Halloween Freebie

Are you looking for a quick game to use in a Math Center or during a party? Try this "Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe". There are several ways to play....as they win, the kids can collect "candy" and count how many times they won. OR use the "graphing score card" and the first player to the top is the winner. Or for those who can use Tally Marks, score can be recorded with tally marks and students count the score, then add up how many games were won in all. If your students are equally matched at Tic-Tac-Toe, a fun way to play is PLAY TO LOSE! This requires a different way of thinking...the first player to GET 3 in a row is the loser and the other player gets the point. That would be interesting to watch! ;-)
I hope you can use this and your kiddos have fun!

 

Click on the image to download this freebie!

A Treasury of Sight Words Highlights

I've been offline for several weeks. This has been a rough summer for me... in June, I had to put my longtime, loyal friend Coal, my black lab down. Then in July, my dad passed away. It's taken a while for me to regroup. But I'm back now and ready to get caught up with other bloggers as well as share things here on my blog.
Based on my popular ABC Highlights game, I received a request for a new version of Sight Word Highlights. Melissa, a fellow Kindergarten teacher requested specific words in a specific order based on the MMH Treasures Reading series for Kindergarten. The list has the basic beginning reading sight words so even if you're not using the series, your students can still enjoy playing the game. The packet gradually introduces sight words on score cards/game boards leading up to the final game board with all of the words for game play.
Click on the image to learn more:

In Love with Mini Books

I'm LOVING making these "mini" books! I am looking forward to using them with my students. My plan is to add these books to my Literacy Stations as independent work. The text and pictures are perfect for beginning readers. The books have great graphics that are fun for kids to color. The books can also support English Language Learners as they build vocabulary.
There are 14 different titles in the ANYTIME MINI BOOKS packet. The titles are intended to be used along with other units being taught without distracting from the units' content. Titles are: Baseball, Vehicles, The Neighborhood, Insects, Fast Food, 911 Vehicles, Getting Around Town, Traveling Fast, Vegetables, Camping Out, Sea Life, Fruits, Football, and Out of This World.
You may notice some of the books have been designed to purposely grab the attention of BOYS who are beginning readers. (Sometimes we have to draw them in closer to reading). :-)
The books require only one sheet of paper and two folds to make. No need to staple, (unless of course you prefer to do so). The vision is that after modeling a few times, the papers can be placed in a Center/Station and students can fold them on their own. My goal is to put as many books in the hands of my students as possible.
The books can easily fit in student's reading bags or in your classroom pocket chart/book bins or classroom library.
If you'd like a freebie sample. click on the image below. If you'd like a set of these books then head over to my Teacher's Notebook shop to get these and more.

FREEBIE!

These packets and more available at my Teachers Notebook Shop.

Perfect Companions

I recently posted my Mini ABC Books and am now adding my Mini Number books to my Teachers Notebook Shop! These books are the perfect companion to the ABC Books.

This packet contains 20 mini booklets. One for each number 1-20.

The booklets can be used as part of small group work or placed in a Center for Independent activities. 

Each book has a variety of ways to support students as they learn the numerals. Each book explores the numeral, the number word, a traceable numeral, the number represented in pictures that can be colored, a space for the child to represent the number with his/her own drawing along with a sentence to match their drawing, tally marks to represent the number, and boxes to represent the number in 1’s and 10’s. 

These books are the perfect size for little hands.

The books will fit into bag books to take home, or in your classroom pocket chart or book baskets.

 These books are easy to assemble...just two simple folds. Model folding a few times and students will soon be able to assemble books on their own.

 

Made in the Shade (Freebie)

I'm back with another Blog Birthday Freebie! I can't seem to control myself! I really enjoy sharing via my blog, so I hope you don't mind that I've gone a bit overboard with the freebies this week! ;-)
This freebie is for teachers looking for a cool way for students to practice using the 10's frame to show work with place value, 10-20. (AKA Common Core Standard K.NBT.1.... Numbers and Operations in Base 10).
Click on the image to head over to my Teachers Notebook Shop to pick up this really COOL freebie! Also check my recent posts for additional freebies.

Freebie images from: Digi Web Studio

Another Birthday Blog Freebie

In case you didn't hear....my blog is having a birthday soon. I am so excited that  I am sharing a few freebies with my followers (before the actual "birthday" ;-)
....Since I am teaching my Sea Life unit at this time...these freebies are HOT OFF THE PRESS.... ;-)
This one is a DEEP SEA DIVING: Counting Backwards set. My kiddos are good at counting forward, but when we count backward from 20, there's a soft murmur (and no eye contact) from some kiddos until we get to 10! Those teen numbers are just so hard to master sometimes! Maybe you find there are a few murmurs in your class too! ;-)
Hope you enjoy the freebies ( click here see previous post) and check out my Teachers Notebook Shop for other freebies and resources.  Click on the image below to get your copy...

images from scrappin' doodles

My blog is having a birthday!

This week is the 1 year mark for my teaching blog! (My classroom blog will be 5 years old this summer!) I am terrible when it comes to holding back my love for celebrations...I can never wait until the actual day and love to start the gift giving early. ;-)
True to that statement I am offering a FREEBIE  now as a Blog Birthday Gift to you. I am thrilled to have met so many talented and wonderful teachers through my blog and appreciate that you take time to visit and see what's happening "In The Teachers' Lounge".
In my classroom we are beginning our SEA LIFE unit and my freebie goes along with the unit. It's called FISH STICKS! (not the edible kind though....boy, they were a favorite of mine as a kid...but I digress...LOL!) Anyway, the freebie helps students as they learn to make tally marks to match numbers. Please visit my Teachers Notebook Shop to get a copy. I hope your students will enjoy playing with the Fish Sticks! ;-)

(Look for more freebies later this week)
 

Oceans of Fun!

I am so excited to begin teaching my Sea Life unit when we return from Spring Break! It's one of my favorite units and one my students remember for years to come. Over the break I created my Oceans of Fun packet to breathe some new life (and Common Core Standards) into the unit. This packet is spilling over with all sorts of fun things to do with young learners. First of all, there are 10 little books for Emergent Readers. Three of the books are my EZ-2 Assemble books which are designed to be copied, folded, stapled and distributed with a minimum of time and paper! The other books in the packet are designed to support students with simple text and pictures that are fun and inviting to young readers. The Five Little Mermaids book(s) use rhyming and subtraction/counting backwards to keep readers interested. The Word Work in the packet include word graphs that show students the theme related words in a variety of fonts, ABC order (1st letter only), labeling, cut-apart sentences, pocket chart words, counting syllables and more.
The math portion of the packet include activities to support students as they learn to skip count by 2's and 5's , skip counting cards for the pocket chart,  tallies, working with less than/greater than/and equal using the proper symbols, decomposing numbers, ordering objects by size, and more. There are even a few fun playdough mats included.  Writing activities include arranging words to make complete sentences, writing to share facts about animals, whole and small group writing to make books, and more.
Please visit my Teachers Notebook Shop to grab a copy for your students!

On The Farm

If you're an Early Childhood Educator, you know that nearly every Spring you or someone you know is teaching a unit about the Farm! This packet has a variety of materials for young learners including....

• 4 Emergent Readers topics

• Sight Word activities (including sight words for the farm as well as basic sight words)

• Math Activities that help students count by 2's and 5's

• Measuring in Non-Standard Units

• Counting

• Adding

• Ordering items by size

• Pocket Chart words for both the Big Pocket Chart and table top sizes

• Letter Work

• Word Work including several Write The Walls sheets

• Farm themed Stationary (lined and unlined)

• Labeling

What a fun way to support your young learners and they explore learning about the Farm! Click on the image below to visit my Teachers Notebook shop to learn more....

Graphics from KPM Doodles and Whimsy Doodles

ABC Highlight Games for Spring & Summer

 It's time to pack away my winter things and I am excited to share my Spring and Summer versions of my ABC Highlight Games. My students LOVE playing this game as part of their independent center work. This set includes themes for Easter, Earth Day, Gardening, Birds, Outside Play, the Beach and more!
Take a peek this set at my Teachers Notebook shop:

Printable Spring Readers

My kindergartners are really enjoying the printable readers we use in class. I have begun creating sets for use with emergent readers. The books in my SPRING READER set have a "Spring Theme" and allow practice with basic sight words. There are 5 books in the set. The titles are:
" Little Bowed Sheep","What Is Green?" (color words)
Where Is The Bunny?" , "Under The Rainbow". (positional words),
 "Jellies In The Jar",(counting, adding,& color words)
I love printable books. I love giving kids books they can read and keep at home to practice. But, I am not a big fan of rearranging the pages in order to assemble the books and I don't always have a parent on hand to help. With that, I have designed my EZ-2 Assemble books to be taken to the copy machine and printed 1-sided to 2-sided, folded and stapled. No need to re-shuffle pages in order to make the books.
Click over to my Teachers Notebook Shop to get a set of EZ-2 Assemble Spring Readers for your young readers!

Images from KPM Doodles & LLS graphics

Community Helpers Packet

Teaching young learners about Community Helpers is a staple among Early Childhood Educators. My Community Helpers packet is designed to help make the unit easy for the teacher and challenging and fun for students.
I am pleased to include 11 books that students can color/make and take home for sharing and reading. Five of them are my "EZ-2 Assemble Books" which are formatted and designed so you can copy them back-to-back, fold, staple and distribute to students. There is no need to re-arrange or shuffle the pages to assemble them for student use. This saves both time and paper!
There are activities to strengthen word work, sentence building, and writing skills. Math activities include; pattern work, skip counting, more/less (using the </> signs), place value and more.
Stop in my Teachers Notebook Shop to learn more:

graphics from KPM Doodles

Winter Freebie to Warm You

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted!!
I guess I hit the ground running this new year and haven't had time to stop to post. Progress Reports are done and I am in the mood to celebrate! You can join in with me and download my Winter Write the Walls! It's free for you and fun for kids! Click on the image to head over to my Teachers Notebook Shop to find this and other resources for Kindergarten & First!

Bookmaking Fun

I was bopping around on various blogs today and saw Mrs. Tabb's post over at First Grade Awesomeness. She was sharing photos of her summer send off and it triggered a memory of a site I found a while back. It's Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord's bookmaking site. She has wonderful, easy to follow steps for making blank books with/for children. Check out her printable & video on using or rather re-using paper to make a "HotDog" type booklet:

What a great summer project..making blank books for my Kindergarten students. Or save the printable for parent volunteers for next school year!
Here's a link to her printable for a STEP BOOK

Video Tutorial for Step Book

She also has steps to make an Accordion Book

Video Tutorial for Accordion Book

My First Freebie

 I have really been inspired by the outstanding work I have seen from teachers at Teaching Blog Addict. I am a little nervous about sharing, but here I go...
 I am attempting my very first FREEBIE! This is a lesson for my Kindergartners to help with Non-Standard Measurement. It has a Sea Life/ Beach theme.I printed the pictures on card stock and laminated them.  Students can use a variety of small items  beans, Uni-Fix Cubes, small erasers, bottle caps, etc. as measuring tools. They just lay the measuring tool on the bold black line on each picture and record their findings on the recording sheet.
This is perfect for my Math Center!
If you are teaching in the classroom, or Home School, your Kids can have fun measuring.
I hope you like this lesson and find it useful.