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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Ginormous Giveaway

Hey everyone, I'm linking up for a Ginormous giveaway. Many TPT sellers are joining and you could win an item from each of their stores.  You can also link up by giving away something from your store.  All of the details are below.  Check out what I'm giving away at the end of this post.
 

 
If you would like to join this giveaway by offering one of your products, then join us in the biggest linky party EVER!!! The deadline to enter will be Saturday, March 2. We have several of your FAVORITES that will be joining us!!

Starting on Sunday, March 3...Sarah will begin the raffle for the winner! ONE lucky winner will win:

ALL of the products offered by the most amazing teacher/bloggers on TPT.


Phase 3 - Prizes Sent!
All teacher/bloggers who linked up will email their product to winner!!
(We are anticipating over $100 worth of products
 
 
I will be giving away my newest unit on TPT. 
 
 
Word Family Sentence Scramble
 
 
Good Luck!
 
Tammy
 
 
 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Literacy Centers

Well I'm a little late, but better late than never.  I have wanted to post how I do my literacy centers for a while now.  I finally have all of the pictures to share.  I do literacy centers and small reading groups 4 times a week.  We save Friday for Friday finish up.  I have 8 total centers and I use the rotations schedule below. 
 
 
Center Rotation Schedule
 
We start out on the first rotation going across.  It lasts 15 to 20 minutes.  Blue group comes to teacher table, Red group is at choices (teacher chooses an activity), Orange group is at a center and Green group is also at centers.  They can choose the center.  They can not repeat that center during the week.  They have Friday to finish it if needed.  After 15 to 20 minutes we go back to our seats then I call for rotation 2.  And the process starts over again.   Each day they will see me once in small group, complete two new centers and complete the choices activity. 
 
Below are the centers I set up every Friday so that I am ready for Monday morning.  We work on one word family a week. I use many of the items from Carls Corner.  A great site with so many amazing freebies.   At teacher table I work with groups based on their specific reading needs. 
 
 
This center is called Rhymes and Chimes. I type up a poem or rhyme that corresponds to that word family. The children write it and recite it with one another. After writing it they are to find the word family and highlight it.
 
Rhymes and Chimes


Finished Rhymes and Chimes
 

Stamping center. I fold a piece of newsprint hotdog, hamburger, hamburger to create 8 squares. I use the Lakeshore Word Family Stamp set to stamp out the word family. I place a list of words from that word family on the easel and each child can choose the words they like and illustrate. There is a picture of the Lakeshore Set below.  After checking they are now discontinued...sorry.

 
Stamping Center



 
 
Lakeshore Word Family Stamps
 
 
The next center is what we call Sliders.  This is also found on Carl's Corner.  The children slide the beginning letters through the slot to make new words.  We record the words, then the children pick two favorites and write 2 sentences. 
 

Sliders Center



The next two centers are Reading and Listening.  I use our District Reading Series for Listening Center.  For Reading Center I use our District Science, Social Studies and Reading small book packs. 
 






Pocket Chart Center is another one from Lakeshore that I love.  I purchased this several years ago along with the magnetic pocket chart......Love it. Not sure about its availability.   The children fill in each blank with a sight word.   They use the pointer to read aloud the sentences.  Then they write the sentences and illustrate.  I can differentiate this center by limiting the number of sentences written.

 
 
Word Work is next.  This is also from Carl's Corner.  The kiddos use letter tiles and mats to create new words for the word family.   They write the words they make and write two sentences using two words. You can also differentiate this center by using scrabble tiles and having the children add up each word using the numbers on the tile.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Finally my Scrambled Sentences Center.  This is a unit I created and sell on TPT and Teachers Notebook.  It is $7 and includes 49 word families.  There are 5 sentences with 5 words.  4 sentences end with periods, one ends in a question mark.  The beginning capital letter, ending punctuation mark and the word family are highlighted on the cards.  It includes a recording sheet. 
 
Scrambled Sentences Center
 
Scrambled Sentences Center with mat.

Storage for Cards for Scrambled Sentences


I store my word families in folders.  They are labeled and ready to be pulled each week.  Also included on Carl's Corner are corresponding word searches, picture and word matching, mini books, What its Worth (add the word total) and Cloze the Gap (fill in the sentences).  They are filed in here.



I hope you find something useful. Thank you for sticking with the long post.

Tammy

 
 
 

 

 


 
 


 
 

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Word Family Sentence Scramble, A Freebie and A Sale

I just finished my very LARGE Word Family Sentence Scramble unit.  This unit came together out of pure necessity.  My little ones work on one word family a week ( I will post all about that tomorrow).  One of the centers I use is a word family sentence scramble.  So I made this unit featuring  46 word families.  The download preview includes a freebie.  I will be participating in the Super Bowl Sunday Sale.  I hope you can stop by TPT or Teachers Notebook to take a peek. 



Teachers Notebook
 
 
 
Teachers Pay Teachers
Teachers Pay Teachers


I would love to know what you think about it. 
 

Monday, December 31, 2012

A Happy New Year Sale and Linky Party

I'm having a SALE and linking up with The Teachers Cauldron for a New Year's Resolution Linky Party.  Everything in my Teachers Pay Teachers store and my Teachers Notebook store is 20% today and tomorrow!!!!



For my PERSONAL resolutions
1.  I plan to spend as much time with my family as possible. 
2.  Walk, Walk, Walk. 
I just got a new treadmill and plan to use it at least 3 times a week.
3.  More family dinners at home. 
The everybody sit down at the table together kind, not watching tv
     at different times of the evening kind. 
 
 
For my BLOGGING resolutions.
1.  Post more. 
I have neglected my little ol blog and plan to post much more in 2013.
2.  Leave more comments on newer blogs.
I know how much I like receiving comments so I will be stopping by more
to leave a little love.
3.  Finish all those activities I have sitting on my jump drive. 
Not only do I need them for my little ones, but I love sharing them with all of you.
 
Thank you for taking the time to stop by. I would love to hear from you.  Remember my stores are on sale and include A HAPPY NEW YEAR UNIT.
 
Wishing you a safe, healthy, happy 2013. 





 
 
Tammy

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Counting our Blessings.





I didn't have to think hard about this one.  Now doing it is another thing.  I'm linking up with Amy at Step Into Second Grade.  Today's post is about downtime in the new year.  Downtime? Really?  This is what I think I should do with downtime... clean my house, paint walls, comment more on blogs, work on all of the unfinished TPT projects sitting on my jump drive, document all of the data for my little firsties .  Now for the things I like to do....

 
 
Many of the days in the pictures are spent on days off from school.  Who has down time during the school year?  With a teenager in high school, a 5th grader with tons of homework, and a hubby who owns his own business, our evenings are very full.  However, with our parents getting older, a recent health scare with my dad, a dear friend's husband surviving a major accident we are MAKING time in our busy days to enjoy all of the people in our life.  The power of prayer gave us happy news with my dad and more prayers continue help our friend improve everyday.   We are truly blessed and enjoy every minute of our crazy life. 
 
I hope you take the time to enjoy the downtime in your life.  As teachers we pack so much into a day (can you say multitasking) that we forget about our own families.   Our families are the reason we are able to be such dedicated teachers.  Take time to tell them how much they mean to you.   Blessings.
 
 
Tammy


Saturday, December 29, 2012

New Year's Unit Linky Party

Hey everyone.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  I am linking up at Teaching is a gift blog with my Happy New Year Unit and my FREE Squirrel's New Year's Resolution activity.  You can click the pictures below to take you there.



Teachers Pay Teachers Store

 

Teachers Notebook Store
Squirrel's New Years Resolution


Have a great night.

Tammy




Saturday, December 22, 2012

Reindeer Ornaments and Free Poem


My dear friend who is a kindergarten teacher at our school is on leave this year.  I have her precious little guy in my room.  She found this idea on pinterest and asked if she could come in and do them with the class.  Of course I said yes.  They turned out so cute.  The biggest problem was finding plastic ornaments.  I have the glass snowman handprint ornament she had made with my daughter in kindergarten.  I am always so afraid I am going to break such a precious keepsake so plastic was a must for this project.  We mainly used the silver, but I have several students who have divorced parents so we used clear for those children to make two ornaments. 



She also created this sweet little poem to go with it.  You can find it here.
 
Every year I also make these mason jar lid ornaments using the kid's pictures with glitter.  You can see that post here.
 
 
 
Take Care.  I hope everyone is enjoying their much needed break.