I noticed over the [looooong] winter that Becks had become a little more competitive and a little more eager to school me in a game of Memory or Go Fish using a plain, old deck of playing cards.  It didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to capitalize on his interest in card games and make something that would feed his need to win and help him to work on a skill.  I figured that other kiddos would probably fit the same bill, too 🙂

I also kept me in mind while I was thinking about a new resource.  As a teacher, my time is limited.  If I’m going to be printing, laminating, and cutting, it needs to be fast.  Fortunately, cutting out playing cards only requires straight line cuts (#winning) and each pack comes in color and black/white to help you save on ink! Literally, a whole center in less than ten minutes from printer to playing! 

Each center is based off of a Kindergarten Reading Foundational standard and allows students to work on phonological awareness, phonics, or a combination of the two.  There are two options for playing – Memory and Go Fish – using the same set of cards.  Both are easy to understand and require little teacher direction.  

Furthermore, I included 10 half-sheet exit slips so that you can use these centers during RTI or Literacy Centers!  BOOM.  {If you’re not familiar with exit slips, they are a quick assessment that you can do at the end of a lesson/activity to assess student performance on a particular skill.}

Becks and I played this morning for our Intro-to-Home School-Mommy-As-A-Teacher time this morning using the Medial Sound cards, since this is an area that he needs to work on.  {Yes, these could DEFINITELY be used for first graders, too, though I will be coming out with Center in a Minute sets using First Grade standards!}  

I loved seeing his little brain at work, as he concentrated on listening for the sound in the middle of the word.  

Thinking….thinking…got it!

 The exit slip showed me right away that he was understanding the concept, but could still use more work.  We’ll definitely play again tomorrow!

Currently, there are seven separate sets, addressing seven different standards. Alternatively, you could purchase the bundle, which will save your $5 (that’s like getting two packs for FREE!).  Click the pics below to check them out!

Good news!  All of these packs are on sale for the next three days of my Christmas in July Sale! Click the image below to see the packs altogether.

That means the individual centers are TWO BUCKS and the bundle is TEN BUCKS!  This sale will run through Wednesday 🙂

Aaaaaaand, in case you needed to see a cute picture of Faith with her new baby toofers, see below 🙂  

She is also celebrating Christmas in July, since these Christmas jammies most certainly didn’t fit her three pound body back in December!  Ten pounds later, she is rockin’ them!