Looking for a fun vocabulary builder for young learners? Try these I SPY picture mats! On a recent trip to the field museum, my three-year-old looked through the glass at a rhinoceros. "Is that a unicorn?" he asked. Later, when looking at a display of pumpkin seeds, a zucchini, and pumpkin pie, my husband asked him what was behind the glass. "Peanuts, a cucumber, and pizza!" My husband looked at me and noted, "I ... Read More
Editable vocabulary game
Looking for a meaningful vocabulary game to help your learners master those words? Try this editable activity! Have you seen my series about how to teach vocabulary? It starts with a post about 10 mistakes to avoid. From there, I give ideas for teaching vocabulary to primary and intermediate learners. I also provide free vocabulary journals and more! Check out the free vocabulary series here if you haven't seen it ... Read More
8 Ways to stop b and d letter reversals
Are your learners mixing up b and d? Try one of these tricks to end b d confusion! I recently shared a newsletter with tips for helping kids with b and d letter reversals. Many of my readers e-mailed back with even more ideas. I've put them together in this blog post. Use these ideas to clear up that b d confusion! Then grab the free posters in the download at the end of the post. How to help kids stop mixing up b ... Read More
Floss rule activity
Teach your spellers about the FLOSS rule with this free game! Have you heard of the FLOSS rule? It's one that we often teach beginning spellers. The floss rule says that we double the final consonant when three conditions are met: It's called the FLOSS rule because most words that follow this pattern end in f, l, or s. Examples of words that follow the FLOSS rule: There are also a few words ... Read More
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day books
Looking for some strong picture books to read aloud to your learners? Choose from this list of books for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Today I'm sharing a collection of strong picture books to read aloud - perfect for learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement in America. ... Read More
Subject-verb agreement game
Those pesky subject-verb agreement rules can trip us up! Use these games to help kids master them. Are you a grammar nerd? I was one of those weird kids who actually liked diagramming sentences in high school. But even for a grammar nerd like me, subject-verb agreement rules can be tricky. So I decided to create a set of games to reinforce them. To set up the game, you need the following: Game board (print in ... Read More
Teen number BINGO
On the hunt for teen number activities? Try these BINGO games. They come in four different variations! What is it about those tricky teen numbers? My Four (almost five) has struggled to consistently remember her teen numbers. In the last few months, we've done a few simple activities to help her remember them. Simple (no printer ink required) games to practice the teen numbers Idea #1 One thing we've done is to ... Read More
Christmas books
Looking for children's picture books about Christmas? Here are 27 of them! Looking for fun seasonal books to read to your learners? In this post I share over 20 Christmas-themed books for young listeners. If you're looking for Christmas books with a Christian theme, zoom to the second half of the post. Christian Christmas books It's shocking how hard it is to ... Read More
40 math games for math fact fluency
Need another way to build math fact fluency? Try these fun printable math games - they're free! Let's talk about basic math facts, shall we? Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. All math teachers agree that their learners need to develop fluency with these facts. What is math facts fluency? It's the quick and effortless recall of math facts. If kids have to think for a minute before telling you that ... Read More
Games that build fluency with CVC words
Do you have learners who sound out CVC words, but do it oooh sooo slowwwlly? Cat isn't "cat." It's "/k/ /ă/ /t/." Or maybe they mix up their middle vowels. Sip becomes "sap." I'm currently working with a group of sweet, bright first graders for about 20 minutes each morning before they start the school day. Before our first session, their teachers had told me that they needed help with basic reading ... Read More