This book provides teachers with the tools to capture teachable opportunities as literacy moments: brief, authentic, joyful encounters with texts in all forms. Here, teachers learn to nurture joyful readers by infusing their classrooms’ daily lives with authentic literacy moments every day.

You might have seen the little seek peek on my Facebook page. But it finished and I can't wait to laminate it for groups for next week! Graphics from Graphics from the Pond (of course!) So what is it? It is a fun, interactive way for kids to play with making words by using the same word ending (word family). I'll let the pics explain. Here it is in action! You get four word families per page and the matching strips on the next page. You also get a fun flip book to get students to record their words in. This is blank and the students write the word families on the front and words under the flap. Here is Miss M testing it out! She started out with -at...her handwriting is getting better :) She loves Kindergarten You get two 'inside' templates, one with lines and one without, for your students to record on. It also then becomes something for them to read to themselves or at home with their families. Would you like one of these? Comment on how this will help your kids and leave your email. I will pick one random number in 24hours. Click on any of the pics to go and grab it from my TPT store.

Last term, we talked a lot about syllables and breaking words into pieces to help us figure out how to read and spell unknown words. When I went to school, we clapped syllables but in our school, we teach the kids to place their hand under their chin (palm down) and the word is broken into syllables by the number of times your chin hits your hand. And the fact that we teach kids to clap for A LOT of things....if we want it to actually mean something, often it will get lost in the 'act' of clapping. Let's do a test. Hand flat under your chin. 1. banana - (ba/na/na) 2. apple - (ap/ple) 3. peach - (peach) 4. watermelon - (wa/ter/me/lon) How did you go? To go over our syllables, I made this cute little worksheet. Kids say the word associated with the picture, cut it out and glue it into the column with the right amount of syllables :) Click the picture to go and grab it graphics by Graphics from the Pond and Pink Cat Studio.

Something that can be quite tricky to introduce to students (especially in Kindergarten) is switching phonemes within words. It is often something they need a bit of practice and support with. I thought this new pack would help fit the bill. I have made this pack with 2 activity cards to a page but if you are printing (and laminating) conscious, they are still a pretty good size when you choose to print multiple pages on one page. I have also included both colour and black and white so you can pick which one you would like to print!! Let's look at the activity :) The card tells you to start with a given word. The students are given a picture clue to get them started as well as Elkonian boxes to write in (and these will also give them support with which 'size' letter should go in each box - tall, short or long) Move to the second picture. It tell me to change a sound in the word - this time the beginning sound. I have done it with red here to illustrate what has changed. You might want your students to do this too or just do it all in one colour. Again, students are supported with pictures and Elkonian boxes. Now onto the third picture. This time it is telling me to change the ending sound. Throughout the activity cards, there is a mixture of changes to beginning, middle and ending sounds to keep it challenging and interesting. Click any picture to go and grab it in my TPT store.

I am now in week 3 of literacy work stations. Last week, as you might have seen on instagram, I had a rhyming focus, with lots of rhyming activities. This proved to be too big a jump for the kiddies, so this week its back to basics with initial and ending sounds. I *heart* having my very own product tester at home and it is pretty cool that she says and I quote "I love testing things for you Mum!" Wonder if I should be paying her royalties of some description? This is what you get - There are 48 cards in total (2 for each initial sound) plus 2 blanks. I have even included a black and white version for you if colour printing isnt your thing. All you need extra is some pegs or paper clips or even a white board marker to colour in the correct letter for the sound. Also notice my dry erase pocket in the background? They are from My Binding. I was sent a pack to use and review. First we concentrated on initial sounds. Say the word, isolate the sound and clip it! Easy and fun! This was Miss M's idea, to clip it next to the letter. Otherwise she couldnt see the letter she had picked. And one more - darling graphics from my girl Mel Graphics from the Pond The completed cards we were testing :) Then we used the recording sheet in the dry erase pockets and did the same thing but this time we had to record the letters that made the initial sound. The sheets were great to write on and rubbed off really easily. I love the idea of less copies! On to ending/final sounds. (can you see the light saber in the background? lol) All clipped up and record to see if we understood the concepts. Ending sounds recording sheet where Miss M recorded the letters that made those sounds. So what do you think? I usually give one of my new packs away. So just let me know what you would use it for or maybe just how cute you think it is hehehe. I will pick a random number after 24 hours :) Click on any picture to go and grab it at my TPT store.

Link to Activity Pack

A Facebook post about the moment a deaf student learned that other people could hear them farting shows that there are missing pieces in how educate people with hearing disabilities, says deaf educator Stacy Abrams.

This free Rhyming Rocket Matching Game for Pre-K and Kindergarten is the perfect activity to help kids practice literacy rhyming skills!

I'm taking a slightly different approach this week. We have been looking at all the ways an 'e' on the end of a word effects different parts of the word. Last week we did 'magical silent e' which makes the vowel say its long sound. Here are two awesome YouTube videos which focus on this concept SUPER E VOWEL BOOT CAMP Hope you can find a use for these in your class rooms. My kids LOVE them :)

Sight words! We need them to help kids with all aspects of literacy. But learning them can be quite a chore for some. So why not give it an extra dimension? You can use it with any set of sight words! Or use the ones I have included as they are a good size to put on the mat. I made multiple copies onto different colours of paper so that each student has their own set to work with AND there wouldnt be a set of words which at the end has 3 'the' words.....you know what I am talking about! You also need some magnetic letters/letter tiles and a whiteboard marker. So let's make some words! Choose and word and put in the box. Read it! Now let's build it! Find the magnetic letters to make the word. Encourage more repetition of the word. Now it's time to write. Making connections to words is so important so the 3 types of practice will (hopefully) help kids understand the words better and have better recall of them next time. Plus it is a fun way to practice! Click any of the pictures to go and grab them in my TPT store.

Hello! Happy Good Friday to you! My twins had their Easter egg hunt at school today and learned the Bible verse, "He is risen!" Matthew 28:6. There is something so sweet and wonderful knowing that they are learning early about Jesus and the love He has for them. Unfortunately, we don't get today off because we have to make up a snow day, but hopefully, we will make it to the service this evening. Well, it's that time of the week again. What have we been up to? I love that Kacey over at Doodlebugs links us all up at the end of our weeks to find out! We continued our study on poetry this week in ELA by focusing on alliteration, similes and onomatopoeia. We had the most FUN craftivities to use from a unit called Poetry Pizzazz from the Teacher's Clubhouse! We used the Simile Sandwiches, Alliterainbows and Poetry Pops craftivities. I also used "My Spectacular Onomatopoeia Book" from Mrs. Mabe. We spent more time on graphs this week also. We worked on pictographs. After having spent a whole week on bar graphs, pictographs were a breeze to them. We had the same objectives as we did with bar graphs - explain how the amount of pictures relate to the data, answer questions based on the graph, and write solve our own word problems about our pictographs. We used more activities from my NO PREP! Graphs unit. This student is gathering data by completing the tally chart based on the number of each kind of bird in the box. This student was beginning to fill in the pictograph by labeling the categories. I was SO proud of them being able to create their own questions! If you have ever tried to get 2nd graders to create a word problem, you understand how hard this skill is for them! "How many more canaries were there than crows? 6 - 3 = 3" "How many more owls than crows? 5 - 3 = 2" We focused a lot on learning about autism. My kids didn't know what autism was exactly, so I spent some time reading books to them that do a nice job of putting it in terms kids can relate to. Below are links to each of these books: "All About my Brother" by Sarah Peralta "My Friend with Autism" by Beverly Bishop "The Autism Acceptance Book" by Ellen Sabin We also watched an awesome documentary from the BBC that was made by a girl with autism who explains what it is like, to her, to have autism. It is animated at parts to show the children a picture of her world, how she sees life, and how she relates to others around her. You can click below to watch it or show it to YOUR class! I made a puzzle piece by pulling one up on Google Images and then tracing it onto a piece of paper I held up to my smart board. (SUCH a good trick - if you've never done it, you've been missing out!) Then I just copied it onto blue paper for everyone. After we learned all about autism, the kids each wrote a statement about something he or she learned about autism on the blue puzzle piece. We hung them in the hallway to give our hallway a dash of blue! "I learned that a person with autism might play differently." "I learned that a person with autism might have a hard time talking and walk away." (Meaning when they can't find the words they want to use, they may give up and not continue that thought with you). "I learned that a person with autism might flap hands, hum, or be really interested in one thing." Here's all of our puzzle pieces in the hallway! Each second grader on our campus did this activity and I felt so proud that they were all so interested in learning about autism. Hopefully it will help them to be more understanding of each other and of people who are different than they are. They were so curious and had some wonderful questions. We had such good conversation! That wraps up my week! I am looking forward to this weekend and celebrating Easter with my family on Sunday! My sister and her family will be coming to our house and I am so excited to see them! Thanks for taking time to look at my little blog! I would love to hear from you with ideas, questions or comments! Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Happy Tuesday! So I will admit that I was dreading today. I love teaching kinders, but today was one of our state assessments for 4th a...

I am now in week 3 of literacy work stations. Last week, as you might have seen on instagram, I had a rhyming focus, with lots of rhyming activities. This proved to be too big a jump for the kiddies, so this week its back to basics with initial and ending sounds. I *heart* having my very own product tester at home and it is pretty cool that she says and I quote "I love testing things for you Mum!" Wonder if I should be paying her royalties of some description? This is what you get - There are 48 cards in total (2 for each initial sound) plus 2 blanks. I have even included a black and white version for you if colour printing isnt your thing. All you need extra is some pegs or paper clips or even a white board marker to colour in the correct letter for the sound. Also notice my dry erase pocket in the background? They are from My Binding. I was sent a pack to use and review. First we concentrated on initial sounds. Say the word, isolate the sound and clip it! Easy and fun! This was Miss M's idea, to clip it next to the letter. Otherwise she couldnt see the letter she had picked. And one more - darling graphics from my girl Mel Graphics from the Pond The completed cards we were testing :) Then we used the recording sheet in the dry erase pockets and did the same thing but this time we had to record the letters that made the initial sound. The sheets were great to write on and rubbed off really easily. I love the idea of less copies! On to ending/final sounds. (can you see the light saber in the background? lol) All clipped up and record to see if we understood the concepts. Ending sounds recording sheet where Miss M recorded the letters that made those sounds. So what do you think? I usually give one of my new packs away. So just let me know what you would use it for or maybe just how cute you think it is hehehe. I will pick a random number after 24 hours :) Click on any picture to go and grab it at my TPT store.

Oh summary. How I have such a love-hate relationship with you. Summarizing stories is something students start at a young age, and yet it is still so hard for students even in late elementary. I often find that they struggle to determine the important details from the minor details and write summaries filled with and then, and then, and then, and then, and then.....I end up feeling like Ashton Kutcher from "Dude, Where's My Car." So, why do we teach summarizing? The ability to summarize builds comprehension. Summarizing a narrative text helps students comprehend the plot of the story. According to Fountas and Pinnell, good readers are always taking information from the text and condensing it into a summary-type form. As readers pull out the most important information, they are constantly interpreting what the author is telling them and further developing the summary of the story. This year, I wanted to begin by seeing what the kids remembered about summary and clear up misconceptions before beginning the summarizing process. I made a simple chart with "What is a summary?" and "What is a summary NOT?" I wanted them to think about summaries from both sides. I gave them each a green sticky note first and asked them to tell me, in their own words, what they thought a summary was. They each came and added their sticky note to the chart. Then I gave them each a yellow sticky note and asked them to write down, in their own words, what they know is NOT included in a summary. Then they added their yellow sticky notes to our chart. We read a few of them aloud and saw that many of them had several of the same ideas. Here are a couple examples of what my students said a summary is. A summary is a few short lines of sentences that tell the most important parts of a story in order. A paragraph said in your own words but not very many details. And here are a couple examples of what my students said a summary is NOT. Your thoughts about the story. A summary is not very detailed, not long, and not a copy of the story. I like to use the Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then (SWBST) strategy with students because it gives them a way to ensure they are looking for each piece of the summary every time they read a narrative piece. When teaching, I suggest lots of modeling, then move to group work before letting them summarize on their own. Here is our anchor chart: I discussed with them that when summarizing a narrative text, they should look for the main character, what the main character wants or his/her goals, the main problem he/she encounters, and the resolution of the problem. We summarized a short, one page text that we had previously read, about a girl names Callie who needed to complete a difficult homework assignment. (According to Fountas and Pinnell, you should begin with short texts that do not have many details). I modeled how to use the summary chart, and we looked for each piece as a whole group. I put a sticky note at each table group and tasked them with writing down the information for one component of the chart. One table wrote down the main character, one table wrote down what the character wanted, and so on. I have left this chart hanging in our room now so the students will have a visual reminder of how to get a summary! I also use a SWBST foldable with my kids. Anytime they read a story, they can fill in one of these. Doing this each time they read a book, (either a book from the library, a book you are reading aloud in class, during guided reading, a weekly story, etc) will solidify and fine tune their summarizing skills. It also reminds them that each time they read a story, this is the information they need to be looking for to fully comprehend the text. I also have a SWBST log that students complete each time they read a fiction book. This helps hold students accountable for reading and finishing a book, helps with comprehension, and simultaneously works on reinforcing summarizing skills. Many teachers do reading logs anyway where the students write down what they are reading, but this is a way to prove they have read the story, and shows if they understood what they read. Never miss a teachable moment!! You can get this foldable and SWBST log as a FREEBIE in my store by clicking here, or by clicking the picture below! Enjoy!

“ Teaching Digital Citizenship”

There are teachable moments all around you. Borrow from these teacher ideas to turn almost anything into a teachable moment in your classroom.

I had a bit of a rocky week which started with me having 2 days off with tonsillitis. I probably should have had another day to recover, but teacher guilt got me! Here are some of the things we squeezed into 3 days! It was 'p' week! We started off brainstorming p words - the kids came up with so many, I ran out of room! We learned how to correctly write p. This is a handwriting booklet we use every week with our focus letter. You can find it in my TPT store, but in a more generic font (the font pictured is my state font). Click HERE to see it We looked for p words in this fun activity Beginning Sounds Color It from Lavinia Pop We had an indepth look at number 8 (another one from my TPT store) Click HERE to see it P sequencing - each week we read a 'big book' with the same word pattern and different words subsistuted on each page. This week was "I can see the ......" I chose pig because I thought it was a great word for sounding out. Look at the super cute pictures! I am so proud of this writing - after only 9 weeks at school :) We tried some sight word writing as a group with my pocket dice. On Friday, we went to the circus on an excursion in the morning which was so much fun for the kids :) Afterwards back at school, we tackled our letter of the week craft - Pink and Purple popcorn. The cute popcorn box is from Krista Wallden's popcorn set. We coloured in in a pattern with pink and purple crayon, then put our fingers to work with some scrunching of crepe paper. The kids found this really therapeutic! How was your week?

You know how sometimes the best, most meaningful lessons just kind of happen in one of those "teachable moments"? I totally had one of thos...

There are so many fun ways for kids to learn and review the alphabet . Here, you will find a collection of letter crafts and activit...

I am so happy to be back linking up with this fabulous idea. My bright idea is to give you my top 5 EASY ways to implement formative assessment in your classroom. As teachers, we are all usually very good at summative assessment - that is, assessment of learning, where we check to see if our students are reaching certain goal and standards as set by the curriculum. But we need to become better at formative assessment - that is assessment FOR learning, where we are more able to support students through the learning process and make adjustments for each individual. Thanks Classroom Chit Chat for the stick photo. Graphics - Educlips, Krista Wallden Fonts - Kimberley Geswein If you enjoyed this Bright Idea, why not follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or TeachersPayTeachers for more? And for more Bright Ideas from over 100 bloggers, take a look at the link up below! Each idea has a recommended grade level for you :) An InLinkz Link-up

Firstly, I'll be honest. I have never had to do a class calendar before. I have taught Year 5 and 6, and for the last 2 years, I have been ...

Rhyme is a critical phonological awareness skill in which children learn at a very young age. The ability to rhyme will help children form a strong reading and spelling foundation. Rhyme is the First Skill Domain in Phonology Download this freebie which overviews all phonological and phonemic awareness skills. This will be a great way to […]

1-2-3 Come Do Some Little Miss Muffet Activities With Me Our spider unit is one of my students’ favorite October themes. It’s a perfect time to plug in a few nursery rhymes like “Little Miss Muffet”. My Y5s absolutely love doing hands-on craftivities to reinforce lessons; so...

We are going into week 2 of our new school year and I am looking forward to getting my new class. Besides setting rules and expectations, I am hoping to foster a positive classroom vibe to really make our year successful! This one of the activities I am planning this week. Students go around and find people who fit each category. I usually make a rule that you can only have each persons name ONCE! This encourages more conversations and mingling among the kids. Click the pic below to download the file. There is two versions included - the one pictured and another, more generic version. I hope you can use it and your students enjoy getting to know each other :)

A thorough look at how reading and writing goals can be integrated with with other standards in projects.

From the beginning of the year until the end, these fun activities will get your students excited about learning. You should definitely go out and get some popsicle sticks for this.

I love teaching fables in the classroom. They're fun and teach a valuable lesson, but finding fable activities is tough. Well, I believe I can help!

Do you have a child just starting to read? Want to know more hacks on getting your toddler or preschooler to love reading? Then this post is for you! Reading is fun! Here's how we

I cannot believe its April!! And that means its Currently time with Farley over on her blog Listening - My husband has a pet peeve about the kids playing with balls in the house. So I *might* let them play when he isnt home....... ;) Loving - We have nearly reached the end of Term 1! Its hard to believe I have had my current class for only a term. They have to be close to my favourite group of kids so far! And that means school holidays :) Hooooray for 2 weeks off. Thinking - I am honestly grateful for some of the wonderful and inspiring people I have become connected to in this crazy journey. I have needed some people to lean on lately and time after time, these women have been there for me. So thank you from the bottom of my heart *you know who you are* Wanting - It is now Autumn and that means an excuse for shopping! How gorge is this cardigan? Needing - I have had 2 days off school already! The doctor offered me a certificate to have another day off but I need to get back....I feel slack for the kids (as only a teacher would understand) Hours - I try to get to school most days by 7.30 as I like the time in the morning to get myself organised. I am always out the door by 4 to go and pick up my kids. (Our school hours are 9-3 in case you are wondering). Days - Being in Australia, we have only just started our school year and we go all the way through to December 19 before our big break for the year. Thanks Farley! Just something extra....I updated my Initial and Final sounds pack today and it has DOUBLED in size! For your chance to win one, simply use the rafflecopter underneath :) a Rafflecopter giveaway

My five year old son's alternative kindergarten program has begun introducing the school district's phonics program. The kids (my son included) are picking up on it super quick, too. To reinforce the letter sounds my son has already learned in school, I devised a fun treasure hunt for him. If you're interested in doing this activity at your house, here's what you need. A-Z footprints PDF Paper Scissors A small prize (I used a pack of Pokemon cards) You can download the A-Z footprints I used here; they're free on Google Drive. Depending on the distance of your treasure hunt from start to finish, you may want to print more than one set of pages; I used two. For added durability, print onto heavyweight cardstock. Cut out. Yes, it's a lot of cutting, but there's no need to be tidy and particular; just get the job done. Your kid will be so focused on getting to the prize, they won't knit-pick your cutting skills. Shuffle the footprints and begin placing them on the floor in a path. Make sure that you add extra footprints that form new paths to throw off your little girl/guy. When you've placed the last footprint, add a prize nearby. Now carefully retrace your steps and with a notepad write down all the letters that will get your son/daughter from the starting point to the prize. Once your child is ready, ask that they stand before the first footprint and say the sound that the letter on it makes. You child will look at the footprints before them and move to the letter. Continue making the phonics sounds until your child has moved from one footprint to another all the way to the end and retrieved the treasure. My son got stuck a few times, but I was able to sing the Jolly Phonics songs he's learned to trigger his memory. He was so proud of himself for finishing the hunt and VERY excited to get his prize!

Pretend play is a great way to build kids' imagination, vocabulary, cooperation skills and so much more. This vet-themed set is a great place to start!

Download these free kindergarten graphic organizers for focusing on main idea and details in literature.