Black History Month & Poetry

I've been blog stalking this evening and drooling over all of the fun stuff everybody picked up in the Super Bowl Sale. It looks like everybody won big (everybody except my bandwagon team! Wah!). 

I loaded up on a bunch of fun stuff too. One of my favorite finds is this gem from Barb at It's About Time Teachers.

I had pinned this a while back and was so happy when I actually got around to purchasing it during the TPT sale. It is packed with so many great activities! I love that I can work it into my ELA block but it also meets social studies standards too. 

(Click on the picture to buy your own copy) 

Of course it is perfect since we are just beginning Black History Month, but it is doubly exciting for me because we are also in the middle of our poetry unit! I'm so excited to introduce this pack next week! 

Over the weekend I also found this amazing book and my favorite neighborhood  bookstore. 

I am seriously in love with this book!!! The poems are wonderful and the illustrations are great! Plus it came with a CD with many of the poems read aloud....some by the poet. I love the diverse poets in this book from Langston Hughes to Tupac.  My kids are going to go crazy over this! 

Now I just have to find away to fit it all in....between Valentine's Day, President's Day and midyear assessments. Why are so many things crammed into the shortest month of the year????

Five For Friday

So glad it's Friday!! I am looking forward to a weekend full of lots of rest and relaxation. :) I am also (finally!) linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for a fun little linky. I have seen this linky floating around for awhile now but now I am officially linking  up. Hop on over and link up too!

1) Martin Luther King Jr. Posters 

I love seeing our MLK posters in the hallway. My kiddos worked so hard on them! I love their portraits of Dr. King! My poor photogrpahy skills/camera phone really don't do these justice. :) 

2) Zombies in Love 

 I started pulling out my Feburary resources and found my favorite Valentine's Day book. Makes me smile everytime!

3) Poetry Unit

We just started our poetry unit. My fabulous student teacher created the first week of  the unit and today the students were able to recite some of the poems that they explored during the week. Two of my kiddos rapped "Smart" by Shel Silverstein. They were so into it! :) Makes my teacher heart happy.

4) Magic School Bus 

We have been working on benchmark tests ALL week. My kids are totally burnt out by lunch so the afternoons have been crazy  ineteresting.The Magic School Bus for Luch totally saved our afternoon Thursday and also hit some major science standards. Gotta love that!

5) Factor Samuri

Our new favorite app! Feels just like fruit ninga but there's some math in there (it sneaks in all ninja-like).

Hope you all had a fabulous week!! I am sending you good thoughts for a relaxing weekend!!! I know that  am looking forward to blog stalking this weekend....