Christmas In July

I have been really inspired lately by reading some of my followers blogs.  People have been traveling, crafting, setting up their classrooms, and spending the summer relaxing.

I tutor every morning for the month of July and on Wednesday's I tutor two different families.  During my tutoring hour break that I gave to myself I took a visit to Barnes & Noble.  To be honest, ever since I got my Kindle I rarely visit book stores.  I usually order all of my classroom books from Scholastic and I get my "adult" books on my Kindle.  While casually roaming around the book store, I ran across a clearance section.  Remember, clearance is my favorite word!!  I found these books:

 Since I teach second grade, we do a whole unit on animal camouflage and also life cycles.  I thought these books would be extra reinforcement for my students.  They were only $1.97 each and I just couldn't resist.  I love for my kids to read non-fiction texts and sometimes it is hard to find ones that really interest the kids.  I also found this book:

 It was really really on sale ($4.00) and it interested me because being a teacher we really are responsible for "raising" these children.  Although we are not their mothers or fathers, we still have the responsibility to teach them good character, manners, and a sound education.  I strive as a teacher to make good character a main goal of my classroom.  Many of my students don't get those daily lessons once they leave the classroom.  Has anyone read this book?

Along with these fabulous finds today, my mom (previous kindergarten teacher) gave me this book.

 I never knew this book existed, but how neat is it that the kids can read a familiar text that has been changed to feature important aspects of the state they live in.  Here are what some of the inside pages look like:

It is a really cute book!  The last page (not included) has facts about North Carolina!  I wonder if they have this book for all of the states.  I think every classroom should come with one.

After checking my mail today, I was super excited because a new Really Good Stuff magazine had been delivered.  Do you not just LOVE that magazine/website?  I seriously order a ton of stuff before a new school year.  What are some of your favorite items?

Until later,

XOXO

-Ashley-