Happy Fall

Hi Everybody! I'm back! It feels so good to be back in the blogging world! I took a much needed break, and am back and ready to blog! I sure have been busy with back to school stuff, and having a teenager in Driver's Ed along with her busy dance schedule, doesn't really leave this mom with a lot of spare time! I hope you all had a wonderful summer! My family and I spent a lot of time outdoors. Here we are on a hiking trip in Bend, OR. We just LOVE Bend, OR!

I have a few things/sites I've found that I wanted to share with you all :) 

I know it's way past back to school, but I finally found the perfect book bins for my IKEA shelves in my classroom library! I looked everywhere all summer for ones that would fit perfectly, would be able to hold my tall or awkward sized books, and were a good price. These are perfect!

I found them at Walmart.com and they came in a 12 pack. After purchasing 2 sets I realized that I might want to have a few extra on hand, just in case they break. So I stopped by my local Home Depot and bought 2 more! I was also able to fine a few small sized ones for my mini leveled readers. I love the way they look and so far they are holding up nicely. 

 Here's the link if you'd like to check them out: 

Sterilite Medium Ultra Plastic Storage Bins

Another thing I was looking for this summer was a YouTube Channel that had letter/sound videos. Our reading program no longer supports the online version that we used last year and I was so sad :(. I use the videos to show our sound of the week. Well, after doing some searching on YouTube, I found Jack Hartmann's Kids Music Channel! It was just what I was looking for! My kids LOVE his videos, especially the sight word videos. If you haven's seen his videos, you've got to check him out!

Here's one of his sight word videos:

I also LOVE ViewPure which is a site that I show all YouTube videos in. I just copy and paste the link and I can display YouTube videos in my classroom without ads or comments!

Here's a link to ViewPure: ViewPure.

Another site that I'd like to share with you all I've been incorporating a lot of nonsense word activities in my small reading groups lately. At a meeting recently, I was given a nonsense word fluency intervention planning sheet with links to quite a few freebies. I found the sheet online and was able to click and check out the wonderful free resources. If you teach nonsense words and are looking for some new items, definitely check out this blog post from Make, Take & Teach. This is where you will find the planning sheet: 

What’s all the Nonsense about Teaching Nonsense Words?

Here's a new product that I've recently added to my store:

Here are a few worksheets that are included in this set:

This is my first of many worksheet sets that I will be adding to my store. I use these in my small reading groups. Instead of copying a worksheet for each student, I use Reusable Write and Wipe Pockets. These HERE are my absolute favorite! My kids also love writing on them with dry erase pens.  This set and my future sets all contain a variety of worksheets. You can check them out HERE, or click the picture above!

Finally, here are a few freebies that I wanted to also share. We learned about the five senses a few weeks ago and I created some popcorn freebies. 

After learning about our senses we described popcorn using our five senses. 

I used these headings on my whiteboard:

I made these smaller quarter sheet sized ones to be used on an anchor chart.

My kids each got a worksheet and 1 piece of popped popcorn. I purposely did not give them a bowl full yet, because I wanted them to focus on their descriptions and writing first :) Here's what their worksheet looked like:

I began by listing their words on the white board. Then they would choose words for their worksheets. Finally, after they wrote how popcorn tastes, they each received a bowl of popcorn. They had a blast! 

The second day I read this cute book that I checked out through my local library:

Then we came up with a list of toppings that would be good on popcorn. The kids had so much fun thinking of toppings they'd like. After we created a list, they completed this writing piece and added their toppings to the picture.

Here's a popcorn mini book I created as well:

You can find all of these freebies by clicking the titles below!

White Board/Anchor Chart Headings

Popcorn Writing

Popcorn Five Senses Mini Book

Thank you so much for stopping by! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Happy December!

Hi It's Leslie here!  Hope your December is off to a great start!  I've been busy with my kiddos and trying to get all of our December projects complete in only 2 weeks!  YIKES!  The week after next is filled with gingerbread activities from our Gingerbread Galore pack!  My first graders just love when we have a week filled with gingerbread lessons tied into our math and reading.

I wanted to share some information about several new products we've added to or store!   

CVC short vowel cards

Each set contains:

*Lowercase letter cards a-z (use to build CVC words) 
*CVC picture cards 
Word cards that match the picture cards

I like to use these cards with my large hanging pocket chart.  My first graders can easily place them into the pockets and they enjoy matching the words to the correct picture or building the words using the letter cards.  These are put out at my pocket chart station during my Literacy station rotations.  

Erin likes to use these cards with her kindergartners using her Show and Tell Apron.  

If you'd like to check out these cards, plus more, you can find them {HERE} in the pocket chart category in our Teachers Pay Teachers store, or you can find them bundled {HERE}!  

Here's a sight word bingo set that I'll be using in my small reading groups this week and next!  It's a freebie so just click on the picture below or go {HERE}!

There are 10 individual cards so you can have up to 10 players, or have your kiddos share :) 

Enjoy!

Have a great week friends!

Lots of Short Vowel Freebies!

Hope you are all off to a great November!  We have a short week this week, so during our reading instruction we’re reviewing some short vowel sounds.  We created 28 I have Who has cards for the short vowels a, e, i, o, & u.  They’re in our store for FREE and you can chek them out {HERE} or just click the picture below!

Along with some I have who has games this week, we created a few vowel worksheets and a 5 in a row game that can be played with a partner.  These activities relate to short vowels a, e, i, & o.  We’ll be introducing the short vowel u next week.  If you’re looking for some short vowel practice pages, just click on any of the pictures below!

We also wanted to let you know that we’ve updated our addition and subtraction ice cream packs!  We’ve added black and white options for ice cream cones, scoops, and awards!  So if you’ve purchased these, be sure to re-download!  You can click the pictures below to check them out!

Have a wonderful week!