A FABULOUS Five for Friday!

Hi Friends!  We hope that you all enjoyed your week!  We are breathing a little easier now that it's Friday!  Today we are linking up with Doodle Bugs to share what we were up to this week!

 So, we really can't complain TOO much about our week because we had an exciting SNOW DAY on Wednesday!  I'm pretty sure the entire state of Massachusetts shut down once again.  My son and I spent a very lazy day watching movies and making Snow Ice Cream for the very first time!  It was so much fun!  I only wish that we had a jar of hot fudge and a can of whipped cream to top off our creation!  Unfortunately, I was too lazy chicken to brave the elements to pick some up at the grocery store.

 Speaking of snow, here is a cute picture of Colleen's class braving the elements at recess this week!  Nothing stops us New Englanders from giving our kids some much-needed exercise during the week!  Kids, throw on your snow pants!  We're going outside!!

 On the other hand, we stayed nice and warm in the Reading Room practicing 'y' as a vowel and 'y' as a suffix this week in our phonics program.  I was so excited to finally take the "Mirror Mirror on the Wall" card game off the shelf to play!  Thank goodness my mother is a habitual coffee drinker as she donated a trash bag of coffee cans to house some of our games.  All the cans neatly line a shelf which make it easy to grab and for teachers to borrow.  If you haven't downloaded this FREEBIE yet, grab it today!

If you are looking for a really fun read aloud next week to celebrate friendship and Valentine's Day,  Colleen and I highly recommend one of our favorite books by mother-daughter team Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton (yes....THE Julie Andrews).  The Very Fairy Princess shares how love and imagination can go a long way towards solving problems, even on Valentine's Day.  This bundle includes two Reading Response letters (boy or girl) and a fun comprehension game that aligns with standards:

RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. 

RL. 2.1 Ask and answer questions such as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

GRAB IT THIS WEEK FOR ONLY $1.00!!

Finally, if you are looking for some fabulous ways to promote literacy and increase parent involvement in your classroom or school, our collaborative blog buddies at Adventures in Literacy Land  are sharing some dynamic ideas to improve the home-school-community connection!  

Enjoy your weekend, friends!  

Loving Literacy Blog Hop Stop #16

Welcome to...

We hope you are enjoying the Loving Literacy Blog Hop! We are so excited to join this wonderful group of reading specialists, coaches, and teacher bloggers to share our love of literacy with you.

Stacy:  I was the type of kid that always had my nose in a book.  Every summer we would travel to the 1000 Islands and stay in a cottage on the river.  All of my cousins swam and played games while I sat in the hot cottage reading the latest Sweet Valley High book or my dog-eared copy of Little House on the Prairie.  Interestingly, thirty years later (yikes) I still remember many of the story-lines.  

I work hard everyday to expose my students to a variety of genre, series, and authors so that they may develop a love of literacy like I did as a young girl.  This is not always an easy task as their feelings towards reading can sometimes be clouded because of their struggles.  I often have parents asking me for help in finding a book that will capture their child's heart.  Luckily, I found a fabulous used bookstore that sells hundreds of children's books for under a dollar.  When one of my little friends revealed that she thought she might like Jigsaw Jones, I literally bought the entire series for her.  Thankfully, the series captured her attention but I am hoping to expand to other books and series with her soon.

Colleen:  My mom was always a reader... I remember long 4 hour car rides to and from our lake house in the Adirondacks of upstate NY or ferry rides to the beaches of Martha's Vineyard where she was always reading. I think her encouragement and model really inspired my love for literacy as well. It wasn't long before I was following right in her footsteps with series of books I just couldn't put down. I distinctly remember love love loving The Boxcar Children mysteries and Misty of Chincoteague as a kid. As I grew older I fell in love with Jodi Picoult and Karen Kingsbury books. There's just something about holding the pages of a captivating story in your hands vs flipping the pages of an ipad or kindle... just sayin'. I also simply love a good children's book rich with vivid words,  colorful illustrations and a central message. 

As a first year, second grade teacher, I have loved teaching literacy to my students. I knew it would be an area of importance for any classroom teacher to have when I decided to get my masters in Reading and Literacy and it has benefited me greatly. It's so encouraging to see my students finding books and series they are so enthralled by that they just can't put down. We spend 10 minutes after lunch each day silently reading our Just Right Books and when that timer goes off, my students really struggle to put the bookmark in and close the book. Despite the fact that it takes me longer to gather their attention, I actually think that's a positive thing! :) My students are currently loving both Harry Potter and Percy Jackson andddd... fun fact: the first Harry Potter came out when I myself was in 2nd grade!

Now that we are getting closer to Valentine's Day, we wanted to share one of our favorite books by mother-daughter team Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton (yes....THE Julie Andrews).  

Let your inner SPARKLE out is Geraldine's mantra in the treasured children's book, The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart.  We love how the authors capture how to celebrate a friend's special qualities in this heartwarming tale.  This book shares how love and imagination can go a long way towards solving problems, even on Valentine's Day.  Our FREEBIE bundle includes two Reading Response letters (boy or girl) and a fun comprehension game that aligns with standards:

RL.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. 

RL. 2.1 Ask and answer questions such as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

We hope you enjoy celebrating friendship and kindness using the book The Very Fairy Princess Follows Her Heart!  Get ready to fly on over to the next stop on the Loving Literacy Blog Hop!