GENRE FREEBIE

In continuing my 100 follower celebration, I have a little FREEBIE to share with everyone tonight.  I have been working on updating my genre pack and I thought I would share a couple pages.  I would love any input, idea, or thoughts anyone has to share:)

Click on the picture above to grab your FREEBIE:)  

Don't forget to enter my giveaway so you can win 

my entire TPT store and a $25 TPT gift card.

The Celebration Continues.......

In continuation of my 100 follower celebration, 

I am linking up with Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies!  

Click on the picture below to snag a short "a" memory match 

to reinforce CVC words with a short "a".  

This game could also be used to practice word families.  

I hope you enjoy this FREEBIE!  Be sure to check out 

Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies 

to snag more awesome creations.

100 FOLLOWERS STRONG!

I am so pumped to have reached 100 followers last week:)  I love the blogging world and being able to learn and share with teachers from not only the United States but the entire world!  In honor of hitting this milestone I am going to host a "little" giveaway.  The winner will receive a $25 TPT gift certificate and my entire TPT store.  Make sure that you get your entries in by the 21st  so that you have a chance to be the lucky winner.  Also stay tuned this week for a few little FREEBIES to honor the occasion as well!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

PHONICS FRIDAY--A SYLLABLE SORT

 PHONICS FRIDAY has arrived!  But first I wanted to share some exciting news!!  I am thrilled to have reached 100 followers this week!  Stay tuned for a little giveaway and a few freebies I have up my sleeve to celebrate:)

Today's PHONICS FRIDAY focuses on sorting syllables.  One of the components that I really like about Fundations is it teaches kids to recognize not only how many syllables a word has but also to identify what the syllable type.

One of the ways I like to reinforce the concepts I teach is to pass out several word cards to each student.  Then we do I SPY.  I say "I spy" a word that is a closed syllable.  The students will then raise their hands if they have a closed syllable and read the word and state how they know it is a closed syllable.  The same type of thing can be done for reinforcing the other syllable types as well as short and long vowels.  This is just one idea on how to use these word cards:)

 The silent "e" syllable (v-e) is one vowel followed by a consonant and a silent e. 

 The sneaky "e" kicks the vowel making it say its name.

The bossy "r" or r-controlled syllable is a vowel that has neither a

 long or short sound because it is controlled by the consonant r.

 

 A closed syllable is one vowel that is closed in or followed by one or

 more consonants which make the vowel sound short.

 A double vowel syllable has two vowels and
the first vowel usually says its name.

If you would like to grab this GLAM SORT click on the picture below.

I hope you enjoyed this PHONICS FRIDAY!  

Any suggestions or comments are welcome!  

I would love to hear from you!!

PHONICS FRIDAY--A VOWEL SORT

Today was a fun but very busy day:)  My husband and I took our little guy to the zoo.  He had a ball but we were all exhausted by the end of the trip.  I am still not great at scheduling my posts in advance therefore my PHONICS FRIDAY is late tonight.  One of my many goals for this summer is to become more organized and getting my posts done in advance.  I am so bad about doing stuff last minute.

Distinguishing between long and short vowel sounds is HUGE for kiddos learning to read.  In our district, we utilize Fundations to teach students basic phonics concepts.  It begins with introducing short vowel sounds and then introducing long sounds starting with the silent "e".  I sometimes take for granted that students can hear the vowel say its "name" and they don't need to practice sorting the long and short vowel sounds.  Practice with this skill is important.  It reinforces that students understand the difference between the two sounds or tells you clearly that they need more opportunities to practice. 

I created a little freebie to practice sorting the short and long sounds for the letter A.  I did a picture sort and a word sort.  I would love to know which you prefer to use to practice this skill and why!

Click on the pictures above to grab your freebie.  I hope you enjoyed this PHONICS FRIDAY!  Any ideas on what you would like to see next week please feel free to let me know!!!  I am open to ideas, thoughts, and suggestions.  Until next week!

Phonics Mania, Flash Freebie & a Giveaway

As an intervention specialist, I review concepts with my students that were previously done in a whole class setting.  Games are a great way to reinforce concepts.   Not only are the students practicing what they have learned but they have fun doing it!! (and so do I) 

One game that I totally love to use is Whizzle Phonics 123 and 456.  Whizzle Phonics is actually 6 different decks of cards that target a specific skill or concept like the silent E or open syllables.  The best part is that the kids already know how to play because it is very similar to UNO.  Each vowel is its own color and students have to match the vowel or beginning or ending sound of a word.

Since I like the game so much I decided to make my own version because there are phonics concepts I would like to target but they are not covered in the decks that I have already like blends and digraphs with short vowels.  I finally finished BLEND AND DIGRAPH PHONICS MANIA yesterday!!  My first finished product of the summer!!  Whoo Whoo!

Here is a sneak peak:

I am going to have it available for FREE until 7pm tonight if you would like to snag it after that if will cost $3.00.  I hope you enjoy.  I would love to know your thoughts!

Also if you are a total clip art junkie like me then you will want to check out the giveaway going on at First Grade in the Foxwell Forest until June 7th.  Fonts, clip art, and borders really could a girl ask for more??  Click below to head on over to the giveaway!!

May luck be with you:)

HELLO JUNE!

It is June 1st!  I can't believe it.  I am so excited about spending some quality time with my kidders:)  I took my daughter shopping today because I can not keep that girl in clothes.  Shopping with an almost 13 year old not easy but we both survived and actually did purchase some much needed shorts and a totally unneeded cowboy hat that is way too cute.

I am excited to link up with Farley for her monthly linky!!  I can't wait to read about everyone's summer plans:)  Mine are pretty low key this year and I am okay with that.  I have some much needed cleaning and organizing to do!

So when I started writing this post I was listening to HGTV but now I am only listening to the rain that caused our satellite to lose its signal!  Oh well.

I am totally loving the fact that can leave the hamster wheel for a moment and take a breath.  I am very excited about being able to get up in the morning with my little guy and have my coffee on the back porch!  Yay.  It is totally the simple things in life that make it all worth it.

I really have a lot I want to get done this summer at home and school.  First on my list at home is shampooing my carpets and cleaning my closet.  At school, I am working on my organizing my school library.

I hope to get a few days that don't start when the roosters get up but we will see!!  It is a good thing I love my little guy.

The piles that have been slowly growing during the school year will soon disappear!  I hope.

My must haves for vacation are:

SUNGLASSES!!  I wear contacts and the sun really bothers my eyes.  Right now I have an ugly pair that I picked up at the gas station before field day.  New ones are on my list!!

A BOOK:  I need to do some mindless reading just for my own mental health.  I am embarrassed about how long it has been since I have read a book.

FLIP FLOPS:  I love flip flops and would love to wear them all year long but alas the OHIO winters really don't allow that unfortunately.

I am pumped to find out your three summer must haves:)   One week of summer vacation has flown by already.  Slow down summer---I need to enjoy you;)