End of Year + Christmas Student Gift

Here in Australia the end of the school year is almost upon us. We are busy finalising school reports and assessments, sending work home and hosting closing programs and events. 

We are also saying some goodbyes. 

I have to say goodbye soon, to some of the most amazing teachers and students you could ever meet. I have been beyond blessed to be overwhelmingly embraced and supported at a school full of positive, professional, honest and inspiring colleagues for the last three years. I have learnt so much about teaching first grade and helped implement dynamic and emerging curriculum. 

I have simply loved being in a team surrounded by fellow teacher-marigolds. I am beyond certain that what I have been a very small part of at this school will stay with me forever. 

It will also be sad to say goodbye to our students. 

Today I made a fun printable to help you make super-easy student gifts for the end of the Australian teaching year. These little Christmas Owls can be easily printed and wrapped around Cadbury Furry Friends



A pack of 5 cost me around three dollars. 



I printed the wrappers and cut them out. 


And put a little sticky tape on the back. Voila. Student gifts done! 





You can find the FREE printable to make yours, HERE on Google Drive.


I wish you all the very best in saying goodbye!


FREE Christmas Coloring Pages



I am SO ready for Christmas this year! Not ready, as in I-have-all-my-shopping-done-ready 

but ready as in: let-me-at-the-decorations-gift giving-and-yummy-food-ready!

If you have missed my FREE coloring pages over the last few years - here are the links for you!





And if you have my Scrappy Christmas Coloring packet from TpT - I recently added five new pages for you, so head over and re-download for the new projects!



I hope you have had a great week my friends, enjoy the weekend!


If you love coloring pages - especially free ones - head over to our website and read all about joining the free club - Pond Coloring Club

Phonics and Fluency - Zoom Cards

Help your students work on fluency at home with Zoom Cards!

I sequence my phonics program carefully. It is structured, and students build 'brick by brick' on what they already know (free printable on sequence HERE).

If you are looking for a phonics system that is:
  • comprehensive; 
  • fast to prep ; 
  • easy to implement and maintain; 
  • engaging and independent; and 
  • sequenced and challenging - 
well, you've just found it!

These zoom cards, numbered from 1 to 34 will step learners through a sequenced set of letter sound patterns and words.

They include cards for 
  • single sounds 
  • word families 
  • cvc words 
  • consonant blends 
  • ccvc words 
  • cvcc words 
  • consonant digraphs 
  • nasals
    


The cards are backline so you can copy them onto brightly coloured paper to add some interest. 

   

Give each student a small plastic pouch to keep their cards in. You can assess the students quickly on a Friday to determine if they are ready to move onto the next card. It is personal choice, but I would recommend aiming for 100% accuracy. 

Students have a card for the whole week and time themselves reading the sounds/words each night. They can record their best times and try to get faster as the week progresses. With 34 cards, there is enough to cover the whole year. 


    

My printable Zoom Cards file can be found on our TpT store!



Thank you so much for stopping by my blog, be sure to follow our ELA Pinterest board for ongoing ideas and activities.

Make Ten - Christmas

      

My Make Ten Christmas bundle has four easy-prep activities to motivate and encourage your students to learn the addition combinations to ten.

They can play Santa Makes Ten, Make Ten Snowman, Let it Snow and Make Ten Tree to add some festive fun to their learning. 


      

Your students will get lots of practice discovering numbers that combine to make a total of ten. 

The bundle is on sale for today and you can find it in my TpT store by clicking on the image below:



While you are in my TpT store, grab the fun and FREE subtraction game Santa Sleigh Drop to print and play with your students!

Thank you so much for stopping by today friends, have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Paper Crafts

I love celebrating Christmas and helping my students learn about Christmas in the classroom. You can see how much, by taking a quick peek in my TpT store and seeing all my Christmas resource packets and freebies!

My Christmas Craft resource bundle got a makeover this week in anticipation of the festive season. 

I redesigned a couple of the characters and refreshed every page. In addition to the seven craft templates I have provided six writing prompts in this bundle to give you lots of variety. 

It includes a reindeer, Santa, snowman, tree, winter owl, gingerbread man and gift to cut and paste from paper. 



 



Hop over to TpT to find it!



Thanks so much for stopping by, have a wonderful day. 

Gumball Math

Add some colour and fun to your number learning with a set of three gumball number games! I recently revised this packet to include game cards and boards for numbers 1-10 as well as the original 11-20. If you have already purchased this resource from me, simply re-download to get the new additions. 


Gumball Race will see students roll and count to get their ball to the finish line!


Gumball Match will help students learn counting, numerals and numbers word 1-20. 

      


Gumball Count will encourage students to count sets of objects to match numerals. 


I have made this packet 50% off for today - over in my TpT store! 


Thank you so much for stopping by - enjoy your day!

Five for Friday - 13th November

I am linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs with a Five for Friday post!


1. #onmyteacherdesk this week is a reminder for me to live with more intention and less out of habit. As a routine-oriented person, it is something I have to constantly work at. 



2. Christmas

Here in Australia we are heading onto our last 4 or 5 weeks of teaching for the entire year! We start our summer break in the week before Christmas. As we finish our regular teaching programs, assess learning and plan end-of-year events, we like to integrate some 'Christmas' into our classrooms. I just added a new addition game to my TpT store that will help you get into the festive spirit! 

    

3. My baby big boy is drawing!

This is the most beautiful octopus drawing ever. 


4. Readers Theatre

I am 'new' to reader's theatre (theater in USA). The Grade 2 classroom I visit on a Thursday have been doing them all year with huge success. The teacher reports that her reluctant readers have become fluent and especially animated during these fun reading sessions. It is so rewarding as a teacher to see shy and nervous readers become confident and expressive. 

I am heading back to the classroom full time next year and have started gathering and prepping some resources already. Readers Theatre is definitely something I am going to implement in my classroom. I LOVE this bundle from A Teeny Tiny Teacher. Kristen gives you tips on how to prep and organise them for super easy implementation in your class program. 

I printed some out this week and practiced with my daughter. I always have a trial run of new resources at home before I take them to class - and my daughter loved them!



You can find this amazing bundle over at TpT:



5. Relaxation and Creativity

My friend Jenny has published a coloring book! It is an adult coloring book full of pop art contemporary designs. I love it so much because it has a twist on a regular coloring book. Jenny has added a unique interactive component to most of her pages, where you get to choose your own patterns, designs and textures. I love taking a little brain break from my regular work and coloring a new section on a page I am working on. 

You can find it on Amazon HERE



My friend Heidi from The Doodle Oven has recently done a blog post filled with Coloring Tips and Tricks if you need a refresher on colouring with style! 

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and pop on over to Kacey's blog for more Friday randomness.

Kindness Day


World Kindness Day is on November 13th and what better way to celebrate than with a fun writing topper project. Your students can write about two ways to be kind and top their work with a "bee kind' friend! 

Find the templates free in our TPT store!


How will you encourage your students to be kind at school? Perhaps you can brainstorm a page of examples for them and illustrate each one or ask students to role play and act them out. 



Thank you so much for visiting today, I hope you have a wonderful week!

Penguin Cuties


Spontaneous-Kid-Craft is the best! My daughter s(5 years old) surprised me with these today. Going straight to the 'good-lets-keep-this-forever-scrapbook'.

I think I may have shed a tear or two - just adorable!


Would your little learners like to make a round little penguin too? We have a pack of craft projects that incorporate creativity and 2D shapes over in our TpT store. 

As well as making a penguin they can record some information about the shape they used for the body.


Simply color and cut the pieces. 


Glue the tummy, then the wings. Finish with the beak, feet and eyes.


Can you imagine how gorgeous these would be on a bulletin board? I'd love to see yours - tag us on social media so we can see it!