The power of LETTER TILES

Happy Monday everyone!

I am sure many of you are enjoying your day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but not me.....we have a teacher in-service today. Joy!

I honestly am surprised we are having it, because before the weekend even hit meteorologists were predicting the "Great Icepocalypse of 2017."  Supposedly we were supposed to have multiple waves of debilitating ice which would down power-lines, prevent driving and cancel EVERYTHING.

Did we get this ice.....Nope!  All we got was rain.....so there goes the day off I was hoping for.

Anyway...I can't really complain.  At least I have power at my house.....

Thanks to the rainy weather, I was able to stay home all weekend and put the finishing touches on my newest TPT products.....letter tiles! :) I am pretty excited about them! :)

Click the picture above....which will take you to my TPT store where you can download the letter tiles freebie! :) 

Most K-2 reading programs contain letter tile kits, which is amazing!  Letter tiles are A MUST when students are just learning how to read and spell.

These precious tiles allow students to manipulate the letters and sounds in words. AND building words takes on a multi-sensory approach.  We all know these little babes need to be able to do hands on exploration.

The kits at my school look like this:

Consonants are in yellow, and vowels are in pink for easy identification.    The dots at the bottom are "sound dots."  When students are spelling the word "dog", the teacher asks  "whats the first sound," and the student responds "/d/" and places the matching letter tile on sound dot one.  When the word is completely built, students point and say each sound and then say the whole word.  It is a pretty fantastic routine.

Not only do letter tiles provide many opportunities for students, it also affords endless opportunities for teachers to get students interacting with letters, sounds, word building, etc.  The ideas for letter tiles are endless!

Now...not everyone has access to letter tiles, or letters....especially teachers of older grades....so my newest product makes letter tiles accessible to everyone!  Whoop!  Just print, cut and your kiddos are ready to go!

My motivation for these product came from my  DESPERATE need for tiles that included advanced vowels, consonant+le, r control vowels, etc.  I wanted the older kiddos I have to be able to manipulate sounds in words, without running out of tiles and I also wanted them to see the words in chunks.  Many of the kits that are sold do not include these advanced word building concepts....thus I had to create my own.  My kids have loved it!

Click the pictures below to take you to TPT to download whichever tile set you need....and don't forget to download the freebie above!

The Highlights of 2016

I realize 2016 has already left us, but it is never too late to reflect.  Right?!?!

Today, I am linking up with Daisy Designs for her Highlights of 2016 Linky Party!

 My first highlight is accepting a new position at an elementary school in my district.  It is the same job (literacy and math interventionist) but at a K-4 school, instead of a 5-6 building.  I AM LOVING EVERY MINUTE! 

 My second highlight is the #silospringbreak trip my husband and I took in March.  For our spring break we traveled to see (with our own eyes!!!!) Waco, Texas and hopefully catch a glimpse of Chip and Joanna Gaines.  Although we didn't meet them, we did have a blast at the Silos, Magnolia Market, Harp Design Company and scoping out all of the sites we see from our TV as we watch our fav. show! 

My third highlight (although I should have ranked it #1) is that my sister moved back to the United States from Germany in August.  Her husband is in the military and they have lived in Germany for the past two years.  I was so excited to have her back stateside....and only two hours away from me!

 My fourth highlight is a combo of many days.  You see, we travel up to Manhattan for all of the KSU home football games and we have a TON OF FUN!  We probably attend 6-8 games a year--tailgate, spend time with family and watch some GREAT football. 

 My fifth and final highlight is all of the family time we had over the holidays!  We love Christmas around here.....and the best part is spending time with the ones we love!