Five for Friday - May 1, 2015

Hey friends! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday to share 5 fun things from this week.



This week is all about the OO sound! So naturally everything this week had the OO sound in it - isn't that cOOl?

Fun ways to practice OO:

- Snack time: Give O shaped cereal and a scratch piece of paper and have students use the cereal as their OOs to write words :)

Practice building words with the OO sound with cereal - fun vowel teams phonics activity

You can increase the rigor (yuck I dislike that word ;)) by having them write OO words with the OO sound in boot on one side and OO as in book on the other side like we did here. You can have them fold their paper in half to separate the sides if it makes it easier.... or they can just write all the OO words they can think of while secretly munching on their OOs

- Write spOOky stories

- Make your own cOOKbOOks by including a few HOW TO writings to make simple meals like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

- Do some of the fun pages from my OO Worksheets & Activities Pack obviously ;)

Practice the OO sound with these fun vowel teams worksheets that are no prep and fun


- Learn about the mOOn - I love studying space and I'm pretty sure just about every 5 or 6 year old does too!

What do you learn about during OO week?





So I shared in my last Five for Friday post that I was going to give myself a 100 Miles to Vegas challenge. It's been going okay so far - I am hoping to be better at it this week! I am only counting cardio I do on the elliptical so it's been a challenge to color in the chart! I usually do some sort of light-ish physical activity for at least 30 minutes to an hour each day but I've been doing that for a long time with no results so I am trying to push myself to do that daily cardio on the elliptical! My chart's looking pretty sad but at least it's getting a little bit more colorful :)


I was excited to finally hit 2 miles during my last workout so at least it's progress! It's pretty much always 1.75 each time so my goal was 2 miles. I can't figure out how to get the elliptical to not shut off automatically after 30 minutes of cardio or it'd be more haha. I guess I could just turn it back on and keep going but it would reset the 30 minute countdown and I think I'd do a whole 30 minutes more because I don't like leaving things with time still left on them and I really don't want to do an hour - is that crazy? I think it'd feel like writing something on your to do list but not crossing it off.. or like when someone leaves time on the microwave with nothing in it. Yeah, I guess that's a little crazy. :) So anyway I asked Mr. Giraffe to help me change the countdown time and he told me to read the manual. The manual? Things still come with manuals?? It's HUGE and you can't google within it soo needless to say, it still shuts off after 30 minutes. :) Gosh, technology has made me lazy!



Okay so this is something I am suuuuuuuper excited about! You know my Secret Words cards that I do for sight words and spelling patterns??

Well I am now offering them for NAMES! Personalized sets for the kids' names in YOUR classroom! Woohoo!



I'm really excited to offer this because it combines so much fun learning in one activity. Students have to look at the colorful picture to figure out its beginning sound to figure out the letter. Once they have all the letters, they've built their name. It's great name recognition AND beginning sounds practice all in one. Plus, they can build all their friends' names which kiddos love to do.


I also have the sign language version included for each name so that is a whole other fun activity. It comes with a sign language alphabet reference chart so students can do it independently. I do it with my sight words and words for the sound we're learning already and it's SUCH a fun way to practice word building and learn sign language which is always a high interest option.

You get 30 personalized names that I'll make in both the beginning sound pictures and sign language for each of your students. Plus you get all of the names I've made for other custom orders (I'll just keep adding to the file) so you might not have to use up all of your names if they've already been made or you can use those for the kids you have next year if I've made any of those names and add as you need them :) Don't worry, I provide a clickable table of contents of the names in ABC order so you can easily click on the name you want to get to it and print it.




You have a year to use all 30 names and you can order as many or as few at a time as you want. So let's say you order 18 now for your class and then you get a new student and need to request 1 more - you can request 1 (or 2, or 5, whatever) more at a time as you get new students.. or order some for this year and then some more in August for next year's class. If you need more than the 30, you just buy an additional license ($4 for 5 extra names) so it's easy. :) Like I said, you have a whole year to get in all 30 of your orders. It'll probably be a lot of work for me, not gonna lie, but I'm excited to be able to offer it. Kids in kindergarten and first grade love their names and their friends' names so I know it'll create a lot of smiles! :)




We've been so busy this week! We've had a lot of random appointments recently like to get our sprinklers fixed, get our cable fixed, had a few things delivered, met with our accountant (makes me feel so grown up to say that, ha), vet appointments, the DMV (gah!), etc. so every spare second has been spent running around... AND we had family in town this week so we've been really busy prepping for that and spending time with them. So phewwww we are TIRED at the Giraffe house! Just ask this guy...






It's finally SPRING!! I love studying butterflies in the springtime. A super easy activity I like to do is Find & Write. It's super simple - just put cards around the room for students to look at, read, and write on their recording sheet.

Butterfly life cycle center where kids look at the picture and write the word - you can put them around the room for kids to find and write!


I also love doing this place value puzzle activity where students look at each card to see what number the base 10 blocks are representing and color it in on their 120 chart to reveal a picture. This one reveals a colorful butterfly so it's perfect for butterfly week!!

Butterfly place value puzzle where kids look at the base 10 blocks to figure out the number and color to reveal a butterfly - also comes with number cards instead of base 10!
I also have this butterfly puzzle in Spanish!


Also - I have surprise for you! Here are some Short O CVC fluency puzzles for you for free!


Gah it's been a busy week! I hope everyone had a wonderful week!! 

Follow me on Pinterest for more teaching ideas!

Also - don't forget to join Miss Giraffe's Class so you never miss out on fun ideas and exclusive free stuff from me only for subscribers!

Sight Words Practice with Magnet Letters

Hey guys! You may remember my Secret Sight Words post from awhile back where I showed you my sight word activity cards where students build the sight words with bottle caps with letters written on them. There are 335 different sight word cards included so it should cover all of the sight words for at least kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. I still love using bottle caps (and dry erase markers) but I think it's fun to switch it up and I'd love to show you how I'm using them now.....



I bought some alphabet magnets and they fit peeerfectly in the boxes! I love switching things up every so often and these have been a lot of fun! 

If you want these sight word cards, they are in my TpT store here: Secret Sight Words


I also have a Secret Sight Words pack with sign language which is also in my TpT store here:



I love incorporating sign language into word reading! Kids love learning sign language, even in kindergarten and first grade, so these are really fun motivators to practice sight words. I also include a sign language alphabet chart so they know which sign is what letter. I recommend having them sign the sight words to themselves or others after they build them - it really builds the learning! Plus you'll be shocked how quick they pick up the alphabet from doing this activity... you might find them signing the words on the word wall, words around the classroom, their name, your name, their friends' names, etc. - keeps them practicing reading/words/learning all day long :)


Speaking of names, I actually make these cards CUSTOM for the students' names in your class.
Kids love working with their own names and their friends' names too. When you order the Secret Names {Custom For Your Class List}, you send me your class list and I make 2 cards for each kid: beginning sounds and sign language. Your kids will love it!!


EDIT: I'm not currently making these custom name ones but I'll most likely announce on my Facebook or Instagram if I do open up orders to these again so make sure you're following me in those places.. and also follow me on TeachersPayTeachers if you have a second while you're at it! 

I try to post different things in the different places so people who follow me on all the platforms see different content and ideas. 

The Secret Names pack DOES already include over 800 names, though, so the names you need might already be included in there. You can ask me if the name(s) you want are in there if you want. :) It's so fun for kids to get to build their names!

Anyway, I have these for soo many phonics sounds now! You can grab a lot of phonics sets AND the sight words set in the Secret Words Bundle! I also put the sign language versions in a bundle here: Sign Language Secret Words Bundle so there are a ton of words to choose from! 

If you want more fun ideas for teaching Sight Words, also check out my Sight Word Sentences Fun Ideas and Centers post! :)

Also - don't forget to join Miss Giraffe's Class so you never miss out on fun ideas and exclusive free stuff from me only for subscribers!

You can also check out all my favorite blog posts I've written organized by topic here:
Miss Giraffe Blog Posts List
I share A LOT of teaching tips in those posts so definitely check them out to read more fun ideas! :)

Five for Friday

Hi friends! Happy Friday!

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for my 2nd Five for Friday!




Earth Day is coming up so I busted out a favorite from last year to prep since I couldn't find my cards from last year.


Let me just tell you, Mr. Giraffe was super excited to help cut them out.
He definitely didn't say things like: "I already did this last year!" and "Did you look everywhere?" and "Seriously, I did these already. They've got to be somewhere."
He just smiled and grabbed my handy dandy rotary cutter and got to work.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

For real though, it only took like 10 minutes for us to cut out several sets. I love easy prep materials. Just cut out the cards, throw them in a bag, done.

So anyway, I LOVE these place value puzzles because they are just so much practice that doesn't look like work. I do them for most holidays... I currently have this Earth Day one, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring, Valentine's Day, President's Day for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, 100th Day of School, .....and a totally random cat. Because why wouldn't I have a cat place value puzzle? :)

I also have a Halloween one but it's number sense instead of place value, but I plan on adding place value cards to it! I also have contemplated adding number sense versions to all the place value ones. If only I had 10 more arms!

Anyway, so you give your students a blank 120 chart (included) and a baggie full of the place value cards. They take out each card, figure out what number the place value blocks are representing, and color it in the color that card says on their chart. When they're all done, it'll reveal a fun mystery picture! Easy. Fun. Lots of place value and number sense practice.



So I have a confession.
TpT makes you fat.
It is an amazing community. I get to help and connect with teachers all around the world. It is so gratifying. There are few things cooler than a great idea coming to you (the second you lay down to go to sleep, of course) and creating it excitedly and then sharing it with the world. Seeing pictures of kids using your resources in another state, in another country, is beyond amazing. I am so thankful I found this fantastic, wonderful, beautiful website.
But... it makes you fat. Or at least it makes me fat ;)

I literally TpT every free second of every day which means... working on the computer 24/7.
Another confession... I have gained over FORTY pounds.
Four. Zero.
That is A LOT. I even have a treadmill desk that I walk on while I work and I make sure I hardly ever sit. I eat mostly organic healthy food, although we do eat out a lot, and I don't snack. BUT I'm awful at actually working out, doing cardio and all that fancy wear-yoga-pants-for-actual-exercise stuff.

SO I decided to make myself a sticker chart.. and then I saw this awesome chart by the lovely Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten on Instagram and thought, "PERFECT!"



I'm only going to count miles I do on the elliptical actually working out, not treadmill miles since those don't seem to count anyway.

So tonight I got my first (almost) mile. I typically do a couple of miles on the elliptical but I only got to sneak in 0.85 miles today because I started right before dinner time. So I colored in 3/4 of the box... pretty pitiful lol but hey, it's a start!

So I decided to make myself feel better about my 3/4th of a mile by coloring the top of the chart spending time I could've used jogging on the elliptical and all that it did was show me how I desperately need new crayons. :)

I decided I am going to share my chart every Friday either on this blog or on my Instagram page so that hopefully it motivates me enough to color it in! My goal is to fill a line a week (2 miles a day 5 days a week)... anybody want to be my accountability buddy?!




I've been creating up a storm and actually added 2 more phonics sound packs to my Phonics Bundle!
Be sure to go redownload it to grab these new packs free if you bought it already.

I added the OO sound as in both zoo and as in book & I added the tricky OI/OY sound.

OO Sound No Prep phonics pack for lots of vowel teams practice OI OY Sound No Prep phonics pack for lots of OI and OY practice
                                         OO Pack                                                    OI/OY Pack

Woohoo for getting things done! I'm working on AU/AW now :)
I was computer-less for almost 2 weeks so I was itching to create!



I've been trying to organize my closet better so I finally put all my shoes in our closet 2 weeks ago.
I don't have an updated picture but I organized it some more and sorted my clothes by category (casual, work out, dressier, etc.). At least I stopped myself from ROYGBIV-ing each category... for now. :)




It only took me like 8 months of living here to put my shoes out. All my shoes definitely weren't still in a box up until then. A moving box. An ugly cardboard moving box. ;)



Okay so I just have to share this video of my cat Romeo loving on his stuffed giraffe. Her name is Penelope. Romeo + Penelope = love. He cuddles with her and it is just the cutest thing.


Check out this video I posted on IG of him cuddling with Penelope. It's ridiculous. I may be biased because he's my little furchild but it is so adorable. I don't know why he loves that little giraffe so much but it is just the cutest! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Excited to read all of the other Five for Friday posts!

Also - don't forget to join Miss Giraffe's Class so you never miss out on fun ideas and exclusive free stuff from me only for subscribers!