Pumpkin Fun to Share

Here's a game for your literacy center.

Directions aren't included--it's self-explanatory, I think. I will use it with each of my four small groups, differentiating slightly based on what they need. One group will simply roll, say the letter and sound, put a unifix cube on it. Other groups will say the letter name, sound and a word that begins with that sound. A final group will do all of that AND use the word they come up with in a sentence. If they roll the letter again and can name it, etc, they can "crown" the cube and that cube cannot be bumped. First person to have all of his cubes on the board wins. I like to use these cubes as dice:

If you haven't used these, you don't know what you're missing! They are SO handy! It's great to be able to make them into ANY kind of dice, for any game. Plus they're QUIET! Happy rolling!

Firehouse Sight Word FREEBIE

Use your own sight words or the ones attached. You could also use letters, phrase cards, etc. I use the Photo Cube Blocks (click here) as the dice. I love these! I don't know how I ever taught without them! If you think this game is something you can use, click on the picture above to download.

Firefighters Rebus Poem

I have used this rebus poem for 28  years. The kids LOVE to act it out. It has a great rhythm to it, too. Hope you find that it's something you can use. Click on the image to download.

Apple Games FREEBIE and a Birthday Request!

This week has been Applicious in kindergarten! We've had so much fun with all the great apple activities from everyone who has so generously shared. I'm also going to share my Crazy Apples game, in two versions, at the end of this post.

Would you help me wish my 85 year old dad a Happy Birthday? He is one of the few of his generation who have embraced the latest technology. He LOVES working on his computer and even regularly visits Facebook to keep track of what's going on.

I am asking one simple thing: If you download my games, would you PLEASE send my dad an email with the subject line "Happy 85th Birthday, O.C." It would just THRILL him to receive 85 emails on his 85th birthday!

His birthday is today, October 1, but if you read this and download my game after that, please go ahead and send him an email anyway. He won't mind if it's late---and I might earn a few brownie points!

Here are the games, as promised. And if you download them, please send a birthday wish to:

GolfBum91@aol.com

Download Crazy Apples Dice Dots Here

Download Crazy Apples Tally Marks Here

Back to School With Dr. Jean

Dr. Jean has some GREAT "Back to School" activities for kindergarten! Check them out!

SUCH a great song! Love it that I can show this to my kids!

Take a Break and READ!

So all summer long I have been blog-stalking and taking a turn at blogging and Target-diving and thinking about school. And then I began a 14 hour car ride home. And, of course, no internet. So I picked up this:

AND I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN! If you haven't read it, PLEASE take a couple of days and read it! It has absolutely nothing to do with education and yet is very educational---and entertaining. It's fiction. And I loved it. So before you go back to school, before you HAVE to start doing all of those things you are hankering to do----take 14 hours and READ this book. You won't be disappointed. (Read it now---the movie opens on August 10. And we all know the book is always better than the movie.) Let me know what you think of it!