New Magic Tree House pack

I'm a little afraid to say it after the past two weeks, but the Dalton household seems to finally be on the mend! Now I'm praying for warmer weather to stick around (most days this week have a high of 50 or more, so I'm hopeful) because this girl is TIRED of cold, dreary days. I don't know what I'll do with myself with a full week at school, though! It's been a little while between holidays and doctor visits.

This morning, I finished my newest Magic Tree House series! Isn't it cute? This one seems to be on a little higher level, and I had a lot of fun making it. Very cute story! I may even go back and add more to this unit because I thought about adding a biography sheet for Lady Gregory. You can click on the links below to find it.

TN or TPT

I'm keeping it short tonight because it's my favorite night for TV. How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, and Biggest Loser. I missed everything last week because I felt like crap and went to bed when Keagan went to bed. Got some catching up to do this week!

School craziness and some St. Patty's Day fun

This has been a CRAZY week! How about we spread out a few holidays so we have time to do everything? Not only did we have Valentine's Day, President's Day, and Mardi Gras (well, I did a little something for that), today was the 100th day! Oh, and did I mention that not only was I out Monday, but I ended up being out again yesterday? This week might has well have been a wash, and it's a good thing that Monday is a holiday.

Then I come back today, and we have TWO big incidents. First, a kid gets hit by a bus. Really. A kindergartener. I don't know exactly what happened because I missed bus duty while trying to catch up with teachers about what we were going to do (I would've done this yesterday had I been here). He's fine, but he's got a big bruise. The parents let him stay at school though. But WHILE this is happening, a fourth grader started choking and they had to call 911. Apparently he looked really bad, and his teacher (my former neighbor and teammate) was in hysterics from everything. She had to go home. Everyone was pretty shaken up from it, so it must've been a big deal.

So I know everybody at my school is very ready for this weekend. If it decides to snow Monday night, we might even take that, too.

Anyway, I have been working on my next products, and I've got a few things coming! I want to do something for Dr. Seuss's birthday, and I'm leaning toward some activities with his very first book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.

 

 No real ideas yet, but if you have suggestions or things you'd like to see, let me know!

My second favorite holiday is coming up soon, and that's what I've been working on this week. I finished my St. Patty's Day Literacy centers, and it's going through the editing phase right now. It should be posted by Monday. I think it's adorable. I used Ashley Hughes' clipart, and I love it!

I'm also working on two new literacy units. The first, Fantastic Mr. Fox, is one that I'm starting with one of my groups of kids. I LOVE Roald Dahl books, and this is a great one for struggling readers in the upper grades. It's a level P, but the story line is easy to follow, and the book is short - like 81 pages. I need short books with my groups because we only have 30 minutes (if that) AND mine check to see how much longer the book will take.

The other unit is related to St. Patty's Day again. I forgot I had a copy of Magic Tree House: Leprechaun in Late Winter. I emailed both of these to myself to work on this weekend, but we'll see how much I actually do. I am at least to chapter 5 for both, so it's possible! I'll probably ask for help reviewing both of these packets when I finish, so make sure you follow my Facebook page to get this chance!

Okay, now I'm going back to work on those packets some more. Steven's helping his dad, and Keagan's down for a late nap, so this might be the only chance I get to work on them this weekend! In case I don't get back on here this weekend, enjoy your long weekend!

By the way, if you want a chance at a free blog design, go check out Ruby Slippers Blog Design. She's having a giveaway!

New Magic Tree House unit and snow?

I'm REALLY hoping that today was my Friday! After having temps in the upper 60s and even 70s last week, they're now calling for snow in our area starting in a few hours. This morning they said 6 pm, so hopefully it will wait until then. I usually get home around 5. So I prepared all of my kids with the typical snow homework (ice cube down the toilet and pjs inside out), and I'm praying for a snow day! We can miss one more day before the semester ends next Monday and not have to make up President's Day. I would LOVE a four day weekend! Is anybody else getting a snow day? Do you love them as much as I do, or are they more of a nuisance to you? Maybe it's because I grew up in the deep south and still get as excited as the children when it snows since I rarely saw it growing up.

Well, no matter if we have a snow day or not, next Tuesday I will begin a new historical fiction book study with one of my groups. It was not a book that I already had, but I got a copy from the teacher to go ahead and prepare. I love historical fiction, so I'm very excited about doing this study. As usual, the packet breaks the book into 6 sections (the last page is a reflective writing assignment). The questions range include reflections, straight from the book, vocabulary, and even some visualizing. Enjoy!

2 new products

I finally made another novel unit, and I'm SO excited about it! This is MY favorite Christmas book. I cry when I read it. I have been wanting to put together a literature unit for it, and today was finally that day. I hope you're able to use it and enjoy it!

This week, I have also been working on decoding strategies with my students. I've noticed that this is something my 5th graders especially struggle with, and I wanted to download some posters to put in my room. But when I looked online, none of them quite matched. So I created my own! Here's an example of one, but there are 8 total. Click on the picture to go to my store!

Finally, there are only a few more days before my giveaway ends, so don't forget to enter!

My first literature unit!

I have been so excited about all the sales that I've made with my Halloween products, and now I'm starting to think ahead to Thanksgiving. I have some great ideas floating around, but most of them are still in the incubator stage. However, today I finished my very first literacy unit!

Since I work with struggling readers in grades 3-5, I am always looking for good books that catch their attention but are on a low enough reading level. Magic Tree House has become a favorite of mine for 4th grade. They're almost all level M (beginning 3rd grade), so it's right where most of those kids are now and hopefully where my 3rd graders will be soon!

Right now we're reading Lions at Lunchtime, and I'm teaching them how to stop and jot with post-it notes. We're doing pretty well with it, but I wanted to put together a packet for them to work through and practice answering a variety of questions like they do in their classroom. I'm so proud of this packet, and it's perfect for my next book. There are 6 pages (covering a maximum of two chapters at a time) with a variety of questions from reflections to definitions. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and keep an eye out for more Thanksgiving AND more literature units soon (just not too soon)!