Giveaway! Complete Common Core K Math Curriculm

We know school is about to be back in swing before we even know it...at least it is here in GA.  We go back in 3 weeks!  3 weeks people!  I don't even know how that happened, but dang it if it didn't!

So we are actually starting to think about school again, about our classrooms, ordering supplies, and just wrapping our head around the upcoming year.

We know some of you are in the same boat (and we are totally jealous of you guys heading back in September!!!) and might be looking for some new ideas and resources for your room.  We are planning on hosting a couple of Back to School Giveaways over the next few weeks...up for grabs sneak peek...

 ...plus more!

And we'll begin with this one!

It's everything you need to introduce, teach, review, and assess EVERY. SINGLE. Kindergarten. COMMON. CORE. STANDARD! 
 Can I get an AMEN! ;)

So if you are new to the CC standards, or just need some new resources to help you teach the standards in a meaningful, engaging, and fun way...then this might be perfect for you.

We plan on giving away this bundle to 1 lucky winner!

The bundle value is $57.00!!!

The giveaway runs through Monday the 14th at midnight!  Earn 2 entries each for following our blog, TpT store, and Pinterest board and 2 entries for leaving a blog comment.  Earn 5 entries for following us on our NEW Instagram profile.  You can also earn 5 entries simply by adding a one line blurb about the giveaway onto any of your blog posts this week! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Language POP! Comment to Win!

FINALLY!  We just posted our newest pack in the

 "POP! series"...Language POP! 

You get 92 fun and active task cards for daily common core kindergarten language practice and review!   These cards are meant to be used in WHOLE GROUP with the teacher leading the fun!

There are 8 FREE task cards included in the preview download on TPT! 

50% off in our store TODAY only!
 (Maybe early morning too!)

Multiple Ways to Use the LANGUAGE POP! Task Cards!

FUN and ACTIVE Brain Breaks - Although kiddos will still be working on language concepts, these task cards have them engaged, up and moving, and are tons of fun! They give them a little break from seat work or more focused tasks.

Language Journal Prompts - Read a card aloud to the students and have them respond in their journals using words and pictures. 

Time Fillers for Daily Language Review - Use a card when you have a few spare minutes to fill throughout the day.

EVERY SINGLE kindergarten language standard is included in this pack!

Each standard has multiple task cards included with most standards having 4 or more task cards.

So leave us a comment on how you might use these in your room. 

 We'll choose a winner to get the pack for FREE in a day or 2!

Author Study Projects

We just wrapped up one of our VERY favorite units of study....our Author Studies Bonanza!  We LOVE this unit for a million reasons.  We get to pick great books by some of our favorite authors, our kiddos will sit completely still and silent for ANY story time we do, they get to be extremely creative and crafty when creating their culminating learning celebration projects, and the parents LOVE to see the plays and puppet shows!

So here's how it works in our rooms.  We choose 2 or 3 authors to study.  Sometimes we pick ones we love, or we may pick ones that we can tell have quickly become the kiddos' favorite.  This year we chose Robert Munsch and Mo Willems.  I personally am in LOVE with both of these authors and the books crack me up!

We read TONS of books both out loud and on Tumblebooks.  We complete all kinds of great literacy activities like story maps, Venn diagrams, character trait studies, text to self activity sheets, and more.  We mix it up to keep the kiddos interested.

Then after several weeks of studying these books, we do a Mini-Project on The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch.  The kiddos work in groups of 3 and they choose to either present the story in a Puppet Show or Play.  We spend some time completing a story map for the book and then they have 2 days to create their puppets or costumes.  We let them go crazy in the art center and use WHATEVER materials they want.  The room looks like something blew up in there for a day or two...but it's all in the name of learning!

We then present our "trial run"plays and puppet shows to each other.  Once they get how this whole thing works, we move on to the REAL projects!  Again they may work in groups to perform one of the author study books as either a PUPPET SHOW or a PLAY.  They work with this group over the course of 1 week to complete the story map, design costumes/puppets, practice the performance, and tie up any loose ends.

Then we have the families in and CELEBRATE!

And the best part is, while we are having so stinkin' much fun working on all of these projects...we have covered a TON of language arts standards and had FUN doing it!!!  You can't beat that people...you can't beat that!!!

Compose/Decompose Numbers and Place Value

Hi!! We are back!!Wow! We have been missing for a while!!! Crazy times are just beginning!! We can't believe how fast the year is flying!!

Assessment time again for us!! How do you assess Composing/Decomposing Numbers and Understanding Place Value??? Our Kiddos have been playing an awesome game from Envision Math Centers! They are having a blast. You could play it even if you don't have Envision Math.

What do you need??
Each group needs
A 100 chart
2 sets of Number tiles/cards 1-9 in a baggy
Base 10 blocks

How do you play??
Students take turns pulling out 2 number tiles (students can put either tile first unless it is a 0) For example, if a child pulls a "4" and a "1" out of the bag then he/she can work on the number 41 or 14.
Student places the numbers above the 100 chart
Student points to the number on the number chart
Student builds (compose/decompose) that number with the base 10 blocks (using units of 10s and 1s)
Students play until all tiles are gone from the bag.

While we are continuously observing students playing this game and working on place value in other ways, we still love having some documentation as proof that the kiddos really did or did not meet this standard.

So we made these. What do you think?? Grab them if you want.

Interactive Sight Word Flap Book, Reader, and More! Part 1

We have just finished posting a FREEBIE that we hope you will love as much as we do!

This first pack is for the sight word COME!  Our littles are having SUCH a hard time remembering this word for some reason.  And I swear, this word is in EVERY stinkin' book that we use to test them on fluency and comprehension.  And if they don't know it....boom!!!  It doesn't matter how well they do on everything else...this one word kills them.

So we were really thinking of ways we can spend more time on a sight word to really help it STICK.  But you know our littles...it's got to keep their attention, be engaging, and FUN!

So we came up with 3 activities that really give the kiddos time to explore the new word and to manipulative it in a TON of ways.  We think these activities are fun and they keep the kiddos focused.

Here's the first activity we included... Sight Word Flap Books

Click either image to grab the pack for FREE in our TpT store!

Each flap book is copied front to back.  Students cut along the dashed lines and they are able to lift the flaps for some sight word FUN!  You can see by the examples exactly what the kiddos will be doing.  Each flap book works on several standards such as handwriting, word identification, reading, tracking left to right, writing, and more.

We are thinking that we will create individual packs for each sight word.  Then if your kiddos are having a hard time with any particular word, you can get the pack that works on that word.

If these work well for folks, we will bundle ALL of the sets and sell the set at a BIG discount.

Please tell us what you think of this pack. Can you see it working for your kiddos?  Is there a standard/skill you would like to see included?  We would LOVE any feedback you can give us!

We hope you enjoy the freebie!  We'll post about the other 2 parts over the next couple of days!

Living in America! Hint, Hint- Leave a Comment!

I know it's about time we finished this unit!! We are not really good workers unless there is a time crunch for us! Well, maybe just a time crunch for me since Cristy started teaching this unit two weeks ago and has been patiently waiting for the finished product!!

Anyway if you need a cute Common Core aligned unit with lots of resources for Living in America check out our newest addition to our tpt store. In this unit we included graphic organizers, lift the flap books, informational writing papers, emergent non-fiction readers, a game, puzzles pieces, vocabulary cards and 3 flip books as culminating projects. Content in this unit covers American Symbols, Monuments, and Leaders!

Let us know what you think! Don't forget to leave us your email address. We will randomly pick one lucky winner and send you this pack!!

Have an awesome week!!

Emergent Readers - Individual Packs for Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving

Hey guys!  Just a quick post to let you know we separated our BIG Fallin' for Fall Emergent Readers Bundle into smaller packs.

We know you may only need 1 particular set to fit into your classroom plans.  Hope this makes it easier on your wallet and your planning!

Happy Columbus Day!  

Let's READ! Getting books into your kiddos' hands!

It's so important to get GOOD FIT books into your kiddos' hands!  We have a TON of great guided reading book sets at school that work really well for our CAFE strategy groups.  BUT...what about getting these books into our kiddos' homes??  NOT SO MUCH!

Our librarian loves us, but not THAT much!  We can't let the littles take these perfectly suited books home since they are library sets.  Our kiddos DO, of course, get to check out library books, but these are not always "Good Fit" books where they can apply all of their new strategies to help them read.

SO...we came up with some EMERGENT READERS that are PERFECT for getting books into our kiddos' hands that they can TAKE home and actually READ!!!  It can be so frustrating for our guys to know all these new strategies and then when they open their library book...it's just FRUSTRATION-VILLE because the strategies aren't working...not a GOOD FIT!

These readers use almost all of the PRIMER and PRE-PRIMDER Dolch words, making them perfect books for most of our readers at this point in the year.  We included an easier version and a more challenging version for 5 of the readers, since we do have some kiddos who are already in the 100 word club.  (Read more about our word clubs here!)

These readers are great for working in guided reading strategy groups

on standards such as tracking left to right/top to bottom,

reading sight words, blending unknown words, using picture clues,

reading for meaning, and much more!

Use the You Be the Author version to work on writing standards such as spacing, capitalization, punctuation, blending, sentences, and more!

So we hope these might be helpful to you too!  We love watching our kiddos discover the JOY of reading and finding out just how powerful words can be!

Please visit our TpT store and download the preview of this pack.  We included the emergent reader, LEAVES (all 4 versions), for FREE as a thanks for your awesome support of our blog and store. 

Download the Preview at our TpT store to grab all 4 versions free!

And as always, we will give away this pack to one winner chosen randomly from ALL the comments left below!

 Now...off to the front porch to drink coffee with the hubs, pooch, kitty, and kiddos and enjoy this GORGEOUS fall day!

Fall Fever! Ready to JUMP in!

Wahoo!  I sooooo love FALL!  The weather is already turning. Nights are getting cooler.  Air is crisper! Football season is in FULL swing!  (Goooooo DAWGS...please spank some LSU tigers this weekend!!!) Fires are blazing in the pit outside!  Smores (well---to be honest---peeps in this case!  You know, the Easter blue chicks. Seriously! You would be surprised what I'll resort too when I need a smores fix!!!  Don't knock it until you are ridiculously desperate and can find NOTHING else until you try it!  That sugar caramelizes on the outside and it makes for an interestingly tasty treat!) are being roasted!  FALL--- it's just a beautiful thing!

So...in direct response to MY personal FALL FEVER...we created a pack with the same loving name!  It's 40 pages of goodies that you can use to bring the fall fever right into your classroom.  The pack is in the same spirit as our letter word work packs chocked full of literacy activities that are perfect for small group work, centers, stations, or in our case ---Daily 5 work work!

Click ANY picture to head to our TpT store to grab the pack!

Here's the whole kit and caboodle!

As always, please leave us a comment and let us know what you think.  Anything in particular you like, something we should add, your favorite thing about fall...

We'll choose 2 winners to snag this pack for FREE!

Hope you get the FALL FEVER bug soon---if it hasn't bitten you already! ;)

Sight Words made EASY! - and a FREEBIE!

Sight words!  They are a BIG deal---a really BIG deal---a HUGE we gotta learn these words to read kinda deal.

We jump right in and begin introducing sight words from the get go.  We usually start with SEE.  They can easily write a MILLION sentences if they know this word.  Most all of them know I and a so throw in SEE and what do ya' got???  "I see a ...(choose about 1/2 the words in the English language and you are good to go)"  Endless possibilities for writing!!!  Granted...it ain't the most creative writing, but once the kiddos see the POWER of words, they get hooked pretty fast!

So to make it really meaningful for the littles and FUN too, here's what it looks like in our room.

We use Orton-Gillingham Phonics.  If you don't use it...BEG, PLEAD, and otherwise promise to give your first born to your administrators if they will send someone to the OGP training!  It is the GREATEST thing E--VAH!  (It's basically a multi-sensory approach to phonics instruction!)

Not a paid advertisement...just love those people!...

Now onto what it looks like in our room!  We show them the new sight word printed on card stock.  We let them look at it, think it over, and ask if anyone thinks they have a guess.  Then we "tap it out".  Basically that means we hold out the arm we DO NOT write with and we use the other arm to "tap out the letters".  We say "s-e-e spells see".  We touch our shoulder for the first letter, our elbow bendy spot for the second letter, and our wrist for the last letter.  Then we sweep from shoulder to wrist when we say "spells see".  This is great for your auditory and kinesthetic learners.

Then we do cheer cards for each word.  There are a MILLION places to find cheer cards.  Here are a few we made up on our own.  Grab this FREEBIE at our TpT store!

We usually draw about 3 or 4 cards to practice the word.  So if we pulled Karate Chop, then we would all stand up, get into our best karate stance, and then chop as we say each letter.  When we say "spells see (or whatever sight word you are working on) we karate kick, then finish it off by yelling HY-AH!  We repeat each chant 3 times before we pick a new card.  THEY LOVE THESE STINKIN' CARDS!

Seriously...they BEG to do these!  These are great for auditory and kinesthetic learners too!

After that we practice thinking up some sentences using the new sight word.  I'll write the sentences on the dry erase board or Activboard.  I write any sight word in RED and all other words in BLACK!  This helps them quickly see the POWER in knowing their sight words!

For our last activity, we use these word sheets we created for Fry words 1-100 and 101-200.  First we have them back write the word on their neighbor.  Then they finger trace it on the paper.  Next we let them pick their colors and rainbow write the word.  (3 or 4 colors works perfectly).  Then they use a pencil to trace the words.  Next they will try it out on their own.  Then we circle the new sight word in the sentence together.  We let them try to read it on their own first, then we'll look for sight words together and blend other words until we have the sentence figured out.  We work on tracking left to write and counting the words in the sentence.  We used a mixture of punctuation marks throughout the pages so we could hit that standard too!  Next they will illustrate the sentence.  And finally, they will use their new sight word to write their own sentence.

Fry Word 1-100 Pack on TpT!           Fry Word 101-200 Pack on TpT!

These sheets are the BOMB DIGGITY, because we teach like 100 standards all in one big sha-bang!  OK so maybe not a hundred, but A BUNCH!

They cover a TON of Common Core ELA standards like sight words, tracking left to right, writing simple sentences, handwriting, blending and using sight words to read, punctuation and capitalization, illustrations, spacing...you name it!

Our kiddos are learning their words super fast.  And no they are not ALL jumping on the sight word bandwagon just yet.  It will take time for some of them, but many of them have hit the ground running and they are on FIRE for sight words!

Hope these cheer cards can help you get your babies excited about sight words!  Let us know what great things YOU do to help your littles learn these words!

Disclaimer---Please DO NOT beat us after you have tried this with your kiddos for the first time!  You will WANT to beat us, you may want to pull our hair, or kick us in the shins, but please resist!  The first couple of sheets you do with them will be SLAP TORTURE!  To make it a bit easier, we do the first several together.  I show it on the Activboard and annotate over it and we complete the sheet together.   But then all the sudden by the 4th sheet or so, the clouds part, the sun shines, birds sing...and they will GET IT!  Then it's smmmmooootth sailing from there!  You will LOVE us again and you will feel bad if you kicked us!  :)

Learning Celebrations- they make a difference!!!

Hi Friends! When I first moved back to Newnan 6 years ago and started teaching at Arbor Springs, Cristy taught me about the most awesome culminating activity for a unit of study. It is called the Learning Celebration! Thank you so much Cristy for teaching me how to get parents and kids more invested in our classroom and even more excited about learning!

Probably everyone already knows about a Learning Celebration, but in case you don't I'll explain :). Seriously how could I go 12 years, think I was a pretty good teacher and not know about a Learning Celebration??????

Well just in case you find yourself in the boat I was in several years ago and have not ever had  a Celebration, this is a MUST DO activity!  All you do is spend several weeks on a topic/unit like Living/Non-Living things, Author Study, Friendship, Community, Reading/ Writing Strategies, etc... Really it could be about anything.

Then you have your kiddos complete an activity like writing about the topic and then illustrating, creating a PowerPoint, using craft materials to make something and then write about it, etc.... This also can be anything.

So our first Learning Celebration was a huge success!! We spent the first several weeks learning that good readers can read books 3 ways; read the words, read the pictures and retell. We have also been learning that good writers' borrow ideas from books and that good citizens need rules to keep everyone safe and learning.

So, using the book No, David! by David Shannon, our kiddos had to brainstorm and discuss with a friend all the things they might do at their house to make their grown-ups yell, NO!  You should have heard some of these friends!! They are hilarious!! Check what some of our friends had to say!!

Well, for the celebration, all you have to do is announce the Learning Celebration in your newsletter or make a cute invitation inviting parents into your classroom. Don't forget to invite your administration! The parents love to see the support and the admin loves this type of parent involvement.

Cristy and I schedule our Learning Celebration at the beginning of the day so parents can just maybe go in a little for late to work.  The turn out for both of our classes was AWESOME!! Only 4 or  5 families from each class were missing.

So after you invite the parents, either take digital pictures of your kiddos work or scan their work, then put their pictures into a PowerPoint. If you don't have a projector and activeboard, then the kiddos could just make their pictures on large construction paper to hang or on chart paper.

When the grown-ups come in, we give a brief welcome and intro explaining what was taught and the project,  the kids share their work, then we can discuss any important things that we want parents to know   (like the new report card or incremental grading).

 Anyway after discussing our important info, we share a quick slide show with music of pictures we have been taking since school started! Everyone loves a Learning Celebration!!

Try one!! You'll love it!!
If you have had an awesome Learning Celebration tell us about it!!
If you have not had one, We challenge you to have your first!!! We have several a year, but start with one and you will be hooked! What topic will your first Learning Celebration cover???

Have  a great week!!

Complete CC K Math Curriculum GIVEAWAY!!!

We did it!  We finally bundled ALL 5 of our math units, plus our Math POP! Active Task Cards for Practice and Review into 1 HUGE bundle.

It's everything you need to introduce, teach, review, and assess EVERY. SINGLE. Kindergarten. COMMON. CORE. STANDARD! 
 Can I get an AMEN! ;)

So if you are new to the CC standards, or just need some new resources to help you teach the standards in a meaningful, engaging, and fun way...then this might be perfect for you.

We are going to attempt our 2nd Rafflecopter giveaway (practicing for the BIG GIVEAWAY coming soon from lots of our favorite bloggy buddies...be on the look out for more details in the next few weeks!) to give this bundle away to 1 winner!

The bundle value is $57.00!!!

The giveaway runs through Thursday the 8th at midnight!  Earn 2 entries each for following our blog, TpT store, and Pinterest board.  You can also earn 10 entries simply by adding a one line blurb about the giveaway onto any of your blog posts this week!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Common Core Resources GALORE! FREE E-Books are HERE!

Page and I have been working in our classrooms this week.  I still can't believe we actually start back NEXT week!!!!  I have some new decor changes and some revamping of some old storage.  I tell you... PINTEREST is going to put me in the poor house!!!  I'll be sure to post some before and after pictures next week.

Anyway once the dust (cleaning and otherwise!) settles, it'll be time to move on to the REAL business at hand...actually TEACHING the new littles!  We began implementing the Common Core Standards over the last 2 years.  We are feeling pretty comfortable with the standards so far, but dang it if they didn't take some getting use to.

We LOVE the new standards since they are so much more "thinking" based rather than just a bunch of facts to memorize.  We've seen a real shift from teaching kiddos "a mile wide and an inch deep" to TRULY digging deep so kiddos form BIG understandings about the world around them.  Then all the other "stuff" becomes easy to teach, because our kiddos have learned to THINK!!!!

This CAN make the common core standards seem a bit daunting in the beginning.

But...STRESS...NO....MORE!  Some awesome teachers (Tracee Orman, Deanna Jump, Rachelle Smith to name a few!) have masterminded and organized a great resource for Back to School!

The FREE Common Core E-Books are HERE!!!

You have 2 awesome books at your disposal!

Rachelle from What The Teacher Wants headed up the
Common Core K-2 Math E-Book!

Deanna organized the Common Core K-2 Language Arts E-Book!  

It should be posted ANY day now, so be on the look-out! 

Once you follow the links to the K-2 E-Books, you can then link up with any of the K-12 E-Books.  We know some of you teach lots of grade levels or have some friends in upper grades who you might want to pass on the E-Books too!

Every page in the E-Books are created by a different TpT seller.  Each page contains:

*Tips to help you implement the common core
*A FREE common core resource...games, puzzles, lessons, and more!
*Links to 1 or 2 priced products that support your implementation of the standards.

So...what are you waiting for?  Head over and snag these babies!  I already have!!!

Be sure and check out our Math E-Book page too!  You'll find our Measurement Games Freebie!

Plus links to our Top Selling Common Core Math Units (entire K CCSS math curriculum) and a FUN practice and review pack called Math POP!

Have fun and get ready to grab some awesome resources to make your back to school a breeze!!!

PS- Congrats to Maria who WON our Back To School BUNDLE!!!