Sunday, September 1, 2013

Famous Pairs Cards

I hope you are having a fantastic start to the 2013-2014 school year!  It's so fun having time to get to know our students at the beginning of the year.  Building relationships is foundational to everything we do as educators, so I try to make sure my students spend a lot of time working together either in small groups or partnerships.

For a few years, I have used famous pairs cards in my class that I've written on index cards.  Basically, these cards have an even number of words written on them (one word written on each card) such as cookies, milk, mashed potatoes, gravy, salt, pepper, etc.  When I'm ready to get my kids working together in pairs, I mix the cards up and pass out one to each student.  (If I have an odd number of students in my class, then I keep the last card and will be a partner to one of my students.)  Then my kiddos silently walk around with their cards held up next to their heads trying to find their famous pair.  They LOVE searching for their partner, and it's a trip to watch!

So this year, I decided to make my cards a little fancier than the hand-written version and add a couple more features thanks to the inspiration of Dr. Spencer Kagan.  Sometimes, once my kiddos are in their partnerships, I want one partner to talk and the other to listen and then switch roles.  So I added an "A" and a "B" to each card so it would designate who is who.  When I say, "Partner A goes first," the partnerships will be able to start right away and no more Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who goes first.  Also, there are times when I want my partnerships to link up with other partnerships, so I made sure there are 4 cards per color.  Finally, each card has a number - 1 through 5.  If I need to, I can have all of the number 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s gather together to share what was happening in their individual partnerships.  The bottom line is I wanted some flexibility in the cards, so I tried to add some of these features.  Here, look for yourself...


There are 28 cards in all (14 pairs), so hopefully that will accommodate the largest class size.  God bless you IMMENSELY if you have a class size larger than 28.  Just print, laminate, cut them out and you're good to go!

I hope you have as much fun with your famous pairs as I do!

Enjoy!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Who Goes First? 40 Ways for Kids to Decide

It's time for your kids to break out into small groups and begin working on a task.  Or they are about to start a game.  The first question I always anticipate is, "Who goes first?"  Here's something that will get your kids engaged in deciding who will start the activity or game.

There are 40 cards in all.  You can put these on a ring and just pick one randomly to call out to groups.  You can also randomly pick one to give to each group so that each group has a different way to find who goes first.  Of course, at the beginning of the year when you are setting your routines, you'll teach your students what to do if they need to have a tie breaker or if no one in the group satisfies the criteria.

I've also created 5 spinners that can be used in the same way.  Kids use a paperclip and a pencil to spin the spinner.  These spinners can be put on a ring and hung in a convenient location.  They could also have a magnet applied to the back and put in a handy dandy spot so your students can get to them.



I've also created a teacher card that has all 40 ways on one card so it's at your fingertips; you'll see it in the download.


Enjoy!

Monday, July 15, 2013

ZABINGA! Telling Time Game with 5 Levels

Zabinga!  It's a new twist that I've put on an old game.  And I'm using telling time as the skill for this super easy-to-play and super fun game.  Your students can play this game in pairs or in small groups.  All they need is a set of leveled playing cards with some ZABINGA cards sprinkled in.  (Teacher directions for what to put in each game bag is included in download.)

Everything fits nicely inside a sandwich-size Ziploc bag.  So easy!

I've designed five levels:




  • Level 1: to the hour
  • Level 2: to the hour and half-hour
  • Level 3: to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour
  • Level 4: five-minute intervals
  • Level 5: one-minute intervals 
These are available individually in black and white clocks as well as colored clocks.  Just click on the images above to hop on over to my TpT store.  If you'd like to grab all five sets, just click below.  You'll get a lot more and have some more flexibility too.


In this PDF file, each level has different printable versions because everyone has different capabilities.  Some of us have access to color printers, and others of us don't.  So each level is provided in a black and white version as well as a color version.  I usually print in black and white onto bright card stock, and I use a different color of card stock for each of my sets.  It really helps keeps my sets together.

I've also created each set in business card format using Avery Business Cards (2" x 3.5").  Can you say EASY?  You can grab a set of these business cards at the store for $11-$13 for 250 cards.  They are durable and so stinkin' easy to pop out.  NO MORE CUTTING ON THE PAPER CUTTER!!!  For those of us who don't have the means to get business cards, then each set is provided in a regular format.  Just print, laminate and cut out.

ALL of this (actually 26 documents) is included in your download.  Woo hoo!

So how do you play ZABINGA?  Cards (leveled playing cards with 4 ZABINGA cards mixed in) are placed in the middle of the group.  On each player’s turn, she or he will take a card from the top of the pile and answer the question on the card.  If the answer given is correct (answer keys are included in sets), the player gets to keep the card.  If the answer given is incorrect, the card is placed at the bottom of the pile.  If a ZABINGA card is drawn, the player must put all of the playing cards she or he has collected so far back to the bottom of the pile.  The ZABINGA card is then put aside in a different stack.  It is the next player’s turn.  Students will continue playing until all of the playing cards from the pile are gone.  The player with the most playing cards is the ZABINGA winner. Woo hoo!  I've made an instructions card that fits nicely inside a sandwich-size Ziploc bag along with the playing cards.  So, all your kids will need to do is grab a bag, pop a squat on the floor, and play!  Yes!

Here's what the cards look like:

This is the business card format provided in color as well as black & white formats.
This version is the regular format (not for business cards).  It's available with color clocks or black & white.

For each game, just use 4 ZABINGA cards.  Don't worry!  The teacher directions tell you how to make game sets.
Visit my TpT store to scoop up a copy of this telling time version of ZABINGA!

But wait...there's more!  As I was making this game, I thought these cards would be PERFECT for a game of Scoot!  So, I've included some instructions for how you can play this whole class review game along with a game board.  Consider this your GIFT WITH PURCHASE.  If you have not played Scoot with your class, I cannot encourage you enough to give it a try!  It is so much fun!

Enjoy!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Jazzed Up Memo Books {Freebie}

Happy July! It's been a busy summer so far. Lots of fun training opportunities which means lots of reasons to appreciate the people I've been hanging out with. I have a tutorial to share with you that is super cute and super inexpensive.

But first I wanted to let you know some exciting news. By spending time with so many of my friends this summer, I've had a lot of time to talk to them about my blog and all of the things I want to accomplish. One of the questions I'm always asked is, "Why do you always give your stuff away?" Well, I have always wanted to share what I use in my classroom with other people and if someone else can use it, then great. The more I blog and the more that people download my freebies, the more I realize that I would like to do more. I've decided in order to do more, I need a few more resources. Therefore, I've decided to open a TpT store so that I can continue to provide as many free resources as possible.  In fact, this free tutorial is my first "product."


I'd love for you to follow me on Bloglovin & my TpT store as well as grab this tutorial.  And please let me know how you appreciate the team members in your life.

 Have a blessed week and enjoy!


Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Freebie Fridays

Friday, June 21, 2013

Totally Diggin' Bloglovin


I'm sure you've heard the news that Google Reader is going to be a thing of the past here pretty soon.  So what's a blogger/blog stalker reader to do?  Find something EVEN BETTER!!

And I am totally diggin' Bloglovin! Making the move was super simple.  Just head on over to Bloglovin and join.  The fine folks there will even import all of the blogs you follow from your Google Reader whilst you sip your summer iced latte.  There are so many wonderful features of Bloglovin; here's a fantastic tutorial from Nutrionella that tells about many of them.

I hope you will join me at Bloglovin and see how AWESOME it is!  

Friday, June 14, 2013

Science Process Skills Posters {Freebie}

I'm working on a professional development piece for my amazing district, and this class centers on helping our students develop their science process skills.  If you're like me, you might be like, "Huh?  What are those?"  You'll recognize them when you see them.  They are basically the tools that our budding scientists use to carry out scientific investigations.  They are what they need in order to learn new knowledge.  And, I believe teaching them and giving our students lots of time to practice them are just as important as teaching content.  Check out The Institute for Inquiry for more information.

I also believe our kiddos need to know what they are and when & how they are using them.  Here are some posters (8.5" x 11") from which you can use to teach as well as display in your classroom.







I'd love for you to follow me if you grab these freebies.

 Have a blessed week and enjoy!


Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Freebie Fridays

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Six Types of Syllables Posters {Freebie}

One more school year is in the books!  Woo hoo!  What a great school year!  Now it's time to regroup for next year...well, maybe a few naps first.  :)

Today's freebie is a set of posters (8.5" x 11") that may help our students learn about the six types of syllables. Learning about syllable types can really help our struggling readers and spellers.

Grab your free copy of my {Six Types of Syllables Posters} today.



Have a blessed week and enjoy!


Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Freebie Fridays

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Five Spelling Rules Posters {Freebie}

There are five spelling rules that help us know when to double, drop or change letters in words.  Check this out for a more in depth look at these rules.

I developed these posters (8.5" x 11") in hopes that they would help my students become more confident spellers. Hopefully they will help yours too!  Don't forget to check out my post about my free multi-sensory spelling activity cards. 

Grab your free copy of my {Five Spelling Rules Posters} today.


Have a blessed week and enjoy!


Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Freebie Fridays

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Multi-Sensory Spelling Activity Cards {Freebie}

We have 9 days left of this school year.  That's right; we're in the single digits, people! I'm looking forward to the summer, and I'm working on a training class that I'm doing for my district - Multi-sensory Spelling Instruction.  As part of this professional development, I'm offering these multi-sensory spelling activity cards along with these spelling routine cards.  The first cards (done in color as well as black and white) can be used as a reminder as you go through your short, daily spelling routine.  These can be laminated and laid on the table, posted on a white board, used as a bookmark, etc.

Spelling Routine card for students
The activity cards (below) can be used during your students' daily practice.  In researching and preparing for my training class, I came across this quote:
The act of tracing with fingers on a texture helps make a sensory imprint on the brain that increases memory and retention.
With that in mind, many of these activities intentionally provide an opportunity for students to practice their words by tracing.  They also focus on getting as many senses involved as possible and hopefully your students will find them fun.  This is a compilation of ideas targeted for students who struggle with spelling and need something different than the typical ways we ask kids to practice spelling words.

Multi-Sensory Spelling Activity Cards




Have a blessed week and enjoy!


Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Freebie Fridays

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...