TPT's 3 Million Teachers Strong Sale!

I'm so excited about TPT's  3 Million Teachers Strong Sale beginning on Thursday February 27th through Friday February 28th. Everything in my store will be 20% off. Don't forget to use the PROMO Code: TPT3 at checkout to get another 10%, making it a total of 28%. Now is a great time to give feedback on all your purchases to earn extra credits to get even more discounts when you check out.

I've been so busy revising my March products which you can check out by clicking on the pictures below.

Here's my favorite March product and my 2nd best seller all revised and updated: 

You can read more about it and get lots of other free resources by clicking HERE

Looking for a fun March poetry unit? Here's my all new and revised "Roaring Into March with Poems"

You can read all about it, see several different poems and get a free poem by clicking HERE.

March is Irish-American Heritage Month so I revised and updated revised my Celebrating Ireland and St. Patrick's Day packet which includes the Symbols and Traditions of  Ireland and St. Patrick's Day. 

You can also get read more about it and get free resources and activities by clicking HERE 

I've also revised and updated my St. Patrick's Day: Making Sentences with Sentence Frames.

You can read more about it by clicking HERE.

Don't forget that March 13th is Popcorn Lovers Day. Here's a fun unit for K-1:

Finally, I added one new product. I had such nice feedback on my Making Words and Sentences freebies that I made one for March to include 15 March celebrations. I also included several different words sorts for students to categorize the words that they make.

You can read more about it by clicking HERE. 

I guess you can say I've been very busy over the last few weeks! If you are thinking past March you may want to check out my Frogs and Toads, Busy Bees, Spring Has Sprung and I Can Help the Earth

I truly appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to follow or read my blog. I have loved sharing resources and freebies with you! Hope you find some great bargains during the sale. Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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An InLinkz Link-up

March is for Making Words and Sentences

I had such nice feedback on my Valentine's Day Edition of Making Words and Sentences freebie that I decided to check out all the observances, holidays, and events in March. I couldn't believe the list I found! Did you know that March 1st is National Pig Day? How about National Potato Chip Day on March 14th?
Here is a list of the observances I came up with for March.

National Pig Day: March 1st

Peanut Butter and Jelly Day: March 2nd

Read Across America Day: March 3rd

Newspaper in Education: March 3rd-7th

Iditarod Sled Dog Race: 1st Sunday in March

Johnny Appleseed Day: March 11th

Popcorn Lovers Day: 2nd Thursday in March

National Potato Chip Day: March 14th

St. Patrick’s Day: March 17th

Let’s Play Basketball: NCAA College Tournament: Middle of March

Word Poetry Day: March 21st

Irish American Heritage Month

Music in Our Schools Month

National Kite Month: Begins March 29th

Women’s History Month

So I put them all together in one packet called, "March Edition of Making Words and Sentences and Word Sorts".  I added Word Sorts where students would sort the words they made into different categories. These would be great to use for contests, pair work, morning work, extra practice with sentence writing and grammar, or center activities. Here is the preview of the packet which you can access by clicking on the picture below.

For 1st grades they can sort words into Sight Words and Short Vowel Sound Words. There are also word sorts for Short Vowel Sounds and Long Vowel Sounds and Singular and Plural Nouns.

 There are also 3 category sorts like the one below:

When I came across "Popcorn Lover's Day" I had to include it. Why not include making popcorn with Making Words and Sentences.

 You might also be interested in my "It's Popcorn Time" Packet for K-1 which you can access my clicking on the picture below.

Of course I have a freebie for all of my followers and viewers. It includes instructions, Making Words and Sentences for "Catch a Leprechaun" and Sentence Writing Pages. Just click on the picture below to download your freebie. Hope you and your students enjoy!

Click HERE to follow me on Pinterest.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. March is just around the corner!

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Making Sentences with Sentence Frames for St. Patrick's Day

I have had such great feedback on my Making Sentences with Sentence Frames products that I just revised my St. Patrick's Day Edition with adding lots of extra activities. I have talked about the importance of using themes to help students write sentences basically because they have lots of words in their word bank to help them. Themes give students more time to read, write, say and use the target vocabulary many times. This is especially important for ESL students and struggling students.

The first thing I did was to add Picture/Word Cards to give students more practice with the vocabulary words. There are both color and B/W sets.

I also added Word Wall words that are verbs which they will need to use to write their sentences. To make sure your students understand the words have them act them out. For the verb "wear" ask them what they are wearing today.

I also added a chart about what sentences are and examples of sentences and phrases to use in a whole class activity to access your students' understanding of a sentence.

I also added new Sentence frames to use the concept of a train for the different parts of the sentence.

Students will use the different 3 or 4 frame sentence cards that are cut to make sentences. Then they will write them on their recording sheet. I added more "Unscramble Sentences and Illustrate" them for the center activities. Finally they will write sentences independently to assess their understanding of a sentence and how to write one.

You can see all the materials and activities by downloading the Preview file. Just click on the picture below.

There are 2 free "Unscramble and Illustrate the Sentence" activities with the preview file like the one below.

I also have a free St. Patrick's Day "Roll the Die and Read" to go along with this packet to give your students more practice with reading sentences and practicing the vocabulary words. Just click on the picture below to download your free packet.

Would love to have you check out my Pinterest Boards and follow. Just click HERE.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Don't forget to wear green on March 17th.

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Roaring About March Poems and Freebies

Will March come in like a lion and out like a lamb this year? I'm sure many of you are hoping that it will come in like a lamb and stay that way for the whole month! March is a great month for writing poems and I finally revised my March poetry unit. It has 9 original poems and a mini poetry book about Potato Chips! Just click on the image below and download the Preview file to see sample pages of all the poems and activities in this unit.

Did you know that March 14th is National Potato Chip Day? What a fun way to celebrate the day with a poem and have some potato chips!

You will find 2 poems about the wind including this Cinquain. Your students will learn how to write one as well.

March is also the beginning of spring and the time when animals wake up from their long winter nap. I've written a poem called, "Wake Up Sleeping Animals" which tells about what these animals have been doing all winter.

Have you heard about March Madness? It's the big college basketball tournament that usually starts in the middle of March. Students will have fun learning and acting out this fun chant.

Hope you've enjoyed this fun sampling of my unit. There are also several different forms of poetry and writing activities including Informative text and Opinion Piece writing activities included. Don't forget to download the preview to see sample pages of all the poems and activities.

Did you know that March 1st is National Pig Day? Time to give pigs some respect for being intelligent and clever animals. I wrote a poem about pigs to celebrate their day which you can download for free. Just click on the picture below to get your free packet. Students will also learn to write a "How To Be" Poem about Pigs!

You can also check-out my St. Patrick's Day and Ireland post that includes lots of great free resources!

I put together this free March Word Sort to go along with my poetry unit. Students will sort Proper nouns, Common nouns, and Plural Nouns all related to the month of March. Just click on the image below to download your freebie.

Don't forget to check out all my Pinterest Boards HERE. Would love to have you follow. 

 Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Let's hope March comes in like a lamb!

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Come Celebrate my 65th Birthday with Free Gifts

I can't believe it's my 65th birthday. I have no idea where all those years have gone but they have been filled with lots of love and happiness along with some tears and sadness. I have traveled the U.S. and the world with my husband of 44 years and it has been an incredible journey. Now we are in our retirement home surrounded by our children, grandchildren, and wonderful friends. I have no idea where the next chapter in my life will take me but when I retired from teaching in Alaska, my leadership team gave me this poem in a beautiful frame. It was the perfect poem for me. I have always marched to the beat of my own drum and been a free spirit but always remained true to myself.

It wasn't easy starting all over in a new place every 2 or 3 years but what I became was a citizen of the world! I loved to teach and although I never taught the same grade twice it led me to what I loved the most, working in a Title I School as the ESL Resource Specialist. It was the first time I stayed in one job for 9 years until I retired. The highlight was being named as the State Teacher of the Year in 2006. I went on to work for a Korean company and write their Speaking, Reading and Writing curriculum for their on-line teaching ESL program. Finally I retired in 2010 and my husband thought it would be good hobby for me to create materials to sell on TpT. HAHA! I'm sure you are all laughing! It was a full-time hobby. Since I didn't grow up in the computer, cell phone, FB age it was a real learning curve. I'm still revising old products!

It has been 2 years since I started my blog and just love my new design by Tessa from Tales From Outside the Classroom.  The one thing that has always remained is that I have stayed true to myself. I love writing poetry and plays and reading and writing units that have materials to meet the needs of all the students in your classrooms. I also love giving away activities. It is my way of giving back to a profession that I love.

I have never done my own rafflecopter giveaway to gain followers and decided not to do one for this special birthday. Instead I will be making 2 products free today, February 17th only, for you to download. I hope you will leave feedback while they are free. As I have revised products I have had such wonderful feedback and I truly appreciate it.

The first freebie is one that I revised several months ago for K-1. Did you know that March 13th is National Popcorn Lovers Day? What a perfect day to do my unit and make popcorn. Just click on the picture below. Hope you enjoy.

For the 2nd and 3rd grade teachers I have just uploaded this all new and revised packet: Celebrating Ireland and St. Patrick's Day. Did you know that March is Irish-American Heritage Month?  There are lots of reading and writing activities about the Symbols of Ireland and the Symbols and Traditions of St. Patrick's Day. Just click on the picture below.  Hope you enjoy.

If you really like my products then I hope you will follow my store. Any new followers to my blog or Facebook are always welcome.

Thanks so much for celebrating this special day with me. If I can leave you with some words of wisdom then I would tell you to make the most of each and every day. I don't blog as often or spend nights and weekends on FB these days. That's my time for my family and friends and to enjoy my life! Life is about making wonderful memories with your family and the people you love. I look forward to making a lot more memories in the future.

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Throwback Thursday Freebie

I'm so excited to be teaming up again with my friends Fern and Michelle for their Throwback Thursday Trio Freebie! A year ago they began  their Dynamic Duo monthly giveaways. They had a fun time working together and of course loved to give stuff away!

Fern recently came up with a new idea.  Each week, we are going to make one of our normally priced packets free for one day.  This is our way of showing a little appreciation to our followers who have loyally followed our blogs.  As an added bonus, we are going to invite a different blogger friend each week to join us.  Not only will you get free stuff, you might get to "meet" someone new and want to follow his or her store, too.  How great is that?!!!  Make sure you visit our blogs every Thursday!

My freebie is one of my Play and Poetry Units that I love to create. Seems like winter isn't going away so hopefully you can enjoy it now! 

Click HERE to download your freebie.

Just a reminder:  You will not be able to leave feedback after we change it back to a paid for lesson.

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Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. For those of you in the path of this snow and ice storm please be careful!

Celebrating My New Blog Design with a Freebie

I absolutely LOVE my new blog design. My friend Tessa from Tales Outside the Classroom did an amazing job!!!!! I was so excited that I created a brand new product today. Then I decided to make it FREE to celebrate my new blog design. If you have never tried my "Don't Get Skunked" games, this is your chance. This is my February Edition of "Don't Get Skunked" that includes a Picture Word Wall of the 3 February Holidays: Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, and Presidents' Day, and word cards with these February holiday words. Here is a sample of the Picture Word Wall:

The game word cards:

The game skunk cards

 and the Funky, Spunky, Sweet Smelling Skunky Award

Just click on the picture below to get your free game. Hope you will leave some feedback.

Thanks for celebrating with me. 

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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