SitSpots Blog Hop and Giveaway!!

Hiya Peeps! Kerri and Lindsay here...

That's right! You get a "Peas and Carrots" tonight from both of us, because we LOVE LOVE LOVE SitSpots!! OhEmGeeee!!! These little velcro spotties are the bomb-diggidy!! We couldn't believe how awesome they were when we first heard about them at SCKC.

Aren't they just sooo pretty?? And they stick onto carpet like you WOULD. NOT. BELIEVE!! Now, in my classroom (Kerri's), I have one of those rainbow carpets for my kids to sit on, so I just grabbed 10 SitSpots to put on the carpet and use for addition practice review. I used a Sharpie paint marker to write some addition facts on each one and laid the spots in rows on either side of my classroom. I plan on using these addition spots for math centers, as a way to dismiss my kids to recess and lunch (by having them stand on one and say the addition fact with it's sum), or a a sponge activity in between my lessons. Just a note...my iPhone DOES NOT do these beauties justice in the color department. They are SUPER bright and pretty in person! 
P. S. I am blaming these ugly pictures on the fact that A. I have a cold, B. I also have PMS, C. I am tired from darn Spring Forward, and D. It is conference week. Can you say Hot Mess? Yes, that would be me! Lindsay's pictures are much prettier, you'll see!!

I am so excited for my kidlets to use these tomorrow!! Now, here's Lindsay with a super fun idea for using SitSpots in Kindergarten...

Hi guys!  Lindsay here . . .

As Kerri said before, we absolutely FELL IN LOVE with SitSpots when we discovered them at the Southern California Kindergarten Convention last month!!  There were SO. MANY. OPTIONS.  Different colors . . . Different cool shapes . . .

So of course, in true Lindsay fashion, I got plain 'ol circles.  Not that there is anything wrong with circles.  They are a fine shape.  I was just completed overwhelmed with all of the choices and took 15 colored circles.  I had NO IDEA what I was going to do with 15 colored circles . . .

I already have a rainbow rug that my kiddos sit on in class . . . But somehow the idea came to me to create SitSpot Sight Word Twister!! (Try saying THAT ten times fast!)

In my classroom, we practice sight words in a million different ways.  Graphing sight words. Sight word dice games.  Sight words with HeidiSongs DVDs.  Sight word Chutes & Ladders. Sight word necklaces.

But alas, in my collection of sight word activities I had never taken the time to make Sight Word Twister, although I had seen it on Pinterest several times . . .

Setting up my SitSpot Sight Word Twister was SUUUUUUPER easy. Which is suuuuuuuuper great when you have been working on report cards for days and you just don't have the energy to do ONE. MORE. THING.

I decided to pick 4 of our trickiest kindergarten sight words to use for my inaugural SitSpots Sight Word Twister (they, do, are and said).  The beauty of SitSpots is that once I place my order for MORE SitSpots (which I plan to do soon!) I can create dots for ALL of the kindergarten words that my kiddos learn during the year.  Unlike making the Pinterest sight word Twister game, the SitSpots allow you to create any combination of words based on the needs of your particular class or group of students.  Brilliant!

There was a tiny part of me that hated the fact that I had 4 words and only 15 SitSpots (ugh.....UNEVEN!!) but it worked out just fine. As long as the words are repeated at least 3-5 times so that all of the kids don't have to clamor for a single SitSpot when a word is called you will be okay. :) 

So . . . here is how I got started.

Step 1: Used my Sharpie paint pen to label my dots with sight words.

Step 2: I made sure that the words and colors did NOT correspond (to make it trickier, of course!).  Muahahaha!!!

The finished product! 

Step 3: I created a customizable Twister spinner just to use for playing SitSpot Sight Word Twister!!  (Just click on the picture below and you can get it too!)

 Here is my spinner mat all pretty and laminated.  The laminating is a necessary and important step . . .

Step 4: Fill in the chosen sight words. 

(Note: Remember that the dot colors do not correspond to a particular word.  In fact, my slightly fluorescent dots didn't even match my spinner (GASP!!) but it doesn't matter.  All that matters is that you write in the sight words on your spinner so that each word appears once in each quadrant.)

And you all know the Erasable-Sharpie-On-Lamination trick, right?  You can use a sharpie to write on lamination and then scribble over it will a dry erase marker and erase both markers right off!  So I went ahead and used my fine point Sharpie to write my words.

So, I decided that our classroom library was the perfect place for us to play SitSpot Sight Word Twister.  I just rolled up our polka dot rug . . . 

. . . and stuck the SitSpots right down!! (And after we were done playing, I just put the rug right back down OVER the SitSpots.)

A close-up. :)

FINALLY it was time to play. I actually used this with my lil intervention kiddos since it was a smaller group, but I think this would also work well as a center too. Once you are ready to play you just use a paperclip and pencil on the Twister spinner mat and spin some words! 

Here are my kiddos all tangled up and LOVING this new game!  Even though they were clearly having so much fun, I heard them practicing their words as they clamored to put their right foots and left hands and every other limb onto the words . . . "I see a 'said'!!"  "Here's another 'do'!!"  (Yay for learning disguised as a super fun new game, right??)

Now here is the BEST part . . . As I was spinning words for my kidlets to play I realized that my kiddos would L-O-V-E the chance to be the Master Spinner.  AND spinneing the words would require that particular kiddo to also recognize and call out those tricky sight words.  (That's right . . . it would be EVEN MORE sight word practice!!)  But shhhhhhh!  Don't tell the kiddos!  They will just think it will be the bees knees to get a turn as the Master Spinner kiddo!

So there you have it folks!  Download your SitSpot Sight Word Twister mat tonight. Laminate it. And get yourself some SitSpots . . .

Now's your chance!

Nine of us Cali Gals have teamed up with Sit Spots to bring you a SitSpots Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Just follow the bouncing blog buttons at the end of this post to hop to your next Sit Spot-sational idea! 

You can enter to win on any of our blogs, but you must comment on all 9 for your chance to win a class set of 32 SitSpots! Don't worry, we're keeping it easy...Think Spring Break!

Just head to the Rafflecopter below for up to 21 chances to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway That's right...Lucky 21! Plus, the winner will be announced on Monday, March 17th ~ St. Patrick's Day.
Lucky!

With dozens of designs to choose from, you'll have a ton of fun spotting up your classroom space just like us!

 Don't want to wait to see if you're one of the lucky 9?
 Well, guess what?
 SitSpots has a deal just for you!
Enter Coupon Code CALIGALS14 during checkout on their site and save 25% OFF!
This offer expires March 31, 2014.

Still not sure? SitSpots offers a FREE sample before you purchase. Just head to their site to request your complimentary Sit Spot today!

Ready for your next creative Cali Gal?
Head over to Heidi from Heidi Songs to see her Sit Spots in action and leave a comment to win!
Good luck!