Stages of Beginning Writers and "L" FREEBIE

At my school, the first few weeks are filled with state and local assessments. Whew! I'm glad those are done. While they are super time consuming, I admit they are valuable. I've learned that my kids are low on phonemic awareness and may need more work with letter names and sounds than last year's group. My school uses Saxon Phonics and the first letter is Ll. This week we worked on the first page in our Animals A to Z books. Take a look at the different levels of my writers:

Writer who hears initial sounds...

My song is about my teachers.

Writer who hears initial and ending sounds...

My song is about giraffes.

Writer who hears the vowels and is starting to use some sight words and conventional spelling.

My song is about the jungle. (What is in the jungle?) He likes the trees and the sky.

I love the challenge of coaching kids with their writing every day!

By the way, if you are interested in these prompts, you can get them in page or booklet form.

Here is the L page to get you started.

Mice Squeak, We Speak FREEBIE for Literacy Center

Doves coo. Pigs squeal. Horses neigh. But I SAY! 

My smart kids enjoyed this book this week—we have the big book version—and here's what I have to say about it! Get it and try out some of these simple ideas...

*Read the book and let the kids make the animal sounds.

*Compare the animals by size.

*Take a closer look at the pictures. What would each animal be saying if it was speaking in a human language?

*Which animal would you be? Write your name on a sticky note and put it on that page in the book.

*Make a class bridge map display.

* Explain that sentences having naming parts and action parts. Once the students are familiar with the text, let the boys and girls take turns reading each part. Mice (boys) squeak (girls). 

*Use this freebie to make puzzle cards. Match the sentence parts as a group or with partners. Later place the pieces in a center so that students can write and illustrate their own sentences. Click the picture to get it free!

Pete's Shoe-Tying Certificates

I'm just so glad I have a new friend to help me start off the year in Kindergarten. Pete the Cat! Did Pete help you and your kids get started rockin' in your school shoes? If so, you might like these free shoe-tying certificates. Just click to go get them!

TPT SALE and Chicka Gift

Happy Saturday, Friends! I've been back in school for two weeks now...and as my grandmother would say, "I am too pooped to pop!" So I'm going to sit right here on my sofa with a cup of coffee and work on my wish list. Tomorrow morning I'll be at the TPT Sale. Cha ching! I'd be delighted if you would add some items to your wish list.

Be sure to check out my facebook page for a gift from ME! Click the pic to go there!

Crayon Box Books

Ahhhh...the smell of new crayons. It must be back to school time! On the first day of school, my kiddos dumped two boxes of brand new crayons into their plastic boxes. I just couldn't stand to throw away 50 empty crayon boxes. After all, I'm trying to do my part to keep the world green...and pink and purple...by recycling. Now just what could those boxes be used for?

Ta da! We are going to turn our boxes into little flip books. Begin by cutting off the sides, bottom and top flaps from each box. You can cut blank paper to fit inside your crayon-box covers. Bind the pages between covers by punching holes and using metal rings. Provide color-word flash cards so students can write a different color word on each page. 

I made up some cutie pages to give my students practice writing and reading the color words. If you are interested, I put them in my TPT store for a buck. Click here:

This package includes pages for the eight basic colors found in a box of eight crayons along with pink and white. The books look like this:

Here are examples of the pages:

What ideas do you have for reusing crayon boxes. I'd be tickled pink if you'd leave a comment!

Yee-Haw! Blogger Buddy Sends Farm Goodies

I love gifts. Now wait a minute...you know I mean I love GIVING gifts. So I signed up for the blogger exchange hosted by Adventures of Ms. Smith and Covered in Glitter and Glue.

My blogger buddy was Desiree Cotten at Kinders on the Block. I mentioned that I had a farm theme this year. Yee-haw my package was a fun to open as a barn on a hot summer day! The surprises just kept coming.

First, I found farm stickers galore. I'm going to use the fun rooster on my reading table as my "Do not disturb" signal. Desiree suggested that the cow and duck key chains would be great to signal center changes. I tried it today...those kids really got "moo-ving!" (To hear the keychains, see the video on my instagram page.) 

Desiree also suggested that these scented items really do the trick when students need a little motivation. There were lots of other goodies, but here's the best part. She made a farm-themed product just for me...AND she printed the pages...AND they were already laminated. You can see her product on TPT by clicking the picture.

Thanks, new friend, for all my fantastic farm freebies!

Teachers Notebook SALE!!

The sellers on Teachers Notebook are running awesome sales this week. That's pretty exciting in itself. But wait...there's more! 

For one week, there are 15 K-2 AMAZING product bundles on sale for 80% off. It's like loading up your grocery bag and only paying for a few items. I have products included in two of the bundles. Click the images to see the bundles on TN.

But wait...there's even MORE! There are fantastic giveaways.  

For my product there will be 10 winners. No strings attached! Click to enter NOW!!

Happy Shopping! Be sure to leave a comment if you put any of the bundles in your cart.