"Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me! I Know All My High-Frequency (Words)!" GIVEAWAY TIME!

Hey everyone!  How are you surviving the last month of school?  We have 23 days left and I. AM. EXHAUSTED. If you are reading this and you are on summer vacation already, please know that I am slightly envious.  

Just back tracking a little, last year I went to visit an early childhood center school as part of my professional development.  It was an eye opening experience for me and gave me so many great ideas to bring back to my classroom.  During a tour of one of the classes, the students were playing a game in which their sight words were printed on a paper fly and the kids had to swat a fly and read the word on the fly they swatted.  They were engaged, having fun, and learning at the same time!  What a concept!  It reminded me of a similar game I played with my kiddos back when I taught at a private school (and before the pressures of Common Core came into play).  Naturally, the gears in my head started turning...

Fast forward to Summer 2014: I just started my blog, Instagram and was brainstorming a cool product to kickstart my TpT store: The Fly Swat Game.  Long story short, summer came and went and this game idea went into my "I'll finish it one day when I get the chance" folder.  I know we all have one of those ::wink:: until....

...TODAY!  I finally took that project out of that folder and finished it!  Here it is!  So I made these "Fly" flash cards with all my kiddos' high-frequency and CVC words that they are tested on.  My school uses Pearson's Reading Street-Common Core Edition for ELA. We are on Unit 5, so there are 60 tested words over the course of 6 weeks.   


I printed, cut, and laminated 2 sets of fly flash cards.  I placed one set in this giant pocket chart.  If you don't have a giant pocket cart, GET ONE!  It has so many uses, but that's another blog post.

The second set was placed in a pile, face down, for the kiddos to pick from.  They chose a card, read the word....

...then used their fly swatter to "swat" the matching card!  They love swatting the flies!  And the excitement in their voices when they read the word aloud, it was music to my ears!  


Now you can do one of two things....once they read and match the card, they can either take the card out of the pocket chart and make a pile of words they have matched OR they can just add their matching card to the chart and flip both of them over.  I found this easier since my centers are in two rotations, it made for easy for the kids to set it up for the next group.  The picture below shows how my kiddos flipped their cards on the pocket chart.



I had 3 students in this center and they were engaged for the entire time.  They didn't argue, they took turns, and more importantly, they helped each other if they were stuck on a word.  That makes my teacher heart flutter! I might even add a second pocket chart on the other side of my cart with math facts!  SO MUCH FUN!

Are you also trying to survive the last month of school? Would you like this center activity for your class to keep them engaged and learning and your sanity saved?  THEN FOLLOW MY BLOG AND TPT STORE AND LEAVE A COMMENT FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF THIS PRODUCT!  I will pick a winner on Thursday by 9:00 PM EST. Yay!  I heart free stuff!

Are you super impatient and want the game RIGHT NOW?  Then click here to download "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me! I Know All My High-Frequency (Words)!"  I know, cheesy title, but I'm a cheesy gal. 

Click me!

Hope this was helpful!  Thanks for reading and GOOD LUCK!    

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P.S. If you are reading this while you're on the beach, again, I'm super envious of you. :-P  Enjoy your well deserved time off! :)
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Birds of a Feather, Flock Together! TpT Flock Meet-Up!


This past Saturday, I attended the most informational TpT Meet up EVER.  Granted, this has been the ONLY TpT Meet up I've ever attended, but it'll be hard to top the experience, friendships, and knowledge I gained in one day.

I took the 3 hour journey to the Holiday Inn in Binghamton, NY (boyfriend in tow as my driver and support system), feeling excited and incredibly anxious of what to expect. Boy did that go RIGHT out the window when I walked into the conference room.  Let me take you on a picture walk through my experience! :-)



Butterflies in my tummy at this point.  There was no turning back now!  Meet-Up, here I come!


I was greeted by the lovely Sherri Tyler of Literary Sherri (click for her TpT store), who gave me this very official name tag.  I also got a raffle ticket for a chance to win a document camera and was told I was automatically entered for a chance to win a prize from the Prize Table!  SWEET! 
My very own name tag!  How pretty!


TpT Swag Bag!
I was then instructed to play a game of Selfie Bingo (great ice breaker!), to grab a swag bag filled with tons of teacher goodies and to find a seat.  This is the part when I felt like I was 12 years old in the cafeteria at a new school. Enter super shy Erica until....

..I saw this lovely lady, Mrs. Elsa Wheat of The Whole Wheat Class who greeted me with a warm smile and an even warmer hug!  Ms. V loves warm hugs (see what I did there Elsa?)!

Then I meet this gem; the teacher I've been following and admiring since I started my Teacher Instagram last year: Melissa Machan of First Grade Smiles! Seriously, I am such a First Grade Smiles fan girl!  What was even cooler, is that SHE ask ME if I was Miss V!  Ummmm, YES! And you're totally First Grade Smiles and I love you!


 We all played some Selfie Bingo and mingled with other TpT Sellers, then decided to take some photos at the photo booth! So much fun!
Cheese!
Then these lovely ladies, the organizers of this fabulous meet-up, began the meeting.  Pictured from left to right: Susan Kalkman of The Math SpotSelma Dawani of Selma Dawani Learning FundamentalsMary Beth of Brain Waves InstructionSherri Tyler of Literary SherriDonna Tyler of Worth A Thousand Words, and finally, Ellen Weber and Robyn McMaster of Brain Based Tasks for Upper Grades. What an extraordinary bunch! Click on their names to see why they are so extraordinary.  Their products on TpT are top notch!

After the opening and introductions, who enters stage right?  Jennifer Jones of Hello Literacy! Yes, THE Jen Jones was giving a workshop about how to be a top notch seller on TpT!  Her presentation was so chock full of information, I couldn't keep up writing everything that she was telling us!  Luckily, I was sitting next to people who did! Thanks Nicole and Nancy Strout!


Approximately 45 minutes later, my brain full with Jen Jones tips and tricks to being a TpT Seller Pro, we broke into groups to discuss different TpT topics.  I would tell you the topics, but what happens at the TpT Flock, stays in the TpT Flock!  

Before I knew it, lunch time had arrived and before we all chowed down on salads and sammies, we took a group photo (see end of post for that).  We also participated in the Teacher Tool Exchange. 




My Teacher Tool was from Jackie of The Template Teacher!  My Teacher Tool was a HUGE BUNDLE OF 250 AVERY ADDRESS LABELS! This came at such a good time because I honestly have been procrastinating going out and buying more because I use them all. the. time. Thanks Jackie! :)


The organizers also started calling out names for the prizes!  



MY NAME WAS CALLED!!!


How cool is my prize?!  Thanks Karry of Yay for PreK!  You have sparked a new idea for my next TpT product! 

Lunch was awesome with NicoleElsa, Melissa and Nancy!  Good times ladies!  We broke into our groups again, one of which was lead by Jen Jones herself!  Before we began, I bravely asked for a selfie. She selflessly agreed.  Thanks for making this teacher fan girl incredibly happy! 


We started wrapping up the meet-up around 4 o'clock-ish with a lovely closing speech by Amy from TpT Headquarters. Thank you for all the kind and encouraging words to all the veteran and rookie sellers alike!

As we were saying our good-byes and exchanged business cards and hugs, I couldn't help but feel like I had become a part of a new family; ones who share with me the love, joy, and passion for teaching.  Thank you all for letting me into your family!  I can't wait for the meet-up next year!  I hope to be a pro-seller by then! :)

Michele from Triple the Love in Grade 1 texting me the photos I used in this blog post!  Thanks Michele! :)

In case you need the rundown of the boss ladies who ran this TpT Flock Meet-up, here they are!
A million times THANK YOU!  You ladies have filled my mind with so many ideas for my TpT Store and encouraged me to take the leap and start a Facebook page!  I'm happy to announce that Miss V's Kinder Kraziness is now on Facebook! Come "like" me there!

And last but not least, a ENORMOUS THANK YOU to my boyfriend Jay, who kept himself entertained by sightseeing in Binghamton for 8 hours while I was filling my brain with TpT knowledge and then drove 3 hours back home. 

I love you bunny bunny!
Don't forget to follow me on my TpT Store https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Miss-Vees-Kinder-Kraziness, buy some products, and leave warm fuzzy comments! I promise, my novice store won't stay novice for long! For more daily updates of what I'm up to, follow me on Instagram! >>https://instagram.com/missveeskinderkraziness/<<

Talk to you sooner rather than later folks!  Thanks for reading!

Best wishes and kisses,

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