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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Wednesday Linky and Car Karaoke

I want to resurrect an old idea I had and try it out to see what you think!  I am a self-proclaimed music junkie.  I love to listen to music in the car anytime but especially on my way to and from work. since I'm in the car for about 45 minutes, which in Ohio, is a decent sized commute.

For years, I've always thought that certain songs remind me of certain people in my world. "American Pie" or anything by Dolly always makes me think of my friend, Mel.  "Sweet Home Alabama" reminds me of my college friend Katie. I always love thinking about my people based on what is playing on my car radio at any given moment.  I frequently send my friends photos of my radio display to let them know I'm thinking of them too.  And in fact, it makes me wonder what listening to all kinds of music in my classroom does for my students and their memories.  Do they remember sitting on their table tops each morning singing "Good Morning To You" by Greg and Steve as a way to greet each other.  Do they remember singing about "Alfredo Potato" by Rick Charette and the silly book we made to go along with it. And do any of these memories remind them of me?  Music is truly powerful in this capacity.

This brings me to this idea of having "Car Karaoke" to show you my favorite songs I hear in a given week during my commutes.  If I'm having a rough morning, a great song can improve the mood greatly.  You just can't be grumpy if you hear "Brick House", even on your crankiest of mornings. In fact, music does for me what a Grande Caramel Mocha Latte does for you.  It just doesn't keep me awake at night,

So here is this week's winner slide and it's only Wednesday.  I'm not going to make any promises as to how often I will do this. However, I do hope you will chime in to let me know you love the same song, or what you think of when you hear one of my featured songs or any song that you do the same for when you hear it. And yes...I will probably date myself too!


If you have never heard my a.m. song, you must check out the video. It was and is still hysterical to me.


My p.m. song is from the disco era and it makes me want to turn up the volume, open my sunroof, and drive a little too fast.  (Too bad it was raining and November!)


What songs do you have to crank the volume when you hear them? What do you think about the winners this week?  What songs make you think about particular friends?  I would love for you to tell me below.

Now before you leave, check out some great products below to use during the month of December from both myself and some of my TPT friends!

Until Next Time,



Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Wednesday Linky- Thanksgiving Fun

Well this is the time of year that I get worn down and usually get sick. I've been fighting off bronchitis for about three weeks so I've been missing in action. But I'm back and my friends will be too glad to post some great November products right on time for Thanksgiving below, so if you are still looking for some great products, check out the links at the bottom.

Let me tell you about my latest product....my Thanksgiving Literacy Bundle.  It includes everything you need for literacy centers for your most emergent readers.  Here are some of the goodies that are included in this product.


First off, your students can sing this song to the tune of Frere Jacques.  All turkeys can be face down and your little ones can pick a turkey and say the letter name on it.  You can also use the flashcards to sequence the letters of the alphabet as well. And included you will find capital letters on turkeys and lowercase on bowls of cranberries.  My kindergarten intervention kiddos do not know all their letters so this has come in extremely handy for us.




In addition, my kiddos need work on counting syllables.  So included you will find a set of Mayflower Ship cards with pictures on them.  They are for clapping the syllables and sorting by the number of syllables in each word.


Next you will find my "In Your Pocket" activity.  This product is all you need to set up a pocket chart center.  Included you will find colored turkeys, color words, and color sentences for your students to read and match. These have been popular in my store on their own so I decided to offer it in this bundle as well.  Those turkeys are pretty stinkin' cute.



Well the turkeys were so cute I decided to include them again in this bundle.  Your students who are on the road to reading can sound out these CVC words into "Real" and "Nonsense" Words.  Included you will find header cards.  This is a key skill to teach your kiddos so they are listening to what they read to see if "it makes sense".  What easier way to begin than with a single word?




Next your kiddos will enjoy this Alphabet Sequence activity.  I simply include a basket of magnetic letters and an alphabet strip and they can find the missing letters.  You can also laminate them and have your students write on them with a dry erase marker.  This is a much needed activity among my "K" intervention kiddos.


Now this is a favorite of mine and I started with this at Halloween.  These punch cards are full size and I print them on card stock.  I also am an HP Instant Ink gal and I'm printing for small group only so I print them for my groups at home. They come in a variety of Thanksgiving pictures and in both capital and lowercase letters. Simply add a stack of the included alphabet cards and hole punches. Pick a card, locate the letter, and punch.  It amazes me how difficult the hole punch is to operate for little ones.  But they have improved since Halloween so I'm glad to add the fine motor to the academics whenever possible.
Finally, an activity to count the number of words in sentences.  Then your students can graph it. Simply add a paperclip and spin.  Read and count the words. Students need to see that words are separated by spaces and this little activity does the trick.


And as promised, I know many of my Teacher Author friends love to link up their great products. So check them out below and I'm certain you can find something to your liking!  Best wishes to you and your families for a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

Until Next Time,