Book Recomendation

In March I normally do my own fairy tale unit, but this year all the fairy tales I found at the library were a little scarier then I wanted so I switched to fables and found this awesome series.

Classic Fable in Rhythm and Rhyme

These fables are put to music which gives them a fresh new spin that engages that students and allows them to sing along.  Each story starts off explaining what a fable is and it gives a quick synopsis of what the story is about.

The Fox and the Grapes

The stories also have highlighted vocabulary that you can pre teach and each book has reading activities and questions at the back of the book.

The Lion and the Mouse

The Boy who Cried Wolf

I really love this series.  Check them out on the links on Amazon or see if they have them at your library. 

Snowball Sight Words

I love creating products that are simple and easy to use.  These snowball sight words are one of my favorite.

This winter activity was created for a fun sight word center where I printed out the snowballs, laminated them and then placed them in a bin full of cotton balls. The students had to dig through looking for the sight words and then write the word they found on the recording sheet.

You can also use them as a write the room activity where you tape the sight words up around the room.

Over 90 sight words are included from the entire Pre-K and Kindergarten Sight Word List, including a blank page to write your own.

Add and Clip

I am always looking for easy to use math centers for my room.  So I created this add and clip activity.  Not only can students practice their fine motor skills by using a clothes pin to identify their answer, but they also are able to count the dots which provides support for those who are still learning their facts.  It's a low prep center.  Just print, laminate and cut.

I also have a heart themed version which is perfect for Valentine's Day or even just to use all year.

You can find both products here in my Teacher's Pay Teachers Store.

What's the Missing Letter: Christmas Edition

So learning how to put things in alphabetical order is such an important and yet boring skill.  So to help my students practice abc order and fluency in a fun way I created this product that is the perfect center for the upcoming Christmas season.

Missing Letter Center

This fun activity allows students to fill in the missing alphabet letter with an expo marker and comes in an upper case and lower case set.  My students were excited to be able to use the expo markers with this center.  It was an instant hit.

Christmas Sight Word Practice

Sight Word practice is so important and instead of using flash cards I love to use games.  A class favorite is our sight word spinners.  Here is a sample of our color and black and white version.

The average child needs 4-14 exposures to a word to make it stick, which requires lots of repetition. Each spinner covers 5 sight words which makes reinforcement easily manageable and still fun.

These spinners are easy prep.  Just print, add a paper clip and pencil to your station and you are ready to go.  Students can either color a box every time they spin a word or they can write the word in the box.  These are great for morning work or centers.  You can find them here in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Book Recomendation

This week we began our subtraction unit.  I found this fun book last year called Monster Musical Chairs.  I read the book to start the unit and we talk about how the number of monsters is decreasing every time a monster gets out.  After we finish the book we play musical chairs to demonstrate subtraction.  It's a fun and easy way to model subtraction and the kids love it.

You can get the book here on Amazon.

What should have been a Snow Day

So Monday all schools around us were closed due to the snow, but we remained opened. Wet e-mailed parents letting them know that if they decided to keep their child home to just let us know.  Well 7 of my kiddos showed up, which is 1/3 of my class.  So the majority of my plans were pushed back for the day and we had a day of fun.  We free played, went outside for an extra long recess to enjoy the snow and made fun snow art projects.  And when you only have 7 kids, prep for art projects is super easy.

So we made these cute little snowmen watching the snow fall.

I made the carrot nose, because I knew that would be hard for the kids.  (Again, 7 kids means I'm more willing to do prep.)  The kids traced a paper plate to make the snowman's head.  I helped them line it up.  We then painted and talked about how different brush strokes changed what the snowman's head looked like.  The kids cut out a circle eye and then we drew snowflakes.  Easy and so cute!  And now I have some wonderful artwork hanging up in my class.