Vocabulary can be fun especially when it includes a giveaway!!!

Do you dislike teaching your Littles vocabulary? Is this an area that you struggle in? Do you feel your ways are dry? 

Well, let me tell you, I have had the privilege to try a program that is absolutely amazing!! Mrs. wordsmith is a vocabulary program that makes vocabulary fun and interesting. 

Here is what you get in the kit:

Here is the box! I just love the cartoons used to help the kiddos see and understand the word that you are introducing and teaching! 

So when you open the box you will see...........

The inside cover which has the various characters that are used to teach the vocabulary words! 

Then inside the box itself you will see.........

The binder that has sections with all the words and the characters that you will be teaching. The vocabulary cards that are grouped by topic and then along the bottom are the boxes of vocabulary trading cards. These are small versions of the vocabulary cards! 

My kids love this program! They are learning about word pairs and synonyms and how to use these new words throughout the day in both their speech and their writing. 

Here is what the vocabulary cards look like.

This is the front! Don’t you love the picture! I love how the picture is detailed and brightly colored. This captures their attention and they are drawn to it. I also like how the vocabulary word is large and bold!!!

Here is the back! It has the vocabulary word with synonyms and word pairs! My kids learned quickly the difference!! 

They love doing these together!!! 

Here are the vocabulary trading cards! I put the ones we have done in a container in the writing area. This makes them accessible to them while they are writing so they can use the words that we are learning. 

I also hang the cards up that we have learned. I laminate them first and then hang them up so they can see them. Kids learn from items that are hanging on the walls!! Making these words accessible increases their vocabulary and their internalization of these words!! 

The back of the small cards have a sampling of synonyms and word pairs!! 

My kids are doing great identifying word pairs and synonyms. Here are some samples from one of our lessons! 

I love how focused they are identifying the word pairs and synonyms and while writing the definition on their paper! 

These lessons are just minutes long and do not take much time out of your schedule! The colorful pictures and pace makes these lessons not only enjoyable but meaningful!

Here is a video of a lesson!

This program will soon be available in a classroom kit with a teachers guide!!! This program should be available in the spring!!! Mrs.wordsmith is doing so many amazing things to bring vocabulary alive for our students!!!!!!

• Here is a code for you to use to purchase this awesome set for $45.00 off. Just type MRSPRICE45 in the discount box when ordering. (expires January 31) and make sure you click below to take you to their site to check this  program out and to order it at the discounted rate!
• https://www.mrswordsmith.com/?utm_source=referral&utm_medium=blogger&utm_campaign=us&utm_term=mrsprice

One more thing and this is amazing!! Mrs.Wordsmith has given me a kit for one of my lucky readers to win!!’ Just enter the rafflecopter below!!!

Good luck!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Big Word Club

Vocabulary is so important for our students to be successful! Unfortunately due to the word gap, many of our students do not enter school with the vocabulary needed in order to be successful. This is why it is so important that we insure all of our students are exposed to as much vocabulary as possible!!!

This is where Big Word Club comes in! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PROGRAM!!!!!!!! This has taught my students an amazing amount of vocabulary words and it was done through a multi-modality approach.

I used this program last year with my kids and I saw a great increase in their success in both their speaking and writing skills. They used the new vocabulary words in the different writing pieces they were asked to write throughout the year.

Here is how the sight works:

First you login and then you will see a screen that gives you options.

First you pick a grade!

Then you will select your week!

Then you will select your day!

After you have selected all of these, then you can choose how you will present the vocabulary to your kids (Mulit-modality)!

Big Word Club awarded a Silver Medal from Parents' Choice Foundation. Read the Press Release below!

This is definitely a must have for your classroom. Please click on the pic below to sign up for your free trial!!!!

Big Word Club

How many of you have tried to teach vocabulary and your children are just not that into it? Do they moan and groan or just zone out?

I have an answer to your prayers!!!

This program was created by Shane DeRolf, author if the amazing children's book, The Crayon Box That Talked!!

This program is amazing! My kids love it! 

There are 4 components.

Each week there is a new word for each day. The video for each day is animated. It shows the word written with the pronunciation written next to it. 

Then the definition of the word is seen and heard. 

Then they ask the kids to use the word in a sentence.  This is where I stop the video and have them turn to their neighbor and use the word in a sentence. I walk around and listen. Then I give 4 kids a warm call card so they know that they will be sharing their sentences. 

Click to see the video for the word.

Then after you do all the vocab words for the week, there is a review!!!!

Another component is the story! This is an animated story using the weekly vocabulary!

I play this everyday! The kids love it! They even begin using the words in their writing!

Another component is there is a song using the Vocab words for the week!

My kids sing along with the song. These songs are loved by the kids and easy to learn. They sing these songs as they write!

The last component is the Dance! Yes, they have a dance for the vocabulary words. This is an amazing feature for those children who learn kinesthetically!

Then I have taken this one step further and I have taken the story and typed it up on one page. My children each week work on their fluency using the story of the week. They time each other each day to see how far they can read. I also have made vocabulary review sheets for them to use. They love to fill in the blanks with the correct word and then drawing the pictures to represent each vocabulary word!

So this program is a great resource for vocabulary but also for fluency as well!

This is a program for all grades, PreK through 5TH. It provides all of the students with meaningful vocabulary instruction!

I love the quote that is on the site!

So click on the video below to see the Pilot of this awesome program and then click on the Try it for free button to try it yourself! I promise you, you won't be disappointed!!!!

Mentoring Minds

I was approached by this amazing company and was asked to write a blog post about them. I have to admit, I did not know much about them at the time but after their request, I did some research and got to review some of their materials and I liked what I saw. Their logo caught my eye!

Mentoring Minds is a company that is focused on student success. Their products are created with the student in mind. If you have any questions you can go to their website www.mentoringminds.com and go to their research tab. Here you will find the efficacy studies and the product research they conducted.

The items that I absolutely loved were the CCSS flip chart. They have these by grade level and I was impressed with all of the information in this chart and the good thing is it is all at your fingertips. There are several sections of the flip chart. Here are some photos of the kindergarten flip chart.

This a section that has RTI Strategies for all 3 tiers. In this section, there are also action steps listed for each tier. Then considerations to do before referring them to another tier or other options.

I loved the sections on CCSS for Math and ELA. All the standards at your fingertips. This is a very useful resource for teachers!

The one section that I have to admit blew me away was the Higher Order Thinking Section. This had question frames for all the domains. The power words are listed and It contains Hess' Cognitive Rigor Matrix and Curricular Examples! This combines the DOK (Depth of Knowledge) with Bloom's Taxonomy. This is so vital for teachers to insure that their lessons are rigorous! Then to even add more greatness to this section, it ends with a Differentiated Instruction Checklist! I am sorry but you can not get any better than that!

Here is a photo of the Differentiated Checklist!

I could go on and on about this one product but I have another one to talk about!

I also got to review the Math Vocabulary Cards. I was impressed with the wording. It is worded so that the students would understand and it also has an illustration with the definition. These cards come with a word play activity book.This book has a plethora of awesome ideas to do with word walls so it can be used with all words not just the vocabulary cards that it comes with. One game for example is Word Wall Baseball. This is a great way to get the boys involved.

Here are some pictures of the Vocab cards: 

But not only do they focus on learning, they also focus on behavior management! They have flip charts for this as well!

Mentoring Minds combines technology with print. The students can have both ways to learn the material. It is not worksheet based!

The Math and ELA programs are geared towards student success: Here are some links to get some additional information:

https://www.mentoringminds.com/products/subjects/math.html

https://www.mentoringminds.com/products/subjects/reading.html

Those are the two items that I previewed. They were at the ISTE 2015 conference in Philadelphia and they are enthusiastic and very knowledgable when it come to ways to improve student success.  

They have programs for both Math and ELA. They also have DOK wheels and many more awesome teacher resources. This is definitely a company you should look at when trying to find that just right resource for CCSS implementation.

Click on their logo below to go to their website!

Building Math Comprehension Book Study Chapter 2

 I am linking up with Teacher Mom for Chapter 2 in this awesome book, Building Mathematical Comprehension. 

This chapter is about vocabulary. I enjoyed this chapter because I thoroughly believe that the children need to understand what they are learning and know what the terms mean in order to be successful and in order to be able to use this material in real world situations and in situations that are occurring outside of the classroom.

If you do not have the book, click on the book below to go to Amazon:

I have always been a firm believer that vocabulary is essential for learning to take place. The students need to know what they are learning and be able to explain what they are learning. Vocabulary is a way in which their learning is enriched, becomes rigorous and relevant. 

Vocabulary walls, games, morning message, interactive notebooks, and videos are all great ways to teach all students vocabulary.

Here are some thoughts from this amazing book:

Here is a vocabulary page I use with my kids. We have math vocabulary journals. Enjoy and I hope it is as useful for you as it is for me! Click on the picture to download!

Now click on the math girl below to go see what some other educators had to say about Chapter 2!