Phonics Sound Boxes

Hi all!

I've been pretty busy these last few days working on and making up my Phonics Sound Boxes to send home with my kiddos for their phonics homework.

I often find that sending home hands on phonics homework can be quite difficult and we just resort to the same old boring worksheet that doesn't make phonics that fun for kids! Not anymore!!

 

I set up my boxes by cutting out and laminating my cards in various colours - you can read more about how to set them up if you purchase my pack. I won't lie, it was not fun! I had lots of cups of tea and blasted my music to get me through it, but I knew that it would be worth it! To make up 15 boxes took me around an hour, so it wasn't TOO bad!  

 Here's the box with all the cards inside - they're so cute!!










 

 And here's the Phase 2 set made up! I haven't made my other packs up as I don't teach Phases 3-5 in Nursery, but I know that if I move year groups I'll have them handy for when they're needed!







I have used sound boxes before (not this cute!) but I found that if I sent out the sounds after each session children would forget their bags, or boxes, or they'd get mixed up and it was just SUCH a headache!

Therefore I've opted to send all of the sounds home at once and send out a letter to parents explaining how to use the box and I'll then send out a cute brightly coloured slip after each sound/word is taught;

 The letters are editable so they look completely personalised - you also get a copy of the stickers to print off or a pdf of the sticker file so you can order them if you're lazy like I am!

Now you can use the sounds/words in a variety of ways and this is what's great about the box because the parents can differentiate it and use it depending on the ability of their child!!

You can use the tiles as little flashcards to support recognition;

You can use them to build words and practise segmenting/blending;

Or you can use it to build simple sentences and practise reading sentences and fluency;

I know that over in the UK we have a different phonics scheme to the US but I just wanted to share with you the sounds and words that are covered in these packs;

It has UK and US spelling of practise/practice on the slip cards. 

If you are interested then you can find them in the following stores;

 Here are the overviews of the packs;

 

 I hope you find them useful and they make supporting phonics at home easier!

Shark Family Clipart Set Giveaway!

Today I created my first clipart set based on the Baby Shark song that my little kiddos have been utterly obsessed with and I can't wait to make some Baby Shark activities for them with it! 

To celebrate I am giving away a set of this clipart to 5 lucky winners! To win simply head here to my facebook page - give the giveaway post a like and tell me what you would do with the clipart if you won! Simple as that!

For those of you who don't win (or don't want to wait!) you can get it from TES store, TpT store or Teacher's Notebook store

Winners will be announced on Monday 14th August

Good luck! 

Behaviour management

Are you looking for a behaviour management technique that doesn't involve naming and shaming the same students each day?

Personally, I hate seeing children's names on the board - whether it's on a happy face or sad face.. a green frog or a red frog.. for the same students who have their name on the 'bad' side each day it can be completely demoralising.


Do you want children to take responsibility for their own actions and be encouraged to make the right behaviour choice for themself? Then I've got your back! 

My new whopping 124 page behaviour bundle includes everything you will need to keep those kiddos on track all year! You can purchase it on my TES, TpT or Teacher's Notebook store and prepare for an easier year ahead! 

If you're in the US don't worry - the word behaviour/behavior isn't used so this is suitable for you too! 

Enjoy

I'm Back!! - and with new resources

So, it's been a very very long time since I posted on here - I took a break from teaching and took a year out to reassess what I wanted after a not so great experience at my previous school... but I've been sucked right back in and I'm currently teaching nursery (age 3-4) at such a lovely school and have fell right back in love with teaching again.. so here I am!

As it's Back to School Sale weekend on TPT I thought I'd share a few of my resources that you can snag in the sale - so make sure to stock up while it's 25% off and don't forget to use the code BTS2017 - some are oldies and some are brand new :)

Let me know if you grab anything!

A very creepy crawly review!

A few weeks ago this big box of goodies arrived on my doorstep from Learning Resources UK.

I was seriously like a kid at Christmas!! 

I have been meaning to do this review for the last week, but I have been poorly (there's a horrible bug going around and kids and teachers are dropping like flies!) and next week we also have observations - the second most dreaded O word in teacher vocabulary.

...anyhow, I tore open the box to find these 3 GORGEOUS games inside!!

Now, I'm really grateful that these games had a maths focus. My Reception room is the 'Creative/Literacy/Investigation' room, so my kiddos don't always access maths resources as they tend to follow where I am. Therefore, I was pleased that I had something that would allow me to bring maths to them!

Firstly, I'll talk about the 'Shapes Don't Bug Me' set. This set is SO cute and my kids LOVE playing this game - it's now a part of their every day play.

It has 20 double sided activity cards and loads of translucent shapes which means that they can still see the picture underneath - which is the main thing that I really liked about this!! I laminated the cards for extra durability (and because my manager says that I LOVE laminating things - she's right, I do!)

Next up is the 'Buggy Balance' game. Firstly, I put this on my investigation table for the children to 'have a go' - but they soon discovered that it makes a phenomenal catapult and there were little buggies and leaves flying all over the classroom!! 

I promptly put it back in the cupboard until I had time to sit with them and show them how to use it properly!! Haha!

When I sat with them, they spent AGES investigating how many leaves weighed the same as 3 caterpillars etc. This is a GREAT activity for mathematical language!! They really enjoy this, and now I can put it out without risk of losing an eye from a kamikaze caterpillar! I can't wait to use this when we move on to measurement, and this would be a great activity from Reception - Year 2, plus you don't just have to weigh the bugs, you can use the balance to weigh anything!!

They really enjoyed using the lovely counters on their own, sorting, counting and even making patterns using them - again, this is a super versatile product and it can be used in so many different ways - the children thought of loads of ways to use them that I hadn't even thought about!

Finally is the '100 Ant Picnic' - when I first opened this up, I didn't think I would be able to use it until the end of the year with my Reception kiddos - but I have some super high flyers who already recognise most numbers to 100 (even at 4!! Can you believe it?!) so this activity has actually been reeeeally great for my higher achievers! 

Out of all of the resources, I have used this one the least, but I know that once my kiddos build upon their mathematical knowledge this resource will be absolutely invaluable because it is SO versatile!! We can practise odd/even, we can skip count with it, look at number patterns, use it for working on 100 square to add/subtract etc.. it really is a fantastic resource - and if I was still in Year 1 I know that this would be getting use on a daily basis!!

I really cannot recommend Learning Resources UK enough - their products are such fantastic quality (these games have withstood 60 Reception children, that's testimony enough!!!) and I cannot wait to buy more of their amazing products - I have my eye on their super cute Maths counters!!