Product Swap: I Believe in Fate

I believe in fate for numerous reasons, but a few recent events happened recently, that affirmed my belief!

1} I got a Canon Rebel t3i from parents for Christmas!!! {Cue the angels singing!}
2} I was paired with Denise from Sunny Days in Second Grade for my very first Product Swap, hosted by Jessica Stanford.

{How are they related, you ask?  Well because I got to use my new favorite gift ever to take all sorts of pictures of Denise’s units!  Duh!}

In case you didn’t already know all about Denise, she is a veteran 2nd Grade Teacher in Sunny Florida, and she is a creative genius.  I have been “following” Denise since before I knew you could literally follow a blog by clicking on that follow button over there to the right.  Her blog was one of the first teaching blogs I stumbled across and I was hooked from the beginning.  She’s funny, talented, creative, and she knows her stuff. 

She’s also generous.  She offers up freebies like it’s nobody’s business. {Check out her latest, an H Diagram to go with the book “My Brother Martin”.}  She also has these adorable Math Journal covers that I print off faithfully every month for my 2nd graders.

So, suffice to say, when I was paired with Denise for {my first ever} Product Swap, I had to read over the email a few times before I could believe it.  Being able to shop Denise’s TpT store for any item I wanted was the equivalent of a kid in a candy store…it was so, so, so hard to pick!

But one of her units caught my eye pretty quickly.  Her ELA Common Core Assessment Pack was just what I needed to assess my kiddos on those all important skills.  We do have a basal, but I find it lacking at times, especially with regards to the new standards.  Many times my grade partners and I are scrambling to come up with an assessment before our standards based report cards go out.  Denise has provided at least one activity or printable to go with each standard!  It’s loaded!  The packet is 108 pages!

So, Denise saved my life with this pack.

I love how it’s all organized by standard.  Denise prepared posters that name and explain each standard.  I printed them off, put them in a page protector, and organized them in a 3-Ring Binder.  Now I have a place for all of Denise’s printables, as well as any standards-based sheet I come across in the future, and if I want to display the standard as a poster, I can just pull it out and hang it up.

I’ve already used a few of the Phonics sheets from Denise’s pack {and I’ve only had it for a week!}, and there are a few more printed off and ready to go for next week.





Report cards come out the week after, so this packet came at the perfect time!  Her unit really has already saved me so much time, especially because my gradebook is labeled by standards…I just need to peek at the standard at the top of the sheet!  Easy Peasy!

I also happened to mention to Denise that I had a really hard time picking between her ELA assessments and her January Printables Pack, so she sent them both to me!! {I told you she was generous!!!!}


Can I tell you how much you need this packet?  You need this packet.  I’ve printed off a few of the sheets and used them as Early Finishers, but I’ve also used them for whole group too.

{We haven’t covered pronouns yet, in case you we wondering why the bottom section is empty!}

The whole unit is packed with skills and sheets you’ll use through January!

Now, here’s the best part: Denise is giving away a copy of both of the units I review today, and I’m giving away a copy of my Communities unit that Denise is reviewing.  Enter using the rafflecopter below.  We’re also both having a sale in our TpT stores, today and tomorrow only!

{Denise’s Store} {Our Store}

Make sure you enter our giveaway, and head over to Sunny Days to see Denise’s review of my Communities unit!

Have a great weekend friends!

Halle a Rafflecopter giveaway