Blossoms of Blue

This is my first time linking up with the Teaching Trio, and I am super excited! I love this linky because it gives us some insight into the lives of the bloggers we love, but it is a nice, quick blog post. So here is mine:



Now you know what I am up to. What are your plans this week?

It's Finally here!!!

I have been excited about this blog hop for a few months now. There are about 45 blogs participating, so you will be able to score a lot of freebies if you visit them all! You bet I will be visiting all the other blogs.

If you have never done a blog hop before, you simply go to one of the blogs that is participating, read their post, get the freebie, and then at the bottom of the post there will be a link to the next blog. Click on that and you are on your way. Hope you have a fun hop!


Just for participating in this blog hop, you get a freebie from each blog, and I decided to give away 2 items from my Tpt store. The first is my set of "Hey Kids" clipart. I am hoping you will like these cute kiddos and can use them in your products or classroom. Be sure to read the terms of use in the download.

Click here for your freebie!

For my second freebie, I am giving away my geography unit. This unit focuses on continents and oceans and has some fun activities and worksheets to do with your students. You can read more about it by clicking here.

Click here for your freebie!

I really do love the summer. All year long I look forward to it. Warm weather, fireworks, delicious fruits, barbeques, spending time outdoors, swimming, the list goes on and on... Anyway, here are a few fun facts about me and summer:

-The thing I am looking forward to most about summer is the Fourth of July. My favorite holiday! Every year we run in a 5k race that goes along the parade route. It is so much fun because people are already there saving seats for the parade and they cheer us on along the way. We love to dress in our patriotic gear and have a blast. They have a balloon festival that starts around 6:30, so as we are getting ready and starting the run, the sky is full of hot air balloons. After the race we sometimes stay and watch the parade. Then during the day we have picnics and play games and do fireworks at night. It is the best!

-I grew up in Texas and my favorite summer memories are swimming in our pool and going to Utah to visit my cousins every year. We were usually there over the Fourth of July, so I grew up going to the same parade that I now run the 5k at.

-I also love to swim, swim, swim in the summer. I really wish I had a pool. Last year I bought a kiddie pool that I plan on spending a lot of time in this year with my toddlers. Growing up I would get in the pool first thing in the morning and swim all day long. I got out to watch Saved By The Bell, then swam some more. I love to swim.


What's your favorite summer activity?



I have decided to do a give-away of my Weather Unit. This is a second grade unit that focuses on weather tools and measurement, but also has some other weather-related activities. I think it is a lot of fun. Enter below to win! You can visit my TpT store if you want to read more about this unit.

Thanks for reading my post and I hope you enjoy the freebies. Good luck with the giveaway! Click the picture below to move on to the next blog.

I am super excited, I am participating in a blog hop that will begin in 5 days! As a way to kick off summer, there are over 40 bloggers giving away exclusive freebies and a chance to win some of their best products!!

Beginning May 25th at  9:00am (EST), you can start hopping through the blogs. You can start your journey right here on Blossoms of Blue, and I will provide the link for the next blog. Mark your calendars and invite your friends!

I just wanted to share an idea I used with my students that I thought was really fun. I wrote a previous post about the Summer Slide, and I know it is something a lot of teachers worry about. You work hard with your students all year, and then to have them fall backwards over the summer is so disappointing!

One idea I used was to encourage them to write letters. I sent home 3 pieces of stationery and an addressed, stamped envelope to me. I told them to write letters to relatives or friends, and to send me a letter too.

This was fun for the kids, but it was so fun for me too! I loved going to the mailbox every day to see if I had gotten a letter. I got a bunch of letters right at the beginning of the summer, and by the end of the summer they had tapered off, but I still really enjoyed it. Here are a few examples of letters I received:

She got the "Sweetest Smile" award. That's why she refers to her sweet smile. Also, just FYI... I didn't end up going to Bear Lake with her. : )

I received this letter 2 days after school got out. : )

I got this letter about halfway into the next school year. His mom said he still always talked about how I was his favorite teacher. So sweet!

Here is the text of the note I sent home with the stationery, so you can see what I sent home.

 I know I already did a post today, but I just wanted to post a little bit more about this Tpt sale. It is teacher appreciation week, and this is always one of my favorite weeks. I don't know how they do it at other schools, but at my school the room mom would usually plan something for each day of the week. Some room moms would go all out, and others didn't do quite as much, but the parents were always so kind and gave me so much love! Not to mention the gifts they gave. Usually parents would pitch in and donate so that the room mom could get me gift cards and other gifts. The gifts were great, but it is also wonderful to feel appreciated. One year each student wrote me a letter and they made a book out of it. I loved it so much!

Anyway, in honor of teacher appreciation week, Teachers Pay Teachers is having a sale. Many stores participate in this sale and give 20% off. Then if you use code THANKYOU, you get an extra 10% off. Great deal!!
I am joining a linky to try and get more exposure for my store and get the word out about the sale.  This is a great way to see some of the sellers that will have products on sale. There are a lot of great blogs/stores on this linky, so click the picture to take a look.

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a sitewide teacher appreciation sale, and I am participating!! You can get 20% off if you use code THANKYOU when you buy. Click the picture below to head to my store.