Tiger... Toes... Tickets... Tick...

I know you all know what I am talking about... you have a student who looks at the first letter and just guesses what it is and moves on. For example:

 "I window tiger elephant pick" aka "I want to eat pizza"


 This is just another resource to try to get children to break a word down, sound it out, and find the corresponding picture. Each page is for a different medial vowel and the last page is mixed vowel review.

 

  

  

Download Sound Out Pictures

... a quick entry to share....

Oh jeez ya'll... my kids are hilarious! I posted on here a couple days ago a writing activity to follow up The Cat in the Hat (see it here) so I thought I'd share some of the highlights my kids wrote about. The prompt was for them to write about what they would do if the Things came to their house...


"I would get out of the house and think of a plan to get them out of the house" followed by some sort of song lyrics including "bout it bout"??? haha

"I would ask my sister if I could play her cello and make the Things fall asleep. Then when they fell asleep I'd call the police and they would be in jail"

"I would get my dog Sam to scare them and if they weren't scared I'd shoot them with my nurf darts" (hmmm perhaps a tad too violent there buddy)

"I would play with them" .... not that original when you read it but consider this... he is my ONLY student who didn't say he would kick the Things out of his house!

In the BIG TIME!

I find myself disheartened by some of the units I have to teach in math for Kindergarten. I mean... really.... fractions, money, time, subtraction... in Kindergarten? I'd rather focus my whole year on numeracy and deeper understanding of numbers! So here is my trick....

   for my sweet-n-lows I teach them the basic SOLs for my example, time, I teach them to read a clock to the hour... but I'm not diving into showing them how to read by the half hours or counting by 5's for the other numbers. Instead I create games like below. They are "theme related" but focus on numeracy.


  There are three levels for this game, but all three involve finding the bigger number. The first page has numbers 1 to 12, the next page is from 13-30, and the last page is any number from 10 to 99. But they are all on watches so it's almost like you are still working on time! Don't get me wrong, I teach the non-numeracy SOLs, I just don't go crazy past the basics for my kids who need more work on counting and number manipulation.
 

Download Big Time

Questions...

 Hi bloggy (bloggie?) friends! I had a couple emails and people I know ask me how I put my documents up on my blog as well as images and links. I used a program called Jing to record my desktop as a I talked through the process I do.... so here is the video.... and oh man do I hate the sound of my voice!


Key points:

1) I use Comic Life to make my documents (http://plasq.com/products/comiclife/mac)
2) I use Scribd to host my documents (http://www.scribd.com/)
3) I take screen shots to add pictures of my documents on my blog
4) I turn my ComicLife documents into PDF's before I upload them on my blog

Click here:

video

Dr. Seuss Sleep Book

Each day of the week for Dr. Seuss' birthday we will be dressing up a little different. On Wednesday we'll be reading The Sleep Book and wearing our P.J.'s! I was perusing the internet to find some fun things to do when I came across this neat activity by Melissa Bough (http://www.education.com/activity/article/dr-seuss-sleep-book-nonsense-creatures/) where students mix two animal names together and their sleeping habits! I decided to make a writing paper to go along with the silliness!

So in box one the pick an animal and label it, then pick a different animal for the second box. Teach the children how to blend two names together for the third box and if you think your munchkins can even combine their sleeping habits... do it! For example:

Animal 1 - Cat

Animal 2 - Bird

New Animal: "Cird" and I might draw a bird with a cat's tail all curled up in a nest sitting on top of a couch

Download The Sleep Book Animals

Things 1 and 2 on the loose!!!

Imagine asking your estudiantes "what crazy things would you do if you were home alone".... some say 'write on the walls', 'eat junk food', or 'jump on the beds'... but then there are those rare cutie pies who just melt your heart and say something like "make a card for my dad saying I miss him"...... swoon!


  Well in Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat we all know that Thing 1 and Thing 2 are super bad in a funny way, and this is the inspiration for this writing activity.

  Obviously the lines are for writing, the smaller box at the bottom is for a picture.... but don't feel the need to print in color... I know I won't be :)



  It you decide to do this activity PLEASE post some of the hilarious gems that your students write!



Download Dr. Seuss Things Writing

AbraHAT Lincoln

 A co-worker of mine showed me this super cute hat that I am sure is out and about on the internet, but just wanted to share it here. I made a two pieces that go on the hat so ya'll can download it at the bottom.

Take a look to see this adorable Abraham Lincoln hat... oh yah and their adorable silly faces!

What you'll need:

  *One sheet of black construction paper (per kid)
       -cut a strip about 2" length wise for the horizontal piece of hat
       -the other portion is the height to the hat
  *A circle of black paper with an inner circle cut out
        -the black circle ends up being a beard (the circle doesn't need to be that big as you can tell by my mistake looking at the picture
  
    * Paper reproducible penny
    * Paper reproducible words for the brim

Here are all the pieces laid out on my floor




 - Have students glue all the pieces together
-  They color the penny brown
- Glue "Abraham Lincoln is on the penny" to the brim


 To attach turn this into a wearable hat, attach a sentence strip to the back and staple it closed around the back of their heads! Enjoy!

Download Abraham Lincoln Hat Pieces

Money Mats

 Today I was about to have my kiddos do some sorting in small groups with coins when it struck me.... we are JUST starting money... they need some structure! So I whipped these mats up really quick!

1) Sorting based on coin value... for your students who have some or all coin rec and ready to connect it to a value when sorting

2) Picture sorting... okay this may be odd for ya'll but this is how I get my sweet'n'lows to recognize coins. They memorize that pennies are brown, nickels have ponytails (not braids like quarter), dimes have torches, and quarters are the biggest. So that is how this mat is set up

3) The last page is a visual to have on hand for your students while they are sorting

Download Money Mats

Number Word Magnets

 Just like the sight words but this is for having your children build number words one through ten! Any other words ya'll want made? This is super easy to make so don't hesitate to ask!

Download Number Word Magnets

Ms. Megan wants to Measure!

 I have received some really nice and encouraging emails from you all! I love making resources and sharing, so the fact that ya'll are enjoying them makes it double awesome :) I got an email from a teacher named Megan asking if I could make a game dealing with measuring (in inches)... so I pondered for a minute.... then 2 minutes... and when creativity fails I think of real life applications. Recently I had to try to find a crate to carry my cat and VIOLA, measurement came in to play. I figured more kiddos could relate to cute puppy dogs rather than me being a crazy cat lady, so Crate Time Measurement is born:


-Cut and glue the dog  houses / crates on the inside of a file folder
- Laminate the folder
- Cut and laminate each of the puppies
- Place a ruler with the game
- Introduce the game in an exciting way, feel free to name the puppy dogs, and even try to make the lesson tangible with a small crate and stuffed animal. All dogs are meant to be measured horizontally.

   Download Crate Time Measurement

Magnet Sight Words

 So I found myself today trying to find a fun yet structured way for my kids to use magnet letters to form sight words. I want to give them a week off of doing their regular spelling lists as well as introduce them to a new word work tool... magnets! Oh magical magnets... whatever engages children is magical... food, puppets, laptops, silly voices for characters... you get my drift.

  A fellow blogger made a neat worksheet that involved beginner letter sound pictures and sight words together, so I adapted it to make these mats. How I envision using them is printing them, laminating them, and having students pick a mat to place on a cookie sheet. Then they will find magnets that correspond with the beginner letter sounds for each picture and build sight words. I have only made 12 mats so far, but if all goes well, I'll post more of these another day! Feel free to leave comments about which words I should make next :)

 

Download Magnet Sight Word Mats

Time for bed

This one's for you Karen!


  This game is a simple matching game of analog and digital times involving bed times. Laminate all the pieces and have students match an analog clock with a child's bed time labeled in analog. Obviously some of these would be silly bedtimes... I mean 3:00? Haha actually.... certain days that sounds WONDERFUL!

   (there are a total of 9 pairs, only a few are pictured)

Download Go To Bed

What do you want?

  Anyone need a game made? Just give me the skill you want your kiddos to practice and if you have a "theme" for what you want the activity based on. For example "My students need help with one to one counting and dinosaurs really keep their attention" or "Counting by 5's and we are learning about dental health currently".

  Just leave a message below and I'll try my best to get some games done quickly.... aka I have a brain block right now for cute ideas :)

I WANT that!

Needs and Wants.... ohhh the thinking of a 5 year old "But Ms. G I NEED cheese balls for my snack to live or I won't be able to read later"... or actually an adorable answer "I put a picture of a mom on NEED because we NEED love"... swoon...




  This paper, like many others I am sure you have seen, is just a place for kids to sort needs and wants after you have talked about them. I have my children use magazines to cut out pictures and glue on this paper. I put Needs on the back because they tend to find a LOT of needs in magazines (ahemmm advertisement agencies). Then I laminate the papers, 3-hole punch, and make it into a class book.

 

Download Needs and Wants

Woo! Thanks!

Thank you Dana from A Place to Share for my very first blog award :)

 Here are the rules for receiving this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Award 7 recently discovered great bloggers

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Seven things about me:

1. I am the pickiest eater I know... no cheese, only meat I eat is chicken, basically no veggies, ugh meal times are so boring...

2. I go through phases for my hobbies: knitting, painting, scrap booking, blogging (hopefully this one sticks), writing, etc

3. Junior League is fantabulous and I highly recommend it to any female who is looking to volunteer and make new friends (ignore the cheese factor in this statement)

4. I think I might be turning into a crazy wedding person... I wake up from nightmares about place settings, uninvited guests, and lost rings

5. Speaking of weddings... my fiance is capital A mazing. I am spoiled rotten and sometimes have trouble fending for myself when I need simple things such as a glass of water or my glasses half way across the room

6. I love kindergarten... secretly it is the only grade I can teach since I am only 5'0" and other grade levels would be taller than me haha

7. I really enjoy watching tutorials on just about ANYTHING on youtube... how to do new hair styles, applying make up, creating fabric flowers, anythingggggg

7 blogs I give this award to:

Connecticut Cupcake

Littlest Learners / Clutter-free Classroom

SwEEts by E

The Bakery

1st Grade Learning Stars

Chalk Talk

Primary Perspective

Where Do I Live?

Another fantastic request via proteacher... veer more for 2nd I would say.. but still adorable! This game has children figuring out which house a character is suppose to live in based on rounding. The explanation below is kind of muddled but I think ya'll will be able to figure out what I mean.


One Way to Use:
1) Page 1 - laminate it and adhere it to the front of a large ziplock as a reference for your kiddos to look at and use (after you teach them HOW to use it)

2) Pages 2 - 7 - feel free to print these pages smaller like 2 or 4 to a page (under your print settings), laminate them, and put them in the ziplock
         - for these pages children are to use a vis-a-vis or expo marker and circle which house the character lives in (which 10's they are closer to)

3) Page 8: either laminate or photocopy lots of these and put in the ziplock bag. This sheet has less visual help for the students to figure out which 10 the number is closer to. They circle the correct answer.


I hope this helps! Since I have never taught higher than K I was just taking a shot in the dark as to what these kiddos might need to practice!

 Download Where Do I Live?

Little fish NOT in the big pond...

I have survived my illness and very busy week... I apologize to anyone who actually reads my blog daily (maybe 2 people? hah)... anyways here is something new for ya'll! A request on proteacher asked if I would make a game practicing the skill of picking the bigger number from a set of numbers, so here is what popped into my head.

One Way to Use:


-Laminate the two work mats (little pond and big pond)
-Cut and laminate the 20 fish
-Show children how to reach in a bag with the fish in it and pull out two fish
-The student should then read the two numbers, figure out which is the bigger number and which is the smaller number
-Explain that only big (number) fish can go in the big pond and only small (number) fish can go in the small pond.... or else they might get eaten up in the big pond!

-The cool thing about this game is you never know which two numbers they will draw out... could be something easy like 7 and 31 or something tricky like 12 and 21 (yes reversals are tricky in Kindergarten)
-I picked numbers from 1 to 39 on these fish

 

Download Big Number Pond

Sorting Mats

Although I have completed my unit on sorting, the children LOVE to do these types of activities in my independent math area. I was watching them sort the Connection People and realized that some of my sweet-n-lows need some structure and guidance with them so, viola, my newest creation!

One Way to Use
-Print off one of each of the following sheets
-Laminate them
-Explain to your students how to use each mat with the Connecting People math manipulative

Download Sorting Connecting People

There's a what in your pocket??

 This silly Dr. Seuss book rings very true for me on a weekly basis! Whenever it's time to do laundry I find random tidbits in my pocket from the classroom.... think pattern block piece, eraser, confiscated silly bandz, etc.

  Anyways this activity is a fun thing to do after reading There's A Wocket in my Pocket for Dr. Seuss' birthday!

One Way to Use:
-Cut the main work mat page and glue on the inside of a file folder
-Cut and laminate all the blue cards and put in ziplock bag
-Cut and laminate all the red cards and put in a different ziplock bag
-Children take turns trying to find two matching words (one red and one blue) and placing them on the word mat...
-Sometimes it turns out funnier if they accidently place them backwards... "there's a hair in my bear" or "there's a house in my mouse"


Download Wocket In My Pocket Rhymes

One Fish Two Fish... Part two!

Another activity you could use as a follow up to reading the classic Dr. Seuss story....


 You'll need the following resource and rainbow goldfish. In the first section of the fish they put one fish (they are to read the words), then two fish in the next section, a red fish in the third section, and in the last section.... oh wait there are not blue goldfish! They pick a different color, write it on the line in the last section of the fish, and then place it in there. The last part of the activity is to count all the fish up, write the number, and of course then eat them! You could use the counting of the fish as a time to write an addition sentence if you are using this with older kids or more advanced children. I say this because we haven't gotten to addition yet in our curriculum.




Download One Fish Two Fish Goldfish

Dr. Seuss Activity

 Sorry for the lack of sharing over the past couple days... between 100th day of school and being invected by germs... let's just say the computer and I have been long lost friends.


   Today I have a download that is a simple Venn Diagram exercise you can use with your students after reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.


One Way To Use:
-You could laminate this activity if you wanted to use it over and over or put it in your math area
-I will probably just print two to a page to make it smaller and save ink so my kiddos can take it home.
-If you have already taught sorting then this activity will be a nice refresher

For some reason the page with the fish on them are not viewing correctly on here, but there is a second page in the download with them.

Download One Fish Two Fish

Coin Flippers!

I LOVE math rings!!! They help my kiddos with their fluency in math concepts such as number rec, 10 frames, number words, colors, shapes, etc. Below is a series of math rings meant to be leveled and used with kids at all levels of coin recognition. If you decide to download this resource the first page includes pennies and nickels, then pennies nickels and dimes, next comes all 4 coins, and last all four coins in pictures, numbers, and words.

One Way to Use:
- Print out the pages and laminate them
- Single hole punch each square in the upper left hand corner
- Put on a ring and teach children how to use them in a math group for independent practice later

Download Coin Flippers

100 Snack! No no, not 100 calorie haha

 I promise... the food activities will slow down... February is just too fun!

For this activity your students will be grouping food in sets of 10 to gather 100 pieces of snack. Then feel free to have them stretch out, get cozy, and watch a movie (ex: slide show of pictures from the first 99 days of school). Food you'll need for this one: raisins, chocolate chips, pretzel sticks, cheese puffs, M&Ms, marshmallows, goldfish crackers, fruit loops, and popcorn.

One Way to Use:
-place bowls of each food all around the room in stations
-give children a paper bag and this printable
-have children count out 10 of each food and use the paper to help keep track of what they have counted
-they could have to write numbers 1-10 on each food, X them out, or check them off
-I'll probably use a clipboard for their papers since they will be walking around
-HAPPY 100 DAY YA'LL! (I'll restrain from putting 100 exclamation marks)

Download 100 Snack

100 Highway

Yes.... cars are popular in my classroom this year. This activity asks students to sequence numbers from 1 to 100 in groups of 5 placed oh-so-conveniently on cars!

 One Way to Use:


-Laminate and cut all the cars as well as multiple pieces of road.
-Have children lay out pieces of road (or you can magnetize them for cookie sheets)
-Then they sequence the cars either by counting by 1's or looking at the last number on the car to count by 5's

Download 100 Highway

Download Road Pieces

Black History Month - Willis Johnson

  Scrambled eggs never tasted so good Mr. Johnson! In case you aren't in the know about this wonderful, wonderful man... he invented the egg beater... yum! Okay, so yes I engage my children through food sometimes. :)

One Way to use:
-read up on Mr. Johnson, introduce him to your class, and then show a real life egg beater
-depending on how much time you have for this activity, have children each crack an egg, and then pass the bowl around the room with them trying to beat the eggs with a spoon.... then go around with an egg beater. Discuss how much easier inventions can make tasks
-go dust off that bunsen burner and scramble up some eggs!
-as the children are enjoying a small, healthy snack, have them work on this resource: it involves mixing up the letters of a sight words to make silly nonsense words (always a hit with young children)

Download Willis Johnson

Black History Month - George Crum

Can you tell I'm thinking a lot about food today with my activities I am posting?!?

  It's fun to teach your class about tangible things to get them first exposed to what Black History is. By this point in the year they have been exposed to some pretty complex notions about African Americans (Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and the significance of the colors for Kwanzaa). So for Black History month I like to pick fun inventors that they can be thankful towards their contribution but also be able to wrap their head around what would it be like if we didn't have these items..... because I mean a world with out potato chips.... what would Super Bowl Sunday be?!?! (Go STEELERS)


 One Way to Use:
- after discussing who George Crum was and how he invented potato chips (read up on this because its a fun story), then present this activity to your class
- get a bag of chips, give each child a few (there are plenty of healthy versions out there so it doesn't have to be a bad activity)
- as they eat a chip, they have to write a sight word on one of the chips from the paper.
- granted sight words and Mr. Crum are not really related, but our schedule is pressed for time to fit in content and everything else... double whammy people!

Download George Crum

Black History Month - Garrett Morgan

The traffic light.... sometimes I love you Mr. Morgan.... sometimes I curse you (aka alllll red lights on the way to work).... just kidding! This activity is one way to introduce famous Black Inventors to your class.

One Way to Use:

-After discussing who this is, what contribution he made, etc, then begin the writing exercise at the top

-The children are to phonetically sound out the words "traffic light".

-Then whip out the water colors! Children are to water color (or finger paint if you prefer) the three colors of the traffic light).

-When you are finished you could play red light, green light... or there are many tasty recipes out there to make an edible traffic light. Think graham crackers, icing, and M&M's.... oh wait... my wedding diet... okay strawberries, kiwi, and bananas haha.

Download Garrett Morgan

Achy breaky hearts

This is just a fun math game to give students practice at reading double and triple digit numbers. Obviously the triple digit number hearts are for your kiddos who can already read numbers 1-100 easily and fluently.


One Way to Use:
-laminate each heart cut in half, not put together
-for the double digit numbers you'll have half hearts from 1-9 on the left and half hearts from 0-9 on the right
-for the triple digit numbers you'll have left hand half hearts from 1-9 and right hand half hearts with varying double digit numbers
-When teaching children to read the triple digit numbers have them hold a left hand heart and say that digit plus hundred (i.e. heart with a 3, say 3 hundred, and then pull a 2nd heart)

  Download Achy Breaky Hearts