Very Productive Monday

In honor of President's Day, I had a very productive day.  I spent Saturday and Sunday playing, so I decided to spend today working and creating!

I finally finished and uploaded my Building Dolch Sight Word Fluency System.  This is something I have implemented in my room this year and it is working amazing!

I have 22 posters (Lego themed of course with my room!  I am working on other themes too.) each with 10 Dolch words.  The students have a name card on the wall with sticky tack.  If they can name all 10 words quickly, without sounding out, and without errors they can advance to the next poster.  They do this until they have mastered all 220 Dolch words.  When they get to the end I make a big announcement and the student is awarded a certificate.  I have challenged the class to have everyone make it to the end.  If everyone makes it we will have a Pizza Party!  Now students who have made it help their peers work on the words they need to learn.  It is woking out fantastic!

In the Building Sight Dolch Word System I have also included several PowerPoint slide shows to use for practice or assessment.  They automatically advance after 1.5 or 2.0 seconds.  I also have a checklist to use that is in the same order.  I also included a themed word list, certificate and iFlash Digital Flashcards PDF.  You can buy this system from me at TpT or My Store.

Did you notice I said "My Store"???  Yes, you read correctly, I am starting my own little store right here on Fun in K/1!  You can not shop right here, pay and the download will be automatically sent to you.  You can find my store by clicking on the "My Products" tab above.  I am still playing around with how I would like it formatted and only have a whopping 2 products listed, but hey it's a start!  It has been on my to-do list for a while, so now it is on my in-progress list!

I also got another project started today!  I have been toying with an idea for a while and I just took the first steps to getting it started today.  I will give you a hint, it involves technology in elementary education.  I hope to have more details very soon and will be sure to share right here!

I did all of this today, and still found "time" to make a freebie for you!  I am addicted to my iFlash digital flashcards.  If you haven't tried them yet, you must.  Don't worry there is no printing or cutting involved and they are super easy to store.  All you do is download the iFlash Digital Flashcard PDF to your iPad, Smartphone or tablet, then open in an eReader.  Then you can open the "book" from your bookshelf and swipe through them.  I use them with students to get out the door, come into class or while we are waiting anywhere.  You can grab them free from my TpT store or click here to grab them.  (I have also added them to the "My Freebies" tab on the blog.  I am going to keep adding to this section too.)

Don't forget to check out Manic Monday at www.classroomfreebies.com for more freebies!

Happy Hump Day!

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I am lucky enough to have a 4-day week.  Although I am not sure it is really lucky... trying to cram 5 days worth of work into 4!  I will have to say the weekend comes faster!

I am spending the week teaching about Martin Luther King, Jr. using the unit I created last year, A Primary Unit All About Martin Luther King, Jr..  Today we completed the timeline of his life.  This year we used a long strip of paper I accordion folded and the students clued the events in order.  They all turned out great.  We also did my lesson comparing a white and brown egg.  This is one of the favorite lessons I teach all year long, I think this helps the kids really get it.  I always start out by just saying we are practicing comparing and contrasting using a venn diagram to compare two eggs.  I intentionally don't mention anything about MLK.  A few of the kids always have the ah-ha moment when they share with the class "Hey, that is just like white and brown people, the only thing different is the color!"  

I have also been assessing Dolch word fluency this past week.  I have found using a timed PowerPoint to flash the words helps keep the students going.  No more staring at each word for 30 seconds.  Give it a try!  Click here to download the PowerPoint I made.  It changes every 1.5 seconds.

I hope everyone enjoyed the Snowball Fight Facebook Freebie Hop!  I know I did, and snagged many fabulous finds!  I also gained many new Facebook followers, so thank you!