Currently and Five for Friday

Can you believe May is already here? I'm in shock! We don't get out until mid-June, but May still symbolizes the end of the year because this is testing month. We actually only have one more full week of instruction before SOLs begin May 16. Once SOLs begin, I don't pull kids anymore. Craziness!

Anyway, with the beginning of the month comes Farley's Currently (which you know I have to join). Plus, it's Friday, so I'm going to do my Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching. Hey, I'm home for the day, so I've got time for this!

I'm pretty sure I can explain everything in my Five for Friday, so it will be mixed in there. I'm going to do this a little backwards this week.

1. I've been fighting a sinus infection since last Friday, but I'm stubborn and had put off going to the doctor. Then I started to lose my voice on Wednesday. By yesterday, I could barely speak over a whisper, so I left at lunch and went to the doctor. Last night was so miserable that my hubby actually slept in the guest room (sorry, sweetie!). Today, I started the steroids and am hoping everything's back to normal by Sunday. Why Sunday? I sing with our church's praise team occasionally. A few months ago, one of my friends asked me to fill in this Sunday because the lead for their group was going to be out. I was happy to agree to it. Well, I went to practice on Wednesday to make sure I knew what was going on in hopes that my voice was back. We'll see though. There are other singers, but they kind of need me to help lead some of the songs. Prayers that it comes back quickly!

2. Some of you know I've been doing Insanity. It's a 60 day challenge, and next Saturday is supposed to be the end. However, I haven't been able to keep up with it this week because I can barely breathe. I tried last Sunday on the "easy" day and had to pause the video. So I've missed 3 workouts this week. It's frustrating to be this close to the end and have to stop. Maybe I can work my way through it today, but I probably shouldn't. Grrr....

3. I did some TPT work this week! First, I updated my Candy Awards and am so proud of the new look!

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Then I worked on my camping themed literacy centers some more, but I will have to finish them next week. I come up with all of the sentences, and that takes a LOT of time. So far, I have 2 1/2 of the 8 centers completed. I start with the hardest and work my way down, so Main Idea, Cause and Effect, and Fact and Opinion are almost done. I'm changing Drawing Conclusions to context clues this time, and then I'll have Synonyms, Antonyms, Guide Words, and S'more Suffixes.

4. I participated in my first #teachertalktuesday linky on instagram this week! This is the main idea center from my Spring Literacy Centers. I always have four main ideas and three details to match. Students have to sort them. I did this with one of the third grade classes that I push into, and they loved it! We did the black and white version (I have a color option I laminate for centers), and the kids enjoyed coloring in the pictures after they glued.

5. Last weekend, we spent most of Saturday sorting tons of bags and things for our yard sale we're doing tomorrow. We head to Steven's parents for it because they live in a bigger neighborhood that does a community yard sale in the spring and fall. We'll be pricing and all that fun stuff tonight. If you live in the Richmond area, come out to Summer Walk Parkway in Mechanicsville and check out our stuff!

Now I'm going to attempt to get off the couch and do a little bit of cleaning. Our house desperately needs vacuuming, and laundry has piled up again. I feel like I just finished laundry...

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.

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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!

New products

We had yesterday off for President's Day, and there were great plans for the day. First, we took Keagan to Keagan's, this fun little Irish restaurant (we had the name picked out first). Then we were going to go to the Children's Museum. Keagan really deserved a chance to play and enjoy himself INSIDE so he wouldn't get sick anymore. But after we finished eating, it was too close to his naptime and we didn't want to waste $16 when he didn't even get to enjoy himself. Then I started feeling crappy. Still not sure what it was, but I went home and took a nap. THEN I went to bed at 7. I missed all of my Monday night shows, and I still felt kind of bad when I woke up this morning. No fever or anything contagious. Just really weak and feel like I can't eat anything. I had crackers and a banana for lunch. And lots of water. Hopefully whatever it is will pass. I hate feeling crummy...

Anyway, before Monday, I had a wonderful weekend and actually got a few things accomplished.

I finished my St. Patty's Day centers! This time around, I use graphics from Ashley Hughes. Aren't they adorable? Steven even read over this pack for me and was very impressed. Maybe that will help when I'm spending hours blogging or working on new products. At least he's now seen what I do and likes it! Just like the other packs, there are 4 comprehension centers (fact and opinion, cause and effect, main idea and details, and drawing conclusions) and 4 word knowledge centers (suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, and guide words). Please feel free to pin as well!

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Then I finally finished my literature pack for this book.

Have you read it? It's a great Roald Dahl book for lower readers because it's short and funny (like all of his books). Did you know that you can't include the cover in your units, though? I had no idea until Kate reviewed my unit for me. Thanks for letting me know, and now I'm working to take out the book images in any other packs I have. Oops!

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Hopefully I will be able to add a few more units soon. I'm working on another Magic Tree House unit: Leprechaun in Late Winter.

Then I have a writing activity planned. AND I even have an idea for my very first linky party! Can you tell I love St. Patty's Day?