Christmas in July Giveaway Hop!

.....just in time for Back to School!!!! Can I get a "heck yeah!"?? No??? Not so much??? Ok, well you may not be exactly ready for school to start, but EVERY TEACHER loves school supplies, right???!!! Of course you do! And, if you are like me, it's nearly an addiction!

Well my Freebielicious friends are all school supply addicts too. We thought it would be tons of fun to do a SUPER SPECIAL school supply giveaway just for teachers!

Here are the items I chose to include:

(My super sweet and talented friend, Maria made the button.)

1. Post-it Roll - have you ever used it before? Well, it's just like post-it notes except these are perfect for labels....I'm thinking temporary name tags for tables, folders, etc. 

2. Clip Tabs - I love these clip tabs.....they are fancy smancy big paper clips that are not only beautiful, but you can write on them too. You know as teachers we have tons of piles of paperwork at the beginning of the year. Use these clips, write what pile of papers it's for - BAM - you are on your way to organization heaven!

You have a chance to win my FAVORITE school supplies items from above! All I ask is to follow my TpT store... :) Of course, if you'd like more entries you can follow me on facebook and pinterest too!! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After you enter, hop on over to Kreative in Kinder's blog to see what she's giving away!

But wait! There's more!!! You can win ALL of these fabulous prizes, plus MORE!!! Make sure you hop through all the blogs to see how to enter for the grand prize! It's CRAZY SPECIAL - I promise!!

It's like Christmas...in July :) 

Footprint Poem FREEBIE

This is a throwback post from Back to School last year.... I'm missing setting up my own classroom this year so this made me super happy to look through.......

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The back to school rush is ON!!! My room is ready and now I am just working on getting beginning-of-school packets ready for parents come time for 'Meet the Teacher'. I've always said teachers need at least a week vacation between getting our rooms ready and the time for school to begin....I get so tired after spending a couple weeks prepping my room and all the various nitty-gritty details.

Here are some of my photos from Classroom Set-Up 2012!

Think board became my "Family and Friends" board. You read about that HERE!

Above is my welcome sign - it's a freebie in my TpT store. You can grab it HERE!

Here is an adorable FootPrint Poem that I have used for years. I found the idea originally at Little Giraffes (such a wonderful teacher site). I changed some of the words in the poem and slapped a cute look to it - I think it adds great freshness to a beloved classic... I laminated it and then taped it to the floor right outside my classroom.....it's such a sweet way to start the first day....

HERE is a copy of this poem just for YOU!!!!! 

I so hope you enjoy this!!

Back to School Forms FREEBIE pack

Ahhhhh - the Paper Monster!!!!

The one thing that makes my skin crawl the most with the whole Back-to-School rush is...........FORMS.....yep! All the paperwork just kills me. I totally despise it! Yes, it is necessary - we have to know so much about the children we are going to be entrusted with.....

For years I've had the plainest forms for parents to complete.....never in the same place and it's a pain trying to gather them all up and get them ready to give to parents. I'd always forget to include some of the forms, so I'd have to send out extra forms after school started. So, I decided to make this set of BACK TO SCHOOL forms.....and while I was putting them in one place, I also decided to make them all cutesy! :0) It makes my teacher soul smile! And just so you know, even though these forms are colored, they still look perfect when printed black and white.

I am giving these forms to you as a FREEBIE! I hope you like them :0) Grab here!

This pack includes:

1. How We Go Home Form - this is a great place to have parents let you know how their child will go home on the first day and AFTER the first day. This relieves my fears of not knowing how a child is to go home (something you don't need to worry about especially the first day of school). You can read more about this form HERE.

2. Parent Checklist - this is a handy page where you can write down exactly what you need parents to do before they leave. I usually place this under my Elmo projector or simply display it on my Promethean. Parents can check to make sure they've done everything I've asked. I use it for Meet the Teacher night and the first day of school. I like putting it on the big board - it's harder to miss that way! :)

(It's blank because you add your own items there.)

3. Parent Conference Sheet - this is the *GEM* of this pack. Have parents fill out just the top portion of the page. This is my documentation tool! .... and parents get it ready for me! When I conference with a parent or speak to them on the phone about anything concerning their child, I document the meeting/conversation. This is great because I have all the phone numbers and who I can and cannot speak to about the child at my fingertips. I can document right then. Less steps = super convenient! 

(I provided a back page as well for more documentation room. I like to print them front and back. Unless I need to have many meetings about a particular child, it's the only documentation page I'll need all year!)

4. Volunteer Wanted Sheet - this page is a great way to ask parents for help (or give those extra ambitious parents a way to help :) It even gives parents some ideas they can do to help both at home and at school.

5. Help Me Know Your Child Sheet - no one knows a child better than the child's parents. I love getting parents to complete this sheet. I can learn so much about my students with this. It also helps me get to know the parents too. I learn how they see their child and what their hopes are for their child.

6. Emergency Information Half-Sheet - This is the *MUST FILL OUT* sheet! I do not let parents leave until I have this completed preferably at Meet the Teacher night before school starts. All the other forms can be taken home and completed. But, this one I gotta have! 

7. Visitor Sign-In Sheet - this is just a nice sign-in sheet you can use if you like. I teach at a Title 1 school so we can to document parent participation.

Ok, so that's the pack! I hope you like it and I hope you can use it. I know it's been such a life-saver for me!

How do you TAME the Back to School Paper Monster? :)

Please tell us in the comments below. 

***Up until today I was having problems with my comments (crazy Google).... anyways - they are now fixed! So, if you left a question for me in the comments - I'm so sorry I didn't see it! But good news, it's all fixed now!!***

More Parent Communication??

Have you seen my "Editable" Monthly-themed Newsletters?

This is the top-selling item in my store! 

Parent newsletter was always one of those things that I loved doing, but dreaded doing. Does that make sense? I wanted to communicate with parents and let them know about our week or month ahead, but I wanted EASY! 

This set is streamlined (with 4 options to choose from in both Word and Powerpoint)... there are 12 months included to add a festive flair to your parent communication. 

Simply type in the header you need and the info you want parents to have. They are in color, but I promise they print beautifully in black and white (that's the way I used them and sent them home).

Grab the newsletters HERE!

How We Go Home and 2 FREEBIES

 The single MOST IMPORTANT thing that a kindergarten (or primary) teacher has to worry about on the first day of school is how each child entrusted in his/her care will go home at the end of the first day. Although I plan very specific activities to do with my class, I really don't care if I get to ANY of them - except finding out how each sweetie goes home. I know this is probably your biggest concern as well.

I do a number of things to make figuring this out and remembering easier.

The very first thing I do is make sure my parents WRITE down how their child will go home (on the first day AND after the first day). This is important because, especially in kindergarten, parents want to pick their child up on the first day of school even if the child will normally ride the bus.

Here is the sheet I have sitting out during both "Meet the Teacher" that we have a few days before school starts AND the first day of school.

Click HERE to grab a copy!

To ensure that every parent that comes to "Meet the Teacher" fills it out, I place one of these on each table with several pens. I also keep one at my podium. I literally sound like a machine on that night, "Parents, please make sure I know how your kindergartener will go home the first day AND after the first day". It works extremely well! (Some may call it nagging, I call it effective :)

My school gives us cheap-o address labels to write the kids names on and how they go home. I HATE them and refuse to use them....basically they don't last even long enough to get them on the correct bus or in the right place for car pick-up. So, I make my own back-pack tags that are WAYYYYY more durable. I even like to laminate mine for a little added durability.....I hole-punch them, run a string through them and....BAM!! I have 'HOW WE GO HOME' tags that LAST!! I love you and so I made these FREE as well!

Click HERE to grab these backpack tags FREEBIE.

These backpack tags match my 'HOW WE GO HOME' clip chart. This is a beauty and makes me smile everytime I look at it!! aawwww.....those silly little monsters :0)

Click HERE to purchase from my TpT store for $3.50

(YMCA card not shown, but is included.)

Anyways, I remember the way things used to be: parents would fill out a sheet telling me how their child would go home....I'd check and double check 2, 3, or 100 times to make sure I knew how everyone was to go home.... Then come time to leave I would be TERRIFIED whether I had all the kids in the right lines for dismissal.

That's was before my 'HOW WE GO HOME' clip chart. Here is mine from last year. (I did some updating and added even more cute monsters throughout, but this give you an idea of what it looks like when put together! I promise the new one is WAY cuter!!) It also comes with programmable name tags to place on the clothespins. 

I hang it right there on my door - right where I need to use it!

It's super simple to use: each child has a clothespin with their name and it's clipped to the cards that show how they go home.... I included PROGRAMMABLE name tags for the clothespin - (not shown here because I didn't know my kids when I took the picture)..... you can also make notes such as: walks home with.... or bus #.....or can only be picked up by........so everything is easy to reference at the end of a busy day! :0) 

I love how this chart is an easy reference AND is easily changed. Am I the only one who gets tons of parents calling throughout the day to change how their child goes home? It drives me crazy! We are busy teaching and yet we have to stop and note the difference....this makes it easy. Simply walk over and move the child's clip!! The kiddos also learn to look at the chart and it helps them become responsible for how they go home. They love that feeling on control. :)

(close-up)...

but remember I can't show the name tags....sorry :0)

If you like this, you can get yours HERE! It's $3.50 in my TpT Store. If you purchased this last year, please hop over and re-download this item. I must say I am more in love with the new look than this older one.... but the picture show what I want you to see anyways!

How do you keep track on how your little ones go home?

Handprint Poem Freebie

I first wrote about handprint poems last year, but I did some "spring cleaning" with my Google + account and wound up deleting pictures from this post. So I decided what they HAY -- I'll do a little refresh! It's perfect timing! :)
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Today I want to share a darling First Day activity I do with my kinders every year. It's a handprint poem.......sounds familiar, huh?! Well - stay with me because you will love this! I love sending kids home from school the first day with something to share with their parents, as well as, have a keepsake that mom and dad will love to keep!

I buy blank 12-piece puzzles from Compoz-a-Puzzle. For 24 of the puzzles it costs me about $17 with tax and shipping (ah the things silly teachers won't do). Anyways, they are really, good sturdy puzzles so I think they are worth what we get to make using them! :0)

Ok, so here is the handprint I made with my 4 year old Reagan last summer.  I saw the same excitement in his eyes while we were making his handprint that I see from my students each year. They really love it -- especially when they find out they get to take it home.

Now, you are probably thinking -- what??!!!! You really have kindergarteners make handprints the first day of school?  Isn't that time-consuming? Isn't that messy? My answer is NO! I don't pour out globs of paint. Instead I use these:

Washable Paint Ink Pads - I love these things. No mess, and they work great! 

I put out a few ink pads (that are larger than a kinder's hand). I let each child choose their color and press, press, press their hand.... OOooohhh - how hard can you press it? They love when you say that and will press extra hard....

Another great thing about using these ink pads is that the paint dries super quick too - which allows me to send it home the same day!

I place the puzzle in a baggie with the following note attached. It is a FREEBIE! Click HERE to grab your copy.....You gotta read it - it is simply adorable. Trust me - you want a Kleenex handy when you read it.....:0) It was written by Angie Brower Bonthuis from 'I Love Kindergarten'. Thank you Angie for such a beautiful poem. :)

What special thing do you do with your new students at the beginning of the year?

Family and Friends Board Freebie

One of the first things people always notice and comment on when they first enter my classroom is my GINORMOUS Family and Friends Board. I absolutely LOVE this "bulletin board" and so do the kids!!

I often hear, "Wow!" or "Looookkk, they are so cute!" or "Oh my gosh, I gotta do this!".

The fact is our kiddos are people :0) They love their families and their families love them
(even if it doesn't always seem like it or it's not shown the way we think it should be)..... 

People say to me what a great thing this board is for the kids.... And, I agree. my kids love it! It really helps them "own" our classroom. They feel like they are apart of our "kindergarten world" - like staking claim to our classroom and all the things that go on inside our 4 walls.

My kids often visit the board when they are in the block center or abc center (which happen to be beside the board). They also will visit during writer's workshop at times.

Oh, the oral language that takes place concerning the photos on that board is incredible. Kids talk about some of their photos....when the photo was taken, what they were doing, who is in the photo with them, etc. But they are even more interested in other kids' photos. I have a few children with connections to Africa. One of my student's has a photo with his mom dressed up in traditional African garments. Boy, that is the talk of the room! I have lots of children from Mexico with a variety of traditions that can be seen through the photos. What great diversity learning for these kiddos!

.......but, as important as I think this board is to my students and their growth socially, emotionally, and yes academically - I know this board is important to me too.
As a teacher who has taught many children now..... it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day tasks and stresses. It's easy to get lost in pushing kids to excel according to state standards. It's easy to get lost when you have a "sweet-tart"(you know what I mean :). But, this board allows me a chance to reflect on the children they are....the people they are.... the families they belong to..... The hopes and dreams that they and their family have for the future...... And, it makes me realize how truly lucky I am to be apart of their lives. I am honored each day to impact my students' lives and I pray that I do it in such a way that will help them move one step further to their hopes and dreams!

As a kindergarten teacher, they may or may not remember me in the future....but I hope and pray I can make a deposit in their heart and soul that makes them just a little better than when I first met them.... :0)

At the beginning of each year, I send home a 5x7 in manilla envelope with the following note attached:

You can grab you FREEBIE note to place on envelopes to send your parents for your own "Family and Friends" board HERE!! There are 2 notes per page!!!

Tell me what you think! Have you ever had a board like this? What are your thoughts and feeling? I'm interested to hear!

Cute Parent HUG Note Freebie

Awww - the first day of kindergarten! I'm sure you are already thinking about and excitedly waiting for it!

I actually LOVE the first day of school! I love being the hostess as parents come in with their kindergarten kiddos all crisp with new shoes and all! Everyone is excited for the big day and have great big smiles on!  But often the smiles turn to frowns as it's time for mom or dad to leave.......and I'm not just talking about the kiddos.....I'm talking about those kindergarten parents.....YEESH!!!!

I'm telling you - those kindergarten parents are a breed of their own....especially if it's their oldest going into kinder (now don't throw stones - I'm a kinder parent myself :) Well!!  As parents, it's our "baby"!! I'm speaking from experience when I say it's hard watching that little one that was born 5 short years ago go off into the world on his/her own. Never again will that child just be yours.....It's definitely a bittersweet day!

Think about how much trust those parents have to instill in you - A TOTAL COMPLETE STRANGER! As teachers, we have to keep this thought in mind.....and do what we can to ease a parent's fears and prove to them in a very short period of time that their child is in COMPETENT and CARING hands.

As teachers we also know that we can't begin forming a classroom community until those parents LEAVE. In kindergarten particularly, those kiddos WILL NOT develop a relationship with us if mom and dad is hanging around. The parents must leave for the word "teacher" to truly take hold in a child's mind.

So, those first minutes of school on the first day we, as teachers, are trying to balance between comforting a parent so they feel comfortable enough to leave their child AND getting them out that door!

I usually invite my parents in to help on the first day. They want to so my "permission" helps them feel at ease.

I want my parents to:
1. get their child situated at their spot
2. show their child how to hang up his/her backpack
3. let me know how their child is going to eat    and
4. let me know how their child goes home

After that, I tell the kiddos to give their mom or dad a hug and kiss (which is really a hint to parents that it's time to go). As they leave I hand them this sweet note and Parent HUG pack!

You wanna make them to give your parents on the first day of school, right? Of course you do! :)

You will need:

clear plastic wrap

rubber bands

ribbon (optional)

tissues

cotton balls

tea bags

Hershey's HUGS candy kisses

my heart note template (CLICK HERE TO GRAB)

What to do:
Place a large square of clear plastic wrap -- about 12in x12in on the table.
In the center of the plastic wrap, place a folded tissue, tea bag, cotton ball, and 2 Hershey HUGS. Read the note and it will tell you what each item is for.
Fold all sides of the plastic wrap up and wrap a rubber band around as shown in picture.
Then hole-punch the parent note and thread a piece of ribbon through and tie around the rubber band -- DONE!

HOW SIMPLY AND EASY IS THAT FOR A PARENT GIFT?

(I will tell you I have used this lovely note for YEARS. I have no idea where I got it from -- somewhere on the Internet years ago. If you wrote this poem, please let me know as I would LOVE to give you due credit. My parents have always treasured it!)

Let's try something a little different...... I'd REALLY love to hear what other people do to comfort parents on the first day of school. We all have different techniques and ways of addressing this. I know there are many new kinder teachers out there that could really use our advice......so, please consider leaving a comment below to tell us how you deal with this.......

What do YOU do to ease parent concerns on the first day of school?

I can't wait to hear all the great ideas!!

Word Wall + Mini Word Wall Freebie

One of the most important tools I use in my classroom is the Word Wall. Nearly every elementary classroom today has a word wall. Let me ask you a question:

1. Do you "have" a word wall?  
2. Do you "have" a word wall or do you "do" word wall?

Yes, there is HUGE difference between the two!

When I first began teaching 10 years ago it was common to "have" a word wall. We were all told to make sure we had a word wall in the classroom. Boy mine was cuuuute! I even has this ridiculous cloud paper behind it at one point.  I had all our common sight words up there and I'd even throw up some vocabulary words I thought the kids should know. Oh, what a disaster!!!! (I'm actually glad I don't have pictures of it because I would definitely be too embarrassed to show it to you! My kids did not make true, authentic connections with any of those words.... I "had" a word wall. :( (seriously I probably just look those kids up and apologize to them now - I was clueless)..... but you live and learn and make improvements, right?

With experience and obtaining my Master's in Reading, I learned so much. I learned that the word wall should be the focal point of the primary classroom. In my classroom now, our learning revolves around it. In kindergarten, those word wall words are the foundation of my students' lives as readers. They have to know those words inside and out!

First, I want to show you my word wall…. (yeah so not a great pic, but you get the idea). Notice I use a non-distracting background color -- no more cloud paper....and all the words are backed by color. This is so critical. More on that later. 

Yes - there are 2 (a physical word wall and a promethean word wall), but they are the same (word wall words are written in the same color on both and the picture cues are the same on both). I love having both and teach my kids to use both as resources interchangeably. 

Ok, so earlier I mentioned it's uber important to back your word wall words with color - especially those easily confused words. Placing my word wall words on colored backgrounds really helps my kids internalize those words. It helps give kids a mental image of each word. 

My kinders are so good at this they can tell you what color a word wall word is without looking (and of course they are super proud of that ability). The reason they can tell you the color.....and the reason that is awesome is because they are seeing that word in their mind's eye. They not only remember that color, but the other features of that particular word. The color is a hook in their mind to hang that word --making kids less likely to forget it!

For years I've used construction paper and/or colored copy paper to back my words. The colors are good, but throughout the year, the colors begin to fade and just look yucky!! So, each year I was making new word wall word cards for my word wall. Well.... this just gets plain OLD!!!

I've seen tons of great ideas on Pinterest about how to use the paint chip cards for various things. This got me thinking..... Could I use paint chip cards to back my words????

So last year I gave it a try..............AND ............IT worked beautifully!!! Woo-hoo!! I love when something free works out the way I intend!!

I chose particularly bright cards (2-3 of each color). Any word that begins with the same letter must be a different color.... And, words that are easily confused must be backed with a different color ("am" and "me")......

I hope you like this tip! ...........and guess what....after using them for an entire year, they look as good as they did the day I made them. I am now using them at home for my son's word wall. :) Which brings me to my next idea....

Many of you know that I will be homeschooling my son this next year. Here is the "mini" word wall we made for my son in his classroom at home aka...my office. He had so much fun helping me put it together. I made the header cards smaller so it doesn't take up much room.....our home classroom isn't very big so these worked perfect. He can still see the word wall from anywhere in the room! 

See I told you that I was using the same word wall cards I made last year (you may have to look close but we currently have the words I, can, and like on the word wall). The larger cards are actually our family's names written out (just like how we write the students' names and place those on the word wall or name wall at school). Reagan really loved making a connection with seeing how to write all his brothers and sister's names. He's got quite a lot. :)

Reagan is pointing to the letters and words as he does the "snap and clap". I'll tell you more about that below.

Here is a close up of the letter card and the words below. I really like how these cards are a perfect size for smaller rooms. They all fit in a tighter area, yet there's still plenty of room to add words below. :) I used to use a tri-fold board with a "mini" word wall for the writing center. I also had one behind my guided reading table if my word wall wasn't easily accessible from my guided reading table. These cards would work perfect for that or if you simply have a small classroom. But, I'm sure none of us have small classrooms, right?

If you like this "mini" word wall, you can grab the header cards here FREE!! Just click below!

FREEBIE TIME

CLICK HERE TO GRAB THIS WORD WALL FREEBIE!!

Now a word wall post would not be complete without some idea of how to use it, right? Remember, we don't want to "have" a word wall, we want to "do" word wall -- and the "do" indicates that it's an interactive activity. 

Everyday we begin our word wall time with a chant: A,a, apple - /a/, B, b, ball - /b/, C, c, carrot - /c/.……. Then we snap and clap each word wall word. After we've done the chant and snap and clap we ALWAYS follow with a game of some sort. Everyday we play a different game.

Here are some ideas to help implement and actually use your word wall each day. Some of these ideas I've come up with and others are ideas I've attained from various places. I've used them so long, I couldn't possibly tell you where I got them from.

***Snap and Clap***

Read a word wall word (www)

1. Clap as you read the word.

2. Snap as you spell the word.

3. Clap again as you read the word.

For example, If I was going to Snap and Clap the word 'like', it would be done this way:

like (clap) -- l (snap), i (snap), k (snap), e (snap) -- like (clap)

It is important the kids LOOK at the word as they Snap and Clap. Do NOT allow them to simply recite them without looking. Looking, saying, and clapping/snapping help imprint the word in their brains!

***Flashlight Word Wall***

Turn off all the lights, hand a child a flashlight. The child chooses a word wall word as the whole class recites this poem:

"Flashlight, flashlight, oh so bright. Shine on a word with all your light!"Kids can read the word then "Snap and Clap".

***Eraser Race***

1. You can either use index cards (or cute diecuts) with word wall words printed on them or simply write various word wall words on a board.

2. Give 2 kids an eraser. Call out a word wall word and then kids "race" to erase that word wall word. The first one to erase the correct word gets to choose the next person to compete.

***Jenga***

1. Print a different word wall word on a set of Jenga blocks (one www per block).

2. Kids build a Jenga tower.

3. They play Jenga like normal except as they pull out a block they must read the block.

4. The one with the most Jenga blocks at the end wins (although in kinder I really try not to focus on competition).

***Tall Towers***

1. Make a set of word wall words(www) on index cards. On the back of the card, assign points (1, 2, or 3)

2. Kids take turns reading a word. If correct, they choose that number of unifix cubes and stack them in a tower. For example, if they read a word with a number 3 on back - they stack 3 unifix cubes into a tower.

***Word Wall, Beach Ball*** -
Kids stand in a circle. I begin by calling out a word wall word and toss the beach ball to a kid. He or she tells me the color of the word on the word wall. That child then says a word wall word and calls another child's name before tossing the ball. The cycle continues. 

To speed the pace of the game, I count "1, 2, 3" - the ball must be tossed or it comes back to me. That prevents anyone from holding onto the ball. Also ONLY the child's name called can touch the ball. If anyone else touches the ball, he/she must sit out. I do this for safety mainly. I don't want a ton of kids diving for the ball. :0)

***Hot Potato***
We all sit in a circle. I play music as we pass a Mr. Potato Head or small ball. When the music stops, I say, "Read a red word". The child who is holding the potato/ball reads a word from the word wall that is red. That child gets to choose where the ball will start back up. My rule for this game is that you may only hold the potato for 3 seconds or you are out. That really helps keep kids from holding onto the potato too long.   

Sometimes I start the game with a blank Mr. Potato Head. Each time it stops on a kid who reads a word wall word - that child gets to choose a Mr. Potato Head body part to add. They LOVE this!

***Musical Chairs *** 
Place chairs in a circle. Tape a different word wall word on the back of each seat - one for each of your students. We set up the chairs in a big circle. Kids sit in a seat. As the music starts, the kids start walking in a circle. When the music stops kids find a seat closest to them. I show a word wall word. The kids read the word then check to see which word is at the back of their seat. If they have the matching word wall word - they are out and can sit in the middle of the circle. Sometimes those that are out help me show a word wall word.

***Writing Chairs*** 
This game is very similar to the Musical Chairs above. The main difference is no one is out. Each child has a marker board and a marker. We play music and they walk around. When the music stops, they sit. Then at once all students look for the word on the back of their seats and write the word on the index card. On the count of 3 we all "showcase" - share the word we wrote. Then we erase and start again.

*** Cha Cha Word Wall *** 
I have enough maracas for every student in the class to have one. So, for this activity we will get out the maracas and go to town.  We sing the word wall words to the tune of the Cha-Cha!

"cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha

like, like, like, like, like, like 

l-i-k-e, like -i-k-e, like  l-i-k-e,  like l-i-k-e, like l-i-k-e, l-i-k-e

These are just a few ideas and activities I do with my word wall to keep it fun, engaging, and INTERACTIVE. I choose a different game or activity each day. This is a time of day the kids love because they think it's all about FUN…. "Shhhh. Can we say that word out loud????" Go ahead…..give it a try and see what happens :0)

What are some fun word wall activity you do with your kiddos as a whole group? Leave an idea in the comments below. :)