LONG TIME NO-BLOG! First off, I am sorry that I have been so
VERY absent lately. But, I took a little break from a few things because I
needed time to reflect and rest. I was allowing myself to get too caught up in
“life” that I was losing sight on some important things. I felt like a robot.
Fertility treatments, blog, fertility treatments, make a product for TPT,
obsess over lesson plans, sleep, eat, fertility treatments. I needed time to
refocus and enjoy the process and journey rather than go through the motions.
So forgive me, and what better way to get back in the blogging world than a
little Five for Friday on this oh-so-Good Friday! Thank you to the wonderful Doodle Bugs Teaching!
I see it only fit that my first thing should be this....
WE ARE PREGNANT!!! 18 months... rounds and rounds of fertility
treatments.... IUI with IVF injections and we got our little miracle! We
definitely recognize and understand that we had it “easy” compared to couples
that go through years and years of infertility. But, that does not take away
from the journey we went through and the indescribable joy and relief we are
feeling. We found out the day before Thanksgiving (2 days after we were told
that this may never happen for us) and let me just tell you that is a Thanksgiving
for the books! I may get around to doing a post about our journey, but I am not
sure on that just yet.
Since that was my number 1, it is only fitting that this is
my number 2....
It’s a GIRL!!!! Our precious little one is a southern
belle!
We are over the moon! And we have already bought a
ridiculous amount of pink, ruffles and bows. Sorry not sorry....
Ask me 2 years ago, I would have told you never not ever are
we going to have a Gender Reveal party. I do not like excess attention, and my
husband doesn’t either. So, we just knew we weren’t going to do one. But then,
when we found out about this little one, we knew we were going to CELEBRATE her
in every possible way. So here is a little snippet from our “Waddle it Be” Gender
Reveal party. I have a simple obsession with Rubber Duckies. I have a
collection that easily surpasses 200.
So, this gave me a great reason to bust them out and use them! Most of
our decorations, I made with my Silhouette. But, we did keep it very simple. We
used the fizzy duckies from SosiaToGo on Etsy.
And the first-time Grandmas were the ones to do the reveal,
J and I already knew (I mean you expect me to wait even longer? Yeah, right!) Here is the short video of their reaction. Priceless.
Enough Baby Stuff, let’s get to the teaching stuff! Because
I am really excited to share about that too! We started our unit on Persuasive
Letter Writing this week and I have to say, it is one of my favorite units!
I started the week off by introducing what a letter is and
what it’s purpose is. It takes a little bit for them to understand the
difference between a letter A,B,C, and a letter like what I was trying to teach
them. LORD HAVE MERCY! It was like pulling teeth sometimes! But, this Mentor
Text helped a TON!!! You can find it free at my store here!
After they understand the purpose of writing a letter, we talk about the parts of a letter. Here is a little Whole Brain Teaching for your little Good Friday ears.
After they learn the parts of the letter, I give them this little activity page to use a sort of informal assessment. This little one’s spelling of body just cracked me up and I just had to share! I know it is blurry and ignore the handwriting. We are working on that ;)
Last thing for this post is how I introduce persuasive writing. The first day we write a class shared letter to our principal trying to convince her to give us something we want. This was particularly fun because our school just got a new principal this past week. So, it was a fun way to welcome her into her new role! Then we do 4 days of "PERSUADE THE PIGEON."
I read 4 Pigeon books by Mo Willems, one each day.
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
Pigeon Wants a Puppy
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Pigeon Needs a Bath
This is so so fun! Because it helps them have learn to focus their writing into persuasion without overwhelming them. I give them the topic, they just have to pick a side and write. After this is when I let go of the reigns and let them persuade their little hearts out!
I hope everyone has a blessed and wonderful EASTER WEEKEND! I hope it is full of family, love and memories!
