Fluency Clip Cards

If you haven't used clip cards as a center activity for your students, you need to start this fall!  They engage student learning for hours and can be used with any subject area.

Clip cards have several design styles but the basic principle is to find the correct answer to a question when given two or more options.  In this manner, they are like multiple choice questions on a worksheet except there are no worksheets involved.

Clothespins are used to "clip" the correct answer.  (I doubt the inventor of clothespins ever imagined that they would make their way from households to classrooms but what a great way to repurpose these little gadgets!)

Preparing clip cards for a center is very simple.  Here are the basic steps:

1.  Buy a package of clothespins.  (Read this post HERE and become a savvy "clothespin-purchaser"!)  They can be wooden or plastic.  It doesn't matter if they're large or small. 

2.  Print the clip cards on cardstock paper and cut them out.  

3.  Program the correct answers to make the center self-checking.  Flip the cards over to the back sides and find the location where the correct answer should be clipped.  Mark this area with a light colored highlighter or adhere small circular stickers.  Note:  A self-checking center is a powerful tool because students get instant feedback on their responses.

4.  Laminate the clip cards for long lasting use.  Program the backs of the clip cards before laminating!

These Fluency Clip Cards are available at my shop.  There are 100 clip cards included!  I've printed the black and white cards on bright colored cardstock paper.

Four clip cards print on one sheet of paper.  You'll need 25 pieces of paper to print all 100 clip cards.  Students read a sentence with a missing word.  They find the omitted word which is located to the right of the sentence.  Each sentence has three word choices.  One word will fit in the blank.  The other two words will not make sense in the sentence.  Pictures are included to support the reader.  Below is a photo of the clip cards that require color ink.  They are also included in the file.  There are 100 black and white clip cards and 100 color clip cards.
  

These clip cards are for ADVANCED readers in first grade.  These are the students that come to you on the first day of school reading well above grade level.  They're itching to be challenged with reading sentences that are beyond basic 4-word and 5-word sentences.  Most of the sentences in this file are a minimum of five words.  Some of the sentences that are nine words in length.  They're designed to improve smooth reading which sounds the same as talking.
Lessons by Molly

Borderless Printing Tips for Teachers

A lot of teachers have been wondering how to print without a white edge around the materials they're preparing for the return of school.  I've discovered a way that will allow you to print without that pesky white border.  Borderless printing eliminates the time spent trimming off the unwanted white frame.  If you have been printing digital teaching resources and discovered a white edge around your printouts . . .  read this tutorial!  

This sheet was printed with a white border. 

This sheet was printed without a white border.

I can't promise you that this will work with your computer and printer but it's worth a try.  My computer is a Windows PC.  If you are using a MAC, I don't know that this will be helpful.  Additionally, I use a Hewlett Packard printer.  You may need to adjust these steps according to your equipment. 

The key is in your printer settings that are within your computer and the manner in which it interacts with your printer.  Apparently, there are many computers/printers with their default settings fixed to print with a border!

These simple steps may spare you the task of cutting away the unwanted white frame from the materials you are preparing for your classroom as you head back to school.

STEP ONE:  Open the file you are planning to print.  (It's probably a lovely PDF file from an online teachers shop!)

STEP TWO:  Select "File".

STEP THREE:  Select "Print"

STEP FOUR:  When you select "Print", a dialog box opens.  Look around at the various settings that you already have in place.  Make sure you are set to printing with "Actual size".  Avoid any settings that say something like "Fit" or "Shrink oversized pages".

STEP FIVE:  You should see the name of your printer highlighted at the top of the dialog box.  There is a tab to the right of the printer name which says "Properties".  To the right of the "Properties" tab there is another tab.  It says "Advanced".  Click on the tab that says "Properties".  See the photo below:
 

Click "Properties" in the first dialog box.

STEP SIX:  Once you've clicked on the "Properties" tab, another dialog box will open.  This one will have its own "Advanced" tab.  Click on the "Advanced" tab.  (Note:  It's not the same "Advanced" tab as the one you saw in the initial dialog box.)   See the photo below:

Click "Advanced" in the first dialog box.

STEP SEVEN:  You will see a list of options.  These will include "Document Options" and "Printer Features".  Look at the list of "Printer Features".  One item on the list will say, "Borderless Printing".  It is set to "Print with Border". Click on "Print with Border".  (The name is a little counter intuitive.)  See the photo below:

Click on "Print with Border".

There will be a drop down menu.  (Note:  It might not "drop down" until you click on the small arrow that drops down the options.)  See the photo below: 

Click on the drop down menu.

Once you click on the drop down arrow, you will see an option that says "Print Borderless".  Click on "Print Borderless".  See the photo below:  

Click on "Print Borderless".

Now you're cooking!  Print ONE of the pages and see if you did it!  Keep in mind that borderless printing can take twice as long as printing without this option.  At least that was my experience.

There you have it!  The "411" on borderless printing!  If your equipment doesn't match up with this tutorial, go ahead and explore the print settings on your computer.  ALWAYS write down your original settings for each of the options you adjust so that you can reset them if things begin to run amuck.

Let's take one more look.  Here's a printed page with a border:

Printed page with a border.

Here's a printed page without a border: 

Printed page without a border.

The page shown above is from my Alphabet Sounds Posters - All Things Animals.  

The mosaic background created by Bev's Learning Hut is very attractive . . . WITHOUT a white border!

That's all for now!

Copyright 2016, Lessons by Molly

 

Alphabetical Order Freebie

I LOVE colored cardstock paper!  It's a great way to add color when color ink is not available.  I buy the bulk quantities at a STAPLES office supply store and it lasts a long time.  The photo below is a pile of my colored cardstock supply: 

My stockpile of cardstock paper.

The colors from the bottom up are pink, yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple.  The photo above makes the green look washed out but all the colors are very bright.  I purchase the blue color separately since it is not included in the assorted set.  There are links to the colored cardstock paper at the end of this post.

I wish the cardstock was sold in a box but it's not so I keep my cardstock in a boot-sized shoebox. 

I am getting off on a tangent talking about the cardstock!  I'll get back to the original subject of this post.  I've reached over 500 "Likes" on my Facebook educational page.  I am honored that anyone would "Like" my page and thought I'd say, "Thank you." with a freebie!

I made an alphabetical order packet which includes printable worksheets and an alphabetical order pocket chart center.  The activities are for alphabetizing to the first letter.  Therefore, all the words within a group (on the student worksheets) begin with a different letter.

If you teach first grade in the state of Virginia, teaching alphabetical order is one of the 2010 English Standards of Learning through the Reading strand.  "Alphabetize a list of five to eight words according to first letter." (1.11 - Curriculum Framework)  

The text is clearly visible on the brightly colored cardstock paper!

The center includes printable cards for pocket charts.  The cards are printed, cut out, and inserted into the pocket chart.   

I put the lowercase alphabet cards on the top row of the pocket chart.  The alphabet cards serve as a reference tool for students while they are alphabetizing the words.  If you are creating an alphabetical order pocket chart center, I recommend including this quick and easy reference tool.

Numerals 1 -5 can be penciled on the backs of the cards to align with the correct order.

The category cards are below the alphabet cards.  Then, five word cards (within a group) are set below the category cards.  The five words can be scrambled so that they are ready for students to alphabetize.  Numerals 1-5 can be penciled on the backs of the cards to align with the correct order.  This makes the center self-checking. 

Use a different color of cardstock for each group of words within a category to keep the center organized.

The cards are positioned vertically on the pocket chart.  The exception to this are the alphabet cards which are positioned horizontally in the pocket chart's top insert.  The photo above has a portion of the alphabet cut off however the entire alphabet will fit on one row.  If your students are working on alphabetical order to the first letter, use a group of words which begin with different first letters.  I've included ten words within each category for you to choose from.  This will also allow you to add more word cards and extend the task to alphabetizing groups of six to seven words.  (You may have to eliminate some of the word cards which begin with the same first letters.) 

In the past, I'd hand-write words on colored sentence strips for my pocket chart centers.  This was very time consuming!  When a piece became lost, I wasted time creating a replacement.  Sometimes I didn't have a blank sentence strip in the color to match.  It's much faster to print pocket chart centers on cardstock paper and cut them out than to spend time writing things out only to have to re-write them when a piece gets lost.  Skip the lamination and print a new set when they get worn.

The cover page shown below will give you an idea of how the printable sheets from this resource appear.  You may download this freebie (for a limited time) by clicking on the image below.

Here's a link to my new FACEBOOK page:  

Lessons by Molly Facebook

Here are the links for cardstock paper:

Assorted Colors Cardstock Paper and Blue Cardstock Paper

That's all for now!

Molly McMahon, Lessons by Molly  

Teachers Appreciation Sale!

I have a few exiting announcements!

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Day, I'm having a sale at my Teachers Pay Teachers shop.  Everything in my store will be 20% off on Tuesday, May 3rd and Wednesday, May 4th.  Use the promo code:  CELEBRATE and receive and extra 10% off.  Don't forget to press the "APPLY" button!  Thank you to all the educators that make a difference in the lives of children every day!

 
I've changed my business name.  My new name is, "Lessons by Molly".  Although I loved my old name which was "Zoom Zoom Classroom", it was time to find a name that was a little more personal.  "Lessons by Molly" is now my blog, store, and Pinterest name.  I'm going to CELEBRATE the change with a new FREEBIE.  If you have a SMART board in you classroom, you might find this helpful when working with students with limited retention.  There are six sight word games included in the file.  Each game targets just three words.  Click on the image below to download it at my shop.

Let's CELEBRATE a little more.  Who wants a chance to win a gift certificate good toward teaching goodies?  It's a great gift certificate that is put out by The Best of Teacher Entrepreneur's Marketing Cooperative.  Check out the amount on the gift certificate and enter below!

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lessons by Molly © 2016  All rights reserved.

 

Sensory Tubs Are Sensational!

I thought I'd show some of the SENSATIONAL sensory tubs that were created by Shamary Feliciano.  She has experience with occupational therapy and assisting in classrooms.  She is also a parent.  She found the ideas on the internet (Thank you Pinterest!) and went through the hard work of putting the tubs together.  Her labor of love was a hit with many of the kids attending the walk.  I think the OCEAN tub was this little gal's favorite.  It contains blue and clear water beads from Michael's Crafts.  There's also toy sea animals from Amazon.  The aquarium plants are from PetSmart and Walmart.  The decorative rocks came from Walmart. 

Sensory tubs are great for developing bi-manual coordination.  This little gal is doing just that!

She loves immersing her hands in the OCEAN tub!

 She found a sea-star!

The photo below is from the COLORED PASTA tub.  Here's what's included.  Farfelle pasta and ziti pasta are from the grocery store. Colored cups came from IKEA.  The clear tongs are from the Dollar Tree.  Alcohol and food coloring was used to dye the pasta.

I love that the colored cups match the colors of the pasta.  A sorting activity might be inspired!
 

The next tub is all about GARDENING.  Here's what's included.  Black decorative sand, toy bugs, toy worms, and gardening gloves came from the Dollar Tree.  Plastic flowers are from Michael's.  The mini wooden flower pots with holes in the bottom are from Amazon.  The shovels and other sand toys are from Toys "R" Us. 

Sensory tubs don't just provide "sensory" experiences.  They're also great for small world pretend play.

Perhaps the beginning of sensory tubs started with the classic sandbox.  The sensory tub shown below was created with kinetic sand and kinetic sand toys from Amazon.

Sensory tubs aren't just for preschoolers.  If you teach lower elementary, you might be teaching capacity.  Rice is an excellent, HANDS-ON medium for measurement activities.  The RICE sensory tub was created with a 25 pound bag of rice.  Alcohol and food coloring was used to dye the rice.  These items are available at grocery stores.  A few sand toys were added.

Even the older kids got in on the pouring action!

The word SENSORY comes from the Latin word "Sentire" which means "to feel".  However sensory tubs are not just for the sense of touch.  In fact, sensory tubs can be created to explore every one of our five senses.  The colorful sensory tubs are appealing to our sense of SEEING as well as touching.  Creating a sensory tub for tasting might be a challenge.  However, the FROOT LOOP sensory tub comes close to it.  The children will certainly smell the Froot Loops and some will be tempted to eat a loop or two. 

The Fruit Loop sensory tub will require at least one large box of Fruit Loops.  The other things in the tub are pipe cleaners (for stringing the Fruit Loops), cars, boats, and see-through shot glasses.  These items were purchased at the Dollar Tree.

The DINOSAURS sensory tub is sure to thrill the future archeologists!  This tub was made from bags of barley and bags of seven bean soup.  The dinosaur fossil toys were found at Michael's and Amazon.  The mini shovels and rakes were also at Michael's.

Aaargh!  It's a PIRATES sensory tub.

The PIRATES sensory tub includes black beans, a pirate box painted black, coins, jewelry, beads, pirate figurines, mini shovels and a rake.

Sensory tubs can be simple or elaborate.  They provide hours of fun for kids.  They can be used outdoors or indoors.   

Sensory Tub Tips:

1.   Consider the age of the children you teach!  Make sure that everything included within the tubs are safe objects for the age group that will be using them. 
2.  There will be some clean up.  Rice will end up out of the tub.  If you are outdoors, it might not be easy to sweep up.  Reduce the amount of mess by using deep tubs for your sensory containers.
3.  Organize your tubs by placing labels on them.  This comes in handy when you ask an assistant or volunteer to get a tub from a storage location.  Otherwise, your helper might come back with the wrong tub!  Labels provide purpose to print.
4.  Maintain your tubs by going through them on a regular basis.  Remove broken pieces of pasta and crushed fruit loops.  Replenish lost items.

 

Lessons by Molly © 2016  All rights reserved.