I LOVE Sight Words!

I can officially say the end of the year is feeling close now! Today was my last instructional day of the after school program! Our official last day is Thursday and we are having a pizza party. Of course it has to be right when I decide to start eating healthy (I have said that before though!). Well, with the after school program coming to an end I had to go out with a BANG! They worked so hard for months on end and have learned so much! I am so proud of them! They deserved the extra fun this week! Check out what we did!

 

 

We played SIGHT WORD MUSICAL SPOTS, yes musical spots! I purchased these flower cut-outs from Michael's for $2.99 (plus the 15% teacher discount that I never knew we got! Ahh!). So, here is how you play...

 

• It is played much like musical chairs, but in a less, well, aggressive way! We all know how intense musical chairs can get sometimes. Anyways, the amount of spots or flowers you need depends on the amount of students in your group. My after school group only has 8 so I needed 28 flowers. I wrote "about" on 7 flowers, "any" on 6 flowers, "every" on 5 flowers, "just" on 4 flowers, "our" on 3 flowers, "could" on 2 flowers, and lastly, "then" on 1. This made it so one student got out each round. The students were very great sports about getting out! I just let them help me control my Pandora radio and call out the next word!
• I randomly laid out the flower spots all over the classroom floor. Like this...

• I played the music and the students began dancing around the room! They loved this part and the fact that I had Alvin & the Chipmunks on my phone!

 

• When the music stopped I called out the words in order (about, any, every, just, our, could, then). This way one student got out each round. As a variation, you could do enough of the same word so that no one gets out, however, the students enjoyed the excitement of the elimination.

 

The kiddos had soooo much fun! It was a great last day!

 

 

As for other fun, our group did sight word discovery bottles with glow-in-the-dark rice! OMG, it was a BLAST!!! Check out the pics!

 

 

I got white rice from Wal-Mart for $3.50 for 5lbs of rice. One bag was plenty to make 8 discovery bottles. I purchased glow-in-the-dark paint and simply mixed each color with some of the rice. I found that using zip-loc baggies was nearly mess free! I added a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol to each color bag to help the paint dry faster. After letting the baggies sit and dry overnight (with zip-loc open), I mixed all the colors together in one bowl. Lastly, let the rice charge in the sun and then there you have it, glow-in-the-dark rice!

 

 

 

After making the rice, I purchased glow sticks from the Dollar Tree (15 for $1) and added one stick to each water bottle. Then I filled each water bottle with 3 sight words (Be sure they are double-sided so they can be read regardless of which way they are shaken.). Fill the rice about 3/4 of the way full to allow the rice to move around the water bottle.

 

Let me just tell you, the students LOVED this! The students had to find the 3 words in his/her bottle and use the words in sentences before getting a new bottle. The children were so motivated and wrote some great sentences using their words! You better believe I saved that rice too! I plan on doing this activity again sometime!

 

Even with the lights off, the glow was enough to see the words. Being that the classroom isn't pitch black, it was perfect! I HIGHLY recommend a black light if you can get one! The rice glows so much more with the black light. I know you are probably thinking who really has a black light lying around?! Well, you probably don't! But, no worries because a black light can be purchased for a cheap $11 at Wal-Mart!

 

Okay, okay, I have rambled enough! I hope I didn't overwhelm you too much?! Either way, thanks so much for stopping by! I have some more exciting things to share with you tomorrow! I can't wait! Talk to you all soon! ;-)

 

New Common Core Product & Updates for You! ;-)

Click the picture to get your own copy
from my TpT store!

       Hi everyone! Sorry about being MIA for the past few weeks, but I have been working hard on new TpT products, applying for jobs (yes, I will tell you all about it!) and enjoying the sunshine we have had here in Rhode Island. I can't express to you how much I appreciate the heat after the winter we had this year! Yesterday was 70 degrees and today was 62! A-MEN! I am so looking forward to summer! Well, as I said I have been working on new TpT products and my newest one is there on the left. It is a new, fun multiplication game that I made up. The students love it! Here is what they have said about it...

“I love Ka-Pow! You never know who is going to win so it is exciting!”

“Multiplication is so fun now!”

OR, my favorite....

 

“Miss Parker can we stay in for recess and play Ka-Pow?!”

       I am really excited that the students enjoyed it so much! I will be creating an addition and subtraction version this week, as well. Check back for the update on when it will be ready!

 

       Besides this game, I have been working non-stop (well pretty much anyways) on my new nonfiction product that will be ready in about a week! It has lots of fun nonfiction passages and activities to use with them. Being that the Common Core is so focused on nonfiction, I am happy I put the time and effort into this product. I know it will be useful and the students have loved the ones we used so far. It is targeted towards grades 2 and 3. I can't wait for you all to see it.

 

       As promised, I want to quickly tell you about my job that I am applying for. Ok, well a district by me is going to full day kindergarten so there are 4 openings! Yes, 4! I am so thrilled that it even came up on School Spring. The teaching jobs in RI are very hard to come by! Therefore, I am pretty much praying, crossing my fingers, and wishing as much as possible. Haha! I keep telling myself that whatever is meant to be will be so to not stress so much. Still, it is hard! I will keep you posted if I hear anything!

 

       Oh, and one last thing just for fun. Yesterday, one of the little girls came up to me and said she drew a picture of me. While I have gotten plenty of them and they are all uniquely special, this one was so well done! She got down to every little detail! I figured I share it! So, what do you think? Do you see the resemblance? Hehe! ;-)

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Talk to you all again soon!

Winter Storm Nemo, New TpT Product, & Valentine's Day SALE!!!

MY POWER IS BACK ON!!! I have been trapped in the house for two days with no electricity! Can you say blogging withdrawals!?! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate electricity now! Winter storm Nemo really wasn’t kidding. At first I was thinking it can’t be that bad, but once that snow started coming down I knew Rhode Island was not going to forget this one! We got 20” of snow! Yes, 20 inches! Not to mention the snow drifts that are about 3 feet high! Thank goodness my boyfriend was willing to do the shoveling because while I offered to help, both of us knew I would be more in the way than any help! So, I helped myself to some hot coca and took some pictures of all the snow! Here are some of the pictures!

The cars are not getting out for a while!!!

I must say the snow does look pretty! (All 20" of it!)

Backyard BBQ anyone?!

Check out the mounds of snow! Unbelievable!

Well, while I was stuck without electricity, I decided to catch up on some of the reading I told myself I would get to. I spent a lot of time reading some great Lucy Calkins books and a Richard Allington book I bought a few months back. I was able to get some great reading ideas and just have some peace and quiet......then ZING, the power! Books went away and I got back to my latest TpT resource! (I can’t help it, I am addicted!) So, after lots of hours playing catch up on all the time I couldn’t work on my product this weekend, my "Pirate Math Games & Center Fun" product is D-O-N-E! This new product is aligned with the COMMON CORE and is stacked with fun activities! I swear you will want to play these games too! So, here it is! Check it out below!

Also, some more GREAT news! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I want to be sure everyone is all stocked up for their little kiddos. Therefore, both of my Valentine’s Day products will be 15% off today through Thursday! Be sure to check those products out along with my Valentine’s Day Addition & Subtraction FREEBIE! Happy shopping!!!

Kayla

Bargain Shopping & Valentine's Day FREEBIE!!!

Hi bloggers! I have a few things to share with you tonight! First of all, I am SOOO excited about my newest bargains. As you know, I have started my new after school job and I just love it! I have been working with my students on sight word recognition in isolation and in context. Well, I figured that since this is an after school program and these students are already tired, I have to make this program as fun and engaging as possible. So, I went out to the Dollar Tree and did some digging around. I ended up finding these party platter dishes that I am using to represent the water. You are probably wondering why I didn’t just use a piece of blue construction paper; I didn’t use that because this platter is a great way to hold the fish and the cards. The center, normally used for a dipping sauce, comfortably holds the playing cards. As for the fish, I got those for .50 cents at Michael's. Yes, 36 Dr. Seuss fish for only .50 cents! Even though they are a little big for the party platter, they still work! And lastly, the fishing poles are just wooden dowels I had my dad cut up and sand the ends for me. I hot glued magnets to the fish and the ends of the poles and viola, new sight word game! All in all, the total cost $4! I can’t wait to try this game out with my students!

Also, on my Dollar Tree bargain hunt, I found these HUGE fly swatters! Yes, they are large! I probably should have placed an object next to them so you could see exactly how big they are. Roughly, the net portion is just about the size of a piece of paper. Now, these fly swatters will surely be a hit with my students. I will use them for the swatting sight word game I have planned for the next coming weeks. I can’t wait for the students to see these! I am not sure though, I might actually be more excited about the swatters than my students will be. I will definitely post some pictures when we play!

Now, lastly, I am so excited to announce that I have created a brand new FREEBIE! This freebie is the Valentine’s Day version of my “Addition & Subtraction at the North Pole” product. In the “Valentine’s Day Addition & Subtraction” packet, your students will use addition and subtraction to solve word problems, figure out the secret message on the valentine, help Zoey deliver her valentines, color a valentine penguin by number, and finally, play the box of chocolate addition game! I am really hoping you check it out! Please feel free to contact me with any questions!! Also, as always, your feedback is appreciated! ;-) Thanks for stopping by!

YAY! My 1st GIVEAWAY!!! ;-)

Yay! It's my first giveaway! I am really excited for this and I hope you are too! Being that I have been blogging for a few months now and have a few items up on TpT, I figured why not?!? This will be my chance to meet a few new blogging friends and find out about some great blogs out there too! So, here we go! All you have to do is be one of the first 3 people to follow my TpT store and leave a comment on this post with the item you want! (Don’t forget your email too!) I am offering 3 items, and you can choose the one you want! The 3 choices are right below! ;-) Click the pictures to find out more info on each one!

This is my newest product! It is perfect for the big SUPERBOWL game coming up! In this telling time game, students race to the end zone and try to rack up the points! This COMMON CORE aligned game is perfect for your students!

This COMMON CORE aligned product is great for your little kindergarteners! In this Valentine’s Day game, your students have to be the first to fill up their wheelbarrows with ten valentines. But, oh no, watch out for the cat who will snatch your valentines right up! Also, this product includes a worksheet and color by number activity too!

This product is one of my best sellers! Cookie Ten Frames! This COMMON CORE aligned product includes 3 worksheets that are perfect for helping your students practice and visualize the facts of 10. Also, this product includes larger ten frames that are used for the fun, fast-paced game!

So, everyone check it out! I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Football & A New TpT Product!!!

Back to school tomorrow! I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend! I sure did! I did a whole lot of nothing! Well, except for last night! I went to the Patriots game! And yes, if you are wondering, I am still so bummed we lost! If any of you are football fans like me, then you know the disappointing feeling when your home team loses! Such a bummer!!! Either way, my boyfriend and I still had soooo much fun. The loss didn’t make for the best ending, but I can’t complain. I spent the night off having fun with my favorite guy in the world! Here is picture of us!

While my team might have lost, I am still in football mode! I am working on a fun football time game that should be done tomorrow. Just in time for the SUPERBOWL! Woohoo!!! (Guess I will go for the 49’s now.) But, until then, I have spent some time putting together a new Valentine’s Day product that I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! It came out really cute! This product is full of math and literacy fun for your little kiddos! Be sure to check it out HERE! :-)

Valentine's Day Delivery - COMMON CORE ALIGNED

Valentine's Day is right around the corner! Just about a month away already! Therefore, I decided what better way to spend my Saturday than to make a new TpT product! (Some may think I am crazy for wanting to do this on my day off, but I love it!) In my new product called "Valentine's Day Delivery", I made a cute file folder game and a couple worksheets. The game and worksheets are perfect for your little kindergarteners! In the game your students must fill their wheelbarrows with 10 valentines. Students take turns spinning the spinner and adding and subtracting valentines from their wheelbarrows. The winner is the first person to fill his/her wheelbarrow with 10 valentines. In one worksheet, students look at the number shown and draw that many valentines in the box. (Numbers 1-10) The other worksheet is a color by number activity, one for boys and one for girls!

Included in this packet is a colored game board, a game board without the background, and lastly, the black and white version. Playing pieces are colored or b & w, as well. This product is perfect for a math center or small group activity! The worksheets allow students to work independently, as well. It is aligned with the Common Core Standards for kindergarten. You can feel confident that your students are not only working towards the standard, but having fun as well! I mean, what kindergartener doesn’t love games, drawing and coloring?!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. My email is kaylaparker989@yahoo.com. Thank you for stopping by!

Click HERE to grab your copy of the Valentine's Day Delivery product!

Vroom Vroom Vowels!!!

Wow! I finished my 2nd resource and just in time to put it up for Cyber Monday! I have done A LOT of shopping! It is unbelievable how many amazing resources are available on TPT and for such great prices. As for my latest resource, I made a series of games called “VROOM VROOM Vowels!” It is aligned with the Common Core standards and targeted for 1st and 2nd graders. I used this game in my student teaching class and it was a huge hit with the students! They always asked me if they could play it! There are 5 games, one for each vowel! These games are available in a 42 slide packet at my Teachers Pay Teachersstore. I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions you might have! Thanks!!!

Click HERE to grab your copy of Vroom Vroom Vowels!