Spring Into Reading Giveaway!

The countdown is on to the End of the Year! To help you finish strong we've joined with some of our favorite bloggers to bring you a fabulous Spring giveaway. We have each chosen a Spring themed book to blog about. We've created a FREEBIE to match our book, and YOU can win ALL 8 of the books!!! 

 

Check out the cool books you could win...

It's easy to enter. Blog Hop from one blog to the next collecting our Freebies. As you go, jot down the magic number from each blog. After you have visited all 8 blogs, add ALL of your numbers together. (Calculators are allowed!) Enter the total of all 8 numbers in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win all 8 books. You can earn bonus entries from following each of our TpT stores, as well!

The winner will be announced on Sunday, April 17th!
We will then each mail the winner our books. 
We think you'll love the book we've chosen...
 

Kite Day

This is a fun book about how bear went through the day trying to fly his kite. He encountered lots of obstacles along the way, but with the help of friends he finally found the perfect day and way to fly his kite. Kids will relate to this book and will be able to make connections easily. Even though bear had thought through all the tools he needed, he still needed a windy day to help his kite soar!!

We've created a Kite Glyph you can download for FREE that would make a nice compliment to this book (or any kite book).

 

 

Enter the contest below!
Remember you need to collect and add
together the numbers from each of the 8 blogs. 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Write down our number and hop on over to our
California friend, Shelly, next.

Just click on the pic below to go to her blog.

So in Love...with Books! Giveaway

The Glyph Girls LOVE books and so do some of our favorite blogging buddies! We've come together to bring you this fabulous giveaway for Valentine's Day. We have each chosen a Valentine book to blog about, AND we've created a FREEBIE to match our book, AND you can win ALL 12 of the books!!! Sweet!

 

Here's all the Valentine books YOU could win...

 

It's easy to enter. Blog Hop from one blog to the next collecting our Freebies. As you go, jot down the magic number from each blog. After you have visited all 12 blogs, add ALL of your numbers together. (Calculators are allowed!) Enter the total of all 12 numbers in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win all 12 books. You can earn bonus entries from following each of our TpT stores, as well!

The winner will be announced on Sunday, January 24! This should allow the winner to receive all the books at the beginning of February. Now let us tell you about the book we've chosen...

Love, Splat.

EVERYONE loves SPLAT the Cat!!

Students will love spending Valentine's Day

with a nervous Splat!

He has made a very special Valentine for a

special cat named Kitten.

Splat is a bundle of nerves!

He is scared to give the Valentine to her.

Then, he finds out Spike likes her, too!

A love triangle!!

You will just have to read the book to your

class to find out who

Kitten chooses!

Remember to click the Green Star to follow us

when you download our Freebie on TpT!

 

Click the pic below for Freebie!

This will be available as a FREEBIE
for the week of January 17-23 only.

 

Enter the contest here!
Remember you need to collect and add
together the numbers from each of the 12 blogs.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hop on over to our friend, Stuckey in Second, next.

Just click on the pic below to go to her blog.



Elf Fun with Kinders

The Glyph Girls spent last Friday afternoon in our friend Priscilla Garrison's kindergarten classroom. We are not in the classroom every day this year, so this was a wonderful "Kid-Fix" for both of us! Mrs. Garrison's Kinders greeted us with Glyph Girl Stockings decorating their hallway!!

We think they turned out super cute!! Notice how they did the data collection sheets to go with the glyph (got to meet those math standards, right?)

If you are interested in the Stocking Glyph you can click on the photo below to go to our TpT store. It is an excellent extension after reading The Night Before Christmas.

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...

Mrs. Garrison was having "Elf Day," so I started 

the afternoon off by doing an interactive read aloud 

of a darling new book, 

Memoirs of an Elf, by Devin Scillian.

It has some great opportunity for discussion and vocabulary development. And yes, it was written by the same author as Memoirs of a Goldfish! We had to let each student take an "Elfie" after reading this book!

Next it was time for our Glyph Survey. Our little elves were very attentive as we read the survey questions.

We had the glyph pieces pre-cut this time, because of time constraints. Normally, we would let our kinders cut all the pieces themselves. We usually cut on one day and then assemble the next day. 

We started with the head, adding hair, ears, collar, and hat. We suggest having black, brown, yellow, and orange 1 inch strips cut on your paper cutter ready for them to use for hair. Then they just trim it if they have bangs or short hair.

We taught the girls how to curl their hair around a pencil! They always turn out so unique!

Finally we had the students draw their eyes and mouth with 

a black crayon.

Then we had them put the heads inside their desk out of the way and started to work on the body, arms, legs, and shoes.

We taught the students the easy way to make the stripes on the legs. We had cut the stripes (1" x 2") so they overlapped the legs on each side when they glued them down. Then we showed the students how to turn their elf over and trim away the excess of the stripes. They did this themselves and they turned out great!

After the kinders glued on the hands and shoes, they pulled the head back out and glued it on top.

Please Note: These elves turn out really large which makes them extra cute! However, if you don't have much space you can always shrink the patterns some on your copier.

Then Angela pulled them to the carpet to share a Functional Text lesson with them while Mrs. Garrison and I hot glued the buttons and raffia bows on the elves.

Angela then discussed the data by using some volunteers to share their elves. We also left graphing sheets for Mrs. Garrison to do with them later.

We had an elf-tastic time, and the Tiger Class 

was super proud of their finished elves.

Don't you think their elves look JUST like them?!?

We so appreciate Mrs. Garrison sharing her sweet kiddos with us! They are smart cookies!

If you would like to check out our Elf Glyph, just click on the photo below.

Gingerbread House

The Glyph Girls had a most wonderful afternoon with Mrs. Davidson's class of Second Graders last Tuesday! They had been busy even before we arrived ,and had the hallway all decorated with our Angels and Christmas Trees!!

Each angel is made with the hair color of the student making it. This will be a precious keepsake for their parents!

The Christmas trees always turn out unique and different. Each child's personality shines through!

Click on the photos below if you are interested in purchasing the Christmas Tree or Angel Glyph.

The first thing we shared was the featured text. Angela did an interactive Read Aloud of Hansel and Gretel by James Marshall.

Mrs. Davidson's students are experts at Turn and Talk techniques. Angela used the call back, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" and the students said, "We're ready to go!" when it was time to turn back to the teacher. There was tons of conversation about this classic fairy tale.

Next, we made our Gingerbread Houses that will be a book to hold the student's writing about Hansel and Gretel.

The first step was to cut out all of the "icing," sprinkle it with white glitter, and set it aside to dry.

 Next, the students cut out the house and chimney and glued the pieces together. After that they added the door and heart window. Both of these needed some glitter also!

Then they cut out and made their candy canes

to go on each side of the house.

Projects were set aside to dry.

Now they just needed tulle bows, glittered gum drops,

and the students' fabulous writing!

This little cutie's finished Gingerbread House

looks good enough to eat!

Angela also did the Functional Text lesson that comes with the Gingerbread House. Students were highly engaged as they discussed different aspects of the text.

Finally, Mrs. Davidson was presented with a real Gingerbread House to make with her students on Friday! Can you tell how thrilled she is?!?! Don't we all love to make large Gingerbread Houses with 20 plus students helping us? Sorry, Robin, we couldn't resist! They need to build their schema!!

We loved every minute we got to spend with this classroom of sweeties! Thank you, Mrs. Davidson!

If you are interested in the Gingerbread House, you can click on the photo below. It includes writing templates to use with either Hansel and Gretel or The Gingerbread Man. It also has a detailed lesson plan for the Functional Text lesson.

Reindeer Ornament

I LOVE putting up the Christmas tree and seeing all the cute ornaments that my two boys made when they were in school! Brings back sweet memories. Here is an ornament that I have made with my class the last few years.

I use burlap scrapbook paper and just plain brown craft paper for the back. The burlap paper is much easier for the kids to cut. I made these last year with kindergarten!

Trace the shape of the reindeer's head on the back of the burlap paper and on the brown craft paper.

 Cut out both pieces and hot glue together. When I taught 2nd grade my class used low temp glue guns and did fine with it, but I hot glued for the younger classes. Put the hot glue where you see the white lines in the picture below:

Using the opening left at the bottom- stuff it with tissue or paper towel. I used one paper towel for this one.

Glue the bottom shut and add burlap paper ears to the back!

Use red construction paper and glitter for the nose- or you can use glitter scrapbook or foam paper.

 Use a Sharpie or slick paint to make the eyes. I always make them put the eyes close together and close to the nose... you can use google eyes or little black buttons, too!!

 Nest students use a little chalk to add cheeks. They use their fingers to get the chalk off the paper and rub it in. A raffia bow is a must!!!

 For antlers, this time I just cut some twigs off a tree, but I have bought branches from Hobby Lobby before, too. I hot glue it to the back.

 I usually put a piece of matching paper over the glue while it is hot to secure it. Add a hook and don't forget to put the name and year on the ornament.

You can make bigger versions of these to and use wire on the back for a door hanger.