Five for Friday and Back in Action!!! (and Freebies, too)

It's been a very long, relaxing break and sometimes, I just have to step away from the computer!  But all good things must come to an end and now we are back in school and working on fourth quarter.  My little friends are working SO HARD!  Spring has sprung in Room 208!

I knew my firsties were going to need some phonics review after the break, so I created this pack for Word Work. 

 I focuses on ue, ew and igh, and words spelled with y but sound like i and e.

This pocket chart holder is so stankin CUTE!  My husband made it for me to fit a teeny tiny pocket chart I got in the dollar bin at Target.

And my phonics pieces fit in it perfectly!

I found some cute "spring garden" bags in the Target dollar bins to put all the pieces in.

(It makes everything so much more fun!)

Many of my students said they liked these spinner games and asked that I make some more.  The game is for 2-3 players.  One student spins the spinner.  What ever spelling pattern it lands on, the students have to find a word with the matching pattern, read it, and color or cover that word.  The first one with all their words colored/covered wins.

I've gotten into this "thing" this year where my listen to reading bags have to match with the season.  These were probably the cheapest bags I've made all year!  I found the bags on sale for $.50 a piece at Michaels.  I already had the flowers, bows and raffia and just hot glued them on.

  My friends LOVE them!

They grab a bag from the hook and go!

Y'all should see the ones I'm getting ready for our ocean theme!  SO STANKIN CUUUTE!

 Anther fun center I added to Word Work is "Read it, Build it, Write it."

It started out as a very simple way to have my students practice their sight words.  For every season I would simply switch out the mats.  They would get excited from just seeing new mats or a new color play dough!

 Then I added stamps and told them to stamp the word into the play dough.

 This month, I've added magnetic letters.

I also like to add fun little buckets to keep all their words in.

This center has yet to lose its luster!

I keep everything organized on a two tier tray on a side work table.

Writing has also become a favorite center in Daily 5.  I make sure that I switch the words and decor out with the seasons to keep it high interest.  This month it's all about Spring, Earth Day and farm life!

You can get the April word wall words HERE FOR FREE.

I like to provide plenty of options for my students to choose from.  This also helps ME because I can throw it all in Writing center and not worry about it for the WHOLE MONTH!  I ALWAYS have stickers for Sticker Stories.  You can read the post with Sticker Stories HERE.

I always get my stickers at Michaels.  You can get a book of them for a dollar!

This month, I've also included STAMP STORIES!  I found a bunch of little stamps at Michaels (4 for a dolla) and put them in a little basket with an ink pad.  You can see the the little basket in the left corner two pics above.  You can get the Stamp Stories page HERE FOR FREE.

Since my little friends are getting closer and closer to second grade and are writing more, my new Work on Writing April comes with an option to make books.  Rather than putting sheets of paper for their narrative, opinion and how-to's, I made books for them instead.

Letter writing is still an absolute favorite!

You can get MANY of these activities in this pack!  And it's on SALE!

Lastly, I wanted to leave y'all with this.  As teachers, we get lots of homemade gifts and most of us would grit our teeth and wear/use whatever gift was thrown together by the little hands of our friends.  But think about it...they weren't in school, and they were thinking of YOU.  This little child sat down (and Lord knows they can't sit at school!) and took the TIME to make you a gift.  They present it to you WITH PRIDE.

I proudly wore this necklace all day.  Does it match my outfit???

Y'all have a fabulous weekend!