Animal Mania! Nonfiction Close Reads

  After many requests I have bundled just my nonfiction animal close read texts and activities together from my Warming Up to Winter! unit. I don't know about you, but my kiddos LOVE close reading nonfiction stories. My intervention kiddos already struggle with vocabulary, background knowledge, and comprehension before they come into our off-track session. Close reads allow my kiddos to focus on one short text  and "dig dipper" into it.

   Included in Animal Mania! {14 Close Reading Texts & Activities} are articles about moles, hedgehogs, rabbits, owls, badgers, fox, bear, mouse, pig, horse, hen, geese, cats, and dogs. Each article contains simple text with content specific vocabulary and vibrant photographs. Activities for each nonfiction article also includes vocabulary cards with the word, meaning, and visual representation, note taking recording sheet, comprehension text evidence response sheet, and true/false sort. Here is a peek at the close reading activities.

Nonfiction text with real photographs and fact boxes. 

Large vocabulary cards: Laminate and cut the vocabulary word, picture, and meaning apart. Place in pocket chart for reference or as a sorting game in a center. 

After reading the text kiddos can record their new knowledge on the animal note taking recording sheets. 

Kiddos will be able to demonstrate their understanding of the text by referring back to the article to find the evidence to support their answer. 

Use these true/false sorts as an assessment or as a center to demonstrate if students really understood what they read. Differentiate by place with the animal article for kiddos who may need more support or alone without the article for your high flyers. 

   You can grab Animal Mania! {14 Nonfiction Close Reads & Activities} by clicking on the image below. Happy reading!

All About Insects

   Is it finally starting to get warmer in your backyard? Springtime in Colorado is a bit like riding a roller coaster. We enjoy highs of 70 degrees and then the next day it can snow and be in the 30's. As much as I love Colorado these spring ups and downs really play with your allergies. Plus its time for the Bug Man to come out and spray for those pesky creatures that start to come out of the woodwork! Ewww bugs...just in time to begin learning about insects in the classroom!

   Over the next couple of weeks my intervention kiddos will be working on everything BUGS! I love learning abut insects, just not cohabiting with them. I just finished my newest iPad QR Code Listening Center Books that we will be utilizing during center time. Click on the image below to download from my store.

   We will also be using my Ant Informational Writing unit as well. You can click on the image below to download from my store too.

    And I am finishing up my newest unit Squirmy Wormy:Digging Deeper to Make Ten. I'm hoping to have it finished and posted by the weekend as I'm needing it for my kinder kiddos next week so we can "buggy out" our number sense! Here's a sneak peek....

Hunt for the Gold and St. Patrick's Day Sale

   Last week with my kinder intervention kiddos we were all about number sense, composing, and decomposing numbers. We practiced making five with bingo daubers and making ten using gold beads on a pipe cleaner bracelet. Because I only have my kiddos for one week at a time I wanted them to be able to practice their skills with a St. Patrick's Day twist. Utilizing number bonds and some gold pots my kiddos were ready to search and hunt for all the gold coins they could find.

  

 I started by recycling some small black pots that I had in my Halloween centers and taped shamrocks to the front with numbers 1-9 on them. Inside of each pot I placed gold coins to match the number on the shamrocks and then hid them around our classroom. 

   Each kiddo got a clipboard and a recording sheet. On the sheet were numbered pots of gold to match the pots around the room. Kiddos had to go search for a pot, match the number on the shamrock to the pot on their recording sheet and then create a number bond. Kiddos were encouraged to use the gold coins in the pots to help create their number bonds. Before kiddos could move to the next pot they had to raise their hand and explain their thinking. They received a gold bingo dauber stamp on their recording page and could then go find their next pot. 

   This kiddo was so exact at every pot making sure he had two piles of coins in an exact line! 

That number one is so tricky to create a bond for.

   I hope you have some great activities planned for St. Patrick's Day this week. All of my March activities are on sale the next two days in my store if you are looking for additional materials to add to your collection. Click on the images to be taken to the discounted product. 

Fluency Games Galore

   While working with my intervention kiddos I am always looking for interactive ways to build their fluency of sight words and tone and expression. My kiddos have loved using my One Smart Cookie {Fluency Phrases for the First 100 Fry Words} but are now ready for more of a challenge. I am getting ready to introduce two more sets of games for my kiddos to use Catch Those Bugs! {Fluency Phrases for the Second 100 Fry Words} and Bowling for Fluency {Fluency Phrases for the Third 100 Words}. Both these packs offer three interactive games as well as ten fluency pages and trackers that can be used to create a notebook or placed into a fluency center. Here is a peek at Catch Those Bugs!

  There are ideas of how to organize your games included. I print, laminate, and place all my pieces into large envelopes with the game header glued to the front of each envelope. Then I laminate the outside of the envelope to keep from wear and tear.  

   Here is Spraying for Bugs! Kiddos can use a clear plastic spinner or a paperclip to spin and grab a bug that corresponds to the color on the spinner. Kiddos will read the phrase on each of the bugs. This game can be played with or without a timer.

   In Bug Collecting kiddos will read as quickly as they can the phrases on each of the bugs. This game can be played with a partner and students can place bugs in the "correct" jar or "try again" jar on various fluency mats included. This can also be played with or without a timer to fit the needs of your students. 

   In SWAT! A Memory Game kiddos will use two sets of bugs and flip over playing the traditional Memory game, but must read the phrases on both bugs flipped over. You can add plastic fly swatters for kiddos to use to "swat" the two cards they want to flip over or I have included two swatters that can be printed and laminated. 

   If your kiddos are ready for more of a challenge I just finished  Bowling for Fluency utilizing the third 100 Fry words. Again three interactive games are included with ten fluency pages and trackers to create or add to your exciting fluency notebooks or centers. Here is quick preview. 

   I have bundled all three Fry Fluency sets together. You save over $3 than if you purchase the sets separate. Click on the image below to begin your kiddos fluency adventure! 

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!