Do you have a punch bowl set? Are you looking to reduce the amount of plastic your family uses? If so, you may enjoy this easy solution.

As I was looking to use less plastic overall, I realized I had a bunch of glass cups already in my basement- the glasses from our punch bowl set. Ta da! Now I use them every day.

You have to be careful with young kids and glass, but we’ve been lucky so far and not broken any of them. I personally use them for myself more than for the kids, but they do use them too. They’re not very large, but they’re great for a quick refreshment. And, they’re cute.

~Carrie

 

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All coupons aren’t created equal.

Here are some ways to spot the good ones:

• It doesn’t require you to buy 2 or more of the items (example: $1 off 2 items isn’t always great, but $1 off 1 item might be more of a keeper)

• It’s for a high dollar amount and you only have to buy 1 (example: $2 coupon for a $3 item)

• It’s for something healthy (fruit, veggies, nuts, organic items, etc.)

• If it’s for an item you buy regularly for your family

• If the item is on sale and then you use a coupon on top of the sale, you might end up with a pretty good deal (depending how good the sale price is)[spacer height

• If it’s a coupon to get an item completely free or “buy one get one free” can also be useful sometimes

 

I also do clip coupons for unhealthy things, just because I know we’re going to buy some fun treats and I don’t want to always pay full price for those treats if I don’t have to.

Some grocery stores double coupons up to $1. That means if you have a 50 cent coupon, it doubles to $1 and a 75 cent coupon will “double” and take $1 off. So, if you have a 50 cent coupon for something and your grocery store doubles automatically, you can end up with great savings, depending on the item.

Of course, these are general guidelines and only you know what is a good coupon for your particular family.

If you have a nice coupon that you don’t want to forget about, write the expiration date in your planner/calendar. This will help ensure it gets used by the expiration date.

Let us know of any other tips you have for spotting a good coupon! Best of luck finding some coupon gems!

~Carrie

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Guided reading groups are such an important part of the school day. I compiled this list of possible guided reading group teaching points:

Word Attack:

• What would make sense?
• Did that look right? (Did what I said match the letters?)
• Did that sound right?
• Chunk the word into parts
• Self-correcting if what you said didn’t look right or make sense
• Make an attempt with initial sound of unknown word
• Try a strategy instead of moving on
• Cross check picture and first sound of word
• Check ending of word to see if it matched what you said
• Skip and come back to the word after reading to the end of the sentence

 

I hope these are useful to you!

The above list of word attack skills are part of my Guided Reading Monitoring Sheets and Ideas resource. Be sure to check it out if you’re interested in having the word attack skills in a printable form along with more guided reading resources (like comprehension skills and monitoring sheets).

~Carrie

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Save those cereal box liners. There are many eco-friendly/budget-friendly uses for them!

1. A bag for when you’re making puppy chow (the snack)

One of our favorite treats to make is Chex Mix puppy chow. Instead of using a Ziploc bag when it’s time to shake up the mixture of Chex Mix, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and powdered sugar, I use a cereal box liner (free!). Then, I can just toss the liner in the trash when we’re done shaking up the mixture to coat the Chex.

2. Crushing foods for baking

When a recipe requires I crush graham crackers or Oreo cookies, I use a rolling pin and a cereal box liner. You can fold the top over and tape it so it’s fairly sealed. I like to make Oreo truffles this time of year, so it works great for that. Again, it’s a great way to save on the expense of Ziploc bags and you don’t feel guilty not washing it out to save after you’re done with it.

3. Extra trash can liner

I keep a little trash can near my kitchen lined with cereal box liners, hamburger bun bags, or regular bags from the grocery store. This way, I throw food trash in there that may cause my regular kitchen trash can to smell. I empty it daily and we never have the problem of our regular trash can getting stinky before it’s full.

Please share in the comments of any other uses for these handy bags.
~Carrie

 

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It’s not too late to start a Christmas countdown! I downloaded this cute Santa freebie from Teacher Pay Teachers. The Teachers Pay Teachers site is for anyone. You don’t have to be a classroom teacher to find great resources there!

Santa Countdown

I printed it in black and white, so my daughter and I glued red squares to the hat that we had cut out from sale ads. Just glue a cotton ball every day and it’s a fun way to count down to Christmas!

There were a few similar free Christmas countdowns available on Teachers Pay Teachers. Just search “Santa Advent Calendar” or “Santa Countdown” and pick your favorite.

~Carrie