The Best From The Midwest!

We met up with some AMAZING teachers in MN & we are hosting a "Best From the Midwest" freebie hop & giveaway!  It doesn't matter where you start, you will end up catching them all.  Just make sure you grab your freebie from each blog and click for a chance to win one of our best selling products in our TpT or TN shop. 

We will be giving away our "Star Card Homework Card"  Primer set.  Click {right here now} to read our blog post about one of our best sellers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

TIME FOR OUR FREEBIE...Click {right here right away} to grab our "Melt Down Nonsense CVC Word Game".  It will be free for a short & sweet amount of time! 

It is played like the classic game of "Old Maid"!

Click   {right here} to go to Kindergarten Kel for the next fabulous freebie! 

Please feel free to leave us a sweet comment and get hopping to the other blogs....you don't want to miss it!  

Enjoy the rest of your summer!  
Amber & LuAnn

Daily 5, Cafe, & Vegas...OH MY!

We are adopting Daily 5 and Words Their Way into our Kindergarten program...FINALLY!  The last 2 weeks we have had some EXCELLENT TRAINING...yes training...and I am so ready to go back to school and give it a try!  THANK YOU to all the lovely bloggers who participated in the Daily 5 Book Study in the past.  I learned so much reading your posts, too!   

I can't wait to make my CAFE board.  I love creating things with fun fonts, cute clip art, boarders, and colorful backgrounds.  But when I saw this set...I knew I had to have it...plus a little of my summer back!  Check out Primary Graffiti's blog and store. 

Check out her ADORABLE creations by clicking right {right here}

This past week I made ALL the anchor charts for Kim Adsit & Michele Scannell Readers Workshop Units...then they "magically" come out with ANOTHER ADORABLE unit.  I think I will just get through the first 8 with my kiddos and ENJOY more of my summer with my family. 

Check out their new unit (and Kim's adorable grandson) at Kindergals by clicking {here}

I am ENJOYING reading all the posts about Vegas I Teach K meet-up. 

I can't be there this summer...I am going to Rock Fest with my hubby. 

I will be somewhere in that picture or just looking back stage for Bret  Michaels.  I am not a huge fan of recent "ROCK" music...but I like the old 80's rock and my hubby...so I am going to spend time with him enjoying something he likes.    

Great news...summer 2014....LuAnn & I will be in Vegas at the I Teach K conference.  How many more sleeps?  HE HE HE

P.S. I am Blog Lovin'....Are you?...Of course you are...everybody else is doing it, right!?!  Please follow us by clicking the button on our blog.  THANKS!

Have a great time and enjoy your summer!  Thanks for reading!!!
Amber

Star Light, Star Bright - I Want to Practice "My Star Words" Tonight!

We have a lot of teachers asking us about our "Star Cards" that we use in our classroom.   This is one of the homework teaching tools that we could NOT live without!  And....now you can have it in your classroom, too!  

As an incentive to learn high frequency words each student is given a "punch star card" to track which star words they have mastered.  The greatest part is that  this homework tool is self-paced!  

Each student will start with “star card” #1.  Also, a set of high frequency word flashcards will be sent home with each student to keep and practice with their parents.  The greatest thing is this homework tool is self-paced! 

Once a student has all of the star words punched on their card, they will receive the next set of flashcards and “punch card”.  It is your choice to give a little treat for mastering each card.  We use a Starburst™ as a reward!

Click {here} here to go to our TPT Shop
Click {right here} here to go to our Teachers Notebook Shop

Click {here}  to go to our TPT Shop
Click {right here} to go to our Teachers Notebook Shop

Click {here} to go to our TPT Shop
Click {right here} to go to our Teachers Notebook Shop

We have used these cards in our Kindergarten classrooms for the past two years with fantastic results for mastery of the Pre-primer, Primer, and (even some) First-Grade Sight Words. 
Our children are so excited about the Star Word punch cards that they keep working on them until the last week of school… no kidding! If you're interested in these units, you can find them in our TPT & Teachers Notebook shops!  Just click on the links above!!! 

Thanks bunches for reading!  
Amber & LuAnn

Bear Hugs And Pre-K Teddy Unit!

Pre-K / 4K / Pre-school....Try this Teddy Bear Unit out in your classroom at the beginning of the school year, and I promise your kiddos will love it! 

Here are some snapshots of the Teddy Bear centers in this unit!

Booklet introducing positional words.  Some of the pages are displayed!

And many more activities working with upper-case letters, colors, and writing numbers.  Click (here) to see this unit in TpT and click {right here} to see our unit in Teachers Notebook.  Thanks!   

Begin your unit reading the book...Bear in Underwear. 
 

Your students will be using speech bubbles in their journals for the rest of the year after reading this story!  Click {right here} to check out Chalk Talk's Bear in Underwear post.  Too cute!

What kiddo wouldn't love to stuff and unstuff a teddy bear in the sensory table!?!

I know there are so many FABULOUS units on TpT & Teachers Notebook.  We just want you to know we appreciate YOU SO MUCH and are grateful that you believe in our work. 

Can you believe that it is almost the school year? Geez...This year is flying by way too fast!!

Much Love, 

Amber & LuAnn

Happy Mother's Day

There's this boy who stole my heart...he calls me mom!  Cayden and I spent a wonderful afternoon together riding dirt bikes and planting trees.   

 He is so lucky to have LuAnn in his life, too!  Friends make the world go around!!! 

 Don't ya just love the training wheels!?! 

6-400 is Cayden's favorite number.  So....with the help of a cricket, we made the number 4 into 6-400.  

This was one happy boy!   

Because this day makes me so happy...if you leave a sweet comment by Monday night at 9 pm...I will have Cayden pick a "Special" number...and that person can choose one item from our TPT or Teachers Notebook store for FREE.  

Have a fabulous week!  

Amber 

Thank you so, so, so much!

There is not enough time for us to list all the fantastic ideas we have found from so many amazing bloggers.   Please know that you make a difference in our lives and can enjoy 28 % off our TPT store May 7-8.  Thank you so, so, so much!

We are linking up with Learning With Mrs Leeby.  Check it out by clicking {right here}!  Again….thanks for reminding us why we teach early learners!  

Amber & LuAnn

My Work Rocks Box

Looking for a way to make your kindergartners produce quality work each and every day ~ so it becomes a "habit" for them to be very proud of creating nice and neat work daily!?!  Try...My Work Rocks Box!

All you have to do is create a special pencil box full of new Twistable Crayola Crayons and Colored Pencils, a mechanical pencil, glue stick, eraser, and a pair of scissors.  

How do the kiddos get to USE the special box?  They have to earn it through producing NICE and NEAT work!  The "My Work Rocks!" BOX will be theirs to use for one day, along with a little award to take home and share with their parents.  I am guessing that their friends at the table will be "jealous" enough to try and earn the box for themselves!

Click here to see more ideas for Kindergarten!

LuAnn & Amber