JUNE, 2015
 WIN A FREE VACATION!

It’s summertime and if you don’t have any special plans I’ve got ten FREE things that you can do by diving into my website this summer. You might not see beach umbrellas or hear waves splashing, but I bet you’ll be more excited about starting back to school in a few months/weeks???

 

 

 

Back to School Kit
Get a box or shopping bag and work on one project each week. You’ll have a whole bag of tricks in no time.

 

 

 

 

 

1. Transition Time
Here’s a new transition packet created by Kristina from Texas. She used some of my old chants, but she also added some great new ideas of her own. Click here to download the file.

I really love the call backs like:
Teacher: Macaroni and cheese
Children: Everybody freeze

Teacher: Ba da bup ba ba
Children: I’m loving it

Teacher: Ready to rock
Children: Ready to roll

The download has an introduction about transitions, as well as QR codes so you can hear Kristina and I sing and say the rhymes. You can turn these into a book or tape them around your classroom for a quick reminder.

I think Kristina is AWESOME and you will, too, when you download this super tool for back to school!

Here’s a video where I demonstrate some of the transition tips:

Click to view the YouTube video.

2. Parent Resources
In the book THE SMARTEST KIDS IN THE WORLD, one key finding was the impact parents have on their child’s academic success. When parents are interested in what their children are learning at school and talk to them about it, the results are amazing. Parents who model reading and read to their children also contribute to school success. Check out these monthly reading calendars and activity calendars that will engage families at home. Click here to go to a list of links for downloading these popular resources

 

3. Purposeful Practice for Automaticity
We’ve always known that repetition is a key to skill mastery. However, if children simply practice reading, or counting, or other skills over and over they will get bored. These fluency cards will engage children by letting them use silly voices and movements as they learn.

These strategies can be used for rereading books, saying poems, reading the word wall, counting, and reviewing numerous skills. If they say it, they will remember it!!

Click here to download Fluency Cards.

Here’s a video where you can watch me demonstrate the different styles and strategies. The more dramatic you are, the more your students will get involved.

 

4. Finger Plays
If I were in charge of the world every early childhood teacher would do finger plays. Why? Finger plays nurture oral language, comprehension, small motor skills, short term memory, phonological awareness, math concepts, etcetera, etcetera. Finger plays can be used to engage children’s attention and they are perfect for transition times. Glue copies of finger plays to index cards and punch a hole in the upper left hand corner. Attach to a book ring and introduce one each week. Speech and language specialists emphasize the importance of doing these over and over and over again to improve fluency.

Click to download booklet with lyrics to fingerplays

Here are five videos where you can learn how to do the finger plays. There’s really no right or wrong way to do them, so feel free to adapt motions that are comfortable to you.

 

Finger Plays I     Finger Plays II    Finger Plays III

Finger Plays IV    Finger Plays V

5. Cheer Cards
If you’ve never downloaded these, they can add a lot of smiles to your day. Here’s a link for the cards:

 

Eight cards on one page. You will find four separate files listed below:

A. Just select the one you want and click. Each file contains 8 different cards.

B. The file should download to your computer.

C. Print the file on cardstock.

D. Cut out your cards, and place them in a Cheer detergent box or Cheerios box.

E. Enjoy cheering with your students.

 

 

              Cards 1 through 8 includes Ole! Ole!, Cowboy Cheer and Silent Cheer

              Cards 9 through 16 includes Firecracker, Rattlesnake and Lookin' Good

              Cards 17 through 24 includes Parrot Cheer, Train Whistle and Wow

              Cards 25 through 32 includes Make Rain, Awesome and Fantastic

Daneene Taylor of Child Care Resource and Referral in Cedar City, Utah, can "kiss her brain" for designing the cards and allowing me to share them on my website. Thank you, Daneene!

Here’s the video where you can watch me demonstrate many of them.

Link to YouTube video demonstrating cheers

6. PowerPoints
Here are some PPTX and standards that they support. I know “Common Core” has become a word that is not well liked in many states. What you need to remember is that all standards are based on scientific research and therefore these PPTX will support standards in all 50 states.

English and Language Arts

ABC Kickbox – RF 1d and RF 3a
Alphabet Train – RF 1d
Phon-ercise!  RF 1d and RF 3a
Letter Round-Up – RF 1d and RF 3a
Color Farm – RF 1b
Tools of Good Readers – RF 4
Word Families – RF 2c
Opposite Song – L 5b
Magic Words – SL 1
Super Star Chant – SL 1b
The Wheels on the Bus – RL 7
Tooty Ta – RF 2e
Backpack Boogie – RF 7
Jingle Bells – RL 10
The Way We exercise – RI 2
Sports around the Year – RI 7
Parts of a Plant – RI 2
My Mother Is a Baker – RL 2
Eat Green – RI 7

Mathematics

Zero the Hero – Counting & Cardinality  (Count to 100)
Five Little Hotdogs – Count to tell the number - Subtraction
Chant and Write – Cardinality – Write Numbers
Country Countdown – Counting forwards and backwards to 20
Beaver Call – Count to tell the number
Over in the Meadow – Count to tell the number
Math Is Fun – Cardinality and Geometry
Money Song – Money

7. Free Books
Yes, siree! Download these free books for your classroom. If you glue the front page to a pocket folder and insert the other pages in clear sheet protectors they will last for years.
Hint! If a title sounds interesting to you just put it in the search engine to download it.

My Mother is a Baker

Number March

Found a Penny

Chant and Write

May There Always Be Sunshine 

Oceans

Sign Language Mini

Vowel Family

Zero the Hero

Today Is Sunday

Letter Tails

Color Farm

Tooty Ta

Peanut Butter 

Rules Rap 

Five Little Monkeys 

Alphardy 

Bear Hunt 

Veteran’s Day
Albuquerque Turkey
Jingle Bells
Santa
Kwanza
My Dreidel
I’m a Little Snowman
Ring in the New Year
Stand Up for Martin Luther King
Abraham Lincoln
Groundhog Day
Will You Be My Valentine
Five Little Kites
St. Patrick’s Day
Earth Day
Rain
Mother’s Day
My Flag
School Cheer
Gray Squirrel
Columbus Day

•Many teachers like to make four copies of the song and use the book in the listening center. It’s a perfect way to encourage repeated reading.

8. Free Videos
If you can’t come to one of my workshops, check out some of my videos for some tips and strategies. Click here for video. You’ll be ready, set, back to school with this one

9. Monthly Music Mix


Do you have a difficult time organizing your music and keeping up with songs that reinforce skills you are working on? How about creating a “monthly music mix” this summer?

Here’s a link where you can get some suggestions for a good morning song, calendar song, phonics song, seasonal song, wiggle song, and good-bye song for each month. Monthly Music Mix

 

Hint! How about creating a special “Sub CD” for when you have a substitute teacher? Include a good morning song, calendar song, lots of wiggle songs, and a good-bye song. They can “sing” through the day!

10. Highway Letters, Numerals, and Shapes
If you’ve ever been to my workshops you know I PUSH these highway letters, numerals, and shapes. You can purchase a book with these or download them free at makinglearningfun.com. I put mine in clear sheet protectors because it’s cheaper and easier than laminating. You can also punch holes at the top and tie on string so the children can wear them like letter vests.

Race Car ABC Cards

Race Car Highway Numbers

Here are just a few ways you can use the highway letters with different age levels throughout the school year.

Toy Cars - Let children drive over letters with toy cars.

Tracing - Trace over the letters with dry erase markers. Erase and use again and again.

Play Dough - Roll play dough and place on top of the letters.

Songs - Pass out letter vests to children. Let them stand up when their letter is sung in the song.

Phonics - Practice blending C V C words. (consonant, vowel, consonant) with vests. Add the “silent e” to words to change the vowel sound.

Chunking - Start by asking children who are wearing “a” and “t” to stand. What does that say? Ask “m” to stand in front of “at.” What does that say? Tell “m” to go away and have “r” stand in front of “at.” Have children suggest other letters to stand in front of “at.” Reinforce other word families with this strategy.

Spelling - Slowly call out sight words or spelling words. (Stretch out the Words sounds.) Children come up if they are wearing that sound and make the word.

ABC Order - Children arrange themselves in alphabetical order according
to the letter that they are wearing.

Here are some activities with highway numerals:

Writing Numerals – Children can trace over numerals with toy cars or they can roll play dough and place it on top of the numerals. They can also trace over numerals with a dry erase marker and erase.

Counting – Have children get in numerical order according to the number they are wearing.

Songs – Wear number vests as you sing “Five Little Monkeys,” “I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a One,” and other songs.

Inequalities - Put up two numbers and have children choose “<” or “>” to go between them.

Addition and Subtraction – Have children make number sentences using the numbers and signs on the vests.

Fact Families – Move numbers around to demonstrate different fact families.

Decomposing Numbers – Call out a number. Children find a friend to equal that amount.

Tens and Ones – Let children demonstrate tens and ones with vests.

Word Problems – Use number vests to engage children in solving word problems.

Dot to Dot - Pass out numbers and have children scatter around the
room. Give one child a large pointer. That child takes the pointer and
goes from “0” through “10” by “connecting the dots.”

Highway Shapes – Do similar activities by putting highway shapes in clear sheet protectors.

A LITTLE HAPPY

Several years ago when I was doing a workshop a teacher walked in with a cup of coffee from my favorite coffee shop. I said, “Don’t you just love it?” She replied, “Yes, it’s my ‘ little happy.’” I asked, “What do you mean, your ‘little happy’?” She explained, “Not every day is perfect, but you have to do something little for yourself every day. Something special just for you is a ‘little happy.’” You work so hard all through the school year that this summer I hope you’ll plan a “little happy” every day just for YOU! 


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