Tara West, operating under the brand "Little Minds at Work," provides a collection of free educational resources designed primarily for early childhood and kindergarten educators. The available source material focuses specifically on Thanksgiving-themed materials, including phonics activities and math puzzlers. These resources are distributed through her official blog and third-party educational platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) and Pinterest. The materials are intended for classroom use, targeting subjects such as balanced literacy, phonics, and mathematics.
Overview of Available Freebies
The free resources identified in the source data are specifically themed around Thanksgiving. They are designed to support early learning objectives in phonics and mathematics. While the sources mention a broader range of content on the Little Minds at Work blog, the specific freebies detailed in the provided chunks include:
- Thanksgiving Beginning Sound Sort: A phonics activity focusing on the letters Pp and Tt.
- Thanksgiving Math Puzzlers: A math activity intended for students.
- Seasonal Centers Free Preview: A preview of seasonal educational centers that includes Thanksgiving materials.
These resources are available for download via direct links provided in the source material.
Detailed Resource Breakdown
Thanksgiving Beginning Sound Sort
This resource is a phonics activity designed to help students identify beginning sounds. It is available on the Teachers Pay Teachers platform.
- Subject: Balanced Literacy, English Language Arts, Phonics & Phonological Awareness.
- Grade Level: PreK - K (Mostly used with Kindergarten).
- Components Included:
- 2 sorting mats.
- Sorting cards.
- Recording sheet.
- Focus: The activity specifically targets the beginning sounds for the letters Pp (pilgrim) and Tt (turkey).
- Availability: The resource is listed as "FREE" on TPT, requiring a login to download.
- User Feedback: The resource has a high rating of 4.82 out of 5, based on 151 reviews. Verified purchasers and users have noted that it is a "great resource to reinforce beginning sounds" and that students "loved using this resource during phonics."
Thanksgiving Math Puzzlers
This resource is a math activity described as "fun and cute." It is available for download via the Little Minds at Work blog.
- Subject: Mathematics.
- Description: The source material identifies this as a "Thanksgiving math puzzlers freebie."
- Availability: The source provides a direct download link.
Seasonal Centers Free Preview
This resource is a preview packet that includes Thanksgiving-themed educational centers.
- Description: The source describes these as "adorable Thanksgiving centers."
- Availability: This is available as a free preview download.
Access and Distribution Channels
The freebies are distributed through multiple channels, ensuring accessibility for educators and parents.
- Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT): The "Thanksgiving Beginning Sound Sort" is hosted here. The platform lists Tara West as the seller with 133.1k followers. The resource is categorized under specific educational standards and tags (e.g., "Activities," "Centers," "Printables").
- Little Minds at Work Blog: The primary hub for freebies. The source material references
www.littlemindsatwork.blogspot.comandlittlemindsatwork.orgas locations for additional free resources and specific downloads (such as the math puzzlers and seasonal centers preview). - Pinterest: Tara West maintains a presence on Pinterest under "Tara West - Little Minds at Work." The platform is used to curate and share educational ideas, including links to her freebies and related classroom inspiration.
Usage and Classroom Application
Based on the reviews and descriptions in the source material, these resources are intended for direct application in classroom settings.
- Phonics Reinforcement: The beginning sound sort is used to assess and reinforce phonological awareness. It can be utilized during phonics instruction or as a center activity.
- Math Assessment: The Christmas fluency review packet (mentioned in the context of the Thanksgiving timeframe) covers benchmarks such as LNF (Letter Naming Fluency), LSF (Letter Sound Fluency), NWF (Nonsense Word Fluency), and PSF (Phoneme Segmentation Fluency). While this is a Christmas resource, the Thanksgiving math puzzlers serve a similar function of reviewing skills.
- Take-Home Packets: The source material mentions "Take Home Review Packets" that are bundled. While the specific Thanksgiving packets are not detailed, the concept of sending work home for break (e.g., Christmas break following Thanksgiving) is a noted application.
Author and Brand Information
- Author: Tara West.
- Brand: Little Minds at Work.
- Online Presence:
- Blog: littlemindsatwork.blogspot.com and littlemindsatwork.org.
- TPT Store: Tara West - Little Minds at Work (133.1k followers).
- Pinterest: Tara West - Little Minds at Work.
- Focus: Early childhood education, specifically kindergarten and PreK resources, with a strong emphasis on literacy and math centers.
Conclusion
The provided source material confirms that Tara West offers specific, free Thanksgiving-themed educational resources through her "Little Minds at Work" brand. These include phonics sorting mats for letters Pp and Tt, math puzzlers, and previews of seasonal centers. These materials are accessible via Teachers Pay Teachers and her official blog. User reviews indicate high satisfaction with the quality and utility of these resources for reinforcing beginning sounds and other early learning skills in a classroom environment.