Hi guys!

I am the WORST. BLOGGER. EVER.

BUT- I have been on a roll lately creating products for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I set a goal at the start of 2017 that I would post at least two products a month. And I reached that goal tonight…with more to come in the next week or so! A big thanks to the two snow days we had this past week, and the one I now have tomorrow (5 day weekend!), I finished something I have been working on for a while. My Sight Word Practice Sets!

I am so excited about these, I just had to blog about them. These pages ask students to practice their sight words in a variety of ways. First, they box it to practice letter size/formation. Next, they simply write the word to get down the spelling and formation. Then, they use it in a sentence- practical application always helps my students to contextualize the word. Finally, they read a short (beginning-learner friendly, for the most part) passage, and find and circle the sight word as they read it.

I love these pages because they allow learners to write, use, and read the sight word, so they are practicing it in a variety of ways. The short passages also allow for reinforcement of other sight words while reading, phonics skills (blends, digraphs, silent e, vowel teams, etc.), and fluency practice!

So far, I have created my Ultimate Sight Word Bundle for Kindergarten (a compilation of 86 sight words, my most comprehensive set), as well as my Dolch Kindergarten Sight Word Set containing the 52 words on the Primer list. Up next are the first 100 Fry words!

If you want to try them out with your Kinders (or other learners!) before you buy, download my Freebie here.

Let me know what you think! I would love to hear your feedback or how they went for your students!

So, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Okay, if we’re being honest, this is my first post about anything in my classroom…and I haven’t even used it yet.

I just couldn’t contain my excitement about some new behavior management strategies that I am planning for this upcoming year!

Truthfully, when it comes to behavior management, the struggle is REAL for me. For the past two years, I’ve used a clip chart. I changed it a bit this past year, but overall, it was still ineffective for me. I was inconsistent, the same students were picking from my prize bucket time after time, and some days my kids’ clips never even moved! Like I said, struggle city.

So this year, I’m trying something new and fresh- and positive! Year three is going to be full of positive reinforcement, both individually for students and as table teams. Here’s what I plan to do:

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Individual management: Sparkle Strips! 

Recently, I stumbled across a blog post by Kristin from A Teeny Tiny Teacher about her gold tag behavior management program, and I fell in LOVE with it. Basically, what happens is students receive gold strips of paper called “gold tags” for doing the right thing around the classroom. At the end of the week, they get to cash in their gold tags for Fun Friday centers in order of who collected the most tags that week- love that incentive! I also love the way she chooses to send home a weekly report to go with it  (check out her product here). After reading this blog post, I knew I wanted needed to use this in my classroom.

Enter: Sparkle Strips

I plan to use Kristin’s gold tag program, but with a small twist. Are you ready for it? Are you sure? Okay…here it is: the paper is sparkly. Literally, that’s it.  And I’m thinking that with our schedule, Fun Friday may have to be on Thursdays…I know…it’s not Fun Friday then, but I’ll find a name. Give it time. That way, students don’t miss out on their incentive on our two short Fridays a month that we have in my school, AND it gives them a chance to turn their week around and end on a high note if they had a tough week. I think it’s a win-win! Thanks Kristin!

Group Management: Table Jars!

Simple table jars: just mason jars and Scotch expressions tape

Next up is my group management idea, which I’ve wanted to implement for the last year, but never did. Then, I was inspired by the amazing idea of a VIP table that seems to be the latest trend, thanks to Rachel at The Tattooed Teacher (and many others since that blog post!). 

Here’s the plan: as a table team, students work together to earn pom-poms to fill their corresponding color jar for doing the right thing and working together. For example, staying on task during an activity when they are working at their tables, being the first and quietest to clean up for transitions, etc. When a table earns pom-poms, each student at that table gets to put one in the jar (so they fill up 4 at a time). Who knows, maybe sometimes, depending on the situation, they’ll get double pom-poms.  Things could get wild! 

Here’s where the VIP idea comes in. Once a table fills their jar, they become the VIPs for the next week! This means, they get a special caddy full of exciting supplies (think scented markers, glitter crayons, fun pencils instead of the usual yellow ones, etc.) for the following week. I’m toying with the idea of VIP lunch in the classroom, too, but we’ll see about that.

Once a table fills their jar, we dump the pom-poms and start over. It could take a week to fill their jar, it could take two, maybe three. My hope is that the fact that the VIP caddy only comes out every now and then will keep the incentive exciting throughout the year.

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So there you have it, my grand plan for the upcoming year! Sorry for lack of pictures- I only started prepping today (we don’t start school until September, I swear I’m not that last minute!). Once we get a few weeks in, I plan to post an update about how it all plays out. Stay tuned to see how it goes! Happy behavior managing!