I’m so excited to be part of this great event!  The Product Swap allows bloggers and fellow creators to review each other’s products and let all of you know about them and how they worked for us.  I’m grateful to have worked with two fabulous ladies.  That means you get double the info and reviews!

 

The items I will be reviewing for you are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vicky’s Alpha Maniacs Pack is perfect for back to school centers.  They could be used throughout the year in Kindergarten and would be an easy way for first grade students to begin center work.  I love that it includes various levels of working with letters and simple CVC words.  It will be a great tool for differentiation.

As I don’t have a class right now, I had my daughter try some of the activities.  She’ll be starting kindergarten this fall.  The monster theme and fun colors throughout made it fun for her.  She was excited to do them several times.

Here are some of the skills that the activities will practice:

• Letters before and after in order.
• Matching capital and lowercase letters.
• Sorting capital and lowercase letters.
• Beginning sounds of words.
• Noticing beginning letters/sounds of words.
• Building CVC words.

The activities vary from paper pencil to manipulative and also in their difficulty.  I think it would be good to laminate all the pages and have them in centers.  Students could use a wipe off marker or crayon to complete the paper/pencil activities and the same sheets could be used over and over again.  Students could check them off with a classroom volunteer.  These activities would also be great to send home for extra home practice or to have a classroom volunteer do with small groups or individual students.  Vicky has included so many great ideas in this pack.

The Alpha Maniacs Pack will be on sale today, so grab yours while they’re on sale.  Be sure to see her blog post about my Telling Time Pack on her blog Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After.

 

April’s teacher planner is wonderful!  I love that I could print the pages that fit my needs and in the order that worked for me.  She includes a PDF version or an editable PowerPoint version.  You can type right into the editable version to customize the labels.  On top of all of that, she’ll customize the cover for you after you make your purchase and send you the customized file.

Here are some of the features:

• Several options for the weekly pages including ones pre-programed with subjects or blank ones for you to customize.
• A preview page for each month to plan an overview of major events and teaching objectives for the month.
• A review page for each month to reflect on student progress and areas that need reteaching.
• Two page monthly calendar with encouraging phrases at the bottom of each one.
• All boxes are large and easy to write in.
• A concise version of the Common Core is included at the end so you can put it in your plan book and have it handy all the time; no need to reference a second notebook.

To make my planner, I looked through the files first.  I decided on the pages that would fit my needs.  I took a minute to plan the order of the pages so I knew the pages to print double sided.  I printed the planner and then took it to my local business supply store to have it spiral bound.  I now have a personalized planner for less than a programmed one from the store.  Here’s the best part of it all…. Just for you, April is discounting this Black and White Damask Planner 25% from $8.50 to just $6.25.  She has several other patterns available that you should view as well.  This pricing will end tomorrow, so be sure to grab yours now at this special pricing for this Product Swap Event!!

After you check out April’s Teacher Planner, be sure to see her blog post about my Zebra Escape Graphics on her blog A Modern Teacher.

Be sure to check out other product reviews all over the web.  You can get links to them all at Mrs. Stanford’s Class.