Alpha-bands!

Just wanted to show you something new I added to my TPT store tonight. This pack was born because YOU asked for it after seeing a pic of mine on Instagram. If you feel like following I am brookeb80.

I made an 'i' headband for my Kinders last week to practice their letter formation as well as looking at initial sounds and working on our fine motor skills of tracing, cutting and colouring. We made our headbands during our morning group time and it was fully assembled and ready to wear in 15 minutes! And no, it wasnt a fluke as I managed to get through this activity with 3 different groups of kids.

So the whole set has been created - from A - Z. (x is treated as a final sound rather than an X for Xray).

Have a look!

How cute is my model? That is my son Cameron who is in Kindergarten this year (and no, not at my school). The pictures above take you through step by step just how easy it is for little people to create an alpha-band.

You can go and download the 'i' version from TPT as the preview of the whole file.

Click on any pic to take you to TPT.

Five for Friday!! A look at my week

Hi all. I have been wanting to blog all week but I just never can find the energy at the moment. But here I am, sharing a snap shot and linking up

1. How sweet is this clip art? I bought a BUNCH of stuff from Kari Bolt during the last sale and made this fun little subtraction pack for little learners. An addition pack will be coming soon too! Click HERE to visit her Facebook page and HERE to find this pack on TPT

2. It was 'i' week this week so we made these headbands in our fine motor/oral language groups. It only took them about 15 minutes to cut, colour and assemble so it was a great activity! I will be posting the full set of these basic alphabet bands in my TPT store over the weekend. Make sure you like my FB page so you will know when they are listed (I might even be keen to give one or two away!)

3. Another activity from our groups this week was shaving cream writing. It was our first time trying this and we will definitely do it again (just not sure how much 'writing' went on as we were too busy giggling about how the shaving cream felt)

4. One last activity from groups - GEOBOARDS. I bought a geo board pack quite a long time ago and thought this was a great time to use it. The shapes were quite challenging for my Kinders but they had lots of fun. Pack from First Grade Blue Skies

5. This one is from last Friday (I can still include it can't I?) We have been trying to use different craft/art techniques each week on Friday Funday - yes it is a thing in our class. These cute "crocodiles" came from the ever talented Mel From the Pond. We painted the bodies the day before, then cut the next day, did our paper accordian folding (which is a lot harder than it looks for a 5 year old lol) and did the teeth. I actually glued the template onto foil so the teeth would look shiny :) Funny story though, when I took the paper home to glue on, I discovered I only had purple foil. Add a googly eye and it was done! Click HERE to go and look at it in Mel's TPT store. And HERE is a blog post from Mel showcasing some of the awesome things you can make from this pack.

You made it to the end! Great! I am going to give away one of my Subtraction Task Cards for Little Learners (seen above). Just leave a comment with something you did in class this week (dont forget your email address). I will pick a random winner on Sunday (Syd time)

AND

The generous Mel of From the Pond has kindly offered to give away one of her Craft Projects - 26 Fold and Create Paper crafts. Go and show her some love on her BLOG or TPT store

Love this girl!

So that is 2 lucky winners! Leave your comment to be entered!

Bright Ideas Blog Hop - Using Websites in the classroom

Thanks for hopping by!

If you are anything like me, you have come to rely on techonology in the classroom! I love how great it can be to use up those precious left over minutes with something fun, like a video of Just Dance on YouTube or something educational, like a quick game or song. I wanted to share a few websites that are a staple in my classroom and totally suitable from K-2.

This one has some great games for Literacy, Maths and Science. Very easy to find things and easy for students to navigate.

This is another great one! Divided into Early Years, KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4, you can search by year level or topic. The game above, Ladybird Spots is always a great one to play for number. There are some really great games for Grade 1 and 2 as well that are pretty engaging.

One of my favourites and also a fave of my students. As you can see from the pic, you pic your grade level and you are good to go. It also has a great 'games' section where you can do things like build a car or a pizza or a robot! The learning games are great, I particularly like the Maths section.

In NSW, we have a new English syllabus this year and there is a huge push towards visual literacy and multi-modal texts. Storyline online is a firm favourite in my classroom becuase the children can enjoy stories through technology. I often put a story on during eating time at lunch.

YouTube is one of those great resources that hopefully you still have access to at school (if you dont, a great alternative is to google 'save youtube video' and there are many sites which can save the file). These are 2 of my go to youtube favourites

Cliff Hanger will never get off the cliff! It has a bit of a phonics focus and the kids like the humour.

I have written about Dream English before HERE. There is something about Matt that my kids just eat up! From weather songs, to phonics, days and months and even left and right, Matt has songs for anything. Disclaimer: The songs may get stuck in your head and you will find yourself singing "What's the weather?" for two straight days lol.

I hope you have found some websites that might be useful in your class. Have you got anything you could add to the list?

Hop over to Mel from From the Pond to read all about her bright ideas about teaching money!

An InLinkz Link-up

Teaching Grammar....and a great deal from Educents!

Grammar is often a tricky thing to teach as it requires lots of practice. Here are some of the resources I have found that you can use in your classroom.

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy2.htm#adj

But if you really want good resources than you are going to love this amazing deal over at Educents!  I have teamed up with 5 other amazing sellers to load your classrooms with 10 resources to help kids work on grammar!  

My product included will surely be loved by your students!  

For a limited time it is $10.99 from Educents which is about 70% off!  It also includes these other great products so there is sure to things you love!  

And if you have never purchased from Educents before.. they always have a great deal for your first purchase.  Click HERE if you are a first time purchaser to take advantage of a  special offer just for you!   

You can also take peek at some of the other products included in the bundle at any of the links below!
Have fun teaching grammar everyone!

DIY whisper phones

I have seen these at lot on Pinterest and other clever bloggers pages. I really wanted my own so I thought I would have a go. All I used was 2 things and I was surprised how easy it was!

I bought 2 small PVC elbow from the plumbing section at the hardware store and grabbed some fun patterned duct tape. The elbows DID NOT fit into each other at all!

I lined up the seams on the PVC so that the corners turned like a 'phone' shape. Then I wrapped it with duct ape until it felt very firm.

And there it was - a neat little whisper phone.

Could it be built a little better? Sure if I was willing to spend more money on special glue or another piece of pipe to join it together. But for my purpose (and for the awesome cost of $2.72 per whisper phone) I have something that is functional and easy for me to make.

Why not try it yourself?

Do you use whisper phones in your classroom?

Currently March

Well it has been almost a month since I posted last. I have just not been able to sit and write - too exhausted! I promise to make a bigger effort for March! Yes I said it - MARCH!!!


That means it is Currently time!!! Go link up with Farley.

Listening - It is a rainy old Saturday, the first day of Autumn here! My kids and husband are taking it in turns to play the Xbox. If I let him, my son (4) would play alllllll day!

Loving - My class has only been at school for 4 weeks now (and only 3 as a class group with me as we keep them all together the first week) and they are just smashing it. I will have to take some pics of some writing and show you - fabulous!

Thinking - my main issue at the moment is one little boy who is a new arrival from Egypt and speaks mainly Arabic to me - which would be great if I could understand him! We are trying to do basic vocab stuff - he can ask to go to the toilet with one word and is very good at following instructions but to me, he seems like an awesome survivor. in saying that I mean, he is good at picking up what is going on around him even though he may not understand. Besides vocab stuff, I would love any suggestions what to do next!

Wanting - well the weather has changed here this week! I am hoping that March will still be warm so I can wear my new gorgeous dresses - one still has tags and I really want to wear it!

????? Can you guess my question?

Bright Ideas Blog Hop

Thanks for hopping by!

DOLLAR STORE ITEMS IN THE CLASSROOM

Teachers have the ability to go into a dollar store, pick out random items and turn them into a fantastic learning activity which is engaging and relevant. I just wanted to share a couple of these ideas that I have used in my classroom.

PEGS

You can use pegs for lots of things. Clip charts, hanging artwork...but you can also use them for learning. In the pics below, we are using them to choose the medial vowel sound.

MAGNIFYING GLASSES AND FINGER LIGHTS

You can turn dollar store items into reading aids! I used these with my struggling readers during guided reading time and it was certainly more engaging!

PIPE CLEANERS AND BEADS

A fantastic tool for fine motor which links perfectly to Mathematics. You could use it for patterning, use two different colours to work on addition, or what we did in the pic below, use a tag on each pipe cleaner and students added that many beads.

PLASTIC SHOT GLASSES AND MINI POP STICKS

Another great fun activity. In these pics, I labelled each cup with a number, then students had to place that many sticks into the cup. To extend it for some, I had them order the cups. You could also do it as a colour sort, or even sight words!

I hope you have grabbed some bright ideas from this post. Please leave some of your own in the comments.

Hop on over to 

For her Bright Ideas on sharing Visual spelling strategies with parents.

Or cruise the linky for more