All Ready to Read!!

Here's a list of the words I included! 

I'm back!  Over the summer I spent a long time creating a really awesome way to teach "Popcorn Words!"  I poured over lists and lists.. district lists, other school's lists, Fry lists, Dolch lists, on and on!  I came up with 93 of the most commonly occurring words, put them in a logical order and created all kinds of cool resources to use with them!  Assessments, word wallets (love these!), word finds, games, roll and write sheets, trace and color, mix and fix sheets, and other word work sort of activities so EVERYTHING is ALL ready to go!  For the ENTIRE YEAR! Interested?  Check it out here!  I'm even giving away the whole 1st month of school for FREE so you can really check it out and see if you like it (I think you will!). 



And then I got inspired to go even further and I created these SUPER duper cute little emergent reader books!  I made 10- enough to do 1/week for the first 2 months of school!  They're sold separately and  coordinate perfectly with the words I'm teaching in the popcorn word power packs (and even if you don't use the power packs, you'd still love the books because they are great for emergent readers and cover the MOST common words in English!)!

These are just a few of the books... fun!

They all have picture cues to guide little readers (if they're stuck on a word, they can look at the picture for guidance), the text flows, many even rhyme, and they all have fun endings!  The pictures are adorable (Thanks to KPM Doodles- my fave!), AND they're really slick and simple to run through the copy machine and have done!  I just run mine double-sided with it set to staple on the side... they come out of the machine, I slice them in half (there are 2 books to a page), and wah-la!  All ready to read!

This little guy wasn't quite done coloring, but see the butter on the popcorn words?!  :)

I have kids "butter" the popcorn words (highlight them) on each page, color the pictures, and then keep the books in their book box or send them home.  We did the first one this week and it was a HIT!

So I just wanted to share and make sure you know about the SALE!  Only $5 for 10 books!  Super deal!  Oh- and you can buy them individually, too!

I hope to get back on here later with some classroom pictures and more fun ideas!  Have a great school year everyone!

 

Mother's Day Project Pack!

A collection of my three FAVORITE Mother's Day projects from the past 12 years! Guaranteed to become a timeless treasure for the special mom or grandma in your student's life! Everything you need to get started is right here!

There are so many sweet projects you can do with your little ones to help them show their love and appreciation for the special ladies in their lives! I’ve done these with Kindergarten and 1st graders, but I’m sure they’d work for a little older kids, too. You could choose your favorite or do them all… it’s totally up to you. The kids will love being able to do something special for their mom or grandma…. And every one of these is sure to become a treasure that she will keep forever.

I believe in giving teacher's lots of styling options (so you can choose why you like AND what works best for your kids!) so you'll see you have a couple different choices for what you'd like to print to go along with each individual project.

Here is a quick list of the three projects:

1. The “I love you to pieces” puzzle piece pin project (directions and photos to guide you through how to make this adorable craft... and also several printables you can use to display and give it.)

Check it out!  I'm wearing the pin here... made by my sweet baby, Elli!  

2. The CLASSIC “My Special Mother” fill-in-the-blank writing and picture project (Prepare to giggle over the things kids say for this and also the book project below! Precious... and oh, so simple for you.)  Did you make something like this for your mom when you were little?  I know I did and my mom still has it somewhere!  I just did this activity with my class today and here are a few samples for you to smile about.... AND I even added another line to my TpT file after we did this-- the latest version also lets them have a chance to say how mom likes to relax... lol. THAT could be funny!  :) 

This mom wouldn't even be traded for a monkey!  Wow! :)

LOVE this sweet artwork-- look at their shirts!

"She is as pretty as a bride!"

This momma couldn't even be traded for donuts!  :)

I wouldn't trade my mother for a penny.  Yesssss!

"She weighs a few pounds, I wouldn't trade her for a stuffed animal, and she's like a flower blooming in the Spring."  Oh- and look at their shirts!  "dodr" and "mom"  <3

"She is as pretty as a ladybug and I wouldn't trade her for a unicorn!"

To wrap it up, we just folded the page in half and put some words and hearts on the front...

3. The “All About My Mom” book project (Again, easy peasy to print and use! Kids fill in the blanks and draw pictures to finish phrases like "If my mom were a super hero she would be ________ because _______" or "If my mom were an animal she would be a __________ because ___________.")

Flip through them and see what would work best with your students and the time you have! Oh, and note that all of the projects come with pages that say "grandma" or "grandmother" as well as "mom" or "mother." Options for everyone!

Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks for stopping by!

WANTED posters & POWER names!

Looking for a cool project to spice up your hallway or bulletin board?  

These WANTED posters are fun and easy to make.  I like to do this project around Open House or Conference time when I want my room/hall to look extra cute!  There are 2 parts: WRITING 

  

 and DRAWING (I like to guide them through the process-- ideas for things to have them do are included). 

 Check out some sweet finished products!...

 

If you want more details, writing sheets for boys and girls, and the drawing sheet, you can scoop it up at my TpT store today!   Brand new and hot off the presses!  Yee-haw!

 

Btw, have you ever heard of Power Names?  It's an awesome thing our school does, inspired by a guy named Larry Bell.  We associate a positive, strong adjective with each child's name... we choose one that begins with the same letter as their first initial because the alliteration makes it extra catchy!  You can see a few of mine in these pictures.  We use them to refer to the kids throughout the day and they LOVE it!  They really become what we call them... hard working, creative, kind, loving, leader, victorious!  Try it out and see what happens!  Do you have a jar of popsicle sticks with kids names on them?  Write them on there to remind yourself to use their power names!  It's an easy way for you to brag on your kids and what they do well and it really helps you build a relationship. 

The Important Book Project

Have you heard of The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown?  It's super duper old and classic.  If you've never seen it or don't have it, I found the whole book online HERE.

It's especially cool though because of the pattern each page of the book follows.  It takes a regular thing (like a spoon, the wind, grass, a daisy) and tells the most important thing about it (in the author's opinion), then goes on to list 3 more great details, but comes back to re-state the most important thing.

SO how can you use this in your class?  How cool would it be to have kids write about "The Most Important Thing About Me!"  or "The Most Important Thing About My Family!"

These could be done at ANY time of year (beginning of the year, open house, graduation, just a regular ol day), and you could hang them up or make a class book or ??? but I think the family idea could also make a sweet holiday gift- Christmas or even Valentine's Day since it's all about LOVE... and who do our kids love more than their families?!  :)  So that was why I whipped this project out right now.  They're going to be Valentine's gifts for the parents.  Man, if my kids made something this cute, I'd definitely keep it forever!  I love kid-drawn family photos.  That has TREASURE written all over it.  :)

Want to grab the writing and drawing papers on sale?  Head on over to my TpT store and snatch em up cheap and have fun doing this project tomorrow!  I have several options for writing papers and drawing papers so you can have them all and choose the one you like best.

Check them out!  I was dying reading some of the sweet, funny things they said.  And didn't they do a good job with their family portraits?  I taught them how to fit everyone in by doing a little overlapping if necessary.  Anyway- here!  I'll pick out a few of the highlights:

I love this line:  "It's true that we are: BFF."

The most important thing about my family is that we: love each other!

It's true that we are: perfect!

oh my gosh, can you see this one??  How do you spell TV?  :)
We like to: wach tefe
too cute!

And it's true that this family is: smrt (with a backwards "s" and all!)  :)

Don't you think parents will love these forever?  oh my!  SO great!!

  

When I am 100 Years Old!

I am in LOVE with this project!
 
I just did it for the 13th year in a row in honor of the 100th day of school, and let me tell you- it never gets old!  Ha!  Even if your 100th day is a little bit past, you should still do it!  It's so fun!

And I promise you, everyone who walks through your hall and sees them is sure to comment on how hilarious they are.  At one of my old, old schools we had a very strict kind of mean-ish Principal who never filed or liked ANYTHING, but guess what?  She was freaking out, taking pictures of these and talking about them for months.  There is something about this project that is just THAT great.  :)

If you like it and wanna give it a whirl, grab all the instructions, brainstorming tools, and writing paper choices in my TpT shop for only a few bucks!  I used to just have my Kindergarteners write a few lines about being 100... but this year I tried a writing frame and I'm really happy with the results (you get both options and more in my packet)!

And for now, just sit back and gets  kick out of these funny, sweet 100 year old babes:  Oh, and if you don't read Kindergarten writing, I will translate for ya!

This little lady is going to probably eat lots of salad, live in her apartment and spend time with her grandchildren.  For fun, she'll go bowling with her old friends and she'll also wear glasses.

This granny likes to "jric cofe"  (drink coffee). :)

Eating lots of jello and relaxing in Arizona!

Playing BINGO and walking around with her cane.  Life is good! 

And when this little guy gets together with his friends, they're not doing anything wild and crazy.  They're just gonna "go ras"  (go rest).  Sounds good, buddy!

THANK YOU notes!

 

Thank you notes: what a fun, simple way to totally make someone's day! It's paraprofessional appreciation week here and I have three wonderful paras who make our class a GREAT place to work and learn!  So I had the kids take a few minutes and write them each a note.  They were precious... I edited these to not show the kid's names... but you can get the idea.  

Who wouldn't LOVE to get a stack of notes like that from some sweet, tiny Kindergarteners or 1st graders with adorable inventive spelling?!

I thought other people might be having paraprofessional appreciation week  and be interested in something like this, too!  You could actually use it for a W I D E variety of occasions... some ideas include: 

* to thank volunteers after a party or field trip

* to write to friend's around Valentine's Day

* for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparent's Day

* for paraprofessional appreciation week

* for secretary appreciation day

* to thank school workers (custodians, cafeteria staff, principal, etc)

* at Thanksgiving time-- you could put this in a center and kids can write notes to anyone they want!

If you like it, you could pick this little item up on my TpT store today for only $1!  

 Go make someone's day! :)

Joyful Journaling!

Hey!  I think it's so important for kindergarteners (and all kids!) to be writing everyday!  The last few years I let them write about whatever they wanted in their journals, but this year I tried giving them little prompts a few days a week and they love it!  They STILL get to write about anything they want on "Free Choice Fridays!" and also in the Daily 5 writing journal, but it's been cool to read their responses to different questions in their journals.  I love the way it's transforming their journals into little scrapbooks or time capsules-- tiny Kindergarten scribblings about who they love, what they've been up to, all their favorite stuff and more!  Parents (and kids!) are going to LOVE looking back on all this!

So each day over lunch I was quickly typing up a little prompt... or sometimes I'd get ambitious and do a few day's worth to be EXTRA prepared -ha!  I kept a few in my emergency sub plan notebook, but I was mostly living day to day or week to week.... until...  FINALLY last weekend I took the time to write up enough prompts for an entire year!  Oh yea!  Over 100 different prompts!  We do "what did you do over the weekend?" almost very Monday and Fridays are "Free Choice Fridays!"  But then the other 100-ish prompts can fill in all the Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays of our school year!  I made 30 copies of each individual prompt all in one document (10 prompts on a page = 327 pages or so!)... so that all I had to do was press PRINT ONE TIME this year and wah-la!  I'm DONE and ready for the entire school year!!  No more copies needing to be made or trips run to the printer.. everything is all right there.  SO exciting to be so prepared and organized!!

If you like to give your kids writing prompts from time to time, you might find this handy, too!  It could save you tons of time and it's all available at my TpT store!  Since it's brand spankin new, I'm offering it at a nice discount so get it while it's hot!  :)  Ha!

Prompts are organized by similar topics and you can jump around in them however you'd like:

* "A few of my favorite things" (like "What is your favorite thing to do with your family?")

* "What did you do over the weekend?" (or break)

* "Write about a time when..." (like "Write about a time when you were sick." Ick, I know, but kids LOVE writing about that! Ha!)

* "That special someone" (like "Write about the youngest person you know.")

* "Wishes" (like "What do you want to be when you grow up?")

* "Lists" (like "List two things you could do to help someone today!")

* "Why?". (like "Why is it important to brush your teeth?")

Wanna see how it looks all set up?

So I just printed it up, three hole punched the pages, and popped them all in a three ring binder.

I know I'll use "What did you do over the weekend?" every Monday so I popped a bunch of those in a baggie in the front pocket (along with a few others I'm planning to use this week, all paper clipped and ready to roll).



Then just pick any prompt you want to use on a given day, rip out the pages with that prompt (each prompt is 3 pages total - 10 prompts on a page so you'll end up with 30 little strips of paper) and take a few seconds to snip them apart.  Easy-cheesy.



 Lay them out for the kids to grab (journaling could make GREAT morning work to do as they come in to class?) or I often like to stick the prompts in my pocket and dramatically whip them out as I reveal today's idea and get them all excited to write!

Finally, kids just glue stick the prompt to the top of their journal page and get writing!  Want to see how sweet they turn out??

football!

sweet picture

Is that inventive spelling awesome or what?  So brave.

melt my heart

"a fixer"... don't ya just LOVE Kindergarteners??

Thanks for stopping by!