Fourth of July Blog Hop

Greetings friends and fans of fireworks, fun, and family picnics!

Welcome to our 4th of July Blog Hop!  I hope that you have plans to celebrate your holiday weekend in a festive way! I hope that you enjoy collecting all of the freebies my fellow bloggers have prepared, and be sure to enter the great giveaway we've organized for you using the Rafflecopter at the end of this post! 

I am also hosting another giveaway on my Facebook page today for a $10 TpT gift certificate so be sure to stop by to "like" the post and leave a comment with your e-mail there for a chance to win a shopping spree!  It is the Day 2 prize in my HAPPINESS IS....picnic basket full of my favorite things.  Consider it my way of showing my appreciation for your part in helping me "grow" this year!

 Feel free to tag a Facebook friend and "share" as well!  

I will announce the winner on Saturday evening!

Many of the free resources you will collect today are patriotic in theme or designed to help you start your school year off with a colorful and possibly star-spangled bang!  Before I share how I use mine in my classroom, I must first take a moment to honor all those who have already or are currently serving and protecting our country.  My respect and gratitude goes out to all of them, especially my nephew, Jason, who is an U.S. Army Captain.  After three tours, countless base trainings, and twelve years invested as an ROTC instructor, he is HOME safely and ready to return to civilian life--raising his young son, finding employment in the private sector, traveling to see friends in faraway places, and enjoying time with our extended family.  

"Jay-Man" was my first nephew, and will therefore always be my favorite.  His dry sense of humor, steadfast loyalty, and willingness to help and problem-solve in any situation will serve him well as he walks a new path, and I wish him well on his journey.  To paraphrase the poetry of Robert Frost and incorporate words my father shared with me when my "road diverged in a distant wood and I took the one less traveled by".....

"We are with you, Jay...."

Here is a picture of him in his captain's uniform, as well as a picture of my father, who was a soldier in World War II.  J.R. is the one on the far right in this infamous picture of "The Boney Brothers."

The sample product I am featuring today is a set of  

Salute to Citizenship 

posters that is designed to help you develop and establish a classroom learning community that is friendly, positive, cooperative, and collaborative.  

I introduce one  "WE CAN" statement per day at the beginning of the school year, and share related picture books by Helen Lester, Leo Lionni, Arnold Lobel, and Kevin Henkes to help reinforce the important and desired social skills for my second graders.  Some of my favorites are listed on the product's "Teacher Tip" page for your use!

After reading and discussing the lessons learned in these stories, I ask the group to share real life examples of each "We can be...." statement.  I then invite student pairs to help me role play and improvise short skits to model what each behavior should look and sound like and what it should not look and sound like.  

I also use these cut out stars labeled with the key words and concepts we are learning about to prompt student discussions about our "We Can" statements, and ask them to share real-life examples or situations for each one. 

My school counselor also comes in once a week throughout the first quarter to lead "Second Step" lessons that help teach problem-solving skills that students can use in case they encounter verbal or physical bullying. Experience has taught me that this time spent reviewing "life skills" during the first weeks of school is truly worthy and valuable, and usually leads to a very caring, courteous, supportive, and stress-free learning environment.

The posters can either be printed full-size, laminated, and displayed on a wall or bulletin board.  They can also be slipped inside plastic page protectors and kept in a three-ring binder for easy referral.   Printing four to a sheet and laminating each poster before putting them on a binder ring is another way to keep them handy or make individualized reminders for students who need them!  You can download this product from my TpT store {HERE}

Thank you in advance for leaving helpful feedback!

Know that your continued faith in and patronage of our blogs, stores, Facebook pages, and Pinterest boards is very much appreciated!  You will find my social media buttons underneath the flag-waving dog "blinkie" in the top-fight corner of this page, so be sure to use them to stay connected and receive notifications of sales, new products, more free resources, and giveaways!  

The fun icon is courtesy of Barbara over at  

Ruby Slippers Blog Designs.

The graphics featured in this holiday series of posts spotlight
the designs of these talented artists!  Thank you in advance
for patronizing their TpT stores!

As always, thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to continue on through the map below to collect more wonderful resources and complete the Rafflecopter for a chance to win some great gift cards.  The first four winners will receive $25 TpT gift cards, and the fifth winner will receive a $10 Target gift card! 

Know that I wish you the best as you teach on, share your story, hold a song in your heart, and wave a sparkler or two for the red, white, and blue!

Lyrics from God Bless the U.S.A. by Lee Greenwood

a Rafflecopter giveaway

An InLinkz Link-up