Do You Clip It?

One of the first things we teach/review in kindergarten is letters.  My school uses Fundations to teach letter names, sounds, and formations.  I like the Fundations program for teaching, but I don’t think that it gives enough meaningful practice.  I know that the repetitiveness of the program is one of the things that makes it so effective, but my kinders get over it really quickly.

So, I’ve created a product to give my kinders some meaningful practice with upper and lowercase letter identification.  I am also working on a letter sound and number version!  It’s called Clip It! and it is designed for independent practice.  I am planning on using this product during the Word Work session of The Daily 5.  I have used it for a few weeks with the students that I tutor, and it has worked wonders!  They have a blast using it, and it is a great change from the other activities that we have been doing.

Here’s how I prepared my Clip It!  First, I printed the sheets that I wanted to use, and cut them out.

Then, while I was waiting for my laminator to heat up, I got a bunch of clothes pins and a permanent marker.  If you want to paint the clothespins to match the color of the Clip It! you are using, that’s a great idea.  I just kept them plain.

Next, I wrote the lowercase letters on the clothes pins because I am using the capital Clip It! cards.  If you are using the lowercase Clip It! cards, you will write the capital letters on the clothes pins.

Then, I laminated my Clip It! cards to make them last longer.  You could print them on card stock so they are sturdy instead of laminating them, it’s your choice!

Finally, I cut out the Clip It! cards, and they were ready to use! Students will match the lowercase letters to the capital letters (or the capital letters to the lowercase letters).  There is a recording sheet if you want to also incorporate a letter formation aspect, but I am going to have my students use the iPad to take a picture of their Clip It! next to their desk name tag so that I can quickly review it and not have a pile of papers.  My objective is matching the letters, not the handwriting, so a picture works for me.  However, if your objective includes both, feel free to use the recording sheet as well!

Click the picture above to check out Clip It! in my TPT store!

I also wanted to add to this post and tell you about one of my favorite books to read on the first day of school.  I shared this book with my kindergarten team this year, and they all loved it and used it in their classrooms too!  It’s called Back to School Tortoise.

This book is a lovely back to school book about being brave on your first day of school! Tortoise is worried about all of the things that could happen on the first day of school: What if he falls down? What if he doesn’t like the lunch? What if the kids are mean to him? What if he falls down, doesn’t like lunch, AND the kids are mean to him?  My favorite part is the twist at the end when we find out that Tortoise is the TEACHER.  What a great way to share with your students how it’s okay to be nervous for the first day of school because teachers are too!  Click on the picture to grab the book for your new school year!

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