Shape Task Cards

Here's a little something for the First Grade Teachers.
Students will use pattern blocks to create larger shapes from smaller composite shapes.
Students will pull a task card from a bag and create the larger shape using the smaller pattern blocks.

Check it out here!

Marshmallow Math

 

Check out our latest addition to our TPT store. Marshmallow Math! So much fun, your student's will be begging for S'MORE!  Great for end of Kindergarten or beginning of First Grade. 

Word Family Kits

WORD FAMILY KITS @ TPT STORE

I was trying to think of a way to organize my word work station as well as my homework. I found a bunch of empty DVD cases  and thought, wouldn't it be great if I could put an activity inside and send them home with the kids. It's like having a portable word work station to send home.
  Each word family kit contains a word family wheel and activity sheet. Students can spin the wheel (cd) and record the different words they make. Then they choose 5 of those words and illustrate them. On the back of the paper they can use each word in a sentence or write a story using their words.
  You can go to Amazon.com and buy a bulk supply of slim DVD cases for a reasonable price. Use your old CDs or DVDs to create word wheels.  
    If you don't want to print out the pre-programmed wheels, you can write the word family letters on the CD and case with a sharpie.
   Hop on over to our TPT store and check it out! 
                                                                

If you like the word family kits, we also have Math Fact Kits. Great for math homework or your math stations!  Click here for the ADDITION KIT.      Click here for the SUBTRACTION KIT.

Colorful Cups

If you make a stop at Target's Dollar Spot you will see these colorful tin buckets. I thought they would be great to store my extra supplies in at the back of the classroom. The only problem is, I knew students would end up knocking them over and supplies would be flying everywhere. Thats when I thought I could screw them into a board and they would stay in one spot!  Super cheap and super cute!

Super Hero Sort

Check it out @ our TPT Store

Check out what's new at our TPT store.
With Super Hero Sort, students will sort real and nonsense words on Super Hero word work boards.
Includes 280 words to sort with 8 super characters (4 boys and 4 girls).

Also included is Super Word POW! This is a great game for students to play during your small reading groups. Students will choose a word card from a can and read it. They will then sort it as a real or nonsense word on their super hero word mat. If they pull out a POW! card, they must put one of their words back. The student to fill up their word work mat first WINS!

Great for your Super Hero Themed Classroom!

 STUDENTS WILL LOVE CHOSING THEIR OWN SUPER HERO WORD MAT!

OH NO! DON'T GET A POW CARD!!!!!

Quiet Baskets

These "quiet" baskets are great for math centers.  They keep dice from clanging around and flying off the table (most of the time).  I got my baskets in the dollar spot from Target.

SUPER DOUGH!



Click here for FREE super dough directions and printables.

    I love doing this activity with my students on the first day of school. In the past I have called it magic dough and told the students if it changes colors, they will have a great year. This year I am going to change it up a bit and call it Super Dough. I wrote a little poem to go along with the activity.

     Directions:

 Read the following poem to students and then give them a ball of dough to kneed.  As they kneed the dough, it will begin to change colors and their "Super Power" is revealed.   

Super Dough

This super dough begins as white,

but as you squeeze with all your might,

you’ll see the color start to turn,

and your SUPER POWER you will learn!

Whatever color does appear,

will tell you more about your year.

If your dough turns bright and green,

a SUPER SPELLER is what you’ll be!

If your dough is red like fire,

you will be a SUPER WRITER!

If blue dough is what appears,

a SUPER READER you’ll be this year!

If yellow is the color you view,

SUPER MATH POWER is for you!

So squeeze your dough and you will see,

what your Kindergarten power will be!

After they have discovered their "super power," I will tell them that by the end of Kindergarten they will have all of these super powers!

Hop on over to our TPT store and download your free super dough directions. Also includes custom bag toppers and poems. 

Goodbye Commodore 64..Hello ISPELL

I remember my first year of teaching, I had a cool keyboard print out that I glued inside a file folder. Students would pretend to type out their spelling words as if it was a computer.  Boy how times have changed. Most schools now come equipped with at least 3 or 4 computers  for the classroom and some lucky ducks even have an IPAD for each student. For those of us that aren't that lucky, we are still having students type out their spelling words on their pretend Commodore 64's.   SO...in order to move ahead with the times, I came up with the new and improved version of the paper touch and type. Now students have thier own fake tablet to type words on .  Simply give each student a bag of spelling words and have them type them out!  Hop on over to our TPT store and pick it up for FREE! That's right, FREE!!. Save your money and maybe one day you can trade in your 1998 teal IMAC for a couple macbook pros.

Hop on over to our TPT store to download for FREE!

If you like the fake typing tablet, then you will like the fake typing smart phone. Have students text their spelling words with these colorful fake paper phones. Sorry but this bad boy is not free :)  We have to save up for my own macbook pros, right?

Head on over to our TPT STORE and pick up some fake smart phones. Your students will love you and you won't have to take these away and keep them until the end of the year!

Word Building Fun!

Check out our newest creation at our TPT store!  Students will have a blast creating words on these fun and colorful transportation themed work mats. Great for your word work center! Simply cut apart apple letters and students can build and read a variety of words. This great activity also includes an assessment piece where students will write the words they build. How bout them apples? Go HERE to pick up this fun file!

Behavior Races

 FREE Plumber race @ our TPT STORE

Behavior races are a great way to motivate students to stay on task and work quietly. We use them all the time when we are working with small groups or during writer's workshop. 

Here's how they work:
1. Assign each table/group in your classroom a color or character.
2. Display the behavior race on your smart/active board or through your projector.
3. As each group demonstrates positive behavior, move their character forward on the board by clicking on the teams icon. The character will move forward on a track determined by you. You can add sounds to the movement as well so students know when their character has been moved.
4. Award the team that reaches the end with a small reward, such as, candy or extra recess.

Hop on over to our TPT store to get the Plumber Race!

Using cute clipart, mixed with a little trigger knowledge, you can create fun and exciting races to motivate all students.  If you aren't familiar with using triggers in your power points, click on over HERE.  Microsoft has a great tutorial on how you can use triggers to create interactive powerpoints such as these.

CHOMPER RACE @ TPT STORE

If you don't have time to make your own, hop on over to our TPT STORE and check out our Retro Chomper Race complete with classic sounds that your students probably won't know :)

Letter Sort

Here's what's new at our TPT store! Help your K's visually discriminate between alphabet letters with this fun game. Perfect for your word work/study center! Comes with a great assessment piece.

Book of Scribbles

Students love drawing scribbles but have a hard time motivating themselves to write about their drawings. With the scribble book, students must give detailed information about each scribble they draw to help them organize their thoughts and complete a story. They need to be able to verbalize, who or what is in their picture, the setting of their picture, and what the character or objects in their picture are doing. This makes writing about their picture a much easier task. Hop on over HERE to check out 50 scribbles, students can use during writing center or on free write Fridays!

Top Ten Lists

   We love using Top Five lists as part of our Writing Center. Creating these lists encourages students to stretch out words and add labels to their pictures.  If you teach an older grade, such as 1st or 2nd, you can expand this activity for students to come up with their Top Ten favorite items.  To help you get started, we came up with a list of over 60 ideas you can have students write about. Head on over to our TPT store for this FREEBIE and get students excited about writing!

Super Hero Theme

With all of the super hero movies coming out this summer, I'm thinking about having a super hero theme classroom this fall. I've been busy creating materials to motivate students. Check out my latest creation of Super Hero Student Awards.

Check them out at TPT

Glue Stick Holders

Kiss your days of dried up glue sticks and missing lids goodbye! Create you own classroom glue stick holder.  The lids are glued in and can not go missing!  Click HERE to download instructions on how you can create your very own! Don't have time to make your own? Click on over to my ETSY SHOP to purchase some for your classroom!

The Amazing Binder Clip

       I use a lot of games during math and literacy stations and students are always losing pieces, especially the little plastic stands that hold the characters up.  By the end of the year, there aren't any stands left and students end up having to use unifix cubes as their game pieces. 

Squeeze fasteners together to remove from steel binder. Be
sure to save fasteners in case you ever want to change
game pieces out.

   As I was looking online to see if i could buy a bulk supply of plastic game stands,  I came across, "54 Uses For Binder Clips That Will Change Your Life."   Some of my favorites are, impromptu hair tie, toothpaste tube squeezer, and laundry machine lonely sock solution.  (I'll never lose another teacher sock again thanks to that one!)
    
     Reading about all of these creative ways to use a binder clip got me thinking of other ways to use these springy steel clamps.  An hour later, I came up with number 55, using a binder clip as a game piece stand.  I'm sure Kindergarten teachers have been using this since the invention of Candy Land in 1949, and am sorry it took me this long to figure it out for myself. 

FREE GAME

     So thank you, Louis E. Baltzley, the inventor of the binder clip. Now my poor students will no longer fight over which color unifix cube they want to be and will once again fight over which super hero they are.  In honor of Louis E. Baltzley, and the the amazing Binder Clip, we are giving away a free math game in our TPT store. So hop on over HERE and download it. And don't forget your binder clips!!

Crayon Clothespins

     Have you seen those adorable clothespins covered with crayon wrappers? They are just so cute! Unfortunately, I threw all of my germ-ridden, used crayons away at the end of the year. SO... I had to come up with another way to make these cute clips.  I decided to create my own crayon-like template and decoupage it to the top of wood clothespins. They turned out better than I thought! I can not wait to use these to display student work in the classroom and in the hallway. Since they are backed with adhesive strips, they won't damage the school walls. You can easily change out student work! They will also make perfect gifts for my child's teacher during Teacher Appreciation Week! Click on over to my ETSY shop to purchase! Buy Crayon Clips

https://www.etsy.com/listing/102420833/crayon-clips