I'm Linking up with Kacy at Doddle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday once again! And what a wonderful Friday this is!! It's the first day of my spring break, and it's Good Friday - which means the Start of Easter services and remembering all that Christ has done for us!! I am so Thankful for him and his willingness to give his all for people who didn't deserve it one bit!! I love Easter - a time to celebrate the miracle of life!

Here's a look at five random things from my week!

 

1.) We've been working hard on Main Idea - This unit by Tracy from Creekside Teacher Tales has been AMAZING!! The non-fiction passages are great - my students loved them and the variety of response activities made is super easy for me to differentiate. Click on the pic below to check this unit out!!

2.) We got $50 from out PTO to spend in our classrooms, these little stools were on of my purchases! I love them, they are the perfect colors!! They make it easier for the kids to sit at the back counter where I have one of my reading centers! The kids love them too, they couldn't wait to get to that center and try them out!! It's the little things...ha ha!!

3.) Did I mention it's Spring Break yet?!?!?! I'm stocking up on some good reads for the week! I love a good book but don't get much of a chance to just enjoy one during the school year! When I get the chance I get in as much reading as I can! Any suggestions for great books???

4.) I know it was a short week at school, but it's just a crazy time of year with so much to do - so little time. This is my favorite stress relief at the moment. Unfortunately the scales are showing it! I can't wait for warmer weather so I can relieve stress out in the sunshine!!

5.) I'm linking up with several other bloggers to have a "Spring Cleaning Sale" everything in my store will be 20% off Saturday and Sunday!  My fluency centers have been a big hit with  my own students - I've already posted the April unit! I have some comprehension mini-units I've been adding too so stop by and check it out! (Thanks Krista for making this adorable graphic) Click on the pic to see my store!

Check out all the other sellers having sales too!!

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I wanted to link up with Christina Bainbridge for this awesome "share the love" party!

 

 So let me tell you about a blog that I love!!

If you haven't had the chance to check out Charlotte you really should!

She shares some fabulous ideas that have really helped me this year as I transitioned from the younger grades to fifth and sixth!Click on her button above to go see what's going on in her classroom!

Then head over to Christiana's blog to show some love to one of your favorite blogs!!

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I finally finished my April Fluency packet! I love how it turned out and I think you will too!

Click on the picture above to go to my store and check out the entire packet. My students have been loving these each month! Their fluency has improved greatly! One of their favorite things to do is read the pocket chart cards in their favorite "voices." I wanted to share the April cards with all of you so you could see how well they work with your students! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out this product! I know your students will love it!! If they need to work on fluency this is a fun way to do it!

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Thank you so much to everyone who entered my 500 Facebook fan giveaway! I am so thankful for all of you who follow, comment, and share my work!!

Congrats Tammy, I've sent you an email! Hope to hear from you soon!

And now let me tell you about an Activity that's been a real winner in my classroom this week! I have a group of 2nd graders who are struggling with main idea. They are good readers, but main idea is tricky and it just wasn't sinking in for them. So I went on a search for some resources to help them out! That is when I found Mrs. Daniel from Second Grade Sparkle! She has these amazing Main Idea Bags for fiction and non-fiction! and my students have LOVED them!

The "bags" each have three detail cards in them, the students read them then determine what the main idea of the three cards is. I put mine in "library" envelopes I got from the Dollar Tree, they worked perfectly!

I numbered each enveloped and used different colors to help me keep the fiction/non-fiction sets easily recognizable. I used my new Boho Birds stickers to make them cute!

We started out using them together in the pocket chart.....

The students all had their clipboards to record what their thinking was and we talked about what we each thought the main idea should be! They were so engaged look at them all working away!

After a couple of days practicing they got to take off on their own. I gave them each an envelope and they got to work!

I was so excited to see that they were actually getting it! I loved the work I saw. Most of them were actually giving great answers (we didn't use the "What do you think the main idea is?" cards yet). They kept coming back asking for more envelopes. Having them numbered helped me to go back and check once they were done!

I love this activity! The kids were excited about it and they were learning! Head on over to Mrs. Daniel's Store to check them out!!

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Thanks to Carson Dellosa my classroom is now ready for spring! I was so excited to get the new Boho birds designs and freshen up my room just when it was feeling blah from the long winter! Take a look at the before and after pics....

The outside of my classroom! I've had so many compliments!! Can't wait to actually get some student work up there!

 Added a few birds to this board!

 Added a few birds, the large circle one works great for writing the exit slip question on and the kids answer on the board below!

 Changed out the hearts for birds and shamrocks!

New Math Vocabulary board! I love this! We started adding words today for our new math unit! Probability!

Added some birds to the focus wall! Really livened it up!

 More birds, and reading posters in the reading area!

We are tracking our center behavior on the chart below our data board. Each student can earn 12 points a day. Our goal is 1000 points before spring break! They are doing a great job so far :) I love that it's so visual for them!

  Love this!!

If you like the new look head on over to Carson-Dellosa and check out their Boho Birds line! It's adorable and prefect for spring!!

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I am so excited that my Facebook page just reached 500 fans and wanted to do something fun to celebrate all of you!! I am so grateful for everyone who follows this blog, my fan page, and my store! So I decided to create two new freebies just for you!! These fabulous spring activities will be perfect for the next few weeks. You get by clicking on the pictures below!! 

Oh but this is not the end of the fun!! You could also win a $25 gift card to Target or Amazon (your choice)

Please enter using the Rafflecopter below! The giveaway will end on Wednesday at midnight. I will post the winner next Thursday!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks again for following me! I appreciate your kind comments and support!! Hope your all having a fabulous Thursday! Good Luck with the giveaway!!

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It's March, and I'm linking up with Farley again for her currently. Here's what I am up to...

 Easter Candy is going to kill be before the month is over!! I love it, and it's so hard to say no!! 

I am still working on a huge comprehension packet - STILL! I need to get it done and have parts of it being edited! I hope to have it available soon.I also need to do lesson plans, and I'm making some inspirational posters to cover my word wall during the ISTEP next week. I did get the  house clean this morning so I'm feeling a little better about how much I need to do.

I really, really, really, really want a Silhouette. I've wanted one for a long time now!! I would LOVE to win one!! So I'm entering all the giveaways - finger's crossed!!

Yep - need to finish that comprehension unit, it's 150 pages long already!! I can't look at it anymore so I've sent parts out to be edited and have gotten good feedback. Hopefully getting it done by tomorrow.

That last box was hard to come up with! I wasn't coming up with any A things at all!! I finally settled on these. Like: Android - my tablet book reader! I really want to read a good book but haven't had the time :( Love: Andrew and Amber - My wonderful children!! I know I broke the one word rule, but I couldn't just put one of their names there!! (this was not a hard one to come up with)! Hate: Attitudes!!! Bad attitudes, not good ones! Particularly teenage bad attitudes that think they know everything and want to constantly talk back!!

Head on over to Farley's blog and see what everyone else is doing! Happy Saturday!!

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I have been so so busy!! I've got a couple of big projects in the works that I am looking forward to sharing with all of you! First up I FINALLY finished my March Fluency Packet! I love how it turned out and hope you will too!

I have included both St. Patrick's Day and reading month activities! Click on the picture to go to my store and check it out!

Here's a freebie from the unit to get you going in this brand new month! Two original poems! Click on the picture below to pic them up!!

Hope you all have a wonderful start to this new month!! I hope to be back with more soon!!

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