Football FANatic

November! 

Where has the year gone? I mean, seriously! I feel like I was just sweating to death in the dog days of summer. But here we are, the air is chilly, the leaves have turned, we've even transitioned from all things pumpkin-spice to a peppermint paradise. 

I don't mind the change though, it actually reminds me of some of the best memories. 

I'm not talking about Thanksgiving dinners, holiday specials, or resolutions never fulfilled. 

I'm talking about...

FOOTBALL SEASON, y'all!

Sure I have fond memories of holidays past, but that's for another time. 

Football is today and everyday until the SUPER BOWL. 

I grew up in a family that L-O-V-E-S football! College, professional, tackle, flag, you name it, we love it. There is just something about the sport that brings everyone to the living room, chips and dip in hand. TV blaring, yelling from the sofa, refuting the calls because obviously we saw it better than the refs. And this passion has only continued down the bloodline. 

Football family 

#4 on the run

!!!CHAMPIONS!!!

He knows just about any stat on ANY player (former or current) in any league...if only he could remember to make his bed. 😏

When looking over his latest report card, I noticed that he really needs to sharpen his focus on reading for meaning. He's amazing at grabbing literal text and committing it to memory, but there are still gaps in his ability to chunk pieces of information together and draw conclusions. 

Oh inferential, we will master you, yet! 

So what does a teacher do to help her son?

Well duh, create a passage that he simply cannot refuse.

...and here we have it, friends, a football-themed text with all things comprehension. 

TOUCHDOWN NONFICTION Reading Comprehension

2 page passage comes in color and black/white and is easily accessible for students in grades 2nd-4th. 

And writing is a MUST, because let's be honest, EVERYONE could use writing practice and it can be a wonderful tool for assessing student knowledge of the topic or skill (i.e. determining facts, writing persuasively, comparing and contrasting). 

Games are wonderful tools for comprehension! I can ask questions until I'm blue in the face, but my students always respond better when the element of F-U-N (and a lil' bit of competition) is involved. I, purposefully, designed some of the vocab, true/false, and reading comprehension cards to require deeper thinking - is the sentence 100% true or does 1 word make it false? Could the word be associated with one football definition or be applied to more than one? Does the text explicitly state the answer or are you inferring meaning by collecting information from several sentences? These were perfect for helping my son analyze information (reading text carefully) to determine validty and draw conclusions!

Nouns and punctuation practice are always good to have on hand. It still baffles me how many students forget a period at the end of their sentences or ask me what a noun is. 

Guys c'mon, we're in 3rd grade!!! 

So nonetheless, we practice. 

Will your students enjoy reading this text and interacting with these games?

Based on my own son's non-stop questioning: 

"Mom, are you done making it yet?" 

"When will it be finished?" 

"Can I read/play it now?"

I'm thinking they might. 

Based on my son's reaction

I KNOW they will!

Download it on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking the link below:

TOUCHDOWN NONFICTION READING COMPREHENSION

I hope this text and these activities help your students TACKLE reading non-fiction text and gain YARDS of comprehension in a fun and engaging way. 

Hip Hop. Hippie to the hippie, the hip, hip a hop, and you don't stop

Oh Sugar Hill Gang! 

You make me believe I can be a rapper. 

Until I realize I've mispronounced 3/4 of your famous

Rapper's Delight

That's okay, I'll stick with what I do know...

Sight words and hip, hip hopping on them.

DOLCH HOP ON IT sight word games

I've always had great success with these simple activities that get students moving and practicing sight words all at the same time. 

Kids WANT to keep playing! 

There have been many times when I've had bring the game out to the playground. 

Each sight word set comes with a START & STOP card and sight word cards are placed in a path between the two.

Beginning at START, kids hop on each sight word card, picking up any cards of sight words they do not know or try to sound out. 

When they reach STOP, they use the stack of unknown sight word cards to fill in the recording sheet.

A few tips: 

I like to have my friends match up the sight word card to the sight word on the sheet and keep their finger on the word so they don't mark the wrong word. 

The sheet indicates to use checks and Xs, but highlighters are FUN!

So if you have them and trust your babes with them, use them.

They really do make those unknown sight words stand out. 

This has helped my friends have record of and focus on the sight words they need to practice. 

And parents REALLY love this on-going record so they can help too!

Watch Hop On It (DOLCH Pre-Primer) in action:

This sweet friend LOVES this game!

Trying to beat HIMSELF. 

Once your sweeties have mastered all the words in a set, he/she earns an achievement certificate!

I've bundled all 5 DOLCH sight word sets (Pre-Primer, Primer, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd) 

to save you money.

{Click on image or HERE to buy}

Or you can purchase each set separately.

{Click on image or HERE to buy}

{Click on image or HERE to buy}

 {Click on image or HERE to buy}

 {Click on image or HERE to buy}

{Click on image or HERE to buy}

New Year, New Look

...at least for some of my products. 

Truth be told, I'd quit making New Year's resolutions because 

I NEVER STICK TO THEM!

On average, my resolutions (in the past) have latest all of about 3-5 days before I quit whatever it was that I had resolved to do. I think the reason I've failed so much in the past is because my goals were never really that realistic. 

Not this year! I've made a pact with myself to follow through with a 

VERY MANAGEABLE resolution - 

giving my current TPT products the upgrades they so desperately need. 

When I began this TPT journey a couple years back, I didn't really know what I was doing. I wasn't wise to the ways of amazing clipart, copyright laws, and stretching my creative limits. As I've journeyed with other ah-inspiring teacher-bloggers, I've learned so much and knew that I needed to go back to the beginning and breath new life into some of my first attempts at being a teacher-author. 

In 2014, I gave this little number a facelift by adding B/W versions 

of the original practice pages.

This year, it's undergone a COMPLETE OVERHAUL . 

(Click on image or here to purchase)

I kept the original game (Let's Get Speedy) but revamped it by changing the name (See-Read-Repeat) and dressing up the flashcards with color and clipart. The effective method is still the same (don't worry), but the colorfulness adds an attention-grabbing element.

To beef up the variety of the cards, I added corresponding picture cards to create a fun game called Pick(ture) the Sound. This listening game can be played in pairs or in whole group, with or without the blend/digraph/trigraph cards, as a literacy center or a time-filler/exit slip...the possibilities are endless. 

My sweet boy and his buddies LOVE the guessing game 

HedBandz by SpinMaster.

Sound Crowns is a play on that great game!

Students slip on easy-to-assemble crowns and insert 

BDT (Blend/Digraph/Trigraph) Art Cards.

In small groups or whole groups, students ask describing questions about the image on their crown before guessing what picture they may be wearing.

 Additional paper strips are provided to insure crowns fit students' heads. 

However, I love this idea of attaching (2-3 staples) elastic headbands so crowns can be fitted to several students without readjusting. 

OR you could use extra large rubber bands. 

This same crown fit perfectly on several heads in my house and never ripped.

In the classroom, I'd definitely laminate the crown first before stapling the elastic headbands/rubber bands . 

To wrap up the renovation, I reworked the practice pages (Write & Highlight) to include simple borders, better spacing, and cleaner fonts. Additionally, I added 2 extra pages (This or That? and Creative with Consonant Combos) to extend the versatility of the practice pages.

For Write & Highlight, students fill in the missing blend/digraph/trigaph to complete the word associated with each picture. I have students use their highlighters to identify each consonant cluster.

This or That? is a great way for students to demonstrate understanding of the difference between blends and digraphs/trigraphs. There is some confusion as to which consonant pairs are which so this helps my friends clarify what constitutes a blend and what the letters need to do in order to be a digraph/trigraph.

And to appease my authors and illustrators, I enjoy including an activity (Creative with Consonant Combos) where their creative minds can come to life on paper. 

 Upgrading the first of many products in my TPT store was so gratifying and I'm feeling accomplished! I think I'll stick with this year's resolution...

Up Next: 

Havin' a BLast with BLends

Have you ever wanted to create something, but time and life got in the way?

You know, like that wreath you've been wanting to 

make every Christmas since 2004.

Or that chair you thought you'd have reupholstered by now. 

That's literally the story of my life.

Grand plans, but extremely delayed execution. 

This is just another example of that.

I've been wanting to make this product since 2009! (don't judge)

So I bought the clipart this past summer and finally put my nose to the computer these past few weeks. A little here and a little there and TA DA...

Please let me introduce you to 

{Click on image or here to buy)

This colorful, not-so-little thing (100+ pages) is packed full of games that 

could take literacy centers by storm!

Six (L) blends (bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, and sl) are covered in 3 game formats: 

{MEND THE BLENDS 3-PIECE PUZZLES}

{CLIPBOARD CLUE}

 {BLEND MONOPOLY}

After initial instruction, these games could provide hours of practice and challenge for students to put that new learning to use. 

Plus, I threw in some opportunities for extended learning through 

blend creation and writing.  

Since consonant blends are mostly covered in First and Second Grades, you'll find four 1st grade CCSS and six 2nd grade CCSS, in addition to one Anchor Standard. Standards are either covered directly or indirectly through game play. 

Want to see these games in action, keep reading...

I gathered up some sweet friends (K-2) from my neighborhood to take these games for a spin-around-the-block. They did great and genuinely loved playing. I don't even think they knew they were practicing (L) Blends...and I didn't break it to them either. 

We started with the Mend the Blend 3-Piece Puzzles. 

There are 12 self-correcting puzzles per blend (72 total). 

For the sake of time, I only provided the BL blend puzzles. 

These are simple cut, laminate, & cut again.  

Just spread these bad-boys out and let the kids reassemble. 

 This little cutie was great at recognizing the self-correcting designs.

Additionally, the 5 other blend puzzles are varying colors to help students correctly assemble puzzles if multiple blends are played at the same time. 

 See how blueberries and blackboard have slightly different shaped pieces?

To add an extra layer of extension or challenge, have your students fill out the My Mended Blends Puzzle sheet. You can have students simply list the words in the appropriate blend category. Or bump up the difficulty by having them put words in ABC order under each blend category.

Additionally, if you're looking to really challenge your kiddos, print off a few blank templates and have students create their own blend words and pictures to add to the game.

Moving on. . .

Clipboard Clue requires students to carefully listen to 3 hints and make logical guesses about what blend word is being described. Blend picture cards can help students narrow down choices, but difficulty can be added by removing them from the game. 

An answer sheet is provided in case blend picture cards are removed from game-play or if students are not in agreement on what is being described. Colors coordinate with the clipboard colors for ease of finding answers.

To start the game, blend picture cards are shuffled and divided equally among all players. A student-reader selects a Clipboard Clue card from the top of the downward-facing pile. 

He/she reads the 3 clues aloud to the group. 

 Students use the inferences to guess which blend picture card is being described. If a student has a picture that matches the clues, he/she can offer up their blend picture card. 

!!!WATCH OUT!!! 

Students sometimes like to jump to a conclusion before all 3 clues have been read. I had to remind these lovelies to listen to all the clues first. 

 If guessed correctly, a student wins the Clipboard Clue card and pairs it up with their blend picture card. 

That student selects the next Clipboard Clue card.

Person with the most pairs, at the end, wins!

Great activity for individual and/or partner teams. 

With 72 (12 words per blend) Clipboard Clue and blend picture card pairs, the game could last a long time!

To round out your L blend focus, give students Blend Monopoly to practice all 6 L blends! Very similar to traditional Monopoly with a few slight changes to make the game easy to play. This was a HUGE hit with everyone and if time wasn't limited, they would have played well into the night.

 Add individual games pieces (I like Toy Story figures) and a dice to this game and you're set.

 Students used their Blend Bucks to buy color-coded spaces around the board.

Don't have a gl Blend Buck to buy globe? They may have to borrow from the Blend Bank.

 Roll the dice to see how many spaces you can move.

 Get movin'

 You have a pl Blend Buck?

If so, buy the colorful space by paying the Blend Bank and getting a Spend-A-Blend word card to show ownership of the space. 

Students also have the option to trade Blend Bucks and sell Spend-A-Blend word cards in hopes of winning.  

Speaking of winning? How does that happen?

1 of 2 ways. 

Time runs out and person with most Spend-A-Blend cards wins

OR 

Instant Win by the person who buys all the spaces in the same blend category/color row.

Want to really up the ante?

Have your kiddos fill out the Blend Blog sheet to record all their won spaces. 

These games are only a part of L blend instruction and practice. 

Take a peek at these other great resources from wonderful TPT sellers:

Click here to buy this from More than Math by Mo 

 Click here to buy this from The Chocolate Teacher

Click here to buy this from Sarah Cooley

Hope your time with (L) Blends are a (BL)AST!