It's CURRENTLY April!!!

Hi Sweet Friends!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend.

I sure did!  I ate way too many Reese's peanut butter eggs and Starburst jellly beans.

They are my favorite!  It's back to my diet today.

I couldn't wait to link up with Farley for her April Currently!

Sadly, it's the last day of our spring break.  I could use a few more days for those things I procrastinated about completing.... grading papers and organizing closets.  You know... all that "fun stuff".

I get to listen to the quiet as I work on this post.  My kiddos are at the sitters for a couple of hours while I try to get those last minute things accomplished before I go back to work tomorrow.  

I LOVE that I live in small town America and am an American.  The body of a Fallen Marine Hero will be arriving to our small town today.  As I drove though our small town this morning, there were flags everywhere.  It was a sea of red, white, and blue.  I had chills and tears in my eyes.  What a beautiful sight, and such a great tribute to this fallen Marine.  Hundreds of volunteers gathered together on Easter Sunday to place these 2200 U.S. flags in our small town to honor the fallen Marine as his body arrives back to his hometown today.   I had to take the opportunity to show my kiddos this sea of U.S. flags this morning.  I thought it so important for them to see.  My two youngest boys LOVE to play soldiers.  They have their battle tanks, plastic soldiers, helicopters, and so forth.  They were touched to see the flags and had many questions.

Thank you Marine Corporal Aaron Ripperda for your honorable service to our country!

Thank you so much for all of you who serve in our military!!

Now that spring has finally sprung around here, I'm thinking a picnic and trip to the park is in order on this last day of spring break for my sweet kiddos.  We've had so much fun!

I'm ready for SUMMER!  ..... so much time off has had me spoiled.  Sleeping in until 7 a.m., fun activities, no homework or other school related responsibilities...  We have 36 more days of school!!

My advice is "Be True to Yourself" and " Be the Best You Can Be".  Don't pretend to be someone you're not or create products that you wouldn't use yourself in your classroom.  Do what works for you!  Also, be the best you can be. Don't stress out that a product isn't completed right away or that you can only post to your blog once a week.  Life is busy and all of us understand that there are many other responsibilities that come first and are more important.  I remember when I started this blog over a year ago, I felt pressure to put a new post out each day.  I would spend hours up during the night working on this when I should have been sleeping.  I was worn out and a just a tad bit  grouchy... I've since realized sleep is very important ,and that I'm not going to lose followers because I don't have a new post every couple of days.

Don't forget to check out all of the other April Currently's by clicking on the photo below.

One more thing... I couldn't wait to share with you two of my newest TPT units.  I am using these things week and for the next few weeks in my classroom.  Just click on the photos below to learn more about them.

A novel study on " A Taste of Blackberries"  This is aligned to the Common Core for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade.  It contains 89 pages.  It includes a 26 page student workbook of vocabulary, comprehension questions, and language activities.  It also includes 3 close reads and activities that go with the theme of this novel.  It also contains a bee research project.  My favorite part is the lap book over essential story elements.  It has 7 foldables and I will be using these with our mini lessons with this novel study.  I also have included 3 vocabulary stations and a guide on how to implement the activities in this unit into stations.  

This last unit is my Solar System Mega Pack Unit aligned to the Common Core.  It includes a Student workbook with informational text on our solar system, an assessment over the solar system, a research project, and a solar system lap book with 7 foldables.  Just click on the photos above to find out more.

Have a fabulous week friends!  Thanks for stopping by!!