Product Review and a Freebie!

So I am super excited because not to long ago I WON, yes lil' old me who never seems to win at anything, actually won giveaway! I won Flap Jack Educational Resources's giveaway... I got to choose which of her "Classroom Packs" I wanted for my very own! You know what hard? Deciding which one I wanted!!! She has so many great choices: (click each item to see them in Tabitha's TpT store, she also has a Teachers Notebook store) Owl Theme, Beach Theme, Jungle Theme, Monster Theme, and Rainbow Theme. It really was hard for me to decide - I teach kindergarten so I narrowed it down to beach, jungle and rainbow (but honestly I love them all)... after much thinking and debating, and I mean serious thinking and pondering and thinking some more I finally decided on the Rainbow packet!! My classroom is very colorful - each table is assigned a color: red, blue, yellow or green. All of my buckets, baskets and bins are coordinated to match these colors. Now call it laziness or what have you but I decided that the rainbow theme would be easily incorporated right into my room without having to redo everything. Truth be told there are so many projects I have pinned this year that I wanted to focus on getting some of those fun projects done rather than try and reinvent my entire classroom theme!

Anyways, so I finally emailed my wonderful friend Tabitha over at Flap Jack Educational Resources and told her my final decision... boy was I in for a surprise 2 emails later I received 162 wonderful pages of rainbow themed items for my classroom. So what was in the packet?? Umm, everything I can think of and then some, no really, Tabitha went above and beyond with this packet and I can say I have a lot to learn about making resources for my classroom - but with people like Tabitha out there I can focus on making other items and continue to purchase her wonderful packets! (I've included links for any items that are sold individually... go check them out for yourself!)

How could you not fall in love with these bookmarks?

1. Alphabet Posters - 26 large alphabet cards each with an image as well as the upper case and lower case letter. We are mandated to hang the alphabet that matches our phonics program BUT I love the idea of hanging this alphabet above the one we have to hang, or just hang it somewhere else in the room - the corresponding images ('key words' as we call them) are different than the ones we use so it'll be good exposure for my kids. I'm also thinking I can print these on a smaller scale and make a matching game with them or just have them on a small binder ring and use for drill sound practice! Oh the possibilites are endless...
2. Stickers/Labels - Tabitha goes so far as to tell you exactly which labels as well as the dimensions of the labels so you make sure you purchase and use the correct ones (so thoughtful!)! I LOVE IT! There is one sheet of pre-designed labels and one with labels you can edit and write on yourself. Love them!
3. Bookmarks - there are two different bookmarks with this set and the sayings on them are too cute! I'm thinking of using these either as incentives OR as the kids move on to 'Just Right Books' they can earn a bookmark.
4. Calendar Set - Ok this set is awesome. It includes months of the year, days of the week, as well as three different sets of numbers which various images to practice patterns AND cards that say: 'Today is,' 'Tomorrow will be,' 'Yesterday was." I've been looking to spruce up my calendar area and I can't wait to use these new pieces!!! Cut, laminate add velcro or magnets and poof brand new calendar center!
5. Birthday Display - This has a poster to list all the birthdays on one page - how cute it would be if you print it out and bring it to a copy center to enlarge and laminate OR print and put in a picture frame so you can use it over and over again (you know what I'm talking about - those wipe off picture frames that are ALL over pinterest lately... check my boards if you don't know!) If you want a more personal approach you can use the individual pieces to make a month by month display... I'm thinking of using the individual pieces to make toppers for birthday straws or pencils!
6. Class Helpers - with 26 different jobs and four blank cards your job board is all set! I actually purchased a 'handy helper' large bulletin board display BUT I would have to hand write all the jobs onto the chart and that's sooooo not going to happen, so now I can pick the jobs I want and just tack them on! LOVE IT! Plus as I was looking over the jobs I saw 'table captain' and inspiration hit! Each month I change the seats in my room. When I change seats I also need to change table monitors - how cute would it be to make a chart of some kind using the table monitor label from this packet and just rotate the names in and out!! 
7. Coupons - I don't use coupons in my class, but I have to say after seeing this set of 10 different coupons I can see how they would be great incentives!!! I may have to find a way to incorporate these into my room this year.
8. Groups - I love these labels and already have plans for them! I plan on printing them larger and then using them as the center of my tables... I also think I will be using these to label some of my colored bins! Oh I can't wait... 
9. Templates - how awesome is this!! Ten whole pages of different templates - nothing on them just beautiful templates that you can do as you please... and the best part... later in the packet Tabitha explains how you can import these items into PowerPoint and add text boxes to personalize them for your own classroom! How thoughtful and wonderful is she?!?!
10. Mini-Notes - I can see printing these on labels and putting them on my students homework packets when they are complete or even letting them wear them at the end of the day! 
11. Name Tags - 7 different kinds... WOW! My personal favorite is the first set! I love the colors and I LOVE the hands that are labeled left and right... so helpful! I also love that since these are on the computer as the kids destroy them year goes on and they need to be replaced I don't have to worry about trying to buy more, instead I can just hit print and poof I have new name tags!






Newsletters - These pages are super cute and come in both full color and black and white - I LOVE the colored ones but am super excited for the black and white ones as printing 25 or more full colored newsletters will use quite a lot of ink!! I also love that again, Tabitha suggests putting these right into PowerPoint so you can type on them and make them look all pretty.
Numbers 0-20 - Not only are these numbers large and bright and cheerful they also have really cute hands on them to help the kids count! First off these are getting printed and laminated FULL sized to hang somewhere in my room, that goes without speaking... but I can also see printing these smaller in multiple sets and making matching games as well as quick images with them!
Postcards - 4 postcards on a page and 6 different sayings/styles Tabitha thought of everything. I'm thinking the very first ones "Are you reading for an exciting new year?" or the "Welcome" one would be great to print out and write/type a little note on the back and send it home with the kids maybe around their necks as a necklace OR just in their folders... you know, come to think of it if I make them into small necklaces I can write a note about something they might need to remember for the next day... how cute would that be?!?!
Student Binder Covers - We don't use binders in Kindergarten BUT these are way to cute to skip them so I am going to have to figure out HOW I can include these in my room this year!!
Teacher Materials - WOW!! This part is stuffed with wonderful items: Classroom Management binder cover, Planning binder cover, outstanding student award, forgot homework note (LOVE THIS and I KNOW I will be using this one this year!!), bathroom, hall and nurse passes (hmm, laminate and add magnets so they hang on the board I think I like that idea!),  questions/goals/objects/procedures/standard/schedule posters, a generic blank calendar (so cute), and finally a class list both in color and black and white! I have been seeing all the wonderful blogging teachers out there talking about teacher binders and decided I would make one this year... I can't wait to add these items into it!
Word Wall Labels - I love this wonderful colorful word wall... it comes with the title: "Word Wall" and then all the letters of the alphabet! 

Be sure to check out this super cute bulletin board set that I just found at Tabitha's TpT store for only $1.00!! It matches everything and would look really cute around the word wall!

FREEBIE ALERT: Don't forget to pick up the Short Vowel Sorting Mat Activity that also matches the rainbow theme.

To go with this set I am working on some sort of pennant to hang up either in my room OR in the hallway! I know, I know, everyone is doing it... and yes I am going to join them in this and make a pennant! It's just too cute to pass up the idea of doing it. Now I don't go back to school for another two weeks so I can't show you any pictures of how my room looks since I'm not there... BUT once I do get in and have all these wonderful things printed, cut and laminated (I'm thinking a trip to get card stock, LOTS of ink, and some laminating sheets are in order) I will show you lots of pictures! 


Don't forget to leave some love for my friend Tabitha either here or at her site:  Flap Jack Educational Resources telling her which product is your favorite or if you have new or inventive way of using one of her products we'd love to hear about it!