Kindergarten RTI Sounds Recognition

I have been in need of a quick way to monitor my kinders' recognition of sounds to which they have been introduced.  Nothing out there suited me, so I created exactly what I needed.  I keep the class record sheet by my side as I teach my reading groups and give the kids extra practice on the EXACT sounds they need!  I hope this tool is handy for you, too.  Download yours today at my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

Next Generation Science for 1st Grade is Here!

I'm super-proud to announce the beginning of my Next Generation Science for 1st Grade line!  The first unit is "Earth's Place in the Universe" and it is a summer-long labor of love.  I happen to LOVE the mysteries of space and this unit was a pleasure to develop.  

Download today from my TpT Store or my Teacher's Notebook Store!

This unit is designed to do 2 things:
1) Meet Next Generation Science Standards for 1st Grade: Earth’s Place in the Universe, AND
2) Make your life EASIER!
Included is everything (well, almost everything) you need for this unit. The teaching of science requires some materials, but I have chosen simple, everyday tools you most likely already have in your classroom.
There are 11 lessons in this unit and a unit test (including writing a “how-to” piece for informative writing), covering major standards under Next Generation Science Standards--Earth’s Place in the Universe, PLUS the cross-cutting concepts AND connections to ELA and Math Common Core.
Materials Needed:
Books about the movement of the sun, moon and stars
Whiteboard version of this unit (Email primarilyteaching@gmail.com to request the SmartBoard version or Activinspire version for this unit after you purchase!)
globe, flashlight, small amount of clay, toothpick flag, large Judy clock (or just draw a clock on a dry-erase board), crayons, scissors, glue sticks
Unit Overview
Lesson 1: I can use observations of the sun to describe patterns that can be predicted.
Lesson 2: I can recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Lesson 3: I can observe, describe and predict seasonal patterns of sunrise and sunset.
Lesson 4: I can make observations (or use observations from various media) at different times of the year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.
Lesson 5: I can make observations to collect data that can be used to make comparisons.
Lesson 6: I can use a globe and a flashlight to model how different locations on Earth receive different amounts of daylight each season.
Lesson 7: I can use observations of the moon to describe patterns that can be predicted.
Lesson 8: I can use observations to describe patterns in the natural world in order to answer scientific questions.
Lesson 9: I can use observations of the stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
Lesson 10: I can identify patterns to describe phenomena and use data as evidence.
Lesson 11: I can participate in a shared research and writing project by reading information on a given topic in this unit and use this information to write a sequence of instructions. 
*SUPER-IMPORTANT! SL.1.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood--Covered in EVERY Lesson! 

Also included is a 1st-grade friendly unit test! 

Amazing Number Sense and Subitizing Calendar Pieces

Get ready to ROCK your calendar, primary teachers!  I've been teaching for 22 years and just developed this last year after participating in a two-year primary math focus PD program...so it's been put to the test.  When your colleagues see what you're doing with your calendar, they'll be amazed.  No more slap the date on the calendar and go on.  This simple, but powerful, daily routine will develop incredible number sense in your students.  Before you put the piece on each day, ask for predictions of what it might contain.  More often than not, there are multiple correct answers.  But don't stop there.  Ask them WHY they believe their predictions to be correct--this is where the bang for the buck really is.  

Download today at my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

All ten sets are $10, or you can purchase them separately for only $2 each!

Product Description:

Congratulations! You are going to have the most amazing, “number-sense building” calendar this year! All you need is some painter’s tape to make your calendar grid on your dry-erase board. Begin with the included days of the week labels at the top and tape a 7x6 row grid. I like to print out the date pieces on card stock, stick magnets on the back and store in zip-lock bags. The pieces are larger than a pocket chart calendar, and after you look through the sets, you’ll understand why. There’s a LOT of math goin’ on in these sets and kids need to be able to see the details from their seats. Included are day and month labels, plus 10 sets of calendar pieces, 1-31: 

• apples in ten frames
• base ten blocks
• coins
• dominoes
• finger subitizing
• scattered configurations
• shape sides count
• tally marks
• tallies with coins
• ten frames
(The sets are in separate files within this .zip package for added convenience.)
Before you place a new piece on the calendar each day, ask students to predict what the piece will contain and why they believe this. You will be astounded with how your students’ number-sense math reasoning skills develop throughout the year!
Best Wishes,
Michelle
Primarily Teaching

What do I do on snow days?  I write curriculum that I need myself for my classroom and share it with others!  Today I birthed volume 2 of my new Look, Read, Write series--yay me!

Download it today from my TpT Store, Teachers' Notebook or Buy Sell Teach sites!

Look, Read, Write Volume 2 is designed for beginning writers learning how to compose complete sentences. It is appropriate for second semester Kindergarteners, on-level first graders and struggling second graders. You won’t believe how this method gets even the most reluctant writers excited about writing!

Included in this volume are 10 prompts--approximately 2 weeks of daily lessons: At the Zoo, I Love to Read, Shapes, In the Rainforest, How Plants Grow, In My Bedroom, Castle Adventure, Science Class, People at my School and Hometown Heroes.

Look, Read, Write: Visually Guided Sentence Writing

Download today from my TpT Store, Teachers' Notebook or Buy Sell Teach!

Look, Read, Write Volume 1 is designed for beginning writers learning how to compose complete sentences. It is appropriate for second semester Kindergarteners, on-level first graders and struggling second graders. You won’t believe how this method gets even the most reluctant writers excited about writing!

Included in this volume are 10 prompts--approximately 2 weeks of daily lessons: On the Playground, Time for Bed, My Shoes, The Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Arctic Animals, What’s the Weather?, Math Class and Art Class.

Alphabet Clipart From A to Z: Color and Lineart!

 This awesome clipart package is from my son, Ty!  It includes 52 +1 images--one for each letter of the alphabet, plus an extra yellow yo-yo!  His package is high quality, high resolution and includes both color and lineart.  Most other packages out there are sold separately, and at a higher cost.  This package is only $5 (less than the color-only or lineart-only packages out there) and took him several weeks to complete.  I'm proud to be promoting his work, as he is saving for college.  He's already been accepted to the college of his dreams and now has to come up with tons of money.  He already has a job, but his art is what he loves.  Thanks in advance for supporting him!

Download today at his TpT store!

FREE Presidents Clip Art from Doodle Dude Designs!

Download this FREEBIE at Doodle Dude Designs' TpT Store or Teachers Notebook Site!

Doodle Dude just happens to be my son, Ty.  He has doodled since he was old enough to hold a crayon and has always dreamed of a career in art.  He has been accepted to the University of Louisville and now needs to save, save, save money!  With each purchase of teacher clip art you make from Doodle Dude Designs, you are helping to send a hard-working kid to college.  So thanks in advance for your support of his dream!  

Kindergarten Next Generation Science BUNDLE: A Year's Worth of Science!

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/Watercolorgirl/kindergarten-next-generation-science-complete-bundle

This bundle is available only on my Teachers' Notebook site. Save $10 by purchasing the bundle as opposed to individual units. (TpT allows up to a 200Mb file and this one's 239Mb!)

Units included:

This bundle includes 5 complete units, covering ALL of the NGSS standards for kindergarten. And while you’re at it, you’ll be covering informative/explanatory and opinion writing a few times—how cool is that?

Included are all of the following complete units (click each to see more details):

• Earth’s Systems: Weather

• Energy (This follows the weather unit beautifully.)

• Motion & Stability / Forces & Interactions

• Plants and Animals Around the World

• Caring For Our Earth

As an added BONUS, email me at primarilyteaching@gmail.com and request your free whiteboard versions of each unit! Just give me your username so I can verify you purchased this bundle and I’ll send you the SmartNotebook OR Activinspire whiteboard versions to use with each unit. :)

Happy Kinder Science Teaching!

Kindergarten Next Generation Science Caring For Our Earth Complete Unit READY!

This is the last unit in my Kindergarten Next Generation Science series!  

Download from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook Site!

Unit Overview
Lesson 1: I can identify human actions that have an observable impact on land.

I can make choices to reduce human impact on the land.


Lesson 2: I can communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land.
 

Lesson 3: I can identify human actions that have an observable impact on water. 

I can make choices to reduce human impact on the water.


Lesson 4: I can communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the water.
 

Lesson 5: I can identify human actions that have an observable impact on air.

I can make choices to reduce human impact on the air.


Lesson 6: I can communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the air.
 

Lesson 7: I can identify human actions that have an observable impact on other living things in the local environment.

I can make choices to reduce human impact on other living things in the local environment.
Lesson 8: I can communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on other living things in the local environment.


Lesson 9: I can draw, dictate and/or write to compose an informative explanatory text to name a topic related to caring for our Earth and supply some information about the topic.Materials Needed:


* Several books/ebooks/magazine articles about caring for land, water, air and living things

* Movie clips on the same topics

* Pictures of how man negatively affects the environment

* The whiteboard version of this unit: Email primarilyteaching@gmail.com to request the version of your choice: SmartBoard Notebook or Promethean Activinspire.
Book/Video Suggestions: 

Storia’s Earth in Danger (Scholastic’s Storia works on your computer and tablets, too!)

Brainpop Jr. Movies: “Natural Resources” and “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”


Cloverleaf Planet Protectors series, available as Kindle eBooks (You can read Kindle eBooks on the computer and tablets, too!)

Happy science teaching,

Roll to 100! A Freebie for the 100th-or ANY-Day!

Download for FREE from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

For this activity, give each student (or pair of students) 1 die, 2 dice, or more!  Roll, add, color in the number of pennies, and make a tally mark.  Repeat, using a different color of crayon each time, so groups are easy to see.  At the end, count up your tally marks.  How many rolls will it take to reach 100?

Happy mental math,

Kindergarten Next Generation Science Plants & Animals Around the World Complete Unit

Download today from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

I love this unit because you can fill in the blanks with your favorite habitat. You can stick with one habitat for the entire unit, or you may “continent-hop” to study different biomes. Ideally, you can repeat this unit, focusing on one major biome each time.  It also includes ELA and Math Common Core connections!

Number Smart Subitizing!

Download today from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

Available in PDF, Smart Notebook and Activinspire versions!

Welcome to the BEST subitizing practice EVER! Subitizing is the immediate recognition of a quantity. It builds number sense and strengthens knowledge of number facts with meaning, not just memorization. Included are slides with various ten frames, tally marks, fingers, dominoes, and dice.

• Let your students see the slide as you say the word “subitize” to yourself. Then cover advance to the next “Get Ready!” slide. Ask students who know how many to raise their hands.
  
• After a student answers correctly, ask, “How did you know that?” Encourage students to use strategies such as counting on, grouping, and how many are missing. On many slides you can also ask students what addition fact is represented as well as the final quantity.
  
• Subitize whenever you have spare seconds! Even if you only have a minute, your students can benefit from these mental math exercises AND mini-number talks (How did you arrive at your answer?). 
  

Kindergarten Common Core Reading BUNDLE

I'm happy, happy, happy to announce the release of my Kindergarten Reading Practice to Mastery! BUNDLE! Inside is everything you need to cover ALL of the Common Core literature and informational reading standards.  It's a “Book-a-Week” method for mastering Kindergarten Common Core Standards in Literature and Informational Reading: A year’s worth of activities to go along with the books you already read!

Download today from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

Individual Literature and Informational Reading versions can also be purchased separately, but you save $1 by buying the bundle.

Download today from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

Download today from my TpT Store or my Teachers' Notebook site!

CLICK HERE to find out how to get a FREE, unbundled unit of your choice!