Welcome Guest Blogger Kate from Fresh & Fun First Grade

Hello, everyone! My name is Kate and I am the author of Fresh & Fun First Grade.

 I just completed my 8th year of teaching, the 6th year in first grade. I have to honestly say that I love it more today than I did when I began. In school, I knew it was something I could do and be good at, but now it has grown into something that I truly love.

 I am so excited to be a guest blogger on Falling Into First! Stephanie is one of my favorite bloggers and I am thrilled to share a fun and easy activity that I do in my class almost every week.

 I'm sure most if not all of you have played the game "I Have, Who Has" in your class. In fact, I even have one game I've created in my TPT store already. This version is a little different though. Our reading program involves our students learning a new set of sight words AND spelling words each week. It was becoming annoying creating a new set of cards every week to review these words even when I had a version of the cards I could modify on the computer. This is when I came up with what I currently do.

 First, I printed out a bunch of playing cards and folded them in half. Then I laminated them. After, I used a Vis-a-Vis or dry erase marker to write the words the students needed for that week. This method works well, but I always found that It was still difficult to flip the cards over without smudging the ink...a massive pet peeve of mine. Then I discovered the answer:

 I know what you are thinking...baseball cards? Yup baseball cards! These plastic sleeves are durable enough for everyday use, yet easy to load at the top. Best of all...NO MORE SMUDGES! I purchased mine at a local comic book shop, but you can get them almost anywhere. I've seen them at Wal-Mart and sporting good stores. They even sell them on Ebay from time to time. Now when we play, it's so much easier and cleaner!

 One thing I forgot to mention, I always tell my kids to start with the owls flying in the air. It's a good way for them ( and me) to quickly see if everyone is ready to start the game. You can get my cute cards to use in your classroom. There is one copy of the cards so you can save ink at home and make copies at school (that's what I always do!) I think that you will find it just as useful in your classroom as I do in mine. Just click HERE to take you to the download.I hope that you have enjoyed reading my post today. If you are not a regular follower of my blog, I would love it if you would come join me. I love to share my thoughts, ideas, and teacher made products with anyone willing to listen! Talk to you soon!

 Fresh & Fun First Grade