SALE!!

Have you checked out the BIG 3 million strong TPT sale yet?  I am loving the discounts!  AND I got some great advice from Lisa over at Growing Firsties.  She suggests shopping a bit and then giving feedback so you can shop again – all at a discount.  What’s in your cart??

Closed Syllables GAMES Pack is HERE

Melanie and I started off making a games pack for one unit (-nk and –ng words), thinking some people may use it.  Well guess who has been using these games like CRAZY??  Our kiddos!!  They LOVE practicing the skills they are learning in a game format!  Best of all we have been saving on teaching time because we have been keeping many of the games similar for each unit (just changing the skill they are working on), so once you teach the 6 games in the set, you can relax a bit when you head into the next unit’s set of games. 

Today we are sharing our latest games pack all about closed syllable words.  In some ways this FUNdations unit is a review of all of the types of words we have learned how to read and spell this year.  The new BIG concept is what a closed syllable is.  There are games for word reading, word writing, trick word practice, and closed/open syllable sorting.  In this unit, kids are also introduced to r-controlled vowels and some vowel teams (more vowel teams come in unit 10).  We have SEPARATE game packs in progress for these skills.  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, check out some pics of the pack.

And then head over to my little store to check it out HERE!!  It will be 50% off until tomorrow am at 7EST! 

Sharing Super Strengths - GAMES

I had such a great weekend with my blogging teacher friends in cyberspace!  It was great to participate in the Bright Ideas Blog Hop and February Free-For-All.  I hope you all found some AMAZING goodies to help you in your room! 

Today I will be short because I am sending you on a trip.  I am the guest blogger over at The Primary Gal this week!  She has a series where teachers share something that they do well and I am ready to share how I use games in the classroom.  Head on over HERE and leave a comment on her blog or here!  I would LOVE to know what you think!!

J

Math Freebie Blog Hop

I was SO HAPPY that I happened upon an item on the TPT seller’s forum a month or so ago.  Another teacher author was creating a group to set up monthly blog hops with different themes/freebies/giveaways each time.  This is my first month participating and the theme is MATH.  I actually LOVE teaching math, but I don’t have many math related products mainly because before I was a seller, I bought a TON of math games from some of my favorite sellers. 

In any event, one thing that I work on with my firsties ALL year is math facts.  According to the CCSS, first graders need to be fluent with math facts to 10 and have strategies to solve math facts to 20.  Also, according to CCSS Kindergarteners need to be fluent with math facts to 5.  This fall our math coach assessed all of our firsties in math fact fluency to 10 (some kids were assessed to 5, some to 20, depending on their skill level) using a Kathy Richardson assessment.  We found many of our kids made a backslide over the summer and were not longer fluent to 5!!

Therefore, as a team we decided that most of out RTI math blocks would be set aside for math fact interventions for students who were not fluent to 10.  We have seen a HUGE improvement in the skill level in our kiddos!  In my class I had 8 kids who were below benchmark in this area in the fall, and now I have 2! 

So, what do we do during the RTI time?  Yes, some of the kids really needed one-on-one instruction and repetition, but most of these kids really needed more time to see and experience numbers and addition.  We made LOADS of games for the kids to play – all focused on math facts to 10 and then moved on to 15.  We made differentiated versions for our enrichment students, so they would be challenged and working on meaningful activities. 

Today I am sharing with you ONE of the games that I use in my room. There are two different sets in this pack.  One set for your benchmark or below benchmark students who need to practice basic math facts with sums from 5-15.  These cards have a number model (6 +5) and an answer card (11). 

The second set is for your above benchmark students or students who are at benchmark, but need a push to go farther.  This set also works on math facts with sums from 5-15, but these cards have two number models that need to be matched (6+5 and 4+7). 

Get the freebie HERE!

Like what you see??  Please follow me on Facebook  or on my blog  or on TPT. 

Ready for the next stop on the hop?? Check out Life Over C's for another AWESOME math FREEBIE. Make sure you keep hopping too, there are more than 20 stops on this FREEBIE hop!!

It's Free-For-All Time Again!!

I am SO SO SO excited to be a part of another FREE-FOR-ALL!  It will start officially on Friday February 21st at midnight and runs through Monday February 24th at 6 pm.   This month’s Free-For-All is going to look a little bit different than last month’s (if you participated last month).  This month we are all sharing a SAMPLE of a product that we sell on TPT.  For example, I made a set of 6 sight word centers and I have offered 1 of those centers as a sneak peek sample in the Free-For-All.  There is a link in the download to the full product.  Also, as a side note, the sample has an (annoying) watermark on it because I needed to use a PDF editor to add a hyperlink in the PDF.  This is NOT on the main product at all!

So…You are all wondering what am I offering???

Included in the Full Pack:

Here is a look at some of the pages:

The FREEBIE included a list of what is in the full pack AND the Bingo Center.

If you want to find the sight word game pack click HERE.

Want to visit my Facebook page to download the sample freebie?  Click HERE.

Want to check out all of the Sample Freebies available?  Click HERE to head to The Primary Gal’s FB page.  

Please let me know what you think?  Leave me some FB or Bloggy LOVE with a comment J  Thanks!!