It's Off to Work I Go...

Well summer, it's been real.  We knew it had to end some day.  I just wish it wasn't so soon.  We had a good run.  Good times...bad times...I will treasure our time together.

After a very sad break up with summer vacation it was back to figuring out what to do with my space.  Last year, I had an owl themed space.  This year, I went with a zoo theme based on Krista Wallden's super awesome Zoo Clip Art which you can find here.  

I don't like clutter and I don't like having things up that won't get used...especially in such a small space.  Here's what I have done so far.

My word house is up.  It's waiting for the millions of post-its that will cover it.  I have no idea why all my pics are blurry so my apologies in advance!

This was me sorting out my awesome, can't wait to use posters (I made them smaller).

Here they are in action.  While I liked them up and want them up, I ultimately took them down.  I just don't have enough space in my cubical and don't want every inch of my walls covered.  I think I am going to put them on a binder ring and use them as flash cards.  I did something similar last year but I like mine better ;)  If you are interested in getting these posters for yourself, here are the links: Short Vowels, Long Vowels, R-Controlled Vowels, Vowel Digraphs, & Diphthongs.

Here's my student supply section on top of my binder bookcase.  I made a mini welcome sign along with pics of my family and favorite books.  Last year, all my student supplies were located in that white box you see.  I found certain grades were destroying my pencils and erasers.  I am holding them accountable this year by giving each group their own pencil box.  This way they can't argue with me about it being a different group who destroyed my supplies.  This is also where I have the student hand sanitizer and tissues.  They are kept far away from me and I have my own NO STUDENTS CAN USE THESE supplies right near my spot but where they can't touch it.  I try hard to minimize germs, not for myself but my own babies at home.

Here are my cute zoo themed behavior charts!  I hate buying them so I made my own to go with my theme.  Also, I color code my groups so I did it to their charts as well.  It will be easier for them to find their chart!  Like the signs above the sticker charts?  They are a great freebie from Class of Kinders and you can find them here!

That's really all I have to show you right now.  Apologies again for the blurry pics.  The lighting in my space this year seems really off.  I'm finishing up my NO PREP Vowel Diphthongs packet.  I'm also working on a pirate themed r-controlled vowel packet, NO PREP Halloween Packets (currently just Kindergarten is almost done), and of course a NO PREP R-Controlled Vowels packet as well.  Stay tuned my friends!

Letter, Number, & Clip Art Freebies!

Freebies!  Wahoo!  Gotta love them!  I know I haven't posted freebies lately and I apologizes.  Most of the things I work on are big projects that take quiet awhile.  The following two things I created to use with my 3 1/2 year old and wanted to share with everyone as well!

The first I want to introduce you to are my Alphabet Trace Cards.  Thanks to Educasong I purchased a really great Alphabet Pictures Clip Art Mega Bundle.  I loved this clip art because it wasn't the sameeee alphabet pictures I was seeing everywhere!  I have them available in color and black & white...for FREE.  Did I mention that already ;)  Simply print, laminate, and cut down the middle.  You can either clip them together with a binder ring, put them in a folder, large zip lock bag, whatever works for you!  They make great centers or just extra practice!  There are two to a page so if you want to make them smaller just change your printer settings to whatever fits your needs.

Now onto my Number Trace Cards.  Thanks to Krista Wallden at Creative Clips I purchased a fabulous Zoo Animals clip art bundle.  I love it!  I plan on having a zoo theme in my area this year so I'm using them in my decor as well.  As with the Alphabet Trace Card these are available in color and black & white.  Same directions too, just print, laminate, and cut down the middle!

 My final freebie is a bundle of Chevron Backgrounds.  There are 9 different colors available in vertical and horizontal standard paper size.  All files are PNG.  I like using them in my products so I thought I'd share them with you as well!  Keep your eye out for more clip art coming your way!  Right now it's nothing too fancy (I'm working on it but my boys don't let me have a long enough chunk of time at the computer haha) but they will definitely be a great addition to your product!  I will try to keep most backgrounds/borders/frames free.  I hope it helps you get started with your own products!

 I hope these freebies will be a great use to you.  I really enjoy making products and I know that a lot of you are on tight budgets!  If you enjoy my freebies, please think about purchasing some of my other great products!  Poke around my blog too see samples of them!  Also, I'm always open to suggestions.  I make a lot of things based on my needs but if any of you have ideas...please let me know!  As always, ENJOY!  I'm off to the amusement park for some fun in the sun!  Yay season passes!

 

Five for Friday...FUN WEEK!

So much fun this week!  My husband took Thursday and Friday off.  It was our "summer vacation."  We had a play date earlier in the week with my niece.  On Thursday, the four of us headed to the Bronx Zoo.  Friday we dropped the boys off at my mom's, we checked into a hotel, and went to a Yankee game!  Thanks  Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting!

I put up a few new products.  These two are my bigger two.     I also have a few really great freebies.  I'm planning on making more too!  Keep checking back!

 

Play date with the princess!  The kids seriously love the water table my mom picked up at a tag sale.  They also love my 90 cent plastic garbage pen storage bins haha.  I actually had to go inside and get a third one so they could each play with one.   

 

We finally had a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows.  A little late I know haha.  My little one made this face every time he bit the marshmallow!

Cuteness overload in that top pic!  They were sooo excited to be at the zoo!  We had a blast!  We saw a polar bear playing with a ball!  It was AWESOME!  I recorded it too but my phone and Facebook are currently hating on each other :(

Last but not least, my hubby and I said "goodbye" to Derek Jeter and his cuteness...I mean awesome baseball skills.  It was really sad.  I heard a couple of people yell "bye" to him as they left the game.  Won't be the same!  Oh, and I totally made it on the jumbotron lol!  I was one of those people who didn't realize it at first then started waving like crazy when I did!

Pirate Alphabet Treasure Hunt

Hey everyone!  Happy hump day!  My boys had super fun playing with their cousin today.  They didn't want to stop!  They had fun playing with one of my latest products that I created with them in mind.  My Pirate Alphabet Treasure Hunt is a great letter recognition activity to help our little friends.

I found this great jewel clip art from ZisforZebra's store.  It was the perfect thing to be my treasure!  I also picked up Ashley Hughes' super cute pirate clip art.  I plan on using it to it's fullest when I make my Bossy R activities.  Oh and did I mention I bought this (and so much more clip art) during the awesome back to school TPT sale?  Yay!

This activity has 4 treasure chests.  26 uppercase letters are split amongst 2 chests and 26 lowercase letters are also split amongst 2 chests.  The jewels come in uppercase and lowercase.  You decide how to play.  For today, my son and niece worked with uppercase on everything.  I buried the jewels in the sandbox.  They dug them up, told me the letters they found and placed them in a clean bucket.  Sadly, they didn't make it to the part where they put the jewels in the treasure chest because my little one decided the jewels needed to go in the water table.  *sigh* What a waste of ink and laminating paper!

Oh well. They still had fun!  I intend on using this with my Kindergarteners when school starts up.  I will probably use a small bin of sand or rice that can sit on my table but be easily stored.  I know they will love it!  Please check out my store...I've added some freebies!  I will be posting more on them tomorrow.!

Diphthong Moon Bounce

FINALLY!  You have no idea how long this took me.  It was seriously done but a couple pages were giving me issues when I was trying to extract it from Adobe to flatten everything.  Ugh!  And they were the simple pages!  Anywhoooo here it is!  My Diphthong Moon Bounce.

 
This packet includes 4 fun and colorful activities/games to reinforce diphthongs.  I created these to use in my small group settings.  3 of the games would be great to use for centers.  Read It, Spell It, Fly It was designed to be teacher led.  If you are like me and can't always print in color, NO WORRIES!  Every activity comes in black and white.  This allows you to easily print whenever you need to.  You could even do it on colored paper to jazz it up a bit.

Moon Landing Sort asks students to pick an astronaut card and say what the picture is.  They must then decide which diphthong they hear and place it on the correct moon.  Everything is based strictly on what they hear not the spelling of what they hear.

Read It, Spell It, Fly It is the activity I mentioned earlier and said it will be teacher run.  You can, of course, run it whichever way you feel works best for you and your students!  The students will choose a colored alien card and their color will be the same on the game board.  They teacher will then read a card to each student one at a time.  The students must write the word on their board.  You can either play it where they must spell it exactly right or that they need to at least get the diphthong they hear correct.  If it's right they get to move their piece up one space.  Whoever lands their flying saucer on their planet first is the winner!  My kids will love this!

 Star Light, Build it Right will make a great center.  Students will go through each picture card and build the word using the star tiles.  They can easily self check with the answer sheet.

 I KNOW my students are going to love working with these little aliens in Alien Mix-Up!  Students will lay out the planets and review each picture on them.  They must think of the diphthong they hear AND how it might be spelled.  They will then take turns picking aliens, reading the words, and placing them on the correct planet.

And now I'm tired haha.  Off to bed!  I should be posting my diphthong posters soon!

(Graphics by Pink Cat Studio)

Vowel Digraph Sweet Treats

Yay!  New product!  I told you  I would do it ;)  I'm quite proud of how fast I made this.  Introducing my Vowel Digraph Sweet Treats packet! 

This packet includes 33 pages of 4 fun, colorful, candy themed activities to help reinforce vowel digraphs/talkers.  The entire packet comes in black and white as well so it's completely up to you on how you want to print it!  I made them with the idea of using them for my small groups.  They would work great for small groups or for center activities.

For "Candy Jar Sort," students will pick a piece of candy with a picture on it.  They will say the picture and listen to which vowel digraph they hear.  They will then place the candy in the correct candy jar.  Answer sheet included for self checks!

I know my students will LOVE "Read It, Spell It, Eat It!"  This is the one activity I intended on really participating in.  Teacher will pick a word card (if you feel your students could take turns reading this then go for it!).  The teacher will read the word aloud.   Students will write the word on their card.  You can either make it so they have to spell the whole word correctly or just get the vowel digraph they HEAR (ie:  either ay/ai) correct.  If they get it right, they move their piece up one space on the game board.  First person to "eat" their candy (get it up to the mouth) wins!

Now for Goody, Goody, Gumdrops!  Students will go through each picture card and use the gumdrop letters to spell out the word.  Simple but fun activity!

"Lollipop Mix-Up" is another one I know my kiddies will love!  Students will lay out the kid cards and see what picture each kid is holding.  They will then take turns picking a lollipop and reading the word.  After they read they word, they must match it to the picture that has the same vowel digraph.  This involves also knowing which spelling is correct as well so it might be best to save this one last :)

 I'm also feeling generous and want to give one away!   Anyone who comments on how they would use this product with their students will be entered to win it!  Giveaway ends Friday, July 11, 2014 at 11:59PM EST.  Good luck!

I hope this product meets your needs!  My Vowel Digraphs/Talkers:  Posters, Activities, and Worksheets packet is one of my more popular items so I'm trying to provide more for you!  I'm also working on a "NO PREP Vowel Digraphs Packet" for myself and for you!   

(Graphics by Pink Cat Studio)

My 3rd Grade Intervention Group

Here's a peek at a typical day with my 3rd graders.  Some of it will sound the same as my 4th graders.

3rd Grade
As with 4th grade, we start our 40 minutes off with our weekly story/practice sheet from Lakeshore's Daily Comprehension Common Core Practice Journal Gr. 3-4.  They read a story on Monday and complete a quick activity for each day of the week based on that story.  Some of the things they must do is vocabulary, fact/opinion, true/false, comprehension question, etc.  This group is struggling with this.  For example, today it took them 20 minutes to answer 5 True/False questions.  That was WITH me telling them there were 3 false and 2 true.  I still had students giving me the wrong number of each let alone give me the correct answers.  I've been trying very hard to show them how to go back in the text, look for key words from the question in the story, underline where they find it, etc.

  
This group has an "everything" focus.  They need phonics, fluency, comprehension, and summary work.  So much to do in such a short time!  Since they do have a specific need for phonics and fluency, I base what we will work on off of their Nonsense Word Assessment results.  This means, I don't always use Everyday Phonics Intervention Activities from Newmark Learning like I do with 4th.  If it has something that goes with what we're working on then great.  If not, I compile various worksheets/activities into a packet.  We will do a page a day after the above mentioned work.  Again, it's quick and just to reinforce what we are doing.

After both of those things, we move on to our story of the week(s) or more detailed phonics work.  As I mentioned before we use Fountas & Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention Kits (LLI).  I am using the red kit with this group as well.  I focus on DRA type questions and summaries as our comprehension work.  Once in awhile, we work on a Reading A-Z text.  We are doing that now.  It's called "What the Boys Found."

As for the extra phonics work, we have been focusing on the great (tooting my own horn) units I created!  The past few weeks, we have been spending time on "Bossy R" using my "R-Controlled Vowels 'Bossy R' Activities Packet."   They really respond to the activities in it!

And that's a peek at my 3rd graders!  Hopefully I can figure some strategies to get them to go back to the text for evidence!  Any thoughts?

My 4th Grade Intervention Group

Hi friends!  I haven't had a non Five for Friday post in awhile!  Despite my failed attempts to blog, I am working on a lot of fun things!  I want to give you a peek into some of the things that I do with my groups.  I see K-5 daily so I will be telling you about one group, each day, for the next few days.

4th Grade
 We start our quick 40 minutes off with our weekly story/practice sheet from Lakeshore's Daily Comprehension Common Core Practice Journal Gr. 3-4.  They read a story on Monday and complete a quick activity for each day of the week based on that story.  Some of the things they must do is vocabulary, fact/opinion, true/false, comprehension question, etc.

  
Then we do our weekly phonics lesson based on another great intervention book.  This one is Everyday Phonics Intervention Activities from Newmark Learning.  My group really has a comprehension focus, but I do notice that they still have some phonics areas that need addressing.  This is a great way to slip this in for reinforcement.  Since I don't have a particular focus like some of my other groups (for example; Bossy R, Magic E, Vowel Digraphs) I am simply following it by week.  We will even put some of the given words into our Word House.  I've picked up some fun multisyllable activities from TPT that I look forward to sneaking in.

After both of those things, we move on to our story of the week(s).  We use Fountas & Pinnell's Leveled Literacy Intervention Kits (LLI).  We only own up to the red kit which they call the 3rd grade kit.  This kit goes up to DRA 40, so the texts work for all the students we service.  Right now, we really use the kit for the texts.  The phonics lessons in them don't go with the story nor do they usually address what our students need at the time of reading that story.  We also don't prefer the comprehension aspect either.  Our students are in our room based on AIMS Web testing and DRA scores.  We use the DRA rubrics for retell, summary, and questioning for our groups.  My 4th graders just finished up summarizing "Girl With a Vision" using the DRA 40 summary sheet and responding to similar interpretation and reflection questions.

My 4th graders work very hard on their summaries.  Our problem lately is wanting to say EVERYTHING in the summary.  We've been trying to focus on only what's important which is so hard for them!

Before we know it, our time is up and I file their work away in the next day's folder. Our LLI stories take a week.  Once in awhile, we break away and use a Reading A-Z text like we are currently doing now.  I use the text the same way I use the LLI text.  Reading A-Z texts tend to take all my groups a lot longer than an LLI text.  I find the text more challenging and has a lot more to it hence the amount of time we spend on it!  

NOT 4th GRADE RELATED
I completed all of my Short Vowel Decodable Text & Activities packets AND bundled them together!  I also bundled together the Consonant Digraph books.  Click HERE to pick up my Short Vowel Decodable Text & Activities bundle and HERE to pick up my Consonant Digraph Book Bundle.  Keep your eye out for a FANTASTIC consonant digraph unit I'm working on.  It's a combination of things that I do in my Short Vowel Decodable Text & Activities and with my Bossy R, Talkers, & Whiners packets.  You can thank stupid jury duty for me being able to plan out the unit!  Hey, I wasn't going to sit there for hours and do nothing! :)


Check back tomorrow for a peek into my 3rd grade group!