Fabulous Finds Friday! - January 31, 2014

Good morning!  We are back with our first Fabulous Finds Friday of the new year! Feel free to link up your fabulous finds!

Traits Writing Resource

One of my latest finds is a traits writing resource that was published in 2009, but I had never come across it before--Month-by-Month Trait-Based Writing Instruction: Ready-to-Use Lessons and Strategies for Weaving Morning Messages, Read Alouds, Mentor Texts and More Into Your Daily Writing Program by Maria P. Walther & Katherine A. Phillips.  This resources is full of goodies!  I especially like that most ideas included are perfect for mini-lessons and how so many wonderful picture books are presented. Sure, you could use the activities month-by-month, but it's not required--you can pick and choose what works best for you in your current writing program.  I feel this resources is a must have for K-2!

Letter Writing Mentor Text

I have a collection of picture books in which authors use letter writing, but I recently found this gem--Dear Annie by Judith Caseley.  What a touching story of the relationship between a grandfather and his granddaughter that was created through letter writing over the years.  This is a perfect mentor text showing the real-life use of letter writing.  Just a blurb from the back of the book--"My Grandpa is my pen pal," Annie tells her class at show-and-tell one day.  Its' true.  Annie and her Grandpa have written each other letters since the day Annie was born...  Dear Annie is an oldie-but-goodie that was published in 1991.  So glad I found it!

A Couple of Dollar Finds!

I did not even realize that K-mart had a little dollar deals aisle now.  Found these 2-pack jumbo paperclip bookmarks!

Also, I just discovered some perfect sticky notes for the classroom--thumbs up and thought bubbles.  These work famously for kudos and our exit board.

Here is our button if you would like to link up something fabulous you have found!

Have a splendid weekend!