Teachers Pay Teachers Cyber Monday Sale

Check it out!!!  Cyber Monday is right around the corner.  I've got all of my products 20% off and TPT is offering an additional discount.  Get your shopping fix if you didn't get enough today!

I promise to be back soon and post some Christmas goodies.  I've really enjoyed spending time with my family and am not quite ready to get back in the school groove.  Enjoy the rest of your holiday. 

I've been Boo-ed!

I've been Boo-ed!!!

                                             

I've been Boo-ed by Heather @ The Busy Bee Hive!
Thanks Heather!!

               
                       So here are the rules:



Here are just a few of my favorite Halloween books!

I adore these two books by Margie Palatini!

 

 

 

Kids love them!!  I really love getting into the part by reading the witch's voice!

 

 

 

 

 

A few of my favorite Halloween activities are:

 

 

 

 

This file contains several options for students to read different words.

 

 

Click here to go to my TPT store for this game.

 

 

The next one is a Pumpkin Roll and Read.  There are two different options for differentiation.

 

 

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Digraphs-Roll-and-Read

 

 

 

I created a Halloween edition of Roll, Read and Color.  There are 6 different options with many phonics patterns for differentiation.

 

 

 

Click here to check it out.

 

 Finally, a freebie!!  This is a version of the Pumpkin Roll and Read but the words are CVC words.

 

Freebie

 

Now here are my nominations:

 

1.  Heather's Heart

2.  A Cupcake for the Teacher

3.  The Teacher's Cauldron

4.  What Happens in First

5.  Mrs. Whitfield's Window

 

 



Reading Game Winners

Congratulations to Heather Byers, Rhonda Mathis, and Jennifer Cunningham!!  They are the winners of my Wahoo games and Halloween Roll, Read and Color games.  I will be emailing you shortly!  Thanks for participating.

Wahoo Games Giveaway

Hey there!!  I'm trying out something new.  I really love playing games with my kiddos and love sharing!  I've decided to try out Rafflecopter and have a giveaway!  There are several ways to enter:  answer a question about Halloween, Post a comment on my blog, become a follower, and share my giveaway on your own blog.

I'm giving away a bundle of my Wahoo games (includes short a, mixed CVC, long vowels, bossy r, blends and digraphs).  I'm also including a set of Halloween Roll, Read and Color boards (includes CVC, blends, bossy r, and digraphs).

Click below to enter! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, thanks for visiting my blog!! 

Jammie 

Digraphs freebies

I am so excited that it's Friday!  I'll be spending the weekend with several of my besties at Women of Faith!  Looking forward to being inspired.  Most of my little ones are rocking beginning and ending blends.  We will be focusing on reading blend words fluently and mastering the digraphs sh and th.  I made a few more goodies to help make reading words fun!  I started by introducing my kiddos to the Secret Story of sh and th.  If you haven't checked out the Secret Stories you really should.  The secrets are engaging and they really help strugglers remember all the sounds they must master to be successful readers.

Then we read words on pumpkins and sorted them by the sh and th sound.  After the fact, I realized I should have also had them sort the sh/th sound by beginning of the word or ending.  This could have stepped up the lesson and required them to think a little more.  I've attached the words I used.

Pumpkin Digraph cards

Next, I've made a Connect Four game to practice reading words with sh and th.  Hope you enjoy!  If you download, please leave me comments.  I love reading them! Feel free to share my blog!  I LOVE to see when I get new followers.

Connect Four Digraph game

Happy Friday!

Digraphs

I don't know about you but I am loving this fall weather!!  I'm so excited it's October and Halloween is right around the corner.  I'm not really into dressing up but I LOVE dressing up my own kids and taking them trick or treating!  And I love going to the pumpkin patch.  Next week our first graders will be working on reading words with digraphs sh and th.  So many of them still read /t/ /h/.  I was browsing on Pinterest and got an idea to create a pumpkin roll and read using words with sh and th.  There are two versions:  easy and hard.  The hard one has directions that are a little more complicated.  Check out the easy version!

If you'd like a copy of this game you can find it in my TPT store.  Just click on the link below.

Pumpkin Digraph Roll and Read game

Happy Trails!

Blends, Blends, Blends

Hey there!  I'm having so much fun working with my kiddos as a Reading Interventionist!  It's like I'm playing all day!  We get to work together so closely and it's so great to see the light bulb go off when they suddenly get something.  On the other hand, it's easy for me to see when they don't get something and focus on it a little longer.  Our first grade classes have been working on beginning and ending blends for the last several weeks.  Today, my groups did an activity that I saw from Heather's Heart blog and it was fantastic!!  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Heather's blog!!  She really has some great ideas!!  I made some picture/word cards with beginning blends and ending blends.  Some words had both.  First, I modeled for the students how to look at a word and identify the blend.  We used laminated word cards and dry erase markers.  The students colored the blend and had to tell me if it was a beginning blend, ending blend or if the word had both.  Then we took our word cards and sorted them in a venn diagram with hula hoops.  They really had to take a close look at the words. 

Again I'm sorry about the sideways picture.  ONE of these days I'm going to get that figured out!  Ha!

I'm uploading the picture/word cards if you'd like to do this activity in your class.

Blend pictures for venn sort

I LOVE making things and sharing!  If you download, please leave me a comment and share my blog with your friends!  I'd love some more followers.  I feel like I get so many freebies in cyberspace and I just want to share the things I create with others.  

Games Galore

I'm so excited about this post!  My mind has been racing lately trying to come up with engaging activities for my littles to do when they come to my class.  Where do I turn to?  Pinterest of course!  I found this super easy activity from Kindergarten and Mooneyisms called SLAP.  It's pretty simple and so easy to prepare but my kids LOVE it!  They beg to play it every day!  Gotta love it!  Since our firsties are working on beginning and ending blends right now I made some cards to play SLAP.  Here's how to play:  Lay out cards.  Teacher calls out a word and the first student to slap the word keeps the card.  The student who has the most cards at the end is the winner.

Feel free to download them and try it out on your kiddos. 

Slap beginning blends

Slap ending blends
On to the next game......last night I was digging out some puzzles to do with my 2 year old and I came across some old games my daughter used to play.  She doesn't play some of them much anymore so I talked to her about letting some go.  One of them was the old Cootie game.  But then I started thinking about how I could turn that game into a Reading game so I could repurpose it and use it at school.  I decided to use the Slap cards and tried it out with a few of my groups today.  They loved it!  And not ONE of them had ever played the Cootie game before.  I realize it's pretty old school and most kids today are more into technology than board games.  But this one is only $5.00!!!  Gotta love that!!  Check out some of our fun.

Sorry about the last picture being sideways.  It's not sideways on my computer but I haven't figured out why it gets turned and how to fix it.  If you read this and know, please send me a comment so I can change it. 

Last game for this post is a game called Roll, Read and Color.  I'm not sure where I found the original game so please let me know if you know where it came from so I can give proper credit.  The original version I downloaded was absolutely adorable!  But I wanted to change the words so that it fit what my kiddos were working on.  So here's a copy that focuses on ending blends.  Feel free to download if you'd like to play in your classroom.  Please share some love....I love reading your comments!

Roll, Read and Color ending blends


Happy Friday!!!

NOTE:  While playing the Roll, Read and Color game I noticed a few mistakes.  If you've already downloaded, please redownload.  I've fixed them.  Thanks for being so understanding!

Freedom Walk

I just wanted to share a quick photo of my team.....well, they aren't exactly my team anymore since I'm now a Reading Interventionist but I still think of them that way.  This past Saturday the small town I work in hosted their Freedom Walk to honor and celebrate the many people who have served our country and provided us the many freedoms we enjoy.  The day began with a Walk and continued with baseball games, food, shopping and lots of fun.  My school had many staff that participated in the walk.  Many citizens also turned out to show their support.  I just want to give a shout out and thank anyone reading this for the sacrifices you have given for our freedom....I know that extends to family members as well!

Monday Made It

I am so excited to be able to link up with Monday Made It today! Yesterday I finally finished these cuties inspired by Pinterest of course. Two will be gifts for teachers and the other is mine! I've got a few more projects in the works for today. Can't wait to get started!

I  absolutely LOVED how these turned out.....good thing because I'm such a perfectionist.  Mrs. Cunningham actually got two because I didn't LOVE how the first one turned out.  Ha!

Back to School Sale

Hey everybody!! It's that time of year! TPT is having their Back to School sale. I am offering 20% off and TPT is adding another 10%!! It's time to shop till you drop!!

Flipping for Pancakes

So I'm enjoying a little quiet time while my littlest takes his nap.  I had planned to be lazy and catch up on some of my TIVO list but instead I sat down to quickly check out some things on Pinterest.  Boy did I get hooked!!  I love to create stuff and when I saw this fantastic idea for a pancake word game I couldn't help myself.  Check out the original post at http://www.primaryteachers.org/literacy_centers.htm.  I just used this idea and made it a little more cutesy.  My kiddos are going to have a great time practicing their words!  I will work on making more short vowel word lists soon but now I really AM going to enjoy the rest of quiet nap time because those days are quickly numbered. 

Check out my freebie!  If you download, please leave me a sweet comment and follow my blog!  Thanks!

Click here to download.

Freebie Sight Word Game

Okay....this one took me a while with my 2 year old hanging on me constantly!  It's not an original game....the idea came from the Florida Center for Reading Research.  (http://www.fcrr.org/)  If you've never been to their sight you should take the time and check it out.  Amazing!!  The idea was great but I didn't like the layout so I recreated the game.  I started with preprimer sight words since I'm going to be working with struggling readers.  But I will be working on more word lists.  Hope you like the freebie!!

Click here to download the Baseball Preprimer Sight Word Game

Please leave me a comment if you download this freebie!  I'd love to have more followers!!

Jammie

Game Time

I know it's summer and I'm having so much fun hanging with my kids but I also enjoy having the time to get my creative juices flowing!  So when I can fit in some computer time (aka nap time for Trent) I keep working on some fun games for my new kiddos this year.  The best part is that I get to try them all out on my 6 year old so we get some quality time in too!

I've created another Wahoo game.  This time I'm focusing in on the specific short vowel words.  Since I'm going to be the Reading Interventionist my little ones are going to need far more practice.  In addition, one of my "former" teammates pointed out how great these games will be for Literacy Centers because all the kids can play the same game but skill level can be differentiated! 

Please go to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to check out the many free games I've posted.

I also made a new game called Pirate Booty to reinforce initial phoneme deletion.  We give our students the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) and it's a skill that is difficult for many but must be mastered.  So I've tried to come up with some different ways to practice this skill.  BUT I'm just learning all about copyright stuff and discovered I can use a graphic and charge for my product but cannot give it away for free unless I buy a license.  So eventually I will do that but right now times are tight so unfortunately I can't give it away for free.  :( 

I really like this cute pirate!  Our district is the pirates so I think our kiddos will love it.  If you'd still like the game but without the pirate you can email me and I can send you the game without the cute graphic!

Until next time!!!

Sweet Summertime

So I realize it's been awhile since I last posted.  I got through the end of school craziness which involved a lot of change.  I am leaving my fabulous first grade team and becoming the campus Reading Interventionist.  I'm super excited but also a little sad about leaving my team.  I seriously work with the greatest team EVER!!  But I'm only a few doors away and will be working closely with them to help the little firsties get where they need to be.  So I had to pack up my classroom and move it all to another room on top of the regular end of year crazy.  But whew!!!  It's over.

As of now, I've been home for a few weeks enjoying my own kids and pinning like crazy.  I actually have managed to work in a few organizational projects even though my almost 2 year old has kept me on my toes.  He is quite the handful and I've joked with my "team" that I might be the only one ready to head back too work!  :)  Not really. 

Last week I got inspired by a favorite family game.  My husband and I are crazy about the game of Wahoo.  It's an OLD board game that I've been told is similar to Sorry.  Before kids we played it almost every night.  Now it's only taken out for some occasional fun but as our kids get older it will be fun to share with them.  I created a sight word game modeled after the game of Wahoo.  I played with my 6 year old daughter and we had a really fun time!  I think my firsties will love playing and learning along the way.  So far I've only made a version with Pre-primer words because let's face it, that's where my kids this next year will need to start.  I'm attaching this as a FREEBIE to payback the many teachers who've so generously shared their work with me.  I will be working other sight word lists soon.  Please consider following my blog and leaving me some love if you download the document.

Wahoo Pre-primer sight word game

End of the year crazy!!

Things have been so crazy lately!  You know how it gets at the end of the year.  Everyone has summer fever and there is still so much to do! We've been busy reviewing all math concepts taught this year and our math review will culminate in a Math Carnival....more to come on that.  One of our teachers had an adorable idea!  We used spaghetti to make the hands on the clocks to review telling time to the hour and half hour.  Here are a few pictures.

We also had fun with creating portraits of our mothers.  I pulled a few ideas from Pinterest and created our own project.  The students made portraits of their mothers and wrote about them as well.  Talk about adorable!!  As a mother myself, I LOVED hearing what they had to say.  Of course, we had to talk about the difference between what THEY loved and what their mother loved.  So precious!

Sorry about the pictures.  They are turned correctly when I load them in but turn when put into our blog.  I can't figure out how to rotate them again.  The adorable writing came from www.missnelsonsgotthecamera.blogspot.com. 

This morning we had our first Math Carnival.  Pictures and details will be coming soon!

Lytle ISD

I'm so proud to work for such a fabulous school district!  Lytle ISD just recently received the HEB Excellence in Education Award for small school district.  It's a great day to be a Pirate!

More how to writing

So last week I had a tiny little mouse as a houseguest.  At first I was totally freaked out and set glue traps everywhere!  But one evening the little fellow just walked out on the floor and sat there.  He was so darn cute I just had to take his picture to show my little girl.  I shared the picture with my class and they wrote about how to get rid of my mouse.  They had so much fun and had hilarious ideas!  I love those moments when you haven't exactly planned the lesson but something pops up that is meaningful and engaging.  We've still been working on prefixes and created adorable prefix flowers.  I can't take credit for the idea....one of the teachers on my grade level saw it on Pinterest and created her own.  I love the sharing from my fabulous team!!!  Forgive me....I'm trying to figure out the formatting part of blogging.  For some reason, I add the pictures last but they go in first every time.  :)

Hodge Podge

Today's post is a mixture of many things that have been going on in our class lately.  We've been working on how to writing.  We started by writing how to make koolaid.  I got this idea from a blog.  So much fun!!  The kids loved it!  Here are some pictures.


We've also been working on prefixes and letter writing.  We made a foldable from Lesson Plan Diva's blog.  The kids have done a fabulous job identifying prefixes and root words.  Next we read Click, Clack Moo Cows that Type and the students chose an animal to be and wrote Farmer Brown a letter.  Love their imagination!!!  These wonderful kiddos have blossomed since the beginning of the year!

Another Readers Theatre video

Readers Theatre

Our class has been working hard to build fluency before our students head off to 2nd grade.  They just love doing Readers Theatre and practicing expression!  Take a look at this group.  :)

Field Trip to the Zoo

Last Thursday our class went to the San Antonio Zoo for a field trip.  The kids were so excited about going! Each first grade class had their own color tshirt and our class was red.  I'm sure I'm a little biased but I must say Lytle Primary had some good looking students.  My favorite exhibit was the monkeys.  I always enjoy watching them.  I'd like to give a big shout out to all the parents who attended.  Your help always makes things go so much smoother.  I've added a few pictures so you can check out the fun.

First Time Blogger

So I've been toying around with starting my own blog for a few months now.  I'm a true blog stalker and a Pinterest junkie!  I taught for 11 years and left to stay at home and raise my children but have returned after 5 years and LOVE how technology has changed the teaching profession.  There are so many wonderful teachers out there with fabulous ideas!  It's going to take me a while to get the hang of this but I look forward to the challenge of embracing technology and involving my students as well.

Our district is involved with the TAP program and as a grade level we meet weekly with our Master teacher to learn new ideas and share the fabulous things already going on in our classrooms.  We've really been working hard at building fluency in our students before they head off to 2nd grade.  This last month we started an incentive in our class called Awesome Reader.  I'm not really sure where this came from but the idea is that each day a new student reads a story to the class.  For some students they choose the book and others ask for help.  We send a letter home to the parents with a calendar so that each child knows when it is their day to read.  This allows them time to practice their book.  We have had  in depth discussions about what fluency looks like and how they should practice reading.  We also had discussions about what an audience should look like.  The kids have been so excited!!  Here are a few pictures of some students reading their stories.

Until next time......