Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Peek-a-Boo! CCVC and CVCC Blends





Peek-a-Boo! for CCVC & CVCC blends is an activity I created for my ESL students to help them work on blends.  It also helps them see the different sounds in a word, and how those sounds come together to create one whole word.  In this activity students open one flap at a time and say the sound under each flap.  Once they are successful making the sounds under all three flaps they reveal the whole word under the larger flap on the right.  Breaking down the word visually is less intimidating to my beginning readers so they feel more comfortable tackling these larger words.




The hands on experience is beneficial to my ESL students, but can also help native English speakers who are just learning to read.  Students of all backgrounds enjoy sliding in a new card and "peeking" into each flap. The sleeves are easy to cutout and create, and come with picture guided direction.  If you are interested in checking out this item you can get a FREE Sample here.

Common Core Standards practiced:
ELA-Literacy.RF.1.2b
ELA-Literacy.RF.1.2c
ELA-Literacy.RF.1.2d









I’d love to hear from you!

What do you think about this activity?

Do you use something similar?

What other activities do you use to practice CCVC and CVCC blends in your classroom?



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Sunday, August 18, 2013

Add a little more education to board games with counters!

You don’t have to use dice when playing board games!

Using dice when playing games is fine, if your school allows it, but next time consider using counters instead.  Whether you are playing an educational game, or a game just for fun, using counters is an easy way to sneak in a little extra learning. 

I started using counters one day when I realized none of my 5th grade ESL students knew how to read roman numerals.  I decided to take that opportunity to teach a quick lesson on the basics.  I already planned on playing a game that day so, instead of using dice, I wrote out I-VI on pieces of paper and had my students draw them out of a hat.  As we played the game some of the students had trouble remembering how much IV and VI were.  This gave the students an opportunity to discuss the two numbers, how roman numerals work, and the opportunity to teacher each other.  After that day I never went back to using dice.


Roman numerals are just one way you can use counters to practice content.  With younger students you might simply use the numbers themselves, hash marks, or dots they have to count.  You can also use equations that equal numbers 1-6 to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division... etc.    The possibilities really are endless. 



Reasons not to use dice
·         Some schools discourage or even ban the use of dice because of their association with gambling.
·         $ As a teacher I am always trying to save $ and stretch my classroom budget as far as I can.  
·        Dice are like socks.  Half of them always seem to magically disappear when you need them.  At school and at home.

Reasons to use counters
·         $ Counters can be virtually free!  Just put whatever you want on a piece of paper and cut it out.
·         Easy to replace.  If you make them on the computer you can just print them out again and again.  This comes in handy if they start to resemble socks and dice.
·         Adaptability.  You can make counters that cover a variety of topics and objectives.
·         Easy to make and use

Using counters is easy
Just cut out the set you want your students to use and put them in a hat, bowl, or other container.  I’ve found a plastic margarine container with a lid works well.  That way I can also use it to store the counters and game pieces when I’m not using them.   Instead of rolling a die, one player shakes up the container and holds it so the current player cannot see inside.   Then the current player picks a counter from the container and moves that many spaces.

To get a FREE copy of the counters above just go to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store or my Teacher Lingo Store.  Why not get rid of the dice and squeeze in a little more education with counters?  When I play games with my students I always use counters and my students love them.  

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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Back to school sale!

Learning is the Game and Teachers Pay Teachers is having a back to school sale!  From August 17-20 everything in my store will be discounted by 20%.  You can also get an additional 10% off when you enter the discount code BTS13 (only from Aug. 18-19).  That's a total of 28% off all of the great I have... Who has... games in my store!  Click on the banner below to start saving!




Monday, August 12, 2013

Summer Vacation Prezi for Students



As summer begins to wind down, I thought I would play around with a new presentation tool I heard about at the MABE conference last spring, Prezi.  Some of you may have heard of Prezi, but if you have not, it is a free online presentation program that blows power point out of the water!  Unlike PowerPoint, which presents slides in a linear fashion, Prezi gives the creator a much more dynamic environment to work with resulting in a more interesting experience for the viewer i.e. my students.  The basic Prezi account is free, but educators with a school email can also get a free upgrade that gives you five times more storage, your own logo, and the option to make your presentations private.  I’m a big fan of keeping my presentations private since I may be making future Prezis with my students, or with pictures and names of my students.  I’m not really sure to what extent I will be incorporating Prezi into my lessons, but knowing they will not be available to the public gives me many more options. 
     As with any new program there was a slight learning curve as I adapted to this new paradigm of presentations and tested out how the program itself.  After playing around with the program for about 20 minutes I felt comfortable with the basics and decided to get started on a real Prezi.   Since I’m sure I will be discussing what I did this summer with my students, I decided that would be the topic of my fist Prezi.  I quickly found a template I thought was appropriate for my topic and got started.  Once I learned the basics it was really pretty easy and to be honest kind of fun making my presentation.  It’s not much, but here is my first Prezi, Mr. Van Over’s Summer.




If you are interested, I encourage you to check out the site.  My presentation only scratches the surface of the cool things you can do with Prezi.  I think your students will enjoy it and so will you.  Don’t forget to get the educator upgrade.  It’ free and only takes an extra minute to setup.

I’d love to hear from you!
Do you already use Prezi?  If so, what do you think?

How do you plan to use Prezi in your classroom this year?

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