CVC Word Decodable Reader Books For Kindergarten or First Grade


One of the joys of teaching Kindergarten is seeing your students reach milestones throughout the year, including becoming readers! It makes all of the hours of stress and exhaustion worth it. It is often difficult to find books that are "just right" for kindergarten students. Usually they are just too difficult for new readers. I created this set of CVC decodable readers to use with kindergarten students or kiddos at the beginning of first grade. This set includes 12 decodable readers! Students read sight words that they know, along with decoding multiple cvc words, in these simple text readers. This set comes with 12 books that focus on word families. These make the perfect addition to guided reading, and then eventually adding to book boxes. If you would like to use this set of 12 emergent readers in your classroom, follow this link to my tpt shop!















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Crystal McGinnis
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15 Summer Themed Sight Word Poems


The countdown to Summer break is officially here! Most experienced teachers know how important it is to keep their students engaged and learning at the end of the year, or chaos can happen. 👈 I created this set of Summer themed sight word poems to keep kindergarten students reading up until the very last days of school before summer break. This set of sight word poems include poems about camping, summer, the ocean, having picnics, and more! The best part is, they are full of sight words. 😊 These poems can be bound together to create a poetry notebook, or they can be used individually. Summer school is also an option for these poems! If you would like to use these poems in your classroom, grab them here! They come in black and white so the kiddos can color them.













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Crystal McGinnis
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Living and Non-Living Activities



Do you teach Living and Non-Living characteristics to your preschool or kindergarten students? If you do, you may like some of my Living/Non Living activities. Check them out below!

I introduce the topic of Living and Non-living things by using these slides. Slides tend to keep the kiddos engaged, which is important when teaching young students. They show the students that living things are things that need food and water, living things are things that grow, living things are things that move and breathe, and living things are things that reproduce. You can also print off the slides to create a book if you choose!






After we go thru the slides, we complete this Living vs. Non-Living pocket chart sort. We discuss if the items on the cards move, breathe, grow, reproduce etc. as we place them in the chart. The kiddos love to use the pocket chart in the classroom! I will place this as an independent center after we use it whole group. 👈


Students then complete a sorting printable after the pocket chart activity! This makes great independent practice.


We read this "Is It Living" Emergent Reader. The students each get their own copy to complete and color.


After reading the emergent reader we complete this "Is It Alive?" Chart


We draw items that are living and non-living.


We color things that are living.


We complete this writing activity that lets the students find living objects in a magazine and then write about them. (Keeping a stack of old magazines in your classroom can help with projects like this!)

We also sort living and non-living things that we find in a magazine. This makes a perfect learning center activity.




We go on a Living vs. Non-Living Scavenger Hunt Outside! We find things that were/are living, and things that were never living. The students love to take this activity outside!







If you would like to use any of these activities in your classroom, you can grab them here in my TPT shop. They are a DOLLAR DEAL, and also a digital download so they are instantly available to use.








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Crystal McGinnis
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Plant Activities For Kindergarten or First Grade (Plant Needs, Life Cycle, Plant Parts, and More)




Do you teach about plants and their life cycle during the Spring? This is one of my favorite units to teach. The students love anything science related, and I love when they are engaged and excited about learning! 

I divide our plant unit into sections, beginning with the LIFE CYCLE OF A PLANT. I have a lot of books that we read through while exploring the life cycle of a plant.  We also create, color, and read this emergent reader, complete a flip book, and complete a pocket chart sort.






We then explore HOW TO GROW A PLANT! We sequence these pictures showing the process of growing a plant, create a book about growing a plant, complete a writing prompt about growing a plant, and then we actually grow a plant. After planting a seed, we use a plant observation journal keep track of our plant's process. The kids love to check on their plants each day to see if they have sprouted.






After we learn about the process of growing a plant, we look at the PARTS of a plant! We use this emergent reader and labeling activity to identify each part of a plant, and its function for the plant.




We also talk about PLANT needs during our plant unit! We complete this plant needs pocket chart sort whole group. We also read an emergent reader about plant needs, and then we end our plant unit by creating these "Very Special Flowers, " which are perfect to display!









You may also like these plant life cycle hats! They are not part of my plant unit, but you can grab them here!









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Crystal McGinnis
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