Friday Freebie {Dolch Sight Word Assessment}

Happy Friday, y'all!
One of the most important tools to have in your classroom is a good, comprehensive assessment. Student assessments tell us where we are, where we need to be, and where we are going. Track your students' growth using the Make, Take & Teach Dolch Sight Word Assessment and Progress Monitoring protocols. This download includes assessment materials for 220 Dolch sight words, student recording forms and progress monitoring charts! Perfect for your school's Response to Intervention (RtI) initiative.

Click picture to download

Phonemic Awareness vs. Phonics- What is the Difference?

Ready for BTS13?

Who blew their entire first paycheck at the TPT Back to School Sale this weekend?  This girl did!  At least now I can say my wish list is only a mile long instead of three.  :)  I bought some really fantastic resources for my new classes this year.  I can't wait to use them.  One of the Language Arts activities I picked out was called "A Dab Will Do Ya."  My K-1 kiddos love to use those bingo markers and dot paints every time I pull them out.  Plus, you can get them at the Dollar Store for super cheap.  The pack that I purchased at TPT from The Printable Princess contains 60 pages of fun and covers these skills:

Differentiate between letter and number
Differentiate between uppercase and lowercase letters
Letter and number formation
Letter matching
Match uppercase to lowercase letters
Beginning sounds
Number matching
Ten frames (a basic introduction)
Counting to 10

Here is a FREE 10 page sample highlighting beginning sounds and CVC words with short vowels.  Check it out.  :)

Teacher Binders- Let's Get Organized!

Psssst......
Are you still using that yucky green lesson plan and grade book from the 70s? Do you usually have stacks of papers up to your eyebrows on every corner of your desk?  Would you like to have your lesson plans, standards, and assessments right at your fingertips at all times?  Then I've got the perfect solution for you. Check out my Binder Organizers on TPT or TN.  I have used these for two years now, and they help to keep me so organized. My binder is my lifeline, and I have it all down to a science.  I always know EXACTLY where to find things. Take a look at my Sock Monkey and Hipster Monster designs here-

If you click on my TPT button on the top right side of my page, it will take you to my store.  Hope this tool will help you in your endeavors to stay organized and be the best teacher you can be!!!

TPT Sale Today and Tomorrow! Don't miss it!

Hey all!

Friday Freebie! {Word Wall Letters}

Hi friends!
Well, summer is officially drawing to a close... Hope everyone is ready for a fantastic school year.  I was finally able to get into my classroom (I was switched to a new room over the summer) and WHOA, was it a mess!!  After some reorganizing, purging, and cleaning, I am super happy with my new space.  We lost two of our Interventionists this year- (I'll miss you Jamie and Karen!!!) so we are in the process of hiring two more before October.  Luckily this year, we are only going to be two to a room instead of three.  Can't tell you how happy I am about that.  Anyway...

Since we have a room that needs to be shared, I set up two very large free-standing white boards to bisect the room.  It helps with noise and to keep the kids from being too distracted.  I have been racking my brain trying to think of something to do with these monsters.  At first I was going to cover them just like bulletin boards or use them to hang anchor charts.  But then it hit me-  these would be perfect for constructing a word wall!  I didn't have the wall space to do that last year, and I think it would help my students so much with their sight word recognition and their writing.

I am going to use washi tape or duct tape to separate my boards into squares-  kinda like this:

So, without further ado, here is the perfect freebie this week-  an adorable chevron (it's all the rage!) word wall letters set.

Click to download

I'll try to get some before and after pictures of my teaching space put up on the blog.  Hope everyone has a great teacher work week!  :)

National Geographic LOVES teachers! {Website Wednesday}

Those of you that know me know that I love to read and learn about nature- animals, plants, weather, bugs, etc....  I stumbled across something today that just rocked my socks off! Did you know that National Geographic has a Young Explorer magazine just for kids?  Even better, it comes with a teacher's guide that has lesson plans, activities, and even discussion questions for use in the classroom- and you can download it all for free, my friends!  This would be fantastic for a whole group lesson on the smart board or for independent computer centers.  The possibilities are endless!!

Check out Nat Geo's Young Explorer site today!!

Friday Freebie!

Hey there!

Ready for your Friday Freebie?  Here is a cute little back to school booklet featuring School Tools.  It is a reading and writing activity all rolled into one- a great way to get your students accustomed to recognizing and spelling all of those important school words.  Click the pic to download!

Fry Words Freebie!

Happy Wednesday, y'all!  

I have an AMAZING free download for you today.  I am printing it off as I speak (or type)!  It is a fun Fry Phrases game that would be great as a small group or center activity.  These phrases contain the first 100 words from the Fry Instant Word List, which represent 50 percent of all the words children encounter in elementary school reading. Repeated reading of a few phrases per week gives students practice reading high-frequency words and developing fluency and general proficiency.  Thanks a bunch to Kristen Smith at A Day In First Grade for this activity.  It is just perfect for differentiating my groups who are moving on from simple sight word recognition to something a little more challenging.

Click Photo to download

For this game, students will work on reading the first 100 Fry phrases with accuracy and fluency. The students first pick a phrase card.  Then they pick out a "voice" card and  read in that voice with emotion and gusto!  My kids are going to LOVE this one.  So fun!

Looking For a Book to Read?

Are you an avid reader?  Are your kids avid readers?  Is trying to get your kids to read like pulling teeth?  At my house it seems that no matter how much my husband and I model this behavior and/or talk about the importance of reading, my boys just aren't buying it.  This summer is all about playing outside and cooling off with a movie or the X-Box.  Hopefully once school rolls around, they will pick up where they left off and get back on track!

I came across this wonderful list that I wanted to share with you.  NPR's 100 Must Reads for Children 9-14 is a collection of amazing stories, classic and contemporary.  Both of my sons fall in this age range, and I remember reading many of these books when I was that age ( a long, lonnnng time ago!) so I was excited about having this list as a resource.  How many of these titles have you read?

Friday Freebie

Hi all!
This week's Friday Freebie comes from Maria M., a teacher/blogger who runs a site called KinderCraze. She does great technology tutorials and creates wonderful resources for the elementary classroom. She was kind enough to share this cute calendar freebie, and I am thrilled to pass it along to you.

This packet includes 2.5" square cards for you to cut out and display on the classroom calendar. The cards remind students (and teachers!) of upcoming school or classroom events such as an assembly, early dismissal, birthday, testing, and more.  Click here to download from TpT. Enjoy!