Thursday, April 24, 2014

Springing Into Science Blog Hop! And a New Science Game!


Butterflies in my classroom and bunnies in my back yard . . . don't you think it's perfect timing for a SCIENCE blog hop?  We did!  Over 20 teacher-blogger friends and I teamed up to bring you some great science ideas, as well as freebies and giveaways!  "Spring" on through to see what discoveries await!  

I decided to create a new science game to offer as a FREEBIE! (Sorry that this game is no longer offered as a freebie.  Be sure to follow my blog so you don't miss the next one!)  My son is really getting into reading lately AND he is obsessed with space.  So, I simply HAD to make a reading/science game that he would enjoy.  We played it for the first time tonight.  He really thought it was cool!  



My purpose with this game was twofold:  

1) I have created a few science games for my class, but I would love to have more!  Combining reading practice and facts about the solar system seemed to be an easy and effective way to add more science content to my games.
2) I tried to include sight words and simple sentences whenever possible.  Yet, as you can see, this proved to be quite difficult.  There is no way around including certain vocabulary words and the names of the planets.  Our solution tonight was for my son to read as much as he could while I chimed in with the names of planets and helped sound out challenging words.  It seemed to work well (due to the high-interest subject matter).  I bet he'll be able to read more of the sentences on his own tomorrow!  

To take a look at this game download your FREE SPACE-THEMED BOARD GAME, just click on the picture below.  I hope your students enjoy this one as much as my son did!  (The file is large, so Google Docs will not show a preview.  Just click on "Download" to get the file.)



Now, click on the button below to SPRING on over to Krista's blog!  




Friday, April 18, 2014

Winners of the Hoppin' Good Giveaway Announced!


Here are the winners from the "Hoppin' Good (Weather) Giveaway":

$25 Teachers Pay Teachers gift card        Nicole N.
PreK/K Resources Pack                          Andrea L.

$25 Teachers Notebook gift card             Wendy M.
Kinder/1st Resources Pack                      Sandra J.

$25 Teachers Pay Teachers gift card        Allee E.
1st/2nd Resources Pack                          Kristi K.

$25 Teachers Notebook gift card             Jennifer E.
2nd/3rd  Resources Pack                         Thursday T.

Winners:  Please check the email you used to enter!  I am in the process of emailing the items to you! 
You can also visit my last post HERE to see the winners listed on each Rafflecopter widget.  The first entry that was picked (by Rafflecopter's system) received the gift card.  The second entry picked received the pack of resources.  
I want to extend a huge "Thank You" to the teacher-authors who donated items for the giveaway and to everyone who participated!  

If you didn't win this giveaway, CLICK HERE to try your luck in my giveaway this week on Teachers Notebook (Ends on 4/21/14)!  

Friday, April 11, 2014

Hoppin' Good (Weather) Giveaway!



The weather is FINALLY nice here in Chicago and I simply cannot contain my excitement!  And what do teacher-bloggers do when they are excited?  They have a HUGE GIVEAWAY, of course!   So here it is.  Take a look at all of the wonderful items you can win and stick around to enter one (OR ALL) of the giveaways!

SCROLL DOWN to find the giveaway of your choice!  

Remember:  Only residents of the USA age 18 and older are eligible to enter.  You may only win 1 prize out of the 8 available.   Winning entries will be verified when possible.  Please see the "Terms and Conditions" on each Rafflecopter giveaway for further details.  

PreK & Kinder Resources Pack and $25 TPT Gift Card Giveaway  

In the first giveaway, 
*1 lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card for Teachers Pay Teachers
*1 lucky winner will receive a PreK and Kinder Resource Pack with 23 items (worth approx. $72)

Click on each of the items to see what is included in this Resource Pack:
*5 Little Ducks                                    
*Mother Goose Rhyme Theatre                                     
*Caterpillar Addition Center                
*Yellow Bee Reader                            
*Parent's Guide to Reading:  Kinder Edition                          
*Butterflies Emergent Reader              
*Baseball Math and Literacy Centers for Kindergarten                                                          
*Spring ABC Class Book                                    
*What Does the Bunny Say?  Emergent Reader                                   
*Easter & Springtime Worksheets for Beginning Readers                                                                                                       
*I Like Apples Emergent Reader                                    
*Seasons Sort                                  

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Kinder & 1st Grade Resources Pack and $25 TN Gift Card Giveaway

In the second giveaway, 
*1 lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card for Teachers Notebook
*1 lucky winner will receive a Kinder & First Grade Resource Pack with 24 items (worth approx. $90)

Click on each of the items to see what is included in this Resource Pack:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

1st & 2nd Grade Resources Pack and $25 TPT Gift Card Giveaway

In the third giveaway, 
*1 lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card for Teachers Pay Teachers
*1 lucky winner will receive a First & Second Grade Resource Pack with 18 items (worth approx. $65)

Click on each of the items to see what is included in this Resource Pack:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

2nd & 3rd Grade Resources Pack and $25 TN Gift Card Giveaway

In the fourth giveaway, 
*1 lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card for Teachers Notebook
*1 lucky winner will receive a Second & Third Grade Resource Pack with 15 items (worth approx. $58)

Click on each of the items to see what is included in this Resource Pack:
The Great Egg Drop Extravaganza!
Hippity Hoppity Bunny Literacy and Math
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thank you so much for participating!  Good luck and enjoy that warm weather!








Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Sight Word Flip Books and a FREEBIE!

Scroll down to take a look at my Sight Word Flip Books for Spring and Summer.
Scroll to the bottom to grab a FREE set of flip books!  

My oldest son is learning to read!  He has been able to sound out CVC words for a while now.  Yet, he only knew a few sight words until I made the set of spring sight word flip books for him.  They have really helped his reading just take off!  He wants to read EVERYTHING now!  He has discovered that, using his newly gained sight word skills, he can read Dr. Seuss books like "Green Eggs and Ham."  He read it to me, to his dad, to  grandma--even to his great uncle!  Increasing his sight word reading ability has made it possible for my son to read many things that were not possible before.  Even if some words are too difficult for him, he will still attempt to read the sight words and ask about others!  

The sight word books are really working!  What I like best about them is the REPETITION.  Each flip book comes with 5 pictures.  The child has to read each sentence 5 times, once for each picture.  STUDENTS FEEL SUCCESSFUL when, even though they might have needed help the first time through, they can read the sentence on their own with subsequent readings.  These will work well for beginning readers, those struggling to learn sight words, students who need fluency practice, AND reluctant readers.  

Each set (spring and summer) covers ALL of the Dolch pre-primer and primer sight words, as well as some from the other lists and several Dolch nouns.  That's more than 100 sight words in each full set!  Plus, the books come in both color and blackline versions.  The full-color set would work well if you plan to laminate them or if your student (read:  my son) does not like to color!   Please click on the pictures below to take a look at the 2 sets I have available so far.  



Click on the picture to view this set on Teachers Notebook.



Click on the picture to view this set on Teachers Notebook.

I want you to be able to try them out at home or in your classroom.  So please download the set below for FREE!  It includes 6 sight word flip books in color and blackline.  I hope your students enjoy reading them!  


Click on the picture to view this set on Teachers Notebook.


As always, thanks for reading!