Making Words - SCARECROWS Autumn Freebie!

I'm a huge fan of activities for making words! When children have the opportunity to manipulate the letters cards, moving them around to build words, they start to make discoveries about how words work, like ...

              

              * changing onsets to create new words with the same rime

              * making plurals

              * common spelling patterns 

                       ... and so much more! All skills that are applicable to both reading and writing!

Here's a free seasonal set of making words activities using the letters in the word "scarecrows"!

You'll find that this set has built-in differentiation! 

At Level 1, students are given the word that uses all of the letters (scarecrows), with the letter cards in correct sequence.

Level 2 provides more of a challenge. The letters are provided in in alphabetical order, and the students must try to discover the word that uses all of the letters.

How will you use these making words activities with your students?

    * Whole class activities - model making words on your interactive board, with your students making     the words with their own sets of letters at their desks. 

    Looking to go low-tech? Write the letters on sticky notes and work on chart paper at your easel.            Write the words your students make. If you write the words on sentence strips, this can become a            pocket chart sorting activity. Give your students sorting ideas or let them discover their own               (spelling patterns, singular/ plural, number of letters, so many more ideas!)

    * Phonics activities for literacy centers 

    * Independent morning work - work alone, or give students the option of completing the activity         with a partner.

    * Fast finisher activities - these are productive, fun work that will keep your early finishers learning!

Click now to download your free copy for fall literacy fun!

Find more fall freebies here!

🍂 Keep the fun in autumn learning! 🍂

Save Time for Teaching Science!

When super busy days squeeze something out of the daily schedule in our primary grade classrooms,
it's very often science or social studies that fall by the wayside. That's sad, because we know how important both science and social studies are and also how much many of our students love them. 

But the reality is that literacy and math are at the top of the teaching (and testing!) list and we all know it.


So, what can we do about it? Well, one idea that I'm sure we all try to do is to choose our readalouds with an eye to the content area topics we're teaching.  Solid readalouds packed with the vocabulary of your science topic give your students' repeated exposure to content area vocabulary, and also address literacy standards for non-fiction. A great book can also be the springboard for some non-fiction writing, either whole class or in a writing center.


Integrating science into your math and literacy teaching (and vice versa!) is another idea for making the most of your teaching time. Integrating curriculum is also a surefire way to improve vocabulary understanding and retention and, in simple terms, to help the learning stick!

Here's an easy way to help you put more science back into your day. 

This set of 45 graphing and writing experiences to address eight of the most popular first grade science topics (in some curriculums, the landforms and bodies of water topics will bridge over into social studies).

Here's what's included! 

► 7 independent graphing experiences, including two read-and-graph reading passages (answer keys included)

► 9 student surveys (students interview their classmates and then record the data)

► 7 class graphs in color, for teaching/modeling or for a class book.

► 22 writing activities to use along with the data collection experiences. Writing formats include ...

                    * Personal narrative

                    * Lists

                    * Labeling

                    * Completing graphic organizers

                    * Persuasive writing

                    * Non-fiction

                    * Descriptive writing

                    * Friendly letter

You'll be happy to see how much teaching time you'll save with these one-page easy prep resources!

Are you ready to try this free set of three plant activities from this graphing and writing collection? You'll find it when you download the preview! Click here to get yours!

Back to School Night Freebie!

Back to School Night, Meet the Teacher Night, Curriculum Night, Open House ... whatever your school calls it, it's all part of a new beginning, with a new group of families.  Very exciting, but often very stressful, too - for you AND for them!

With so much information to cover in a very short time, anything you can do to communicate more easily with your new families is a GOOD THING. These families are in information overload, and anything in print has a better chance of being retained and used.

This free Back to School Night download for first and second grade will give your students' families ten easy-to-implement ideas for working (and playing!) with their children at home.

Just include this list in your Meet the Teacher Night packet to give your students' families some easy ideas to support their children and in turn support YOU! 

There are two levels included in your download: Level 1 is No Fluff, just the basics, Level 2 has a few more details included as explanation with each suggestion.  

You'll find that this list has other uses throughout the school year:

Keep a stack of these handy for whenever you get that eleventh hour call for work to send home. You know, five minutes before the dismissal bell.  Pop the list right into a folder with whatever else you can grab, and now families have been reminded of lots of learning options. And you've saved yourself the time and aggravation of writing a long note home.

It's also handy to have this list to tuck into the folder of a child heading off for a week's vacation during school time. Let's face it. How much work does your average child return to you after a week in Disneyworld? Teachers' own children being the exception, of course! ;)

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Looking for more Back to School ideas? Here are a few I think you'll like!!

Sums of Ten - Task Card Freebies for the Win!

Do you use task cards? What an amazing classroom tool they are!

✅  They're a fun & engaging way to for your students to practice skills (waaay more fun than worksheets!)

✅  Task cards are easy to store and keep organized (tip: try using photo boxes, from the scrapbooking aisle in craft stores!)

✅  They're available for so many skills ... math, reading, science, even social studies!

✅  Task cards are easy prep - just print and cut apart. Even better, if you laminate them, you'll only have to prepare them once and you'll use them for years.

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If you're not yet taking advantage of this versatile tool, I'd definitely recommend downloading the great free guide from Rachel Lynette, who's undisputedly The Queen of Task Cards!  You'll find ideas for using your task cards, storing them, and many other helpful tips, too. It's all in this free ebook at Rachel's TPT store. Do not miss out on this one!

Whether you're new to task cards or you've already got a huge collection, I hope you'll give this new set a try in your classroom. 

These cards are a fun autumn-themed way to get your students up to speed on sums of ten. It includes twenty bright and engaging cards that use ten frames for visual support.

You can use this free collection in a math center as is, or you might try displaying them around your classroom for a Read the Room for Math activity. The cards are also good for a fun game of Scoot! Your download also includes an answer key and a recording sheet that you can use with any of these options for play!

Click here to download your copy. Enjoy!

Click to see more resources for sums of ten...

               

           

     

Happy Teaching!

Are You Ready for Your Early Finishers?

With so much to prepare as a new school year begins, getting a variety of good options ready to use for your early finishers is one of those things that unfortunately tends to slip lower and lower on your to-do list.

After all, there's always "read a book" or "go on your Chromebook". But are those kinds of very broad choices the optimal use of learning time for fast finishers? It's not that they're not good choices, but every learner needs and deserves more!

What do the strongest options for K-3 learners look like? 

* The best options reward students with the opportunity to choose. They have to think about what they'd like to do, think about what's a new choice or what they've already done and want to try again (or what they don't!). They gain confidence as they practice making choices. Choice requires thinking, choice is empowering.

Having a collection of games that will give your students choices is a great starting point!

Here's a set of addition within 20 games for first grade as an example. 

The set includes ten easy prep solo challenge games that are designed to be played by just one player - no waiting for a partner to complete their work!

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You can find more solo challenge games for your fast finishers at these links!

                    First Grade Addition Games

                           First Grade Subtraction Games

                           First Grade Place Value Games

                           1st Grade Addition, Subtraction, Place Value Games Bundle

Find more games and activities for fast finishers here!

*  Look for options that allow your students to take what they've learned in class and extend it, learning more, for example, about the social studies or science topic you're teaching.

*  Seek out activities that your students can complete independently! Look for clearly written directions and activities in the same format as they've already completed as a class (color-by-code math pages, for example).

Let's look at a few options you might consider preparing today, before there's a little sweetie tapping on your hip saying, "What do I do now?" :)

1. Draw and Write: Prep a set of task cards or a chart list of people and/or places. Students who finish early can choose one or more cards and imagine a situation that places them together. Then they'll choose whether to illustrate and write a few sentences about the situation, or take a graphic novel / cartoon approach, writing the conversation between the characters.

Short on time and need some quick-and-easy prep task cards for this? Here's a set of 120 character and setting cards, available in both English and Spanish.

2.  Reading self-selected books is never a bad option, but consider getting more learning power from this by offering a collection of books that echo what you're currently teaching, as mentioned above. Your school librarian (pleeeease tell me that you still have a school librarian!) or public library will likely be able to help with suggestions!

For example, are you teaching the butterfly life cycle? Offer your early finishers choices from the books you've used as read alouds, or extend the opportunities to learn with something more advanced like a field guide to butterflies - there's so much to be learned from visuals, and pictures may be just what some students need to spark curiosity and learn more!

3. I mentioned color by code as an activity that works on repeat.  Another activity that will be used again and again is this math variation on word searches - sum searches through totals of 20. Print your word and number searches on cardstock and laminate - they'll get lots of repeat uses and you won't be running to the copy machine!

4.  Playing games is a fun and motivating way for early finishers (and ALL students!) to practice what they've learned. But it can get tricky if a student finishes and has no one to play a game with!

Look for activity type "games" that can be completed by just one person, like matching and sorting. 

5.  Offer a selection of puzzles and brain teasers that are so engaging that your students will think that they're playing, not practicing! 

One of my students' favorites was math riddle task cards, which are basically elimination riddles ... use math clues and critical thinking to eliminate all but one of the provided answer options.

I have TONS of math riddle sets in my store! If you click on these grade level bundles, you can scroll down on each to see the single topic sets that are included.

        

                                        

                                        

                         

I hope these options will be helpful for you, and get you thinking of other choices that will be a good match for your fast finishers! 

Above all, make your options so enticing that they'll motivate all of your students to stay on task so they too can be part of the exciting activities that you've gathered!

Happy learning!

Kindergarten Math Fun for the End of the Year and Summer School

Will you be teaching summer school this year? 

It's tough to keep yourself going through the summer, but you and your summer school program are most definitely life-changers to those kiddos who desperately need the boost to be successful in the next school year!

It goes without saying that it's even harder to keep little learners motivated when ... hey, there are swimming pools and playgrounds calling their names!

So, what's the key?  Well, the key is the same thing as it is all year!

Keep the fun in learning!

The easiest way to keep learning fun? Teach with games! Need convincing of the benefits? Check this post!

You may find that some students joining you for summer school were also in your class this year, but chances are that a good number of your summer school students will be new to you. A new mix of students means it's time to go back and set your procedures and expectations. It's worth every minute of your time to do that!

Teaching your students to play partner games is a great way to reinforce positive classroom behaviors like...

    *  Taking turns

    *  Being patient with classmates

    *  Using kind and polite words

    *  Being gracious whether you win or lose a game

    *  Taking care of classroom materials when you're using them, and returning them to                 their assigned spots when finished (wouldn't that be an AMAZING thing to                           consistently see happening in your classroom??)

    *  Using appropriate voice volume level

Whether you're teaching kindergarteners going into first, kindergarten repeaters, or adding these games to your summer practice packets, here's a set of games that you'll love!

Here are 20 new easy prep math games with spring and summer themes!

Each game is just one page, with no cards to print or prepare and... let's be honest, no cards to LOSE!

These games will give your students lots of practice building addition and subtraction fluency, like this Searching for Seashells game. Most of the games are ready to play with the addition of just dice and a way to mark the board, like erasable markers. A few, like this one, use a spinner. Add a spinner using a scrap of cardstock and a metal brad, or have your students create their own spinner each time they play with a pencil and a paper clip.

Your students will love games like Collect 20, and you'll like the multiple objectives that are being addressed each time they play  ... in this case, they'll name the shape, identify the number, count the pieces, recount them on each turn to reach 20, determine how many more they need to get to 20, and more!

Each game comes in both color and ink-saving black and white. What an easy and effective way to add fun activities to your summer send-home packet, especially if you've spent some time playing the games together during the last weeks of school!

How else are teachers using kindergarten practice games? Here are a few more ideas!

Are you ready for a closer look?

Click to see this game set at my TPT store.

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Do you need easy prep kindergarten math games to use all year. like the set below? Try these!

Happy Teaching!