Crisscross Applesauce In First Grade: Swap & Shop

I am so incredibly tickled pink right now. You just don't know and I don't even know where to begin. My thoughts are a jumble and there's way too many good things to share with you!!!!!!

First, it's the Product Swap! As a TpT shopper I *love* this little shindig. I could spend all day just hopping from blog to blog checking out different products. Product previews on TpT are helpful, the thumbnails are too...but actually seeing the product in action...seals the deal for me. I can't wait to move some items from my wishlist to my cart. A little retail therapy at the end of a L O N G week!

Have you visited Jodi Southard's blog or her store? Jodi blogs over at Fun in First...

Click the her cute button to head over to her blog - grab a soda and some popcorn because you won't be able to cut yourself off any time soon!

And her TpT store will suck you right in and your pocketbook will take a beating but you'll be a happier teacher for it!

I was given the opportunity to try out her Phonemic Awareness pack....

Click the picture to go purchase yours...I'm SOOOOO serious, you will NOT regret it. You will want to find me and hug me, and of course Jodi, who has it on sale for 20% off!!!!

If you teach preschool, kindergarten, first and even second grade you know how important having phonemic awareness is. Understanding that words have sounds in them and being able to play with them is IMPERATIVE for readers and writers. Without it, reading and writing can be a struggle.

My first graders have been having a BLAST playing the games and doing the activities in our guided reading groups and my parapro who helps out with groups has said more than once how much she loves doing them my kiddos.

People I have WEEKS of activities to use from this product....WEEKS! And the kids keep asking to "play it again" {and again and again}. Six bucks and some change...that's IT. I'd pay $10 and I'm not even kidding!!!!

When I first opened this product I swear my eyes were as big as saucers. I kid you not. This thing is FULL of amazing activities. So full that it would have been impossible to show you all of them.

My laminator was given quite a workout!

And so were my multi-tasking skills...how's that for packing lunches, and laminating!?!?!

That's not even HALF of it. Can I say I'm not even kidding you again because I'm not. That's just a few of the 20 PLUS activities!

A few of our class favorites:

Kids pull a letter out of the pumpkin and say a word that starts with that letter.

Rhyming memory - "dog/frog" - I got a match!!!!!

I can't wait to play...

Students move objects into sound boxes for a given word {cake}. A rhyming word is given and students remove an "object" from the corresponding sound square {make} - in this example the first sound changed.

Give students a word {cat} then students spin the spinner and give you the corresponding sound in the given word. i.e. the ending sound in "cat" is "t".

After you attach the "yes/no" cards to popsicle sticks teacher says two words that sometimes rhyme and sometimes do not. Students show the correct card. SO FUN!!!!!

Hard to imagine that there's more than that!

*Sentence segmenting

*Pull a rhyme

*Silly rhyme time

*Alliteration sentences

*Syllable sort

*Say the syllables

*Syllable blend

.....and......

MORE!!!!!!!

I'll leave you with this....

I love Starbucks. I could drink a chai tea latte every day of my life. Chai tea lattes make me feel warm and cozy inside. They wake me up and make me very VERY happy. If, one morning, you asked me to choose between buying one of these...