Free Spring Themed Write the Room

Hello everyone!

One of my absolute favourite kindergarten centres is "Write the Room". Watching the kiddos with their clipboards searching the room just melts my heart! I love any activity that allows my students to get up and moving. I find that this type of centre is always a hit and it seems to motivate even the most reluctant writers. A few weeks ago, I made this Spring Write the Room to accompany some of my FREE Spring Themed Words.  I hope that you will be able to use it in your classroom! :)

 I also printed the Spring Words (four per page) and posted it near the writing centre! :)

I hope you're having a fantastic week! :)

- Ms. Makinson

DIY CVC Sliders

Hello everyone!

Let's get this blog back up and running! I posted on my Facebook page this morning that I was making some CVC word sliders. I didn't anticipate such a huge response! I am so excited to share these with you. Please follow the link to get your FREE starter copy! CVC Word Sliders - CLICK HERE!

Materials needed:

- card stock paper

- clear tape

- scissors

- a printer

First, you will need to print the file! 
The arrow is to show your students which way the card slides out. It is also a great visual to show them where to put their thumb. The red line is there to indicate that the word is complete and to not pull out the card any more. In other words, STOP sliding! The cards can be tricky to reinsert. 

 These rectangles are what will hold your sliders. 

 Cut out the holders and the CVC word cards carefully. 

 Line up the word card with the top of the holder. Note: The side with the arrow should be sticking out a bit. I changed the size of the rectangle after I took this picture.

 Fold up and press carefully to make sure the card will fit. Note: The side with the arrow should be sticking out a bit. I changed the size of the rectangle after I took this picture.

 Turn it over so you can see the black outline at the top.

 Fold the flap over like an envelope. NOTE: Slide your card in and out a few times to make sure it fits well before the next step. 

 Tape the flap down securely.

Try sliding the card in and out. You can tape the end closed if you'd like. You are done! :)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

-Ms. Makinson

100 TpT Followers Giveaway

Woohoo! I am celebrating having 100 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers by hosting my first giveaway! I've decided to raffle off my most popular item right now which is my Fall Themed Literacy and Math Activities for K-1. Thank you to everyone who has supported my little store over the last two months. It has been so much fun so far and I am looking forward to the future! :) -Emily

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Clothespins in the Classroom

Ever since I decided to dye some clothespins with food colouring, I have been searching for different ways to use them while teaching. I started my search on Pinterest (without much luck). So, I am going to let you do all the work! :) I hope this blog post can help other teachers who are looking for new ideas!

Dyeing Clothespins

This is a great DIY project for teachers! I can think of so many ways to use these dyed clothespins but, I think I will save that for another post. However, here is the process! It was easy and I'd do it again!

Materials:

- clothespins

- food colouring

- water

- vinegar

- mason jars

- paper towel

- something you can use to stir (I used a fork!)

I bought this pack of 60 clothespins from Dollarama. I believe the tag says $1.25. They are fairly good quality. If I were to do it again, I would probably spend a little more and buy some better ones.

The first thing I would suggest that you do is take off the springs. Although, the package said they wouldn't rust, I didn't want to take the chance! Spencer and I sat outside and took them apart together. He was much faster than me!

The next step is to prepare your dye. I filled a mason jar with water and added some vinegar (not sure why this helps). Then, I added A LOT of food colouring because I wanted them to dark.

I let these blue ones sit overnight but, you can take them out much sooner than that. I stirred them to make sure they weren't stuck together.

 I am not sure if there is a set time to wait. Other than the blue ones (which I left overnight) I waited until I felt they were the colour I wanted. The red and purple ones sat in the dye for about 4 hours.

The red ones looked amazing almost instantly!

I drained out the liquid into the sink and laid them out on some paper towel to dry. The colour became darker as they dried.

Here are the red and purple ones! The red are my favourite. The purple looked awful when I first laid them out (almost brown) but, they changed to a nicer purple when they were dry. Let them dry overnight (or as long as possible) and then put the springs back on!

Here they are!! :) 

I am very excited to use them!

-Emily

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