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Monday, December 16, 2013

Rockin' Reindeer Centers

After all the prepping I did for stations, and sub plans for today------we ended up with a Snow Day!!
Now I love snow as much as the next teacher, BUT----it doesn't really help me out in this situation! ;)

 I'm thinking we may be off to a snowy season here in Ohio, and it's about time! They are even looking at a weather model that may be bringing a foot of snow to our area next weekend.  Yes, the snow is pretty--but next weekend?  Come on mother nature--just a dusting for Christmas--just enough to make it look pretty! :)

I can't have it both ways can I?   My coworkers have laughed at me because I've said that if the snow doesn't benefit me...I don't want it!  I mean what's the perk of being a teacher in Ohio if you can't have a Snow Day once and again!  Not snow on the weekend...not snow on the holidays like the trending pattern, BUT a SNOW DAY!   Okay, enough of my snow rant....moving on!


We have daily math intervention in my building.  During this time, I like to play games or math stations and then work small group (or one-on-one).  When planning for subs, I try to make it easier for them.  My kiddos, for the most part, adapt well when I'm out.  (It helps that I've told them that subs may do things differently than I do, so just roll with it.)  When my kids are at stations, the noise factor needs to be monitored, so I change my stations into whole group activities.  They are still meaningful, they still provide review, and it's still engaging.   

For example, in my Reindeer Games math pack,
Click image above to see it on TpT. 

I have a sorting center with fact families.  
I quickly changed it into a whole group activity just with chart paper. 
It's nothing fancy, but it works. 

I had four fact family jars in the sort, so I folded chart paper into fourths.  Students will be given an equation card to determine if the answer is correct on the card.  They can self check using their number line.  The chart paper will be hung on the board and students will put their candy card into the correct section on the chart.  Then as a class they will check over their work.  (The fact family cards all have the same piece of candy for each fact family for quick self checking.)  Then they will write the fact families on their recording sheet.   This station made for quick sub plans with just a quick alteration.  Even if you don't do math stations in your classroom, you can always adapt them for whole group activities.  It makes for fun, engaging lessons and there are TONS of ideas on TpT!

Then this weekend, I worked so hard using these ADORABLE graphics from Nikki at Melonhedz!



And prepping these literacy centers.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rockin-Reindeer-Literacy-Stations-for-Your-Little-Deer-Learners-1022031
Click the above image to see it on TpT.

 
This may be my FAVORITE literacy station pack.  

Let me break down this pack a bit.
 It contains a phonics, parts of speech, reading and writing.
It's a great literacy pack with minimal teacher prep, and the only "Christmas" thing included was the use of red and green and reindeer!

For the phonics portion, my focus was on S blends.  
 Students will match the s blend pictures to the correct beginning sound.
Instead of a recording sheet, I opted to use a coloring page. 
 Students will read the  s blend word and color by the code
Finally, I included a center game.  Students will spin the beginning sound spinner and find a word with the same blend on their game mat. 
 I also included an s blend picture page for students (or teacher) to reference the pictures used.
Below is a sample preview pic of the some of the phonics pages included.
 
For parts of speech, it is designed the same way as the phonics.
There is a sort, recording sheet, and a game.
In the sort, students will determine if the word is a noun, verb, or adjective by placing it on the sort mat.  I included three mats with prompting questions to ease students in the sort. They then will record their findings onto the answer sheet provided.  A game has also been included.  
Students will spin the spinner and determine which part of speech is being used and find that answer on their game mat.  Below is a sample picture of some of the pages for the parts of speech activity.

The last two activities in this pack are for sight words and sentence writing.
The sight word activity is a game where students will read a sight word sentence and determine the missing sight word (among a select group of answers). Partners can check the answer sheet that is provided before students roll and advance around the board.  The final activity is an independent activity.  Students will be given a sight word spinner page.  They will spin the spinner, and create a sentence with the sight word on which they land. I'm using this to reinforce sight words and sentence structure.  My kiddos are still having a hard time with remembering a capital and a period. 
Here's a preview pic for the activities as described above. 

Now, I'm always late to the game because I try to  make my stations based on my students needs  each week.  So this is on sale through tonight (12-16-2013) and then it will go back to regular price tomorrow.  This really is one of my favorites!   Since these are crucial skills and need constant review for my kiddos, I may have to make a winter pack just like them.  What do you think?




Friday, December 13, 2013

Christmas Time (and a Freebie!)

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas time.  
The lights, the smells, the sounds--THE BAKING! 
I love how everyone is generally in happy spirits and with such giving attitudes.
(Then again, I do most of my shopping online! HAHA) ;)

But really though, I wish the Christmas feeling could last all year round.
I try to instill the giving (and not receiving) to my kids, but one is 7.  He likes to receive, of course---we all do.  This year we tried really hard to do some caring acts.  I don't want to call them "random", but we made sure we donated to clothing drives, food banks, and food drives that the schools were having. We will donate to our local animal shelter.  The kids are using their money for the bell ringers, and make sure their pockets are full when we go out and about.  They are getting the hang of it, but I don't want them to forget this feeling when Christmas is over.  

I saw the perfect quote today and I just love it and have to share!


If you've been following me through the years, you know that I love sharing.  I love giveaways.  
I love collaborating with my "friends" on Facebook. :)

And I have a few freebies to share with you today.
A couple years ago,  I made a Christmas story reader. 
(Old post HERE)

I thought that this would be a fun little story for my kiddos to do next week in reading groups. 
Since I'm still out (and may be until after break), I thought that this would be easy for the sub to do with my kiddos.  But I wasn't loving the look of the old freebie...soooo...

 I've since recreated it into this:

Included in this 45 page FREEBIE, I've included a colored reader that I plan on having projected on the board for the sub to read.  Then there are 3 versions of a black/white reader to match.  One story is the same as the projected book.  One reader is the students matching words to picture clues.  The last reader students will read and draw their own pictures to match.  

(Ohh and you can click HERE to grab this freebie if you'd like!)


Also around the same time frame as the above reader, I created journal prompts.
You can see the old post HERE for a freebie!

When I originally wrote those prompts, I just projected a prompt on the board and had the students write in their journals to respond.  This past year I started making Journal Prompts that were ready to print, and I thought I'd make one for the holidays too.  This is going to help me plan for next week too.  I am loving the graphics I have in this pack.  The prompts are very similar to the original freebies, I just added a few graphics to the pages and added two versions of writing lines. I also included picture cards for a pocket chart to assist in spelling some holiday words.
 Now they are much easier for me--and great for planning purposes! :)

 This version of the prompts is in my store.  
You can see it HERE!


Next week, I also planning on a day all about Splat!



http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-with-Cat-A-Mini-Math-and-Literacy-Unit-for-Splat-1016126

I think they will really enjoy the graphics in this set...and I really like the Splat craft.  
I think he turned out pretty cute!

I am also LOVING the Morning Bell Ringers for the Holiday!
They have been a lifesaver for me the past week for planning!  
The kids have enjoyed them too!!!

You can click HERE to see them on TpT.


Now I need to plan centers for next week---and I'm going to make some 2nd grade centers to use with Connor while we're home! :)  
AND LOOK at the great graphics Nikki from Melonheadz made for me! 


I'm LOVING Them!!! 


Now, I'm going to go be a mommy--and a baker!!  
OHH, but that reminds me--- look what I made yesterday!
Not the best pic---but they were yummy nonetheless!
Red Velvet Whoopie Pies! :)


Have a great weekend friends! :)

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Doubles Freebie!

The weather here in Ohio was quite warm today---and they are calling for 6" of snow coming Friday.  I don't think Mother Nature quite understands how teachers can tell when there's a change in the weather!  Am I the only one that notices behavior differences? ;)

I needed some engaging games to get me through this week.  
Today we played a beginning sound game with digraphs and blends that I made last year.


It's nothing fancy, but the kiddos sure did love it and had so much fun.
Click HERE to see last year's post.
One was so excited when he "beat" me to the mallet.  That makes the learning so exciting when their eyes light up because they are "beating" their teacher! :)

(*Side note*  As I read through last year's post, I realize that I have a LOT to be thankful for, and am going to continue focusing on all the positives in my life.  Life is too short and God is too good for the gloomies! :) )

We also sorted some long a word families that are in the Baking for Santa pack.

You can click the image below to see the pack on TpT. 
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Baking-For-Santa-Literacy-Centers-429262

We've also been reviewing nouns and verbs.  
I liked this verb song up to the last minute or so, but the kids really enjoyed it regardless.
Then it gets a little confusing because the song doesn't align to the words on the screen. 





The words were typed from the Have Fun Teaching video.

Here are a couple other noun and verb songs that we have enjoyed.






  
I have some noun and verb quick print activities that we will be working on leading up to Christmas break (as well as a few other activities) in a new pack.  It's called Morning Bell Ringers.


 You can see it HERE.

In math we will continue working on our addition facts (doubles facts) for fluency and accuracy.
I've created some REINDEER GAMES for our review.
You can see it HERE.

But I also wanted a quick worksheet for intervention.
So here's a lil' Freebie.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3D5Bsh09DJKZ0JBbXdHaGx5VlU/edit?usp=sharing
 Just click the image above to download it! 
Please be kind enough to leave me a message if you grab it! :)



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