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!

1/2 off Week : A half way through OCT sale

We're half way through October...can you believe it?

I feel like we should celebrate that fact!

So this week is 1/2 off Week at The Take Home Teacher's TPT store!

This week, I've slashed the prices of 3 BIG (lots of pages!) products.

#1

5-Alarm Fire Activities 

(normally $7) 

SALE price: $3.50

#2

The Day the Crayons Quit Response to Literature & Comprehension Game 

(normally $8) 

SALE price: $4

#3

Put Me In Coach ELA, Reading, & Math pack 

(normally $20) 

SALE price: $10

Now, go half-way celebrate with your half-priced product(s)!

Oh! Don't forget to ENTER the Apple Pickin' Giveaway too.

You only have a few days left!

This girl is on FIIRREE! (you can thank Alicia Keys)

It's finally here...my favorite time of year! 

FALL

Apple pickin', cool breezes, lattes in hand, and my neglected scarves are seeing the light of day. 

I'm sooo excited for an apple orchard field trip. 

I actually get to go on my son's first field trip to Rocky Brook Orchard. 

What a wonderful experience for both of us. 

Want to know another great thing about FALL [other than apples, Halloween, and all thing associated with cooler weather]?

October is officially FIRE SAFETY month.

Ok, well actually it's Fire Prevention WEEK, but I like to make sure my kiddos spend a good bit of time on the subject since it's uber important to their well-being. 

So, here's the jist:

Fire Prevention WEEK is the 2nd week of October (Oct. 5-11 this year) and while most fire departments are VERRYY willing to host field trips and/or do classroom demonstrations, I'm a big advocate for incorporating fire safety into everything we do in the classroom (at least for the first half of October). 

In my last post, I mentioned that, in the past, I've used several fire-safety themed resources from TPT sellers which have been AMAZING! But due to my limited funds and time restrictions, I had to come up with some "rough draft" letter and sight word recognition activities as well as some math games. They were super ROUGH, ya'll. I mean, I was a bit worried that if any other teachers asked for copies of these activities, I'd have to admit that I didn't have any written instructions or aligned standards. 

Lucky for me, my kiddos LOVED the games and activities I created to supplement those awesome resources I found on TPT and I vowed to come back to them and clean them up so I could share them. 

And that's just what I did...

( Click on image to purchase from TPT)

I've gone over these ELA and Math activities with a fine-tooth comb to make sure they're as clear as water to anyone who wants to use them. 

I'll give you a brief run-down of what you'll find in this HOT (get it?) pack:

Here's a real quick independent activity for students to do individually while you get the games distributed.

Students use the word bank to cut & paste vocabulary words to the picture. (Color & B/W options)

I've always have a few artists in my ranks, so I like to give those friends the opportunity to let their inner Picasso out. Well, within reason. There are still standards to address.

Each student is responsible for giving his/her dalmatian black spots and then using 1:1 correspondence to count the dots in order to tell his/her dalmatian apart from other dalmatians in the class. 

** I do let those budding artists add flare to their puppies, because who am I to restrict their creative sides. **

Want a number recognition and 1:1 touch correspondence game?

Here it is...

Individually or in a game setting, students use 1:1 correspondence to count the number of black dots on each fire hydrant card and then determine if they have the matching number on their 9-square flame game board. If they do, the player(s) covers the number with a water chip. Covering all nine spaces wins!

8 different 9-square flame game boards

31 dotted fire hydrant game cards for 1:1 touch counting

(I do 31 to reinforce calendar numbers)

100 water chip pieces to cover up numbers on flame boards.

 You may want to make more than 1 copy depending on how many students are playing.

As we're talking about fire safety, I do use a lot of idioms with my kiddos...

"I'm on fire!" is one my friends have REAALLY loved saying in the past. 

So what do you do when your bunch of 20 lovelies won't stop saying "I'm on fire!" when you praise them? You roll with it and make it a part of their learning!!! 

Ta-da!

I present On Fire for...

3 different playing mats

Letters, Letter Sounds, and Sight Words

4 sets of cards

Capital letters, lowercase letters, DOLCH Pre-Primer sight words, and DOLCH Primer sight words

These games can be played individually, in partners, or in a group.

Students select letter or sight word cards to identify. Using 1 of the 3 playing mats (On Fire for Letters/Letter Sounds/Sight Words), correctly identified cards are placed on the left side (I’m on FIRE for…) while incorrectly identified cards are place on the right side (I need to keep up the FIGHT) for future practice.

I really like the idea of students self assessing and creating two stacks of cards: 1 stack for secured knowledge and 1 stack for areas of needed practice. 

I'm feeling much better about these activities now than I was this time last year. 

I hope you're prepared for Fire Safety Month Week too.