Touch Points - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

Just curious - do you use Touch Points in your classroom?  I am not a huge fan, but I do see the "point" when working with students who struggle in math.  My school uses it as a supplement.  I would love to know if you use Touch Points and what you think about them.

*Also, I made a set of posters to hang in my room (b/c the ones that came with the program were knocked off my wall during summer cleaning and have water damage...sigh...).  If you would like a FREE copy, please do the following:

*Join my blog (not just following by e-mail)
*Leave a comment telling me your opinion of Touch Points
*Leave your e-mail




                     

    


    



I will e-mail a FREE copy of my super cute Chevron Touch Point Math Posters (with both D'Nealian and Zaner Bloser print) to anyone that responds by 10 p.m. CST on Thursday evening!  Then, they will be available on TpT.  :)  Have a great day!

Graphic Organizers

I have been working on a set of Graphic Organizers to follow the Treasures Reading Series (K).  I wanted something I could model with whole group on my SMART Board, but something that could also be used for independent practice at a station.  I came up with a nice little set of Graphic Organizers for Start Smart. Here are a few samples from the packet.  :)  I tried to keep it very simple at the beginning so kinders with no previous background experience don't get frustrated.












I am using Rafflecopter to give away two sets of Graphic Organizers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please leave a comment and let me know if you would be interested in having a set of Graphic Organizers for all 10 units of Treasures.  :)

Whooo Loves Writing Stations?

Lori, from Teaching With Love and Laughter, has created some great new units called Writing Right Through!  The units cover two months and offer lots of different choices.  I am always up to adding new things to my Writing Station.  These are definitely worth a look!



 




What do you think about these great new units?  Leave me a line to tell me what you use in your classroom.

And the winner is...

I was so excited to see such a great response to my first giveaway (that closed at noon EST today).  I hoped to get up to 100 followers but was pleasantly surprised when I looked and had...drumroll, please...142 followers.  It almost made me want to do a cartwheel, but I thought that might not be the best idea as it could end with a trip to the ER (since I haven't done a cartwheel since cheering in Jr. High - "GO PANTHERS")...and I wouldn't want that to spoil my celebration.  :/  

ABC Writing Journal available on TPT

I promised to give away 3 journals, and Rafflecopter generated the following winners...

* Entry #195 - Heather J. Bryant
* Entry #293 - Pamela Guerra
* Entry #162 - Sarah Wenzinger

Because I was SO excited about getting to 142 followers, I had Rafflecopter choose a 4th winner.  :)

* Entry #107 - Lyza Jo

Please reply with your e-mail addresses, and I will get your ABC Writing Journal to you in a jiffy.

I loved all the suggestions of ways that y'all would use this ABC Writing Journal in your classroom.  Some were exactly what I had in my mind for my own classroom, and others were great ideas I hadn't thought to do.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that Jennifer L has an area of her Writing Station called "Letter Expert".  Since I am gonna have to steal implement that in my own classroom, I am going to give Jennifer the ABC Writing Journal for FREE as well.  :)

CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners. 

Thanks again for the great response.  I will be posting lots of FREEBIES and new TPT Creations throughout the summer.  My district uses the Macmillan McGraw-Hill Treasures Reading Series so lots of my units and freebies will correlate with the Treasures Kindergarten Series.  Please leave me a note and tell me what Reading Series you use in your classroom.

Be a blessing to those you teach,

ABC Writing Journal Giveaway

I am very excited to say that I have finally finished my first creation for TPT - an ABC Writing Journal.  This is something that I wanted to make for my own classroom, but I thought some of you all might like it, too.

Here are some samples from the packet that show types of pages for EACH letter.  All pages are available in D'Nealian and Zaner Bloser options.

 


I am using Rafflecopter to give away my ABC Writing Journal to three lucky winners!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please leave a comment and let me know how you would use this in your classroom.  Thanks!

Oceans of Fun

We are going to be fully immersed in OCEAN fun this week.  I'm excited about this week because the kids LOVE making sharks and whales and all those other fun crafts we squeeze into the week.  (I'm also excited that I am almost to 100 followers.)  :)  Our district uses the Treasures Reading Series so most of the following activities work with Unit 9 - Week 2 of that series.  Even if you don't use this series, you can probably work these into your ocean unit in some way or another.


I always send home a newsletter on the first day of the week.  My parents love this because it keeps them organized.  Click the picture below to see this week's Newsletter.

Ocean Week Newsletter  :)

My kids LOVE doing any activity that requires using a magnifying glass.  I made these sheets last year to review color words and HFWs.  I usually cut apart into squares and have them pull them out of a mini fish bowl.  This year I decided to just laminate the whole sheet and give each child his/her own sheet to investigate.  This works MUCH better with this group.  This activity ca be differentiated by having groups write WORD OLY or a SENTENCE USING THE WORD  Click below on each image to get your free copy!

Recording sheet for writing words only

Recording sheet to write a sentence using the word found

Find the COLOR WORD

Find the HFW

Ocean Story Writing Page

Oceans of Fun WORD WALL

Write a Sentence using the HFWs-of-the-Week

Letter Writing Practice - D'Nealian

Letter Writing Practice - Zaner Bloser

Oceans of Fun Math Review for Patterns, Missing Number, and Subtraction

I know this was a long post.  Hope you found something that you can use in your classroom or home!  As always - please leave a comment and let me know which things you love OR a fun ocean activity that you do in your classroom.  Have a great week!

*All clip art and most fonts are from the DJ Inkers collection.  LOVE all her things!

Newsletter - Week of March 4th

How many of you all send home a Weekly Newsletter?  This is something I started many years ago, and it has been one of the best things I have ever done in my classroom.  This one little piece of paper keeps my parents informed, and it holds me accountable.  I am going to start making these available on my blog in case my parents want to look online at them.

We are celebrating Dr. Seuss this week by reading one of his books and doing a special activity each day.

I am currently working on a whole packet of unique Newsletter templates.  :)  This is going to be my first item for sale on TpT when it is finished.  If you use this type of communication, please leave a note to let me know what you include on yours.  Have a great week everyone.