Handwriting Tool: Word Spacing

My daughter is a Kindergartener , which means she is also a beginning writer.  It has been delightful to watch her figure out the sound/symbol relationships and now she is becoming more aware of writing conventions.  In the past few days she has been analyzing the spacing between words in all types of print media.  She is quite concerned that some magazines don't have a big enough "finger space."  Her interest in this developing skill encouraged me to check into the type of tools you are all using to teach this beginning writing skill.

Thoughts from a Kindergarten Teacher explains how to use Mr. Spacey to teach Kinders the importance of spacing between words.

Debbie's Resource Cupboard has a downloadable Space ship.


Remind students to use proper spacing with this 5 Finger Rubric from Kindergarten Crayons.

The Long Way Around introduced some cute little Spacemen.

The Enchanted Homeschool submitted a wonderful link for a Helpful Handwriting Tool.  She explains:

Learning Objective:
The general purpose of this tool is to help children with spacing. I know that the rule of thumb is to teach children that they need a “finger tip” of space between each word in their writing but my kids lost that concept within a week or two, especially my son who struggled with handwriting initially due to lack of interest and being left handed. So I came up with this tool! 

Materials:

-         1 Sticker (either leave the manufacturers backing on it or place the sticker on a piece of paper so there is no sticky side left)

-         Elmer’s glue

-         1 Large sized regular old paper clip

-         Small piece of wax paper

-         Scissors

Show & Tell #88

Happy Valentine's Day!  Wishing you a day of  hugs & kisses, pinks & reds, friendship & love!

The Princess and the Tot shared a post full of Valentine themed work centers. Several of the ideas are simple enough to put together for your tot to enjoy yet today.

The heart day photo props from Little Wonders' Day are bookmark worthy for next Valentine's Day!

At The Golden Gleam they practiced measuring area and perimeter using non standard units of measurement.

 It's your turn!

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If you are new to Show & Tell or need a quick recap, here are the rules:


~Post your favorite lessons, crafts, traditions, kid friendly recipes, field trip recap, learning games, experiments, DIY organizational projects, holiday related activities, or Ah-Ha moments.
~Direct link to your post, not your home page.
~Include a link back to us or include our link button in your post or sidebar.
~Please try to visit and comment on at least three links. This adds to the positive collaboration that makes our learning cooperative a success!
~Each week we will feature three links from the previous week's party.  Some weeks these are chosen at random, sometimes by theme, and other times according to linky tools stats.

eBooks to Enhance Your Homeschool

Happy Monday Friends!  While doing a little bit of searching today for links to share with you, as well as some resources for the grad class I am currently enrolled in,  I came across two resources I was excited to share with you.

Holy Spirit Led Homeschool is offering a free eBook to all of their facebook page likers.  The book titled 100 Indoor Activities for Kids {TV Not Included} looks promising.  I just downloaded it myself and look forward to browsing through it for some ideas for our children.  Once you have liked the page you will see a tab under their sidebar image that says "Free eBook"

Simply Living for Him is also offering two free eBooks to those who like their facebook page.  The book, Simply Homeschool: Having less clutter and more joy in your homeschool, is written to be a great encouragement for homeschool parents.  The second free title is Unplug You Mind and Recharge Your Soul.  Again, I have not read either of these yet, but am anxious to take a look.

Neither of these pages are advertisers or  affiliate links, just interesting resources I thought you might enjoy.  I'd love to hear if you know of other free eBooks to enhance teaching and learning!

Also, if you haven't done so already we would love if you like ABC & 123's Facebook page as well!  

Have a great evening!

Terrific Teeth: Dental Health Month Activities

Toddler Bites submitted a thematic unit about health teeth. 

Mrs. Wheeler put together some toothy grin math games


The Popes enjoyed many clever activities while exploring dental health.  I especially love the flossing activity using yarn, mega blocks, and play dough.

The Teacher's Corner shared several writing prompts that are appropriate for February, with some of them focusing on healthy teeth.


1st Grade with Miss Snowden used eggs in a healthy teeth science experiment.

Mrs. Kilburn's Kiddos also has a great thematic dental health unit.  Her post is stuffed with great toothy links! I especially appreciated his list of appropriate books.

For a fun craft extension perhaps your students would enjoy making their own Teeth Monsters like these from Long Thread.

Valentine Writing Prompts

Sub Hub has shared a free Valentine's Day poetry writing activity that can easily be downloaded.

Classroom Freebies has a downloadable Valentine themed lined paper for you to use for any of you classroom writing projects.

Kindergarten Freckle Teacher posted a Valentine poem freebie for shadow writing.

Practice writing with prepositions following this Lilly's Chocolate Heart writing project from Suite 101.

Journal Buddies suggests 77 love themed writing prompts for elementary students.

Elementary Technology Lessons used Party Printer to turn writing assignments into Valentine shapes.

Connect a Blog offers free Valentine's themed stationary for writing projects.

Bilingual Wednesdays - Love in Spanish

St. Valentine is around the corner and I decided to make a new set of Spanish cards 

for your word wall.

What can you do with these cards? These are some ideas:

Word walls cards can be used:

• To provide reference for children during their reading and writing.
• To support the teaching of important general principals about words and how they work.
• To provide a visual map to help children remember connections between words and the characteristics that will help them form categories.
• To foster reading and writing.
• To promote independence on the part of young students as they work with words in writing and reading.
• To develop a growing core of words that become part of a reading and writing vocabulary.

You can also sort words by:

• the number of letters
• the number of syllables
• the number of consonants
• the number of sounds
• if they have a certain vowel
• if they have a certain rhyme
• if they begin with the same letter

you can read more about word work here

I also made these tic tac toe for my Spanish group in my church

¡Feliz San Valentin!

Show & Tell #87

Simply Designing linked up to last week's Show and Tell with a clever Valentine activity or gift.

Creekside Learning used a favorite winter time storybook, The Mitten, to encourage a scientific experiment.

Mom to 2 Posh Lil' Divas used a winter favorite - snowmen - to practice sorting long and short vowel words.
It's your turn!

<a href="http://www.abcand123learning.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="abc button" src="http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt46/meyeringk/ABCGraphics-Page003.jpg" /></a>

If you are new to Show & Tell or need a quick recap, here are the rules:


~Post your favorite lessons, crafts, traditions, kid friendly recipes, field trip recap, learning games, experiments, DIY organizational projects, holiday related activities, or Ah-Ha moments.
~Direct link to your post, not your home page.
~Include a link back to us or include our link button in your post or sidebar.
~Please try to visit and comment on at least three links. This adds to the positive collaboration that makes our learning cooperative a success!
~Each week we will feature three links from the previous week's party.  Some weeks these are chosen at random, sometimes by theme, and other times according to linky tools stats.