Updated Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Alphabet and Number Bingo Games

Years ago I made my first Chicka Chicka Boom Boom game on the computer.  I made the numbers on word and stamped the colorful dots with a pencil eraser.

When I decided to give TPT a try I made a new version on word with my limited computer skills.  

I did sell a few of my TPT version and it worked fine for most of my students.  However, right now I am working with students who really struggle with identifying their letters.  So I decided it would be a lot easier for them if I used a simple font for the letters and numbers. Also I only made the game in capital letters for the little ones that I am working with this year.  

It has a lot more in it.  So you can adjust the centers and your teaching to the needs of the learner.

 When I put my materials together I put the uppercase and the lowercase back to back to save on laminate.  

The boys in small group had a blast today playing the game.  I was concerned that the letters were not sticking in their brains however after playing the game today I feel much better.  They were excited about yelling out the letter names and singing the song to figure out what letter comes next.  I feel like we are making progress.

If you are interested in more Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Ideas check out these posts: September 18, 2011, September 24, 2011, and September 4, 2012,    

If you are interested in the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Alphabet and Number Bingo please go to my TPT Store.   

Be A Good Listener

From:  First Grade Fever

This past week I have been mainly working with the first graders at my school.  First Graders are so honest, even to a fault sometimes. We have several students who struggle with listening during instruction and following directions.  

So I came home today thinking I would come up with some lessons on being a good listener and make a card for them to keep on their desk as a reminder to listen.  I LOVED  the Good Listener Banner that I found at First Grade Fever a couple of years ago and I refer to often throughout the school year when my class has the case of the wiggles.  I want to keep that language and build from there.  

I was looking up some good resources to use with this group of students because I do not think my favorite book Listen Buddy by Helen Lester is going to work, at least not yet. 

I came across this book Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. I was so excited that I could ordered it on my Kindle account so I will have it for tomorrow however when I downloaded it a pop up said it was not compatible with and ipad. Now I am out $4 dollars.  

However I got lucky and found the story on youtube.    

Youtube Link

   










As I was searching around on Pinterest I found Erica Bohrer just posted about Whole Body Learning and she has two wonderful FREEBIES a lesson and a card for the desk and now I don't have to make anything.  Thank you now I have more time for reading!

A is for Apples

I created CK Primary back in 2009 after I received a Smartboard in my classroom.  It was before Pinterest and I wanted a place to save my teaching resources.  

I share the site with the other primary teachers at my school although I think I mainly add content to it.  My goal this year is to update the site and make sure all the content is available. 

I know many teachers at my school will be teaching about apples in the next two weeks so I wanted to make sure all the apple information was up to date.  

I found some cute stories on youtube and some great songs.  I put them through  VIEWPURE to eliminate most of the ads and junk that is not appropriate for young children. However you may still get one pop up ad at the very beginning.   My favorite video is Ten Apple Up On Top.  Vancemo changes it into a song.  So cute!  So please stop by and check out this Apple Page I think you will be pleasantly surprise.  

I have recommended books, links, songs, and art project ideas all on one page.   

10 Cute and Adorable Apple Projects

September is APPLE MONTH.  Time to get out all your favorite apple books and start thinking about what apple projects you want to do this year.  

There are so many cute projects on Pinterest it is so hard to pick which ones I have time for.....Here are a couple of my favorites:  

For my Kindergarteners I love making this apple card...

Another Kindergarten favorite is the torn art project.  Some of my students struggle with this project because they want to cut the paper with scissors instead of tearing the paper. However I think the torn paper give the apples the character that makes the project.  

I did this next one with my first graders.  I had them draw the apples and paint them. We cut them out and arranged them on scrapbook paper.  

I think you could do the next project two ways:  1. Stamp out the apples or 2. Have the students draw and paint their own apples. Either way this apple wreath is adorable.  I think this would be great for first or second graders.  The cutting out would be tricky. 

This paper plate apple project would be great for preschool or four year old kindergarten.  It is simple and really you would provide the pieces and the children just glue.  Although this is made of felt I think you could easily do this with card stock.  

This Apple Collage is all made out of scrapbook paper.  This project would be perfect for any age group.  I think the kids would love gluing down the different designs. 

This Bubble Wrap Apple project looks like so much fun.  Just paint the bubble wrap and press it onto paper.  Cut out the apples and decorate.  So simple and cute.  This looks easy enough for any age group.  

This Smily Apple is so adorable as well...and it looks like the kids even cut out some of the pieces. Again a nice simple project for preschool through first grade. First Grade Blue Skies even has more ideas on this page for you.  

This Apple Core project is almost to easy to believe and it is so sweet looking.  It is simple enough for any age group.  

The Seasons of the Apple Tree is a project I have done several times. It was part of a unit I purchased.  It turns out adorable.  I like it because there is such a great science tie in for this project. It takes a little bit more prep work on your part and has more steps then some of the other projects put it is worth it.  It is definitely a five year old kindergarten to first grade project.  

Leaves Poem Free

Along time ago I posted all my Fall Kindergarten Poems, and I noticed that I had a typing mistake on one of my poems. 

So I retyped it today...and added some new fun graphics from Graphics from the Pond and KPM Doodles.  

Click Here for Color Copy

I mount the colorful poem on card stock and laminate it and put it in my poetry basket for free reading time.  

I also have the students color and find words in a black and white copy of the poem. With this poem we draw lines from the line to the picture and talk about how picture clues help us read.  

Click Here to get Black and White Copy of Poem

Introducing Apples

Today I began my apple unit.  I started with reading the book,  Ten Apples on Top.  I had a couple of my students try to balance one apple on their heads.  Sorry no pictures.....I don't have permission yet to have student photos on my site.  It was very funny!

After I read this wonderful book, I introduced my little ones to some new words.  As I introduced each word we talked about how it relates to an apple.   Then we sorted all the words by syllables.  (They were familiar with syllables because they just did an activity in Music class.)  

My little ones really enjoyed this activity.  If you would like a copy of the cards I made Click Here :)  Enjoy!

Science in a Jar

Today in Science we worked on our sense of smell.  I found this new book I order from Scholastic Book Orders last year, Sniff, Sniff  A Book About Smell. It came in a pack with other books about the Five Senses. 

My little ones loved it, especially our discussion about what mucus is.  We added more words to our science board.

When we finished our book we did a little predicting.  We tried to figure out what was in the Smelly Jars.

  I made some picture clues on index cards.  My little ones made their predictions on this form.  They drew a picture of their favorite scent on the bottom of the page and wrote some words to describe it.

They had a great time smelling the containers.

Science and Literature

Our Sense of Sight

I introduced the Five Senses this week.  I like to start with the story Mouse Paint.  We discussed how we can observe colors with our sense of sight.

We did our first experiment, Color Jars.  I used tempra paint and water.  Then I read the story, Mouse Paint. 

I gave each student a drop of red paint, yellow paint, and blue paint and several q-tips.  First, We made mouse tracks with the primary colors and then we mixed the paints to make secondary colors. 

After our tracks dried we made some mice.  I found some “how to draw mice”  on google and my little ones had a lot of fun.