Word Family Spiders

I finally took a picture with my IPhone of our word family spiders.  Ever since I updated my IPhone software, the camera only works 40% of the time.  The most annoying part is that I can no longer change songs using my car radio.  How safe is it to change your song with the phone?  It still comes through the speakers and the phone part works.  Apple, if you hear me, fix this issue ASAP or I'm switching to an Android!!!

Here is a picture of our spiders.

The -ig word family.

The -at word family.

We talked about two word families this week, -ig and -at.  I let them pick the word family and the words from the ones that we listed on the board.

If you are wondering how I explain word families, I relate it to their families.  I explain that word families end with the same letters and it's like a last name.  Just like they have a last name that tells who their family is.  Then I explain that the first letters are like a first name and they are different, just like family members have different first names.  They seems to understand and recognize word families quickly.  They also realize that they rhyme.

Tomorrow is our Halloween Celebration!  I love Halloween because of the free candy that I steal from my child my gives to me.  I am the official household candy thief!  Oh, I'm sure I'm not the only parent who does this when no one is protecting looking at the candy.

If you are wondering where I got the word family spider craftivity, it came from Susan Moran Jones-TGIF.  It's a freebie from her store.  Thank you Susan!

What are your plans for Halloween tomorrow?  I'm going trick-or-treating with my family.

Monday Madness and a Spider

This is my Monday Madness ramblings.  It seems Mondays are really busy days in my classroom.  I must over plan because I don't get everything finished.  I am hoping tomorrow, I will get to make these cute little word family spiders that I found here.

Sorry, I wish I had a picture to share.  I took this from the creators TPT store.  It's a freebie from Susan Moran Jones-TGIF and I can't wait to use it.  I'll will post one tomorrow after we make them.

My camera on my IPhone hasn't been working properly since I update it.  I don't know what the problem is but I hope they have an update soon to fix it.

I'm keeping this post short tonight as I am sleepy and going to bed.  I didn't realize how popular my Candy Corn Making Words activity was going to be so it is inspiring my next project.  More to come soon.

Freebie Friday!!!

It's Friday so you know what that means.  Friday freebie!  This week's freebie is a number the room activity.  My students had so much fun writing the room that I thought we would number the room next week.  I know many people do this as a center activity, but I did it whole class last week since I had two grades in my room at one time.  Yes, you heard that right.  I don't usually have two grades so luckily I had printed out a differentiated write the room activity from my new Write the Room CVC Words and Pictures pack.  It was a true lifesaver!  You can learn more about this pack by clicking the picture below.

Here's a look at the cards.  

Look how engaged everyone is!

I also received my Elf on the Shelf with the new Birthday book and outfit free!  I was one of the first so many (can't remember the number) of teachers to register on their website.  I can't wait to use this in my classroom throughout the month of December and for student birthdays!

Please excuse the bad pic, my flash would not cooperate and I usually use my IPhone.  I really need to find my camera and take it to school.

Thanks for stopping by.  You can grab your freebie by clicking the pic below.  I would love to hear from you.  Leave me a comment below and let me know what you would like me to blog about next.

Fall Trees and a Pumpkin

Today we finished up our fall trees.  We used the same pattern as our apple trees, but use red, yellow, and orange to make fall leaves.  I call up to four kids at a time to a table to paint while the rest of the class is working and playing at traditional kindergarten centers.  This is what we do the last 30 minutes of the day and it allows time to do individual assessments and to get everyone packed up to go home.

So last week we did a class pumpkin.  Every class did one and they were auctioned off at our Fall Carnival.  Well we kind of ran out of time to really spend time on our pumpkin so I thought we should do something simple.

Presenting.... Our Pumpkin

It's "pumpkin pie."

These are the things I come up with when I am under a time crunch.  Lol!  I wonder if they were able to make money off my pumpkin.  I didn't glue anything down, so they could have carved anything they wanted.  I missed out carnival because I fell asleep and woke up the next afternoon.  No kidding.  I couldn't believe that I was that tired and my son didn't bother waking me up on a Saturday.

In other news (I always wanted to say type that.), I have had this little organizer sitting on my desk and I have been wondering what I should do with it.  Any ideas?  Leave your comments below.

Friday Freebie on a Saturday

I fell asleep as soon as I got home yesterday.  I can't believe I slept that long!  I'm also excited to say that I'm a dot com now!  Check it!  Just type www.lessonplansandlollipops.com.  I think it's super cool!  I learned to follow directions and make it work too.  Well I have had a super busy week and I didn't have much to share.  Sorry about that, but next week is more promising.  Oh and my retired aide is subbing next week for my wonderful new aide.  I miss her, but she is happy in retirement land.  We still go out for dinner from time to time so it's all good. 

Today, I made a word building activity to use with my kids this week during guided reading.  I color coded each set of letter card so they are easy to sort and the kids can keep them separated easier.  I also included a work mat for them to make the words on.  This is a CVC word making activity with teacher directions.  The cards are cute little candy corn which is perfect for this time of the year.  All you have to do is print out the letter card and a work mat for each student.  Laminate and cut apart to make them last.  I like to store my letter cards sorted by color in individual baggies.  Then I put all the small baggies in a larger baggie or page protector.  I also put each of the work mats in a page protector and store everything in a 3 ring binder.  If you click the picture below, you can grab your freebie.  Before you go, leave me a comment and let me know if you would like to see more activities like this.  Thanks a bunch!

Conferences

Today was parent-teacher conferences.  I wish I had more for you tonight, but tomorrow is our first day this week with kids so I should have a better post tomorrow.

Leaf Week

This week we will be learning about leaves.  We are going to start by going on a fall scavenger hunt.  My students have a scavenger hunt sheet so they know what to look for.  Then we are going to sort our collections and graph the results as a class using our document camera.

Since it is leaf week, we are going to finger paint.  Then we are going to trace and cut out a leaf after our paint dries.  Here is what the leaves looked like last year.  I would share the pattern, but it was hand drawn and it's too large to scan with my printer.

  We are also going to paint our trees in fall colors using our fingers.  We are going to use the same tree pattern as our apple trees, but use red, yellow, and orange to make fall leaves.  Here is what our apple trees looked like.  They are still hanging in my room so I will take them down when our fall trees are finished.

So we will collect, sort and graph leaves this week and we will talk about symmetry.  I think leaves are a good example of symmetry.  We have talked about symmetry before so this will be a little review.  I am working on a symmetry sorting activity for them to do during math stations.  I hope I have it done by Wednesday.  Yep, the kids are off Monday and Tuesday, but the teachers have to go for staff development and parent-teacher conferences.  I wish I was a kid.  No, not really.  I'm still the big kid in the class though. Lol!

Well, if you haven't heard, TPT is having a flash sale.  Everything is 10% off through midnight Hawaii time tonight.  I am throwing a sale to give you an additional discount.  Everything in my TPT store is 20% off.  Click here to head on over and check it out.

TPT Flash Sale!

Teachers Pay Teachers received 100,000 likes on their Facebook page and you can get 10% off all items using code FB100K.  To celebrate, I have discounted all items in my store 20% off!  Hurry to stock up on items at the discounted rate!

New Blog Look, My Guided Reading Tub, and a Freebie

I love my new blog look!  To celebrate the new look, I have a little Halloween Ten Frame Freebie for all my followers.  I also want to share what's inside my guided reading tub.

Here is what my tub looks like.  I have it stuffed full of things for this week.

I bought the smaller whiteboards in the Target dollar spot, but I have also seen them at the Dollar Tree.  These fit inside the container nicely and I no longer have to get up and get my larger whiteboards.

I have my sight words to review at the beginning of my guided reading lesson.  I review sight words with my students at least 3 times a day.  I have multiple copies of the sight words so I don't have to search for them.  I have a set everywhere that I am sitting/standing to review.

This week, I have smaller copies of my sight words and a few CVC words in baggies for the students to build sentences.

I have my pointer fingers and the books that I will use with my groups.  The students love using the fingers to point to the words.  I do take them away at one point in the year because brain research shows that students need to be able to track with their eyes because we actually look at more than one word when we are reading.

These are my whiteboard erasers.  I bought microfiber washcloths at the Dollar Tree and cut them into four pieces.  The work wonderfully and they are cheap so I can't go wrong there.  The bonus is that I can wash them too.

Now to get my Halloween Ten Frame Freebie click the picture below.

I almost forgot.  I'm linking up with Table Talk with C and C for a Fall/Halloween Giveaway!

This is a huge giveaway!  There are over 25 products!  One of my products are included in the giveaway as well.  Click the linky pic to check it out.

The Winner is....

The winner of my rafflecopter giveaway is Mariann B.!  Congratulations Mariann!  I sent you an email with your prize.

Today is Sunday and I am busy working on plans for next week.  I hope it doesn't rain because tomorrow I plan on taking my class on the school's nature trail on a little nature scavenger hunt.  We are going to gather leaves some signs of fall.  I have some activities in mind for the leaves but you will have to find out later this week what that is.  I'm experimenting with a few ideas and I want to see how they turn out before I share.  It could be a total disaster.

This week we will be learning about the letter N and we will make a letter N hat from my Phonics Alphabet Hats pack.  You can get them here or here.  We will continue to use some of my math and literacy centers from my Firefighter Math and Literacy Pack.

We didn't get to use all of the literacy centers last week so we will be using all of them this week.  Students will practice beginning sounds, rhymes, and ABC order while practicing their letter formation.

In math, I will put the Clip It! Ten Frames back out along with the Trace, Build, Write.  I will show students how to do the Count and Graph and my aide will help students with patterns.  I plan to add the Build It! Ten Frames to the Clip It! Ten Frames center.  Click on one of the pictures above to see where you can get this pack.

This week in math we are going to talk about symmetry, patterns, and make a number book.  Well that's all I have.  I better get started on finishing up my plans.  My late afternoon nap put me behind. :)

Center Saturday

I have slept a lot today.  This past week has worn me out!  My giveaway is ending soon so if you haven't entered you better do it quick!  Just go here and enter the rafflecopter.

Here is a look back at some of our centers this week.  As always, I have a listening center going during our guided reading time.  Students usually have 3 book options to choose from.  This week I will be adding in a response sheet for this station because I want students to work on their writing more.  You can get a copy of my listening center response sheet here.  Just scroll down and click the picture of the listening log.

 We continue to practice and review the alphabet and it's order.  Students love using magnetic letters on the cookie sheets.  Next week I will switch the cards to have the middle letter missing.  This allows students to practice putting the alphabet in order with a familiar activity.

 The I Spy Fire Safety was a freebie from A Differentiated Kindergarten.  You can check out the blog here and tell her you found her through Lesson Plans and Lollipops and thanks for the freebie!  My students loved using the magnifying glasses to find the letters in the picture!

 I'll just let you browse the rest of the pictures.

 You can get the number puzzles below from my freebies page!  

There are some changes that will be happening at my blog soon.  Don't forget that my giveaway ends at midnight!

Freebie Friday!

Happy Friday!  I survived the week after being off all last week.  I am exhausted!  I am keeping this post short tonight.  Here is the freebie I promised last night.  It's a set of ten frame number puzzles in neon pink and green for numbers 0-20.  Just click one of the pictures.  Enjoy!