Write on! Getting Ready for Kindergarten

To enhance your practice time without making tons of copies just slide your printable or workbook page into a dry erase top loading sleeve. Little ones can use Expo Markers or the dry erase crayons. I prefer the dry erase crayons for little hands. They don't smear like the markers do and help ease frustration when writing. They also allow little ones to see their letter formations clearly and are great for tracing. These adorable googly eye dry erase board erasers are perfect for erasing. I mean how absolutely adorable are these? They are so cute and easy to handle, what a fun motivator for the classroom. I know my students would love using these for their daily word work. Once you are done simply erase the sleeve and you are all set to practice again tomorrow. The dry erase top loading sleeves come in 4 colors per pack. They would be a perfect addition to any classroom center. Just slide in your favorite workbook or resource and you are ready to write. It drastically cuts down on copying and enables you to use materials over and over. This fun workbook is called the caption this workbook. Each page contains a different silly picture. You can have students write a sentence or words that describe each image. My little one is just learning his sounds and beginning writing skills so he came up with 4 words that described each image. This is a great way to help students isolate sounds in new words or to come up with words that they might be unfamiliar with to describe what they see. I decided to do a little side by side comparison to see which worked best for little hands. My son tested the markers on one side and the dry erase crayons on the other. While both were very easy to write with, as he wrote he became easily frustrated. The markers would smear when his hand came in contact with them as he wrote. The dry erase crayons seem to stay in place, while they take a little more effort to erase I feel that these would be a more practical solution in the primary classroom. I will definitely be adding these to my classroom must haves! Which do you prefer to have your students use? Dry erase markers or dry erase crayons? In my class I love to have students interacting as I teach, we have used portable dry erase boards in the past but they are heavy and a bit awkward for my little firsties to manipulate. I came across these adorable dry erase paddles and I can't wait for my students to use them. They are great for practicing sight words, sounds, blending or math facts. Students can write their answer down and then hold their paddle up for a quick check. You know right where your kids are and how they are progressing as you teach your lesson. It's a great alternative for assessing students and an easy way for them to show what they know. We chose to do a little sound review with our paddles. I chose a letter and my little one had to come up with his own word and write it on his paddle. This is a quick interactive game, one you can even do on those long road trips in the car. It promotes literacy skills and encourages little ones to distinguish sounds as they write. To make it harder you could choose the category and the beginning letter sound. What classroom activities can you use the dry erase paddles for?