Hey Kinder friends its been a while!
I wanted to update everyone on a couple of changes.  Due to some copyright concerns, I am no longer able to sell the  "Daily 5 Kit" or the "CAFE Kit".  However, all Daily 5 and CAFE specific materials are free.  I am now selling the Reading Strategy cards that match the CAFE posters  seperately.  I have added a few more themes as well and they are all available and up on my TpT store Smart Puppy Learning.

If you are a new visitor, you may find that I do not have much on my blog yet.  This is something new I am adding so it is slow to start.  As we approach school, I will be posting much more frequently and sharing my students' work and other helpful ideas. However, for the summer, I will be posting products as I make them that I plan on using in my classroom.  I hope you will find something you like!

Daily 5 Kit!

Here's a great Daily 5 Kit that includes all the documents you need to launch Daily 5!  It has teacher record keeping sheets, anchor charts, Choice posters...so many sources! Hope those that are using the CAFE docs will be just as excited about these!

More Daily 5

It's here!  Check out the Daily 5 CAFE Menu for first or second grade! I have had several requests for this.  It includes the majority of the cards from kindergarten as well as all of the strategy cards needed for first and second grade.  There are also blank cards for extra strategies that you might want to add!

Click the picture for more information!  I will be adding several designs of this kit to better meet match classroom themes. Check back soon to see the other options!

Daily 5 CAFE Menu

Daily 5 CAFE

Our district decided to have our kindergarten teachers use a slightly different version of Daily 5 CAFE. I have used the CAFE in my room (and Daily 5 as well) for several years now.  The more I use it, the more I fall in love with it, and the more it becomes my own.  As I use CAFE though, I have found it helpful to create pictures on the computer to remind students of the concept rather than having someone draw it.  It just works better for me.

Here is a compilation of all of the concepts we teach, according to the Kindergarten TEKS in the state of Texas for Reading.  I use the monkeys, because my classroom has a monkey theme, but I also changed out the pictures to offer two other versions of the packet.  I started doing this in this manner about halfway through the year this past year, so I am excited to start the year with it!  I think it will really help keep me on track to have them all already done and ready to go!

Leave me feedback and let me know what you think!  (Click on each set to see more details on my TpT store!)

 This is the General Set. (This set is now marked at $9.00).

They all have the CAFE header card. 

The CAFE posters each have the letter, the word it represents, and what it means for the student.  As I mentioned, these are very specific to kinder.  I have had some requests to alter them to fit grades first and second for my teacher friends in that grade level.  If I continue to get that feedback, I will also create them for those grades as well!

 This one is called Ladybug Fun...I am super excited for the cute CAFE posters and kind of bummed that my room is all monkeys because I have fallen in love with it...here is a poster letter to show you why I think its so cute!

 Each set has over 50 concept cards all with pictures to match.  They also include a list of what concepts go best under each header, though you may choose to place them elsewhere.  Though chunks are listed as one concept, I like to put ALL of them by vowel sound and chunk under the letter so students can refer to it for sound recognition.  I used this part for the first time this year and it helped my kids in their reading much more than I could have even imagined!

Word Building

My spin on word building...

   I love the whole read it, stamp it, write it idea! Its great practice!  However, I have run into the problem that either stamps go missing, some kids can't handle using them, or not enough kids can do it at once.

   To solve the problem, I started creating a half sheet that has the letters jumbled up.  Students can cut the letters out and unscramble them! This has created less hassle and the kids love it.  I've used this technique in kindergarten, first and second and it has been fabulous!

   The plus to this is, thanks to my bilingual kinder friend, it is also available in Spanish! 

Check it out!

English Edition

Spanish Edition

Sight Word Practice

These make great fluency practice for sight words in kinder or even first grade.  I started using folders and papers I had gotten from Scholastic two years ago, but the sentences were too hard for my kids especially in the beginning.  These are created to use rebus picture clues for the first few words and the rest are predictable text made for easy reading to encourage young readers to read.

See more here!

Word Wall by Subject

Ever wish you had picture cards by subject in an easy accessible place for your kiddos to use?  I used to have a set with just words, but it didn't help much for Kinder or First because my kids can't always tell what the words were.  This was what drove my creation of these portable words walls!

The subjects included are:  School , Community , Fall, Thanksgiving , Holiday (Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah) , Winter, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, United States, Texas,  Zoo, Bugs, and Spring!  Look for a second set to come out soon as I begin adding!

Click Here to Make them yours!