Freebies, Easi-Speak Review, and a Giveaway

What a day!!!  How many more days until summer vacation??? :)  I feel like I've neglected my blog for a few days.  I am soooo sorry.  Spring is just a busy, BUSY, BUSY time for the Davis family.

This week in Treasures we were working on the ou/ow sound.  I thought I'd get around to making some things this week....but WOWSERS...it's almost Friday.  My kiddos seem to like the word boxes and riddles, so I made one up for us to do tomorrow as a review.  Here's one below to grab if you'd like it too.

We're also working on fact families---again!  We use Envisions Math, and it spirals back around.  Earlier in the school year, they had a hard time grasping fact families.  But by golly, I think we have it now!  Here's a simple cut and paste related facts page that I plan on using for a quick check in the morning.  You can click the pic below to grab yours!

On to the good stuff!!!  I was thrilled when my Learning Resources asked me if I would try out their Easi-Speak in my classroom.    Let me just say, I REALLY enjoyed using this (if I could pry it away from my kiddos--who also enjoyed using this!)

First, let me tell you that this is VERY durable.  I would have no worries leaving this at a center for my firsties to use.  (I even let my Kindergarten son use it before I took it to the classroom--he, too loved it.)  With the easy to understand on/off buttons, clearly labeled, and lights to indicate that it's ready to record, my students were quick to see how this worked.

Another great thing about it is that it requires NO BATTERIES!!  Uhm, can we say AWESOME?  I hate how my mimio pen, and projector controllers require batteries--and then I not have them to use.  Look how easy this thing is to charge.

It's  plugged right into my teacher computer--in the USB port. From here I can open it up and listen to my student's recordings.  I can file each student separately and save it on my computer.

This is great because I can record their fluency from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.  I can keep track of their growth. 

I used this to record my students during guided reading groups.  I wanted them to hear themselves, and monitor their fluency.  (One of my students couldn't wait to use it that he asked his mom, a teacher in my building, if she would borrow it before school started. When he listened to himself back, he said, "I need to read a little faster.")  During reading groups, when we played it back, they followed along in their books to monitor their fluency.  They also realized they made a few "minor" errors.

The possibilities of using this are endless.  With my classroom, now that they know how to use it, I wold have no worries putting it into a  reading center.  I could then listen back to them when I got a chance.  We also have a play coming up.  They could use it to get used to handling a microphone, AND practicing their lines.

I can't wait to get my new group of firsties next year and start recording them.  I now have a great tool in documenting them.  I can show parents the progress that their students have made, and have it in their voice so they too can hear.

Want to know the best part??????????  This too could be yours!!  Here's how to enter:

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I will choose a winner using Random Generator.  Contest expires on April 23 at 10:00 pm EST. While your waiting to see if your the winner, check out Learning Resources at the following links.

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