Love Letters Freebie and Link Up

Welcome to my FIRST "ITeachKinder" Linkup!
In these monthly linkups, I will be sharing timely tips, teaching strategies, resources, and some freebies with you.  If you like what you see in this blog post, be sure to follow me (or any of the participating bloggers) and check back at the beginning of the each month for a new link up. Today, I will be sharing a free and a paid teaching resource with you that I use during February to keep my kiddos engaged in learning! 
For me a classroom should be built on a community of friendship and love. My kiddos know from day one that we all treat each other we love, respect, and kindness.

 One of the ways that we continue this throughout the year is by writing "Love Letters" to each other. {This unit is perfect for Kinder or First.} 

 I begin this unit in February because it is perfect for Valentine's Day. We learn what a letter is, how to write one, how to address one, and what types of things we would put into a letter.  I begin by reading this awesome book. It is a great way for kiddos to get their "hands on" a real letter. It is called The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

Then the kiddos use a planning sheet to "interview" a friend.

 Finally, the kiddos get to write their letter and "mail" it to their friend.  We make our own envelopes out of construction paper. We also address the envelopes and add a stamp. (All of these things are included in this FREEBIE!) The kiddos are hooked on writing letters after the first time of doing it whole group.  They want to interview and write letters to each other ALL. THE. TIME! It's fabulous! If you would like to try this FREEBIE, just click Love Letter Freebie!

When our kinders and firsties are writing anything, they need a good base of sight words to help carry their stories or letters. Sight Word Hunts are a great way to practice identifying and writing sight words that the kiddos will want to use in their letters. I use this activity every other week in my class. The first week we use it, it is done independently. Then I place the center version of the hunt in a center for the following week. There are 12 different versions of the game so it can be played many times. The particular Hunt that I use to support the above letter writing is called Valentine's Day Sight Word Hunt. The kiddos use magnifying glasses to hunt for sight words.  When they locate a word, they cross it out  on the paper and then write it on the blank provided.Super easy to make, super engaging, and super fun!

If you would like to try this word hunt out in your classroom, just click Valentine's Day Sight Word Hunt.

Math Dice Games

We LOVE playing in order to learn.  One of the best ways to play includes working together using math strategies that we have learned to solve problems.  This activity provides TONS of practice with three addend math problems.  All the kiddos need are dice, and their Math Journals! SUPER FUN to play, SUPER EASY to set up, SUPER INDEPENDENT practice for all!

First, we spread out around the room in groups of three.

Then, each partner takes a turn rolling the dice and everyone sites the number that each partner rolls in their Math Journals.  They have to work together to decide what order they want to write the new addition sentence.

Then they work together to decide which math strategy to use to solve the problem. (For example, they use their knowledge of counting on, doubles, doubles +/-1, etc. to make the best decision on HOW to solve the problem.) Then they write why they solved the problem using that particular strategy (or strategies if they used more than one to solve).

In the end, their Math Journals are full of three addend number sentences that they have worked together to create, solve, and discuss!

After playing once or twice with the whole class involved in the outcome, the kiddos LOVE to grab their tools and play alone.  This becomes a HUGE favorite in my classroom. (Parents, it is AWESOME/EASY for practice at home.)

For more fun dice games, I have this Giant Dice Games For Math Centers packet in my store:

It has 42 pages with 15 different whole class and center activities. It includes identifying numbers 1-20, addition facts for numbers 1-20, 1 more/less than numbers 1-20, and 10 more than numbers 1-10.  It has color and black and white available within the packet in case you want to create one or two as Math Tubs/Centers and save the ink for whole class activities! The best part, it is only $2.00 in my TpT store.  (Click the link above if you are interested!)

Thanks for reading!