Teaching with nursery rhymes...a mini unit FREEBIE!

I love teaching nursery rhymes to my students throughout the year.
The repetitive, rhyming text is easy enough that all the kids can chime in when we chant them.
And they really stick in your head!

My Nursery Rhymes Literacy and Math Centers have lots of activities and ideas for your students.
Click on the picture to check it out!


If you've been following me for a while now, you know how much I love my Literacy Center time.  And quite possibly the most favorite center during this time is Write the Room.  I don't know what it is but when you give a student a clipboard, fancy glasses, special pointers and anything theme-based, they LOVE it!
You can check out my NEW Write the Room Nursery Rhymes activity here.


If you own my Write the Room - The Complete Set be sure to go back to "My Purchases" and re-download it because I updated this file to include the Nursery Rhymes activity (as well as a few others I created this month).
There is a total of 35 Write the Room activities in the complete set!
All for less than half price if you were to purchase them individually!


I really wanted to have smaller posters of each nursery rhyme so that we I introduce one, students will be able to access the poster at a Poetry Centre or as part of a Write the Room activity.
So I created these posters, with follow-up worksheets which focus on rhyming text, beginning sounds, inquiry based questions, etc.
The clip art is adorable - all DJ Inkers!
If you use DJ Inkers clipart or fonts, I'd appreciate it if you clicked the DJ Inkers button on the top right hand side of my blog to link you through to their site.

You can click on the picture below to get your FREE mini-unit!


I know that some of you go back to school today....wishing you a great school year!
As for me, I am just about half way done summer vacation and don't start up again until September.
Hate me now, but you'll be laughing come May!
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What happens in Vegas....

I got home the other night from an amazing 4 days in Las Vegas, attending the I Teach K Conference and hanging out with some of my bloggie besties!
 
I really am bad with technology!
I took a lot of pictures on my phone during the day.....but then my phone died....nearly every night!
So thank goodness I have some great friends that also took pictures!  Some of the photos below are courtesy of Rachelle and Natalie (What the Teacher Wants), Holly (Mrs. Ehle's Kindergarten Connections), and Kaci (Mrs. Hoffer's Spot).
 
Here is a picture of me and my roommates (there were 5 of us in all - Tanya Solano, Katie Mense, Crystal Radke, Sarah Marcum) on our way to the hotel...riding in style!  And I couldn't wait to meet the rest of the bloggers that night!

Of course, my trip to Vegas wouldn't be complete without a visit to the {not-so-nearby} Lakeshore Learning store.  We had no trouble catching a taxi to get there....it was finding one back that was near impossible!
On a side note, I did pick up some amazing finds!

I hung out so much with these lovely ladies...and miss them already!

I {heart} Debbie Clement!
She was amazing on stage and asked a bunch of us from Blogland to help her out with her act!

Best part about the trip...hanging out with these amazing teachers!

We had our 2nd Annual Blogger Meet Up - I truly enjoyed seeing some faces from last year and meeting a whole bunch of new friends!

We ate at some pretty AWESOME places!
Did I ever mention I {HEART} food!?!?

Friends...old and new!

These ladies sure did make my trip memorable and F-U-N!

I got to listen to Ron Clark speak in person!  What an amazing person!
Sure makes me realize how lucky I am to be a teacher and how much I love what I do!

It's Vegas!  We just HAD to see a show....so we went to the Marc Savard comedy hypnosis show.
Very funny!

Finally, Vegas just wouldn't be complete without some shopping and R&R time by the pool!
In this picture: Tanya Solano, Sarah Marcum, Elizabeth Hall, Kimberly Jordano, Kim Adsit, Cheryl Saoud, Natalie Crockett, Holly Ehle

I loved my little get-away last week.  I learned so much from the sessions at the conference, caught up with old friends, made lots of new friends and had a blast!
One regret....wish I could have stayed longer....there is never enough time when you are having fun!

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Playing games in the classroom

It's been nearly 2 weeks since I've been on summer holidays and I've been enjoying every minute!
We have been out and about nearly every day.  One thing on my "To-Do List" was to give my blog a little makeover.  So what do you think?  I just love the new look!
 
I don't know about your classrooms, but in our kindergarten rooms we clean the last few weeks of school.  And by cleaning, I mean emptying out all the bins, containers, buckets - washing them and the stuff that was inside.  Every toy gets fully washed and put away.
 
Well, that means that there becomes less and less centres and activities to do in the classroom.  So we ask that students bring in a small toy or activity to play with.  I also like providing some fun activities for the children....and they all love it when I pull out a board game!
 
I think board games are so educational...rolling and reading a die, counting the number or squares you need to move, reading a card and finding a match....and it's not only about that.  Co-operation, sharing and waiting turns is so important too!
 
Here are a few of my favourite (and my students' favourite!) games to play:
 
Boggle Jr:  Students cover the 3- or 4-letter word and use the dice to spell it.  They can work individually or with a partner.
 
Hi Ho Cherry-o!:  I think this is THE most requested game!  Choose a colour, spin the spinner and either add or take away that many cherries from your basket.
 
Go Diego Go 123:  I found this game my first year teaching at a discount toy store.  It was $6 - wish I bought 2!  Such a great game.  Students get a game board and reach into the bag, pull out a card and see if it matches their game board.  Each card has a certain number of animals to make it a little easier (and they are colour-coded).
 
Jumbolino:  This is a cute game and really easy!  You roll the die and find the matching piece to place in your puzzle.  Once your puzzle is done, you win!  A great game for learning to read a die.
 
Johnny Tractor's Apple Adventure:  Sorry this picture is a little hard to see.  Place all the trees into the slots and each player starts at a corner.  You move one spot at a time and pull out a tree.  You either keep it or lose your points.  No reading required!
 
I Spy:  This is a twist on a classic matching game.  You have to find the same object on 2 cards in order to get the point.
 
Farm Counting Fun:  I used this game back in May when we were learning about simple addition and subtraction skills.  Choose a card - it will tell you to either add or take away that many cards on your game board.  Try to fill the game board to 12.
 
Scrabble Junior:  This game is great for any primary class because it has 2 sides to the game board.  The side we use already has the words on it.  The other side is blank so you can make your own words.
 
Dr. Seuss ABC:  These next 2 games are well worth the money (if you can find them!).  This ABC game is played like a matching game.  Choose a card and find the letter that matches. 
 
Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham:  Spin the spinner and choose a card to match the word family.  Great for rhyming!
 
So there you have it - my top 10 favourite games to play in the classroom!
Do you play games in your class?  What are your favourites?
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And now for the BIG surprise.....WITH A FLASH SALE!

So we have finally arrived at the time to announce our BIG SURPRISE....which is good because I seriously was about to bust......I just HAVE to tell you!!!

Voila!!!!!!


WOO-HOO!!!!!

Me and 41 of my closest Kinderland friends have come together for the 4th of July to give YOU a gift -- 42 wonderful freebies!! You work so hard all school year long we thought it was fitting for you to receive a gift in the middle of the summer.

Anyone like freebies?


Here is your opportunity for plenty of them!!

Start HERE at my Facebook. Find this button:


and click -- there's a freebie inside AND a link to another fan page and another freebie! Click all the way through until you gather 42 freebies! :) When you arrive back at my fan page, you know you are done.....Happy Hopping on 4th of July!!
 
 
Oh, one more BIG thing...to celebrate the 4th of July with all my friends to the south of me, I'm throwing a sale in my TpT store for July 4th only.
 
Click the button below to take you to my store.
All of my products will be 20%!
It's only for ONE DAY so hurry!

 
P.S. We are starting our hop at 9 p.m. central on July 3rd (I know some of you will be busy on the 4th). The hop will be over at midnight Hawaii time (about 5a.m. on July 5th).....So grab them while you can!!

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Get ready for a SURPRISE!

I LOVE surprises!
Hope you do too....because I have a HUGE one coming up soon!  Actually, my whole Kinderland group is in on it too, so there's lots more for you!!!
 
Be sure to like my Facebook Fan page so that you won't miss what's coming up (soon....really soon!).
 
 
I promise you won't be disappointed!
But remember....to get this awesome surprise, you have to like my Facebook Fan page!
When you do, you'll be able to see when I post a new product, have a sale, give you updates on BIG things that are going on in Blogland....and, of course, just post about things happening in my life! You will be amongst the first to find out what's happening and jump on it!
So just click "like" on my Facebook Fan page and get ready.....for something BIG!



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