Happy Saturday to all! January has been the fastest month by far! I dont know where all my time went but I am looking forward to the next few weeks. We are having a ball in first grade! Lots of fun stuff and learning going on. 

I wanted to share with you a Valentine's activity pack that I use in my classroom. I've created some ELA and math games that will liven up any classroom while reinforcing key skills. 

Compound Hearts game

Matching Math Hearts game - helping with the skill of double digit to single digit addition

Word Sort Sounds of –ed

Valentine Rhyming Words game

Valentine Fill in the Blank

Valentine Word Search

Valentine Mystery Picture for 120 chart

Whole group math game idea - now this one is so much fun!! First you have to pull out your trusty old 120 board for the whole group. 

Lay it out. Next print out, cut apart, and fold up the problem cards: 

 

I went to the Teacher Best Friend Store (aka Dollar Tree) and grabbed some adorable plastic heart containers. 

I stuffed them in the boxes and we played. Children took turns choosing a box and solving the problem. They covered the number on the 120 board with a red lace heart doily, also from the DT!

 

Voila! We had a heart when we finished! They went back to their desks to complete the mystery picture for extra reinforcement. So much fun! I placed the large activity in a center so they could play  by themselves. 

To round out the pack, I included some Game Title Cover for Centers

I print out the covers, cut out, and glue onto brown clasp envelopes. Run through the laminator and then you can store the pieces to the games inside. They hold up quite awhile. 

As always, my newest products are free for a limited time :)

Check it out and grab your freebie now {{HERE}} in my TpT store. 

Happy Teaching!

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Jessica

Happy Friday to all!! I hope those of you on spring break this week have had a nice one so far. Mine has gone by entirely too quick for my liking but I am a little anxious to get back to school and work on Monday!! I've spent some time this week working on some upcoming units for first grade. Our next unit of study is How Does Your Garden Grow? as well as a Dr. Seuss Author Study. I am loving all the new fun stuff we have planned for the last three weeks of school. Here is my little unit on insects.

This little unit would go great with a bigger study of insects. I've chosen to include some basic vocabulary words about all insects and simple little worksheets that would fit into any classroom lessons. I read insect books, like On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects by Tish Rabe from Cat in the Hat's Learning LIbrary series, or other appropriate books about insects to start our unit on bugs.

 Included:

Anchor chart
Picture for anchor chart
Vocabulary Concentration game and accountability page
Vocabulary Sentence Match and accountability page
Busy Bees Verbs
Spring Word Search
Graphic Organizer for Bugs
Bugland Play ideas and bug songs

I hope that you can use this in your room with your kiddos!!

Click here for my Insect Unit on TpT

Happy Spring!!
Jessica

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Jessica

Happy Spring Break everyone! Hope it's been great for you!

We are doing a Dr. Seuss Author study to end our school year!! Yes, yes, I know his birthday was like a month ago and everybody celebrated him then. Well we totally didn't for this very reason!! I've been working on some lesson plans and activities but I'm not done yet! Not much time left to finish since spring break is almost over. I have finished one little literacy center. Here is a simple freebie for practicing digraphs.

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Jessica

So I went to the beach last weekend and it was amazing!!!! Had so much fun. Totally need to go back and do it all over again. The one drawback - it was a little cold.

I was inspired to create some beach themed activities in anticipation of summer!! I am so over this cold. I came back rested and ready to tackle the last 9 weeks of school. We've been working on alphabetical order and making contractions in ELA. We've also been focusing on adding tens and ones and really tackling odd and even numbers. In math workshop I try to keep things fresh by making new games. I usually start by introducing the game whole group and then placing it in a center rotation. Same thing with Literacy Workshop. It's always good to have the children reviewing skills we've learned throughout the year.

My new little bundle includes the following:

- an addition with and without regrouping game, manipulatives, and tens and ones workmat
- an odd and even flip flop game
- Beach words ABC order activity
- Contractions with not matching game
- Mystery picture using tens and ones addition problems

Here are some pics:

Each activity comes with a recording page for accountability. Sandy Sums is geared towards the Story of Units curriculum but I've included manipulatives for students to use to help add the teen numbers.

I can't wait to introduce these games to my firsties next week!! This is designed for use with first graders, but can easily be adapted for use in kindergarten or second grade.

Let's Go Surfin now.....with this bundle!!!

Another simple little unit can be found right here: Pete the Cat at the Beach!

This is a little sequencing unit that can easily fit into any reading curriculum.

GRAB IT {HERE}!!

I hope you can use this unit!! Enjoy!!   

Jessica

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Jessica

Here are some fun little center games. Check it out!!!

ABC Order Train

In this activity I have included some Winter Themed words, primarily from the book The Polar Express. 
However, I have also included some blank train cards for you to use with your own words. 
One way I use this is in my Spelling Center. I write the weekly words on the trains and the children put them in ABC order 
Simply print out on card stock or back with construction paper, laminate for durability, and place in a center. 

This ABC Center is Polar Bear themed!!

This activity is designed to reinforce the skill of alphabetical order. There are words on Polar Bear cards that children sort into ABC order. There is a recording page for accountability. 

This center includes 
17 ABC bear cards
Recording page
Center name card
Center directions card

A Snowstorm of Grammar

This activity packet contains activities for use in any ELA classroom. There is a game for nouns, verbs, and adjectives. 

This packet includes:
12 adjective matching cards and 12 adjective flakes
24 verb cards
2 verb sorting mats
24 noun sorts
3 noun sorting mats
Recording sheets for each game
Title cards and instructions for each game

Odd and Even Polar Bears

This is a math center/activity practicing the skill of sorting odd and even numbers through 100. 

Included: 
100 odd and even polar bear cards
Odd and Even icebergs
Odd and Even Bears recording page
Directions and Center name card

Print out on card stock, laminate, and place in an envelope or bag for a center. 

Penguin Place Value

This cute little penguin activity is designed to give students extra practice with identifying place value. Students lay out penguin and place value cards like in the game of memory and take turns matching standard form with place value blocks. 

There is a recording page for accountability that offers an extra column for practice writing numbers in expanded form as well. 

Snowflake Subtraction

This little math center activity has students subtract 8 or 9 from the teen numbers. 

**This center Is based on Engage NY A Story of Units Module 2 for first grade. It is designed to reinforce the skills taught in Module 2 lessons, but offers a viable strategy for solving subtraction problems. This center would be helpful to any students who are learning to subtract from teen numbers. 

Included: 
25 subtraction cards and answers
54 snowflake counters
2 cover cards (for use with workmat—use to cover up the unused snowflakes)
Snowflake Subtraction Workmat
(workmat is designed to be slipped into a page protector so students can use a dry erase marker to cross off snowflakes as a subtraction strategy)

Print out on card stock, laminate, and place in an envelope or bag for a center. 

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Jessica