Farfaria!

Have you ever heard of a reading app called Farfaria?  I was given the opportunity last month to try it out and review it.  What an amazing opportunity!!!  You can check out information from Farfaria here.  I have used various reading apps on my iPad, but this is my absolute favorite!  For the next 10 days, you can get Farfaria at a discounted price on Educents!  Click here to get a year subscription for 50% off!!

I have two kids at home, a 4 and 8 year old.  Both fell in love with this app!  Both my kids love reading, but tie it in with the iPad and they think they are playing games. 

 

Farfaria is an app that allows kids to read hundreds of books in various ways.  There are over 900 books available (right now) for kids to read and 5 new books are added each week.

Books can be read in 3 ways: Auto Play, Read to Me, and Read Myself.  This allows kids of every ability to be successful and enjoy the books.  The "Auto Play" feature reads and turns the pages of the books automatically.  This is great for younger children, or when a child just wants to have a story read to them.

 The "Read to Me" feature highlights each word as the narrator reads it aloud.  The child must turn the page of the book to continue the story.

 The "Read Myself" feature is great for kids to read the story independently. 

Each book is given a reading level with a badge on the bottom right of the cover.  You can click on the badge to see more information about the reading level.  This helps you determine exactly which books your child should be reading independently.

 

Kids are able to determine which books they can read easily and which will be more challenging.  It is great for older children to self-monitor the difficulty of the book they choose.

My kids especially like the "Favorites" feature.  When you save a book to "Favorites" it downloads the title to your device.  This book is then available when you are offline.

When kids "Eplore" Farfaria, they can entire different lands.  Each island is named for the type of books they will encounter there.  The graphics for the lands are whimsical and inviting.  Each of my kids had their definite favorite!

They choose the land that they would like to visit,

click enter, 

 and explore the books!

The books are so engaging and there is something for everyone!  My little mini-me loved the sharks.  We both have a minor obsession with all things SHARK!

After reading, kids can even design their own reading badge!  They can take their own picture and insert it into the reading badge that they choose.  It adds another little bit of fun to the reading process!

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to try out the Farfaria app with my children.  It is an amazing app to keep any kids reading.  I used this at home, but it would also be invaluable in the classroom.  I can picture the kids lining up to have a chance to read with Farfaria!!!  Thank you Farfaria for giving my kids another way to love reading!

You can get Farfaria for 50% off from Educents!  Not a member yet?  Sign up here and get $10 credit to spend however you want!!  I LOVE Educents :)    

Pearly Whites!!

I shared some fun activities over at The Primary Pack!  You can learn how to make a model of a mouth out of a paper plate & marshmallows or use play dough & beans!!  Check out the post here.

Jenn from Crayons & Cuties in Kindergarten shared one of her favorite teeth activities with me.  Her class uses paint and toothbrushes to "clean" yellow teeth.  I LOVED this idea and had to recreate it!  I made a printable of a mouth.  You can get it free on my blog. 

We read "I Know Why I Brush My Teeth", by Kate Rowan.  This book has great information and is accompanied by kid-friendly illustrations.  After reading about plaque and the importance of brushing your teeth, I had the kids use yellow highlighters to add plaque to their teeth. 

Then, they used the toothbrushes and white paint to "brush the teeth clean"!

  It was definitely a hit!

You can get a copy of the teeth printable that I used here.  I would love to know what your kids think about it!  Check out more hands on activities for exploring teeth here.

 I've linked up with Share It Saturday, where you can find all things kid-related!!

Pulling Teeth!

Tomorrow is my day to share on The Primary Pack and I wanted to share some dental health fun!  There are tons of easy, hands on activities to explore teeth.  Here is a sneak peak!

Today, I wanted to share my newest play dough pack.  It may be my favorite yet!  There are so many ways to use teeth, toothbrushes, and tongs to bring math concepts to life. 

 Use manipulatives to represent different math concepts.

Here are a few of the different manipulatives that we used to represent teeth.

Students can choose a card and use manipulatives to represent a numerals,

 the amount on a ten frame, the amount of tally marks,

and to represent a subtraction equation.

You can also use a dry erase marker to draw the total number of germs on the tooth.

 Students will then use an old toothbrush to "brush away" the germs.

 It is a great way to visually and physically demonstrate subtraction.

 Students will then identify the number of germs that are left on the tooth.

Students can also use the mats to demonstrate one-to-one correspondence.

You can check out my dental health packs here.

Stop, Swap, & Roll + GIVEAWAY!!

I've joined up with the wonderful Melissa, author of Jungle Learners, for another "Stop, Swap, & Roll"!!  These swaps are my absolute favorite!  You get to try out ideas from such amazing teachers AND it always gets my creativity flowing, too!

This time around, I got to partner up with Melissa!!  She is such a creative teacher and so much fun!  You need to check out Melissa's blog and store.  You will not be disappointed!!

I got to try out TWO fabulous packs.  I absolutely love Melissa's "Read it, Bead it, Type it, Wipe it" series.  What kid doesn't love beads??  You can get these centers for every single Dolch sight word list.  Kids of all abilities can enjoy this activity, while working at their specific level.

 I chose to work with the Pre-Primer Edition.  This was absolutely perfect for my daughter.  Before introducing her to the activity, I told her that she was going to need to be a word detective.  We got out her detective glasses (from the dollar store) and got ready to decipher the codes!

 

She drew a card from the pile and we got started.  I explained to her that she would be identifying the beginning sound for each picture.  She would identify the picture, sound out the beginning sound, and write that letter on the iPad.  After she wrote down all the beginning sounds, she would identify the sight word.

The fun was just beginning!  She used beads to spell out the word.  This was definitely a hit!

 Typing out the sight words was engaging and fun, too!

Melissa provides you with a card for each sight word on the Pre-Primer Dolch list.  There are 4 different boards to choose from depending on what you'd prefer for your students. Just print them out and either laminate them or place in a write and wipe pocket folder.  I chose to laminate the boards, because it made for an easy & reusable center.

There are also 4 different recording sheets that can be used for your students to keep track of the words they have completed.

These activities are SO much fun!!!  The real seal of approval for this activity came when my daughter told her friends that they had to come over and play the "best.game.ever".  They chose to play with words, over playing Doc McStuffins.  Now, that is something...

I have one more "Read it, Bead it, Type it, Wipe it" game to share.  This one is a pack of themed words for February.  My son got in on this one.  He loved trying to guess the word, before he got to the third letter.  He got pretty good at it!

I have to tell you that I adore the little monsters on this pack.  They made me smile every time I pulled them out :)  You use this product just like the sight word version.  The only difference is thematic words, instead of sight words.

 I played up the fact that the kids were detectives and were the only people who were able to "crack the code".  It brought mystery to the activity and definitely kept them engaged.

 This pack has 4 different recording sheets.  I love the monsters!!

 This allows you to keep students accountable for their work and helps them keep track of the words that they have already completed.

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out Melissa's amazing centers!  I know your kids will love them as much as mine did!  You can scoop up any of Melissa's "Read it, Bead it, Type it, Wipe it" series for 20% until Tuesday 2/3/15!  You can also enter the rafflecopter to win a copy of the Pre-Primer Edition & The February Edition!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



You will also want to check out Melissa's post to check out one of my Interactive Play Dough Packs.  She will be giving a copy away to one lucky winner.  You can pick up any or all of my Interactive Play Dough Mats for 20% off from my TPT store.  For this week only, I have a super steal on Educents!  You can get all of my play dough packs for 50% off!!  You will be getting 9 packs for only $18!

Don't have an account on Educents?  No problem!  You can sign up for an account here and get $10 FREE!!

 

Thanks so much for joining me for the Stop, Swap & Roll!