Quiet Mode!

Hello all,

I just wanted to write a quick post to let you know what's happening here at Little Green HQ.

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At the beginning of the year, I decided that the time had come for me to undertake a Masters course in Teacher Librarianship, something I have been planning to do for a long time. As the first semester continued, I realised that I would not be able to devote much time to the Little Green blog or shop while I study. I made the difficult decision to close down the sale part of the Little Green shop (freebies are still available) and to put on hold all future plans for this blog. As I near the end of my second semester of study, I know I made the right choice.

So, apologies for being so quiet, a state that is likely to continue until the end of 2015, when my course is complete. I plan to pop in from time to time to update you of my progress, so please feel free to stay subscribed, as you will be first to know the future of Little Green as it unfolds!

In the meantime, you can follow my journey through my Masters degree over on my university blog (which I am completing as part of my studies), if you wish. I am learning so much about the value of the school library and what it means to serve the school as a teacher librarian. And all you teachers and principals out there, please value and advocate for your teacher librarians!

Before I shoot off to get back to study and assignment writing, I just wanted to remind you about a freebie in the Little Green store that is just the ticket for your upcoming Halloween celebrations: Little Green's free Spooky Bookmarks.

Get yours here!

Happy Halloween!

I Heart Valentines Day Freebie

Over the Sydney summer, things have been a little quiet at Little Green HQ. Posts have been few and far between, and this poor little blog has been looking a little unloved. To remedy this lack of love and to announce that Little Green is back from summer holidays, I thought I'd start the Aussie school year (school starts back this week) with a little freebie for Valentines Day.

Yep, hot on the heels of my popular Christmas and Halloween bookmark sets is this little love offering that you may wish to use as a reward or gift for your students on February 14th.

It showcases some gorgeous graphics from a whole bunch of my favourite artists, including Mel at Graphics From The Pond, Whimsy Workshop and A Sketchy Guy. A full list of artists is available on the credits page in your download.

Grab your copy here.

In case you missed it, I recently wrote a guest post over at the One, Two Three: Math Time! blog about different ways to use a Hundred Chart. Pop over and have a look here for some fabulous ideas.

And I know I do keep harping on about it, but it really is happening imminently: a massive giveaway is coming SOON! And I mean super soon, so be sure to follow the Little Green blog so you don't miss a thing!

Oh, before I forget, Happy Australia Day to all my fellow Aussies! And enjoy your first week back at school!

Freebie Friday: FLASH FREEBIE!!!

Eek! It has been an extremely busy week and I have sorely neglected this blog! I couldn't let Friday go by without a freebie though! But get in quick - this one will only be a freebie for a very limited time!

Get your copy here.

Happy Friday!

Freebie Friday: Learn to Spell There, Their and They're with Pirate Monkeys!

Arr! Welcome to another Freebie Friday! Today's freebie is a sweet little poster featuring some adorable pirate monkeys!

Enough said, right? Get yours here.

Have a great weekend!

Freebie Friday: Persuading Santa - a Creative Writing Activity

Welcome to another Freebie Friday. I'll keep it short and sharp today - here is your freebie!

Get yours here. Enjoy!

Guest Post at One, Two, Three: Math Time!

Hi all, just a quick post to let you know about my latest guest post over at the One, Two, Three: Math Time! blog. My post is all about teaching angles.

Mentioned in the post are two new products in the Little Green store: an Angle Scoot and a free Angle Identification Poster. Be sure to check out the post to find out more!

Freebie Friday: Christmas Bookmarks

It's time for another Freebie Friday, and this week the official countdown to Christmas begins at Little Green HQ. Yep, I know it's November, but the end of the year is looming ever so close, and we all need to get organised, right? With that in mind, Little Green presents your first Christmas freebie of the season: Christmas Bookmarks!

This set of cheery bookmarks feature festive clip art from KPM Doodles and gorgeous glitter from Sonya DeHart.

Use them as rewards, use them as gifts or keep them for yourself, it's entirely up to you! Get yours here!

In keeping with the Christmas theme, another new resource has just gone up in the Little Green store: Maths Fraction Task Cards.

As you can see, these little babies will fit in beautifully with your Christmas or Winter theme, but I've deliberately kept the theme subtle so that the cards can be used all year round.

The cards are designed to help your students become more fluent in halves, quarters and eighths. They align to the Australian Curriculum for Year 2 and the NSW Syllabus for Stage 1, but they would also be suitable for higher grades who need to work on their fluency before diving into more difficult fractions. Lots of word problems have been included, as well as visual problems.

Plans are afoot for more fraction task cards to match this set, so watch this space! In the meantime, this set of cards is on sale for a limited time, so get in quick! Get your copy here!

It may be just a tad too early to say Merry Christmas, so I'll just say have a great weekend instead!

Freebie Friday: The Three Little Pigs

No time for chit chat today - there's a freebie to give away! Without further ado, Little Green presents The Three Little Pigs!

I've found it difficult to find a version of this story book that I like, so when I came across these great graphics from Scrappin Doodles, I decided to make my own! Here are a few sample pages from the story. As you'll see, the wolf does come to a grizzly end in this version of the story.

You can get your copy here. Enjoy your weekend!

Freebie Friday: Owl Number Posters 1-10

Happy Friday everyone! Here in Sydney, we are now at the half-way point of our last term of the year, which means summer holidays are only a stone's throw away! Every time Friday comes around again, I'm sure teachers all over our state are doing a happy dance!

To add to the joy, here is your freebie for the week: Owl Number Posters 1-10!

If you have been following the Little Green blog for a while or if you've had a good old poke around the Little Green store, you might recognise these little guys. Yep, that's right, a product you would previously have paid for in the Little Green store is now FREE!!! I have a list of customers who previously purchased this product - email me (littlegreenteacher@gmail.com) with your TpT username if you are one of them, and, once I check that you are on my list, I'll email you the Little Green product of your choice to say thank you.

Here's a closer look at one of the posters from the pack.

Click here to get your very own copy!

These posters also happen to work in very well with the new Understanding Ten pack in the Little Green store, which still happens to be on sale!

Enjoy your freebie and your weekend!

Freebie Friday: Butterfly Ten Frames!

Happy Friday! Now that Halloween is done and dusted for another year, I'm sure we are all ready for the exact opposite of all the spooky, scary things we've been looking at for the last month. With that in mind, this Friday's freebie is all sorts of softness and beauty: Butterfly Ten Frames!

Featuring the beautiful artwork of Helen Ziga, these ten frames are sure to be a hit with the Preschool and Infants set!

There are ten frames for all numbers from 1-10, and there are two ten frames to a page. You could use the ten frames as flash cards, for one-to-one correspondence counting or for any number of games that involve ten frames!

I hope your students enjoy using the ten frames and I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Freebie Friday: Hundreds Chart

Thank goodness it is Friday! Time for another freebie from the Little Green store: a hundreds chart.

We all know and love hundreds charts - they are a fantastic way to help our students see the patterns in their times tables, as well as having a smorgasbord of other uses! There is nothing super special about the hundreds charts I have created, other than that they use a beautiful background from Prettiful Designs, a chalkboard from Sonya DeHart and fonts by Jen Jones.

As well as the starter model shown above, we have the no-title model...

...the black-and-white-printable model...

...and the black-and-white-printable-no-title model!

You can get your copy here. I hope you find it super-useful, whichever version you decide to use!

Top 5 Pins of the Week: thoughtful logs, flashcards, macaroni punctuation, weather task cards & writer's workshop!

It's Monday again, and at Little Green HQ, that means I've spent lots of time on Pinterest in order to find HEAPS of goodies to share with you all. Here's what I've found this week:

5. Thoughtful Log

Leanne over at the Life in 4B blog has written a detailed post about how she uses 'thoughtful logs' with her students. In these structured journals, students write about the texts they read, among other things. Leanne's students clearly are, as a result, great thinkers! One of the fabulous ideas that will be helpful to us all, whether we choose to have our students keep a 'thoughtful log' or not, is photographing anchor charts and having students glue a copy in their notebooks. This is an excellent way for students to access anchor charts beyond the classroom. Thanks Leanne!

4. Storing Personalised Flashcards

This great idea comes from Judy Baxter on Flickr. She has shared a terrific way of storing a student's personalised flash cards in a makeshift folder that divides the known from the unknown. This could, of course, work for whole-class cards as well. Thanks Judy!

3. Macaroni Punctuation

Heather at the HoJo's Teaching Adventures blog has posted photos of a fabulous activity she worked on with her class, also inspired by Pinterest! Using dried macaroni, students were able to add speech marks, commas and apostrophes to a passage written on large sheets of paper. Thanks Heather!

2. Weather Task Cards

Working on weather with your 3rd, 4th or 5th graders? The Science Penguin has you covered! These great FREE task cards will have your students reviewing all the terminology and conventions you have been teaching them about reading and predicting the weather. Thanks Science Penguin!

1. Writer's Workshop

Ever wanted to know how other people structure their writing time in the classroom? Steph over at the Apples of Your Eye blog has given us a sneak peak into her writer's workshop time. She has some great ideas for organising writing time and has included this terrific graphic, created by a lovely person named Donna. Thanks Steph and Donna!

I hope these pins have inspired you! Be sure to check out my Pinterest boards for more inspiration!

Guest Post at One, Two, Three: Math Time!

Hi all, I hope you've had a great weekend! Just a quick post to let you know that I am making a guest appearance once again on the One, Two, Three: Math Time! blog.

The post is all about data and graphs, and I've included a link to a great little freebie poster that I'm sure you'll love. It looks a little like this:

Enjoy the week ahead!

Freebie Friday: Flash Freebie!

Hi all, welcome to another Friday! Today's freebie comes in the form of a flash freebie. That's right, this is a limited time freebie that will be available for today only, then will be returning to its usual price. Up for grabs is one of my favourite resources in the Little Green store: Creative Writing Dice.

Yes, I know I've harped on about this resource over the last week or so, but I just love it! Included in your download are three dice templates. One for characters...

...one for settings...

...and one for actions.

Students roll each of the dice to determine the three non-negotiable parts of the story that they will then write. Trust me. It is ace.

So, for ONE DAY ONLY, you will be able to download this resource FOR FREE! I would love if you could rate this resource and provide a short feedback comment while you are there, particularly as this resource is yet to be rated. It only takes a moment, but it really makes my day! Get your freebie here, but be quick!

Enjoy your weekend!

Freebie Friday: Spooky Addition Task Cards

It's Freebie Friday again! Woo hoo! Today's freebie goes out to all you Year 1 and 2 teachers: Spooky Addition Task Cards!

These 12 spooky task cards will have your students adding three whole numbers together in no time and are great for developing fluency in older students too!

Also included is a recording sheet...

...and answers, so your students can mark their own work.

Halloween is not too far away now, and there will be more spooky freebies to come before it comes! Enjoy your weekend!

Top 5 Pins of the Week: non-fiction notes, place value slider, pyramid dioramas, rekenreks and lapbooks!

Happy Monday! It is back to school for us here in Sydney this week, but we have had an extra day's reprieve with a long weekend public holiday. Time for some inspiration to get us back into the mood for school!

5. Non-Fiction Notes

Get it here!

What better way to start our countdown than with a freebie?! Jessica Heeren has created a fabulously free two-page graphic organiser to help students organise their thoughts while reading non-fiction texts. If you decide to download this fantastic freebie, be sure to leave a rating and a short feedback comment to show Jessica some love! Thanks Jessica!

4. Place Value Slider

See it here!

Suzie over at the 'Suzie's Home Education Ideas' blog has devised a terrific place value manipulative to help students to understand place value. The best part about it is that Suzie has made it available as a free download! Included in the download is everything you see in the picture, as well as a three-digit version. Thanks Suzie!

3. Pyramid Dioramas

See it here!

What is a pyramid diorama? It is an innovative way for students to present information and show their learning. Jimmie Lanley has written all about them here and has included lots of pictures, templates and instructions, as well as a video tutorial to make it super easy for all of us to get in on the action. Thanks Jimmie!

2. DIY Rekenreks

Ever heard of rekenreks? Me neither, until I stumbled across this blog post via Pinterest! Rekenreks are a fantastic tool that can help students to have a greater concept of five and ten. They were originally developed by a Dutch mathematician, and the name loosely translates as 'calculation rack'. Donna Boucher, over at the Math Coach's Corner blog has developed an easy, inexpensive way to make your own rekenrek and has written a step-by-step tutorial on how to make them, using lots of detailed pictures. She has also kindly provided a link to a comprehensive free booklet on using rekenreks in the classroom. I'm super-keen to try rekenreks out in the classroom now and am so pleased to have another tool in the tool kit for Maths. Thanks Donna!

1. How to Make a Lapbook

Maybe you're already familiar with lapbooks, but I'd never even heard of them until a few weeks ago! If, like me, you're a newbie to lapbooks, this great little video will both introduce them and show you how to make them. Lapbooks are a great way to organise information and would be a fantastic study-helper for students. What a terrific idea! 

Be sure to check out the Little Green Pinterest page for more inspiring ideas!

For those heading back to school this week after holidays, all the best for the new term! For everyone else, keep on keeping on! 

Freebie Friday: Spooky Bookmarks!

It is the last Friday of the school holidays here in Sydney, so we are revving up for a busy term four. With Halloween coming up at the end of October, I thought I'd get in early and dedicate this week's freebie to the spookiest of holidays!

These spooky-but-cute bookmarks are sure to go down a treat with your students and could even be included with sweets for any trick-or-treaters that come to visit!

Get your free bookmarks here, and be sure to check out the rest of my Teachers Pay Teachers store too - I've been a busy little bee, uploading several new products over the holidays, and there are still more resources to come! Have a great weekend!

Freebie Friday: 5 Great Resources from TPT!

Who doesn't love a good freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers?

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With that in mind, on this Freebie Friday, I thought I'd share some of the 100% free gems I've found on my travels around TPT. If you do decide to download any of these great resources, be sure to say thank you by leaving an A+ rating and a positive comment. It only takes a moment, and it gives sellers a little happy boost to keep on creating great stuff!

Developing Number Sense

Get it here!

Your first freebie comes from fellow Aussie blogger, Alison Hislop, who goes by AliMath on TPT. Alison has created versatile worksheet that you can use with your students to have them working daily with numbers. Also included in the download are several variations on the worksheet, so you are sure to find one that suits your cohort. You can download your copy here. If you'd like to read Alison's blog, you will find it here.

Cookie Counters

Get it here!

Mmm... cookies! This freebie comes from another Aussie blogger named Shanyn, who blogs over at Coffee, Kids and Compulsive Lists. She has created these great little clip art cookies that could be used for so many different things, for example: counting, subitising, ordering, and addition. Included in your download are black and white 'line art' versions, so you can add them to worksheets without wasting all the colour ink! Now, I know not everyone is into clip art as much as I am, but these little cookies are so versatile, I'm sure you are dreaming up a thousand uses for them, even as you read this! Get your free cookie download here.

Lesson Planner Template

Get it here!

This freebie comes from Michelle Brosseau, who blogs over at Mrs. Brosseau's Binder. Michelle has created a beautiful lesson planner template, that she has graciously shared for free. It is editable too, so if some of her categories don't apply to your situation, you can change it up to suit you. You can print and hand-write on your lesson planner, or you could type your lesson plans up. I just love the bright colours - anything that makes planning more cheerful gets a big thumbs up from me! Get your free template here.

Making 10 Game... with Monsters!

Get it here!

This freebie comes from Regan Tunstall, who blogs over at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. Regan has made this cute little game using adorable monster clip art, and the rules are simple enough for little ones to follow, so everyone should be able to join in the fun. The game works like 'Concentration' - the cards are face down and two cards are turned over in a turn. If the two numbers add together to make ten, the player takes the cards. This game would be great to play in a Maths rotation or with a partner. Get your free download here.

Editable Name Plates

Get it here!

The final freebie for today comes from another Aussie - The Teacher Gene. These little name plates are both cute and practical, and, best of all, they feature owls! Owls are my favourite! One of the great features of the download is that there are excellent, step-by-step instructions included for editing, so that when you have a long name to write in, you don't need to panic when it won't fit! Get your free name plates here.

I hope you get good use out of at least one of these great products, if not all of them! Don't forget to say thank you to the sellers when you download, and be sure to check out their stores to look at their paid resources as well. Don't forget also that there are HEAPS of freebies in the Little Green store for you to download and use. Have a great weekend!