Encyclopedia Brown - New Product and a SALE!!

Hello Everyone! I've finally added a new product to my store: "Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs" Novel Unit!

This is another of my complete novel units, loaded with comprehension questions, vocabulary, and chapter activities. Your students will be sure to love it! With the addition of this new product, I've decided to throw a sale on all of my Encyclopedia Brown novel units. So, if you've been looking for the perfect time to add one of these novel units to your collection, now's that time! The units will be on sale for $4.00 instead of $5.00.

I've been making my own novel units for many years. I enjoy the simplicity of my novel units because the students are still getting comprehension and vocabulary practice, but it does not take up too much time in your day. Also, the chapter activities are completely optional, so you can choose to do them, if time allows, or not. They just add a bit more understanding to the overall story, and students get to do some cross-curricular work as well. I use these novel units frequently in my classroom, and my students always enjoy them. I hope yours will too! Take look around, and I hope you find something that interests you!

Thanks for checking in!! Have a great rest of your week!!

Back to Blogging in 2016!

Hey strangers! I know I've been quite MIA for...hmm...about half a year. There's a reason for that, I promise!

Yep...I've been on this roller coaster of life with one more little guy to enjoy it with. Meet Winten Bernard Gunderson! Isn't he a cutie?! He was born in August, and I was able to stay home with him until the beginning of October. He's a little honey, and we love our little addition SO much!

But, that's only part of the story. I came off of maternity leave to a new teaching position. I am now teaching a 5th & 6th grade combination class in the town I grew up in and currently reside. So, the sweet thing is that I get to walk across the street to work with my three big boys, which is totally awesome. I also only have 5 students, which is pretty amazing. Oh the wonderful hands-on learning that can be done in a small classroom! I'm LOVING it! The only thing I'm not loving is that I don't teach math to my wonderful kiddos, but I get them for every other subject. It's a juggling game and a lot of work, so that's why I've been so MIA lately. I'm hoping to be better in the new year, now that I've finally settled in to my new position as teacher and mommy. Thanks for checking in! I'll be back online soon with some teaching tips and tricks, as well as some new novel units I've been working on. Check back soon!! :)

TPT Back to School Sitewide SALE!

Hello fellow teachers! For those of you who follow my blog, I'm sorry I've been MIA for the entire summer, but this is what I've been up to:

Yep, that's right...I've been cooking up a baby! My fourth boy, to be exact, so I've been rather busy either taking care of my other three or myself. Looking forward to 2 1/2 weeks from now when my little man will enter this world. So, I will be taking my maternity leave at the beginning of the school year, right when I'm supposed to start a new position at a new school. No stress....right!?!?!?! 

With that said, I will attempt to continue to get some blog posts out to you, as well as new products as much as I can. I'm currently working another Encyclopedia Brown novel unit, and you just can't miss the Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sitewide Sale! You can get up to 28% savings if you use BTS15 at the checkout. My entire store is on sale, so now's the time to get ready for the upcoming year! Here are a few items you might be interested in:

Reader's Notebook Starter Pack

Classroom Scrabble Bulletin Board

Star Cards - A Behavior Management System

Wishing you all a wonderful beginning to the school year! I hope you find lots of joy in your new students, your new roles, or whatever you may have going on in the coming months! Hopefully, you will be making a difference! :)

I'm a Featured Shop of the Week?? WHAT!?!?!

Well, I am SO excited, if you can't tell! I received word that I'm a Featured Shop of the Week on Teacher's Notebooks Facebook page. How cool is that?!?! They are also featuring a product of mine: Star Cards - A Behavior Management System. (Click on the logo above to take you to the Facebook post!) I'm totally stoked to be honored this way. I put a lot of work into each and every one of my products. I actually use them in my own classroom, and I really want to share my ideas and save other teachers time as well. I thank all of you for following me, making purchases, and just supporting me in general in this endeavor. You rock!

Don't forget, that I'm still running sales in both of my shops: Teacher's Notebook and Teacher's Pay Teachers. The Teacher's Notebook site-wide sale is all week and the TPT sale ends today.

I'll let you in on a little secret...I'm just finishing up a novel unit for "Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective," the first book in the series. I should have it in both of my stores by the end of the day. So, if you're looking for a novel to end your year, or you're looking forward to next year, you might want to check out this product!!

Thanks again for all of your support! Putting in the effort in my shops and on this blog wouldn't be worth it without you!
Have a great Teacher Appreciation Week! I hope you're getting spoiled by all of your cherubs. :)

Teacher Appreciation SALE!!

It's May, everyone! Can you believe it?!?!?! When we think about May, we think about flowers blooming...

sun shining...

and beautiful spring days...

UNLESS...you're a teacher! Then it's all...

AND...

Am I Right?!?! This time of year is probably stressful for all teachers. Everyone, including the teacher, wants to be outside, enjoying the blooming flowers, the shining sun, and the beautiful spring days. BUT THERE'S STILL SO MUCH TO DO!! I won't continue to post about things you already know, but I AM going to let you in a little secret....You. Are. Amazing. You Rock! You Bring Joy to Kids! YOU Make a Difference! So, as you're stressing and trying to keep your kiddos engaged, Teacher's Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook are both running sales to show how much YOU are appreciated. Head on over to my store for extra 20% savings. And, don't forget to use the coupon code for the website savings too! Hopefully you will find some products to save your sanity! Enjoy! And, remember, you WILL survive. You've done it before, and you'll do it again! :)

Click the banners to take you to my stores:

             

Thanks for EVERYTHING you do!

FLASH FREEBIE!! "Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case" Can Be Yours For FREE!

Happy Spring All! What a crazy time of year! Testing, testing, and more testing...that's what I'VE been up to, and I'm sure many of you can relate. With the adjustment to computer assessments and the Smarter Balanced test in itself, it's been quite an interesting time of year. I'm not going to say more, as I know everyone has their own opinions about Common Core standards, computerized testing, and standardized testing in general.

Since the end of the school year is nearing...it's almost May?? WHAT!?!? I thought I'd have a little fun and offer up a FLASH FREEBIE of one of my newest additions to my online stores: "Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case." This entire novel unit will be available in my Teacher's Notebook shop, Gunderson's Goodies, for a limited time. Beginning today through the end of the month, you can download this novel unit for free.

Been wondering what my novel units are like? Well, here's your chance to check it out! My best selling products in both of my stores have always been my Encyclopedia Brown and Jigsaw Jones packets, so I've been spending some time working on additional books in each of these series. I hope you enjoy this novel unit and come back for more. This novel unit also requires no work on your part, so if you're looking for something fun and engaging to end your year that still focuses on Common Core standards and reading skills, then this product will be a great addition to your reading collection. Hurry and grab it before April 30th!

Keep those chins up! The end of the year is approaching rapidly, and you will soon be on to the next adventure.

Literature Circles and Novel Studies!

Hey All! What have my students and I been working on lately? Reading comprehension strategies and writing in complete sentences! Woohoo! There are pieces of this that my students absolutely enjoy, and there are others that they groan about.

Let's start with the 5th graders. We are currently reading "No Talking" by Andrew Clements. This book is perfect for my little group of 5ths because this particular group LOVES to talk! This is a story about a group of 5th graders that loves to talk. The boys and girls start a competition to see who can talk the least over a two-day time period. It's a fun book with a great message at the end. I'm using a novel unit that I created:

My novel unit contains vocabulary for each chapter and comprehension questions too. The comprehension questions are both multiple-choice and short-answer. Of course, the packet is the least favorite of my students' tasks. They actually would love to listen to me read the entire time, but I take turns reading with them and then we answer the questions together. On the short-answer questions, we are working on using part of the question in our answer and writing complete sentences. I'm kind of a stickler for this skills, as I know many teachers in the future will require them to write this way, and I want them to be prepared for that.

With my 6th graders, we are reading "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This book is a science fiction novel based in the future. The government has made a rule that families can have no more than two children. Luke is a third child, and he has to spend his life in hiding. He begins to wonder if there are other third children out there. This is the first in a series. Kids usually can't wait to read further into the series after reading the first book with me. I'm using this packet from Lovin' Lit:

Lovin' Lit also has vocabulary, multiple choice questions, and more in her TPT store, but I've been using this packet because it focuses on text evidence. I can also keep working on writing complete sentences, using part of the question in the answer, with this group as well. 

If you're interested in either of these books and the questions that go along with them, just click on the picture of the novel unit you'd like, and it should take you directly to the product for purchase. 

Reading novels is one of my favorite things to do with students. I love choosing books that get them excited about reading. The 5th grade teacher asks what I do in my room because her students can't wait to get out the door to my room. All we are doing is reading, and they can't get enough of it. Their next choice is "Holes" by Louis Sachar. This book is one of my favorites, so I'm really excited to share it with my 5ths. However, I'm a bit worried that they won't understand the content since they are all struggling readers, which is why I'm saving it until the end of the school year. I'm hoping that if we take it slowly and spend a lot of time discussing, they will pick it up just fine. 

Thanks for tuning in! Hope you've all been having a wonderful spring break. I know I have! :)