Hi Friends!!  Time for another Stop, Swap, and Roll post!!  I was thrilled to see that Melissa over at Jungle Learners was hosting another Stop, Swap, and Roll Product Swap!  Melissa must be incredibly organized because she does a fantastic job of organizing this swap!  I participated in the swap back in January and had a great time getting to know another blogger and use one of their products!

For this swap I was paired with Lawren over at Teaching is a Royal Adventure!  I was already following Lawren on Instagram so I was super excited to be paired up with her!  She seems like the sweetest person and you can tell she really has a passion for teaching.

 When I found out I was paired up with Lawren, I immediately went to her store to check out her products!  She has some AMAZING products in her store!!  It was such a tough decision, but I decided I wanted to try her Zoo Animals Non-Fiction Passages.  I thought this looked perfect to use with a guided reading group!

Lawren has TONS of different animal passages featured in this product and the passages are filled with lots of interesting facts about the animals.  She has included non-fiction reading passages for: lions, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, cheetahs, tigers, elephants, rhinos, kangaroos, snakes, tree frogs, bears, alligators, peacocks, flamingos, and tortoises.  Each passage has a recording page for students to record a drawing of the animal, the animal's habitat, the animal's diet, the animal's babies, and an interesting fact about the animal.  Also included within this product is a world map that shows where the animals live, a student book, and an animal covering activity.

 I picked two of the passages to do with my students.  We learned about tree frogs and kangaroos!  Here is her product in action:  

 The passages had a lot of great information about each animal!

 The recording sheets really helped students show their understanding.

 Each animal passage includes photographs of the animal.

 I had my students record a question they were wondering about kangaroos before reading the kangaroo passage.

I was so impressed with their work!

My students LOVED the map that is included in this product!  We had previously learned about the continents during our maps and globes unit so this was perfect for them to see where the different animals live.   

I am sure you are thinking, you would like to try this with your students, right?!?!  Well...it's your lucky day because all you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to WIN a copy of her product! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out Lawren's blog to see how she used my Football ABC Activities!  I'm also putting it 20% off in my TpT store April 25-April 28! 

Check out the other bloggers in the swap for your chance to win some great products!!

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Recipe for Teaching

Happy FRIDAY!!!  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share a few things from my week!  Enjoy!

 I've been really working on open-ended word problems with my students.  This week I decided on a problem that was Earth Day themed.  I was absolutely amazed at their hard work!  This problem is a part of my most recent product on TpT if you want to check it out!

 Wednesday was not only Earth Day, but it was also Administrative Professionals' Day!  I wish I came up with that catchy Reese phrase on my own, but I found it online!!  I did however make the tag using the fabulous Creative Clips clipart and KG fonts!

 Doesn't every blogger need a notebook and pens with their name on it?!?!  I am so pleased with how these turned out!!

I use a Mr. Potato Head in my classroom as a classroom management tool (thank you Pinterest for the idea).  When my kids do great things, they earn a Potato Head piece.  When the Potato Head is all filled up, they get a special treat!  The treat could be pajama day, everyone getting a trip to the prize box, extra recess, etc.  Today was donut day!!  They were excited to have their donut this morning - yummy!!

Be sure to check out my blog post tomorrow to see how I used an AWESOME product from Lawren over at Teaching is a Royal Adventure!  You can also enter to win a copy of it for yourself!

Have a wonderful weekend!

  

 

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Recipe for Teaching

Hi Friends!!  I feel like I haven't linked up with a Five for Friday post in forever, so I'm linking up with my Five for Friday post on a Saturday!

I cannot say enough great things about the the Subtraction Bowling activity we did this week!!  My kids seriously asked me every single day if we were bowling during math!  I shared a blog post about it if you want to check it out {here}.  You can also grab the recording sheet FREEBIE in that blog post! 

I shared how I am using that stuffed animal Peep as a spring classroom management tool on Instagram this week!  When friends are "not making a Peep" and doing great work, they get to hold the Peep with them.  Someone had shared this idea with me early in my teaching career and I think it is a great idea to use during spring.  It's nice to change things up and the kids LOVE it!  This friend was working so nicely to tap out words, that they earned the Peep!  According to this student, the Peep was "helping to spell words." :)

Speaking of Peeps, doesn't everyone take their extra Peep candy to school to use for math?!?!  I made this problem for my students to solve this week.  I love using open-ended problems like this one because it really encourages problem solving skills.  They got a Peep treat to eat when they finished solving the problem! 

We started some Earth Day activities this week and next week we are continuing it.  They love learning and sharing how to take care of the Earth!  These are some of the books I will be reading.  See any of your favorites in the bunch?!?!  I am also excited to use an activity from my blogging friend, The Kindergarten Connection!  You can check out what we will be making by clicking {here}.

Yum, Yum, and more Yum!!  On Friday my husband and I met my brother for dinner to enjoy some sushi!  It was SO good!  Any other sushi fans out there?!?!  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!  

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Recipe for Teaching

So if you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen pictures of the subtraction bowling activity I have been doing with my kindergarten friends this week!  SO.MUCH.FUN!!!    

I have to tell you that I really do love bowling.  I used to have bowling birthday parties growing up and I still love going bowling with family and friends.  And yes, I even have a set of bowling balls from when I was a kid!!!  I have done this activity in past years so I knew the kids would love it, but this year my kiddos said, "Are we doing this again tomorrow?" and "You are the best teacher ever!"  I also heard them encouraging each other and saying, "You can do this!" when it was another friend's turn to bowl!  That just absolutely warms my teacher heart!   If you have never used this activity with your students, here is a little overview of how it works.

I used my rainbow colored carpet to set up bowling lanes, along with some of the other carpet space in my room.  I was able to have my students in groups of 2 or 3.  If they were in groups of 3, there were 3 roles: a scorekeeper, a bowler, and a bumper.  The scorekeeper used the recording sheet to record, the bowler was the friend taking a turn to bowl, and the bumper sat behind the "pins" to catch the ball.  This role is crucial to avoid balls rolling all around the room!!  Students rotated roles after each friend bowled.  Everything worked SO smoothly and they were LEARNING!!  We have been working on combinations of 10 and so many of my kids knew how many were knocked down after counting the cups that were still standing because of that.  So really, they were using subtraction AND addition skills....EEEEEEEEK!!!!  Seriously friends, how AMAZING is that?!?!  Here are some pictures of subtraction bowling in action:

Check out that form!!  Looks like a professional bowler to me!

This is where the "bumper" sat!  No gutter balls!!

The scorekeeper kept score using this recording sheet!

The first team to get a strike was SO excited!  It was adorable!

I have created the recording sheet as a FREEBIE for you if you would like to do this activity with your class!  Just click the picture to download! 

  

Have a great rest of the week!

 

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Recipe for Teaching

Happy SPRING!!  Are you enjoying warm weather where you are??  We keep going back and forth between warm and cool days!I wanted to share a few of the fun spring themed activities we have been doing!  Warning - You are about to see a lot of FREEBIES!!!!!!   Spring Math Chat

 If you missed my "You Oughta Know" blog post about math chats, you can find it here.  I explained why I LOVE math chats and gave you some simple directions for doing a math chat in your classroom within that post!  I shared the math chat as a freebie in that post and I am sharing it with you here too.  Just click the picture to download!

Jellybean Math

My students really enjoyed this activity!  

Jellybeans + Math = FUN!

 You can find this in my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE!!  Just click the picture to go to my TpT store and download!

"Crack the Egg" Word Work 

So do you own Miss Kindergarten's "Read and Reveal" CVC words activity?!?!  If not, it is AMAZING!!  My kiddos love doing this activity!  Click the picture to buy it!!

I have been using her cards with my students during small groups.  I also have it at a letter magnet center to tap out words and spell with letter magnets.  The idea came to me to print the cards smaller and put them in eggs and the "crack the egg" activity was born!!

I shared this idea on Instagram and had some interest from some of you to get a copy of the recording sheet.  So...just click the picture to download!  Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy these spring freebies!!  Have a great rest of the week!!

 

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Recipe for Teaching