The Goodies Are Rolling In!

The goodies I've been ordering for my classroom have been rolling in! Don't you just love a box or two on your porch this time of year?! I know I do! Thank goodness I'm home to grab them before the husband sees, and tries to guesstimate how much I've spent....only to be shocked by the credit card bill how much it actually was. It's better he just sees the bill, freaks out & I'm like, oh yeah....I bought some stuff for school. By then, it's stashed in the trunk of my car or somewhere around the house, and there's no going back....only forward....to my classroom! So here's what came 2 shipments ago. This isn't even the latest stuff I've bought. I went on a girls day on Monday with some relatives to the Spa & there happened to be a Melissa & Doug store in the resort. All I can say is that I LOVE Melissa and Doug----and my own 3 children scored some sweet pool toys/diving games & my classroom will reap some rewards from that little shopping trip as well! More on that later....

Back to my Amazon goodies.....

Take a good look! You will see....

1. 1. My "Mrs. Powell" monogramed binder from Zazzle.com. It's BIG. And cute! All my assessments info. will be put into this binder this year. I always use a binder to store my running records, MLPP testing (letter/sound knowledge, concepts of print, etc., sight words data, DIBELS info., and DELTA Math info.)....it seems as if I have my Data Binder out every day, so this year I wanted to make it super cute. And for a reasonable price, I snagged this binder!
2. GIANT Magnetic Base Ten Blocks. I was really wanting some of these last year. I mentioned it to my principal as he did a walkthrough last year while I happened to be trying to model with base ten blocks that it would be really great if I had some that I could put on the whiteboard at our group area. Is it super sad I didn't even know they existed?!??! I'm ashamed to admit it. Glad I googled that one! It led to my wish coming true! 
3. Foam Bath Letters & (not pictured) the crab letter links for the water table. I bought two sets of the crab letter links and 2 sets of the foam letters. I figured I'll rotate sets so that the kids stay engaged/interested in them & purchasing 2 sets of each will ensure that there are enough vowels for kids that are spelling a variety of lengthier words! Check out this FREEBIE for your students to practice their sight words at the water table! Just post it on the wall above your water table. 

   

   Click HERE to grab this FREEBIE!
   
   

   

   Click HERE to grab this FREEBIE! 

4. Soft Number Dice. I also desperately needed these last year. What a perfect math station to just roll & add. You could add 2 numbers or 3 numbers. You could graph how many times you rolled a number. There are so many possibilities. Check out this FREEBIE for you using number dice. Don't want to purchase number dice? Simply download a template online, or use a sharpie and write numbers on a wooden cube.....I'm sure you have some of those! If you happen to like the number dice freebie I gave you, you can get LOTS more for your classroom in my Number Dice Activities Pack

5. 

   Click HERE to grab this pack! 
6. Belkin Rockstar headphone adapter. I'm very excited to get some of my audio books on an iPod or iPad this year so that the kids can listen to them digitally. That's a whole blog post for another day....but I am seriously excited about this little techy purchase. I'm such a geek! 
7. Letter Beads. These are great. I am very excited to add these to my word work station this year. I do have beads already, but some are old, some too small, and the pile has dwindled over the years. I'm re-stocking & plan to use them with my new items from A Differentiated Kindergarten! Thanks, Marsha!! 

  

Grid Games & A Manic Monday FREEBIE!

Today's Freebie: GRID GAMES!

It's nearly the beginning of the school year, and for you PreK-K teachers like me, don't you think it's amazing how we seem to forget just how little the children are in those first few weeks (okay, MONTHS) of school?! They come from all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds and experiences...including no experiences, for some of them! 

So...let's bring them in, put them in a room full of 16, 18, 20+ other children their age and begin to form  a cozy little family! HA! Easier said than done, sometimes. 

There are a million little details, activities, games, and ice breakers that you will no doubt implement in order for you to get to know your students, and for them to get to know one another. One (of many) of my favorite ways to get children working together is to sit down and play a little grid game. If you are looking for a great small group activity in the beginning of the year, grid games are great for your youngest and most inexperienced students - AND play can be modified to meet the levels of your higher learners. As the year progresses, your students will be able to play these grid games in a center, at an independent station, in pairs, or other small groups. 

What is a Grid Game?

A grid game teach is a type of board game that teaches one to one correspondence, counting, numeral identification, and even work on addition. To play a grid game, children roll a game die, identify the numeral (or count the dots) and count out that amount of manipulatives. Each manipulative is placed over one picture in the grid. Each player gets their own grid mat. Children play until the whole grid is full. The first person to fill their grid wins/that round is complete. Continue play as long as time/interest allows.

Why Grid Games?Board games are the original turn-taking games, and a grid game is one form of a board game. They can be played without having to remember a lot of rules, they are fairly fast paced, and it does not take long to wait for your turn to come back around----perfect for little ones learning to take turns and build patience.

Go ahead and grab your grid game freebie here! I hope you give them a try if you haven't yet used them with your students. If you are familiar...you know kids love these games, and it's nice to have different game mats to play with!   

Your students can practice counting, 1:1, number recognition, addition, and taking turns with this fun grid game!  There are 5 game mats with 10-frames & 5 game mats with 20-frames to use with your students' various abiltiies/levels.

These are great for a small group/center activity. Laminate and cut out game mats.

What you need: Printable game mats & 1-2 dice (either with dots or numbers). That's it! With the 10 frames, students will only need 1 dice; with the 20 frames, students can roll 2 dice and add them together if you choose.

Cover the spaces with glass stones, pom poms---anything small enough to fit inside each box. First person to fill up their grid, wins! Play again and again as long as time allows! :)  

A Sweet Summer Freebie!

Go ahead...it's Friday night---just click, download, print & enjoy! 

Have a fun weekend, everyone!

Flower Power!

Here's a really versatile game that you can use this spring (or anytime, really) for working with letters/numbers for your Pre-K and Kindergarten friends! I saw this game somewhere---perhaps a teacher resource book, another teacher in our district, or from a website or blog. I really cannot remember where it came from....but I remembered the activity and wanted one of my own! If you can tell me where this activity/idea originated, I'd love to give that person/company credit.

Visit Home Depot and purchase 26 mini-terra cotta pots (approx. 3"), for just under $1.00 each!

Fill the pot with rice or dry beans (such as kidney beans or the like). 

Place a velcro dot on the front of the pot and PRINT all pages for a variety of ways to play the game! Want a less expensive way to play the game? Terra cotta pot work mats are provided for you! You can just print them instead of buying them.  

Here are all the ways to play!! 

Got some velcro dots? hot glue? popcicle/craft sticks? card stock for printing? laminator heated up? Now grab your car keys and head to Home Depot! You will be well on your way to making this fun game. 

Here's a Flower Power Addition and Subtraction FREEBIE!! 

Oh the power of flowers!! ENJOY! 

Put Me In Coach - I'm Ready to Play!

As I was looking through my Easter totes in the basement, taking inventory of what's in stock for the big arrival of the E.B (that's Easter Bunny), I couldn't help but browse through my old Kindergarten totes as well. Even though I currently don't teach Kindergarten, there's always some items that I can tweak to fit the levels of my Pre-K friends....it's just a matter of taking the time to do so.

Here's an old game that I used to have available during Literacy Stations in my K class. It includes Dolch word lists 1-3. I've tweaked it to include the alphabet and numbers so that PreK kids can use it as well.

You will need these great little sports Easter eggs. HURRY---go grab some before the stores are out! The great thing about these eggs are that you can use them at any time of year. They don't seem a bit "Easterish" and your sports enthusiasts will love them! 

You will also need a basket of some kind. These sport themed Easter baskets do the trick, too! 

Inside each egg, hide a little letter of the alphabet, number, or Dolch word. Students can record their findings on the Score! sheet. Some PreK kids may be ready to write their findings, others may just want to say the letter or number. Older students, or those that are ready, can definitely find it, read it, and write it! 

It's soccer season - and baseball season is right around the corner! Gear up!

Get your FREE game HERE!

Get lists 4-11 HERE!