Last Day of Summer Lovin' Sale

Last day of this fun sale friends!  Are you ready to see what you get today????

I brought some "ph"riends to help me celebrate the last day of the sale today.  No I haven't slipped into summer mode so bad that I don't know how to spell "friend" correctly.  These are my Phonics PHriends that I'm talking about.  Would you like to meet them?

I'll start with my Phamily (hehe!)  

Here is the Short Family (Dad, Mom, Meg, Gus, and Jill).  

I have to admit - I really LOVE this pack.  It is so much fun in the beginning of the year and SO perfect for my firsties.  We did a different family member (short vowel) each week as we began the school year and my little kiddies just adored the stories that went along with each family member and the super fun centers and activities.  I *think* they liked this unit as much as I did.  If you want to read more about this pack click HERE.  

I also have some animal "Ph"riends that have helped me with Blends.  You can read more about them HERE.  We have L Blend Lions, R Blend Rabbits, S Blend Squirrels, and the Tw Blend turtles, which is a freebie!!!

   

   

You can get these all bundled together too!

Finally, we have some Digraph "Ph"riends too (Charlie, Whitney, Beth, and Dash).  

So bring some friends into your classroom to help you teach phonics.  I have had my Superhero E "ph"riends on my to-do list for quite some time and I am hoping to get to them this fall.  Fingers crossed!

Bright Concepts 4 Teachers	Sailing Into Second	Primarily Speaking	A Burst of First
Crayons and Whimsy	Second Grade Perks	Lucky To Be In First	The Tutu Teacher
Hippo Hooray for Second Grade	Saddle Up Second Grade	My Second Sense	Creative Lesson Cafe
A Sunny Day In First Grade	First Grade Smiles

InLinkz.com

Setting up your Writing Center and a Sale

Ok friends, I'm baaaaack and I'm actually on the right day today!  Summer success :)

Today I want to talk about how I set up my writing center in my classroom.

Last year I decided that I needed my students to be working on writing EVERY DAY - even if it was just a little bit.  I also decided that sometimes I wanted them to choose what they wanted to write about and sometimes I wanted them to write to a prompt.  You can only hear about Pokemon cards and video games so much - am I right?.  This was how my Powerful Prompts monthly packs began.  

First I wanted enough prompts to get us through the month.  I included holiday and theme related prompts, as well generic.  I also included different styles of writing (Narrative, Opinion, Informational/Explanatory, How-tos, and Letters) so the Common Core Gods would be happy with me.  I made them simple to read so my little firsties would be as independent as possible with these.  Here are a couple examples from my September pack:

I put all of these prompts on a ring and keep them at the writing center for the whole month.  I also made prompts that can be cut and pasted into their monthly writing journals.  I like this because then when I look back at their journals with them during conferences we can figure out what they were writing about.  Sometimes it's not always easy to remember (or decipher).  ;-)

 However, I did include pages without the space for the prompt if necessary.  I also have other options for lined papers as well.

Finally, I made portable word walls for each month so students would have some references if they needed.  

 

These are just examples of my September Powerful Prompts - there are 9 others.  They all have at least 25 prompts (some have 50 - Yowza!).  That's OVER 300 prompts for the whole school year.  If you'd like to set up your own writing center you can grab these sets on sale TODAY ONLY!!!  Each month is on sale, but you will get the best deal from the BUNDLE.  

Remember to stop back tomorrow to see the last day of our sale!  

Bright Concepts 4 Teachers	Sailing Into Second	Primarily Speaking	A Burst of First
Crayons and Whimsy	Second Grade Perks	Lucky To Be In First	The Tutu Teacher
Hippo Hooray for Second Grade	Saddle Up Second Grade	My Second Sense	Creative Lesson Cafe
A Sunny Day In First Grade	First Grade Smiles

InLinkz.com

One Word Changes Everything

Reflecting on another school year is always filled with a mixture of emotions for me.  This year, maybe more so than any other.

I'm going to get a little personal here - I hope you don't mind.

I had a year filled with many ups and downs.
Tough decisions.  Impossible goodbyes.  Laughing and crying - sometimes both at the same time.

There is one thing - one word - that seemed to surround so many events in this past year.
That word is cancer.

I would almost bet that nearly every single person who reads this has had a loved one or at least someone they know battle cancer.  Though there are numerous survival stories, there are that many more who were not so lucky.

My school year began with two losses.  One was the father of a dear friend and colleague of mine.  The other, a kind, sweet paraprofessional at our school.  Both of these amazing individuals had battled cancer for quite a while and had already beaten many odds.  The end came quicker than anyone expected and left holes that could never be filled.  I still have the memory card from the paraprofessional who passed, so appropriately named Star, sitting on my desk at school, in the exact same spot that I first placed it.  I just can't bring myself to move it.

Around that time, my aunt was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and was taken very quickly from us - only a few months later.  Her loss is still so difficult to fathom.  She was young, beautiful, warm, loving, and selfless.

Shortly after, my father-in-law AND one of my former students also found out this year that they too would be battling this stubborn, cruel disease.  Thankfully my father-in-law's treatments went very well and we are all optimistic that he might be able to kick cancer's butt.  His latest scans showed that he is cancer free.  Yahoo!!!!  We will continue to pray for these results with each new scan because we need him and these girls need their grandfather.

 And finally, my former student (one my absolute favorites - even though we aren't supposed to have favorites - I can't help it because she's an amazing girl).  She is only 17 now.
Sev-en-teen!!!!
The strength and courage she has already portrayed is beyond admirable and I am just so proud of her.  She still has a battle ahead of her, but I know with her faith, family, and friends behind her, she WILL be able to beat cancer.  And if you are reading this and are the praying kind, she could use any and all prayers that you have to spare.

This is a picture of her in 3rd grade dressed up as a cheerleader for Halloween.

In the final weeks of school, I also very sadly lost my grandma (not to cancer, but certainly important enough to mention).  I know I have some pretty amazing angels up in heaven right now, but I sure do miss their warm hugs, listening ears, and endless amounts of wisdom to share.

So this year is over.

And while I enjoyed my students, loved the time I was able to spend with my family, had some wonderful moments and memories ---- my heart just feels like it has been broken many times over.  Broken for the loved ones I lost, for others who lost their loved ones, for those still battling this awful disease.  I'm just going to say it - CANCER SUCKS!!!

So what do we do in the midst of so many things we can't control?
Pray.  Hug.  Spend time with our loved ones.
Enjoy the NOW but also look forward and keep moving.

Summer is here and I am so ready for it!
But I will never forget this year.
I am hoping next year will be filled with much more of some other words like:

Life.  Love.  Laughter.  Happiness.
Family.  Friends.
Hope.

Thanks for allowing me a moment of life outside of teaching.  I'll be back soon with some more teaching fun.  There's another word I could use some more of -- FUN!

Hmmmm --- do you think I could find some of that in Vegas???  ;-)