Sunday, March 30, 2014

My Class Just Can't Get Enough Mo Willems

Can yours?
I recently purchased these bath mitts at Walmart for about $4 each:


Are they perfect for Elephant and Piggie or what? !
Previously, I used some elephant and pig puppets, but I like these even better because the kids can "open and close" the mouths when the character speak.



I just love hearing my students realize that they can READ these books to themselves!

If you are not familiar with these fun easy readers, here are some affiliate links:


I have created a packet of printables to go along with both the Pigeon and the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems.  The set is $2 at my TeachersPay Teachers store and my Teachers Notebook Shop.

Hugs,

Eilis



Food Drive

The theme of our religion lessons this week was that Jesus wants us to help other people.  To make the concept a reality, kindergarten held a school-wide canned food drive to benefit Catholic Charities.

The children made signs that we hung on each classroom door. The kids even spoke into the microphone to promote our food drive during the morning announcements!


We collected the donations in a box outside our classroom door.

Blessings,

Eilis

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Addition and Subtraction on a Number Line

While picking up a few items at CVS the other day, I saw these funny little rabbits....
If you show a teacher a package of rabbits with big feet...
She'll probably think of a way to use them in her classroom....



Wouldn't they be perfect for the kids to hop back and forth on a number line when we are working on addition and subtraction?!


The result is now available at my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop:


The printable includes a "Hopper" to make with a binder clip (if you don't have these funny plastic rabbits).



There are two types of number lines to print for your students.  One is a traditional number line.  The other has squares to make it a little easier to count "hops."

There are also large word problem cards to read to your students:



And loads of worksheets for practice:




Click  HERE to see it at my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop.


Thanks for stopping by!

Eilis

Friday, March 21, 2014

Sight Word Game

I recently purchased a KiddoCube for sight word practice.  I made this free printable game to use with it.



I cut up the six sight words (there are three different sets in this printable), put them in the clear pockets, and then I show the words (directly from the pdf file)  on the Smart Board. Of course you could also write the words on a dry erase board for the students to see.  The students copy the words as many times as they wish to to fill in their own game boards.  Once everyone has filled up the fifteen blank spaces with sight words from the list, I start rolling the cube.  Students cross out one sight word each time it is rolled.  I like the fact that students practice both writing and reading the words.  I may try putting the sheets in write and wipe pockets to save paper.





I'd love to hear about any sight word games that are working in your classroom.

Eilis

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Working on Rhyming Words

Today we cooked green eggs and ham in honor of Dr. Seuss.  Yes, I know his birthday was March 2nd.  We had a surprise day off yesterday due to the severe cold temperature and ice.  So, today ended up being Fat Tuesday and Green Eggs and Ham day all rolled in one.  We used this free printable from A to Z Teacher Stuff for our before and after pocket chart graphs.  The kids also enjoyed a word search that I printed from Seussville.  We watched Green Eggs and Ham on dvd.  The classic cartoon is available at this Amazon affiliate link:



Before the green egg activities, the kids took an assessment from our reading series.  I thought my students had a good understanding of rhyming words, but the format of this assessment confused a few of them.  So, I have created a printable in a similar format for practice.  You can print it HERE.

My students are also really enjoying Dr. Jean's Rime Time at the moment.  How can you go wrong with any song to the tune of the Addams Family?!  I "typed out" the lyrics so we know the words to say along with the CD.  Here's the Amazon affiliate link to the CD:



The lyrics are available at http://www.drjean.org, but they are condensed.  If you want to have words for your students to follow along, you will need to expand them.

Hugs,
Eilis