Blog - Pencils to Pigtails

5 Reasons it’s Time to Use Sound Walls in the Classroom and Ditch Your Word Wall

March 27, 2022

Freebie to understand Sound Walls in the Classroom

All of the research behind the Science of Reading confirms it’s time to start using Sound Walls in the classroom. Today I’m sharing reasons why you should dive in and make the switch. In addition, I’m sharing an exclusive and helpful freebie!

Of course, when I first started hearing about Sound Walls in the classroom, I honestly wondered if it was just another swing of the pendulum. Is this a fad or something I’m going to invest time and money in only to hear that we’ve moved on to the next thing?

Vowel Valley with Mouth Formation Pictures

Know Better, Do Better

First, I read Know Better, Do Better by David and Meredith Liben and honestly, my mind was blown. Why in the world have we been teaching reading in such a confusing way? I highly recommend this book if you, like me, are wondering where to begin.

Eventually, I started to realize that some of our methods were teacher focused instead of student focused. They are based on practices that make sense to us but don’t make sense to a beginning reader. I came up with 5 reasons why it was time to get rid of my Word Wall and replace it with a student-friendly Sound Wall.

Why YOU Should Make the Switch

Sound Wall Pocket Chart with Real World Photos and Mouth Formation Visuals

1. They Make Sense

That’s right! When you really dig into bringing Sound Walls in the classroom, it just makes sense for our students. Unfortunately, Word Walls can be downright confusing. Just watch a child’s face as they try to find a word with a beginning sound that doesn’t match the most common sound made by that letter. For example, students would likely listen to the /n/ sound at the beginning of the word “know” and attempt to find it under the “N” section of a Word Wall. With a Sound Wall, students would hear the /n/ sound, locate the /n/ phoneme, and understand that “kn” is one way to read and spell the /n/ sound. To clarify, Sound Walls in the classroom are based on a student’s understanding while Word Walls are created based on a teacher’s prior understanding of the variety of spellings we have for each sound.

2. The Science of Reading is Based on Extensive Research

Recently, you’ve likely heard much about the Science of Reading. The Science of Reading is not a book or a new curriculum. It is an extensive body of research completed throughout the last forty years. It clarifies myths that memorizing hundreds of words or guessing what a word is are effective ways to teach reading.

In my own life, I am seeing my daughters try to guess words over and over rather than using phonics skills necessary to decode a difficult or unknown word. This leads to frustration for each of us and a continual reminder that they have the skills necessary to figure out the word. There is no need for their eyes to leave the word and dart around the pictures for clues. Unlike speaking, reading does not happen naturally. Instead, it needs to be explicitly taught in a systematic way in order for our students to become proficient and fluent readers.

Sound Wall Pocket Chart with Mouth Formation Visual and spelling cards

3. Include Mouth Formation Visuals

Effective Sound Walls in the classroom include mouth formation visuals for students to reference. This year, it was a real eye opener when I kept seeing a group of my ELs put their tongues OVER their teeth to pronounce the /l/ sound. However, now that I use Sound Walls in the classroom, I am able to show them the mouth formation visual. I also give them a mirror so they can check to see if they are forming the sound correctly.

Vowel Valley photo from classroom with mouth formation pictures and real world photos

4. Improve Spelling and Decoding Skills

Now, you will be amazed at the difference in your children’s ability to decode and spell difficult words. For so many years, we have taught that certain words HAD to be memorized and that they were just “rule breakers”. This is simply untrue. Many of the words that we teach students to memorize actually don’t have to be as long as we instill phonemic awareness within our students. When Sound Walls are used in the classroom, students learn new spelling patterns helping them both spell and decode unfamiliar words.

5. Make it Interactive!

Finally, let’s face it – some of you have a word wall that is more like wallpaper. It looks pretty but it’s not REALLY being utilized by students. Perhaps you are a unicorn and consistently use your word wall with students. Is it really interactive? To clarify, Sound Walls in the classroom work best when you build them WITH your students. Your students should be getting up and removing the sound spelling cards. Mine take those new sound spelling cards to their tables to use as references. In addition, children pull the mouth articulation cards out and compare their own mouths to the visuals using the provided mirrors. I know that Sound Walls in the classroom may look overwhelming at first. In reality, they are a tool created by and FOR the students!

Free flip cards with Science of Reading, Sound Wall, and Vowel Valley tips!

Ready to Try?

Well, did I convince you yet? Maybe you are willing to give Sound Walls a try. I have a gift just for you! I want you to feel confident and avoid the overwhelm that comes with making the big switch. To help, I have a ring of helpful tips and tricks that I created just for you. I’ve included everything you may have questions about in the freebie.

Click here to sign up for my newsletter and get your free ring of Teacher Tips.

A freebie that includes Individual Sound Walls for students

Today, I’m giving you everything you need for building Individual Student Folders. Both of these helpful items are included in this freebie!

Looking for more classroom inspiration? Try this post about our Teddy Bear Picnic and Sleepover or see how we use technology to practice retell strategies using our favorite fairy tales and nursery rhymes!

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know if you plan to use Sound Walls in the classroom!

Happy Teaching and Mommy-ing this week friends!

Retell Strategies using Technology for Young Children

April 23, 2020

How to Teach Retell Strategies using Technology

Today I’m sharing something that has puzzled me for quite some time: how to teach retell strategies using technology! We’ll go over how to use Boom Cards or Google™ Classroom so students can read or listen to fairy tales, practice identifying characters or setting, place the major events in order, and so much more!

School Closures due to COVID19

I came up with this idea when schools were closed due to COVID19. Not all of my students have Internet or a device to use, so I began by creating hands-on activities which were almost like a condensed version of my differentiated morning boxes. These were so fun to prep and send home for students.

Distance Learning Packets

Hands-on Activities (Say no to too many worksheets!)

Each bag contained a box (you could also use a sandwich sized plastic bag) that included I can statement cards so the parents knew exactly what objectives to work on, small cards for students to practice months worth of skills, and so much more! The cards are purposefully smaller than the morning boxes so that even if you sent home ALL of the skills, you would only have to print 15 pages for each child and you could choose color or B & W. I think that’s a pretty low number for hundreds of cards & activities! You can head here to read more about what is included in those.

These boxes have been so helpful for me and my students. I plan to use these next year as optional “Homework Boxes”.

“Homework” Boxes

These pictures give you a little bit of an idea of what is included. On a normal school schedule, I will just send one or two task cards along with the smaller activity cards so parents can really focus on a small amount of skills and each child’s will be different depending on what they need to work on. Talk about differentiation!

Free Miss You Cards

Be sure to read through to the end of this blog post so you can grab your free postcards shown above! You can tuck them in with packets or send them to students in the mail!

Retell Strategies using Technology

I knew I needed to work on essential reading strategies with my students but couldn’t figure out how I would work on these objectives without physically being with them. The major question was how could I teach retell strategies using technology? Hence, the idea for interactive fairy tales was born!

Interactive Fairy Tales

I’ve made interactive fairy tales, developed questions and answers about character and setting, and even given children chances to place major events in order all while using Boom Cards or Google™ Classroom! This idea makes them feel very game-like. You KNOW I love to use games in the classroom!

Characters, Setting, and Major Events

I love the idea of students reading or listening to the complete fairy tale and then retelling the fairy tale on their own. Students can move the characters around as they retell the story, just like if they were using puppets! For example, as Goldilocks tries out the 3 chairs, the children can move her to each chair as they tell the story. Finally, the slides conclude with several questions about characters, setting, order of events, and so much more!

Boom Learning

The fairy tales are read aloud to students if you decide to use Boom Cards. Boom Cards are also self-checking. I personally prefer using this type because I find them to be very student-friendly. It’s so nice when I’m working with students that they can complete the entire deck without ever bothering me when I’m doing small group instruction. This is all because of the integrated sound and the fact that they are self-checking. Remember when I said even more skills were included? In the fairy tale bundle, students can work on ordering objects by size, one-to-one correspondence, compound words, and so much more!

Jack and the Beanstalk one-to-one correspondence

Try the Boom Cards out Yourself!

Guess what? You can listen in to a little of the story, look through, and then try moving the characters on the first 4 slides of the set above by clicking here!

Google™ Slides Version

I do realize that not everyone prefers Boom Decks. Some of you are already using Google™ Classroom or Google™ Drive with your students. You may prefer the decks I’ve made to use with Google™ Slides. One bonus of using this version is that every deck includes some simple sentences for students to unscramble.

What Teachers are Saying

I was thrilled that other teachers are so excited about these too. Trust me, there have been many times where I was super pumped about a new product only to realize it wasn’t what teachers were really needing at the moment. WOMP! WOMP! (I definitely said that in a Charlie Brown teacher voice!)

Here are just a few reviews on these new resources!

“I LOVE the auditory component to this set!!! Many families are looking for independent learning activities during this time when they are working from home, as well. Kindergarten kids are often NOT able to read the question or the response. Thank you for adding this EXTRA feature to your bundle. I wish all BOOM card decks had this NECESSARY piece of instruction. Looking forward to more of your BOOM card creations!” -Holly

“I am a huge fairy tale fan! I love re reading a book all week and the class being so excited to act out the characters. My daughter (5 year old preschooler this year) has been enjoying the boom activities – she is so excited to complete the task on each card.” -Kara

“I just bought this bundle. This is by far THE BEST BOOM CARD stack that I have bought to date. I LOVE the auditory component, story element questions, numeral bean sort, and compound words. Please create more… just like this… GREAT JOB!” – Bill

What Else is Included

I didn’t even mention that you will also receive lots of other printables you can use when you are back together with your kids (or you have my permission to email them to parents!) Some of the bonus items include puppets, masks, word wall lists, word wall cards, differentiated writing prompts, apology letter & card templates from Jack to the Giant and from Goldilocks to the Three Bears, and so much more!

Where to Find These

You can take a look at all of my resources created specifically for Google™ Classroom here or for Boom Learning here! You can purchase the fairy tales separately or as a bundle. I’m creating 3 bundles – Classic Fairy Tales (which you’ve seen pictures of in this post), Royal Fairy Tales (can you guess what’s included???), and Forgotten Fairy Tales (So much fun!).

Don’t forget to grab your free Miss You postcards here!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Unique Easter and Spring S’mores for the Classroom

February 19, 2020

Easter and Spring S’mores are sure to keep student engagement high while working on essential ELA and Math skills for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students. Today I’m sharing how we use these activities to work on writing!

Easter and Spring S’mores

Easter and Spring S’mores are such a hit with my students! I mean, can you really blame them?

Just typing this blog post about graham crackers, melted chocolate, and gooey marshmallows is making me so hungry!

Of course, we use colorful Peep brand marshmallows in either the bunny or chick shapes for this unique twist on the traditional s’more!

Students followed me down to the teacher lunch area with a clipboard, pencil, and the Taste Test bar graph in hand. They watched with excitement as the Peeps grew larger and larger in the microwave.

Each child took turns taking a bite and announcing whether they thought it was “Yum” or “Yuck”. So much fun! Later we worked on our writing page and the cut & paste sequencing printable included in my Easter Fun resource on TPT.

Easter and Spring S’mores Reminders

Make sure to double & triple check allergies in your classroom before completing this exercise. My daughter is allergic to milk and egg so we use allergy friendly chocolate chips to make hers.

I also want to warn you that it is so hard to say no to these!

Could you resist them?

Easy Egg Dying for the Classroom

We loved this simple technique for dying multiple eggs at one time. It was the perfect project when paired with the Easter Fun resource from TPT that also includes the s’mores printables shown above.

Have you read about the egg dying fun and our STEM project yet? If not, head here!

Hungry Bunny Pick a Card Game

Another thing we are busy doing is our Hungry Bunny Pick a Card game. Have you tried these yet? My students beg me to play them every day during our morning meeting and small group time.

In fact, I created these because I had so many teachers asking me for these games.

We use the one shown below to work on word reading and rhyming.

Head over here to read my recent blog post about Pick a Card games!

Free CVC & CCVC Word Building Games

What could be better than hunting the room for Easter eggs? Well, I have the perfect games for you! When you subscribe to my newsletter list by clicking here, you will be sent 2 FREE sets of word building cards.

For the game above, I would mix and put all three letters AND the picture in an egg. I would fill 12 eggs and hide them around the classroom.

CVC Word Building Freebie by Pencils to Pigtails

Students use the included printables to write and draw a picture of the word after they unscramble the letters.

I’ve included CCVC words too! More details are included in this freebie !

Be sure to pin this image so you can revisit this blog post as needed later.

I hope you LOVE using all of these ideas in your classroom!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Easter Activities and Freebies for You!

February 19, 2020

Easter Activities and Freebies

Celebrate Easter or springtime with these no mess low prep Easter activities and freebies for primary students! The STEM project, easy egg dying project, free CVC & CCVC egg hunts, and Easter s’mores will keep your students engaged while working on essential math and reading skills!

Spring is in the Air

I love this time of year! The weather is warming up and my students are really into a routine. I’m also seeing improvements in understanding and writing abilities.

Easter Activities and Freebies

This is the perfect time of year to incorporate some fun Easter-themed activities. It you aren’t able to celebrate Easter, you can always use the ideas as part of a spring theme. I’ve included alternate printables in my resource for those of you who want to do that!

Easy Easter Egg Dying

Dying Easter eggs can be really messy. This technique works flawlessly!

You will find more details in my resource on TPT but you will basically need a muffin tin and whip cream or shaving cream to begin.

Easy Egg Dying for the Kindergarten Classroom

You can see that this is an older muffin tin. I labeled it using a dry erase marker with student initials so we would know who the eggs belonged to.

After a few drops of food coloring and a gentle swirl, you are left with a beautiful marble pattern to drop your eggs into.

Easter Egg Dying Techniques using a muffin tin and shaving cream

After about thirty minutes of sitting on one side, we gently roll the eggs over.

While we wait, we work on sequencing with this Easy Easter Eggs cut and paste sheet. We also incorporate some basic “how to” writing practice.

Aren’t they stunning? The kids are always so proud of them and ready to show them off at home. They like to use the printables to help explain the process to their parents.

Marble No Mess Egg Dying Technique for the Classroom

Remember to save your egg cartons to hold the eggs until you are ready to wrap them up to send home.

I just think the finished eggs are so beautiful!

Have you ever dyed eggs like this? It’s so much fun!

Easter Activities and Freebies: Pick a Card Games

Hungry Bunny Pick a Card Game by Pencils to Pigtails

We also love adding this Easter Pick a Card game into our morning and small group routine. Head over here to read a little more about how we incorporate these holiday and seasonal games every day!

Easter STEM

My students are always up for a fun STEM project. This one is low prep and students use the sheet included in my resource to both plan and reflect.

Prepare to be amazed by the towers your students come up with!

Easter or Spring S’mores

How amazing do these Easter and Spring S’mores look? Yum! I don’t think engagement has EVER been this high in my classroom. My next blog post will be all about this fun activity so be sure to check back!

CVC and CCVC Word Building Activity

Have you grabbed these Easter Egg Hunt Freebies yet? Head over here to have them sent straight to your inbox!

You will find e verything you need to build both CVC and CCVC words with your students!

Make sure to pin this image so you can refer back later as needed.

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Pick a Card Games – Holiday and Seasonal Fun

February 6, 2020

Pick a Card Games are my kindergarten students favorite way to practice letter recognition and sounds, number recognition, rhyming words, CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, shapes, and so much more! Today I’m sharing how I use these fun games in my classroom to keep students motivated and engaged.

Before we begin, I want to warn you that your students will BEG you to play “Pick a Card” games over and over again. They are so much fun!

Pick a Card Games – Free Turkey Wobble

You may have already grabbed my Turkey Wobble freebie. If not, head over here. This is a free download for new subscribers. All you have to do is tape the large shape (a turkey head in this case) to a container. Then cut apart and use whichever cards you desire.

Pick a Card games have a fun song/poem to sing or say with your students. You should hear the beats I use! 🙂 You will also find letter and number cards, shape cards, rhyming words, and so much more in the resource on TPT.

I like to sit on the floor with my students in a circle around me or use a pocket chart to mix the word cards up and place the word cards in the correct order.

If they pull out a picture card, they have to do the turkey wobble (dance while flapping their elbows). They love doing this and erupt in giggles every single time!

I have had lots of requests to make more games like this so I came up with these Holiday and Seasonal Pick a Card Games.

Seasonal Pick a Card Games – Jump on the Bus

At the beginning of the year, we like to use this set from the seasonal resource to practice number recognition. I like to sing the song and ask the kids to jump up when we get to the “jump on the bus” part.

The kids love coming to the front to pull a number out of the bus container! If they pull a school supply card, I have them imitate using that particular school supply. They love this part!

You will also find the poem and word cards with “Oh, what LETTER can you name for us?” The games are designed so that you have options about what standards you would like to work on with your students.

Honestly, we play it both ways depending on the day. I also like to show students how the two poems are changed with just that one word card.

Seasonal Pick a Card Games – Rolling Pumpkin

The next poem we pull out goes along with our annual field trip to the pumpkin patch perfectly. Students can work on shapes with these adorable pumpkin cards.

When we sing this song or poem, we like to put our hands up in a “stop” motion and show our hands making a rolling motion during the rolling part. If students pick one of the shape cards, they identify the shape. If they pick a pumpkin patch card they can imitate the child or do a little dance.

Holiday Pick a Card Games – Costume Time

This “Costume Time” pick a card game from my holiday set makes rhyming so much fun. The kids love seeing all of the costumes and coming up with rhyming words.

You can also use this poem to work on letters. It is so easy to differentiate this activity based on each learner’s need. For example, I may ask some students to simply identify the letters, other students to generate the letter sound, and others to think of a word that begins or ends with that letter based on their abilities!

If a student pulls a picture card on that one, they can do a little “Halloween” jig or imitate the costume they pulled. It’s totally up to you!

Holiday Pick a Card Games – Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree Pick a Card Game is always popular in December. You can use this one to practice identifying letters or numbers.

Let’s think of ways to make this differentiated based on understanding! With this version you can ask students to simply identify the number, count on beginning with that number, count backwards from the number, or even add or subtract a number from the chosen card.

These games can be played in a whole group or you can use them in centers depending on what works best for you.

Seasonal Pick a Card Games – Snow Day

Snow Day is always a fun one. Unfortunately, in TN this is sometimes the closest we get to a snow day!

For this one, we like to “sing” the poem. Students pretend that they are throwing a snowball during the song when it is their turn. If they pull out one of the people cards, they have to pretend they were smashed with a snowball!

Like the others, you can play this several ways. Students can pull a CVC card out and just read it or you could ask them to generate a rhyming word. I like to ask my ESL students to read the word and use it in a sentence.

Pick a Card Games for January and February

Of course, if your students aren’t ready for words, you can use it to work on letters or numbers.

Small groups provide the perfect time to differentiate. You may be playing the game with the words with an advanced group of students while you could easily switch out the cards for lower students as needed. It’s not likely that students even notice the different cards and are all left happy that they were able to play the Snow Day game with you.

Holiday Pick a Card Games – Valentine’s Day

Let’s move on to Valentine’s Day!

The little heart cards are perfect for practicing number recognition. Students will learn to quickly identify the numbers whether in ten frame, numeric, or tally mark form. Remember that you can always differentiate this for students by asking them to count on, add one or two to the number, subtract one from the number, etc. Really advanced students can make doubles with the number. For example, if they pull a five, they could say five plus five equals ten.

Of course, you have the option to work on other skills as needed.

Holiday Pick a Card Games – St. Patrick’s Day

This is one of my favorite poems. The kids look so adorable doing the “Leprechaun Wiggle“!

Instruct students to work on reading CVC words or generating rhyming words with this one! You can also stick to working on letters or numbers with the poem options included!

To keep it easy, if students pull a picture card without a word, they have to dance the Leprechaun Wiggle while rotating in a circle. They think this is hilarious!

Seasonal Pick a Card Games – Rainy Day

I think this one is so sweet! We play this one much like the others. Students practice reading the words or can generate rhyming words.

They also have the option of working on letter and number related skills!

Holiday Games – Hungry Bunny

Once again, you can work on a variety of skills with this fun game too!

CVC words, rhyming words, numbers, and letters are just some of the cards that you could choose to put into your container for this game. Aren’t these chocolate carrots the cutest?

Seasonal Games – Ice Cream Shake

When the weather is much warmer outside and summer is just around the corner, we love to pull out our Ice Cream Shake game. Of course you have various cards to choose from to work on CVC words, numbers, or letters but my personal favorite version are the ones shown above.

We are now working on CCVC (consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant) and CVCC (consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant) words. I typically just have my students read the word cards but of course, you could work on rhyming or ask them to use the word in a sentence. You could even ask them to write the word. I might ask my students to sky write the word which means to pretend to spell the word in the air.

Holiday & Seasonal Bundle BONUS Game – Hey Little Doggy

Hey Little Doggy is a bonus game if you purchase the BUNDLE of games for your classroom!

We use it for CVC word reading and rhyming practice. Of course, you can work on whatever skill you want to with this one too. The last time we played this I made the kids shake like a wet doggy if they pulled out a picture card. They thought it was hilarious!

Have you tried these games with your students yet? Let me know!

I’m also curious if you have read this post about differentiated task boxes? They have seriously changed my life!

Pin this image to come back to the game descriptions!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Differentiated Task Boxes to End Trips to the Copier

February 4, 2020

Differentiated Task Boxes

Differentiated Task Boxes are perfect for morning work, early finishers, centers, and reading or math groups. I’m sharing how my kindergarten students master the standards in their own individualized tasks perfect for their unique learning styles.

Frustrated with morning work? Wishing for a better routine that does not involve multiple trips to the copier? Tired of wasting paper?

Sounds familiar, right? I was right there with you until I started using these differentiated task boxes every morning with my students!

Organizational Boxes for Differentiated Task Cards

Organize Your Differentiated Task Boxes

How gorgeous are these beautiful organizational boxes from Michaels? If you keep an eye out for sales and use your teacher discount, you can purchase them for between $10 and $12. I grabbed four or five the last time I saw them at that price and then I waited… what to do… what to do….

Mini-Eraser Task Boxes

I absolutely love using these task boxes to store my seasonal mini-erasers and task cards. Kids can easily grab a set of task cards and choose what set of erasers they want to use to complete the task.

These Christmas task cards are always a big hit with my students. There is something so special about having a choice and selecting your favorite mini-erasers. Look for more task card sets and a blog post to come soon!

Goodbye Morning Work – Hello Differentiated Task Boxes!

Now back to the differentiated task box idea!

One of my colleague has a very smooth morning routine. I am constantly impressed when I enter and see all of the students busy with purposeful tasks. The key here is that the tasks are engaging and purposeful!

One thing she has her students do each morning is line numbers up in the correct order. She made little cards by writing the numbers on each one for each child. My student teacher and I set out to imitate her idea and make it work for our classroom.

The Problem

My student teacher cut out index cards and carefully made a box for each student. While we loved the idea, we quickly had students losing cards, accidentally mixing up cards with other students, and so on.

It started to get frustrating. I realized it was time to get creative to fix our problem.

Differentiated Task Boxes are Born!

I really started to think about all of the tasks that students could do independently in the morning or any time of day, really. I stayed up late night after night to make sure I included a huge selection of choices to fill your differentiated task boxes and reach the standards.

Editable Labels for Your Differentiated Task Boxes

Because we implement full flexible seating, we do not have name tags on a table. My students needed a place to check the number line, ABC order, color words, etc. To help, I created an editable label for the boxes. Now teachers have the choice if they would like to use a simple label like the one shown above or one with various references for young children, like the one you see below.

I Can Statements

As a former evaluator, I know how important it is to include I Can statements with my lessons. I made editable I Can cards along with lots of options so that teachers can easily include an appropriate I Can statement in each task box. This is helpful for the student to understand the task and for any adult who is helping to know what the learning objective is.

Options for Differentiated Task Boxes

You will find so many ways to create individualized boxes for your students. Gosh, I just love the idea of every single student working on a task that is created specifically for them. Can you imagine when your administration comes in and sees each student working on differentiated tasks? Pure magic!

I wanted you to have everything you needed to stay organized. You can use a photo box to store the cards or you may want to sort them into bags. I recommend placing the sorting card in front and the corresponding I Can statement cards behind them. Then I add the cards students will need to complete those tasks. Sometimes I print these on white cardstock or on colored paper and laminate them.

Sorting Examples for Differentiated Task Cards

Student Names

At the beginning of the year, all of my students can use practice lining the letters of their names up in order. As the year goes on, I can also ask them to spell their last names. This is such an important skill. Even if students can already spell their names, it is helpful to look at the letters to practice letter formation and recognition.

Consider asking students to point to each letter and say it for you before they clean up or even trace each letter with a finger while they spell their names aloud to you!

Number Order

Students will also work on placing numbers in the correct order. For some, this might just be numbers one through five. Other students might work on numbers one through ten or one through twenty, or even one through one hundred!

Counting On

My advanced students will soon work on counting on. For example, you can give them numbers 6,7,8, and 9 along with 19, 20, 21, and 22, along with 40, 41, 42, and 43, etc. I think you get the point. Students will have to “count up” three numbers from each beginning number. You can challenge students by making all of the cards in their box the same color or provide some support by making each group a different color. In the above example, the numbers 14-17 could be printed on pink paper, 21-24 could be printed on green paper, etc. This gives students an easy way to sort the cards first.

Counting by 10’s

Students can work on counting by tens by lining up the numbers in the correct order as shown here.

Counting by 5’s

Just like counting by 10’s, students can also be challenged to place the numbers in the correct order when counting by 5’s. Remember that whatever skill they are working on, it is important that you or someone else checks the work before they clean up. I like to walk around asking the students to point to each number as they say them aloud. I can offer support as needed this way.

Number Sorts

I also love to have my students pair or sort the numbers. You could simply put the ten frame and dice together or give students multiple options for each depending on their ability. Remember that you don’t always have to include every card. Scaffold the tasks according to student understanding.

Number Words

You can also see how students would be working on reading and understanding number words. Remember that the I can’s are editable so teachers are able to create their own statements as needed.

Shape Sorts

One skill that we have to spend some time in kindergarten working on is the ability to sort and understand flat and solid shapes. I’ve included these with two different headings so you can find the one that works for you (flat vs. solid or 2D vs. 3D.)

Letter Order

For extra ELA practice, students can work on lining the letters up in alphabetical order.

Pairing Uppercase and Lowercase Letters

Another activity option is to ask students to pair upper and lowercase letters. You could print these on two different colors for students who need extra support differentiating between the two types of letter formation.

As I said before, my students raise their hands when they are finished with their task and I walk around the room to do a quick assessment of their understanding. I may ask students to trace the letters with their fingers or say each letter or letter sound as they point to the cards for me.

CVC Words

Students will also have a blast spelling CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. I just love incorporating these words whenever I can because it is the first time I get to see that little light bulb go off when students realizing they are ACTUALLY READING!

There are two options included so you can choose what works best for each student. Many students will need the word on the bottom of the card while others can figure it out and spell the word using just the picture.

CVCC and CCVC Words

The next step after students master CVC words is to start working on blends with CCVC and CVCC words. If you are unfamiliar with those abbreviations, “rink” as shown above would be a CVCC word because it is spelled in the consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant pattern.

Chop is spelled in a consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant or CCVC pattern. Look at these two different examples. In the first one, the student has the word support while the other task simply has a picture.

Rhyming Words

Man, rhyming words can be so difficult for young students! ESL students can really struggle. When you are learning a new language, the emphasis is often placed on the beginning of the word. It can be very hard for them to hear the ending sounds necessary to pair rhyming words.

There are lots of cards included to help your students work on rhyming.

Think about your students and how much they can handle before filling their boxes with fifty cards. For instance, my daughter, Aniston, may have to put her name cards in order, pair five sets of rhyming cards, and sort shapes. You may have another student who is spelling CCVC words while yet another is still working on pairing letters. These differentiated task boxes are designed to accommodate each student’s learning needs!

You will find three and four letter rhyming words to choose from with or without the word written on the bottom of the card!

Opposites

I feel like opposites get pushed to the back burner! They don’t take too long to teach but we often forget to really work on them. Again, you will find them with or without the word support on the bottom of each card. It is vital that you ask students to go over their pairings with you.

Differentiated Task Boxes work well if students are assessed on their understanding. I can’t trust that every student does this correctly. It is imperative that you spend time walking around offering support to students as needed. As an idea, in the example below, I may have to explain that the turtle is slow while the tiger is fast.

Differentiated Task Boxes - Sorting Opposites

Syllable Sort

Can you tell that I had a lot of fun making these yet? I spent so long making sure you would have tons of choices for each student!

We use these cards to sort the syllables in each word. This is a favorite option for my students!

It’s Time!

Cn you see how these will simplify your life? I love that they make each morning so much smoother in my classroom but can really be used any time of the day!

Pin this image so you can come back to the explanation of differentiated task boxes as needed! You can click any of the above photos to find this resource in my TPT store.

Looking for more fun ideas for children? Have you tried this Edible 2 Ingredient play dough yet?

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Thanksgiving Projects, Crafts, and a Fun Freebie

November 28, 2019

These thanksgiving crafts, activities, centers, and STEM projects will keep preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students engaged during the month of November! I’m also sharing costume and more fun ideas!

Thanksgiving STEM Project for Preschool, Kindergarten, First, or Second Grade

Thanksgiving is the Perfect Time of Year

I just love this time of year! The weather is FINALLY cooling down, my kindergarten students are starting to really get the hang of things, and I’m seeing some major progress with what they are learning!

We like to schedule our pumpkin patch field trip for the day after Halloween. We find November to be less crowded and its the perfect school day activity with all of those sugared-up kids!

My daughter, Aniston, and I had these coordinating shirts made for the occasion!

Thanksgiving Whole Class Sorting and Labeling Activity

I like to kick off the season with this adorable labeling activity. We begin by reading about the first Thanksgiving. I’m aware that there has been a lot of controversy over how to discuss this event in history. I try to be careful about how I talk about it with my students.

In the end, there really was a 3 day feast that the Native Americans were invited to so we spend time sorting present day Thanksgiving pictures and past.

Whole Class Labeling and Sorting Thanksgiving Activity

Labeling is such a good pre-reading and writing skill so I love the way these extra large tables really drive home the concept.

Time for Thanksgiving

All of the activities I’m discussing today are from my Thanksgiving packet on TPT. You can find this 180 page resource to help you by clicking on the cover below.

Thanksgiving Resource on Teachers Pay Teachers for Preschool through Second Grade

Thanksgiving STEM Challenge

This STEM project is so much fun! Students are challenged to build a Thanksgiving table. Advanced students receive more pieces of food. There are planning and reflection sheets included along with the most adorable pieces for dinner!

My students have a lot of fun working with a friend on this one.

Students building Thanksgiving Dinner Table STEM project

I love how each student sees things so differently.

Students building Thanksgiving Dinner Table

Some just work on tables while others will try to build benches and chairs for their tables.

This little boy had an interesting approach! In the end, he was able to fit several pieces of food on it.

My daughter had a goal of making the longest table possible!

One thing I love about STEM projects is how some of your advanced students will really go through a productive struggle while others can visualize and plan the project easily. STEM gives everyone a chance to shine!

This table is from last year’s group. Last year the students colored their pieces of food before cutting them out. I just know your kids are going to love this challenge!

Thanksgiving Books

Have you read Karma Wilson’s books about Bear? I’ve linked to my favorite books on Amazon. These are affiliate links which means if you purchase, I earn a small percentage to keep this blog going!

I affectionately refer to them as the “Bear Books”. Bear Snores On is the first in the series but there are so many good ones! Bear Stays up for Christmas is another really good one if you are starting to prep for December. If you don’t have them yet, I encourage you to start a collection!

Anyways, I LOVE using these books to teach about verbs. Karma Wilson is a master of using beautiful language and the verbs have so many shades of meaning to them. I like to ask students to act them out as I read the books. This one called Bear Gives Thanks is perfect for this time of year!

Do you have these I Can statements yet? This is one of my best-selling resources for kindergarten and first grade teachers. You can find them for Florida or Tennessee or aligned with Common Core standards. They have a student-friendly I can statement at the top, the full standard for teacher reference at the bottom, and an adorable picture to go along with it. They come in color or black and white and I’ve recently added EDITABLE pages! We use them daily in our classroom!

Thanksgiving Number Recognition, Number Words, and Fine Motor Practice

Turkey Craft for Number Recognition and Number Order

I like to make this turkey sample for my students using the pieces from my Thanksgiving packet. We work on writing number words and the numbers on the feather. The kids love building their turkeys and they look so cute in the hall!

Turkey Display Craft for Number Recognition and Counting Practice

Turkey Trouble

Do you read Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano to your students?

We’ve always loved this one. I also own the Turkey Trick or Treat Halloween version and the Turkey Claus Christmas version. They are all so good!

Hide the Turkey STEM

Craft Supplies for November STEM Project

You’ll find one more STEM project included in the packet that asks students to hide poor turkey. They love this one and your students can create all of it with some scrap fabric, craft sticks, and clothespins!

Turkey Handprint Craft

I loved making these turkey handprint crafts with my kids. Cut a piece of cardstock in half, paint their hands brown, and allow the handprints to dry. Before long, you can add the rest of the turkey using permanent markers. Use hot glue to add feathers and a ribbon to the top so you can hang these. I think they are so adorable! I got this idea from Michelle Hudgens from the blog Smitten with First. Let me just go ahead and warn you that the feathers will shed everywhere but it was so worth it!

My Little Turkeys

We decided to dress up as little turkeys. These feathers were cut using a die-cut in our workroom. We added a line of glue and let the kids sprinkle glitter on top. Aniston is modeling for you above!

Feathers for Thanksgiving Turkey Costume

We let the students color sentence strips and then we assembled the headbands for them using a stapler.

My assistant found some brown bags from a local grocery store. She paid $3.00 for around 20 of them. She cut out large white circles and smaller black circles to be the eyes, orange beaks, and red wattles. We let the kids assemble the faces however they liked. I wish I could show you each of their costumes. Even though they had the same pieces, they all came out a little differently.

Aniston’s Grandpa Mickey and little sister came to eat with her. Each student presented their parents with the handprint keepsake during the lunch!

I seriously couldn’t take how cute my daughter looked! As you can imagine, all 18 of my kids were absolutely adorable waddling down the hall in these!

Aniston liked her costume so much that she wanted to wear it for the family thanksgiving. She made one for Heidi too!

Listening Center

A Turkey for Thanksgiving Book and Audio Set

I had a good laugh when I handed this book and cassette tape to my student teacher because she was so confused about how to play it! I guess I forget how old I am! Seriously though, this book is so cute. It’s one of my very favorite books for this time of year. The audio version is so good too! Maybe you can find it on an updated version that is NOT on cassette tape! 🙂

Home Depot and Lowes Kids Workshop

On a side note, have you taken your kids to do the Home Depot and Lowes Kids Workshops yet? The Home Depot ones are on the first Saturday of the month. There is also an extra one on the Saturday after Black Friday. They don’t advertise this one as much so many people don’t realize it! You can head here to read an old blog post about these!

Lowes is testing out doing the projects again in select areas. In our neighboring town, they are having them on the second Saturday of the month. I just LOVED the little turkey photo frames they made. (The girls are into silly faces. Can you tell?) Both Lowes and Home Depot present you with aprons and the project. You collect pins with each project at HD and iron-on badges with each project from Lowes. Lowes also sent us home with goggles. These are a must do for your classroom.

You can also ask them to donate extra projects to your classroom or conduct kids workshops at your school. I’ve had them do both for mine!

Poinsettias for the Whole Class on Black Friday! – A Lesson on Kindness

Speaking of Home Depot, I always purchase around 40 poinsettias there for $1 each on Black Friday. I let each student write a card (free in my TPT store) to someone who has helped them this school year. They hand-deliver the poinsettias and it has become quite the tradition in my school. Head here to read more about it!

Turkey Wobble Freebie

Are you ready for the FREEBIE yet? I just know your students are going to love it! We use these cards to put the song in order and practice saying it first.

Free Turkey Wobble Game to practice Letter Recognition and Sounds

When everyone knows the song pretty good, we begin the game. I call one student up and sing “Hey Little Buddy, do the Turkey Wobble!” They have to dance around a little. Then they sing to the turkey container “Hey Turkey, Turkey, what letter did you gobble?” If they pull a letter card, they have to tell what letter it is. You can also ask them to make the sound or come up with words that begin or end with that sound. I differentiate it based on each student’s prior knowledge.

Free Turkey Wobble Game for Letter Recognition and Sounds

If the child chooses a turkey card, they have to do the wobble. I usually ask them to “flap their wings” and wobble in a circle for this. They always erupt in giggles watching their friends do the turkey wobble!

Head over here to grab your FREE turkey wobble game!

I hope you enjoy some of these activities with your students! Let me know if you can use these ideas in your classroom or with your little ones!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

The Pumpkin Smasher Freebie – Prediction and Writing

October 22, 2019

The Pumpkin Smasher is the perfect book to work on prediction and writing skills with young students. I’m sharing this freebie with all newsletter subscribers this week and how we use this adorable Halloween craft and the activities to study essential skills!

The Pumpkin Smasher

Have you read this book? I like to say it is an oldie but a goodie!

It’s the cutest story. It was first published in 1972 and written by Anita Bernarde. The story revolves around a small town where all of the pumpkins keep getting smashed. The townsfolk finally figure out that the pumpkin smasher is a witch and they find a way to trick her out of messing up the pumpkins again.

The Pumpkin Smasher Prediction

I like to pause on the page before the culprit is revealed for the kids to complete the writing page. While it isn’t necessary to have, it does make this freebie even more fun for your students!

First, I put these word wall cards up.

I like using this apple pocket chart at the front of the room. All of my students can easily see the words and pull the words down as needed.

Prediction Writing Practice

Students make predictions about who they think the pumpkin smasher is. I like to display a sample like the one above.

I teach kindergarten so I often have students simply write one word at this point in the school year.

Other students attempt to write the entire sentence following my example.

Testing our Predictions

I bring the students back together to reread the entire book. I always read it again starting from the beginning. The kids are so excited to find out that it was a witch!

Pumpkin “Carving”

Next, we create our own pumpkins. Students choose between 2 options.

I ask students to color their pumpkins and cut them out. They really enjoy this simple art project. I like to give them an example to follow but also give them the freedom to color it whatever color desired.

You always have some students who follow your lead and others who go their own way!

The Fun Part

While the students are out of the room, I quickly cut the pumpkins into about 5 or 6 pieces. I also like to place a piece of candy on top of each pile.

The candy is important because some of your kids will get upset that their pumpkin has been “smashed”!

You can place the pieces in a pile or around their prediction writing.

The Surprise

I wrote up this funny little poem for you to display when your students return. As you can imagine, the kids are quite shocked and some are even jumping up and down with excitement!

I captured this look on my daughter’s face. (Yes, she’s in my kindergarten class!)

Putting the Pieces Together

Next I show them how we can put our pumpkins back together in the same way that we work on puzzles.

I give each student a piece of construction paper and encourage them to piece their pumpkins back together by gluing them onto the purple sheet.

Some will have no trouble figuring it out.

Some have orange pumpkins and some have colorful pumpkins!

I actually get a kick out of the ones who mess a piece or two up. I think it really shows what happened to our pumpkins!

Here’s another one who might have a piece or two in the wrong spot.

The kids really enjoy this part. You might also notice a few smudges from all of the candy they were devouring!

Hallway Display Craft

I show the students the examples above. In the newsletter freebie, you will find these words for students to trace and cut out.

I encourage students to use the word wall cards as needed to write who they think the pumpkin smasher is in the last box.

If you really wanted to keep things neat, you could precut the words for them. I like for my students to get cutting practice and I’m all about saving my own time. The messiness of it doesn’t bother me a bit.

Finished Products

Here’s a look at some of the finished crafts!

If you read the book first, you will have plenty of kids who truly believe the Pumpkin Smasher Witch came to your classroom!

This one turned out to be one of my favorites!

I typically have a few students write that they think it was Mrs. Statum or another teacher in the building.

Family Time

Speaking of pumpkins, my family had the best time at the pumpkin patch last weekend!

I hope you’re enjoying this Fall weather too. It’s my favorite season!

What do you think? Will you enjoy using this freebie with your students? Let me know in the comments!

Are you looking for more Halloween activities to do with your students?

I know your kids will love learning about The Chocolate Chip Ghost! It is one of my favorite units of the year!

Have you studied The 5 Little Pumpkins yet? Check out this unit, it works especially good if you need to stay away from non-Halloween type stories.

You could try making these easy and adorable Jack-O-Lantern candleholders!

This Room on the Broom Freebie is another reader favorite!

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

Make October Exciting with The Chocolate Chip Ghost

October 20, 2019

This Chocolate Chip Ghost unit will have your students engaged and excited for Halloween! My students love the friendly, non-spooky, and predictable nature of this adorable story.

The Chocolate Chip Ghost

We’ve been gearing up for Halloween with one of my favorite units about the 5 Little Pumpkins. I can’t wait to share how this next unit went over with my students!

Have you ever heard of The Chocolate Chip Ghost? It is the sweetest story passed down by preschool teachers using flannel boards. Basically the mommy ghost heads to the store for more vanilla ice cream and white milk. She warns the ghosts not to eat anything while she is gone. The first little ghost eats grapes causing her to turn purple. I bet you can guess what happens to the 5th little ghost!

Books have been created based on this story but you don’t need one for this unit. I’ve included my own retelling that you will be able to read aloud.

My children love predicting what will happen to the second, third, fourth, and fifth ghosts after hearing what happens to the first one!

Reading The Chocolate Chip Ghost

You can read the story using this unique paper towel retell craft. I always include one in color for you to use as a sample and one in black and white in case your students would like to make one.

You begin with all of the ghosts pulled to the white side. As you retell the story, you twist the pieces to the food picture before turning it to the color side. It works out perfectly!

Recently I asked my students to lay on their bellies while I used the house retell craft to tell the story.

This unconventional way of telling the story was so fun!

As you can see, the back of the house has a pocket to store all of your pieces. I begin with the white ghosts and flip them over to their color side when they eat the corresponding food.

My students always love creating their own house craft.

Lots of parents have told me how much they enjoyed hearing their children retell the story at home!

I even hear students going over the sequence of events during recess!

Making Masks

Because it’s such a simple story, it’s perfect for working on identifying the characters, setting, and events.

Do you use masks to retell stories? We love to color these, cut them out, and attach them to popsicle sticks. Quick hack for your teacher sample: Make a pocket on the back of the mask to slide the craft stick or ruler into. Then you can slide it out and pack it away easily for the next year!

Creating Headbands

The kids also look so cute wearing these headbands down the hall. So simple, especially if you just staple them to sentence strips.

Word Wall Cards

I think these word wall cards are so helpful when my students are learning to write! Do you use word wall cards in your classroom? I’d love to know!

Color Words

This story is ideal for working on color word recognition and spelling. There are many sheets included so students can practice sight words, such as “is” or “see” while also practicing color words and writing sentences.

You can see some examples of the sheets we used in the thumbnail below.

I love the sheet in the middle. Students practice writing “see” and a color word. Then they color the ghost accordingly. This is such a nice way to build confidence in writing sentences. The kids love that all of their papers look different depending on what color they chose.

Hallway Display

If you look at the last image, you will see the simple page I use to display a painting and writing craft in the hallway. Students choose a food that their ghost might eat, write it on the line, and write what color it would change their ghost into.

Then they paint their ghosts the correct color using water paints. It’s such a simple way to get painting practice in!

After they dry, the kids cut out their ghosts and add them to a piece of black paper. Aren’t these adorable?

I love the BROCCOLI one!

When they are assembled they look PERFECT in the hallway. This is EXACTLY what kindergarten students should be working on at this time of year. If you have first or second grade students, a different writing page included in the packet would work for you.

I think this would be great for preschool too with a little more guidance!

Chocolate Chip Ghost STEM

Have you been waiting to read about the STEM project? It’s probably my students’ favorite part of the week.

The planning and reflection sheets are so important and included in the product. I speak at a lot of conferences about STEM and this is something I repeatedly hear from people who have struggled to implement STEM in their classrooms.

Give your students time to think first and THEN plan before you even start to pass out materials.

The set-up for this one is super simple and it is seriously one of the most popular projects of the year. You can find more info in the resource!

I love this photo that caught their tower in the middle of tumbling down!

This one was really tall!

With parent permission, I’ll share this photo of these two. After I took these photos I went back and laughed so hard about all of the facial expressions this little boy had when they were trying to build their tower!

What do you think about this unit? Would your kids love it as much as mine do? The image below shows the class and individual books and math worksheets that I didn’t even get to tell you about!

Pin this image so you can find this post later!

Looking for more Halloween activities?

Make sure to read about our fun with The 5 Little Pumpkins and grab this freebie to go along with the Room on the Broom book!

You might also like reading about our easy DIY jack-o-lantern candleholders!

What do you think about this unit? Would your kids love it as much as mine do? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Mommy-ing & Teaching this week friends!

Room on the Broom Sequencing Freebie for Halloween

October 14, 2019

Your students will love these Room on the Broom sequencing activities. Work on retelling the story, identifying characters, and more with this freebie I’m sharing today!

Julia Donaldson – A Favorite Author!

Aw! Julia Donaldson is one of my favorite authors. It all began when I read the Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child for the first time. I fell in love with her rhyme, rhythm, and unique stories. So much so that I spend a whole unit over these two books incorporating lots of writing, math, and reading practice! There are several blog posts I’ve written about these. You can begin here if you want to find out more about those.

Room on the Broom is one of the sweetest Halloween books. I’m not one to go for anything scary in my classroom but Julia is spot on with this story about a friendly witch who helps others and is returned the favor at the end of the book.

Optional Accessories and Props for Room on the Broom Sequencing

I found this sequin hat and witch’s broom that I just knew would be the perfect addition to our read-aloud this year. Right before I began, I tugged the hat on, mounted the broom, and rode around the room pretending to be a happy witch and talking to the kids. They thought that was quite hilarious and I had their interest peaked immediately!

It was so nice to have the hat because as I read that part of the book, my hat went flying off. I acted out some of the book as I read and the kids really ate that up.

Room on the Broom Sequencing

You will receive all of these pages that go along with the book. We started with this Room on the Broom sequencing sheet. The students color the characters from the book. Then they cut out the squares and glue them in the correct order to retell the story.

Since we haven’t been in kindergarten too long, I walk around encouraging students. I show them how to hold their hands when coloring, using scissors, and glueing.

The kids really enjoyed this activity. I’ve also included a writing page if you would like to create your own prompt. It’s always fun to ask the students to design their own magnificent broom. Consider asking them to make predictions before reading the book or to write about their favorite part of the story.

Now on to the really fun part. You should hear the squeals of excitement when they find out they get to create their own brooms!

I’ve included a color version so you can create a sample in no time. I precut the broom handles. I use the long construction paper and cut it once long ways down the middle and then I cut those 2 pieces down the middle long ways. This gives me 4 sections from each sheet. I like that I only use up about 5 long pieces for my whole class.

Is this making sense? You can watch an IGTV video I made of the process. Head here to follow me on instagram and to find the fast-paced video in my IGTV videos!

For the head of the broom, you just curve the edges of one short side of a regular sheet of yellow construction paper. Then I let the kids cut the pages to about the midpoint to create the bristles by themselves! They really enjoy this part.

Students color and cut out the characters, trace the words to label the pieces, and then assemble the broom! You will find more detailed instructions in the freebie on TPT. I hope your students absolutely love making these!

Hop over here to grab your FREE resource and please pin this image for future reference!

Fun Halloween Units

Let me know if this will be helpful in your classroom or homeschool group.

If you need MORE ideas for fun Halloween units, head over here to read about all of the activities we use to study the beloved 5 Little Pumpkins poem!

Two of my other favorite Halloween units are all about The Chocolate Chip Ghost and The Hallo-weiner. Make sure to check those out for lots of fun during this time of year!

Happy Mommy-ing & Teaching this week friends!