Teachers Are Heroes Sale & Freebie

   Want to celebrate "hump day" with a sale? Head on over to Teachers pay Teachers today for the HUGE Teachers Are Hero's sale. My whole store is 20% off with an additional 10% off when you use the code "HEROES". Click the image below to head on over to my store. While your there you can grab my new Spinning Craze! {Interactive Math Spin & Graph Games} for FREE.

Sound It Out!

   Each time we transition to a new off-track I have a group of kinder kiddos that need such support on beginning reading strategies. Some of these  kiddos I have worked with nine weeks earlier and I want them to still be excited and engaged to learn without using the same manipulative or materials. This past week my intervention kiddos have been utilizing the CVC activities in my Sound It Out! pack. These phoneme segmentation activities have helped my beginner readers break words into sounds. We have used these activities in small groups and as center rotations. Here is a peek at each of the activities included.

   My kiddos LOVED these phoneme segmentation cards that we used each day during our small groups. We started the first day by touching each of the black dots with our finger referring back to the picture to make sure we were producing the beginning, middle, and ending sounds. As the week progressed we used Matchbox Cars to "drive" up the dots to produce the sounds, used beans, clothespins, and Valentine erasers. If you wanted to place these cards in a center there are three "I can" visual posters to support independence. 

    We used these 40 sound box cards several ways during the week in small group and as centers. In small group we used dry erase markers and letter tiles. During centers my kiddos put the sound cards onto a cookie tray and used magnetic letters to build the word. The "I can" visual posters included really encouraged my kiddos to complete the centers independently without me having to remind them how to complete.

   Need a little fine motor practice in addition to reading and writing? We used the Read it, Build it, Write it activities as a whole group activity (I only had eight kiddos this week) on Monday and then I placed the other books into a center throughout the week. With eight books to choose from, kiddos read the picture by touching each dot to make the beginning, middle, and ending sounds. They then build the word by cutting and pasting the enclosed letter tiles. Finally, kiddos write the word on the line and can color the picture. You could always laminate the pages of each book and the letter tiles and have kiddos use a dry erase marker to write their word.  

   Roll 3 in a Row! was my kiddos favorite activity this week. Kiddos get a mat (color or b&w are provided) and roll three dice. Once they roll the dice they need to line them up to match the colors at the top of their mat.They will read the word and see if they have a matching picture on their mat. If they do they get to cover with a manipulative. We laminated our color mats and played in small group together and then I placed the b&w version in a center and kiddos colored their picture. I loved that once the kiddos read their word sometimes it was a nonsense word and other times it was a real word. The teacher directions explains how to make and construct the dice and color the top of the mats to match the dice. A little prep  for a lot of FUN!

   Color 3 in a Row! is the black and white version on the activity above that was played in centers. An "I can" visual poster is included for student independence for both versions.  

   Do your kiddos LOVE puzzles as much as mine? These stretch the sound puzzles were requested each day by my kiddos. Using the same images as some of the above activities my kiddos had an understanding of what each picture was and could piece together independently. Two versions are provided for differentiation. One set contains just images and the other set is images and letters to build the word. 

   Click on the images below to grab your Sound It Out! activities. 

Introducing Clip and Dab! and a FREEBIE

   Where did the month of January go? I don't know about you all, but I always dread the month of January. It seems to linger on and on and on! I think it may have been the numerous days of 50 plus degrees here in Colorado. It makes rolling into the month of February so much more delightful...not to mention the almost 70 degree forecast this past weekend!

   I have spent the past couple of weeks working with the kinder and first grade off-track kiddos. Every week when I get a new bunch of kiddos it always surprises me how hard they work and want to be at school even though their peers are enjoying their off-track vacations. It makes my job so effortless and enjoyable that these kiddos truly want to learn and appreciate the extra support.

   We have been utilizing my new "Clip and Dab!" number sense and alphabet packets the past couple of weeks. I love how the Clip and Dab allows for my kiddos to use clothes pins to "clip" their answer on the activity card and then record their answer on the accompanying sheets. I like how engaging these activities are and allows for extra fine motor practice squeezing the clips and my kiddos love any opportunity to use bingo daubers or watercolor crayons on their recording sheets. Have you seen or used watercolor crayons??? They are the neatest little invention. Kiddos color with the crayons and then add water to make the watercolor effect. Genius! I picked mine up at Target for a couple dollars.

   Each Clip and Dab packet comes with teacher instructions for each activity, two "I Can" visual posters, activity cards, recording sheet, and answer key. All you need to supply is the clothespins! Here is a peek at Clip and Dab! Number Sense.

 You can get each Clip and Dab! by clicking on the image 

Grab this FREEBIE by clicking on the image to download from my TPT store.

    Enjoy!