Little Literacy Learners

Snow? Bird? Both?

I have gotten many emails asking me two things:
~ how did I add the cute little Twitter bird
~ how am I able to make it look like there is snow falling?

Did you see them? Aren't they neat?

If you are interested in adding some fun things like these to your own blog, then you must visit and become a follower of:

They have easy-to-follow tutorials to help personalize your blog!
If you click on the picture above, it will take you to the Twitter bird tutorial.
If you click on the picture below, it will take you to the snow tutorial.

(Picture courtesy of www.spiceupyourblog.com)

The tutorials are all written when viewing Blogger in the Old Blogger Interface. If you aren't sure how to switch back to it, all you need to do is go to your Dashboard and click on the little gear in the upper right corner, then select "Old Blogger Interface". (See the screenshot below)

Then follow the directions listed in each tutorial.

The Animated Twitter Bird requires you to edit your HTML. Editing your HTML can be scary. Just be sure you download and save your full template before changing it! That way you can just paste it back in if you make a mistake.

You also have the option to preview the changes before saving them, which is also something important to remember.

The Falling Snow Effect is not quite as scary. You are simply going into your layout and adding a gadget, just like adding somebody's button to your sidebar.

Hey, if I can do this, so can you! I have learned SO VERY MUCH since I started this little blog! It has been so fun!!

(By the way, I was in no way compensated for this post or am related to Spice Up Your Blog other than being a follower myself and sharing this great info with you!)

Sight Word Find (Search) Update

Just wanted to let everyone know that I updated my

Let it Snow Sight Word Find

to include a kindergarten version as well as the first grade.

I kept the pictures the same and just changed the words.

I also changed the name from

Sight Word Search

Sight Word Find.

I thought Sight Word Search sounded too much like a word search...you know where they circle the words? It was bugging me and I needed to change it! LOL!

Click on the picture below!

This Sight Word Find addresses the following Common Core Learning Standard:

K.RS.FS.3c: Read common high-frequency words by sight.

~ Enjoy!

Best BEE-havior FREEBIE

My overall behavior plan was just not working for everyone this year. I pull groups of 2-5 students into my space for 20-30 minutes. These are students who need to engage in as much reinforcement, reteaching, and practice as they can. I feel like I have so much to do with them, with so little time to do it, that we just cannot afford to have behaviors interfere!

I have the rules clearly posted and set clear expectations. My general reinforcement system is when the child receives two warnings or less, they are able to receive a sticker when our session is over. When they receive a third warning, they simply do not earn their sticker. I love stickers and so do the kids! The majority of my little ones really want to earn a sticker, so this is really motivating to them.

If they receive additional warnings after they have lost their sticker, I then inform them that their card will be changed in their classroom. I hate spilling over the behaviors from the small group to the classroom, but children generally do not want to move their cards in their classrooms and are motivated to do better so they do not receive additional warnings. But that isn't the case with a couple of my cherubs this year and it has happened a few times, which I just don't like.

So, I began implementing behavior punch cards with those individual students and created some new ones to share with you! They are perfect for Valentine's Day as you punch out the 10 hearts to reinforce the good behavior!

I still have the same general reinforcement system, and the students using the punch cards receive a punch if they do not receive more than 2 warnings.

I also wanted to share two posts that I found really helpful and have also shared some FREEBIES you may find useful!

Christie at First Grade Fever has shared cute punch cards that my students enjoyed. I have used both the boy and girl card where they receive up to 10 punches. Once the children have received all of their punches, they are then able to choose a reward from a catalog in her classroom. Click on her button to the left to see her post and to access her FREEBIE.

Rachelle over What the Teacher Wants also has a wonderful post about the behavior punch cards she uses in her classroom. Click on her button to the right to check it out. She also includes adorable girl and boy punch cards that can be punched up to 20 times.

What are your tricks to encourage good behavior in your classroom settings?

Sight Word Search-Let it Snow! FREEBIE

How good is your eyesight?
Is it really good?
Well, do you think you can you read this?

I have hidden 18 teeny, tiny words in this picture to help provide some extra practice for my first grade students with their sight words. They will be using magnifying glasses to search and find the words and then write them on the recording sheet!
Click on the picture to download the FREEBIE!
Also, please let me know what you think!!
Thanks and enjoy!

Don't forget to check out some other wonderful Freebies!

My Favorite Follower Award

I was thrilled to receive a sweet comment from Cindy

awarding me the

Cindy is the author of an amazing kindergarten blog called:

Each time I visit her blog, I feel as though I am walking right through her classroom! I love how she shows her week in pictures! She shares amazing ideas and materials. If you haven't checked out her blog, I recommend you do so!

Thank you Cindy! It is such an honor to receive this from you!

I wanted to take the time to honor two specific authors who continue to make me smile almost every time I post something by leaving sweet, encouraging comments!

Thank you to

Jennifer at:

and

Annie at

All of the comments and feedback you provide are so important and I thank each of you!

I love checking my comments to find things from a simple "Thank You" to more detailed comments. They all mean so much.

Emergent Sight Word Phrase Cards

To help my little literacy learners practice their sight words when reading connected text, I created these
Emergent Sight Word Phrase Cards.

There are 50 different cards to help provide exposure to 45 of the most basic sight words. The words are repeated in a variety of simple phrases to provide extra practice and reinforcement.

Click on the shop of your choice:

Enjoy!!

Word Ladders 3

I am glad so many of you have been enjoying the Word Ladders! I am excited to say that I just made another set.

This set includes consonant blends and long vowels (CVCe).

Click on the picture for the shop of your choice:

Here are links to my other Word Ladder activities:

Word Ladders-Consonant Blends

Word Ladders 2 and Word Ladders-Digraphs

Word Ladder FREEBIE!

Word Ladders-CVC Words

Emergent Student Readers

I just posted some of the emergent student readers that I have been using with my kindergarten students!

I bundled together 5 different readers, with sight word flash cards and picture cards to go along with each reader.

The first two readers have sentences repeated in a predictable pattern, but starting with the third reader the sentence structure begins to change forcing the students to attend to the text on the page. Even though the structure has changed, the students are practicing the same sight words.

I randomly listed the sight words reinforced in the reader on the bottom of the page. After the students complete the reading of the story, they then go down and read the words in isolation.

Here is how I use them:

I begin by introducing a reader by writing the sentences on sentence strips and I then place them in a pocket chart, displayed with the picture cards at the end of each sentence. The students then take turns and use fun pointers to practice concept of word as they point to each word. They also practice the early reading strategies of checking the pictures for clues and thinking about the sounds in the words (at this point using their beginning letter sound knowledge) as they read the story.

After practicing it as a group, I place a printed version into their own student reader folder. I also place copies of the sight word flash cards that go along with the newest reader. Their folder includes readers that we have previously read and they practice rereading each reader each time they have their folder. (I use the folders that have the little brads on the inside. You could also use binders but they end up being too bulky to store for each student in my small space).

About each reader:

The first student reader is called, The Colors of Fall. The students practice the sight words, I & see, in addition to color words. (I included both a colored and a black and white version in case you wanted your students to color their own copy.)

The second reader is called, I See A. This reader practices the pattern, "I see a ___ and a ___."

The third reader is called, I Can Go. This reader practices the words I, can, go, see, my, the, & you. This is when the students are introduced to a change in sentence structure, changing one sentence to include "the" instead of "my" and then the final sentence is a question.

The fourth reader is called, My Dog. This reader practices the words I, see, my, is, in, the, can, you.

The final reader in this set is called, The Footprint. This reader practices I, can, see, a, is, it, my, & no.

Click on the picture below for shop you prefer!

As always, I would love ANY feedback you have about these!!

Thank you and stay warm (it was too cold to leave the house today, so we stayed in our pajamas)!!

Do You Teach Kindergarten?

Did you know that on January 28th there will be a virtual teaching expo called

Everything's Kindergarten?

There will be four amazing presenters along with an incredible goodie bag!

Another plus in attending is that you will be able to print out a certificate to use as hours if your school district will accept it! I love the fact that you can collect hours while sitting in your pajamas at home, watching and learning from other passionate educators!

Here is a copy of the flyer to share with your administrators: