TpT Wishlist Spring Cleaning Sale!

Although it doesn't look or feel like spring in my Wisconsin backyard, the calendar says it is so. I have to admit, though - all of this snow and these 30 degree temps are making my spring cleaning a little bit easier to handle this year. After all, I don't want to go outside!!!

After this weekend, I can check one big thing off my "cleaning" list...

I won't even dare disclose the number of items I've wishlisted. But, luckily for me, a bunch of TpT sellers are joining together to host a Spring Cleaning Sale! This could be extremely awesome or very dangerous - especially with my addiction love of clip art and the enormous amount of fabulous designs just waiting to be loaded into my cart.

For those of you in this same predicament...I am also taking part in the sale. EVERYTHING in my store is 20% through this weekend! Happy Cleaning!!!

I've recently added some really fun, time-saving phonics and word-work resources to my store and this would be the best time to get your hands on them!

When I worked with beginning and struggling readers in a Title 1 position, my Short Vowel Practice Games were an absolute hit! The children loved the games and wanted to play them over and over again, which gave them tons of practice. I even had parents tell me how engaged their children were when they brought the games home for extra practice. Each game is also sold separately on my store!

My Phonics Flip Books are great for word work practice for those using Daily 5, as an addition to your literacy centers, sent home as extra vowel and sight word practice, or for students that finish other activities early and could benefit from extra practice.

 

This pack of 5 Sight Word Games & Activities, can be played with any list or group of sight words your students are working on. I've used these with kindergarten students working on letter sounds and identification, and with 1st through 3rd grade students working on specific sight words. I've also used  three of the five games; Roll, Say, Keep, Read Around the Road, and Polka Dot Hop with 4th grade students working on fluency phrases. Designed to save ink - print them on colored card stock, or have students color and/or decorate them before laminating, for extra fun!

 

  

 

 

Another great pack of games to use in centers (also designed to save on ink or print them in color): Dice & Domino Math Centers.

 

 

Of course, I have to mention a few of the digital designs I have added to my store lately (click on the thumbnails for more information)...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on how to fill a shape in Microsoft PowerPoint

I am so excited to share my first video tutorial with you all! This tutorial shows how to fill a shape in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010, with an image you have saved on your computer. This is a GREAT way to use those adorable background papers you have been purchasing from all the fabulous clip artists on TpT and or Etsy. Just remember to follow their individual terms of use.

Oh, and one more thing...I am fully aware that I refer to the shape in this tutorial as a circle, when in all reality it is indeed an oval. ;)

TpT is AMAZING!

 

For anyone wondering why there is so much buzz about TpT these days....why so many bloggers/Pinterest Users/Teachers are posting/tweeting/pinning/and talking non-stop about the amazing site, let me share...

 

As a teacher, you will put hours upon hours into creating meaningful, engaging, standards-based learning activities, projects and units for your students. It can be extremely challenging, trying to tailor these to meet the needs of EVERY student. Of course, it can also be difficult to come up with an idea that is going to capture the attention and interests of students in this digital-dependent, fast-paced world we live in.

 

However, when you get to actually implement what you've planned and created and see positive results, it is the most rewarding feeling.

 

With TpT, teachers not only have a place to go to get quality products when they are strapped for time, but they can actually share the products they have spent so much time and energy to create.

 

I love that as a seller on Teachers pay Teachers, I get to hear stories of how my hard work is paying off all around the country, and in some cases across the globe. Today I woke up to this feedback on a Biome Research Unit I created (one of my top sellers). I will be beaming all day!

"My students and I LOVE this project. I use it with my intervention class, which has many students with IEPs. They work on this independently while I see small groups. It is very structured with guiding questions to help them. Even my "toughest" students have enjoyed this project!" ~Jen Samar

Short Vowel Practice Games

I just posted my series of Short Vowel Practice Games on TpT. They are SO cute and inviting for children and easy and fun to play! Most importantly, they meet the following Common Core Standards:

Kindergarten –
Phonological Awareness:
• Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.
Phonics and Word Recognition:
• Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• Demonstrate basic knowledge of letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each consonant.
• Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
• Distinguish between similarly spelled words by identifying the sounds of the letters that differ.

First Grade –
Phonological Awareness:
• Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
Phonics & Word Recognition:
• Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.
• Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word.
I've been meaning to share these games for a while. However, like most things these days (including this blog) they got pushed to the back burner. You see, I've been focusing most of my attention on job searching and soaking up all the time I can get with my son - knowing that my days spent home with him are very limited. Now back to resume editing and fort building...