Penguin Art Project


Penguins are so much fun to draw. Follow these directed drawing steps to create your own penguin art project - perfect for winter and penguin units!

We did some penguin directed drawings today and I am so pleased with how they turned out!

Here are the steps if you would like to try it with your class!












It is one of the projects in my winter directed drawing printable packets. You can find it on TpT by clicking HERE


I can't wait to see the penguins you draw - tag us on social media so we can see it!

Back to School Books and 100 Charts

Hello Friday! I am back with five random happenings from my week. I have a confession to make - some of these photos are throwback photos. It has been one of 'those' weeks. We have discussed them before.


1. It is Friday. 

I think I covered that earlier. I am sure you are as excited as me.
I am 'especially' excited, because it is the Friday BEFORE school goes back for a brand new year.


I mean, isn't that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck-fantastic?!

Happy Friyay




2. Prepping Games

Does any week in my life not contain printing and laminating? My girl is loving being allowed to assist with the laminator while she is off school. Here is a 'Make 10' game from my recent listed bundle of addition games

Ten Frame Make 10 Game

3. The Hundred House
I made some printable worksheets that have been stuck inside my mind, and on my to-do list for a few years. These cuties will help your students became familiar with the number order and patterns on a 100 chart.

100 chart worksheets

100 chart worksheets

4. Chocolates
We finished the chocolate stash from Christmas. It has taken 6 weeks. I am now back on the detox.
 

5. Back to School

I have just a few days left of summer break and I am getting excited about a fresh new school year. I am working an additional day in the classroom this year, so I have lots to look forward to! I started going through my bookshelves today to gather all my 'school' themed books. I love reading these in the first few weeks of term. Do you have a favourite BTS read aloud? I would love to add some more to my collection.

Back to school books

I am linking up this post with Doodle Bugs Teaching, please head over and check out the other posts!

Double Dice Addition Games Perfect for Back to School

Perfect for back to school are our double dice games. Four games are included in this packet, and you can literally print and play as there is no cutting required!


Just team up the games with double-dice (or two dice) and you are good to go! I like to pull all the game boards and equipment needed to play, out from my organisational packets and pouches and store them for the week in our group trays or boxes. Student group leaders can simply take their tray and get playing in seconds - no wasted time getting equipment ready or fussing with plastic bags or tricky clasps on tubs.

Fast prep games with dice

The included games - perfect for first and second grade - are:

1. Double Dice Cover Up

Students add the two numbers and cover numerals.

Double Dice Addition

2. Double Dice Take Away

Students take the smaller number away from the larger number.
double dice subtraction

3. Frog Rescue

Students each find the total, and then compare to find the larger number.

addition for math

4. Double Double Make a a Row

Students roll 2 double dice, to find the total of 4 numbers, and then try to get 3 in a row on the game board!

double dice addition game

Some Sweet Subtraction

 In this Valentine Subtraction activity, your little learners will gain valuable fine motor practice in making twenty chocolates for their chocolate box.

They will then model the subtraction process by removing some chocolates from the box. As with all my 'Fun Play Dough' packets, there is a short rhyme for your students to say as they roll the dough. I have found this helps students stay focused and get into the rhythm of rolling and modelling the dough. 

They can record their subtraction action on the worksheet. 





This activity helps your little learners understand that subtraction is considered as the removal of part of a group. It helps model the 'take away' strategy for subtraction and uses concrete materials and a 'real world' problem. 

Give your students some opportunities to discuss their actions in the activity and encourage mathematical language.





Find this printable packet over at TpT HERE



100 Days of School


This weekend I was thrilled to notice that my TpT store had reached 7000 followers! 

Oh my goodness. It feels like it was just yesterday that I felt the excitement of reaching one hundred. 

In celebration, I made a '100 Days of School' number line puzzle freebie. 


You can grab the freebie from my TpT store by clicking  HERE


I made some eye candy for the week ahead in my planner. Under heavy influence from my sister, I recently became a 'planner addict'. It is lots of fun and a good way to indulge in creativity, paper, stickers and all-things-cute! If you need another obsession interest in your life - look up #planneraddict on Instagram!


Appreciating my 7000 followers made me reflect on how things are achieved. When I focus too much on the 'big picture' - all the jobs and roles I have - I get lost in the enormity of it all, and at times can get overwhelmed.  I need to constantly tell myself to just focus on the little moment I have now and what I can do with it. They do add up, and they do made a difference!

You can download my little planner/diary card HERE. Hopefully as I open up my planner each day this week, it will remind me to be at peace with my life of 'little moments'.



The absolutely adorable and amazing Cara Carroll has also just made a blog post with wonderful ideas for a '100 Day Celebration' in your classroom. I always get excited when I see that Cara has blogged and true to form, her post delivers so many wonderful ideas - you will love it!



Find Cara's blog post (including freebie) HERE

Snowman Makes Six


I blogged in 2013 with a fun free number game - Snowman Makes Ten. You can read my original post HERE

I edited the file over the weekend to include a couple of bonus pages that will allow you to differentiate your instruction. The bonus pages will allow you to work with students who are only working with numbers to six. They can help the snowmen make six instead of ten.

If you have this file already, pop over to TpT to grab the additional pages. Click on the image below to find it.


Another game in my store - called 'Make 20 and 10 Snowman' will extend your higher level students. You can find it HERE

Five for Friday + Penguin Shape Craft

It's that glorious time of the week we call Five for Friday time!

Here are 5 random happenings from my week:

1. Take care of you

Part of my week is telling you to look after yourself this week and do something lovely! 
Take care of you meme

2. My sausage muffin

This little man melts my heart every single day. I call him my 'sausage muffin'. He has taken to saying "I am not a sausage muffin". "That's fine, you can be my hash brown then", is my new reply. We are in the midst of a lovely summer break here in Australia and have taken advantage of the extra daylight hours with a few alfresco dinners. Here is my hash brown avoiding the sun. 



3. Yummy food

Can you sense a theme emerging. That's right. I go back on my detox NEXT week. I met up with Brooke from Teachable Moments through the week. She was passing through my town and we decided it was an opportunity far too good to pass up. I gave her a brief tour of my city, we chatted, ordered a delicious lunch and she showed me how to take a screenshot on my phone. I am *SO* moving with the times. Here is our tasty caesar salad and chips (fries for you in the USA). 

4. Penguin shape craft

I made a craftivity for learning 2D shapes with a penguin theme. I lie. I made ten! You can find them in my TpT store HERE

Penguin Shape Craft

5. Penguin Teaching Ideas

For more penguin themed teaching ideas, check out our website page

Penguin Teaching Ideas

Snowman Makes 20

Winter Snowman Addition Math Center

The snowman has buttons - count how many.
Make some more, so he has 20!
Your little learners will love saying this rhyme as they roll balls of dough to complete their 20 frame snowman. 

By adding more 'buttons' to make 20, your students are learning to 
  • add more to make a set (or total)
  • see combinations that make 10 and 20
  • begin to learn addition facts
  • make a total of 20
  • complete addition
A recording sheet will also help them keep track of the addition problems.

Winter Snowman Addition Math Center

Winter Snowman Addition Math Center

You can find this file, in my TpT store HERE

Winter Snowman Addition Math Center

The Sound Train - Phoneme Segmentation

I have made three resources that will help your little ones learn to read and write words.

I have used a 'train' theme to help with phoneme segmentation. I have always liked using a train concept, as I explain to my students that the train is going forward on the track, and does not go backward. It is one way straight ahead, and we see the engine first and then the carriages in order. Kind of like learning to read words by looking at the sounds across the line from left to right. 




I have a set for consonant blends, which will help students understand that a blend is made up of 2 independent sounds, but we try to say them very quickly together - so they make one chunk within the word. After learning single sounds, my students have always been excited to start blends. I tell them they are so clever, they are going to learn the 'big grown up' sounds that have 2 letters! Blends are a wonderful bridge, as they use existing knowledge (single sounds), but get the children used to the idea of looking for 2 letter chunks within words. And they are not too hard - they sound like what they look like! 

I have a cvc set - I would use these first, as soon as possible after learning some single sounds in the first weeks of Kindergarten. Get them building words as they learn the single sounds. It helps make all that 'sound learning' make sense to students. 


Using resources like these, always allows me the freedom to introduce tricky consonant digraphs, and even vowel-sound alternatives to students as young as Kindergarten. As long as you stick to words that are phonetically regular, I have found students easily master 'harder' sounds very quickly. 


Find them all in my TpT store by clicking on the images below. I will not be bundling these resources.