Math and Literacy Activities using Scraps of Wrapping Paper [Freebie]

Today I was wrapping presents and as much as I tried to measure the paper to fit the gift perfectly, I inevitably had to cut strips of the wrapping paper off to wrap them just right. I was cleaning up the table and this pile of wrapping paper strips was staring at me. I couldn't let this cute wrapping paper go to waste! So I thought of a few fun literacy and math activities using scrap pieces of wrapping paper you have lying around.

Fun literacy and math activities using scrap pieces of wrapping paper you have lying around. Easy and low-prep!

I wrote letters on these strips of wrapping paper to practice letter name and letter sound fluency. It's about that time of year for another round of DIBELS or AIMSweb assessments and this would make practice fun! I wrote letters on several strips of paper and put them in the cute Santa bag. During small group, my little scholars can pull out a strip and say the letter names or letter sounds as quickly as they can. 
Write letters on several strips of scrap wrapping paper and put them in a cute holiday bag. Students can pull out a strip and say the letter names or letter sounds as quickly as they can.

I wrote numbers on the scrap wrapping paper strips to practice number identification fluency. As a warm-up before small group math, my little scholars can choose a wrapping paper strip from the bag and identify the numbers as quickly as possible. 

Write numbers on scraps of wrapping paper. Students choose a strip of paper and identify the numbers as quickly as they can. Perfect for AIMSweb!

I also wanted to use the scrap of wrapping paper to make a center my little scholars could do independently. I wrote a series of letters on each small strip with a missing letter. My little scholars will say the letters, identify the letter that is missing, and record the series of letters on the recording sheet. I placed the strips in a stocking for a little novelty--I know they'll love it! 

Write a series of letters on scrap pieces of wrapping paper. Students say the letters, identify the letter that is missing, and record the series of letters on the recording sheet. I placed the strips in a stocking for a little novelty--I know they'll love it!

I did the same thing except using numbers for this next center idea. My little scholars will pull a wrapping paper strip out of the stocking, says the numbers, identify the number that is missing, and write the series of numbers on the recording sheet. 

Students pull a wrapping paper strip out of the stocking, says the numbers, identify the number that is missing, and write the series of numbers on the recording sheet. So fun and so little prep!

I love including a recording sheet for accountability and you can download one to use by clicking the picture below.

Free recording sheet for a center using scraps of wrapping paper! Easy and so fun!

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What's On Your Wishlist?

It's that time of year again! Teachers Pay Teachers is having a Cyber Monday and Tuesday sale.  I am excited to finally purchase those resources that have been sitting on my Wishlist! Between teaching resources and clip art I have 57 items to purchase--thank goodness for those TPT credits. I'm linking up with my friend Jen from Teaching in the Tongass to share the teaching resources from my TPT shop that have been most frequently wishlisted by other teachers like you!

Click the picture to see the resource!

My All About the Alphabet Interactive Listening Center Bundle [Part 1] has made it on a whopping 929 Wishlists! This resource is one of my favorites because I saw firsthand what an impact it made on my little scholars mastery of letters and sounds. The download includes a printable booklet and audio file for each letter A-M (letters N-Z are in the All About the Alphabet Interactive Listening Center Bundle Part 2). The beauty of this resource is that the audio file actually does the teaching for you! I also use this resource to reinforce learning at home--my little scholars just take home the printable booklet and a CD player home for extra practice. This is especially helpful for those that might not have support at home or your English Language Learners. You can download the Letter Aa Interactive Listening Center [here] for free to give it a try!  I recently added a full-page version of each printable booklet to the download to make prep even easier! No laminating and cutting--just place each page in a sheet protector and use a binder ring to keep all the pages together! If you aren't the most tech-savvy and would rather have the audio files mailed to you on a CD, you can add that to your cart with your purchase [here]. Take advantage of the sale and purchase the bundle for 28% off.


Click the picture to see the resource!
The next most Wishlisted item from my TPT shop one of my first resources I created, my CVC Word Mega Pack. This resource is on 589 teachers wishlists! This resource is 133 pages of CVC word fun--from center or station activities, printables, games, and pocket chart activities this download has everything you need for teaching your little scholars to read those CVC words. You can download a few pages of this unit for free [here] to see if it's something that suits your fancy. :)

Click the picture to see the resource!
Rounding out the Top 3 Wishlisted Items from my TPT shop is my Teach Me Sight Words Primer Bundle Part 1. After seeing the impact my All About the Alphabet Interactive Listening Center had on my little scholars letters and sounds mastery, I created a version for sight words! This download includes a printable booklet and audio file that actually teaches the sight words. While your little scholars are interacting with the audio file and printable booklet, they are listening to the sight word being spelled and read over 26 times! This resource also teaches the sight word in the context of a sentence, which research indicates leads to greater mastery of sight words. Set this up as a listening center in your classroom, change out the sight words as you teach them according to your own scope and sequence, and you can just sit back and watch your little scholars learn to read, spell, and write those sight words! Just like my All About the Alphabet Interactive Listening Center, you can print the booklets and send a CD player home to give your struggling scholars more practice! You can download the Teach Me Sight Words Sampler to try it out for free [here]. If you aren't the most tech-savvy and would rather have the audio files mailed to you on a CD, you can add that to your cart with your purchase [here]. I have bundles for Dolch and Fry words as well as each sight word listed individually. Grab all my Teach Me Sight Words resources during the Cyber Monday and Tuesday sale for 28% off the already reduced bundle price!


Click the picture to start shopping! 
I cannot wait for Monday so I can clear out my own Teachers Pay Teachers Wishlist! Happy Shopping, friends! :)

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Sight Words and Word Walls

Word walls are such a powerful tool to have in your classroom! They help little scholars build spelling and phonics skills as well as serve as an amazing reference during literacy activities. Don't remember how to spell the word "said?" Check the word wall!

I begin each year with a pretty blank word wall--with just the letters on it (vowels are a different color than consonants) as well as initial sound pictures. The first week of school I add my little scholars' names to the word wall. This is when I begin teaching how use the word wall. What better way to teach the purpose of a word wall than with the most important word to a child--their name! A word wall is just a decoration on the wall unless we teach our little scholars how to use it!

Here are two examples of word walls from my classroom: one from kindergarten and one from PreK. I read this post about Debbie Diller's suggestions for word walls which influenced why I chose this specific word wall design. 
(Pardon the poor photo quality, iPhone cameras weren't as great back in 2011!)


This was a few weeks into school in Pre-K. We had to follow a letter of the week curriculum so we had already introduced Aa, Ee, Hh, and Kk. 

In kindergarten, as I introduced sight words or high frequency words I added them to the word wall. The word wall in my kindergarten classroom was on a whiteboard so I was able to use a piece of magnetic tape to affix the words to the whiteboard. I loved the magnet tape because if one of my little scholars needed to borrow a word during Writer's Workshop it came off the word wall easily. Download the word wall words by clicking either of the pictures below. 

                                

In Pre-K as we learned a new letter name and sound I added initial sound pictures from my Beginning Sounds Bonanza unit.


Around March once all my little Pre-K scholars had learned letter names and sounds, I took most of the initial sound pictures down and added a few sight words. When I added the sight words, I indicated the sight word list it was on with a small colored circle in the corner. You can read more about how I organize sight words [here].


Using real photographs instead of clipart supports the shift towards nonfiction text so I've created a set of initial sound photographs for you to use on your word wall if you'd prefer--just click the picture to below to download them!


For more about how I teach and organize sight words, check out this post!



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Now I Know My ABCs! Effective Letters and Sounds Strategies

I am thrilled to share with you a few strategies to teach letters and sounds that have been very effective in my classroom. We know that young children use their senses to learn--they need to see it, hear it, and touch it--so here are some of my favorite ideas!



Tactile Letters

I found an ancient textured wallpaper book in a dusty cabinet and decided to make tactile letters using the textured wallpaper.

Use textured wallpaper to make your own tactile letters!

I used a die-cut machine to cut the letters and then glued them on cardstock. Voila!

Use textured wallpaper to make your own tactile letters!

How's that for recycling? :) 


Interactive Alphabet Listening Center 

Another one of my letter sound must-haves is my Teach Me Letters and Sounds interactive listening center. This center also allows students to hear, see, and touch the letters. There are 26 booklets and 26 audio files included in the downloads. The students listen to the audio file while following the prompts in the book. I created this listening center activity out of sheer necessity. My students needed additional explicit instruction with letters and sounds but there were TONS of other standards I needed to teach, so this interactive listening center was born. Once I began using it in my classroom , I saw results immediately. 100% of my Pre-K students mastered letters and sounds and I give this resource much of the credit! I even sent home a portable CD player and some booklets home with my students who struggled for a little extra practice. 

Here's a sneak peek at how you can use this center activity in your classroom to teach letters and sounds. I created this video to show you how it works! 



You can download the Letter A printable booklet and audio file for free to give it a try in your classroom. Just drop your email below and it'll be in your inbox right away! 


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    You can purchase the bundles in my shop [here] and [here]. This resource has 700+ 4.0 ratings! Be sure to scroll down to the feedback to read why other teachers love using this resource and how it has helped their students learn letters and sounds.
             
     


    Teaching Letter Sounds using Gestures

    I have been teaching hand motions along with letter sounds since I began teaching. Using gestures to teach letter sounds allows children to hear the letter sound, see the letter in print (as long as you have it displayed), and move their bodies! This strategy is truly effective and I'll often see some of my former students in the hallway and although they are now in 3rd or 4th grade, they can still demonstrate the gesture for each letter sound. Movements really help anchor those sounds in our little scholars' brains!

    Here's a video of me demonstrating the gestures I use in my classroom. Enjoy!



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    Announcement and a Giveaway

    Friends.

    I have a very exciting announcement to make! 
    I have decided to team up with some of my very best kinder buddies to write for a collaborative blog! 
    That means ONE blog with TONS of great ideas from several super awesome Kindergarten teachers!


    One thing I L-O-V-E about this blog, is you will know exactly what to expect each day of the week.  For every day, there is a blogging theme.  Check them out! 



    I'm SO excited to get started on this new adventure, and am thrilled to invite you along for the ride.  Let's celebrate with a little giveaway!  

    Enter this giveaway to win a MEGA CVC Pack!

    You can win my bestselling CVC Mega Pack! It's over 125 pages of phonics fun--centers, printables, games, and more! You can check out blog posts about it [HERE].  

    All you have to do to enter is follow us over at iTeachKinder then follow the instructions on the Raflecopter below! 




    Can't wait to get started sharing some great kinder ideas with you! 

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