I Got a Surprise Parcel!!! *Freebie Too!*

Oh my goodness!  We returned from an amazing trip to Northern Michigan...

We did so much sight-seeing, ice cream eating, reading, boat riding and sunset watching that it sure was hard to come back!  But....sleeping in your own bed sure does rock too!

Thanks to my guest bloggers, Christina & Kimberly, for helping me out and keeping my blog company while I was gone! 

Five plus hours in a car with two boys definitely tests one's patience so imagine my relief when we pulled into our driveway {safe and sound is something else I consider a blessing} and found a package waiting for me.  I thought and thought "What did I order?!?!" Hurry - distract the hubby...

Well I didn't order anything - but if you head back to this post {here} you'll remember those wonderful folks over at CraftProjectIdeas.com.  They decided to send a happy surprise my way. {That's my kind of freebie!!!}  I'm not quite sure how they knew I, a first grade teacher, might be in need of some crafty this and that - but they did!!!! 

If you need to beef up your teachery stash you can head on over to Walmart...great people watchin', affordable products and lots of variety.  That's one stop shopping at its finest!!!!!

So, you would think that while on vacation I wouldn't give two thoughts to school, right?  Shaaaa, who am I kidding?  Of course I did.  It happened on our one and only "rain out"...we ended up at Target...{it may or may not have happened due to my persuasion} why not?!?  Stopped by the dollar spot, but sadly, I already had pretty much EVERYTHING in there.  Have mercy.  Then we landed in the game department...it was going to be a long rainy day in the cottage...and I found this cool thing!

"Let your imagination roll wild"...

And while you're at it, beef up your sense of story!

There are nine cubes with different pictures on each side.  The pictures can serve as ideas for how to build your story.    All your kiddos need experience with is how stories "work". You have a beginning, middle and end and some other "stuff" mixed in.  Story Cubes can be played alone or in a small group.  Which made me think they could do this during some sort of literacy center or in a small group setting {guided reading groups - which is where I would start}.  You could even start out as a whole group and do a shared write on chart paper.  Endless ideas.

Some of the pictures on the cubes are:

*earth *building *airplane *apple *flashlight *eye *rainbow *fish *flower *moon *alien *cell phone

And lots more! 

I was thinking my kids may be all over the place at first when trying to create a story using these cubes, so I thought I'd provide a prompt poster to keep them on target, limit the number of cubes they can use, and also provide a recording sheet if working independently - this is a great way to differentiate for those kids needing a little more. 

Click the picture to pick yours up from my store ~ FREE!

Hope you enjoy it!

Can you believe I have yet to go into my classroom? There was some construction going on in our school - so we've been unable to step foot into it!!!! YIKES!  Sooooo...I can go in on the 23rd and we officially go back {for meetings and all that jazz} on the 28th.  Yikes, again!!!!  I'm just a wee bit worried about getting it all done.  Well, we all know teachers can work miracles - so it *will* get all done.  I guess I should add will it get all down with my sanity still intact?!?! 

Send some positive vibes my way...

Toodles!