Kinder Alphabet Loves TPT

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I would never have imagined that I would become a teacher-author. Sharing my resources and creations with my own Kindergarten team has always been very rewarding. It is an amazing feeling to be able to help my fellow teachers and their students. Especially when they truly appreciate it. This brings me to TPT. I am truly thankful to Teachers Pay Teachers. They have made it possible for me to share resources with teachers and students beyond the walls of my own school.

What TPT Means to Me

Teachers Pay Teachers has been such a blessing.  I put a lot of love into my resources and am so happy to see that they are useful to the students in your classrooms.  One thing for sure, I would never have been able to do any of this without your support. Thank you for finding my resources helpful and allowing me to keep creating 🙂 I am grateful to you more than words can explain.

The Blogging Journey

This journey has allowed me to meet other teacher-authors. We have become friends, even though we have not really met each other in person. We share, collaborate, do fundraisers, book studies and giveaways like this one. We try to focus on meeting the students’ needs and creating education resources that are useful and meaningful. We believe in each other and use each other’s resources as well.

This is a missing numbers activity by KinderGlynn.

This is a Groundhog Day reader by Kindergarten Lifestyle.

Amazing resources like these can be found on TPT.

Giveaway Time

Some teacher-author friends and I are having a giveaway to thank you for believing in us! We hope to keep providing quality education resources that you can use in your classrooms 🙂 This is a blog hop. We are each giving away a gift certificate on our own blogs. You may enter to win a gift certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers here and then hop along to their blogs to enter there too. By the way, make sure to follow my Kinder Alphabet facebook page. I have a Freebies tab there full of resources, just for you 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, head on over to my visit my friend Crystal at Kreative in Kinder. You can enter her giveaway too.

Kreative in Kinder

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Conversation Heart Crowns

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I love these conversation heart crowns for Valentine’s Day. It’s a very easy craft that kids can make as part of the theme or for the party. They will have so much fun reading each other’s messages. Another exciting thing is that students will also be able to make these cute crowns for school personnel. This will be a great way to spread positive energy and great messages on Valentine’s day. So let’s show someone you care about their hard work. Let’s crown them with LOVE with this fun activity 🙂

The purpose of this fun activity is to spread positive messages on Valentine’s Day.

It includes:

*24 Student Crowns with Conversation Messages
-Students will make their crowns and wear them. Then, you can ask them to go around and see how many phrases they can read on their friends’ crowns. In turn, the student who is wearing the crown will feel good when a friend reads a message such as “You melt my heart!” or “You are awesome!”

*1 Parent gift which will be a heart with a message.The students simply finish the phrase, “I love you more than _______”

*9 Heart Gifts for family members

*15 Staff Crowns that students can make as gifts for school personnel. It will show them that they are #1 in your book 🙂 Or, you can use the the conversation heart message crowns for them too!

*16 Secret Message Valentine Cards:
Students will break the code by writing the first sound of each picture to find the secret message. They also have To: _____ and From: _______ lines that the students will fill in.

*16 Differentiated Valentine Cards:
Students who might not be ready to decode the secret message will simply copy the word on the given line. They also have To: _____ and From: _______ lines that the students will fill in.

*3 blank templates

Yes. This Valentine’s Day craft is also available in Spanish!

Visit Lidia Barbosa’s profile on Pinterest.

Lidia Barbosa’s profile on Pinterest.

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Bright Ideas Blog Hop

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Welcome to Kinder Alphabet

Today, we are sharing some bright ideas that you can use in your classroom. I hope that you have found some useful classroom ideas along the way. Thanks to Shelley Gray for putting this together.

My idea: Easy No Sew Chair Pockets

I have always wanted to buy some chair pockets for my classroom, but they are too expensive. I do not know how to sew, so making my own is not an option. After so many years, I came up with this idea. Use pillowcases! If you use the ones with patterns there will be no need to decorate them 🙂 You can buy them in sets of two, because they are cheaper that way. Or, ask for donations. You can probably even add it to your student’s school supply list. They do not have to be brand new at all. As long as they are clean and gently used, they will work just fine. This is how they look 🙂 Adorable!

How to Assemble

1. Choose a pillowcase pattern that you like.

2.Open the pillowcase and turn it inside out.

3. Now, turn the pillowcase right side out again. Make sure to STOP when you get close to the bottom seam (do not go past it). It will look like you folded the pillowcase in half. This will create 2 flaps. One in front of the pocket and one on the back of it.

4. Finally, open one flap and slip it onto the back of a chair. It fits small and big chairs perfectly. I also use them on the tiny ikea chairs and on my kitchen table chairs. They fit nice and snug and look amazing 🙂

5. Enjoy Your Chair Pockets!
The pockets are deep and have plenty of room for materials. I had to position our books and activities high so that you could see them in the pocket. Go try it. You’re going to love it 🙂

Where to use them

-Student chairs: for leveled readers or student materials.
-Guided Reading table chairs: for dry-erase boards, erasers and markers (one student set per chair pocket).
-Teacher Chair: for Lesson Plan Book or Sub Folder 🙂
-Workshops: for teacher materials.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope that you enjoyed this idea.

If you are looking for more bright ideas, please continue this blog hop. Chalk One Up for the Teacher is written by Cyndie Dunn.  She shares some great tips on how to start a Kindness Revolution.



Alternatively, you may visit the link-up below and choose a topic that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

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Phonics Fonts for Teachers

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I love to make phonics activities. The problem is that I spend too much time searching for fonts and graphics in my computer and online. So, I decided to make some graphic fonts last year. I have used them in many of my activities and really love the convenience of adding clip art as I type. I have spent the last few weeks revising them so that I could share some fonts with you.  I hope that you like them 🙂

Phonics Fonts for Teachers

Phonics Clipart Fonts:

Each set includes one picture for each letter sound. The uppercase letters are sprinkled with dots around them for fun. The lowercase letters are just as shown above. So, the bundle includes 3 clipart sets. This means that you will get 3 graphics for each letter sound. I may add more to this bundle when time permits 🙂 Bonus: I also include clipart for numbers. Set 1 includes tally marks for the numbers 1 to 5. Set 2 includes dice for the numbers 1 to 5. Set 3 includes ten frames for the numbers 0 to 10.

Free for Personal Use {Primary Fonts}:

The letter fonts are available in individual files for personal use. You can change the size and font color like you would on any other font.

1. Download the Boxed In teacher font here.

2. Download the Dash teacher font here.

3. Download the Making Words Font here. I love this primary font. I made the letter formation that would be easily recognizable by young learners.

Here’s a sample of the special keys that you can use.

Note: Before you download the font, you will have to adjust the line height and spacing settings. I have already saved the settings for the fonts in my store. But, when you download them directly from this site, it looks like you might have to adjust it on your own.

Commercial Use License:

The Phonics Clipart Fonts and the Primary Fonts are available in my teacher store as  a bundle for commercial use. CU license is included. You can download them here.

Here’s a sample of one of the Phonics Clipart Fonts
The uppercase letters are sprinkled with fun dots. Here’s a small sample.
Sneak Peek:
These are some monthly fonts that I have also been working on. I will post them soon.
UPDATE:
I added 16 new fonts on Feb 16, 2014. Read more about them here.

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CVC Secret Words { Crowns }

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This activity is so much fun! The CVC SECRET Words Crowns will help students practice making words. First, they must break the code to find the mystery word in each box. They will do this by identifying and writing the first sound of a sequence of 3 pictures… The mystery word will follow a CVC pattern.

How to use:

Students will read the word family at the top of the crown.

Students will say and write the first letter sound of each picture in the box.

Students will identify and read the secret word.

Students will do the same for every secret word.

Students will cut the crown pattern.

Students will glue or staple it to a sentence strip.

Students will wear the Secret Words crown to show off the new words that they can read!

It includes these word families:

-word family -ad

-word family -ag

-word family -am

-word family -an

-word family -ap

-word family -at
-word family -ed
-word family -en
-word family -et
-word family -ig
-word family -in
-word family -ip
-word family -it
-word family -ob
-word family -od
-word family -og
-word family -op
-word family -ot
-word family -ox
-word family -ub
-word family -ug
-word family -un
-word family -ut
You can download the CVC Secret Words crowns here.

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CVCe Word Patterns

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Are your students ready to move on to CVCe word patterns? In this word pattern, the first vowel says its name and the last letter (“e”) is silent. It can be a little hard to remember this rule, but the crowns will provide some good practice. Let them show off the words that they know by becoming classroom Queens and Kings! 
This CVCe Crowns pack includes:
-words with -ace
-words with -age
-words with -ake
-words with -ame
-words with -ane
-words with -ate
-words with -ave
-words with -ice
-words with -ide
-words with -ike
-words with -ile
-words with -ime
-words with -ine
-words with -ipe
-words with -ode
-words with -oke
-words with -ole
-words with -one
-words with -ope
-words with -ose
-words with -ote

Download the CVCe Words packet here.

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Thematic Crowns Vol. #2 {January – August}

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My Thematic Crowns volume #2 are finally done! This pack focuses on missing letters in different parts of the word.

qThe purpose of this activity is to increase
thematic vocabulary skills, practice phonics skills, create math patterns, practice writing and fine motor skills. These are perfect for
wrapping up a thematic unit to let parents know what the students learned
during the week J

How to use:

qTeacher
will read the title at the top of the crown.qStudents
will name the pictures.qStudents
will say and write the missing letter in each picture.qStudents
will color each picture.qStudents
will read the words.qStudents
will cut the crown pattern.qStudents
will glue or staple it to a sentence strip.qStudents
will wear their thematic crowns!

Click this picture to download it.

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Valentine’s Day craft and Classroom Organization

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I am honored that Jo-Ann Fabrics has invited me to team up with them for this Teacher Creativity Blog Hop. I was happy to shop at JoAnn Fabrics and Craft Stores for my supplies. Do you know that they have a Teacher Rewards program? Teachers save on every purchase 🙂
Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, I will share two of my favorite crafts with you. They include a Valentine craft for kids and a Valentine gift for mom.  I also included an extra craft for organization. I hope that you like them.
Valentine Envelope/ Mailbox
When JoAnn contacted me, I knew that I wanted to make something related to Valentine’s Day. I had several ideas, but I kept leaning towards this one. This is a large envelope/ mailbox for those precious Valentine’s Day cards. And, this is how we made it.

Materials

Felt (stiff or regular) 2 pieces per student
Yarn (56in per student)
Tacky Glue (regular glue might work too)
Hole Puncher
Embellishments (I chose felt hearts & buttons.)
Ribbon (for handle)
File folder (Cut a piece smaller than the fabric and slide it into the envelope to hold its’ shape.)

Teacher Prep:

1. The felt pieces will not be cut in any way. The teacher, or helper, will use a hole puncher to make about 6 holes on the sides and bottom of the felt pieces. You can lay the first piece on top of the second to line up the holes. The hole punching is the only part that will need a little more time to complete.
2. Cut 56 inches of yarn and tie a knot on the first hole to keep the 2 pieces together.
3. Cut 2 triangles out of felt. I did this by using a ruler to mark a large X on the fabric.
4. Add a piece of tape to the end of yarn. This will help students thread it through the holes.

Student How To:

1. Glue the triangle piece to the front of the envelope.

2. Thread the yarn. My 3 year-old was able to do this by herself. I modeled how to thread it Under-Over-Under. She got it right away and did not want any help. Can you see that she is able to start under and go through both layers? I underestimated her understanding and abilities for this part, but she did GREAT!

3. Now, she is ready to add the embellishments. The heart sticker was the easiest. The buttons needed a dot of glue. An easy way to do this is to pour the tacky glue on a paper plate. Then, use a Q-Tip to add a dot to the bottom of each button.

4. I cut the letters for her name out of the scraps from above. You can also use alphabet felt stickers to make it easier.
5. Add ribbon or yarn to serve as a handle. I made a bow in the middle of the ribbon, then pushed the ends through  the top holes.

 

 

Valentine Gift for Mom

Valentine’s is the perfect time to give mom a gift. I love handprint crafts for this occasion. And, one of my favorite phrases for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day is  Hold my hand today, but my heart forever!  I remember seeing a fingerprint project years ago, so I decided to combine the two ideas. This is how my little Isabella made it 🙂

Materials

Paint (I used the Americana brand.)
Card stock
Scrapbook paper
Scissors (scallops are nice)

Prepare

Pour a bit of paint into a paper plate. Use Valentine’s Day colors.

How to

1. Student dips the pointer finger into ONE color of paint and makes prints all over the paper.
2. Use a paper towel to wipe finger in between colors.
3. Set aside when the paper is full of colorful fingerprints.
4. Now, paint child’s hands with his/her color of choice.
5. Press hands down on white paper.
6. Add glitter for fun 🙂 and use scalloped scissors to cut around the heart shape that was made with the hands.
7. Glue a bright colored heart behind the heart hands for contrast.
8. Glue one side of the heart to the center of the fingerprinted paper. The other half side of the heart will not be glued to give it a delicate butterfly effect.
9. Send home on Valentine’s Day to be framed by mom. It’s so adorable. I love this handprint keepsake 🙂

 

Teacher Craft for Organization

I know that this is not related to Valentine’s Day, but I really wanted to do something for organization. I kept looking at the mason jars and the fiskars punchers since December. But, I ran across this in the floral/ garden section of JoAnn Fabrics. The bucket caddy is perfect for pencils and crayons. This organization tool makes it easy to keep the essentials in the middle of student tables without overcrowding their space with the larger tubs. It could also be used at the teacher table for small groups. I was thinking of painting them yellow, until I saw the picture on the can of this aqua spray paint 🙂 Here’s how I made it.

Materials

Metal Bucket Caddy
Spray Paint (aqua)
Newspaper
Fiskars Pretty Scallops Punch 4XL
Scrapbook Paper
Ribbon

 

 

How to:

1. Lay newspaper on the floor of your garage.
2. Place the buckets on the newspaper.

3. Spray Paint the buckets. I was going to try to paint with the Americana craft paint, but the JoAnn associate was very helpful. She said that the paint would not last long. So spray painting was the better option. Eeek! I have never spray painted anything before. As it turns out, this paint is very forgiving to beginners like me. I definitely saw drips while painting, but you can’t even see them on the finished product. I did leave the bucket out by my door on a cold afternoon and it dried perfectly.
4. Decorate each bucket with ribbon.
5. Add a label made with the flower puncher. This was my favorite part. I LOVE how this puncher cuts so perfect shapes. I want to go back and buy more shapes! The flower is 3 1/2 inches. So, I made my round labels on powerpoint at 2 1/2 inches so that you could see the flower shape behind it 🙂

Here’s a before and after. Paint makes a huge difference, doesn’t it?

 

Well, that’s all I have for today. I hope that you enjoyed learning about these crafts for the classroom.
Oh, wait. Do you remember that I said that the sales associate was very helpful? She told me about the JoAnn app! She even helped me download it to my phone. Just go to iTunes and search for JoAnn. Once you download it, you will see some weekly ads. BUT… at the very bottom of the screen, you will see some small scissors with the word coupons underneath it. I clicked on it and it gave me 2 different coupons that I could use along with the current sale that was going on. The lady at the register just scanned the 2 coupons from my phone! Voila. It was so simple and I saved a lot of money. One was a 50% off coupon from a regular prized item and the other was a 15% off coupon from crafts. I left very happy!

Savings for YOU

1. Here’s some more wonderful news. JoAnn sent me this coupon to share with you. Click on the picture to download it 🙂
2. You can also sign up for the JoAnn Teacher Rewards program.
Disclosure:
The above review is part of a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores® campaign. I received compensation for this review; however, this is my personal, honest opinion based on my experience.
Have you done any crafting in your classroom?

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Snowman Craft with Glue Paint

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We made a very cute snowman craft with glue paint. I am so glad that we took the time for it because it was sooo much fun! Since these low temperatures are not bringing us any snow, we might as well make our own snowmen. We have alway painted them with regular school paint. But, this time we made our own glue paint. Have you heard of such a thing? The idea is to make your own paint that will turn out white and puffy. It’s so easy and fun!

Materials:

You need to have some materials ready before you even start the project. Some will be used, others might not be used. Here’s what we have…
*shaving cream
*glue
*paintbrush
*glitter
*construction paper
*pre-cut black hats
*pre-cut black eyes
*pre-cute orange nose
*ribbon for scarf
*beads
*pom-poms
*crayons
*cotton swabs
*crayon
*ribbon

Mixture for Glue Paint:

We used 1/2 cup of shaving cream and just poured quite a bit of glue on top of it. Then, we mixed it. This part was fun!

Draw it!

Use a white crayon to draw an outline of a snowman. This will help the little ones see where they need to paint to create a snowman.

Paint it!

Now, the fun begins again. Get that paintbrush out and start painting inside the snowman shape. We found that it was easier to pour spoonfuls of glue to spread it easier. We had some cotton swabs ready to add snow dots, but he paintbrush worked just fine.

Decorate it!

After all the painting parts have been done, you will be ready to decorate it. The painting will start looking more and more like a snowman with each decoration added.

First, add some glitter for a touch of winter shimmer. It truly makes the snowman look magical 🙂

 Now add the hat, the eyes and the nose. Yeah! There’s that snowman that we have been waiting for 🙂

 Don’t forget the buttons.

 And the scarf.

 Oh, wait. Here are the stick arms and the mouth too.

 And, voila! The snowman is finally done.

The puffiness of the glue paint adds that extra touch to make it look a bit more real. Isn’t it beautiful? We love it!

This was a great idea from My Merry Messy Life. See how they used this snow paint.

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January Journal Prompts: Differentiated

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Writing time in kindergarten is so much more fun when students can feel successful and confident in their writing. These differentiated journal prompts are perfect for a classroom of students with a variety of abilities. 

Includes:
-5 daily journal prompts
-3 versions of each page
-picture/ word bank on each page

How are the 3 versions different?
1- Struggling writers use the version with the sentence starter. They simply plug in a word from the picture/word bank to finish the sentence.

2-Independent writers will use the version without the sentence starters. They will use their knowledge of phonics skills to create their own sentences.

3-Advanced writers will use the version with extra lines. This gives them the opportunity to add details and be creative in the writing process.

Click on any picture if you think that you can use these.

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