Fun Friday: Alphabet Fun!!

Today is FUN Friday... I am going to share some Alphabet Fun with you today!!

First, here is a FUN way to track student's alphabet knowledge... it is available for FREE to download at my TpT store... click on the picture to download!

Next, here are some fun alphabet center activities to use in your preschool or kindergarten classroom. These would be great as a Literacy Center/Station or during Working with Words in Daily 5.

Alphabet Q-Tip Painting

Alphabet Hole-Punch

Students will love using a hole punch to identify the uppercase and lowercase letters; plus, they will build their fine motor muscles!!

Alphabet Clip Cards

Students use clothespins to clip on the focus letter.. another way to practice letter identification while building fine motor skills!!

Alphabet Beginning Sound Puzzles

Hop over to Freebie-licious for more Fun Friday ideas!

Thanks for looking and happy teaching!

Throwback Thursday: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Play Dough, Too!

Today, on Throwback Thursday, we are looking back at an old favorite post... I am throwing back to my "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" Play Dough Mats!! Enjoy!

What kindergartener (and kindergarten teacher) doesn't LOVE Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Play Dough??

Here is a set of Counting Play Dough Mats with a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom theme! Print , laminate, and add a couple of cans of play dough and you have a ready-to-go Math Station!! Students can roll small balls of play dough to fill in the correct area in the tens frame and practice counting; they could also roll the play dough to make the numerals.

Click on any picture to download this FREEBIE!!
Have fun and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom :)

Thanks for looking and happy teaching!!!

Hop over to Freebie-licious for more fun posts!!

Wonderful Idea Wednesday: Quick and Easy Formative Assessment Tool

I am so excited to see all of the wonderful ideas that are going to be shared on Wonderful Idea Wednesday!! Here is my quick and easy tool to increase engagement and gather informal formative assessment information!!

We are always looking for ways to increase student engagement and get feedback on student understanding, right??? Here is a super simple tool to enable each student to answer a question and show their answer to the teacher quickly. It is a VERY LOW-TECH version of a clicker system :) Each child is given a Multiple Choice Answer Card and a clothespin- in my kindergarten class, the kiddos call them a "clip strip". Then I ask multiple choice questions (I use PowerPoint slides to project the questions) and students show their answer by moving the clip to the correct answer. Students then hold the "clip strip" up in the air and I have a quick assessment of student understanding! My kiddos love them, and I love the information that this simple tool gives me :)
Click here to download your FREE copy from TpT.
OR
You can click here to download it from Google Docs :)
If you like this simple tool, I would love it if you would leave a comment, follow my blog, or follow my TpT store!

Be sure to hop over to Freebie-licious to see all of the other wonderful ideas!!

Thanks for looking and happy teaching!!

Must Have Monday

Looking for new materials for the classroom is always a fun thing to do!! I love thinking about the new year and the new kiddos, and all of the things that we will need... plus it is lots of fun looking at other's lists (although that makes my shopping list grow!!)

So, here is my list!!

Hop over to Freebielicious to see other lists!!

Thanks for looking and happy teaching!!

First Day Picture FREEBIE :)

I LOVE taking pictures of my kinder kiddos!! I take LOTS of pictures throughout the school year to make a DVD, plus I have all of the pictures printed for the kiddos to add in their memory books.
So, I want to have a special picture for the first day of kindergarten.

Last year, I made these two pictures for students to hold in their first day pictures!! I actually sent this picture to Wal-Mart to print to make sure it would be bright in their pictures... I think it was less than 3 dollars to have an 8x10 picture for the kiddos to hold... and the pictures were adorable!!

Anyway, here is a copy for you to use, if you would like!! Click on the picture to go to Google Drive to download :) If you have any issues, just let me know!!

Thanks for looking and happy teaching!!

Math on My Own Set

Hey, everyone!!

I am really excited about some new materials to use in my math instruction!! I feel like I do a decent job differentiating literacy instruction, but math... not so much!! I have really been thinking about ways to create more small group instruction, plus more individualized practice for my kinder kiddos!!

I have created two new resources to help me with this!! One is my Math Tool-Kit to help with my small group instruction. I will talk about it another day, but if you just can't wait, here is the link!!

Moving on... My Math on My Own Set is my newest project.  I have used pieces of it over the last school year, but now I have it organized and ready to go for the start of the school year.

In this packet, there are over 250 practice pages based on Common Core Standards for Kindergarten. You simply print the pages and make booklets for each student at his/her individual level. The pages are designed to be INDEPENDENT practice for each child. If you are doing some version of Daily Math, these packets would make an excellent rotation in your daily routine.

There are also recording charts for each area of practice; you simply list each child’s name on the left and then keep a record of the pages each child has completed. I have also included awards that you may decide to give to students as they complete their books. There are a variety of awards to give you options in your classroom.

How It Works
In my classroom, I create booklets of 5 to 10 pages for each child. During my math block, following our whole group instruction, I have a 45 minute block. During this time, students work through three different rotations: Math with the Teacher, Math with a Partner (my math stations), and Math on My Own. During Math on My Own, each student works in his/her own individualized book.
It takes each student a few days to work through the book, and after the book is complete, they place it in my “Finished Math Books Tub”. I review their book, conference with the student about their work, provide an award for their work, and then gather a new book for this student. I then reference the charts to see which skills this student needs to practice next. The completed books then go home to show parents their child’s progress!! 

Here is more specific information about the practice pages included:

If you are interested, then check out my TpT store!! Thanks for looking and happy teaching!!