The Magic of World Study {with Stephany from Primary Possibilities}

These are some of my favorite ways to practice words in the classroom.  They would work with anything from sight words to vocabulary words!

I make these flip folders for my students at the beginning of the year.  You glue a sheet with lines (the line size and number depends on how many words you assign your students to learn each week) in a file folder.  Laminate the entire file folder and then cut two slits to make 3 flaps.  Students write the words under the first flap and then practice under each flap without looking.  

Another great way to practice words is hands on.  Kiddos love play-doh and my friend Stephanie over at Primary Possibilities has these great sight word mats.  You can pick them up HERE.

If you are looking for a fun way to get students to practice throughout the week at home, you can grab up these STAR spelling freebie.  Students choose from several options throughout the week to practice their words.    You can grab it up for FREE HERE.

Wiki Sticks are always an easy standby for word work.  Keep them in a container with a list of words and your students will always have something easy to grab up when they are finished early with another activity.

I love keeping these Word Wall cards on hand in my classroom.  There are tons of fun ways to practice sight words with different motions and voices.  You can grab them up by clicking HERE. 

What are your favorite ways to practice words in the classroom?

The Magic of Word Study & a FREEBIE {Tickled Pink in Primary}

At the beginning of the year, when we are working on letter sounds, we use these building word cards. Students fill in missing beginning, middle, or ending sounds and record the answer on the worksheet. You can find this activity here. 

Another way to work on filling in missing sounds is at our stamping center. Students LOVE using stamps! I use this center all year and just simply switch out the worksheets for the alphabet, letter sounds, CVC words, etc. You can grab a few of these stamping worksheets FREE in my TPT store here. 

I made these sound spinners so students can easily see that by substituting just 1 sound, they can make new words! I created spinner for beginning, middle, and ending sounds.  Students simply spin the wheel to show a new sound, read the word, then lift the flap to see if the picture matches the word they read. Then students will spin a new sound to make a new word! Each set of sound spinners comes with a worksheet for students to provide their answers. You can grab these sound spinners in my TPT store here. 

These CVC word cards are an easy way to help students practice building simple words. You can use magnetic letters, playdoh, dry-erase markers, etc. for added fun! You can find them in my TPT store here.

 During my small group, we use these mini cups to work on word families. I gave students a cup with a red word family on it. They then had a stack of blue letters, and put one letter in front of the word family to make a new word. Next, they could stack another blue letter on top of the other cup to make a new word. The word family cup (red) doesn't move until they've built 5 words. They can then get a new word family and start making new words. Eventually, I'll add harder word families and blend/digraphs instead of just 1 letter on the cups. 

Another way to work on word families is with these word families mats I got years ago from Lakeshore. I love that they are dry-erase and give the students a picture clue for the word family. My students really enjoy using these mats, and they seem to catch on to the idea of word families quickly. My students love to show me when they use a blend or digraph to make a bigger word. Word families are an easy way to help build student confidence in reading!

One of my students FAVORITE activities is Fluency & Fitness! I have created over 50 different sets so we can work on these for any and every skills possible. I love doing these because students can work on academics, get in some exercise for a brain break, and I don't lose any instructional time. You can find all of my Fluency & Fitness bundles here. 

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Tricks & Treats from The Learning Chambers

Halloween is just around the corner and that means it's time again for EE's Tricks and Treats.  The Elementary Entourage bloggers will be sharing some of their favorite teaching tricks and tips.  We will also have some terrific teaching treats just for our readers!  Make sure you stop by each day for some trick or treating fun!

I am very excited to share some teaching tricks to help you implement an ozobot challenge into your classroom.  I love STEM challenges that involve programming and the ozobots have definitely been a class favorite lately.  Here are some tips and tricks to help you implement a challenge that uses both quadrants and coordinates.

My first trick is to make sure that you give your students time to explore.  It will really help with classroom management and will also give your students time to work through challenges and learn how to use the ozobots independently.

My second trick is to align your ozobot challenge to something that your students are currently learning about.  My students were learning about x and y coordinates and the four quadrants, so our ozobot challenge centered around that.

After our lesson, I gave the students a piece of grid paper and a checklist.  The students had to find the point of origin and then label the x and y coordinates.  As part of the challenge, they had to determine the starting part or where their ozobot would start.  Then we used ozoblockly to program our ozobot to complete "tricks" inside of the grid.  The challenge was to make sure that our ozobot stayed inside the grid.  It was a challenge but a fun one!

Do you want to have your students complete this ozobot challenge using quadrants and coordinates?  I have this freebie as a treat just for you!  I included several different grid paper sizes for easy differentiation and also an easy to follow checklist.  I hope this helps you implement the coordinates challenge into your classroom.

Click HERE to grab your treat!

Cramming It All In & a FREEBIE {w/Tickled Pink in Primary}

Trying to squeeze as much learning into your day as possible and keep your students engaged can be hard. I think that we are putting so much pressure on students and increasing the expectations, that sometimes we forget that they are kids. 

I try to balance my schedule throughout the day, so we have some whole group learning, then small group or independent work, then back to whole group, and small group. This breaks up the learning a bit and gives students some time to interact with their friends. My schedule is the same every day so students know what to expect. They know when they'll get a chance to talk/share with their friends, and when it's time to listen to me.  I see my students checking out a picture schedule often to see what is coming next or how many things we have to get through until recess. LOL! Having a set schedule every day is easier for me to lesson plan because I can just quickly change out a skill, book title, etc. but overall I have a plan of what our day will always look like. You can grab these schedule card for FREE here. 

As a Kindergarten teacher, I think is important to let our little ones get a little bit of down time throughout the day. They still need to develop social skills and shouldn't be expected to just go, go, go all day long at the age of 5!  I have reading centers & math centers during my day so students can work on the skills I've taught, but do it by playing games/activities with their friends. Our reading centers are in the morning and our math centers are in the afternoon. Here's a picture of my reading center rotation chart. All of my supplies are right by the reading center (same for math), so students don't have to go all over the room looking for their tubs/materials. I also have 1 person in each group as the designated person to get out the tubs & clean it all up. This helps the transitions go smoother and not cause any arguing.

Inside each tub are a few activities for the students to do. I let them choose what to do, but once they've played the game once they have to switch to another activity. These low-prep Beginning Sounds activities are easy to prepare and great to throw in centers.

BINGO markers are definitely a favorite activity to do, so I created these Dot It! worksheets for reading & math centers. I love creating centers that can be used all year long, and all you have to do is simply change out the worksheets/cards. They kids already know how to play, so this makes lesson planning and explaining new centers a breeze!

Assessments are a necessary evil. It's something we all have to do, to see how our students are progressing, but it also takes time away from us teaching the rest of the class.  One way to constantly and quickly progress monitor my students on their letters is with this letter fluency sheet from my low-prep Alphabet Activities bundle. I can pull kids back and have them do this 1 minute assessment to see how many letters they know and if they know them quickly and fluently. As student's scores increase, I only have to do this with a few kids. In Kindergarten we don't do real grades or give homework that we keep grades on. I dread report card time because even if I mentally know how my students are doing and what they need help on, I still need to pull them all back 1 on 1 and give them a lot of formal assessments. This takes quite a bit of time! I don't have a classroom aide, but I try to do most of my assessing while the other students are at centers. I also like to use some of our center activities as assessments as well. I can sit with a group of kids as they are working on an alphabet game and I can take notes on which letters they are missing. This is more of an informal away to assess, but it doesn't interrupt the schedule of the day, and students are more relaxed and not feeling like they are getting quizzed by the teacher. :)

Fluency & Fitness is definitely a class favorite! These students below are working on naming their 3D shapes (shapes & real world images included), but then they have to do exercises every so often. They absolutely LOVE doing these and forget they are even learning. :) I love that I've found a way to make learning fun, help them get some energy out, yet not lose instructional time. There are over 40 bundles of Fluency & Fitness, so we can use these during math & reading, and all year depending on what skills we are learning.You can find this Shape Fluency & Fitness here.

It's tough trying to cram it all in, yet make learning fun. Sometimes we just have to trust our gut and do what we know is best for our kids.

Packin' Up! Prepping your Student Information Binder with The Friendly Teacher + FREEBIES & A GIVEAWAY

I have one more week, my friends. I am nearing the finish line and I can smell the late nights, sleeping in, frequent bathroom breaks, and lots of uninterrupted Netflix time!

But, before I head out for the summer there are a few things I like to prep for the next year. I like to do the simple things that stay the same year to year. One of my favorite things to do at the end of the year is get all my organization binders ready for the next year. I put my lesson planner together, my daily five binder, my math stations binder, and most importantly my student information binder.

I am here today to share with you my 100% free student information binder. Do you ever have an IEP meeting and you are scrambling for data??!? Or that one parent who calls you out on every single thing and you just can't remember exactly what you said?! That is where this binder comes in handy! I put all of the data for my students in one binder. Their parent communication, intervention data, checklists, and so on! I just put mine together for the next school year and would love to share with you all of its loveliness (soon it will lose all its beauty when I put my not so teacher like handwriting all over it)

First, I have to put a cute cover on it because DUH! :) Grab this cover in a bunch of different colors here for FREE! :)

Then, I separate my binder into sections for each student. I choose to use construction paper to separate the sections. I choose this because then I can write little notes about the students on the dividers or things I need to remember! It makes for a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone! ;)


My first sheet is their reading and writing checklist. I conference with my kids in both reading and writing once a quarter. I keep all the notes from this conference on this little sheet! It is all in the same binder so it is simple when it comes to these conferences!
Grab this sheet for FREE here!

Then, I like to keep their intervention data sheets. I keep one for each kid so I can mark down anytime I work with them one on one. Yes, you may not need to mark everyone down, but if you ever run into a situation where you do need this data you are always prepared! So, I call a kid up work with them on a skill and jot it in their binder. LIFE SAVER when it comes to IAT meetings! I got these sheets from the AMAZING JD's Rockin' Readers for free!! Pick them up here!

The last thing I shove in this binder is a parent communication form. I use this form to track any incidents where I talk to the parents or the principal. This keeps me organized and I never run into a situation where I can't remember what I said or did! WOHOO! Grab this sheet here for FREE! Or click the picture and it will take you right to it!

As the year goes on, I may print emails and put them in the binder, put test scores, or important papers! I like to add a sheet protector for each kid to shove these things in, so I don't have to hole punch anymore! :) I just love that I have all the documentation in one place for each student! By preparing these before I leave for summer I am 100% more likely to use it!!! Prepare now so next year you are an organized teacher superhero! Happy summer, friends!

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100 Days and Counting

Hey, Friends! 

It's Amber from Peppy Zesty Teacherista! 

I cannot believe we are gearing near the 100th day of school! 

Didn't meet the teach night happen last week?! ;)

I am going to start by reading this adorable book!

It's the story about a little girl that worries about everything and needs to bring in 100 items for the 100th day. She can't decide on anything so her family gives her bits of what they can find. 

She stops worrying because she has 100 pieces of love :)

I also created these fun activities that the kids can challenge themselves with! 

There are recording sheets for each activity! 

To snag these for FREE click the image below! :)

I hope this was a Peppy Zesty idea for you! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Turkey Time Traditions {with Amber from The Sunny Side of Second Grade}

Hey y'all!! Welcome back for another selection of our Turkey Time Traditions. Here you are hearing all of our favorite Thanksgiving ideas, lessons, crafts, and more! I hope you are enjoying yourself just as much as we are enjoying sharing with you.

We have been spending our time talking about everything Thanksgiving the last several days, and we will continue into next week. One of the second grade social studies standards we like to focus on for this theme is comparing various interpretations of the same time period. Perspective can be very difficult for our little sweeties to grasp. This year, my team and I took a different approach to help with this.

We found these books to help us:

We started out by introducing the theme with the book The First Thanksgiving and exploring the Scholastic's The First Thanksgiving. After a needed brain break on Go Noodle, we delved into day one of the lesson plan: The Pilgrim perspective. We read through the book, Giving Thanks, but we only read the perspective of the Pilgrim, Resolved White. (Day two consists of re-reading the story but this time from the Indian, Dancing Moccasin, perspective)  We held partnered discussions on what it was like to be an English Colonist in 1621, mapping out our thoughts on chart paper.

We then used the anchor chart as our graphic organizer for our writing activity:

The kiddos really loved writing a story about what it would be like to live as a pilgrim in 1621. The story can then be attached to construction paper. They can color pilgrim shoes to glue to the bottom of their story when they are finished.

If you are like me, you like crafts around the holidays. These are just a few of the crafts we completed this week. It was so much fun having a Pilgrim day and an Indian day. Monday we plan to take what we have learned and bring it all together using a Venn Diagram and some compare and contrast fun!

The Indian fact headband was created by me, but you can find these sweet Pilgrims and Indians here.

If you are looking to add some free writing fun to your Thanksgiving plans this week, look no further. Download my free Walk Like a Pilgrim activity! I know your sweeties will love it as much as mine did.

{Click on the image above to get your copy}

An InLinkz Link-up