Absence and LOTS of NEW FREEBIES

I'm sure many of you have been wondering, "Where has Michelle been??" Well, almost a ago month I was on my way back from a mini vacation with my hubby. It was a very sunny morning, hubby was driving...thank goodness, and all of a sudden I started to shake and lost consciousness. I had no clue what was going on and didn't realize what had happened until I woke up in a hospital that was 2 hours from my house. The ER doctors classified it as a "non-epileptic" seizure...meaning it was just a freak occurrence. I immediately scheduled appointments with my regular doctor and with the best neurologist in town because I was terrified about my future. After speaking with the neurologist, he was intrigued with my story and promptly scheduled me for an EEG. I just got the results back this week and I have been diagnosed with JME (Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy) which is a rare form of epilepsy. I have apparently had this all my life and it wasn't until the lack of sleep, overworking, and being overly stressed, along with the bright flashes of sunlight that morning that caused the perfect storm for my condition to shine through. That day has changed my life forever and it has taken me weeks to feel normal again. I would still say that my memory is still not 100% yet. I've been trying to take it easy and do less work...basically listen to my body and stop when I feel just a little bit tired. It's scary to think that another seizure can arrive at any time.   My future consists of no driving for 6 months...booooo...but the good thing about that is my hubby does all the grocery shopping for me!  Thank goodness for my very good friend Amanda who has been driving me all around to make sure my kids get to daycare and I get to school.  I don't know what I'd do without her!  She really is a lifesaver!

Sooooo, over the past month, I've been slowly adding to just a few of my products in order to maintain my body levels. So here are the new St. Patrick's Day activities that I have for you (Click on the links to preview).  This new unit, "Lucky Leprechauns" features 10 literacy center activities:

Lucky Leprechaun {Literacy Center Activities}

  This unit features Counting Phonemes, a NEW activity to replace syllable sorting.  Students will count the sounds they hear in each word and sort them onto the mats.  They can use the pots of gold at the bottom of each card to help them count the sounds.  This activity was created to help students master the Phonemic Segmentation Fluency assessment from AIMSweb.  Students should read diagraph and vowel teams together to produce one sound: ea =1 sound, sh =1 sound, etc. Blends are broken up into 2 separate sounds: br =2 sounds, st =2 sounds, etc.  You can download Counting Phonemes from "Lucky Leprechauns" for FREE by clicking HERE:

 The other NEW literacy center activity is just a modification to my previous Nonsense Word activities.  If you have downloaded the Nonsense Word activities in the past, they contained larger words and students would sort them by real words and nonsense words.  This NEW version of Nonsense Words contains basic, three letter nonsense words for students to use as flash cards to increase their nonsense word fluency.  This will help students master the nonsense word fluency assessment in AIMSweb.  Students will record the nonsense words from the cards onto the recording sheet.  I have also added a bonus recording sheet for students to use individually, with a parther, at home, etc. in order to challenge themselves by reading the words quickly.  Use this bonus sheet however you like.  You can download Nonsense Words from "Lucky Leprechauns" for FREE by clicking HERE:

One more FREEBIE:  We've been working on True/False math equations, so I created this Pot of Gold coloring activity to help students practice this skill.  It comes in 3 different forms: addition=addition, subtraction=subtraction, and addition=subtraction.  Students will solve the fact on both sides of the equal sign to determine if they're the same.  Click HERE to download all 3 "Pot of Gold" for FREE!

 

 

 Thank you all so much for being such wonderful followers.  For everyone that participated in the Ginormous Giveaway, Sarah Mackey willl be selecting the winner this weekend so if you entered the giveaway...good luck and I hope you win!!  It's seriously going to be a GINORMOUS prize.  Enjoy your Saturday and try to relax a little.  I've learned a lot about taking it easy and listening to your body.  I hope that you do too.  :-)