrific, talented
Unbelievable
Vivacious
Witty
Xtra special
Youthful
Zany