Teacher Week: What I LOVE plus 3 FREEBIES!

I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' again today for the last day of Teacher Week 2014.  Today's topic is what do you like to teach?  I am sure this will sound incredibly cheesy, but I honestly love to teach almost everything.  I am obsessed with my pre-k babies and how ridiculously smart they are.  If I had to pick one subject, though, I would have to say that writing is my favorite thing to teach.  My babies come to school in September not knowing how to write their names or being able to recognize more than 4 or 5 letters.  They leave in June being able to write sentences, their names, and knowing every letter and sound.  It honestly amazes me every.single.time.

We start the year off by learning that our names are made up of these crazy things called letters.  I always introduce letters with one of my all time favorite books, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  We also do the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom song, art projects, centers and more!  You can read all about it and find all of the resources {here}.

Another favorite beginning of the year activity is Friend bingo.  I love that the kids have so much fun that they do not even realize they are learning!  Check out the details {here}.

Reading names with Friend Bingo turns into writing names in the writing center.

I love this scaffolded name writing practice sheet.  It is a great way to figure out where each of my little friends are at the beginning of the year and what they need next.  Informal assessments are my most favorite!

And {HERE} is your first freebie.  The font shown in my photos is Jessica Stanford's KinderPrint.  I changed it to Century Gothic in the freebie so that it works for everyone.

Another one of my very favorite ways to introduce writing at the beginning of the year is with class books. Class books are another of my favorite beginning of the year activities.  I love the moment when children realize that THEY can be authors too!  So powerful!

 I just totally re-did my Brown Bear, Brown Bear inspired class book.  Instead of the little clip art kids shown above, I use real photos of my kids.  Instead of typing their names, I have them try to write it.  You can grab the whole twelve page class book freebie {here}.  This freebie is fully editable so that all you have to do is insert your kids' photos and print!

I am super excited about another class book that I created a few days ago.  This one is inspired by our other class favorite book... Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes.

So cute, so easy.  Your preschool, pre-k or kindergarten students will love to read this book over and over.  You will love how easy it is to make!

To snag this freebie, all you have to do is like my Facebook page {here}, then click on the Fan Freebies tab.  You will be able to download it right away!

Word cards are my favorite way to support emergent writers throughout the year.  You can click {here} to check out all of the different word cards I have in my shop.  Family, School, Weather, Butterfly and Colors just to name a few!

My kids love to grab the word cards and write words independently. They take SO much pride in their independence.  It makes me so proud too!  The word cards are a great way to support ELL students, too!  All word cards come in both English and Spanish.

Mid-way through the year I see a HUGE change in my babies' ability to write.  This is when I begin to push my students by encouraging them to make scientific observations.  We do this as a class at the beginning of the year, and through the use of gradual release of responsibility they can do so independently or with minimal help by the end of the year.

Amazing for pre-k, right? 

All of the butterfly examples come from {this} unit.

 

Aaaand that's it for Teacher Week!  I hope you enjoyed it :)