Fly Swatting Letters and Sight Words

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So what can you do with a giant fly swatter??? Well, of course, swat giant flies! I was so excited to find these giant fly swatters at the Dollar Tree I almost purchased one of each color (ended up with the pretty red one). The table-topped sized fly swatting game has been an all-time favorite for both centers and small group instruction, so I thought I’d make it even bigger with the giant fly swatter with giant flies to match! Simply print the flies on either cardstock or office paper, cut them out and the activity is ready to go. Scatter the flies on the floor or tape them on the wall and have your students “swat” the flies with the words or letters you name. This game is so simple, but the kids absolutely love it!

Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store

Click HERE to download the Giant Fly Swat game for letters from my TpT store

I love this game, too, as it is a fast-paced game with lots of opportunities for response. If you’d rather use the table-top sized version of this activity, just purchase a regular fly swatter and print the activities:

Fly Swatting Letters
Fly Swatting Sight Words
Fly Swatting CVC Words
Fly Swatting Numbers and Addition Facts

Let’s Play Some Basketball!

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The Final Four March Madness Basketball Tournament started today. I really love college basketball! With my son attending Michigan State University, we’ve been lucky enough to travel to East Lansing to see a few games. On top of that, we are traveling again to MSU this weekend to watch our high school basketball team compete in the class B semi-finals. How exciting!! This is the first time in 40 years that our high school team has made it this far in the play-offs. Wishing them all the luck in the world. Well, in honor of the Final 4, I whipped up a few activities for our little basketball fans.

Click HERE to download Swoosh! Basketball Sight Word Game from my TpT store.

The Swoosh! game is pretty easy to put togther and makes for a fun literacy center activity. Students simply take turns choosing a basketball and reading the word. If the player picks the “Swoosh” card, he/she can choose 3 more balls. However, if the player chooses the “Penalty” ball, all the balls must be put back into the pile and play continues. The Swoosh! game is a fast-paced activity with lots of opportunities for response.

Just for my first grade friends working on long vowel sounds, I created the game with words using common vowel teams.

Click HERE to download Swoosh! Basketball Game for Vowel Teams

Seems like everytime I create a fun activity for reading, a receive a request for the same activity for math. So, if you need a math center activity, here’s the game for practicing addition and subtraction facts to 20.

Click HERE to download the Swoosh! game for math.

Hope you enjoy these basketball-themed activities. Even if you are not-so-much a hoops fan, they are really fun. AND… hoping you’ll watch at least a little bit of the March Madness Tournament–it’s all exciting.

Ready for Some Football?

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Ready for some football? The big game is quickly approaching–unfortunately the Lions won’t be playing so I’m not sure who I’ll be cheering for. Anyway, Super Bowl Sunday is really fun at our house. We typically gather with our close friends and make a night of it. I’m thinking maybe the Ravens?

To celebrate the big game, Kyle and I quickly whipped up a fun sight word activity. All you’ll need to do is print the footballs single-sided to double-sided (I usually print them on cardstock), cut them out and you’ll have a ready-made game! This activity is easily differentiated as you choose how many and which sight word footballs to use. To play the game, students take turns choosing footballs and reading the words. Pick the “touchdown” or “field goal” football and the player can choose more footballs, but pick the “penalty” football and all the balls go back in the pile. This game has been a hit with the boys!

Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store

I love the little football that Kyle created so I also made it into a math activity for practicing addition facts to 12. You can also modify the game for subtraction.

Click HERE to download this freebie!

Sometimes it’s difficult to engage our little boys, especially those who are struggling. The Race Car Blending activity has been quite popular with these kiddos. The students blend the sounds as they are moving the car across the letters.

Click HERE to download this activity from my TpT store

If you are a football fan, enjoy Super Bowl Sunday!

It’s a Snowball Fight!

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I know, I know, snowball fights are not allowed at recess, but maybe your students will love having a good old-fashioned snowball fight during literacy centers or small group instruction. Students simply take turns choosing a snowball and naming the letter or reading the words. The player who chooses the bear throwing the snowball must put all their snowballs back in the pile and the game continues. I love this game because it is really simple (often the best kind of games) and fast paced which allows for multiple opportunities for students to respond. Great for practicing skills.

Click HERE to download Snowball Fight-Alphabet from my TpT store

Click HERE to download Snowball Fight for Dolch Sight Words Lists 1-9 from my TpT store

Click HERE to download Snowball Fight CVC Words from my TpT store

Click HERE to download Snowball Fight-Blends and Digraphs from my TpT store

Hope your kiddos like this fun winter-themed activity.

Halloween Themed Game Boards

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I am so lovin’ Kyle’s Halloween clip art, I can be making Halloween activities well into next year! We are working like crazy trying to get them all done in the next two weeks before transitioning to Thanksgiving and then Christmas quickly following. I can’t believe how the school year is flying by! Kyle made 4 adorable sight word game board designs. I have to say the spider is my favorite. Here’s a little freebie for you to use in either your small group instruction or as an activity in your literacy centers.

Click the following link to download the FREE game board for list 4 of the Dolch sight words Halloween Sight Word Game Board List 4

The following Halloween themed game boards are available in my TpT store:

Halloween Themed Game Boards For the Dolch Sight Words Lists 1-9 When you download this product you’ll receive 9 game boards with words from lists 1-9 and 4 blank game boards for you to add your own words!

Halloween Themed Game Boards For Consonant-Vowel-Consonants When you download this product you’ll receive 4 game boards with CVC words.

Halloween Themed Game Boards For Consonant Blends and Digraphs 7 game boards with common consonant blends and digraphs are included in this download.

Enjoy!

Halloween Themed 4-In-A-Row Game Boards

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I found these cute little eyeball felt stickers in the holiday section at JoAnn Fabrics. Since there were only two eyeball colors I thought they’d make for fun game pieces for a Halloween themed 4-In-A-Row game. I asked Kyle (fabulous artist) to make a matching 4-In-A-Row board and, as usual, she did an awesome job! This activity is perfect for use during your small group instruction or as an activity for your literacy centers.

Click the following link to download your FREE game board for list one Halloween 4 In A Row List One

If you don’t have JoAnn Fabrics store in your hometown, these cute erasers make for an equally adorable option. I picked up this package at our local Dollar Tree. I’ve also seen similar erasers in many other stores too.

Kyle created 4 different Halloween themed game boards. 4-In-A-Row game boards are available for all 9 lists of the Dolch 220 sight words. I’ve included 4 blank game boards in case you want to add in your own words.