Editable Popcorn Words Wall for Sight Words




Make you own Popcorn Word Wall like the one above, by using our latest teacher resource file - Popcorn Editable Word Wall.

An MS Powerpoint file is included, so that you are able to edit the words and font to suit your classroom program.

Students love to learn their sight words with a popcorn theme. You can tell them that sight words have to be read instantly - we do not 'sound them out'. They 'pop' in our minds, just like popcorn. 







If you do not fancy all the cutting involved in a Popcorn themed sight word wall, I have made a set of posters that are ready to go - just print and hang these cuties and you will have a word wall done in minutes!

Click on the image below to find it at TpT!



 Thanks so much for stopping by!

Ladybug Multiplication



My daughter and I made these cute Ladybugs today. She was keen to do some craft work after many hours of playing with plastic Christmas presents, and I was keen to continue on with my work on multiplication.


First I traced a ladybug template 4 times - if you want a template shape, you can download one HERE . I used the back of a 2011 calendar that had nice thick card - thin card will end up curling.

I have just bought my new Kikki K calender for 2012 and kept the thick card backing for our craft cupboard when I took the old one down. 

L-O-V-E  Kikki K - especially during this lets-get-organised time of the year! And my wonderful husband gave me a gift voucher for Christmas...bliss.....

My daughter tore pieces of red tissue paper into small pieces - great for her fine motor. We then covered the template outlines with paste, and set about covering the whole shape with torn paper pieces. She almost gave up, but we got there!


Here is our red covered ladybugs. I did not cut the card first. The paper pieces will overlap the curved lines, so I thought cutting after they are covered will allow the edges to be smooth.



We then pasted big googly-eyes onto the tops of each ladybug, with PVA glue this time.


We then cut circles of shiny silver paper and pasted 4 onto each ladybug's body.


To the back of each ladybug, we attached a bent silver pipe-cleaner with tape.


We turned the ladybugs back, and bent the pipe cleaners to make the antlers.




This is how I would use the ladybugs in my classroom multiplication program. I have just attached them to a string to create a mobile and stuck a flashcard to the bottom with a multiplication sum that matches the dots on the ladybugs. I would hang them from the ceiling to make the room gorgeous and also to help the students learn to visualise multiplication.  

It would be a great classroom activity to complement my "Bug Times Write'n'Wipe Cards".


This file will allow you to make these cute maths center activity cards. You have to print, and laminate the cards before students se whiteboard markers to solve the multiplication problems on them.
They need to identify and total the number of dots on each ladybug card before writing it with a dry erase marker.

Included in this file is 15 cards (4x5, 4x4, 4x3, 4x2, 4x1, 3x5, 3x4, 3x3, 3x2, 3x1, 2x5, 2x4, 2x3, 2x2, 2x1).


I have also included templates for students to make their own ladybug craftivity!



If you would like to see this file, find it HERE at TPT

What a great day - I love holidays!

Equal Groups for Multiplication

I have had a wonderful Christmas and Boxing Day - eating far too much food and having lots of laughs with friends and family. I hope you have had a great one too.

My nieces and I were having some difficulty sharing out the red and green M&Ms evenly. I am not sure why, but it *may* be something to do with my love for all things chocolate. And green. 


It reminded me of how much trouble my students have, when I introduce 'multiplication'.

Getting them to truly understand the idea of 'groups of' takes a long time.We go over and over the concept, but it takes LOTS of patience. 

I made a game that will help you reinforce the concept of equal groups and understanding 'groups of'. Students do not need to worry about finding the total, they just focus on reading the problem, and finding a visual that matches. You will be able to clearly see which students understand what the sentence (e.g. 3 groups of 2) is telling them to create/imagine. 

As well as playing the game, you can also use the picture cards for a quick classroom activity. 

Hold each up for a few seconds and have your students tell you how many groups are depicted on each card. This quick drill will only take a minute or so and will help your students to start to look for "groups" rather than individual items or totals. I have a tray of these sorts of teacher flash/drill cards when I teach Kindergarten and they make great lesson transitions and breaks. Of course, you will want to use these only when you have introduced the idea of equal groups to your students.

You can also use the cards for other activities, like having the students replicate the groups using blocks or counters at their desks. This will help them to learn to hold a mental picture/image of a number or pattern in their mind.

You can also put the cards in a center or maths group and ask students to find the total, find matching pairs, copy the groups etc.



The packet also comes with a cut and paste worksheet that students can complete after they play the game. 


Find it at TpT, by clicking on the image below!



Have a great day my friends, and thanks for talking the time to stop by. Now... where did I put those M&Ms.....?

Editable File - Make Your Own Santa Snow Game

I have just created this Santa in the Snow game board to share. I have made it in Microsoft Word, so that you can edit the snowflakes and make your game suitable for a range of learners and curriculum areas. It could be a word game, number game, vocab game..... anything really!

Just download, and then click on the text shapes that say WORD OR NUMBER. Once you click on these, you can enter your own information and also change the font. 

The picture below shows the game board as you will download it: 


This one shows one that I modified to make it suitable for my daughter to play - she is learning to add numbers up to 12. I will ask her to roll 2 dice, add up the total number of dice and put a counter on the number if it appears on the gameboard.

For a small group, make a few different game boards, a set of "caller cards", find some counters/chips and then you will be all set.

If you have any trouble with the download - let me know, this is the first time I have tried a MS WORD upload.

This is for your own classroom or home use only and you do not have permission to distribute it. Of course, if you would like to blog about it, or share a link so that your friends can download it from here, I would LOVE it. Thank you!



G for Gift!


Here is a FREE game to play with your class and help language, communication, reading and letter awareness!
I have designed it to primarily target learning about the left to right progression in reading. Your students will also have to identify and locate the letters g-i-f-t and s to help either Santa or Reindeer win the race to the tree - following a trail of dropped gifts as they go!

You will need to make a trail of letters in your play space - you can use a simple strip of masking tape and write the letters on with a marker, or in the FREE download file, I have provided some colourful cards that you could print out to make a cute letter strip.

Everything you need, including detailed instructions are in the download - so have fun!

Download this FREE game by clicking on the image above


All Stitched Up


Find these borders by clicking on the image above - thank you to everyone that has left me some feedback on TeacherspayTeachers, I really appreciate it :)

Stars Frames/Borders

Click on the image above to find them
Have a great Sunday!


Christmas Visual Discrimination Game - Free

santas sack memory game


I have joined with Rachel Lynette in a special gift just for you dear teacher! The Holiday Gift Book contains tips and freebies from 50 TpT teacher-authors!

It is packed full of ideas and messages that will help you teach during the holiday season.

I've made a visual memory game for you called Santa's Toys. It will help your students develop pre-reading skills! 

Place the sack game board in front of your students and select 6 toys. Talk about the toys and help your students discuss their experience or existing knowledge about the toys (a great early comprehension activity of making connections with pictures or words). 

To play, ask students to be the elves and close their eyes! Santa removes a picture and the elves must open them and try to recall the picture that is missing.

santas memory game

To extend this game, leave all 6 pictures in the sack but mix them up and have the elves remember the correct order!

find the missing toy game

Find this free game in our TpT store ready to print and play!



2021 Update

The Holiday eBook is no longer available, but our game is still available! Enjoy!


Santa's Sleigh Drop - Free File

Click on the image above to find our super cute new file

I have had so much fun creating this new activity for helping students with subtraction. The file contains game boards, question cards and a worksheet.

Santa will need help loading his sleigh and finding out how many gifts are left over after some are dropped!

I have included activity variations so you can cater for a variety of students - those that are just beginning subtraction should only use the 10 frame boards and cards. There is a 20 grid and cards for more challenge. For some students, you may wish to omit the worksheet and just have lots of fun with the hands-on materials.

I have made this file free for now - please consider taking a look at our other cute Christmas resources and leaving some feedback on TpT.

Have a wonderful week :)

Gingerbread Man Writing Pages - FREE File!


I am still teaching a 10 week unit of work on Fairytales. This week we are set to start a mini-unti on the Gingerbread Man! I love this one! Could it be that I do enjoy eating gingerbread so much... or just perhaps the memories of making gingerbread men with my mum when I was a little girl.  My students always LOVE acting this story out...and there are a ton of very cool art and craft ideas.

There are great downloads at Sparklebox for this story too - and they are all free.

I have prepared a collection of writing pages for early learners to tie in with your Gingerbread Man work. I am providing it for you for FREE! Thank you so much for supporting and following my blog. I am constantly amazed when I check the "stats" to see the range of people from all over the world visiting and reading my blog, so thank you followers, and also those that just stop by! I do appreciate you all.

I have made the file in a font that is more suitable to Australian schools - for my Australian Friends, if NSW font does not suit you, send me a message and I will get one to you in your state font!

Have a wonderful week!

Click HERE to download your free file from TeacherspayTeachers

Click HERE to download it from Teachers Notebook


Ho Ho Ho - I am getting ready for the festive season!

Yes, I know its around 50 more sleeps, but Christmas is my favourite time of year, and I just can't help but start to feel jolly!

While you are at my store, have a look at my other cute new Christmas resources




Christmas Sentence Maker Writing Worksheets - 4 ability levels included, great for Kinder or Grade 1



And a very cute little Santa Reading and Writing Packet, that includes a rhyming text and worksheets. 

Scary Black Bat Art / Craft


My 4 year old little one is home and unwell today, so to cheer her up, we did some fun paper craft.

"Let's make a bat!", she said, "and make the house all scary".

We printed her little hands with black paint to craete the wings, and I drew a bat body for her to colour. We are now starting a spider, so I will load some pictures shortly.


Here is how it looks finished.


I could not resist quickly putting it together to form a printable file for you!

Click HERE to find it!

Learning to Write Sentences in Kindergarten

Learning to read and write can be supported in the classroom with a routine activity that creates sequenced-learning and structure. Our Sentence Maker writing page activities do just that!

Today I want to show you our new Halloween version!

I have created a set of 24 worksheets to help you teach early reading and writing skills. There are four different ability levels
  1. cut and paste
  2. trace
  3. copy
  4. independent writing 
All these activities are very specific to students at different levels in the writing process.

Cut and Paste 

  • for your newest learners, 
  • just beginning to understand the concept of a word and 1:1 correspondence 
  • learning how to sequence words to make meaning.

Trace

  • for students who have a good understanding of words and sentences
  •  ready to learn to write themselves

Copy

  • for students who are able to form most letters of the alphabet correctly
  • learning to copy print from models
  • struggle to create idea of their own

Write 

  • for students beginning to write independently
  •  can attempt to sound-out and write their own words


My daughter is always keen to see what I am designing and always wants me to print them out for her! This morning I took the opportunity to explore her keen interest in words and stories, by working with her on one of the cut and paste worksheets. As a 4 year old, she needs to learn to:

  • attend to print
  • discover what a word looks like
  • understand that a sentence is made up of words
  • understand that word order is important
  • realize that we read and write from left to write
  • understand that we need spaces between our words
  • know that punctuation is important in writing and reading
  • know that text and pictures are related
This is what we did, and I would do something very similar in the classroom.


First I told her we were going to write a "story sentence" about a cat. I wrote it on a long strip of cardboard and read aloud as I was writing - making sure she watched me write. I told her I was leaving a space between each word.


I read the sentence a few times, slowly and carefully pointing to each word. I am lucky that she is very keen and interested, so she was paying careful attention. You will need to encourage some students to do this!

I then asked her to point and read WITH me, so we read and pointed together - quite a few times.


Then I told her I would cut up the sentence into words - making sure she could see me cut between the words in the space. It is important for little learners to see that a sentence is not a whole string of words that we say in one breath - it is made up of lots of individual words.



Once cut up - I told her I was going to be a "little bit tricky" and mix them up! I then shuffled the cards around so they were in random order.


I then asked her if she remembered our "story sentence". To my delight, she remembered easily, and told me. I then asked her if she remembered just the first word. She was able to both tell me the word and point to it! (very proud mother moment here!!). I asked her to put the word where it should be, and then proceeded to work out all the other words with her. I will never forget the smile on her face as I showed her my delight in her "clever reading". I had to show her how to leave little spaces between the words.



Of course, we now had to re-read the sentence we had put together.


It was then time to complete the worksheet. I told her it had little word cards that were just the same as our big cards, that needed to be put back into order. She enjoyed gluing the words into the correct order once again, and especially liked colouring the picture.



If you would like to find the worksheet I used, and more, you will find them HERE

Find other packets in the series through our website page.