Swap, Share, Give: A blog linky from Down Under!




When Lauren from Love Laughter and Learning in Prep asked me to join with her and some other wonderful Aussie teacher-bloggers in a 'Swap, Share and Give' blog linky, I HAD to say yes! So much fun! Giving and sharing are two of my most favourite things to do.

SWAP

Lauren and I swapped a resource from our teaching collections.

Lauren sent me her new Caterpillar Sight Word Game that reviews 220 Dolch words. Perfect timing as we are working hard at the moment on Sight Words in my First Grade class!


Lauren has colour coded the different sets of words, which makes game set-up a breeze! I like that she has put the word on the left of the card and the picture on the right. We teach children left-to-right progression in reading, and this card design will assist in reinforcing that concept!


The game includes fun 'caterpillar' and 'butterfly' cards which adds an element of fun to the activity! Your students will LOVE them! They read sight words and try not to have their cards gobble dup by that hungry caterpillar as they go!


You can find this fabulous resource by clicking on any of the images above!

SHARE

I want to share an idea and printable with you today.

As I have just printed Lauren's card game, I will be adding it to my resource boxes. Over the years, I have tried many many different 'organisational systems' for my classroom resources. I settled on this one a few years back. I have a 'file box' for basic areas of the curriculum (mainly the ones I cover in small-groups). I also have a box for some themed areas of learning.

I once had all these resources in a traditional 4 drawer filing cabinet, but when I made the shift to part time teaching, I found these boxes perfect for my travels to and from school. I also like that I can grab a box that will be used for the week, and have it out ready, while the rest are packed away out of sight.

Here are some of my mathematics boxes.





In them, I place each different activity (game, center, word cards etc), in its own plastic document wallet. I do not worry about files, as these just add weight and bulk to the box.

These are the wallets I use. They are 'compact' and do not have a button or zip. They sit flat and you can get lots of them in the box!


In each pouch/wallet, I try to put a cover that, in a glance, tells me a bit about the activity. After a decade or so, of gathering resources, I do forget what-is-what sometimes.

I also put an 'instruction' sheet in the pouch. It is helpful for when you have parent helpers in the classroom,, working with groups. I have also found, when I am brain-fried, I just need to read out what students have to do. You know how it gets by 1pm on Friday, when it's time for groups.... I cannot string three words of thoughts together, let alone explain the rules to a game!


Today, I want to share with you a pro-forma that I just prettied up for you. I have in the past, just scrawled notes on a scrap of paper or on post-its. This page can be added to the pouch/wallet of each activity you have. It helps you remember quickly, how to differentiate your activities.

This makes your planning easier, saves you in prep time, and helps you suck every last inch of educational benefit out of a resource. Why make 5 resources when you can just use 1!?

When I plan for 'small groups' (maths groups, reading groups, guided reading, play groups etc), I usually have 5 or 6 groups of children, and they are grouped according to their ability or achievement on our continuum of learning. In the past, I planned 5 different activities, depending on what level of learning they were up to. And sometimes, that is still appropriate. BUT.... if you have one of these pages in your activity wallets, you can quickly differentiate one set of resources for ALL of your groups!

As you see in the example below, a basic sight word game "Carrot Crunch" can be played in 5 different ways, by changing or adding to the original instructions/outline.

I am planning to add this sheet to all of my pouches, and the next time I get them out to use, I will just jot some ideas down. It is not meant to be a planner or program, just a way to record ideas. I put the heading at the top and the teaching area. Then I listed 5 activity variations ranging from basic at #1 to more advanced at #5.


You can download this differentiation planning sheet from google drive, by clicking on the image below!

5 For Sa-Friday

Reading

Another one Mummy? We read books. Lots of them. Well, by 'read' I mean 'ma, ma, boo, ni, ta, car, car, car'. He is just so utterly delicious at the moment and I thank the sweet Lord everyday for letting me be his mother!

Spring Laminating

We do 'Spring' in Australia in Autumn. Just cause it's Easter. And Easter means Spring. And Australia is upside down sometimes.


Scrappy Sketches

Scrappy drawings are a huge part of my life. Here is a 'scrappy' Easter colouring page for your students to complete. We are in our last 2 weeks of school here in Australia before Term 1 break, so Easter will be on the program now!

Just clink on Little Bun below to grab from Google Drive!

Spring Centers

This week, I have had a spurt of motivation to Spring Clean up some of the freebies I listed earlier in my TpT journey. They were looking a little tired. 
Find a Farm Babies Write (Cut and Paste) the Room and a little freebie for Easter over in our TPT store!

 

You may like to take advantage of the sale to grab a few of my most recent listings. The 'Spring Games Super Pack' is one of my new favourites. It has 20 literacy and math activities!


Here are a few photos to show you what is included:

Letter Substitution in cvc words

Making equal groups to model multiplication


Adding and Subtracting 5 in Flower Power

Matching cvc, ccvc and cvcc words with pictures

Sorting ee and ea words

Identifying short and long vowel sounds.

Reading 100 sight words

Finding missing numbers in sequences

Earth Day Freebie


Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events in more than 193 countries and it aims to show support for environmental protection.

Explore the topic of environmental protection with your students and ask them to think of ways that they could show care for our planet. If you suggest some very simple and practical things students can do they will more readily connect with the discussion and feel empowered to help.

I have a free writing template page for you to use with your students. I've included 3 line styles to accomodate your different writing ability levels.


Find it in Google Drive HERE


This is an update on a file I shared on Facebook a few years ago. 



  HERE is the link to the original file in google drive in case you would like it too!

We have more printable resources for Earth Day - find them HERE




Thanks for stopping by! 

Tulip Card

Today, I want to show you how easy it is to make a cute Tulip Card - perfect for Easter and Spring. You could modify this lesson with your class to make an artwork also. 


All you need for each student is a piece of thin card, coloured paper, scissors, pencil and a glue stick.



Have your students fold a piece of card, landscape. 


Students then freehand draw 6 or 7 tulip shapes. Discuss with your students the shape of a tulip and show them how to draw one. Describe it to them - 'like a circle with three sharp claws" - this visual language will help them to understand how to draw it. You could also provide some tracers for your students if you think they are needed.



Ask them to draw, on the back of the green paper, a rectangle and divide it into 7 stem-shaped sections.


Ask your students to cut all the piece out.


Your students should glue the stems across the bottom of the front of the card. The bottom of each stem should overhang the edge slightly.


Students them trim the stems to made the edge clean.


To finish, a tulip is attached to each stem.


Violets in a Vase Art Project

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

This art project for kids is called Violets in a Vase. It involves incorporating a range of skills and 2 mediums - paint and crayon. You could modify to make it more complex for your particular group of students. 

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

I started with a template of the violets and vase. I used the templates that are in my new Let's Learn V phonics packet

Older students could freehand draw these easy shapes. Ask your students to shade these pieces. I used orange for the pot. as it contrasts very well with purple. This would be an ideal time to discuss colours and the colour wheel with your students if you have time.

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

I chose portrait orientation for the background, and used a paint dabber to create a sky and ground with the dabs. Paint dabbers give excellent coverage, are quick and clean AND best yet, dry super quick. Talk to your students about famous artists whose artworks are a series of paint dabs rather than lines. Talk about how these dabs create a feeling in the artwork, and how it would be different if lines or solid colour were used. Even kindergarten children enjoy these discussions about art.

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

Ask students to cut out their pieces and talk to them about placement on the page. Give them some time to experiment with placement. Your little ones will need lots of practice with placement and spacial awareness on the page, so this is a good time to let them be creative.

Once they have decided on the position of the flowers, they can draw the stems with a thick rich green crayon.

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

Then, their pieces can be glued down.

Violets in a Vase Alphabet Craft

This paper craft is part of my new 'v' resource pack which will give you a whole week of activities and resources for your phonics lessons. 

Alphabet Learning Pack

Someone Say Carrot?

Not sure what it is about this time of year, but I start becoming a teeny bit obsessed with carrots. It might be seeing those delicious and cute Lindt chocolate carrots in the shops ready for Easter. Maybe it's the bright bold combination of orange and green.

Hmmm... this year, it may just happen to be because my cute-alicious 2 year old boy just started saying 'cawat' at dinner time. Yum. I could eat him up!

I made this 'carrot craft' today, as I wanted to share a freebie with my fabulous Facebook friends, and would love my bloggy friends to have it too!

It is perfect for Australian kinders (in their first few months of school) because it has nice big fat lines that are easy to cut. I am sure Kinder teachers out there are all nodding when I say we need EASY cutting for the first few months! This carrot becomes a great activity to get those scissor skills developed!

They can cut on a line for the carrot top and bottom.

The can 'freehand cut' a black circle for the mouth.


Provide them with a thin strip of white paper and teach them to 'snip'. It is important that they learn the difference between cutting and snipping. Tell them that to snip, we use the front of our scissors. We keep our fingers away from the edge to be snipped. Get the to 'snip' all the way down the strip of paper to make crazy carrot teeth!


I provided a writing prompt so that older students could enjoy this activity to - of course, the focus of your lesson would be (cough, cough), on the writing component.

Head over to TpT to find this flash freebie!


Last year, I blogged about a carrot game for working on number. It is FREE too!


Find my original blog post HERE

Or download it straight from TpT HERE

I also have another game for addition, this time with peas and carrots. Find it at TpT by clicking on the image below:

See, I told you. Carrot crazy I am.

Thank you so much for stopping by and joining me in my love of orange today!