Farm Riddles

Here is a set of riddles cards that we will use with our Farm theme next fall.  It includes many of the farm animals and things you'll see on the farm, how they relate to the farm, and also how you should stay safe around the farm.  This will be a great introduction or review of the farm theme.  Can't wait to use them!  Set includes 26 riddles cards:

You can find this riddle card set at our TPT store HERE.

The cute big dots border is from Graphics From the Pond.

Other clip art is from KPM Doodles and some drawn by Carrie: Clip Art by Carrie.

Check out all the Farm Doodles clip art at our TPT store HERE or in Carrie's Etsy shop HERE.

Thank you for reading our blog!!!

~~Carrie

Weather Riddles Cards

As I looked at our lesson plans for this one week mini-unit on Weather, I realized that we were a bit "fluffy".  You know...lots of cutsie stuff, but not a lot of meat and potatoes!  I'm excited for some of the new weather related creative writing activities we are doing, but just didn't feel like we were teaching some vocabulary.  So after school today I whipped up some Weather Riddles cards that we could use as a large group activity.  We have a Weather word wall pocket chart that has TONS of weather words on there...now I have something more that teaches those words.  Hopefully this activity will help bring some meaning to the unit this week.

Here's a thumbnail of the Weather Riddles cards I just uploaded for sale on TPT:

The cute blue dots border is from Graphics From the Pond.  It was a FREEBIE I found at her TPT store.  Other clip art used was from public domain sources and the cute raindrops image was from KPM Doodles.

Thanksgiving Riddles Cards

Seems like you never have enough ways to review and tell the Thanksgiving Story.  Here is a set of Thanksgiving Riddles cards that tell about the Thanksgiving characters that we plan to use with our Thanksgiving unit in November.

Riddles included for 20 Thanksgiving characters:

1. turkey
2. deer
3. Pilgrim girl
4. Pilgrim boy
5. Native American girl
6. Native American boy
7. Squanto
8. King of England
9. corn
10. pumpkin
11. Crow
12. Mayflower
13. Indian Chief
14. rooster
15. chicken
16. clams
17. fish
18. cabin
19. winter
20. green tree

You can purchase this riddle card set HERE at our TPT store.

I got a little creative and drew a few clips for this project myself.  Other clip art is from KPM Doodles, so be sure to check out all her cute clip art at her BLOG. 
Cute Yellow Big Dot border is from Graphics From the pond.  You can click on button on the right hand side of our blog or HERE.

Phonics Tic Tac Toe

This week we pulled out an old favorite and revamped it a bit.  Seems like after so many years, you look at something you've made and want to make it look "cleaner" or use different clip art or a cuter font.  In between parent teacher conferences this week, I tackled that project.  There is a set for Short Vowels, Bossy R vowels, Digraphs, and Long Vowel sounds.  These games are sold separately or as a combo pack.  You can look at a preview of these at our TPT store.  Click on the links below...

Short Vowel Tic Tac Toe:  HERE (A, E, I, O, U)

Bossy R Tic Tac Toe:  HERE. (AR, OR, ER, IR, UR, EAR)

Digraphs Tic Tac Toe:  HERE (SH, TH, WH, CH)

Long Vowels Tic Tac Toe:  HERE
(AI, AY, A-E, EE, E-E, EA, -Y, I-E, IGH, -Y, O-E, OA, OO, OO, OW, OW, U-E, EW)

You can purchase these four games as a combo HERE at our TPT store:

Math Game & Work Mats

Here are some game and works mats that can be used with the 1st Grade Everyday Math program.  We have been using the Coin/Counting Money mats and the Base 10 block mats for years, but wanted some new ones to use for some of the other Everyday Math games and activities.  Our tables look pretty busy with all the "stuff" that the name tags have on them.  For some kids with vison problems its hard to find the little pieces for the games because they blend in with the table top name tags.  We are hoping that using the mats gives the kids a "place" to play the game on the busy table top.

These mats are made for 11x17 printing but print fine on 8.5x11 paper, too:

1. Base 10 Block mat (use for "Roll for 50")
2. Coin Counting mat (with pictures of trades they can make at the bottom of the columns)
3. Coin Dice "Bank" mat (can be used with multiple players)
4. Coin Dice 2-Player "Bank" mat
5. 2-Player "Top It" mat (for any Top It game)
6. "Before and After" game mat
7. Counting on the Numer Grid mat (includes arrows for fingers to follow for kids who can't find the next row)
8. Basic Pattern Block Dice game mat (use for any Pattern Block game you have where students roll the dice, pick the Pattern Block shape, and put it on their game board)
9. "Two-Fisted Penny Addition" mat (included fill in the blank number model where students can write with a wipe off marker)
10. "Domino Sums" mat that included "Part-Part-Total" diagram and fill in the blank number model for quick wipe off.  Students build addition facts using chips and place them on the domino to create the domino dot placement.
11. "Who Can Make The Biggest Number?" (for place value game using the Everyday Math card decks)
12. "The Difference Game" mat (included a circle to place the chips and a box to drag the difference to)
13. Fact Family Facts (students put the fact triangle in the triangle shape, write the numbers in the boxes of the triangle, and then write the number models that they can make with the 3 numbers for the fact family.
14. Show the Amount, Make Trades, Show With Fever Coins mat (includes a box to show the amount using play coins, a gray shaded area to remind them to make trades to the bank, then a place to pull down the remaining coins to show the same amount with fewer coins.
15. Double-Digit Addition mat (to use with B10 blocks)

You may find this packet of work mats at our TPT store HERE.  You can get a free preview download of the Fact Family mat.

Clip Art used in a few of these mats by KPM Doodles and public domain clip art:  www.openclipart.org.

Base 10 Block War Game

So you know when you wake up and you realize you are dreaming about a game to make your brain doesn't shut off when you are sleeping.  Woke up this morning and had to get this off my brain so whipped this up while eating breakfast.  It's a Top It game for numbers 1-30 using Base 10 Blocks.  Students play the game like war and have to decide who has "more". The student with the most cards when all the draw cards are taken is the winner.  Included in this packet is a student record sheet that the winner can record their "win" by writing both numbers and the < or > between the numbers.  If you print two sets of this game you can add the = sign.

Here is a picture of the game:

If you would like to preview or purchase this game, find it at our TPT store HERE.  Please leave us feedback if you purchase at our store or a comment on our blog about what you think.  Is it worth it to make additional games for larger numbers?  I suppose you could make one with numbers in the 100s?!?!....uh oh!  Another game coming soon!  :)

Short Vowel Circle Games

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We finally got the short vowel (CVC words) circle games merged together in one file so if you are interested in purchasing those games as a complete set of 5 games you can find them at our TPT store HERE. 

If you don't know what a "circle game" is, you might have heard it called an "I Have...Who Has?" game.  Each student gets a card or cards and has to listen for, then read aloud the word in green.  They then have to decode the word in read to ask who has that word.  The game goes ina complete circle until all cards are used.

We created these for each week that we introduce a new sound.  We made the entire set of games so that each week, the games only include sounds that we have covered in our sequential phonics program that we put together using The Language Tool Kit and one of our favorite instructor teachers, Cathy Angel, who taught classes called Making Reading Heavenly and Tools For Reading and Spelling Success.  Our whole phonics program is based on these two ideas.

Here is an overview of what the games looks like:

Sight Word Circle Games

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A few years back we created some class "I have __.  Who has __?" circle games for the Dolch PP, Primer, and 1st grade words.  The words that the student has to LISTEN for and READ are in green and the word they have to SOUND OUT and ask for is in red.  Once students get a bit more independent at reading these words, we use them in small group literacy centers.

See pictures below for what the games look like.  You can get these games from our TPT store for FREE by clicking on the links below.

Pre-Primer Sight Wordds Circle game, click HERE.

Primer Sight Words Circle Game, click HERE.

1st Grade Sight Words Circle Game, click HERE.

Thanks for stopping in!  Hope you could find something you could use in your classroom.