A Peek at My Week--Linky Party!

I'm so sad I missed last week!  But here I am again linking up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for her "A Peek at My Week" linky party!  I love to see what everyone's up to!

We have a four day week this week.  This weekend is our "Winter Break" where we simply have Friday and Monday off for a long weekend.  I can't complain because we've had so many snow days already!

I'm not even sure what to say for this week!  We are getting our new groups tomorrow.  I don't know anything about them yet so I can't even plan.  Yikes!  That's okay :)  What I do know is that I will miss my kids!  They're getting all shuffled around.

What I DO know, is that I purchased this fantastic Valentine's Day themed packet and will be using it for my Kindergarteners and possible some of it for my First Graders:

I love it because there's a little bit of everything in it with a cute Valentine's twist!  There's beginning, middle, end sounds, word families, sight words, consonant digraphs, etc.  They will be great transition tools for the week!  Click on the pic above to head to United Teaching's TPT store NOW because she's having a sale!

Speaking of transitions, I know I mentioned these last week but we will continue to do them this week as well.  

The thing I am most looking forward to this week is finishing these babies!  I've been inspired to keep creating these books (thank you to those purchasing in TPT btw).  I'm really excited to get these done and organized!  I hope you will enjoy them too!  I'm hoping to have these Consonant Digraph books done and in my TPT store by the end of the week!

Next week my outline of the week will be so much better and more organized!  Enjoy your week and keep checking back!

My CVCe Long Vowel Books...SO EXCITED!

ON A ROLL!  Wahoo!  So happy I got these done this weekend.  I have so many projects in the works!  I'm reorganizing all of my materials at work.  I was able to group a lot in one large binder.  Well I have so many wonderful resources now that I have to break each binder apart!  Every topic needs it's own binder now.  Big project considering I don't have time to work on it at work and it's too much to lug home!  Anyways, that's why I want these done!  I can add them into my CVCe binder for easy access!  Once I get my binders a bit more organized I will take pics!

There are two options for purchasing these books.  The first is to buy them individually (click on a book to head to my TPT store).

The second way to purchase is to buy the bundle (click on the image below to head to my TPT store).

Sadly, no one has entered any of my giveaways yet.  I will try again though!  I'm not giving up on you!  Anyone who comments today (Sunday, 2/9/14) as to how they would use this in their classroom will be entered to win the bundle for free!  Stay tuned for more products and updates!

Five for Friday!

It's Friday!  That means....Five for Friday!  Thank you Doodle Bugs Teaching !

 

Sunday was Groundhog Day and I fully intended on Monday being a day of groundhog fun for K-2.  The snow changed my plans and we've been doing a bit here and there (2 snow days and a delay so far, plus we are still alternating every other day between two different groups per grade).  The AWESOME AND FREE Roll and Read can be found at the KinderMyles TPT store.  LOVE IT!  I don't see the Build the Sentence one anymore but please check out Sheila Melton's TPT store because she really has some great stuff!

Soooo the snow needs to stop.  Just saying.  There's two more snowfalls in the forecast.  Blah.  I'm cold and want to be on a beach somewhere!

Since my oldest just turned 3 a few weeks ago, we decided to try him in the 3 year old gymnastics class.  He was in the 18 months-3 years class that allows parents in and is basically a free for all.  I was soooo nervous moving him but the teacher in me knows that he really needs to be with kids his own age where he needs to follow directions, take turns, etc.  He did great!  Hopefully he repeats the awesomeness on Saturday!

Since we seem to never be in school or see our groups a lot (new groups for Monday...yay!) I decided not to do something from LLI or Reading A-Z.  I opted for stories from these guys for 3-5.  I love them!  They are short leveled stories with comprehension questions.  What I LOVE is that there are three levels for each story.  The levels are Guided Reading and DRA based and can be found in the beginning of the book.  Then you find your level by 1, 2, or 3 dots in the bottom corner.  Each grade has different break ups of levels.  I believe they're available for 1st, 2nd, and 6th as well.  Love it!  I can extended the stories too by adding in a summary based on the DRA format for these grades as well.

This is what happens when you are stuck inside the house for numerous days because of the weather, have a son OBSESSED with stuffed animals (particularly dogs), and have a bunch of empty diaper boxes laying around.  We made dog/animal houses.  Three different sizes to be exact haha.  Just did the big one on the right last night.  He was so excited to be able to put the big dogs in a house! He has wayyyy too many stickers so I told him we should decorate the houses with them.  So fun!  At night we stack them in a corner on top of each other and put the animals to bed.  GREAT WAY TO CLEAN UP!

Enjoy your Friday everyone!  I have lots of things in the works for you!

CVCe Long Vowel Books...I'm at it again!

I am on a roll!  I told you I would get more done today!  That's mostly because my husband ended up having a very rare snow day as well and could help with the boys!  Here's what I've been up to:

I'm so excited!  I wish I made these earlier in the year!  They have a slightly different concept than my CVC books.  In these, students must cut out letter tiles and build the word.  They then trace the sentence and write the word on the line.  I like having sentences in these books because it really turns them into a book they can read.  My Kindergarteners like to keep them in their reading bags.  They know that if I am not quite ready for them when they come, they must sit quietly and do something from their bag.  They either practice their sight words, read the book of the week, or read these guys!  They love it!  I hate when students work on something hard just for it to end up in the garbage.  These can stay with them for awhile!

You can either click on one of the images or click here to head to my TPT store.  

 I must also give a shout out to Teacher Laura and her amazing graphics that have been so inspiring to me!  Thank you!

I'm hoping to have the rest of my CVCe books finished by the end of the weekend. I'm also almost done with my Diphthong "Whiners" Posters, Activities, & Worksheets bundle! I just need to finish the worksheets part. I have lots to finish and yet I'm sooo eager to also make consonant digraph books, a St. Patrick's Day bundle with all sorts of Literacy activities, AND more CVC & CVCe activities!  My brain is in overload!  I'll keep you posted!

"What I Learned" Fact Sheet Freebie!

Hey everyone!  I hope your week is off to a great start!  Mine is.  We already had a snow day yesterday and it looks like another one tomorrow!  Here's what the beginning of yesterday looked like in my neck of the woods:

Since I've been a bit snowed in, here's the freebie that I promised you last week when I did my jellyfish fact sheet!  I included two different versions/levels of the fact sheet.  It's generic and can be used with any topic!  The second one requires students to not only choose 3 important facts but they must also explain why those 3 facts were important.

Click on any of the images above to download the freebie for yourself!  Let me know what you think!  I will probably be snowed in again so I will try to work on some stuff...as much as my little boys will let me!  Happy Tuesday everyone!

My CVC Short Vowel Books

They're done!  I've finally finished all 5 of my CVC printable books!  Yay!  I am LOVING these books!  So are my colleagues!  If you recall, earlier in the week I talked about these books and posted a student example:

I'm currently working on CVC "a" with my Kindergarteners.  I wanted to find something that allowed students to write what they heard for CVC "a" words but also allowed them to bump things up a notch.  I couldn't find what I wanted so I took matters into my own hands!  I added the build-a-sentence factor using their Journeys sight words.  Even though they still haven't learned some of the sight words yet, I still wanted to use them and introduce them.  I REALLY liked this because it allowed me to see where my students were at.  It was very interesting to see three of them move ahead on their own after we did a few together.  They were pretty much able to complete the rest independently with the occasional "What word is this?"  Two of my little friends needed some extra guidance.  I think that was mostly due to the fact that I don't think one practices the sight words at home and the other was a little unfocused/ants in the pants because we haven't had outdoor recess lol.  Still, they were proud when they could identify a word and put the sentences together!

There are two options for purchasing these books.  The first is to buy them individually (click on a book to head to my TPT store).



The second way to purchase is to buy the bundle (click on the image below to head to my TPT store).

I'm feeling might generous today ;)  With that said, anyone who comments today, 2/2/14, with how they would use these books, will be entered to win the bundle!  Wahoo!  Winner to be announced Monday!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Five for Friday (a tad late!)

Two weeks in a row!  Go me!  Thank you to Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting such a fun linky party!

 

On Saturday we headed to the aquarium.  I love seeing these big guys!  It's so neat!

 I was very excited to test out this book I made for my Kindergarteners.  I was thrilled that they loved it so much!  It was really great to see 3 of them be able to move ahead without my help.  I loved how excited they were!  Of course with all of these fun things we've been doing I need to now buy more glue!  Click here to pick up a copy!

Finally started using my awesome pocket chart letters I created!  They're fun!  You can pick up your own here.

BOTH of my children slept completely through Wednesday night!  It was a miracle!  My baby even slept 13 HOURS!  Unheard of in my house!  I actually got to wake up to my alarm that morning.  I still can't get over the awesomeness.  I walked around feeling so refreshed!

I love Friday.  For obvious reasons and because I get to "dress down" for $2.  This means I got to wear my new jeans.  Losing baby weight rocks!