A Horn of Plenty of Letters!

 

November in Kindergarten is the start of literacy magic! Kiddos are beginning to understand and practice tracking print more independently. They are grasping letter-sound knowledge and building their fluency there, and they are mastering proper letter formation in handwriting. If you've never taught Kindergarten, trust me when I tell you, its magical! The beginnings of being able to read is an incredible sight to be seen, and I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of such an important process in so many children's lives.

In addition to the huge push of phonemic awareness that is so critical to the reading process, November is also when I've always started to hone in on alphabetic principle. By this time, we have our Fundations Drills down pat and are ready to really put those skills into practice.

This is exactly why I created A Horn of Plenty of Letters- A Thanksgiving themed, hands on center that focuses on beginning sounds.

Pictures are used on each fruit and vegetable so students can practice their phonemic awareness skills by hearing the word and isolating the beginning sound. Then, they can begin to map the sound to a letter. Differentiate with FIVE different recording sheets to best meet the needs of your students!

I found this adorable cornucopia in the Target Dollar Spot (because everything wonderful is always found in the Target Dollar Spot!). Students pulled a card from the cornucopia, said the picture word, isolated the initial sound, then chose the letter that corresponds with that sound. Since we are still amidst learning letter formation, I began with the tracing recording sheet. I always begin a brand new center in a guided group run by myself or another teacher in the room. Then, after some practice with guidance, I move it the following week as an Independent center. 

It was a fun activity and my little kinder loved seeing both what kind of fruit or vegetable they got as well as deciding what was on the picture. Laminate the cards for easy cleaning between turns OR just have the teacher pull the cards! This can still be a COVID friendly activity.

You can download A Horn of Plenty of Letters here!

What are your favorite November literacy activities? Comment on this post and let's swap great idea!

Keep your head in the clouds!

Pumpkin Investigation!

The baby's asleep! I was able to get in the shower AND eat lunch AND have time to spare to blog? Today is a good day! (Now if I can keep the dog from escaping the backyard, it'll upgrade to great- but that's a story for another day!)

One of the reasons I love doing apples in September is because it leads so well into pumpkins! The background knowledge on apples really helps kids expand their learning by applying it to pumpkins. They have similar life cycles, similar parts, and they both make for some excellent fall themed cooking in the classroom! YUM!

The first part of my pumpkin products that I've added was the Pumpkin Investigation!

Does it look just like the apple investigation? YES! Was that on purpose? OF COURSE! When it comes to little ones, familiarity, routine, and repetition are key! With similar visuals and understanding what they did last time, students will have greater independence in this activity. Plus, the familiarity helps them build deeper connections and understandings of the topic at hand. Many teachers feel the key to engagement is *new* and *different*, but what I've found is familiarity with a slight tweak has shown the greatest engagement and independence in my little learners.

Take a closer peek below!

Interested? The best part is it's a DOLLAR DEAL! Yes! ONE dollar! Find it here!

Be on the lookout! The mini book version of the investigation is coming in my pumpkin pack shortly!

Keep your head in the clouds!

Up and At Em! A {Groundhog's Day} Pack!

I still feel like we are just coming back from Winter Break, and yet, Groundhog's Day is only 2 weeks away! Groundhog's Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate in the classroom. It is super child-friendly and adds a sense of "magic" to the air simply by the fact that the act of a shadow can predict our weather patterns. Just in time for the occasion, I've decided to make a Groundhog's Day Pack to help channel in on the fun of the day!

This pack has everything you need to celebrate the big day! Starting of course, with party hats! There are two choices depending on what happens with the groundhog's big debut in Punxsutawney! 

Along with the hats is a foldable reader with one sentence explanations of how the holiday works and what happens if the groundhog does or does not see his shadow. While these are a lot of fun, my favorite part of the pack is the ultra simple craft!

What better time to introduce (or reintroduce) the shape, hearts! Just in time for hearts to flood our classroom for Valentine's Day, this sweet groundhog craft is made out of three hearts!

There's also an option for a blank face if you'd like your kiddos to draw their own groundhog face!

There are also printables for tallying and graphing predictions for if the groundhog will see his shadow, making predictions as you read, and compound words (like groundhog!)

I hope you can find TONS of use for this pack in your own classroom! Get it here in my TPT store!

Have a Happy Groundhog's Day (I personally am rooting for no shadow and Spring to come early!)

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

Winter Reading {Freebie}

It was COLD last week in Jersey! Too cold to play outside, too cold to have the snow melt away, and too cold to even THINK! My principal was kind enough to have an impromptu Hawaiian Day! Staff and students were invited to come in with their Hawaiian shirts on, were greeted with upbeat hawaiian melodies playing on speakers in the hallways and our principal even handmade Pineapple Smoothies in the teacher's room during lunch! (Is he not the best at cultivating a happy school culture for his students and staff?!)

In honor of keeping the warmth moving strong, I figured the only right way to contribute to the winter blues was to upload a simple, no prep, FREEBIE for your budding independent readers!

My kiddos have been working hard on their VERY first sight word: CAN

Since we are already masters at our uppercase letters, now we can read sentences that start with, "I can" if we use picture clues to help! Check out our picture clues below for some of the pages of our I Can Winter Freebie Independent Reader

Download your free Winter Reader here!

Enjoy this little piece of sunshine amidst the bitter cold!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes Companion Pack!

My mind has just been swirling with ideas for the first day (week.. month..) back to school! I have to admit, everyone's favorite groovy cat is the heart of my first month back to school ideas right now!

Have you read Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes with your class yet?

It's an adorable, fun introduction to colors (and resiliency! Social skill bonus!)

I cannot wait to share all my grandiose ideas for incorporating Pete into my opening day activities!

In the mean time, you'll have to check out this companion pack for the adorable I Love My White Shoes!

Check it out here!

It comes with a ton of student centered activities for practicing color recognition. Check out this recording sheet below!

This bundle includes food cards to post around the room like Write the Room- only this time, students are practicing color recognition and coloring the matching sneaker. I can't wait to show you some pictures of it in action once school gets started.

Similar in nature, the bundle also includes a create your own food die. Students LOVE rolling the die, and coloring the appropriate shoe in a playful game with a partner!

How great is this sequencing sheet? Simple cutting skills necessary and also includes color recognition. Great story retell activity for students to access their knowledge from a read aloud.

Can your students recognize the food, label its color, then create a pattern? I love this extension for my higher level thinkers.

However, my favorite part of this bundle is hands down the class book! Each sheet comes in black and white coloring book style as well as with colored graphics! There are different choices for pages as well. Plus, inside the download is a starter page and closing page as well as a family comment page to take turns sending home the book! Take a peek below!

Remember- you can download the entire bundle here!

What are some of your go to read alouds for the start of the year?

Keep your head in the clouds!

The Kissing Hand: No Prep Freebie!

Now that my new air conditioner is installed and up and running (YES- I lost air at the start of the summer! EEK!), and I've gotten my fair share of good reads in at the pool (was I the last one to read Me Before You?) I've got another bundle that I'm really excited for!

One of my FAVORITE read alouds for the little ones is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn! It is the sweetest story about little Chester Raccoon and his first day of school. His Momma kisses his hand and tells him her kiss is always with him! I'm not even a mom yet, and it makes my heart melt!

Since I read it EVERY year, I figured it's about time I began to add some new activities to go along with the beloved read aloud. And now, the best news of all, it's NO PREP and.. drumroll please.. FREE!

The pack includes these First Day of School Certificates- they look fantastic printed on neon paper!

This sweet poem can go with any handprint art you may make!

You can find my craftivity that goes with it here!

Color by numbers are some of my favorite things to do in the first week of school. It's fairly straightforward, fairly independent, and coloring is a great way to ease nerves for the little bubba staring up at you! Plus- instant fridge art for home!

From my own experience, children tend to be fascinated by the fact that Chester Raccoon goes to school at night. I figured this year I would go into nocturnal animals just a bit to help them understand better and give them great knowledge to share at home! Plus- another coloring page for independence and calming butterflies in the stomach!

You can download the whole freebie here!

If you're riding The Kissing Hand train like I am, take a peek at my other Kissing Hand products! 

(I'll be blogging about them throughout the week!)

Keep your head in the clouds!

(and your toes in the sand! Summer is flying by!!)

xo

SaveSave

Catch a Wave to Summer!

Am I the only one counting down the days to summer vacation? (four weeks, three days...) In an effort to keep my head in the zone and continue to give my 100% for the remaining four weeks (and three days!), I decided to make some summer themed activities I can contribute to my classroom.  So let's hang ten and Catch a Wave to Summer!

Recently I've been working on grade specific summer and end of year work, but the more I look at my kiddos, the more I see they are all on their own individualized levels. Why not work on making activities that can vary for the different skill sets in my classroom?  Personally, I think it's best for preschool, Kindergarten, and First Grade, but ultimately, if it's your student's level, go for it!

Now- how adorable are these popsicles?! I may or may not have asked my fiancé to bring me a grape popsicle after making this activity. Yum!

Activities are varied through literacy and mathematics and are very hands on! Take a peek below!

You can see the entire product here in my TPT store!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

Shine in Kindergarten! {freebie}

Okay friends, I can't help myself. I am loving the Kindergarten readiness skills in my Sea You in Kindergarten bundle, that I cannot help but share parts of it with you FOR FREE!

Check out Shine in Kindergarten!

You'll get the parent letter and Kindergarten Readiness Skill List FOR FREE!

Download them here!

And remember, if you like those, you'll LOVE the complete packet!

Download it here!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

Summer On My Mind

With the cool air, and misty skies, it's hard to believe we are only 7 weeks away from the last day of school! Of course, it may not feel like summer is right around the corner, but sunny beach days are on my mind nonetheless! That's why I decided to start working on my summer packets for my students! 

Check out the details below!

I am trying to get my preschool kiddos ready for Kindergarten and to maintain their skills we've worked so hard on this year! Not only does it include skill practice, but parent resources as well! 

These are two of my favorite parent resources below:

How cute is this Shine Bright checklist?

The packet has everything from fine motor practice, to math skills, to literacy skills!

Check out some of the fun!

You can download the entire packet in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store here!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo