Planting word families FREEBIE!

Good morning!
Y'all..... Ella and I had strep throat this week!! Ahhhh! It was miserable! I have not had strep since I was 20- I remember the last time fairly well because I ended up getting scarlet fever! Like, for real, y'all. Didn't think it still existed?! Well, I proved that wrong! lol!! It was my own fault because I wasn't resting like I should've and I ended up having to go to the hospital..so, needless to say, this time I was terrified of not resting enough. I finished 2 books laying in bed for 2 days. It would have been kind of glorious if I hadn't felt so crummy!

All is well now though and MAYBE I can actually get back to blogging. I missed 2 days of school this week, and you guys know what that feels like! I was playing catch-up and clean-the-disaster-that-the-sub-left-my-room-in when I got back.

I wanted to re-share with you a little freebie I made a few years ago that my kids love! We used it in stations this week! Hop on over HERE to snag the freebie up!

Have a great weekend!

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Stickers!

Hey y'all!
I'm just popping in really quick- I'm on Spring break and promised myself I wouldn't do *too* much school stuff! We've been running around all week doing fun stuff and spending lots of quality time together.

I wanted to share with you a little trick that I use occasionally when my students have spring fever and start slacking don't quite remember everything we've worked on in writing.

I use this with my kiddos when I first teach finger spaces waaaaaaaaay back in the fall but then they start getting it and we drop them. I let them put stickers *only if they leave good finger spaces* when we go back to check our writing journals. It's an easy-to-incorporate tip that saves me when writing!

I hope you can use this quick tip in your class- it's amazing what a 5 year old will do for a few stickers!

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Ten frames update!

Hey friends!

I updated my popular "Year of Ten Frames" packet this weekend! I'm super excited that I finally completed it because it was really driving me crazy! You know how you make something and love it and then go back and discover that it really wasn't that great?! Ha! Kind of like I'm so OVER the stripes that I've had on my bulletin boards the last few years.... you know the feeling, right?!

So... I updated a few of the fonts and made the numbers a little more "kindergarten friendly". I LOVE cute fonts... but I can't stand curlies on numbers! There are still 2 differentiated levels for each season- numbers 1-10 and then 11-20 so you can pick and choose which level works best for your kids. Click over HERE to view the packet!

I also added some math station activities to reinforce ten frames skills! I LOVE using these with my kids! These are cards that your students can use to place beads or other small manipulatives on the ten frames and build the numbers to 10. Then your students can find the matching number sentences.

And of course- I have a little freebie page (that is not from the packet...it was made just especially for you! Hopefully you can use it the next few weeks!) Click on the picture to snag it up!

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Oobleck!!

Hey y'all!
This week had been bananas! I *love* teaching Seuss all week, but Ella and Luke both ended up getting the stomach bug so I was out a day and I feel like I've been playing catch up all week!

One of my FAVE-orite things to do with Seuss week is read "Bartholomew and the Oobleck." I read it in 2 days because it's a little bit long to take in one sitting (for those sweet K babies at least!)  After we are halfway through, I have my kids write "I wonder" statements- great questioning technique! I always love having them think of "I wonders." It really gives a little snapshot into their mind.

After finishing the book, we make "real-life" Oobleck! They are always a *teensy* bit worried that they're not going to be able to pull their hands out after reading the story, lol!

To make oobleck:

1 1/2 C cornstarch 

1 C water

a few drops green food coloring, and mix! 

*I suggest mixing the water and food coloring FIRST so that you don't splash food coloring on you {I might be speaking from experience...the goop is hard to mix up haha!}*

 And let them explore!!

As we were exploring, I asked them guiding questions about the oobleck and their senses. Afterward, each table was assigned a sense to discuss. They brainstormed what it smelled like, what it looked like, sounded like, and felt like. We took these ideas and did an interactive writing poem with the ideas they came up with.

Snag this sensory poem up HERE. There are 2 versions that vary a little. 

Let me know if you snag them up!!

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READ week!

Happy birthday Dr. Seuss!
I was at Target today and picked up a few (or 7) Dr. Seuss books for one of my very best friends' soon-to-be baby! Being a teacher and all... I feel like it's my obligation to give books as baby shower gifts (along with other baby goodies!). Is anyone else with me?!

If you want to see my plans for the week, visit my post last year. I'm doing most of the same things plus some new extra activities! I made these cute little fluency fans for this week in particular. Head over to TpT to snag them up for free!

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