We're Back!! Coming in November on MessyBeautifulFun

Hi there!

It's been a few weeks! 

I hope you've all been doing well with the change of seasons and all of your new curriculum at home or with your students at school. It's that time of year when everything changes: the leaves, our schedules, our clothes! Then sometimes life just throws other things at you, and you have to stop and reassess. That was my October- doing a self-reassessment! But now I am back for November and ready to go :) 

This month I am hoping to post some new CVC books, plus some other exciting things I know you'll enjoy! I am also finally posting the final French Read Write and Spell to my shops! I know many of you have been waiting for weeks 21 and 22, and they'll finally be here!

Here's a peek at what's coming this month, on the blog and in the shops!

New Shops, New Opps!

In the past month, I've expanded MessyBeautifulFun products to new platforms. This gives more people the opportunity to see my products and gives some new opportunities for savings too.

 Kitchen Table Curriculum, a site aimed at homeschooling families, is a newer site but is open for business. You can sign up for a free account and look around for curriculum. I am slowly uploading all of my products there. You can even use some ESA Funds in many states to pay for my products as part of your curriculum! SO cool! You can see which ones you can use here: https://kitchentablecurriculum.com/esa

You can find my shop here (more products coming soon!) https://kitchentablecurriculum.com/marketplace/store/messy-beautiful-fun

I am still working on the other 2 sites, uploading products and getting things ready, so stay tuned for those!

French Read Write & Spell Unit

I am finally releasing weeks 21 and 22. This unit will focus on conjugating regular -re verbs in the present tense, along with vocabulary about sports and hobbies. Students will finish this final unit for the year by writing a paper about themselves and their favorite hobbies. 

I will also include some small suggestions at the end of the unit on how you can continue to learn French throughout the year and into the next years - continuing on with different verb tenses, YouTube videos, speaking practice, and listening.

I am so happy to see already how many families and teachers have used these units and benefited from them <3 After this first year unit, I will continue to release units on verbs, vocabulary, and more so that you can continue to learn French at home or in the classroom.

CVC Stories

Of course, I will also be bringing new CVC stories to the blog! I am hoping to release at least 2 new word families this month, and they will start coming out next week, starting with the -ag word family. We'll also have some more reading goodies coming up so stay tuned!

Social Studies

Yes, there is another social studies unit on the way! Families Arund the World will be coming soon and will help your learners look at the different types of families around the world and how they live - at a kindergarten level, of course!

In this unit, your learners will look at:

-What is a family?

-Different kinds of families

-Family members

-Things families do together

-Family traditions

-Families around the world

-How families help each other

-Pets and their needs

After this unit, we'll dive into Friends and Citizenship, then Community Helpers.

More Grammar Units!

I've added some more grammar units to my TPT shop as well! These units make it really simple to teach grammar concepts one at a time using scripted lessons, slides, and worksheets for different levels aimed at grades 3-5.

Last month I added:

Reflexive Pronouns

and

Subject and Object Pronouns

Just a few more sets to go with pronouns then I'll be making a pronouns bundle!

You can see the nouns bundle here!

More Addition + Subtraction Centers!

I also added a new set of addition and subtraction centers to my shop for the holidays - Christmas presents! If you own the growing bundle, you can download them for free!

You can see addition here

And subtraction here

Or buy the growing bundle and get them for 50% off, plus all future sets FREE!

More Exciting Blog Goodies Coming...

I have more exciting things coming to the blog too, and I cannot wait to share them with you! Writing, reading, science - it's all coming up so stay tuned!

See you soon!

Debbie

 New Free Math Centers for K-3

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll notice that there is a new page I've added recently - Math Centers. On this page, you'll find a menu of different grades that you can click on to be taken to a page of centers just for that grade level. Many of these will be resources I shared in past newsletters that I never posted to the blog, or things I've added to fill standards with my own kids. It will take me a while to fill it all up, but we are starting with this resource on the kindergarten page.

Many of them will also be connected to slides in my TPT shops (for which I usually charge 1-2 dollars per set) - the printable centers will be free here on the blog, but the slides will be a small cost. You could choose to just use the free centers, or you could add on the slides and turn it into a full lesson! Whatever you decide, I hope these fun centers, games, and sheets help you in your classrooms and homeschools!

The first little resource I'm adding today is a fun one that is perfect for this time of year - counting apples!

This will help with counting from 1 to ten and associating numerals with amounts. 

Common Core Standards Covered

This fun little center and recording sheet will help cover part of the following standards for counting within 100 or 120:

• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.1 
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.3 
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4
• CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.5

How the center works

Kids will be given 10 apples each to place on the tree and a pile of basket cards to place on the mat. You can also choose to give each child a recording sheet to practice writing a number and drawing an amount.

Kids flip a number card (or you can hold it up for the class) and place that many apples on their tree. If they're using the recording sheet, they can color that many apples on the tree, and write the number in the space provided.

Pair it with these slides!

This center would go perfectly with my counting to ten interactive google slides! They even feature a fun apple tree theme too - plus plenty of other themes!

Click here to see this set on TPT for $2!

And if you'd like some whole-class practice, you can pair it with my counting to 120 slides!

Click here to see this set on TPT for $2!

Download the free Center Here

You can download this free apple picking center by clicking on the link below. I hope it brings some fun to your classroom, homeschool, or tutoring sessions!

**You may not sell or distribute this digital file anywhere. You may share it for free within your homeschool, classroom, school, co-op, or tutoring business or online class as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page that it is written on. You may not sell printed copies anywhere. You may keep this file on your school's hard drive or other storage device as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. Thank you!**

Click here to download the Apple Picking Center

New Free CVC Phonics Story 12: See Me Jump!

 

It's time for an all-new CVC phonics story! You can see more of my phonics stories here!

This twelfth CVC story is coming out at a great time to see some frogs outside! That's because this story focuses on a cute little frog and his adventures outside. The best part? You child can read it all on their own by following my CVC Phonics Booklets! After learning the first 4 booklets (-at words, -an words, -ap words, and -ad words) they'll be able to read this fun story and do all of the activities that go along with it.

See the Phonics Booklets here! They're free!

Every CVC phonics story comes with more than just a simple story. Your learners will learn language conventions like grammar, literacy lessons (making connections, story settings, and characters), and more! 

This story follows a little frog from his lily pad on a pond to a van with a mad man! It also features things the children have learned about in previous stories - speech bubbles and quotations. They'll also see exclamation marks, full sentences, and periods - things they have also learned about previously. It's a great way to go over these things again.

Inside this story, you'll also find some fun activities! Your learners can dive into story settings. They'll discover the settings in this story and learn about how settings can be realistic or imaginary.  They'll also have the opportunity to create an alternate ending setting by deciding where the frog jumps next. I have also included a sheet where they can create their own story setting.

I have also included a Making Predictions sheet, a Drawing Comprehension sheet (draw what happened in the story), and a Making Connections sheet (The frog loves to jump! He is very active; he likes to exercise! What is your favorite way to be active?)

Download the Free Phonics Story 

You can download this free CVC Story by clicking on the link below! It will bring you to a Dropbox file that you can download for free as a PDF.

**You may not sell or distribute this digital file anywhere. You may share it for free within your homeschool, classroom, school, co-op, or tutoring business or online class as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. You may not sell printed copies anywhere. You may keep this file on your school's hard drive or other storage device as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. Thank you!**

Download CVC Story 12 Here!

Free Beginning Sounds Alphabet Worksheets for Phonics

 Free Beginning Sounds Alphabet Worksheets for Phonetic Awareness

Need more free phonics resources? Check out my phonics page!

I've got another fun and free phonics resource for you! This one is great for practicing those beginning sounds with your learners and making sure they understand that each letter has a sound. They're easy to use, require no prep, and come with a handy teachers guide too!

The best part? You can download them for free below!

Phonetic Awareness Practice Made Simple!

These phonics worksheets require only a pencil (or marker or crayon) , the worksheets and yuor teachers guide that is included in the free download.

You, the educator, will read the letter out loud to your learners as well as say what the two pictures are . You will then ask them which picture begins with that letter. They will need to circle or color the correct answer. 

For example, "K - kite or lemon?"

"O - Otter or Muffin?"

It's helpful to say the letter sound after reading it to help your learners, especially if it's a new concept for them. 

Older learners could also just use these sheets independently for practice.

Companion Slides Available!

I have made some really handy companion slides to go with these worksheets. These slides have the same pictures as the worksheets, but in full color. They also feature a handy articulation mouth illustration so that you can show your learners how to form the letter sound if they're struggling.

They bring these worksheets from a simple extra practice to a full lesson - and they're only $1 in my TPT shop! 

You can get them here!

Download the Free Worksheets Below!

You can download the free phonics worksheets by clicking on the link below. 

Enjoy learning!

**You may not sell or distribute this digital file anywhere. You may share it for free within your homeschool, classroom, school, co-op, or tutoring business or online class as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. You may not sell printed copies anywhere. You may keep this file on your school's hard drive or other storage device as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. Thank you!**

Download the Free Beginning Sounds Worksheets Here

New Free CVC Story 11: The Bad Rat 

 It's another free phonics CVC Story! Want more CVC stories and free phonics resources? Go here!

Whether your readers are learning to read using my free phonics booklets or another phonics-based curriculum, I hope they've been enjoying these CVC stories! This newest one uses new words from the -ad word family, such as dad and bad. It also features a very smooth-looking rat ;) 

Make Reading Stick!

When teaching our kids or students to read, we tend to think of phonics only: sounding out the words, putting together sentences, and recognizing a word on a flashcard. But reading is so much more than that! That's why all of my CVC stories go beyond a simple phonics story and teach kids to really think about what they're reading.

Comprehension, Literacy Skills & More!

After your kids read a sentence like 'The rat ran on the mat', do they actually understand what happened in that sentence? That there was a subject (a rat), an action (ran) and a place (on the mat). Can they picture a rat running on a mat after reading it? What about thinking about what will happen on the next page - will the rat run into a hole? Will it run into a cat? These are all skills we should be teaching even our youngest readers too!

But of course, teaching this to kids in this age group looks very different from teaching it to a 5th grader or even a 3rd grader. It's all about giving them the concepts right now: the idea that their own reading (not just what adults read to them) can have meaning and purpose, so we need to pay attention to what we're reading and understand it.

That's why one of the things I include in each of these stories are some comprehension questions to read and answer together after your learners read the story.

Language Conventions

Another important step to highlight to kids is how words, sentences, and longer texts work together with things like symbols (a period, a question mark), illustrations, and more (speech bubbles, for example, are taught in a CVC story).

In this story, kids will learn to:

• Recognize quotation marks and why they are used
• Make a connection to the story
• Predict what the story will be about
• Draw a picture of what happened in the story

These activities are all optional, of course, but are a great way to add to your reading block or reading time and make it a more concrete learning tool.

Download CVC Story 11 Below!

You can download CVC Story 11 below by clicking on the link. This will allow you to download the file from Dropbox for free. 

**You may not sell or distribute this digital file anywhere. You may share it for free within your homeschool, classroom, school, co-op, or tutoring business or online class as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. You may not sell printed copies anywhere. You may keep this file on your school's hard drive or other storage device as long as my watermark (MessyBeautifulFun.com) remains on each page it is written on. Thank you!**

Download CVC Story 11 by clicking here

 Kindergarten Social Studies Unit 2: My School and Community

Social studies is one of those subjects that can be so much fun with younger learners because there are so many opportunities to connect what we're learning to their everyday lives!

Last month I shared the first unit in my new My World View series, where we started with learning about ourselves, our families, and what makes each of us unique. This month we're taking the next step and looking at the world immediately around us — our school and our community!

This is Unit 2 of My World View, and just like the first unit, it is completely free!

How the Units Work

If you haven't seen the first unit yet, here's how I am setting up these social studies units.

Each My World View unit is designed to be simple, open-and-go, and easy to use with young learners. The idea is that you can read a short, simple text together and then complete a worksheet, activity, or little project to go along with it.

The texts are intentionally short and simple so that they work well for kindergarten and can also be adapted for younger learners.

And, of course, you can always stop and talk about the topic as you go!

I especially love using the discussion questions included throughout the unit because they give you an easy way to connect the lesson to the child's own experiences.

Unit 2: My School and Community

In Unit 2, we're moving beyond ourselves and beginning to look at the places, people, rules, and responsibilities that make up the world around us.

There are lots of opportunities for children to talk about their own experiences, draw pictures, make choices, and even create their own community.

Inside, you'll learn together about:

• My School – Talk about what school is like and the different people who help make school a safe and welcoming place.
• School Rules – Learn why rules are important and how they help everyone stay safe, learn, and have fun together.
• Classroom Jobs – Talk about how everyone can help in the classroom and learn about different classroom responsibilities.
• Classroom Jobs Class Project – Create a classroom helper system using the included job cards and student name cards.
• Places in My School – Explore places such as the classroom, library, gym, cafeteria, office, hallway, and playground and learn what each place is used for.
• Where Do I Go? – Practice matching different activities with the correct place in school, such as going to the library to borrow a book or the cafeteria to eat lunch.
• My Community – Learn what a community is and talk about the different places people live, work, learn, and play.
• My Community Challenge – Children can create their own community using houses, businesses, services, transportation, roads, and other community pieces.
• My Community Project – Put everything together and create a little community of your own!
• Community Helpers – Learn about some of the many people who help their communities every day, including teachers, police officers, firefighters, doctors, construction workers, janitors, mail carriers, crossing guards, and garbage collectors.
• Community Helpers Mini-Book – Color, cut, and assemble a little community helpers book while talking about the different jobs.
• Community Helper Hats – Choose a community helper and make a fun hat to wear!
• Transportation – Explore different ways people travel on land, water, and through the air.
• Being a Good Community Citizen – Talk about kindness, sharing, taking turns, cleaning up, and helping others.
• Good Citizen Choices – Decide which actions are good choices and which ones don't help our community.
• How to Help? – Think about simple ways to help when someone is sad, waiting for a turn, has dropped something, or when the classroom needs cleaning.
• Good Citizen Award – Finish the unit by celebrating a child who has demonstrated what it means to be a good citizen!

I Love the Community Project!

One of my favorite parts of this unit is the My Community Challenge.

Children get to think about what they see in their own community and then use the included pieces to build a community of their own. They can include homes, shops, restaurants, transportation, services, activities, and community helpers.

You can keep it very simple for younger learners, or make it more challenging by asking them to include certain buildings, services, or a specific number of homes.

I love activities like this because they're not just worksheets. They give kids a chance to actually build and think about their community!

A Simple Way to Use the Unit

You don't have to do everything at once!

You could easily spread this unit out over several weeks and spend a little time on social studies each day.

For example, you might read the My School text one day and complete the matching or drawing activity. The next day you could talk about school rules, followed by classroom jobs and places in the school.

Then move into the community section, where children can learn about their community, community helpers, and transportation before finishing with lessons about being a good citizen.

The activities are simple enough that you can easily adjust them depending on your learners and how much time you have.

Download the Free Unit!

Just like Unit 1, My World View: My School and Community is completely free!

You can download the full unit below and use it with your kindergarten classroom, homeschool, daycare, or tutoring group.

The unit includes the reading texts, worksheets, discussion questions, classroom project pieces, mini-book, community helper hats, and good citizen activities.

I hope you and your learners have fun exploring the world around them!

Download the FULL Social Studies Unit Here

Download Textbook Only

Download Workbook Only

Draw It! CVC Sentences: A Free Phonics Activity

 Draw It! CVC Sentences: 

A Free Phonics Activity

These new sets go with my FREE phonics companion booklets and phonics stories!

Get those crayons and markers ready! Your learners are going to have some coloring FUN while practicing their reading!

These new Draw It! CVC Sentences phonics units go right along with my free Phonics Booklets and Phonics Stories to help assess and grow your learners' reading skills.

How the Units Work

Inside each Draw It! CVC Writing Set, you'll find sentences containing CVC words that belong to a certain word family (in this set, the -at word family) as well as sight words. These units will also follow the same sequence as my CVC Booklets do and include words learned in previous booklets. Since this is the first unit, there are no other words except the words found in CVC Booklet 1.

The idea is to help you assess whether your kids are actually reading and comprehending what they read - or just guessing the words on the page. So, after practicing their words for the week, you can give them these sheets and, without giving any clues, have them read the sentence and draw what they read.

For example, if they read one page that said "I see a bat" - you could have them read it out loud to you, then say "Great! Now, draw a picture of that sentence." If they seem to be having troube with that, guide them along by saying, "What is the sentence telling us?", "What is happening in the sentence?" or even "Act out the sentence for me, then let's draw it!" You want to guide them to comprehension without giving away the answer.

Download the Unit Below!

You can download this Draw It! CVC unit for FREE below by clicking on the link. You will be brought to a page on Dropbox, and need to download or print the file.

*You may not sell or share the digital or printed file without permission.

*Exception: sharing for free within schools, homeschool co-ops, online schools, and tutoring groups. But the digital or printed files cannot be sold.

Download Draw It! CVC Unit 1 here!