Five For Friday Fun!

I am so thrilled to be writing this! Friday could not come soon enough! While many of you are on Spring Break soaking up some beautiful sun rays, I still have 2 weeks to go before I can relax and join in the fun. And let me tell you that seems like an eternity, right now!

I feel like I have been horrible about taking pictures these last couple of weeks. I have no reason or good excuse. Hmmm...maybe I should think of one......

Anywhoo...here is what has been going on in my neck of the woods...

1. We have been working with time a few days this week. We created our own daily schedules. The kids wrote the analog and digital time for each activity. Then, they put them in the order they occurred each day. This was a great hands-on way to get my kiddos to estimate time and provided a great visual for them.

2. To add some fun and rigor to our time unit, I just finished creating Telling Time task cards sets. I was able to get them printed and laminated for the kids to use today! I love how these cards turned out because I can differentiate for all the different levels in my classroom. There are cards for the hour, half hour and 5 minute intervals. Some questions are free response and some are multiple choice. 


3. We are continuing our life cycles unit with butterflies this week. We have been reading several informational text pieces about the butterfly's life cycle and migration patterns, as well as the fictional story Farfallina and Marcel. The kids are loving the activities: flap book, paper bag book and more. They are all part of my Life Cycles unit.





4. I am all signed up and booked for the TpT Conference in Vegas in July! Are you? If you are undecided, let me help you out....YOU HAVE TO BE THERE TOO! Sign up this weekend it get the Early Bird pricing. You won't regret it!
teachers pay teachers

5.This is not school related at all and I am sorry for bringing it up, but I need to share..... Our sweet baby girl is so sick. We have tried everything to make her better, but she has cancer that keeps coming back. We did surgery in December to see if it would help, but it is back in full force. She has been with our family since she was 8 weeks old. Now, she is just shy of her 12th birthday. I really was hoping she would make it 'til then, but I don't think that is going to happen. My heart is aching with sadness as we battle this daily. My boys don't know life without her. 
Sorry for ending on a sad note. I just needed to purge my feelings. This has been an emotional roller coaster and sometimes it is hard to keep it together. Thank you for listening.

On a happier note, IT IS SPRING and I am joining many fellow bloggers and TpT sellers to bring you a HUGE Spring Cleaning Sale. So, clear off those wish lists and fill up your carts this weekend. My store is 20% off all weekend!

Five For Friday Fun & a Freebie

Oh Friday...how I love thee.... Thank heavens this week has come to a close. I was SLAMMED this week and I am ready to get the weekend started! 

1. Yesterday was Open House! I don't know about you, but as much as I prepare for this, I am always a nervous nelly. I leave for work early, I have my clothes laid out the night before, lunches are packed ahead of time for my own children etc... I want the day to go as smooth as possible. Well... this is how my morning started:
Yes, this is my beautiful tire with a nail in it!!! Ain't nobody got time for this, especially with Open House! Thank goodness my sweet hubs was able to help me out and take care of it while I was at work! Bless him!

2. On to Open House....
I always have my kids make self portraits and write All About Me poems to share with their parents. This year was no exception, but I totally forgot about it until the day of Open House. Um...hello... what was I thinking? We spent the whole day getting them ready and they turned out fantastic!
I do a step by step directed drawing lesson with them. I explain proportions, sizing, and placement. Then, I demonstrate how to use oil pastels and shading. I am SO proud of my little guys. They rocked this assignment. Grab your copy of the template HERE!



3. We continued working on our life cycles unit by planting our lima bean seeds in our greenhouses. My mom bought these adorable greenhouses from Lakeshore years ago. When she retired, I was the lucky recipient! I use them every year. The kids love watching their seeds sprout with just a wet paper towel!

4. We celebrated Pi Day today with a cross age activity with our school's ninth graders. The high schoolers came in and led a lesson. The kids counted different amounts of money with their partners. This was great because we just recently finished our money unit. At the end of the lesson, the kids had to show a specific amount of money to "buy" a real slice of pie! The best!


5. There are still a few more hours left for you to enter our Product Swap giveaway. It ends tonight at midnight EST. You could win one of my math interactive notebooks of your grade level choice AND Aris's (Sailing Into Second) Map Unit! Click HERE to enter!

Be sure to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share your week in pictures too!

Five for Friday Fun!

What. A. Week. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I really thought it was Friday! That is how busy and crazy this week was. I am linking up with Doodle Bugs teaching to share my cray-cray week! 

1.
Report cards are done, complete and in the mail. Enough said! Highlight of my week!

2. Open House is this coming week, so we are getting ready. My kiddos did a sweet, little writing with this freebie from the Teacher Wife. I can't wait for their parents to see what they wrote.

3. I have officially made my first Jamberry purchase. I can't wait for these to arrive. Opening Day is tomorrow morning at 8am for Little League. I think I will have all the team spirit needed to cheer on my boys this season! What do you think? Did I hit a homerun with these???

4. We celebrated Read Across America with this writing craft from Linda Kamp. I love how they turned out and it got the kids all jazzed up for our activities! To culminate our week, each of my students got a ficiton and non-ficition book to take home. They LOVED the Weird School Days chapter books!


5. I am thrilled to say, I have finished creating my Life Cycles Unit and we got started this week with plants. We read informational text and reviewed vocabulary terms. They we created true and false flap books and finished the week by creating our plant crafts. We wrote about each of the parts of the plant and how it helped with the plant's life cycle. If you would like to win a copy of my newest unit, visit my Facebook page OR click HERE to enter. I will choose a winner on Sunday! It is also on sale through this weekend.



Make sure to link up and share your week too!

Life Cycles Unit is Ready!

I love springtime! The weather is warmer, the days are longer, baseball season is underway. Ok, I digress. In all seriousness, spring is just what I need right now! We have an entire reading unit devoted to life cycles of plants and animals. I always feel there is so much that can be done with the concept. I have some "go to" activities which I love, but I wanted something more. So... my unit Life Cycles of Butterflies, Frogs and Plants came to be. 

I have been wanting to make this unit for awhile now! And I am THRILLED to have it completed to share with you. It is jam packed with vocabulary, informational text, flap books, crafts and more. 
Each unit has vocabulary cards with pictures and a life cycle anchor chart for easy student reference during independent time or review. Life cycle printables and true and false flap books are included too. There are 3 paper bag books included. These are great for interactive learning while exposing your students to informational text. The kids will love all the new facts they will be learning and this is a great way to show it off! There is also a craft/assessment to go with each life cycle. All the templates and step by step directions with pictures are included. 

This unit will be on sale through this weekend. Just click on any of the pictures above to take you to my TpT store.
Leave a comment below with your email address and I will randomly choose one winner of this packet on Sunday. CONGRATS KATHY for the Paper Pumpkin! Check your inbox for a message from me. You can also head over to my Facebook page, and leave a comment there for a second chance to win. While you are there, become a follower of my FB page so you won't miss out on any giveaways or flash freebie announcments!