Blend Friends-Chance to win

I posted awhile back about teaching initial consonant blends to my kindergartners. I started making a TPT product about blends to go with my mini-unit wayyy back in February. I am usually not one to shelve a product that I'm making, but I got overwhelmed with work and put it on the back burner. Just yesterday, I finally finished my blend unit- it's called Blend Friends. Click here to see the whole description on TPT.

So what is a Blend Friend, you ask?  They are cute stick puppets that help teach your class about consonant blends. I included paper versions in the packet so you can make your own stick puppets. In my classroom, I used puppets and stuffed animals and the kids loved them! The were SO engaged during our whole-group mini lessons on blends. The Blend Friends even got to sit with a few of the kiddos who were doing a great job listening!

Here are the blend friends printed out and all ready for a cute bulletin board! Just add craft sticks and laminate to make stick puppets! 

The blend friends "write" the class a letter to introduce a pair of consonant blends (Flippy the Frog introduces the FR and FL blends, for example). Below is a sample of a letter written by one of the Blend Friends:

Last year, my student teacher had a great idea! She made a mailbox where the letters from our Blend Friends magically appeared each day!The kids totally bought into it and went bananas when they discovered a new letter in the mailbox! This summer, I made my own mailbox...so I guess I'm ready for one unit...that we don't teach until February...OH well! :) BTW you can see that I won't be doing a mailbox making tutorial anytime soon...this is definitely a very basic elementary valentine party-style Kleenex bog rig!

In the unit, I have included activities to go with each Blend Friend's letter to the class.  You can do the activities as a whole group or as a center. The packet also contains hands-on literacy centers to practice consonant blends.

Comment below with your email and I will send 2 random friends a copy of the Blend Friends unit!