Back to School Blow Out Sale with Educents

 

 I am so excited to announce that Educents.com is having a HUGE back-to-school blowout sale and I am going to be featured in two of the curriculum bundles! From July 30 - August 2 (Wednesday - Saturday), they are bringing back all of their favorite and most popular bundles for INSTANT download at up to 77% OFF! There is something for everyone and it is their BIGGEST sale of the year! Take a peak into what is on sale! Tell your friends, because there is something for everyone who teaches children in PreK-8th grade!

Preschool Full-Year Curriculum Bundle - 72% OFF

My "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" pack is in the preschool bundle.

It contains links and printable resources so parents can help their child be ready for kindergarten.  All you need to do is e-mail the PDF to parents.  SO... EASY!!!!  I can tell you that parents from the past two years have used it and love it!  I have seen kids come in knowing letters, numbers, shapes, and first sounds better than in the years I did not use this pack.  Have I made it clear how much I LOVE this pack?

Plus, I have used a lot of the other products in my kindergarten classroom for remedial work.  It is seriously a great set of products at an AMAZING price!

Kindergarten Full-Year Curriculum Bundle - 75% OFF

My "Letter Reversal Pack" is included in this bundle.

I feel like I show my thumbs all day trying to teach common letter reversals.  My "Letter Reversal Pack" gives kids practice with common letter reversals.  There are all kinds of activities and games, and they are all kid approved!

Click on any of the photos to take a closer look.  You will NOT regret it!

Don't Miss It!

DIBELS and DAZE

This Monday, we had our DIBELS benchmarks for second and third grades.  We have been working REALLY hard to ensure the kids are ready to show what they know.  We've been working on retell and comprehension.  We've also been working on cloze and DAZE passages.

DAZE exercises are on the third grade DIBELS assessments.  If you have never seen a DAZE passage before, it may be a little intimidating.  So, I took some second grade standards (mostly scientists) and turned them into DAZE passages with a little comprehension sprinkled in.  Our second grade teachers started using them this quarter and, hopefully, this group will be comfortable when they see the DAZE passages on next year's DIBELS assessments.  Plus, the passages are all non-fiction (bonus) so we are reading across the curriculum.

Right now, you can try out my latest creation by downloading it through Educents.  Please tell me you have heard of Educents.  They have everything a teacher wants at a discount price.  I just bought some awesome books from Educents.  The books were shipped quickly and they were cheaper than Amazon.  I was thrilled!

Learn all about Alexander Graham Bell with this {FREEBIE}.  It's only available for a limited time, so head over there now, and save it for later!

DORF, DAZE, and DIBELS, and a {FREEBIE}

Do you ever feel like there are WAY too many acronyms in education?  It's SO true!

If you have read my blog, you know that I help with DIBELS at my school.  Our DIBELS expert is out on maternity leave (she had twin boys that are just the sweetest little babies), so I offered to help out.  It was a big endeavor for me to volunteer for, but I have learned so much along the way.  I really am thankful for the experience.

Now, our school has some amazing readers.  We do not have many yellows or reds; however, we noticed on the MOY DIBELS tests, some of our students were having issues with the quality of retell and with DAZE.  These skills are not just important for DIBELS scores, but they are important for reading in general.  You need to be able to remember what you read, right?

So, my brain started thinking about these two issues, and I came up with an idea to combine comprehension and DAZE practice.  I chose non-fiction topics because they are a bit more challenging, and our students are supposed to be reading more non-fiction in the classroom (hooray for cross curricular reading).  The biographies are about presidents, political figures, scientists, explorers, and other famous people.

The first level would be reading the passage and retelling the main idea and three facts (in order).  

This would help with DORF retell for DIBELS.

The second level is a cloze activity, which would help kiddos be ready for DAZE. 

 Since there are the same retell questions, it would help with DORF retell as well.

Oh, man!  Is it difficult to find extra DAZE passages or what?!  Start your second graders on these passages to familiarize them with the DAZE format.  This would also be great as an intervention, homework, or a center activity for third graders so they can get some extra practice.

Oh, my dear friend... the answer keys.  Have the kids check their own answers with these sheets.

I had a TON of fun researching these amazing people.  My favorite was Theodore Roosevelt, partially because he practically had a zoo at the White House, and all of his animals had fun names like Father O'Grady.  I decided to share my Teddy Roosevelt passage with you, so you can test out these activities in your own classroom.

Click on the picture to download your {FREEBIE}.

I am going to put these passages on sale until Thursday for 30% off!  Check them out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Have a fantastic week!

Can Life Please Slow Down?!

I know we all lead very busy lives as teachers.  We not only have our own biological children to worry about, but we have twenty-six other children to worry about.  Oh, man!  I am going to be the first to tell you that I have been running around like a headless chicken for the entire month of February.  I have had district classes on two of the Saturdays (which, of course, included a lesson plan that I had to create), and we went out of town to celebrate my daughter's tenth birthday (where does the time go?!).  On top of that, I had parent/teacher conferences (If you need a sheet to organize your conferences, head here or here), lesson planning, grading, and more.  Holy smokes!

Needless to say, I am SUPER excited for Spring Break to come next week.  Ahh... maybe I will be able to enjoy a bit of time to myself.  Who am I kidding?!  I will be working on new things for my classroom.

Speaking of new things for my classroom, I just finished a new set of DIBELS prep bellwork.  I can seriously tell you this bellwork has SAVED my sanity!  It keeps my high kiddos challenged, and it helps my struggling kiddos practice the skills for reading and for DIBELS.

This is the front side of each day's bellwork.  The kids read nonsense words and letter names to their neighbor.  They complete phoneme segmentation for eight words.  Finally, they read a sentence and draw a picture to match the sentence.  This is my favorite part because I love to see the kiddos' illustrations. 

Three days of the back side of bellwork looks like this.  The kids read ten of Fry's high frequency words to their neighbor.  They write five Ayres words in pencil and in crayon.  And then they think of their own sentence using one of the words listed.  If you teach kindergarten at a Spalding school, the bellwork is aligned with spelling lists 14-20.

When I originally rolled out this bellwork, I was a little concerned about this activity.  It turns out that this is their favorite!  The kids unscramble the Ayres words at the top of the page.  I usually allow them to work with their neighbor.  They get so excited when they successfully unscramble a word.  They are pretty fast, too!

I usually use this paper on the day of our spelling test.  The kids must find their spelling words (the Ayres words) and circle them.  They LOVE finding other words that I sometimes sneak in there as well (sometimes I plan that, and other times it just happens).  Again, I have never seen kids so excited about bellwork.

Can you tell I am SO excited that I finished this?!  My students are engaged in meaningful work while I am able to pull students for RTI.  In kindergarten, it is so difficult to keep kids occupied for any amount of time.  This bellwork has changed that for me.  And I'm not just blowing smoke up your skirts.  It has made my life SO MUCH EASIER!

Well, I am off to fold clothes and get ready for the week.  The last week before break is always super crazy, so wish me luck!  Have a fantastic week!

What I Wish My Future Students Were Learning Right Now!

Can you imagine getting 26 perfect students that listened, were independent, and were strong academically?  Well, don't hold your breath, because this is not a perfect world, and if they came in knowing all of that, your classroom would be a boring place.  As I think about the very basic skills I would like all of my students to know, I would say there are 3 basic things.  

The first thing I would want my students to have is listening skills.  I want them to be "present" in my classroom, because I pack a lot of learning into one school day.  I want them to have the drive to learn.  If a student does not want to learn, there is only so much that I can do on my end.  I want them to do what I ask them to do.  It saves so much instructional time when everyone listens the first time.

I would also like for the kids to have strong number and letter recognition.  We spend a lot of time with number recognition at the beginning of the year, so we can build a strong number sense.  It would be helpful if the kiddos could recognize the numbers 0-9.  Letter recognition is an important skill at my school.  We use the Spalding Method for Language Arts, which means we start teaching phonograms the first week of school.  We don't spend a lot of time on letter names because we start on letter sounds right away.

I'm going to throw a fourth skill in there because I feel it is extremely important.  The kids need to be independent.  I can't button and/or unbutton your child's pants when he/she needs to use the restroom.  I am not going to complete your child's "morning jobs" (homework folder in the back, lunchbox in the hallway, two sharp pencils, etc.) because your child is very capable of handling that themselves.  As I tell my parents at the beginning of the year, you need to show your child that you believe in his/her capabilities.  

Kindergarten is the most amazing year for your child.  I truly believe it's a year of maturation, self-esteem building, and outstanding academic growth.  Even halfway through this year, I am amazed at how far my students have come.  Help make your kindergarten teacher's job easier by believing in your child, and working on these basic academic skills.

Speaking of academic skills, there is a great bundle on Educents right now that will help build your child's letter and number recognition.  It's 10% off this weekend using the code "sale10", so check it out!

  

Picturing the Past

I am linking up with Brenda at Primary Inspired to talk about one of my favorite teaching resources.  Teaching little learners about people from the past is sometimes tricky.  Long biographies are boring, and filled with too much information to digest.  Two things have made my life so much easier: my little books, and Brain Pop Jr.!

Have you ever heard about Brain Pop Jr.?  It is a subscription video service that has videos on all kinds of different concepts.  Brain Pop Jr. is geared toward K-3 classrooms.  The videos feature a girl named Annie and a silly robot named Moby.  The videos are just the right amount of facts, learning, and fun.

I usually watch a Brain Pop Jr. to introduce the person we are learning about, and then make the little book.  My little books are currently part of a bundle on Educents.  The bundle is AMAZING!  It really is jam packed with great activities to celebrate America and the wonderful people that helped shape our country.

There are so many great products in this bundle.  Plus, there is a great variety of grades and subjects in case you ever move grades.  Hooray!

Enjoy your day off!

I LOVE books! Plus a little "What does the kindergarten teacher want?"!

Oh, my word.  What is my favorite part of teaching kindergarten?  The read alouds!!!  I love books.  My classroom library is very large.  I spend WAY too much money on books, but I love them.  I even love the smell of the Scholastic catalogs.  I'm weird, and that's ok with me.

I had a parent e-mail me and ask me for some book recommendations.  It is so hard to pick my faves, but here are a few books I can't live without.

I swear by the Pete the Cat series.  The free songs are so catchy that my students BEG for them.  James Dean recently added a new line of easy readers.  My students LOVE those, too!  

I also adore Mo Willems.  Oh, my word!  All of his books are absolutely hilarious!  The Elephant and Piggie books are my favorite.  I use them to teach my students about using picture clues for voice inflection.  Elephant and Piggie have the most expressive faces, which makes reading the books so much fun!

The last author I cannot live without is Robert Munsch.  If you have never read his books, you are missing out!  I like to read We Share Everything the first week of school.  The book pokes fun at how you need to share everything in kindergarten.  My class and I laugh so hard.

Speaking of the first week of kindergarten...

I am so lucky to work at a school that is in high demand.  We are a public school, but we have an accelerated curriculum (we teach kindergarten and first grade math in kindergarten), we have uniforms, and we have extremely high expectations.  Now, don't judge us... we still have a TON of fun!

Last week, we had open enrollment for our school, which means that parents can wait in line to (hopefully) be called to enroll their child at our school.  Open enrollment happened on Monday morning at 7:30, and we had a parent in line on Friday at 7:45 am.  I felt like it was Black Friday again, and we had the best deal on a big screen TV.  We had about ten people in line and an RV parked by the end of school on Friday.  We were on two channels for the local news and a national radio station called to talk to our principal.  Again, I am SO super lucky to work at my school.

We have kindergarten readiness testing in the spring, so we can see where our new kiddos are at, which allows us to make balanced classes.  I am weird, and I love those two days.  First of all, I'm not sure there is anything more cute than a little peanut that is a bit nervous at first, but after ten minutes is ready to tell you his life story, and his mom's age, his sister's favorite color, and how he ate waffles for breakfast.  I love that age!  Anyway, this testing allows us to see if there are gaps in the fundamentals needed to be successful in kindergarten.  But what do kids need to know to be successful in kindergarten?!

This is where one of my favorite products comes into play.  My team and I wracked our brains to think of the skills a child should have in order to be successful in kindergarten.  Together, we have close to forty years of experience teaching kindergarten.  We asked ourselves what skills and knowledge was necessary (in any kindergarten classroom... not just our accelerated classrooms) for a kindergartner to know when they begin the year.

At testing, we collect all parent e-mails and send them our "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" packet.  This packet contains printables to work on shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and first sound.  It also contains clickable links that take you to videos, printables, informative articles, and more.  We used the packet for this year's kinders, and boy, were they ready for kindergarten!  Our beginning of year DIBELS scores were higher than last year.  In my opinion, the higher scores were due to the fact the kids knew how to say a first sound.  I LOVE this pack!

And, you are in luck!  This pack is part of an Educents bundle.  I have teamed up with 17 other amazing sellers to load your classrooms with 19 resources!  

For a limited time it is $29.99 from Educents which is over 70% off!  It also includes these other great products so there is sure to things you love!  (They even have $10 off for first time customers… so it can be even cheaper if you have never bought anything from Educents!)

Parents are always asking how they can help their child be ready for kindergarten.  Here is your answer!  A whole slew of resources is just a click away!

Click here to go to Educents to check out all of the amazing products! 

This bundle is FULL of great products!  Take a look below to check out some other blogs and their awesome contributions to this bundle.  :)

George Washington had Bad Teeth (and more!)

If you stopped by on Friday, you heard about the AMAZING Educents bundle that is on sale right now.  I have downloaded these products, and they will be SUPER helpful in your classroom.  They really are great products.

I have two products in the bundle.

  

The U.S. Symbols pack has everything you need to teach and write about seven U.S. Symbols, including the American flag, White House, Capitol Building, bald eagle, Mount Rushmore, Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty.  Check out Tuesday's post for more information.

This file includes fifteen easy readers about important people in American history.

Today's freebie is an entire writing unit!  WHAT?!  I LOVE teaching about George Washington.  Perhaps it is because there are some awesome books that were written about him (Have you ever read George Washington's Teeth?).  The craft comes out SUPER cute, and the kids have a BLAST learning about our nation's first president.

You must be a fan of Nurturing Noggins on Facebook to download this product, so click here and check out my other "Fan Only Freebies" by clicking the picture of the search lights near the top of the page after clicking the "like" button.

If you like this unit, I have another for Abraham Lincoln in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I Love History!

If you stopped by on Tuesday, you heard about the AMAZING Educents bundle that is on sale right now.  I have downloaded these products, and they will be SUPER helpful in your classroom.  They really are great products.

I have two products in the bundle.

  

The U.S. Symbols pack has everything you need to teach and write about seven U.S. Symbols, including the American flag, White House, Capitol Building, bald eagle, Mount Rushmore, Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty.  Check out Tuesday's post for more information.

This file includes fifteen easy readers about important people in American history.

Today's freebie is an Abraham Lincoln easy reader.  The easy readers are so easy to put together.  Two readers take two double sided copies and two staples.  I can whip up a class set in about 10-15 minutes.  The kids LOVE illustrating them, and I love the fact that we can have class discussions about the person while we are drawing and coloring.  We talk about each page as we go along, which is much more interactive than just reading a biography on a famous person.  We have SO much fun (even though I hear, "Mrs. McCleary, you are trying your best" when I am drawing)!

I'll have a few more freebies coming within the next week, so check back to see what is new!

Are you thinking ahead to February?

I have a confession.  I am a super planner.  I have my science and social studies planned for the entire year.  I like to be prepared.  :)

So, I am already thinking ahead to February.  To tell you the truth, US Symbols and Presidents are my two favorite social studies subjects.  Since I teach kindergarten, this is the first time most of them are learning about the subjects.

I have teamed up with some AMAZING teacher authors for this amazing bundle with Educents!  It is 21 instant downloads with over 1100 pages of materials for your learners!  

I actually have two products in this bundle, and I know your students will LOVE them!  My two products alone would be $17, so this bundle is an AWESOME deal.  

My U.S. Symbols pack contains 92 pages of fun that will teach your students about the White House, Liberty Bell, bald eagle, Mount Rushmore, the Capitol Building, the American flag, and the Statue of Liberty.

 

 My second product is one of my favorites! 

I teach kindergarten, and sometimes biographies are a little long and boring for my little kiddos.  So, I made little readers that we read and illustrate.  We complete the activity whole group, and we stop and talk about each page.  This gives me a chance to add in additional information, and really make sure my kiddos understand how this person was important to our country.  I draw my picture under the document camera to give them an idea how to illustrate each page, but I let them know they are more than welcome to draw a picture that makes sense to them.  We read the book all week, and the kids are supposed to go home and read the book to their parents on Friday.  My students LOVE them!

There are fifteen easy readers to help teach about important Americans. 

I have only talked about two of the products in this bundle.  The bundle is seriously packed full of awesome products!  For a limited time it is $30 from Educents which is over 75% off!  It also includes these other great products so there is sure to things you love!  (They even have $10 off for first time customers… so it can be even cheaper if you have never bought anything from Educents!)

As an "I'm so excited to be part of this bundle" gift, I am giving you the White House easy reader from the US Symbols pack.

Click here to download your freebie!

Also, check back later in the week for more freebies!