tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050Wed, 22 May 2013 17:20:45 +0000mathlanguage artsfree downloadsfreebiesphonemic awarenessclassroom managementGraphsorganizationchildren's booksSight Wordsmanipulativestestingart ideasliteracy centersreading with childrenSyllablesCVC wordsbeginning readingguided drawingCreative Kindergarten Curriculumhttp://heidisongs.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)Blogger208125HeidisongsResourcehttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4798875029546073185Sat, 18 May 2013 06:48:00 +00002013-05-18T05:28:02.748-07:00testingorganizationclassroom managementmathlanguage arts Pin me to Pinterest! This week, I would like to share with you some tips and ideas that I have developed over the years for organizing classroom testing efficiently, and getting the very best from your students.  I started writing them down as I was explaining what to do to my wonderful job share partner this year, as we were making our way through the testing process together.  It's funny- Ihttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/zKlOoY0lsuA/tips-for-organizing-your-testing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)1<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/zKlOoY0lsuA" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/05/tips-for-organizing-your-testing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-1213415190452529452Fri, 10 May 2013 16:19:00 +00002013-05-12T16:21:45.045-07:00beginning readingSight Wordslanguage arts Pin me to Pinterest! Today I am going to tell you about a very simple and fun idea that my class really enjoyed!  It's called Sight Word Headbands, and you do it in a whole group setting, so it is really easy to manage.  Meanwhile, if you missed our midweek blog post about our Teacher Appreciation Sale, don't miss it!  It's really the best sale of the year! Just spend at least $20 and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/zgeXdmKPjco/sight-word-headbands-and-20-off.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/zgeXdmKPjco" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/05/sight-word-headbands-and-20-off.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-1591231791264366873Tue, 07 May 2013 03:39:00 +00002013-05-06T21:04:36.229-07:00  Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!   Hi, Everybody!  Here at HeidiSongs, we know how hard you work and how much you care about your students and their success.  We also know how much (or how little) you are probably getting paid, LOL!  So this sale is for YOU, and ONLY you!  (In other words, this offer is for teachers using teacher money only, not for orders coming from school districts.)   http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/pLOHAi-4TnI/20-off-teacher-appreciation-sale.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/pLOHAi-4TnI" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/05/20-off-teacher-appreciation-sale.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7058262459883327040Sat, 04 May 2013 04:58:00 +00002013-05-04T20:33:47.571-07:00free downloadsart ideasfreebiesreading with childrenchildren's booksguided drawing Pin me to Pinterest! Last week at the International Reading Association Conference, I  had the wonderful privilege and pleasure of hearing Mo Willems speak, since he was the keynote speaker for the last general session of the conference on Monday morning.  In case you are not familiar with his work, Mo Willems is the author of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and Don't Let the Pigeon http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/Uoxge4DBq_w/dont-let-pigeon-do-guided-drawing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/Uoxge4DBq_w" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/05/dont-let-pigeon-do-guided-drawing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-939743522441717608Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:03:00 +00002013-05-04T20:31:32.936-07:00free downloadsliteracy centersbeginning readingCVC wordsmanipulatives Today I am going to tell you about a very simple idea that I call CVC Legos!  These CVC Legos make a great literacy center activity for children to practice reading and matching CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words to their pictures, which is a Common Core skill. Nothing is better to a presenter than a full session! Meanwhile, I have to tell you that last weekend I presented at the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/fYlxqckGcps/common-core-literacy-centers-cvc-legos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/fYlxqckGcps" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/04/common-core-literacy-centers-cvc-legos.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8584785092698495967Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:03:00 +00002013-04-19T15:03:49.020-07:00free downloadsfreebiesGraphsSight Wordslanguage arts Pin me to Pinterest!  Today I have just a quick little post with a downloadable freebie of a Sight Word Graph!  I hope you like it and are able to put it to good use.  I am writing this as I am on my way to the International Reading Association Conference!  I am excited to be presenting two sessions there on Sunday in the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas, home of the beautiful RiverWalk http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/83gc7zwgl_U/daily-sight-word-graph.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)12<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/83gc7zwgl_U" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/04/daily-sight-word-graph.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-3867997894414435077Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:32:00 +00002013-04-14T05:52:51.453-07:00free downloadsfreebiesSyllableslanguage arts Pin me to Pinterest! This week I am going to give you a great new resource that I call Syllable Pockets!  There's also flash cards for whole group practice, and a worksheet that I used for homework practice, too!  It's a pretty nice freebie set, and I hope that you like it!  I also have some tips to give you to help kids learn how to count out the number of syllables in a word. And by http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/IvzbVjB1Qx0/syllable-pockets-freebie-and-tips-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)9<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/IvzbVjB1Qx0" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/04/syllable-pockets-freebie-and-tips-for.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-379673501357318229Sat, 06 Apr 2013 00:36:00 +00002013-05-06T20:41:41.026-07:00phonemic awarenessbeginning readingCVC wordslanguage arts Today I am going to tell you about a new idea called CVC Cups that I have been experimenting with for the last couple of months!  CVC Cups helps kids practice finding the middle sounds of CVC words.  My kids really like this activity, and I hope that yours will, too! Meanwhile, I want you to know that Teaching Blog Addict is turning TWO YEARS OLD Today!!!  There is a BIG birthday partyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/uMPQSK56oOc/middle-sound-cups-and-how-to-teach-kids.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/uMPQSK56oOc" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/04/middle-sound-cups-and-how-to-teach-kids.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-5728519625818472959Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:00:00 +00002013-05-06T20:42:50.463-07:00free downloadsliteracy centersbeginning readingCVC wordsmanipulativeslanguage arts CVC Eggs are a fun little way to have kids practice building three letter words.  I created this activity last year, but never got the chance to blog on it!  So now, before it is too late to enjoy it, here is my little idea, which is just one of so many wonderful ideas that integrate plastic eggs into the classroom!  At the end of the post, please tell us YOUR best idea for using plastic eggshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/csY01ustKC4/cvc-eggs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/csY01ustKC4" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/03/cvc-eggs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7864899043824732120Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:38:00 +00002013-05-18T21:30:48.833-07:00free downloadsliteracy centersfreebiesbeginning readinglanguage arts  Hi, there, everyone!  Today I am going to tell you how to take a worksheet and turn it into a manipulative that you could use for a literacy center!  This is essentially the art of turning lemons into lemonade.  In a lot of cases, this turns an activity that is NOT developmentally appropriate into one that IS!  You could do this with any worksheets included in your school district's adopted http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/3W8b2GG1ptk/common-core-literacy-centers-how-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/3W8b2GG1ptk" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/03/common-core-literacy-centers-how-to.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8877665762565691920Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:59:00 +00002013-03-15T05:56:32.040-07:00This year we received so many wonderful video contest entries, that is it was almost impossible to choose!  In fact, we are thinking of letting everyone vote next year and count the number of "likes" on YouTube to determine the winner!  We are sorry that it took so long to come up with a winner, but getting all of the videos posted online took a while, so that was the cause of the delay.  And so http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/zA2hxGB72-Y/2013-heidisongs-video-contest-winners.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/zA2hxGB72-Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/03/2013-heidisongs-video-contest-winners.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7251516114536428456Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:13:00 +00002013-05-18T21:32:29.616-07:00free downloadsfreebiesguided drawinglanguage artsThis week I am going to share with you some fun things for March, including a Saint Patrick's Day leprechaun guided drawing lesson and a new free downloadable game.  So buckle up, here we go!  If you are interested in seeing pictures of my travels this week, check down at the end of the post.  I loved meeting so many wonderful people! As far as the video contest is concerned, we are going to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/JH_ABd_92Ig/st-patricks-day-fun-including-guided.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/JH_ABd_92Ig" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/03/st-patricks-day-fun-including-guided.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-540214628718662465Fri, 01 Mar 2013 16:19:00 +00002013-03-01T08:19:56.789-08:00 Today, I am going to tell you how you can help your class make their own Mother's Day Guided Drawing plates!  This was an easy, one day project for my Kindergarten class.  All I had to do was collect $7.00 per child, and make sure that we got the drawings done early enough to get them shipped back in plenty of time for Mother's Day.  That's why I am posting this now, so that you will be http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/Ay-CGGGoePI/mothers-day-guided-drawing-plates.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)6<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/Ay-CGGGoePI" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/03/mothers-day-guided-drawing-plates.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-2477692150348834451Sat, 23 Feb 2013 03:06:00 +00002013-02-22T19:06:40.729-08:00 In this post, I am going to tell you how I got 21 of my 27 Kindergarten students to master 100% of their consonant-vowel-consonant words!  This year, I have been especially focused on teaching my Kindergartners to sound out words.  However, I really haven't given the children very many formal lessons on it, like I did last year.  Instead, this year we have been singing my new sound blending http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/NCV-3PDa8do/how-i-got-21-out-of-27-kids-to-master.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)5<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/NCV-3PDa8do" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-i-got-21-out-of-27-kids-to-master.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-2176623544765965304Sat, 16 Feb 2013 03:55:00 +00002013-02-16T07:57:20.812-08:00 Do you have to do running records to assess your students' reading skills? Today we are going to discuss different ways that this can be managed at the Kindergarten level.  Years ago, anyone would have thought that the words "running record" and "Kindergarten" would have never been intentionally paired up in the same sentence, since most children didn't learn to read in Kindergarten!  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/dU9Q1YzOio4/managing-running-records-in-kindergarten.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/dU9Q1YzOio4" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/02/managing-running-records-in-kindergarten.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-5266905212555747715Fri, 08 Feb 2013 15:38:00 +00002013-02-14T05:41:02.975-08:00 When children fail tests, parents often panic.  And when children fail tests like DIBELS that parents have never even heard of and don't understand, the feeling intensifies!  I have received two emails in the past week from worried parents that found my name online while they were searching for information after being told that their child failed the DIBELS test.  So since this seems to be "http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/KCRJWsiivdo/help-my-child-failed-dibels-test.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)13<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/KCRJWsiivdo" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/02/help-my-child-failed-dibels-test.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4356958250923974861Fri, 01 Feb 2013 23:07:00 +00002013-02-01T15:07:50.283-08:00   Hello, friends!  Today I am going to give you a quick run down of thirty different ideas for using those cute little metal mailboxes that you can usually find for one dollar around this time of year!  I saw a whole shelf full of these mailboxes in the dollar section at Target, and immediately began wondering how many teaching ideas there were out there for those things!  So I snapped a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/U4k26qpr9LA/thirty-quick-ideas-for-valentines-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/U4k26qpr9LA" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/02/thirty-quick-ideas-for-valentines-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-7385563789032556161Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:49:00 +00002013-01-29T09:56:48.609-08:00This week, I would like to tell you about several fun new ways to help your kids practice matching sets from zero all the way up to thirty!  I have been creating these ideas for quite a while now, and shared them last week at the California Kindergarten Association PK1 Conference last weekend!  These activities are especially helpful for kids that are having trouble with zero to ten, all the way http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/xflCGpqWiKE/creative-common-core-math-matching-sets.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/xflCGpqWiKE" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/01/creative-common-core-math-matching-sets.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-1570755244305982220Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:08:00 +00002013-01-29T09:55:58.452-08:00    Hey there, everybody!!!  It's time for another fun HeidiSongs Video Contest!  Would you like to win $300 in the HeidiSongs products of your choice?  All you have to do is submit a video of your class, child, or group of children rocking out to the beat of any HeidiSongs CD or DVD, and send it to us.  We'll pick our favorite videos and post them here, and pick a winner.  Runners up willhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/xlX1DliwlR4/its-another-heidisongs-video-contest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/xlX1DliwlR4" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-another-heidisongs-video-contest.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-4082664405053499261Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:45:00 +00002013-01-12T16:41:31.879-08:00 I hope that you are enjoying this series of posts on Common Core Learning Centers!  This post will tell you how to make CVC Word Family Gumballs!  My kids tried them out this week, and they were a huge HIT!  The children could hardly keep their hands off of them, given the allure of the gumball machine and the wonderfully shiny little jewels with the words on them!  I will be demonstrating ahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/-L5DJ-wxQNM/common-core-literacy-centers-cvc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)10<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/-L5DJ-wxQNM" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/01/common-core-literacy-centers-cvc.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-8174026870709948852Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:48:00 +00002013-01-04T16:48:09.879-08:00Okay, everybody! Here are my most popular posts of 2012, starting at the top!  I hope you enjoy the run down... 1.  How I Got 18 out of 23 Kids to Master 100% of Their Sight Words Coming in first place is this little gem of a post, that seems to have a life of it's own on Pinterest, due to one little picture of a little boy holding the sight word "the" printed on a piece of construction paper!  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/3P3Qq9z6Wyo/top-heidisongs-posts-of-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/3P3Qq9z6Wyo" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-heidisongs-posts-of-2012.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-5353129247020639126Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:15:00 +00002013-01-03T14:50:46.087-08:00 Pin me to Pinterest! Here's a great new idea that I developed for my new session on Common Core Literacy Centers, and I have decided to call it Sight Word Wands!  I can tell you that they are so bright, colorful, and appealing that I can hardly keep my own hands off of them, LOL!  Read this post if you would like to find out how you can make some of these beauties yourself. If you want to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/rsds23SR0TQ/common-core-literacy-centers-sight-word.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/rsds23SR0TQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2013/01/common-core-literacy-centers-sight-word.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-3752012006109777133Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:31:00 +00002012-12-29T08:16:16.613-08:00 I have been working on creating a presentation that includes Common Core State Standard aligned independent literacy center activities for a while now, and I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you starting today and continuing on for the next couple of posts.  I hope you enjoy them!  I would love to know about your favorite kinds of learning centers, too!  So if you have blog http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/TgilG1zDCnM/common-core-literacy-centers-phonics.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)7<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/TgilG1zDCnM" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/12/common-core-literacy-centers-phonics.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-3558277474445771455Wed, 19 Dec 2012 04:17:00 +00002012-12-18T20:17:23.016-08:00 Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38, When 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air, They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there!They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say. They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day."Where are we?" asked a little girl, as http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/FwPhFMvMyhc/a-tribute-to-sandy-hook-elementary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/FwPhFMvMyhc" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-tribute-to-sandy-hook-elementary.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6359999521868731050.post-1771212636676818500Fri, 14 Dec 2012 19:05:00 +00002012-12-14T16:53:25.620-08:00 Last week, I had the pleasure of doing guided drawing with my class on Friday morning!  I LOVE doing guided drawing, and teaching children to draw holiday themes is always so much fun!  So I was especially glad that I got to teach on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week after I got back from presenting at SDE's Michigan Conference for Kindergarten Teachers.  (I usually job share my http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~3/CBpMtAkGuYo/north-pole-south-pole-guided-drawing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heidi Butkus)0<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/HeidisongsResource/~4/CBpMtAkGuYo" height="1" width="1"/>http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2012/12/north-pole-south-pole-guided-drawing.html