Lovely Turtle for your Desk


One of my lovely instagram followers requested a 'turtle' themed screen wallpaper. Hello, green and cute - I'm in! I love getting requests - if you have one please let me know.

We 'd love to share this fun new design with you, to make your home and classroom electronic boards, iPads, computers and phones happy and bright this week.

Simply download the images from google drive from the links below. Store them on your camera roll and choose them for your screen saver and/or wallpaper!

Find the Computer Screensaver HERE
and the Phone Screensaver HERE

{These are for your personal use only and cannot be redistributed or shared}

Do you love decorating your teacher desk space?

You are in the right place! I do too. I hang a new week plan on the wall adjacent to my desk every week. Here I put all my key tasks and a focus for the day. A great tip is to jot in down the day before as you pack up for the day or evening. 

Here is a little turtle themed planner I made for the week! 


Find more posts and goodies for your 'teacher space' HERE
Find more screen wallpapers HERE

Thank you so much for visiting us here on the blog. Have a beautiful, happy week. 

One Page Craft Pack 6

We are thrilled to let you know that the much-requested One Page Craft Pack 6 is ready! Our one page crafts allow you to easily prep an integrated craft and writing experience for your students. All the template pieces needed for a child is included on one single piece of paper. 



Like all our one page craft packs, this edition includes 20 different and fun paper crafts for your little learners. A few of our new favorites include:

Autumn Tree


Crazy Carrot


Ice Cream Stack 


Other included projects are:

  • Crocodile
  • Square Cat
  • Seagull
  • Cylinder Bee
  • Stretchy Owl
  • Caramel Apple
  • Milk Man
  • Monster
  • Stand Up Cat
  • Beehive
  • Wizard
  • Giraffe
  • Square Pumpkin
  • Mailbox
  • Rainbow and Rain
  • Loopy Lamb
  • Turtle
We have prepared an accompanying pack of writing papers. Use these for a range pf writing tasks to encourage students to write with their craft character in mind.


I would love to share a sample from this new pack with you today. You may have caught me on Instagram - preparing this turtle project from sketch and through the design process. 

Find it HERE in Google Drive along with the writing papers. 


This pack includes 20 projects and took me about a month to create in entirety. 

Brett and I run From the Pond on our own, as a small family business. We don't have a factory full of workers at computers replicating ideas to mass produce. Nor do we pay other people to write for us. Our printables are made from scratch by me and we value highly being able to carefully make sure each and every page is to the highest standard. None of this would be possible without you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your support is the only thing that allows us to do what we do. 


Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today and I do hope you love the turtle - it was a joy to design him with you over on Insta. I loved being able to stop and chat with you as he progressed! 

Owl Week Planner

I have an owl shaped planner ready for next week - I love adding one to the wall near my desk to jot down a big focus for each day {or to give Brett a reminder}!

I would love you to have it too.



Find it in Google Drive, HERE

How to use the mini week planners

Our printable mini week planners were originally created to be a to-do list for the wall or desk. Lots of you have given me feedback to say you use them differently. Some being:
  • in planners and diaries 
  • in student journals
  • in the classroom
  • for goal setting, planning or to do lists
I am sure you can think of a stack more. 

Simply download the file, print and cut. I have included both color and blackline versions. 

Other mini week planners

Find more of these printable cuties here on the blog

Lovely cute Owl things

We have added a sweet owl design to our Red Bubble store. If you love owls as much as us, head over to find tote bags, coffee mugs, cushions, notebooks, journals and more!



Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today - take a moment to sign up to our newsletter so you don't miss our weekly update of news and new products. 

Owl books and friendship

I'd love to share some of our favorite owl stories with you today. This post contains some Amazon affiliate links. 


 Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor is a lovely fun and engaging story. I loved the humour and subtle irony in the text and my son Sam adored the illustrations and gentle silliness of Hoot Owl. This book is perfect for introducing some basic figurative language. 'The night has a thousand eyes and two of them are mine', for example could be used perfectly as a mentor sentence and unpacked to understand metaphors. 


Owl Babies by Martin Waddell would be ideal to read accompanying a lesson on the comprehension strategy of making connections. This story is very relatable for most children who would be able to recount a time in their life when they missed their mother or someone else with whom they share a close bond. It would also provide an opportunity to introduce the skill of inferring. I noticed that Sam kept track of the details emerging on each page of the three little owls and how they gave clues to their personality, particularly Bill. He inferred from the illustrations and Bill's dialogue that he was the baby, or the more needy of the three and by the end of the story was anticipating or making predictions about him.


Owl Bat Bat Owl by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is a wordless story, providing opportunities for students to find meaning in the illustrations and perhaps tell the story themselves. I would suggest giving them plenty of time to study the pictures.

A bat family arrives on the home branch of the owl family and at first it appears that things will not end well. Themes of friendship, acceptance and tolerance can be explored. Flip the book upside down to consider things from a different perspective too!


Sam and the Firefly by P.D Eastman was perfect for us this week. Of course Sam loves that his name is featured in this story but he has become so confident in his reading that he was able to read this one to me (cue huge big fat mumma tears). There were lots of sight words to reinforce and rhyming words to encounter while still uncovering quite an entertaining story. Sam the owl longs for a friend and he finds Gus the firefly. Antics ensue, which are appealing to little ones like my Sam who is beginning to be very interested in writing words, playing tricks and making new friends.

Reading this story provides opportunities to stop and discuss friendship and how the actions of each character impact their relationship. Sam the owl enjoys the tricks of Gus initially but soon notices that Gus' behaviour is worrisome. He shows admirable friendship qualities by:

  • encouraging his friend to have fun, but to do the right thing
  • telling Gus the truth - 'Stop your tricks', 'Stop, Gus! Stop!'
  • standing by Gus and being loyal  - 'Sam was there too'
  • encouraging him to do the right thing and use his talents in a positive way
  • forgiving him and reestablishing the friendship after a disagreement 
All of these qualities can be discussed and related to personal experiences of the children in your class too.



Make an anchor chart of qualities of a good friend and some behaviours that good friends demonstrate. Ask some of your students to role play how these look and sound to an observer. Talk about strategies for friendship when things are not always happy and positive. 

Friendship is a complex and at times abstract concept for little ones to understand. Remind them that sometimes friendship is 'up' and sometimes it is 'down' and that this is very normal. 

I've prepared a worksheet that you can use following on from a story about friendship. Ask your students to draw or write 4 things they can do as a good friend. 


Find it in Google Drive HERE


If you need some visual reminders of friendship qualities in your learning space, we have just added a new printable pack to our store. Find them HERE



Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today, I would love to have you sign up to our newsletter so we can stay connected!

Happy Owl Screensaver


Mel from Victoria, Australia is one of my super sweet instagram followers. She loves owls and when I asked for ideas for new wallpapers she requested one with cute owls. Um, how could I say no, ANY excuse to draw another owl thank you very much.

We 'd love to share this pretty new design with you, to make your home and classroom electronic boards, iPads, computers and phones happy and bright this week.


Simply download the images from google drive from the links below. Store them on your camera roll and choose them for your screen saver and/or wallpaper!

Find the Computer Screensaver HERE
and the Phone Screensaver HERE

{These are for your personal use only and cannot be redistributed or shared}

Coordinating Printables

I've also added this design, in print quality to the 'Banner and Paper' pack. This pack allows you to coordinate your home office or classroom elements with printable papers, folder covers and banner pennants.

Do you love decorating your teacher desk space?

Find more posts and goodies for your 'teacher space' HERE
Find more screen wallpapers HERE

Thank you so much for visiting us here on the blog. Have a beautiful, happy week. 

Owl news




I wanted to take a moment to show you an owl one page craft I just made. 

One Page Craft

A one page craft is a project you can do with your students that has all the pieces you need on one single piece of paper. Perfect for prepping quickly and managing the experience with a room of 30 little hands!

One page crafts are so popular because:
  • they are fast to prep;
  • they have a completed project image guide included on the page for students to look at as they make their craft (assists with assembly);
  • your little learners can practice cutting with our nice thick bold template lines and arrange the shapes to make their craft; and
  • included with each one page craft is a writing page so students can write a story to go along with their creation. 

Grab your free owl craft

We send out our owl template as a welcome gift for new newsletter subscribers - sign up and we will send it directly to your inbox!

Our newsletter keeps you informed of new printables we are selling, teaching ideas, content we have posted in our various channels of communication and some exclusive free downloads and offers. You can unsubscribe at any time. 

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Let's owl be friends!

let's owl be friends quote


Over the last few weeks we have brought you some blog posts on the importance of classroom routines, goals and establishing classroom community at the beginning of the school year. Once some of these basics are covered, friendship skills can be a great topic to explore next. You may have already engaged your class in some 'get to know you' and 'all about me' activities - some discussion about friendship and how to be a good friend will help your classroom community and ultimately the learning of your students as they are happy at school. 

Discussing friendship

To engage your students in a lesson on friendship:
  • first read a story, The Little White Owl (amazon link) is a great one
  • make an anchor chart or poster with ideas for being a good friend
  • Check out this pin for an anchor chart and ideas
  • ask students to think of experiences they have had with friends and how these experiences reflected positive friendship - ask them to turn and talk to a peer and recount these ideas
  • have students listen to some short scenarios and determine who is being a good friend and why/why not

Friendship poster

I did a sketch on instagram today and several followers asked for it to be made into a coloring page. I took the opportunity to create a poster for you as well. Both are perfect to accompany a lesson on friendship - especially with a little 'owl' twist. 

lets owl be friends free worksheet


lets owl be friends worksheet freebie

Find it in Google Drive HERE

Owl friendship posters

We also added a more comprehensive friendship skills poster pack to our store today. It includes 10 engaging visuals to discuss the traits of a good friend. A blackline version is included, of each poster, these can be used as coloring pages or as a writing stimulus in student journals. 

I'd love you to stop by the blog again - and read the newsletter - for some more owl and friendship skills posts later this week. 







Class Reading Log

Class reading logs are a great way to continue the classroom community you have established in the early weeks of school. Reading books to the class is a lovely shared experience, upon which you can reflect for learning in the curriculum areas of your program and also the social goals of your classroom.

Keep a list of the books you have read so that students can reflect back when the need arises. This is especially helpful to encourage students to make text-text connections in comprehension. If you have made anchor charts after shared and modelled reading, keep these also, so that you cab refer back to detail you found in the story.


We have added a cute crocodile themed class book log to our store. Use the pages in this file to create a growing book reading list display for your class.

Print the header and crocodile and multiple 'book stacks'. Create a display in your classroom by gluing the stacks to the crocodile's back. Upon each book spine you can write the titles of the books you read as a class.

We have included both a color and blackline version



Hop over to our TpT store to find this new printable! Thanks so much for stopping by our blog today, we hope you have a lovely week.


Crocodile Week Planner

Part of my weekend routine is to ready my home office for the week. I tidy, clean, declutter and change a few things - especially my desk-decor. It helps renew my focus and evokes creativity within me.  One thing I like to pop up on the wall near my desk is a simple week overview. I jot down the 'big task' for each day to give me focus. This week I have a crocodile shaped planner ready, and you can have it too! 


Find it in Google Drive, HERE

How to use the mini week planners

Our printable mini week planners were originally created to be a to-do list for the wall or desk. Lots of you have given me feedback to say you use them differently. Some being:
  • in planners and diaries 
  • in student journals
  • in the classroom
  • for goal setting, planning or to do lists
I am sure you can think of a stack more. 

Simply download the file, print and cut. I have included both color and blackline versions. 

Other mini week planners

Find more of these printable cuties here on the blog

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today - take a moment to sign up to our newsletter so you don't miss our weekly update of news and new products. 

Happy Rainbow Screen Wallpaper


Karen, one of my instagram followers requested another 'rainbow' themed screen wallpaper. No problem at all - any excuse for another rainbow! I love getting requests - if you have one please let me know.

We 'd love to share this fun new design with you, to make your home and classroom electronic boards, iPads, computers and phones happy and bright this week.


Simply download the images from google drive from the links below. Store them on your camera roll and choose them for your screen saver and/or wallpaper!

Find the Computer Screensaver HERE
and the Phone Screensaver HERE

{These are for your personal use only and cannot be redistributed or shared}

Coordinating Printables

I've also added this design, in print quality to the 'Banner and Paper' pack. This pack allows you to coordinate your home office or classroom elements with printable papers, folder covers and banner pennants.

Do you love decorating your teacher desk space?

Find more posts and goodies for your 'teacher space' HERE
Find more screen wallpapers HERE

Thank you so much for visiting us here on the blog. Have a beautiful, happy week. 

Books for Back to School

Over the last couple of weeks we've shared some ideas for classroom goals and routines. Both are very important for beginning to develop your classroom community. Books are another beautiful way to start to progress to some more rigorous academic work, while still reinforcing the routine and community based focus you should have in the early weeks of school. 

I've selected just a few stories from our home library that you could integrate into your program. This post contains some Amazon affiliate links. This makes no difference to your experience but we may earn a small commission if you click on one or purchase a book. 


Why do books help community?

  • Shared reading is a sure way to engage your students. The vast majority of students will settle quickly for a story.
  • Many behaviour expectations can be authentically reinforced during shared reading - effective listening, classroom seating and discussion routines. 
  • Shared reading provides an opportunity to build relationships with students. They can start to get to know you, and your voice, as you chat informally about the book and discuss ideas.  
  • Responding to texts as a whole class, after your morning read, will allow you to gradually unfold and develop some key expectations you have for independent work by students. 

Dog Days of School

Dog Days of School is a great story that students will love. It is funny, relatable and unfolds at a good pace. There is a subtle underlying message of appreciating your normal routine - as boring as it sometimes seems - which will make a great source of reflection on your classroom daily routine and how important it is.


Juicy Juicy Green Grass is a bright happy book and CD that includes 4 of Peter Combe's favorite songs. Your little learners will just love learning some catchy songs at the beginning of the year. Singing is a wonderful way to establish classroom community as you can all join in, laugh and be a little silly. My Sam loves to look at the pictures in this book and read the words based on the songs we sing, boosting his confidence in reading.


The Big Umbrella is a lovely short read that will help you introduce the concept of inclusion and kindness in a practical way. The umbrella in the story is never too small to protect everyone. Stay tuned for a fun craft later this week to accompany this beautiful story. 


The Selfish Crocodile will provide you with an opportunity to discuss negative behaviours in the classroom and strategies to improve them. Friendliness, helpfulness and community are also explored. The story and illustrations are engaging and its pace and plot make it perfect for encouraging the development of the 'predicting' comprehension strategy. Stop and ask students to talk about what might come next in the story and what aspects so far make them think this.


Speaking of crocodiles, read The Greedy Crocodile, a collection of Australian stories by acclaimed indigenous author Sally Morgan to compare and contrast. This detailed story is perfect for second to third graders who are ready for a longer text with limited illustrations. 


I would love to share a free printable book report with you today that can be used throughout the year for students to record some ideas about one of the favorite reads. 



Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today. Be sure to sign up to our email newsletter - I have an exclusive freebie scheduled to be sent out in a few days and more ideas for children's books at the beginning of the school year.