Happy Holidays from The Rungs of Reading!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

and WOOOOOOO WINTER VACATIONNNN!!!!

I was nervous about today... and ya know what?

It.was.the.best.day.ever! My kids were awesome and it was such a fun day!

Stacy and I want to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! 

We are so grateful for our new blogging friends and for each person that takes the time to read the words we write on this little space on the internet of ours!

Enjoy your families and your time off. Relax and rejuvenate but most importantly, rejoice!

We love you! 

December Five for Friday FUN!

Five more days....five more days....five more days!  Is everyone else chanting this in their head like me as I'm instructing my little friends?  Wow!  What a crazy week!  One down...one more to go!  Although my kiddos were a little "off" this week, we were still able to buckle down and get a few fun things done in the Reading Room.  Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for her weekly linky party to share what I've been up to!

 If you ever have a chance to see A Christmas Story the musical...GO!  I kept going back and forth about taking my little guy but stumbled upon some half-price tickets online so decided to take him.  Although our seats were in the nose-bleed section, we really enjoyed the acting, singing, and dancing.  It was really cool that the majority of the actors/actresses in the show were children.  Incredible talent!!  Logan was GLUED during each scene!  It really put us in the mood for Christmas!

 I have ONE MORE WEEK until my CAGS in Literacy class is over!  WHOOOOO HOOOO!  This month has been really stressful balancing life while pursuing a second degree.  I really enjoy my coursework but between work, holiday shopping, and caring for my family, I was SPENT this December.  Last week I went into a panic realizing that I did not have a single photo appropriate for the annual Christmas card.  Well, thank goodness I have a VERY talented blog partner that is a WHIZ with the camera!  THANK YOU Colleen for taking such beautiful pictures of my family!  She really captured everyone's personality, didn't she? 

 Since today was "Game Day Friday", my second grade groups got to play games that reinforced what we have been working on in our Fundations program.  This week we have been practicing suffix/inflectional endings using our Picking the Biggest Apples bundle.  This 27 page bundle includes 64 word cards, Board Game, SCOOT Spelling, Roll the Die Game and WEEK of reinforcing activities. I knew the Roll the Die game was a HIT, when one of my students said, "This game is awesome!  Can we play next week?"  Of course we can!!

 Speaking of next week, I'm probably going to pull out our new Grade 2 Winter Literacy Centers for us to play.  It will be like a “Snow Day” when my students practice their decoding skills playing the games and activities included in this bundle! This 30 page bundle includes FIVE literacy games and activities that are perfect for an ELA student center, small group RTI intervention, or whole-class activity.  Since winter has arrived early in New England, this bundle will be perfect as the temperature plummets!!  It was 19 degrees this morning!  19!!!

And finally, tomorrow brings the one-year anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.  As you are wrapping presents, finishing up last minute holiday shopping, or baking cookies, please say a prayer for those families hurting this weekend as the memories flood back of that horrible day. 

 

Have a blessed weekend, friends.  Hug your family and friends a little tighter and let your light shine so brightly that others can see their way out of the dark.

December Facebook Frenzy and MORE HOLIDAY FREEBIES!

Happy Friday Friends!  Have you heard about the December Facebook Frenzy this weekend?  Colleen and I are super excited to be joining other fabulous bloggers in the Grade 2 ELA/SS frenzy!  Click the picture above to download some fabulous FREE products!  Look for the penguin tab at the top of our facebook page to begin! 
Here's a sneak peek at our featured FREEBIE, Freezing Syllables!  This game is part of our newest product, Winter Literacy Centers for Grade 2! This 30 page bundle includes FIVE literacy games and activities that are perfect for an ELA student center, small group RTI intervention, or whole-class activity. 

If you are looking for the starting points of different grade-levels or specialties, clip the image below to download the map for the remaining 13 frenzies! Have fun!!!



Finally, have you seen the AWESOME 2013 Winter Holiday Tips and Freebies featuring some of the best sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers?  We hope you enjoy all of your free teaching materials for your classroom this holiday season. Happy Holidays!



 

Colleen's December Currently

Can you believe it's already December?!!

[psss... wanna know a secret? I've been wanting to put up the tree since the last trick-or-treater came to the door on Halloween!]

That just wasn't allowed here at home so I had to patiently wait until Thanksgiving Day to put the tree up. And now it's December! I just LOVE December. It's my birthday month AND it's Christmas. I love love love Christmas.... clearly. 

Anyway, today I'm linking up with Farley for her Currently Series once again. I'm a day late I know... I was really busy being an elf and setting up and decorating every last corner of my house for Christmas!

Listening: I'm in love with Hillsong's new-ish CD. It's amazing and their concert was pretty amazing as well. I just love this song for so many reasons but the main one is that right now I feel like the word relentless is what the Lord is saying to me. His love is relentless and He is not giving up on me. 

 Loving: I got a haircut on Saturday! This is kinda a HUGE deal in my life. I never get actual haircuts. Typically, I just go there, ask the world's greatest hair dresser to make my hair as blonde as it was when I was a child and to trim the edges. This time, I decided (and mentally prepared) myself to get a real hair cut... with a style and all. 6 inches gone and I'm so glad I did it. I love it! This is a picture of myself and my sweet friend [also a teacher] Abbey and I from Sunday when we made up this recipe and baked some peanut butter cup cupcakes.

Thinking: Okay, okay... I'm just a tad behind on this whole marking papers thing. Man oh man I'm very behind. We use SO much [way too much] paper everyday. It stacks up so quickly. 

Wanting: I would really love to be sipping some sleepy time tea and closing my eyes real soon but that stack of papers is calling Miss McBride's name as soon as this blog post is finished. And if I took a sip now, I'd be asleep in 10 min I swear. That stuff has like magical sleeping powers. Try it. Delicious.

Needing: Balance.... Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Emotional balance. I need it and I'm working on it.

Favorite Tradition: My mom's favorite Christmas classic has always been A Year Without a Santa Claus so naturally, it's become a favorite of my sister and mine as well. I love settling down on a snowy night with some hot chocolate and watching some good 'ol Christmas specials with my family. 

.... and I'm also obsessed with Elf. Which is it's own Christmas classic/special in my mind. 

Thanks for sticking with us, friends. It's so fun to be on here and get to know so many other wonderful teachers and bloggers! We feel so thankful for the friends that we've made through this journey. 

Stay tuned in the coming days for some recipes, updates on what we bought for Cyber Monday and some exciting news about our upcoming Frenzy!

Happy Monday!