Double Dog Dare

Do you have a Borders nearby?  They are double-dog daring children 12 and under to read 10 books.  If they can meet the challenge, the child will then be able to receive a FREE BOOK!
Click on the picture below for more information!

Go Take a Hike!

Do you like to take hikes in the great outdoors?  Well, here is a game I am calling, "Take a hike!"   As the child takes a hike through the forest, you can help reinforce fluency with letters, sounds, sight words, numbers, etc...!
Click on the picture below for a link to the files I created using graphics from Scrappin Doodles.

To play, you simply write whatever you would like the child to practice in the empty boxes on the game board and also create matching flash cards.  Mix the cards up and have the child read through each until they get to the first word on the board.  Continue this until you get to the finish. 

This game played the same way as Race the Road, (which in case you missed it, is a game I posted about here).

I hope you enjoy!!

I Have, Who Has Inferencing

 Here is another "I have, Who has" game to help your students practice making basic inferences.  Just like the rhyming game I posted here, this game creates a circle or loop, so the last question is answered by the first answer set on the table.  The students are encouraged to work together to determine the correct answers.  Directions are included! 

Click on the picture to download.

Thank you!

Reading and Writing Sight Words

End of the year assessment time is upon us.  So while I complete my assessments with one student from the small groups of kindergarten students I pull, the other students will be practicing the 50 sight words they need to know by the end of the year,. 

I fell in love with the "Popcorn Word Hunt" I saw a couple months ago on Mrs. Morrow's Kindergarten blog.  So just as she did, I filled a little bottle with popcorn kernels and filled them with the sight words printed on the little pieces of popcorn. 

If you click on the picture to the left, you can access the little pieces of popcorn for the bottle and the pages the students will write on. I will print the first two pages front-to-back.  The students will write the first 12 words they see and then read the words to a friend.  (Each piece of popcorn has two lines because my district uses Handwriting Without Tears.) 

Another activity the students will do is very similar, (but not quite as cute).  I created sight word cards with the HWT lines on each word.  I then printed and laminated them and will have the students select six cards.  They will practice writing each word three times and then choose one word to include in a sentence with an illustration.
You can click on the links below for the files:
Sight Word Cards with HWT Lines
Sight Word Writing

Thanks!

Amazing blog!

I have a feeling that you have, but I will still ask...have you all seen this amazing blog?

I thought so!  Tamara has done a wonderful job joining teachers of all levels together to share their ideas. 

Check it out if you haven't already and I am sure you will be introduced to other amazing blogs! 

(I just posted my own bio there. )

Testing Encouragement-Lucky Pencils

So what do you get when you mix peppermint Mentos, a Hershey Kiss, aluminum foil, a black Sharpie, ribbon, and some paper?  A LUCKY PENCIL of course! 

My 3rd and 4th graders will be taking their NYS ELA assessments for three days beginning on Tuesday.  I wanted to do something fun to show them how much I believe in them.  I attached a star with a little encouraging poem I wrote saying,

"You are ready, feel strong! 
Work carefully & you won't go wrong! 
Use your noggin, do not stress! 
Just do your best on the test!"

I just happened to be going through some of the sites I have bookmarked as favorites here on my laptop yesterday and came across these Valentine Pencils.  I thought they were so cute when I saw them in February, but did not have time to do them as Valentines for my students, so I just bookmarked them until a later date...and I am so glad I found them yesterday! 

I followed her directions and wrote, "LUCKY" on the pencil and created the star tag.  On Monday, I plan on going through an interactive Powerpoint I made for them and giving them their "lucky" pencils!

Click below to download a copy of the star tag I created.

I would love to hear other fun ways you have provided encouragement to your students during stressful times?!