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Earth Day Fun & Freebie


 Hey Hoppers!! Earth Day is this coming up quick this Wednesday. We'll be spending the next few days completing activities from my  Earth Day {For The Common Core Classroom} mini unit!


There are lots of fun activities and new vocabulary to take us through each day this week!


Also, with six weeks of school left we've really been focusing on upping our close reading game. So I went ahead and included four different close read passages for us to dive into! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Earth-Day-Earth-Day-Common-Core-Classroom-1210360http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Earth-Day-Earth-Day-Common-Core-Classroom-1210360

Two versions of each text passage are included for easy differentiation.


I also wanted to offer Blog Hoppin' followers this Freebie close read from the unit that you can only grab from this post, HERE!! This one is geared towards K-1 students. Enjoy!! :)



Small Group Literacy Activities

Hi there!  This is Deedee from Mrs. Wills Kindergarten.  Here is a little repost from a few weeks back.  Hopefully, you will find something you can use!

We only have about 6 weeks of school left, so now is not the time to coast to the end!

First off... I want my students to be a little more fearless when it comes to using context clues to identify unknown words in a sentence.

We want students to use context clues to figure out unknown words.  One strategy they can use is to skip the word and think about what makes sense.  These sentence strips can be used in a variety of ways.  
Students can simply skip the covered word and think about what makes sense, or if you want them to look through the word to “check their guess,” you may ask them to:  
1)  guess the word 
2) write the sounds they hear in that word
3) look through the word to see if their guess might be correct.
 Then we check!
I am not suggesting you conduct spelling tests, but we know the skill of reading a word is a bit easier than spelling the word without a model.  
  In this activity, I  prepared words and placed them in the basket.  I pulled one word out at a time and read it to the students. 
I made these cards editable, so you can add your own words.
 They are challenged to “picture the way the word looks” and spell it correctly.   
Then we check it!  They LOVED this!
I got a 4 pack of Meridian LED push lights at my local Wal-Mart for under $4.00… these are MAGICAL!!!!
Students push a button for each sound they hear.
 Then they write the sounds.
 They check to see if they were right!
  
For CVCe words, I took the batteries out of the light and wrote an “e” on the light with a dry erase marker.  This is to remind them that the e does not make a sound.
We worked on segmenting words into syllables.
Level 1:  Students push a light for each syllable they hear.
  Level 2:  Students push a light for each syllable they hear.  Teach your students that each syllable must have a vowel.
Although this may not lead to the traditional spelling, you will encourage your students to hear more sounds! 

We also played a fun version of bingo with rhyming words!
 and a little word family fun!  
This activity has so many levels of differentiation, my entire class benefits from it.
My students love ANYTHING that feels like a game.  They are alert and poised to new learning!  This makes my job 10 times easier. 


Free Printables for Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Hello! April is officially more than HALF OVER (where did it go!?) and Teacher Appreciation Week is right around the corner! Even though we are teachers ourselves, I know many of you have kids and are thinking about how to say a special "thank you" to their teachers, too!

I thought I would share some free printables and ideas for putting together some easy-peezy, but seriously cute, teacher appreciation gifts with just ONE of my Creative Paper Boxes! My Creative Paper Boxes are packed with goodies and I have bundled them together so they I can offer them at a huge discount with discounted shipping. However- that doesn't mean you can't split up the goodies to create multiple gifts and get even more bang for your buck!


I took a trip to the Dollar Tree (my little creative heaven) where I knew I could find some affordable goodies to dress up these paper products. Great news- even if you didn't snatch up a Creative Paper Box, you can still swap in any store bought notepads to create similar gifts or buy one now!

My limit was $10.00 for all the wrapping extras for all four gifts:

Everything except for some optional tulle ribbon was purchased at the Dollar Tree! 
One stop shopping folks!





These gifts give you some options for different sizes, too. Some have one notepad, some have multiple paper products. Here are some more details about what each gift used. 

*If you are using my Creative Paper Box goodies, I spilt the pack of 20-notecards into two sets. I left 10 notecards with envelopes in the original plastic sleeve and then wrapped a tulle tie around the other set of 10 for a different gift. 






If you haven't grabbed a Creative Paper Box, there are still some available in my Etsy store or on TpT! *Boxes on TpT are priced slightly higher due to higher selling commissions, however it gives you the option of using TpT credits towards your purchase or earning credits back!


I have lots of goodies and fun things planned for Teacher Appreciation week from Creative Clips Clipart from May 4-8, so make sure you check out my store and FB page for lots of things to celebrate YOU! Thank you for all you do!

Batter Up! It's baseball season!

Hello Friends!

This is Cindy from Kinderkay Love Those Kinders and I thought that I would share with you a baseball craftivity that I did with my kiddos last week.



A fun book to read before doing this activity is PETE THE CAT: PLAY BALL! In the way that only Pete can, this book teaches children to accept their mistakes and not be sad; to keep trying. It also does a nice job of describing the sport of baseball in a simple, fun way.

http://www.amazon.com/Pete-Cat-Play-Ball-First/dp/0062110667

After reading the book, we discussed the word "sport", sportsmanship, and how the game is played. I did a simple fill in the blank writing activity with my kinders, but I have included a higher level reading activity for those children that need more challenge.



When the writing activity was over, my kiddos created a baseball player. I am NOT a template/pattern teacher, but for this activity, I DID give them a template to trace for the baseball player's head, body, and glove. I let them choose the colors for their uniforms, but you can tell that we live in Central Illinois... There was an overwhelming choice of Cubs blue and Cardinals Red! :)







This is such a cute and fun Spring activity! It will be free in my store for a limited time... so get it while you can!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Batter-Up-Baseball-Craftivity-for-Little-Kids-1812634
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Batter-Up-Baseball-Craftivity-for-Little-Kids-1812634


Enjoy!

Blessings,


Free Calendar and Creative Paper Collection Launch!

Hi everyone!! It is a very big week with April 15th coming up! No, I'm not talking about the day that taxes are due (eww)! I'm talking about the launch of my new Creative Paper Collection!


I have been working on this little (BIG) project for a LONG time and I can't tell you how excited I am to finally share it with everyone! I have always wanted to design paper goods with my graphics and I decided to take the plunge. As I sit here in my little one bedroom apartment and write this post, I am surrounded by cardboard, tissue paper, and more notepads than I ever had when I was hoarding them as a teacher (which means there are A LOT!). There are boxes everywhere. I have thought about making a fort many times, but just haven't found the time :)

On April 15th at 12:00am Eastern time, I will be launching this new business with my Creative Paper Boxes!!!

What is a Creative Paper Box?

The Creative Paper Box is a huge bundle of paper products from the Creative Paper Collection! All paper products are made from high-quality papers with crisp white space and bold colors that pop! Included are 3 small notepads, 2 large notepads, 30 postcards, 20 notecards with envelopes. Each box has over $42.00 worth of products but will be on sale for $30.00 plus shipping!

Here are some close ups!







I only have a limited number of boxes for this launch but I already have plans for additional designs and reorders in the future! Check my Etsy store early on April 15th so you can snatch up one of the boxes before they are gone!

I also wanted to share is a new printable calendar from my Creative Paper Collection. I will be creating products for TpT shop that are digital downloads of printables such as calendars, planners, party decor, invitations, etc. I thought it would be great to kick it off with a freebie!


This printable calendar coordinates perfectly with the bold, vibrant colors of my paper goods too!
Here are my calendars in action as I planned out my upcoming week!


(I am proud to say that my notepads are made of smooth, high-quality paper so that your beautiful flair pens don't bleed through! You know where my priorities are as a teacher!)

Stay in the loop about new products, coupon codes and more over at my FB page for my new Creative Paper Collection!

Don't miss out on the big launch party on April 15th in my Etsy store!