Neon Love!

I, being a 80's child, have a love for all things neon! So when I saw these sneakers I knew I just had to have them! Anything that pairs black with neon is perfect for me!

I mean, how could I resist! The bottoms are adorable and the laces, well I am 100% certain I had the same pair of laces when I was a kid!

So after staring at them longingly day after day, unable to wear them to work due to our dress code and not willing to risk wearing them in the icky winter weather, I decided to try this look out on my nails!

Michaels had this amazing glitter that was just what I was looking for!

Here we have black and neon attempt #1. Bear in mind that I had never used loose glitter on my nails before!

I liked these but I was not completely smitten. I think the glitter is too transparent to use on black polish. I am going to try it out on white soon - I think that will pop more!

I wanted the black to be solid but instead I ended up with little bits of glitter all over it. I think next time I will seal the glitter half off with clear coat first. Then I will coat the whole nail. Dragging the clear polish down the nail made a gradient glitter look that I wasn't really going for!
Since I was not totally satisfied with that experiment I decided to try again. This one was way worse! Perhaps I should refrain from doing my nails at 9 pm on a Sunday night in the future! The neon polish looked good...but the black glitter, not so much!

I think my error was in shaking the glitter over my nail rather than just pinching a bit over it. They reminded me so much of something that I could not place. Then I realized. My nails looked like Wooly Willy! They were way too heavy and textured! This manicure lasted one day - mainly because we had a snow day last Tuesday and I was able to scrape it off and change it up a bit!

So whilst I love my sneakers I definitely have not achieved a neon/black nail look that I adore yet. However I will conquer it, I promise! (Or perhaps I should say I hope!?!)

What's on your nails this week?

The Wrap Up = Perfect Bun!! Giveaway Winner!

I am a huge fan of buns, but my hair is starting to get really long. It has become a bit more annoying trying to create a nicely shaped bun. I tried the sock bun, I really did, but it is not my friend. The sock shows through and it always tangles and rips my hair in a horrible way when I attempt to take it out.

Lo and behold I came across a tweet the other day that mentioned a hair stylist who created a tool that makes quick easy buns. I clicked onto the website and I was definitely intrigued! Sarah Potempa is now my new favorite person. She has invented the best bun creator EVER! It is called The Wrap Up and it seriously rocks! The video made it look so easy that I just had to have it! (It comes in yellow and black too!)

It arrived today and I am totally smitten!

The first picture shows how it looks closed, the middle is how it opens for you to slide your hair in. The last picture shows how it folds over to close up! 

You just put your hair in a ponytail, slide The Wrap Up over it, then slide it down to the bottom of your hair. Next you roll it all the way back up to where your ponytail is. The last step is to close it into a circle and spread your hair around to hide the tool! 

Voila - the perfect bun in no time at all! This is definitely going to be my favorite summer style! It is very lightweight, soft and foamy and does not destroy your hair which is one of the best parts! 

(Side note: This post is all from my true adoration of this product. I was not asked to blog about it but I just had to tell you lovely ladies about it once I tried it! I already got my sister hooked on it too!!)

Last but not least, congratulations Rachel! You are the winner of the Springtime Syllable Bingo Set! I will be emailing you tonight! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Have a great night!

Springtime Syllable Bingo

My first graders loved playing the St. Patrick's Day Syllable Bingo games so I wanted to make a Spring version that would last a bit longer and offer some longer words. Several of my first graders are still struggling identifying the syllables in words and I think reviewing with this set will help a lot!

 There are 60 word cards ranging from 1 syllable - 4 syllables:

There are six 3 x 3 boards:

 And six 5 x 5 boards:

It also includes game pieces for the 3 x 3 boards:

And the 5 x 5 boards:
The two different sized boards are helpful for differentiating for abilities, or even for the time you have allotted for the activity. I start off by using the  3 x 3 boards when my students are beginning to practice counting or clapping out the syllables. Once they are a bit more comfortable we switch to the 5 x 5 boards. Sometimes if I need a quick closing activity I will switch back to the smaller boards too!

This set is available in my TpT shop!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Spring Silent E Games with Blends & Digraphs

Spring is almost here!! (I am choosing to ignore the fact that we will be getting ANOTHER snowstorm early next week.) Instead I shall focus on Springy thoughts! My focus with my first graders has been on blends and digraphs in short vowel words for the past few weeks. Now it is time to move onto the dreaded Silent E words!! I decided to put my intense desire for all things Springly to good use when making this game!

It has five game boards:
Long A, Long I, Long O, a board with both Long E and U words and a mixed vowel board for reviewing. Each board also has beginning blends and digraphs.

I included Score Sheets, and a sample score sheet, in this set too. If you use these activities in literacy centers or stations it makes a great assessment sheet. Each student records the word they land on and then uses the word in a sentence. They earn 1 point for each word they use correctly!

This set also includes gray scale versions of all the items in case you would like to send copies home with your class for practice!

This set is available in my TpT shop!

St. Patrick's Day Short Vowel Games with Blends & Digraphs

The very minute we arrived back from winter break my first graders began talking about St. Patrick's Day! That has led to us doing a countdown towards it each day this week - needless to say they are beyond excited about it!!

Since we have been working on blends and digraphs in Intervention lately I decided to combine that skill with St. Patrick's Day!

This set includes 6 game boards: Short a, e, i, o, u and a mixed vowel board that is great for reviewing all the short vowel sounds.

During Intervention my students and I play these games together. We each read the word  we land on and then use it in a sentence. I included Score Sheets for small groups who are playing the game with their classmates, either in centers, stations or reading groups. The Score Sheet has a column where they record the word they landed on and a place for a sentence that uses the word.

This works well as an assessment tool when students are playing the game independently. I collect the sheets and give each correct sentence 1 point. It allows me to see whether or not they understand what each word means.

This set includes gray scale versions of all the game boards, Rules of Play and Score Sheets as well.  It is available in my TpT shop.

Have a great weekend!

St. Patrick's Day Syllable Bingo

Syllables have been troubling a few of my first graders these past few weeks - especially the dreaded one syllable word!! Whether we tap it on our wrists or clap it out, they always add an extra syllable to those words! I decided to put together a game to help review this concept and I figured why not do it St. Patrick's Day style?

There are 12 boards in this set: six boards that are 3 x 3 and six boards that are 5 x 5. I wanted to include different sizes to make it easier to differentiate for abilities. I usually start with the 3 x 3 while they get used to the concept of the game. Then when they are ready we move on to the bigger size! All the boards have 1 - 4  on them (the number of syllables in the words) and there are 36 Word Cards with St. Patrick's Day vocabulary.
The caller will read a Word Card to the group. Each player will count or clap out the syllables and then cover the corresponding square. For example if you hear the word clover you must clap: clo-ver and then cover a square with the number 2 on it!

I also included St. Patrick's Day game pieces for both the 3 x 3 and 5 x 5 boards. I just love that shoe, it is too cute!

This is a great activity for centers, stations, reading groups, tutoring or Intervention!

This set is available in both my TpT shop!

Have a grea

February's Nail Art and CVC Game Winner!!

I am a person who adores winter - the coldness, the snow, the quietness of it all. However I must say enough is enough!! This is our 3rd straight weekend storm. Third. With significant snowfall too! Thankfully I am on vacation so there is none of the chaos of cleaning off the car and driving in it!! Needless to say I am really ready for Spring and quite envious of all you warm weathered people!! Now back to my blogginess!

 

Congratulations to Melinda! She is the winner of the CVC Short Vowel Games! I sent an email off to you this morning Melinda - thanks for entering!

Next up we have February's Nails! February is so brief there are only 3 nail designs. If yo like any of the colors just click on the names of the polishes for an Amazon Link.

I started the month out with a shades of blue (perhaps on homage to my feelings as a result of the endless winter!)

Polishes: China's Glaze For Audrey on my pinky, China Glaze Towel Boy Toy on my ring finger, Essie Go Overboard on my middle finger, Zoya Charla on my index finger and Nicole by OPI Iceberg Lotus on my thumb.

Then came Valentine's Week!

Polishes: Sally Hansen Hot Magenta topped with Zoya Nova on my pinky, China Glaze Draped in Velvet on my ring finger, (the heart was done with Sally Hansen Hot Magenta) Zoya Mimi on my middle finger, Nicole by OPI Virtuous Violet as a base coat - with Sally Hansen Hot Magenta and Zoya Charisma for the dots on my index finger, and Zoya Aurora for my thumb!

(Side note: This is my left hand, so of course being a righty my nail art always looks better on this hand. I attempted a heart on my right hand and totally butchered it. Like seriously bad. So I took my nail art brush and swirled away until it sort of passed for marble. Sort of. I will not offer a picture of that catastrophe!!)

I am smitten with how this last set came out. I knew I wanted to use gold and black but I was not sure what I wanted to do for nail art. I googled gold with black nail art and came across this picture. (No source unfortunately, but I must say she has great taste!) I love how it came out so I decided to try it!

Polishes: Zoya Ziv for the base coat and Sally Hansen Ink Splatter for the Crackle effect. I loved how easy this was - just one stripe of crackle down the left side and I was done!

I will definitely be trying this out again soon. I am thinking of using my silver crackle next time though!

What's on your nails this week?

CVC Games featuring a,e,i,o,u & mixed vowels!!

This game set is one of my first graders favorites, and one of mine too! It is a fun way to reinforce certain vowel sounds and it is very easy to differentiate for any learning style! This set comes with 6 different game boards - short a, e, i, o, u and a mixed vowel board that is great tool for assessing how well your students can decode all the vowel sounds.

My early readers simply read each sound individually, and then blend them together. By starting with a simple vowel board I can really use this game to isolate what sounds they are having trouble with, and whether or not they are able to identify where the beginning and ending sounds are.

My more advanced decoders read the word and also use it in a sentence. This allows me to see if they understand the words they are reading and it also helps with building vocabulary too.  For example hem, pep and fib are always new words they have not heard before. I use these trickier words in a sentence and then they try it out in their own sentence. ("Oh no, the hem on my shirt is ripped!!") My ELL students and I even act out some of the words. When we landed on "dim" I showed them how to dim the lights on my macbook. I am always amazed at how quickly they remember these new words and what they mean, even when we have not played the game for awhile!

I also included gray scale copies of all 6 game boards. I like to print these off and send them home for practice when we are wrapping up a skill and moving on to another one.

The patterns in these games are Erin Bradley Designs Colorful Polka Dots and Stripes Digital Papers. I absolutely love these! 

CVC Games featuring Short Vowels is available in my TpT  shop!

Have a great Saturday!

Valentine's Day Short Vowel Bingo Pack 20% Off!

On sale this week (2/9/13-2/15/13) in both my TpT shop!

The Valentine's Day Short Vowel Bingo Pack is great for practicing medial sounds!

It includes:

12 - 3x3 bingo boards (6 with just vowels, 6 with cvc words)
12 - 5x5 bingo boards, (6 with just vowels, 6 with cvc words)

Call out pieces for both game versions

Rules of Play
&
6 different patterned heart game pieces (sized for both the 3x3 and 5x5 boards.)

Have a great weekend!

Blends Games with R, L & S Blends & Short Vowels!

My first graders are still struggling a bit with decoding words, so I switched tactics these past two weeks and have begun drilling the blends. We started with the /r/ blends last week and this week we moved on to the /l/ blends. I must say my whiteboard table has been hugely helpful on these skill building days!! My students are obsessed with this table! (I may be just a tad bit obsessed with it too!)

We usually start with me demonstrating the blend sounds which they then write down- /tr/ is always the hardest! We make a chart for all the blends, then we take turns making the sounds, or saying words that start with those blends. We add checks under each each column until we are out of space! Next, it is time to add the decoding part! We have been using this game a lot this week!

There are four boards in this set (R blends, L Blends, S Blends & 3 Letter S Blends.) They all have short vowel sounds and simple consonant endings. My students have really enjoyed playing them this week. They are a fast way to see how well they have mastered decoding each blend. We usually take turns using each others words in a sentence, it helps me see if they understand the word and even introduces them to some new words too!

I also included a Score Sheet for my students to use when they play in a small group by themselves. They write the blend they landed on in the left column, and then use it in a sentence in the right column. This has been very helpful when I am off assessing another student, or solving a tech crisis. I can quickly check the Score Sheet to see if they understood what the words mean. If they had trouble I can check-in with them to correct their mistakes. If they used it correctly they get a point for each sentence. All these items are also included in gray scale as well!


This set is available in my TpT shop!

Happy (almost) Friday - stay warm and safe if the blizzard is headed your way!!