Scramble Freebie

Thanks to Leslie from KindergartenWorks for hosting a show and tell!  Here's what I'm sharing:


I told you about my new game I'm using with my kids in class in my last blog post.  I really like playing Scramble on my phone and I thought my kids might like to play too!  It's an easier version since they are only 5 and 6 years old.  Here's what it looks like:

It's very much like Boggle.  We have been learning all about CVC words, so they have to find as many CVC words as they can.  Obviously, we will have to do several together for them to get the hang of it- but I really think they are going to love it!  I have 4 made so far- you can grab them here, here, here, and here.  :)

I hope you can use them and your kiddos enjoy them!
Have a great weekend!

Assessments

I'm back from my maternity leave- just in time for spring assessments!  I know I've blogged about ESGI before, but I wanted to share with you some new features that I've recently found- that made me wish I had known about them earlier!

So, in the fall and winter, I would test my kids and then if I had to stop to change subjects, help a student, or head to lunch, I had a hard time remembering where I had stopped and where I needed to keep going.  So, I would go through, student by student, and look at their last test date- time consuming?  YES!

But... do you see that little button down at the bottom of the screen?  VIEW UNTESTED STUDENTS - the answer to my prayers! :)

 When you click that button- you get a screen that looks like this:

Genius!  It shows if the student needs the test ran or if he/she has scored a 100%, they don't need to retake the test!  And with a simple click- it starts the test the student needs.  Now, no more shuffling through student tabs and looking at their last test date.  Sweet! :)  Thank you ESGI! :)

Now- head on over to try out your 60 free trial!  Click the image to be taken to ESGI!

Have you ever played the App "Scramble"?  I'm addicted- and it got me thinking and I've made a similar version for my kids to play (paper/pencil version, I'm no App creator)  :)  Stay tuned, my next blog will have some freebies including my Kinder friendly Scramble! :)

Happy Spring Break! Mine starts today- when does yours start?

A giveaway, a feature, and a baby

Hello world!  I'm back.  I wrote my last post with a very pregnant belly, and now I'm writing this post with a very beautiful baby girl laying next to me.  It's heaven on earth, it really is.  <3

Here's our new little addition to the family:

Her baptismal gown is over 200 years old.  It belonged to her great-great-great-great-great grandfather.  Pretty special.

Moving on...

I was so honored when I was asked to be a guest-blogger for Teacher Created Resources blog.  Hop over to check out how I organize some of my classroom centers.  Click Here.

Then make sure you come back here for a chance to win....

Here's the scoop:  I'm so excited about being featured, that if you read my post, comment here (and there- that would be awesome too!)

The first 5 people to comment here will get to pick something out of my TPT or TN store.  OR, the winner can request I make something fitting to their needs.

First 5 win... so go!  And while you do that... I'm going to go snuggle my sweets.  :)

January Literacy Centers- FREEBIE! :)

Hey all! 

I'm here today to share my January Literacy Centers.  Here's what I've got for you:

Writing prompt:  In the snow, I like to...

 CVC word practice

 Poetry comes with 3 sheets of words to find in the poem.

 Big books- Identify title and known/unknown words.

I hope you can put them to use in your classroom.  I won't have any pics of them in use because I've left it for my sub to do during my maternity leave.   Let me know if you can use them and how they worked.

If you need info on how I use these Literacy Centers in my classroom- check out my blog post here.
Or, if you need literacy center labels- you can grab those here.

To grab your free copy of these January Literacy centers, click HERE from Google Docs.

On a personal note- maternity leave started for me today.  no baby yet, but I'll keep you posted!!  We still don't know if it's a boy or a girl- I'm so anxious and excited to find out!!!!!!!!

Freebie: Highlight-a-word UPDATED!

Just a quick blog entry today-

Before I dive in- don't forget to enter the giveaway that is currently happening on my blog.  Click here to find out how to win $25 at Teacher Created Resources!!

And now for the FREEBIE:

I've been adding more sightwords to the highlight-a-word document.  You can find the most updated version of it with over 35 words listed here. 

Here are the words you will find:

I, a, am, the, is, it, we, like, do, you, go, me, and, he, has, my, to, so, can, his, name, came, of, in, her, put, here, look, see, green, pink, gray, purple, brown, white, blue, yellow

I'll keep working on adding more words.  In the mean time, if there is a word or couple of words that I'm missing that you need- don't hesitate to e-mail me and I'll get those in there for you ASAP!

Teacher Created Resources- $25 GIVEAWAY!!

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to test-drive some of Teacher Created Resources books.  Let me tell you- I am so happy with their products and can't wait to tell you about them (and give you the chance to win some of your own!!)

OK- so let's dive right in:

Here's one of the books I received :  Shapes and Sizes.

This book is small, but mighty!  It's only 43 pages long, but it's jam-packed full of resources.  It starts out as easy as tracing shapes, moving into identifying shapes in real-life objects and asking students to read/recognize/write the shape word.  It also addresses size comparisons.  It really is the best supplemental material book I've found.  It's so easy to introduce the concept, give the students some hands-on practice, and then use this book to check for understanding or assessment. 

 As you can see from this sample page below, it's very Kinder/student friendly- so I don't have to worry about the kids getting lost or confused when doing this activity individually.

 The other book I received, which was my FAVORITE!!!!!!!!!, is called Kindergarten Success.  It's the cat's meow (where on earth did that phrase even come from, anyone know?!?!)
Anyway, it's amazing.  Simply, ah-may-ZING.  :)
It's a standards-based skills review book for all subject areas.  This baby is 192 pages of pure teacher heaven.  Let's say I just finished teaching a unit on weather.  I need a closing activity/check for understanding/assessment to make sure my kids 'got it.'  This book had my answer!  I thumb through the pages and see the labels in the top right hand corner of every page until I see "Weather."  I stop, check to see what's on it, find the one I like best (who am I kidding, I liked them all!), make copies, and bam- my kids are showing me that they mastered the unit on weather and we move on to plants.  I'm a hands-on, visual, get dirty teacher... but sometimes a worksheet is just what the dr. ordered, especially when you are wrapping up a unit and ready to take a grade.  This book is full of those types of resources for all subject areas- language arts, math, social studies, and science.  And, the kids really like it when you let them use colored pencils or markers to do the activity (which was an idea they mentioned at the front of the book!) Genius!  :)

 Here are some sample pages from the Success book.

Math

Social Studies

Science

Language Arts

So, here's my review:

Pros:
- the pages are perforated, so they can be easily torn out if you need to make a quick copy
- easy to read, student friendly
- answer keys are in the back
- created by teachers for teachers- so they know just what we need!
- very handy tool to keep on hand for a substitute in a pinch
- very cost-efficient
- on the website, you can download sample pages to see if you are going to like the book before making a purchase - so do that now to get some awesome freebies!!!!

Cons:
- I wish the pages had a line for the student's name

Only 1 con means these books are so worth checking into!  :)  I was given the privilege of reviewing these products, and now it's your turn!  Teacher Created has given a generous $25 for the winner to spend on any Teacher Created materials!  So, enter now!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Sightwords, Highlighters, and a FREEBIE!

Sightwords.  They are essential for Kinders to know in order to be successful readers.  We do sightword rings that the Kindergarteners take home to practice nightly.  We have word walls.  We have little readers that emphasize sightwords.  We learn about text patterns that include sightwords.  Sightwords are everywhere!!!  *and they should be for the Kindergarteners to get enough exposure to them to be successful readers*

And when I saw Babbling Abby's Highlight-a-letter Pack, I knew I wanted to do this with sightwords.  I mean, who doesn't love highlighters?  Even more importantly, what Kindergartener doesn't love highlighters??  I e-mailed sweet Abby and asked for her permission to use her genius idea and incorporate sightwords.  She said yes! :)  **Thank you Abby!!**

So, here's what I've come up with- it's almost identical to Abby's letter packet- I mean, why mess with genius, just go with it.  She had it lookin' cute, so I simply changed letters to sightwords!

Here's what I'm giving you:

 Workmats:  The students use those little transparent BINGO chips/counters to mark the sightwords they find on the paper.

Like this:

 You also get the practice sheet where kids get to use highlighters to mark the words they see and then trace the word to get some handwriting practice in.

Like this:

We do 3 new sightwords a week, so I put 3 workmats in a station and then staple together the 3 practice sheets so each student gets a set of practice sheets.  (Side note, I was typing fast and that previous sentence said "Staple together the 3 practice sheets TO each student...  NO, I do not staple papers TO students.  Good thing I caught it before publishing this blog post or I would have had some explaining to do!)

Anyway, click HERE for your copy from Google Docs.  It's still a work in progress, not all of our sightwords are on here.  There are about 9 words on here now.  If you have a need for a specific word, I'd be happy to make you the words you still need - just e-mail me.  I'll also be updating often to add more words, so don't forget to check back often.

I took my boys 3 year and 5 year pictures this past weekend.  You don't mind if I share, do you?

Here's Wade- so grown up.  :)  I can't even believe he's 5 already. 

 And my stinker Henry.  Can't you just see the mischief in his eyes?  My baby is 3!!!