WE HAVE A WINNER!

Happy Sunday, all!  Phew!  What a whirlwind the blog hop was this past week!  It was a huge success as we had so many people participate and grab dozens of freebies from all of the bloggers who participated.  I hope you were able follow some new blogs!  If you're new to the CGN family, welcome!  Hopefully you've made yourself at home and and have found some great new games using my game archives tabs along the top of this blog for each subject.  There you will find tons of free games as well as some from my TpT store for use in your classroom!

I'm super excited to announce the winner of my blog hop giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats Maria!  I've emailed you, so check your inbox!  Maria is the winner of one of my classroom decor packs.

I also let Maria know that I am in the process of creating a Monster Theme that will be available soon if she was interested in that one.  So all you monster theme classroom teachers - stay tuned.  It is ADORABLE so far and I can't wait to share it with everyone!  Here's a sneak peak:


Have a great rest of the weekend!






Fraction S'mores {FREEBIE ALERT!}

First off - I hope you have all hopped through the amazing summertime blog hop that has been going on this week.  It ends Friday, so don't delay!  There are 40 freebies and 40 chances to win some amazing prizes!  Click the picture below to hop away:
In other summertime news - in my opinion, there is no reason to make a bonfire....unless you have the ingredients for s'mores.  Am I right, or am I right?  We always have graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows on hand in the summer (and if we don't, the hubby gets sent to the grocery store :) )  I love me a good s'more!

So, when I found this adorable s'more clip art while making my camping-themed classroom decor pack last summer, I couldn't help but create a fun little matching game with the clip art as well.

How cute:

Click on the picture to get your own copy for FREE today!  And then go the the grocery store and by stuff for s'mores :)

Have a great day!






SPLISH-SPLASH! It's a Summertime Blog Bash!


The blog hop is finally here!  What a great way to kick off the first unofficial week of summer.  Once Memorial Day hits, I am in full summer mode!  I am so happy to be hosting this summer themed blog hop that consists of 40+ other bloggers!  You are in for a treat!

What will you find in this fabulous blog hop?  Well, freebies and giveaways galore - for starters!  Each blogger is offering up one of their Teachers Pay Teachers products for free for a LIMITED TIME!  The product will only be available this week, so do NOT delay.  Get hopping right away!  You have until Friday to snag each and every freebie!

In addition to the freebies, each blogger is also giving our hoppers a chance to win other great prizes, so be sure to enter in for even more goodies!  It's the hop to end all other hops :)

If you're visiting the Classroom Game Nook for the first time, welcome!  Please take a look around and be sure to click on the tabs at in the navigation bar at the top to find loads of free games for each content area!

But without further delay, let's get this hoppin' party started!



I created a fun file-folder game for having students practice identifying antonyms, synonyms, or unrelated words.  I added in the "unrelated words" part because I think it will really allow some critical thinking on the students' part.  The game includes 57 word pair cards that students place onto the correct sorting mat.  It's available in color or black and white.

It's simple to assemble.  Glue the title page on the front of the folder, directions page on the back of the folder and then the sorting mats and cards on the inside as shown below.  I used a library pocket to put the words cards in.


From now till Friday you can get this for FREE exclusively here on the blog!  Just click on any of the pics above! WAHOO!  Be sure to snag it right away before the freebie link disappears!  After Friday, it will only be available on TPT for $3.00.

***THIS FREEBIE OFFER HAS EXPIRED.  THIS PRODUCT CAN NOW BE PURCHASED HERE***


I'm so excited to be giving away one of my classroom theme décor packs (a $12.99 value!!!!) as part of this fabulous blog hop.  Over the past few summers I have created several different theme packs that help teachers to add a little pizzazz to your classroom décor in a snap.  These have been some of my best sellers and have found their way in the top 50 products sold during the summer on TpT!  These packs are sooo packed with everything you need to make your classroom theme come alive. There are even editable options to customize the pack for your class!

Here are the themes you have to choose from: {Click on any of the themes to see the full description and preview on TpT}


a Rafflecopter giveaway





I know how much teachers love the summer.  Even though I don't teach in the classroom anymore, I still get an extra giddy feeling when the weather gets warm.  Here in Rochester, NY the city comes alive! 

Here are some of my summertime faves :)

We have fabulous public markets and festivals.  We try to spend as much time outside as possible!


Going to the public market on Saturdays is once of my favorite things to do.  This is from one of our outings last summer (My little Clara was so tiny!)

{Hiking!}

I mentioned we have tons of festivals in Rochester (The Ukrainian Festival?  Yeah, we've got that...we have a festival for EVERYTHING) - This was one from a couple weeks ago - the Lilac Festival.


Last year my hubby and his dad built a deck on the back of our house.  It took the better half of the summer to build so this summer I am planning on really enjoying it this year!  I think it will be my favorite place :)



We also have this fabulous beach-side bar that we love to go to.  I hope to spend a fair amount of time there, too :)
 

 
 



EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!

You guys!  There is something VERY exciting about to happen here in blog-land!

I know for many of you this is your last week of school - WAHOOOOO! (if not - hang in there!!!)

As a way to kick off summer, me and 40+ bloggers are doing a FABULOUS blog hop beginning May 25 (Memorial Day) where you will be able to grab all sorts of freebies and enter in to win some amazing prizes (and maybe find a new blogger or two to follow!)!    Each blogger is giving exclusive freebies to all of our hoppers (that means YOU!) as well as a chance to win some of their best products!  You will NOT want to miss this week-long event.

So mark your calendars - Beginning at 9am (EST) May 25  you can start right here on the CGN blog and hop off to pure summertime bliss for our SPLISH SPLASH:  It's a Summertime Blog Bash!  Invite your friends to the party as well:)






This made my day...

Hi everyone!  Hope your week is off to a good start!

I got an email over the weekend that just completely made my day and I wanted to share it with everyone!  I recently posted a novel unit on Because of Winn-Dixie and I had one teacher in Ohio contact me and this is what her email said:

We have been using your new unit on Winn Dixie in our classroom.  We have loved it.  Today we had our Winn Dixie party complete with dump punch, egg salad sandwiches, and pickles.  The center of our party was our tree.  I thought you might enjoy pictures of it.  Thanks so much for your thoughtful work.  I teach in a very poverty ridden urban school and these children absolutely needed this writing assignment. We are now using your plant interactive notebook and will use your force and motion one next year.  Thanks again

In the book, one of the characters has a tree in her backyard with bottles hung from the branches.  Each bottle represented a mistake that this character has made in her life.  One of the end-of-unit activities has students complete their own bottle:

This is the picture that this teacher sent me of her class bottle tree:

Didn't it turn out amazing!?  Wow!  I love seeing and hearing about how teachers use my resources in their classroom!  This is why Teachers Pay Teachers is such an awesome resource for teachers!  You get to actually make connections with the people using your stuff!  Love it!

Have a wonderful day everyone!