A New Classroom Tool: Kwik Stix

My teacher eye and brain is always on the lookout for new ways to engage my students.  Even if it is an old tool that I can repurpose.  Some brains are better at this than others.  For example, my teammate shared an idea today to turn the bottom of a plant pot into a clock.  What!!??  Why doesn't my brain work like that?
That's okay.  I'll keep working at it :)

Last week, The Pencil Grip company asked if they could send me their Kwik Stix to try out.  They are tempera paint sticks (they work like a glue sticks) that dry in 90 seconds (I found it takes less than 60 seconds).  So basically, you uncap it, twist up, and paint.

I was really on the fence about accepting this product because I do not paint.  My instruction is all small group intervention instruction.  The lessons do not lend themselves to painting, coloring, or other types of crafts.

But...

These do not have to be used for painting.  I decided this would be a great tool to use during my sight word intervention or during the phonics portion of my guided reading groups.  So...yes!  I accepted the invitation to try them out.

My students use a variety of methods to work on sight words.  We write on top of bumpy placemats, they trace on top of paint bags, rice trays have been used, and a variety of writing utensils.  The paint sticks offer, yet, another avenue to engage the students in writing the words or phonics sounds that they need to know automatically.  And from what I learned during my brain research PD, handwriting is going to help their brain to automatically recall what is being written.

Once I pulled out the paint sticks, they were very eager to try out the new tool.  (Possibly too eager because I know I did not ask them to write the word that many times.)  But they wrote the word, said the word, and the paint did not rub off on them at all!  I found that it dried in only a few seconds.

The more that I observed them using the paint sticks to write sight words, I noticed that it did not work well for them unless they used a fluid movement.  I do not mean that there is a defect in the Kwik Stix.  What I mean is that the sticks are thick and if they do not write their letters with the correct motions, they end up with letter like this...

 I see students write like this over and over again.  They stop the motion, pick up their pencils, and then make the curves of the letters.  With the sticks, they cannot see exactly where to connect the lines.  So they end up with letters like the one above.  I think Kwik Stix could be a great way to practice using a fluid motion when writing letters.  The kindergarten teachers at my school are eager to try this out!

It says that the paint sticks work on paper, canvas, and even wood.  I would like to provide my students with some different textured surfaces to add more multi-sensory techniques to my sight word lessons and the handwriting practice.  Some wood, bumpy surfaces would be an interesting contrast to the smooth paint stick.

I am excited to find more ways to use these paint sticks in my small groups.  But am enjoying their excitement and eagerness to write with them.  Do you have any ideas for me?

You can grab your own set here.  One winner will get a 6 pack of paint sticks!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gift of Reading Blog Hop

Welcome to Curious Firsties. You have arrived at  

 

At each blog stop, you will be gathering Reading gifts and freebies.  In each post you will find a picture of a snowman with a letter on it. Collect all of the letters to solve the mystery quote to enter the giveaway. Record all of the letters on your recording sheet and follow each blog along the way so that you can enter the amazing giveaway at the end!

The hop is set up as a loop, so you may start anywhere along the hop, but if you would like to start at the beginning you may go to A Day In The Life of A Title I Teacher's blog.  This is also where you will go after you finish the hop to enter the giveaway!!

************The Gift of Reading***********

I think that some children are very lucky.  They grow up with literacy experiences.  This may come in the form of weekly trips to a library or bookstore.  Maybe they get nightly bedtime stories.  And, possibly, they help their families make grocery lists and talk about environmental print.  I think these experiences provide children with the "gift a reading."  A skill that they will use, need, enjoy...for the rest of their lives. 

I have worked hard in my home to provide my girls with this gift.  And I see glimpses of this when I check on them at night and there is a book laying on their face.  Or I will catch them making menus as they play "restaurant."  The "gift of reading" is more than the physical act of reading, it is a love for reading.

As a teacher, I want to give this love...this gift to my students.

This leads me to my "Gift of Sight Words."  

Some of our sight words don't come easily to our students.  They can be very hard to remember if you don't have a lot of exposure to them.  And these words are just imperative to reading with fluency and comprehension.  They just need to know them.  That takes time, exposure, and practice.
This game allows students to work with the Dolch words through a game.  Pre-primer through third Dolch lists are included.  It can be played in a whole group setting, with a small group, or as partners. 
Let's take a closer look:

Students get a snowman.

They choose a gift.  If the word is read correctly, then the gift is glued down in the snowman's hand.  This process is repeated over and over.  The hope is that the snowman will have a tall stack of gifts!

I hope you find that this is helpful to your students as they walk along the literacy path!

My secret letter is...

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! I hope that you enjoyed your gift and learned something new. If you would like to be the first to know about new posts, giveaways, and blog hops follow me on Bloglovin' by clicking the image below. 

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Don't stop now! Hop on over to Teachers Take Out to pick up another amazing reading gift! Happy Holidays! 

If you get lost along the way download the Hop Map here to easily pick back up where you left off! 

Favorite Pins Friday

 I'm linking up with Cara over at First Grade Parade today. 

I have been all about these digital papers this week!

They come from Write in the Middle and I love them!  I was able to use them to make these flashcards! (You can click on them if you want them).

Next up is a book...has anyone read this one?

The pin came from "The Best Children's Books." I have been looking for some inspirational punctuation books.

Another great school pin:

This came from Joyful Learning in KC.  I am reading Smarter Charts right now and I am wondering how I can incorporate this Word Box!

Okay--I saw this picture and fell in love with these trees.

The idea is from Dishfunctional Designs.  I have not formulated my idea on how to use this yet.  But I know something will come to me.

And finally...a healthy dessert.

This pin comes from Detoxinista.  This is a pineapple whip.  It only calls for pineapple, almond milk, and honey.  I made it for the 4th yesterday and it was a hit!

Hope everyone had a good 4th!

TPT Celebration GIVEAWAY!

It is official!  My TPT store is now open.  I am just trying to spruce up the things I used this year to make them TPT worthy.  Everyone out there makes such amazing products!
.Here are a few things that I have posted so far...
Word Ladders for specific patterns

 Here are the patterns (you can click on the pattern to go to the TPT page):
ay/ai pattern
oy/oi pattern
aw pattern
ow pattern
igh pattern
ew/ue pattern
I also posted a game "Sight Word Apples Up On Top."  There is a game for all the Dolch lists.

 

Also check out Molly's giveaway over at Lucky to Be in First and Sara's giveaway over at Miss B's Busy Bees and Cyndi over at Lacy's Letters.  They both have some great products and giftcards from many different TPT stores.

Time to Assess

This week we needed to do a quick assessment on high frequency words.  We always test our firsties after our 6 week unit to find out what words they have mastered.  Typically, I flip through cards to do this assessment.  But this week I decided to make up a quick powerpoint.  Each slide is set up to show for 3 seconds (since they are sight words) and then it changes to the next word.  WOW!  This was so much easier for me.  I could take notes on what they actually said and when they quickly self corrected themselves.
You can click on the picture to download the powerpoint.  You should be able to just change the words to fit your needs because I know you don't want my Reading Street Unit 4 words.

Hope this helps!
Em

mmmm....muffins and sight words

Oh, spring break! 
With all of my home time, there has been a lot of experimenting this week with some crafts and recipes.  I found a linky to go along with my experiments for the week at 2nd Grade Pad.  It is a Make and Take linky.  It can be school or home related.  Since I am not at school this week, I thought I would post a recipe that I tried out this week.

I live in a house with one gluten-free child and one diabetic low-carb husband.  We have to be creative.
I found these "Green Monster Muffins" on The Chic Life. They were really good!  But I needed to make them fit our food restrictions.  So I changed things up a bit.  I used almond meal instead of flour.  Got rid of the sugar and decreased the amount of applesauce.  I added some more spices to ensure there was some flavor (since I got rid of the sugar).

Spinach-Almond Muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of almond meal (I use Trader Joe's)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground gloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup packed baby spinach (chopped in food processer)
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Get muffin cups ready (about 11 or 12).
Whisk the egg until fluffy.  Add the applesauce and whisk until blended.
Then add the oil, vanilla, spinach, and lemon juice.  Whisk together.
 Pour in all of the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.  Pour mixture into muffin cups (about 3/4 full). 
Bake for about 14-16 minutes.

Mine are not as pretty as the "Green Monster Muffins" but we have had about 3 batches this week!

This is a teacher blog.  So I figure I need to post something related to school.  This year I have created some powerpoints that show sight words quickly.  The purpose is to get our firsties to see the words and know them automatically.  I just made a new one this week.  It will be used more next year because they are very easy/common words.  We show the powerpoint during transitions on our mimeo.  The students can read along with the powerpoint on their own.  If you want a copy just click on the photo.

Happy Thursday everyone!
Em