Five for Friday...on time!!!

**Woot**  

My Five for Friday is up...on Friday!!!!

1.  It's snowing...a lot...in May.  :(  boo

2.  I've switched from a typical "worksheet-y" daily warm-up activity to "Quick Write" journals.  And...I'm LOVIN' it!!!  There is no better way to start the day than with kinder-writing.  Check out just one of the jewels from this week. 

3.  It's been a crazy week.  In fact, it was so Super-Whack-o-Nuts-o that I completely forgot to update our calendar when the month rolled over into May... and I didn't even notice it until the end of the day on Thursday!!  {Clearly, we haven't been doing "Calendar Time" this week!!}  Of course, not one kid noticed...this is a definite perk of teaching kinder!  :)  My 5th graders would have nailed me on it within 12 seconds of walking in the door on May 1st!  this is what it looked like when I left today...I'll change it tomorrow.  Maybe.  ;)

4.  All of our little caterpillars have formed their chrysalis and have been transferred to their new home!  My kinders are practicing patience...but it is a pain-staking wait, for sure!!  We are so excited to meet our new flying friends!!

5.  There's only one word to describe my students' behavior lately...BIZARRE!!  I really, really, really try not to use sarcasm in the classroom.  But, this week I actually looked at a sweet kinder kid and said, "Really???"  So, I'm pulling out allllllll the stops in positive behavior support.  (Blog post coming your way soon!!)  But, if you have any favorite tips and tricks...send 'em my way! 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!! 

Happy St. Pat's, Friday 5 & a SALE!! :)

There's a fun little freebie at the end of this post!

I'm celebrating my IRISH heritage & kicking-off Spring Break by throwing a 2-day SALE!!  Pop on over to my TPT store and check it out!!  :)  With prices this good, you'll be able to stock up on great products to spruce up your spring lesson plans and still have plenty of gold left in your pot!!

Have you tried my Sight Word Snapshots Sentence Writing Fluency mini-books yet?

If not, NOW is the time!! :)  

I've combined all 11 books (99 pages) in a BUNDLED set.  

It's a great deal and will provide you with 11 weeks 

of sight word & sentence writing practice.

Take advantage of my sale and SAVE even more!!

Read more about how you can boost your students' writing skills and confidence with Sight Word Snapshots!  

I also listed a new "Ninja Bunny" literacy pack and math pack that are SO much fun!!

Ninja Bunny Number Bonds 

Developing strong number sense, including concepts of 10 and decomposing numbers, is critical for future math success! Includes cards for Making 10 and cards for those Tricky Teens. 

This differentiated math pack is perfect for adding a bit of Easter/Spring merriment to your lesson plans! For added visual & kinesthetic support, consider adding some mini egg erasers for students to act out the number combinations...it adds FUN, too!! 

This product has 2 tiers for differentiation. 

Tier 1 includes "Making 10" cards to help your students master decomposing the number 10 AND your choice of 4 recording sheets to tailor the activity to meet the needs of YOUR class!

Tier 2 includes "Making Teens" cards to help your students master the concept of "10 and ___ more" to make a teen number. Your choice of 2 more recording sheets are included to tailor the activity for YOUR class! 

Ten frames are included on the recording sheets make the learning more visual and concrete!

These cards can be used in so many ways! 
Read & Write the Room
Math Tubs/Math Stations
Small-Group Math Lesson
Intervention Lesson

Ninja Bunny Sneaky CVC Pocket Chart Station

These clever little Ninjas will be a huge hit with your class!!  

This fun-filled Spring/Easter themed Pocket Chart activity can be used as a whole-class lesson, small-group mini-lesson, center activity, or literacy station. 

Print, laminate, and cut apart the CVC egg CVC word cards and Ninja Bunny characters. Arrange them in a pocket chart. Hide the Ninja Bunnies behind the egg CVC word cards. Use as many or few as you wish.

A medial sound word sort and sentence-writing recording sheet is included!

And now it's time for...

 
ONE

I'm now officially on Spring Break!!  :)  I've got a bloggy to-do list that 4,692 miles long and I can't wait to get crackin' on it!  On the top of my list is Teaching Blog Traffic School.  I purchased a membership a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to do anything with it yet.  :(  I'm excited to learn more about my new adventure in the wild world of blogging!!  I feel sooooo very LUCKY to have Charity's expertise and the support & wisdom of the entire TBTS community!!  

TWO

Today was a super-fun day because I got to attend my very first Blogger Meet-Up!!  Sweet Miss Leanne Prince of Mrs. Prince and Co. was our planner extraordinaire!!  It was really great to meet these lovely local ladies.  I was even surprised to find out that 3 of us are from the same school district!  We enjoyed a yummy (long) lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and lots of stories & laughter.  I'm already looking forward to the next gathering!  I just wish I would have remembered to snap a picture...bummer!!  Be sure to check out their blogs!  I'm so LUCKY to have met such amazing new friends...I've said it before and I'll say it again...teachers are the BEST!  The teacher-blogger community has been so welcoming and encouraging to me as a new blogger.  Happy Teacher Heaven!!

We Are Second Grade Smarty Pants    
 Apples, Crayons & Caffeine 
Miss Martin's Classroom

THREE

My Scholastic Book order arrived just before Spring Break...which was exciting because I used bonus points to purchase a fancy-schmancy listening station for my classroom.  I had purchased the headphones earlier in the year and finally had enough bonus points to buy the stand!  I am LUCKY to teach in a school where parents support their children's literacy development by participating in Scholastic book clubs each month...and the teacher rewards ROCK!!  

FOUR

This little baby blog of mine almost has 100 followers!  I'm having so much fun, learning TONS, and I have a long list of ideas to share with you.  I'm so grateful for each new follower and each new comment I receive...y'all put me in Happy Teacher Heaven, for sure!!  I'm excited to start planning my 100 follower giveaway! I am lucky incredibly BLESSED to be a part of this wonderful community of teacher-bloggers...I'm having SO much fun and learning more than I could have ever imagined!  Win!!

(finally) FIVE

Here's that FREEBIE I promised you.  :)  

I hope you & your kids enjoy these crazy little bunnies!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

I'm linking up with TBA and Classroom Freebies ...

Something New!! (FREEBIE)

It's a little ridiculous how excited I am to share this new FREEBIE with all of you!!  I've been trying this idea out in my classroom for a few weeks now, and I'm in love!  My kids have shown so much growth and increased confidence as writers...which is a BIG DEAL in my book!!  I have a whole series of these books in the works, so keep your eye on the Happy Teacher Heaven Facebook page -- I'm going to GIVE AWAY each new "Sight Word Snapshot" mini-book on Facebook!!  Click the picture below to grab your copy!

In my classroom, I often call sight words “camera words” because students should recognize them instantly!  I created this Sight Word Sentence Writing Mini-Book to help my students develop fluency writing sight word phrases.  Students will write the same phrases each day and develop a dynamic mental bank of sight word phrases, making their authentic writing more descriptive and easing the frustration often felt by emergent writers. 

Each book has a targeted sight word (like "what") and at least one sight word sentence.  The first page of the mini-book provides an opportunity for direct instruction and scaffolded practice with the focus sight word and the primary sentence.  Ideally, students will write one page per day and finish the book in one week.  

On the 2nd page, students are able to craft a personal response to the new sentence.  Students refer to the sight word wall and use phonetic spelling for any other words they select to complete the sentence.  An additional line is provided so students have the space to elaborate.  This is a very simple way to differentiate!  I typically do some guided brainstorming prior to asking students to write...  "Think, Pair, Share" and "Pairs-Square" are 2 strategies that are quick, simple, and work great as a pre-writing strategy!

Pages 3-5 are identical.  On these pages, the prompts are removed to encourage independence!  Students will enhance their writing fluency by continuing to practice writing the same sentence frames from page 2.  (I can... What can you do?")  However, the child should be writing a new personal response on each page.  I noticed that my kids would sometimes "forget" and try to write about the same topic twice.  (For example, writing "I can swim." on more than 1 page.)  It was helpful to have students read their book to a partner before brainstorming so everyone had fresh, new ideas.  In fact, hearing another student's ideas was a helpful pre-writing tool for some of my reluctant writers!  I often use the "Mix, Freeze, Pair, Share" cooperative learning structure for this partner-sharing time.  

A student-friendly writing checklist is provided at the bottom of each journal page. 

I recommend copying this book single-sided so students may use the opposite blank page to create an  illustration.  Some reluctant writers may benefit from Illustrating first to generate a topic and/or details before writing.  For some of my struggling writers, I use a light-colored marker to write the sentence (or parts of the sentence) on pages 3-5 if additional support is needed.  

If you have a "buddy class", it's fun to get together and have your students read their book to a friend.  It's awesome to see how proud they are of their writing!!

I hope you and your students love these "Snapshots" as much as my class and I do!!  If you download the book and find it useful, it would be so kind of you to leave a comment!   If you haven't already - click the picture below to download your FREE Sight Word Snapshot mini-book!!

You'll also want to be sure to "like" my Facebook page because I'll be GIVING AWAY each new "Sight Word Snapshot" mini-book on Facebook!!