Items filtered by date: June 2011

The Shaplies Have Arrived:

A Fun Way To Teach Shapes That Will Excite Your Students!

Teaching shapes by making them look like “happy faces” makes learning about this flat math concept a lot more fun.

That’s why I designed “Shaplies”.  Make a set for your room for an instant dangling decoration to hang from your ceiling for a great review each day!

In their debut appearance in the booklet:  My I See The Shape booklet, students trace the large shape on the left, read and trace the simple sentence and then write the shape word.

On the right hand side of the page, they again read the sentence (this time the shapes are plural), color the shape, count how many are on the page and write that total on the line.

They also trace the dashed lines of the small shape at the bottom and then draw the shape next to it.

You are covering reading, math, and writing; while students reinforce a variety of skills and report card standards in a fun way!

They’ll also enjoy taking this booklet home and sharing it with their families, because they’ll be able to read it by the time they have completed the booklet—a real self-esteem builder!

To top off this reading-math block, students choose their favorite Shaplie and get some practice cutting and gluing, as they assemble an adorable Shaplie Friend dangler.

Send your student detectives on a Shape Hunt and have them make TALLY marks for each of the 6 shapes that they can find in 5 minutes.

When the timer rings help students add their totals and grand total and then graph the results.

To celebrate the birth of the Shaplie Family, click on the link to view/print the circle.

I've also include the circle page from the I See A Shape Booklet.

They're free through the first week of August.

Click on the link to view/print a set of FREE shape posters to hang on the wall or use as extra-large flashcards for shape review.

It's fun getting freebies isn't it? Why not become a subscriber and be able to download everything, anytime, at no additional charge + receive our 50+ Apple Bytes newsletter packet each month.   

August’s packet was a whopping 78 pages! Click on the links to check things out.

Do you have a tip you can share about shapes?  I’d enjoy hearing from you.  diane@teachwithme.com

Remember… sharing or commenting are 2 ways you are able to enter the back-to-school-button bracelet CONTEST!  Click on the link to see the details.

Thanks for participating.

Be sure to stop back tomorrow to see how to make an adorable monthly keepsake booklet!

Contest for Back-To-School FUN!

I was surfing the net and landed on a few blogs that had contests.  I LOVE contests, so I wanted to have one too.  Don’t you just love winning a prize?

OK I hear some of you moaning: “I never win anything!” Well this is your chance.  No talent needed. 

There are 7 ways to win and it’s as easy as falling off your computer chair.

How easy is that, especially after a crazy day of getting ready to go back to school.

Ways to win:

1. Subscribe.

• Who wouldn’t want to subscribe to this wonderful site?
• You’ll get to instantly download 1,000’s of pages from my shopping cart anytime, for an entire year, at no extra cost, for only $20 for a Gold Subscription.
• That’s only $1.67 a month!
• + you get the 50+ page Apple Byte Newsletter Packet each month! 
  
• August was a whopping 78 pages long! 
• + You get 10% off all magic tricks.
• + Diane is your personal designer.  If you’re looking for something and can’t find it, or want a certificate or something special tweaked, drop her an e-mail and she’ll add it to her "Design ASAP list".
• Click on the link to see how to subscribe.

2. Register: Fill out our form and register with us. At the top of this page, in the right hand corner of the burgundy menu bar, you'll see LOGIN. Click on that.  The last sentence says: "No account yet?" REGISTER.  Click on Register and fill out the form.

3. Leave a Comment or Share an Idea on the blog in any of the sections: “Getting to the Core”, “Care to Share”, “Books of the Month”, “Dishin’ Up With Diane”, “Hot Tips & Cool Solutions”,or “Arts-Crafts & Activities”

4. Tell a friend about our site and have them REGISTER. When they fill out the “How did you hear about us?” part of the form, have them type in your first and last name.  You BOTH will be entered in the contest.

5. Make a Purchase.

• With items starting at only .29 cents and going all the way up to only $2.99 for 50+ page units, you will not break the piggy bank on my site.
  
• I wanted to keep prices low because my main purpose is to share with others. 
  

6. Blog about our site on your site and link to us. Let me know via an e-mail so I can check it out.  I’m constantly being reminded about how important networking is, so let’s see it work!

7. Don’t have a blog? Do you have a Facebook acct? LIKE us on Facebook, and link one of our articles on your page, let me know via an e-mail so I can check!

Well there you have it!  Wasn’t that easy?  Did you fall off your chair?

You can enter ALL of the categories if you want to.

You can enter categories 3-7 EVERY DAY as long as it's something DIFFERENT!   i.e., you order more than one product, you have more than one friend register, you like and link more than one article on Facebook, you blog about and link more than one article, you comment on more than one article, you share more than one tip or idea etc.

Obviously the more times you enter the more chances you have of winning!

All of the above partiipants will have their names thrown into a hat or box, or whatever Chloe, my puppy, has not hauled out of my office to chew on, and I will draw a name out EVERY Friday through AUGUST.  That lucky person will win a back-to-school button bracelet.

I will post the winner-of-the-week on the Blog, on Fridays as well, notifying the winner via an e-mail and sending the back-to-school button bracelet via snail mail.

This week's winner will be announced this Friday on my birthday!  How special is that for a first-ever contest?

A note about the bracelets:

I’m big on making crafts WHEN I have the time.  My grama Lydia had a huge button jar, some of these are her buttons, others I’ve collected over the years, and some I just went crazy selecting at a variety of craft stores and flea markets.

I made one for myself and got so many compliments and “Could you please make one for me?” that I made up several to give as hostess gifts.

I enjoyed making them so much, that I decided to make a bunch the summer I was pink-slipped. Everyone is different!  There is NO time for a craft show in my life, nor time for parties and hostess gifts.  I’m having a contest and YOU may be the lucky winner, of a back-to-school-button-bracelet!

You can’t win if you don’t enter, so what are you waiting for?

Do something today!

And...be sure to visit tomorrow, to print off the time-saving first-day of school name tags and posters!

Helpful "How Do I Get Home?" Name Tags

One of the things that can sometimes be a stress-filled moment for me is the time when I’m getting my children ready to go home.

When you are dealing with little ones who are also anxious and a bit nervous and worried about that too, it is very important that they see you cheerful, calm and in control.

If you have things organized this will run smoothly.

Children are exhausted by now, it’s hot and everyone’s  beyond spent at this point in the day.

I always try and enlist a few adults to help me so that things run smoothly. Having them hold up a sign works wonders.

Here’s an easy way to manage who goes where via pictures.

Print off the clipart of the various options:

Students are riding the bus: They line up in the order that they will board their specific bus numbers, behind the bus picture.

Their nametags all have a matching picture of a bus on them so you know at a glance that these children are in the correct line.  Their tags also say what NUMBER bus they are on.

Students are walking: They line up in the walking line, behind the picture of a pair of tennis shoes.  Their name tags all have a matching picture of the tennis shoes on them. Their tags also say whom they are walking with.

Students are getting picked up: They line up in the pick up line, behind the picture of a van.  Their name tags all have a matching picture of a van on them.  Their tags also say who is picking them up.

Students are going to after-school care: They line up in the after-school care line, behind the picture of a group of children. Their name tags all have a matching picture of a group of children on them.  Their tags also have that room number on it.

On the back of the card is their address and phone number.  This has saved me a lot of time when a bus driver has told me: “They're not on my bus.  Where do they live?”
or “I don’t think he rides today.  You better call his parents.” Or for whatever else I need to know an address or phone number quickly.  I don’t have to go back to my room or search for a file, I simply flip over their name tag and all the info is there.

My name tags are also YELLOW which is a different color from the other kindergarten teachers (everyone has their own color) so everyone knows that these are Y5 students.  I include Teacher: and write my name after that heading. It helps staff if one of my students wanders out of line.

I laminate my name tags and ask parents to safety pin them to their child for the entire month.

I also make an extra set to keep at school incase they lose them or forget to wear them.

I tell parents to simply take them off as soon as they get home and pin them to their backpack, that way they are always handy and if they forget to pin it on in the morning, I’ll still have it.

I walk the bus children to their buses.  The other adults take the rest of the students to our designated “pick up room” where all the kindergarten children are “deposited” for safety reasons.

Parents who are picking up their children can go here and sign them out.  Older children who are walking with these young ones can find them there, and the teacher in charge of the after school care program can get the K’s here as well, or send an assistant if she is busy.

Having a designated “pick-up room” has kept children safe and eliminated little ones running all over the hallways unattended.

Our librarian watches the room until the teachers get done boarding children on buses, then we stay with our students ‘til everyone is picked up.

Click on the link to view/print the back-to-school posters and name tags

I've also included a graph of "Where do I go after school?" This is a great math extension as well as a way to review with children before they line up at the end of the day.  Click on the link to view/print the back-to-school line up graph.

These back-to-school-name tags, posters and graph came from this August's 78-page Apple Bytes, our newsletter packet, which goes out each month.

Why not become a subscriber and enjoy this benefit!  Click on the link to see how.

Do you have a tip you can share about name tags?  I'd enjoy hearing from you! 

Remember... sharing a tip or commenting on an article are two ways to enter our back-to-school button bracelet CONTEST!  You can also click LIKE us on Facebook and link this article on yours, then send me an e-mail so I can check it out!

Thanks for participating! Winner will be announced the 29th.  Be sure to check out the cute way to teach shapes tomorrow and print off an adorable circle dangler + 6 posters!  

1-2-3 Count Up To 100-Day With Me!

I always like to repost the Zero The Hero packet (a super popular download) at the end of July, as teachers are thinking about back to school.  It's a whopping 171 pages (!) and an oldie but goodie for "Throw Back Thursday".

I start keeping track of how many days we'd been in school that very first day.  A counting up to 100-Day idea, that is a “must have” for me, is Zero The Hero. He is a fun vehicle for incorporating all sorts of math skills.

I designed an entire packet around Zero, including a friend named Zippy, who would allow teachers to toss in a little geography.  

There just never seems to be enough time in the day for everything, and geography is one of those “things” that my students needed a bit more of.

Zippy is a quick, fun and easy solution, as he travels to places around the world that begin with the letters O and Z.

Celebrate every 10^th day by making a page in your Zero the Hero book. 

What a great keepsake to take home on 100 Day, and interesting way to learn how to count by 10's.

Students put 10 reinforcement holes on their number. (I use these instead of stickers because they are really inexpensive, but you could switch things up if you wanted to. )

This is a nice fine-motor and counting skill + each child will then have 100 “zero-stickers” in their booklet on the 100^th  Day of school when they complete their last page!

Students will also enjoy zipping around the world to interesting O and Z places with Zippy. 

The passport is sure to be a huge hit, complete with travel  and award stickers.

 Included are: clue sheets, notes, and an

“I Wonder Where Zippy Is?” Guessing-Poster.

Students will have fun learning about the various places as they work with parents to find and bring in an interesting fact in their "home-school" connection assignment. 

Follow up their adventures, by locating places on your classroom map.

Make a Zero the Hero count by 5’s slider and a Zippy count by 10’s slider to review skip counting and identify numbers.

Various activities reinforce a variety of report card standards and are sequential and repetitious, so that students know what to do.

Because of this, kids are empowered and are able to do these as independent center activities, which are great for Daily Five or other “no hassle” centers.

For example, on the 30th day of school, students bingo dot their skill sheet and then graph their cup of 30 Froot Loops. Afterwards, they can make a necklace out of the brightly colored cereal or eat it.

Students keep everything in a folder and have a wonderful keepsake to take home on the 100^th day of school.

Click on the link to see sample pages from this 171-page unit and then download it.

What a fun way to count up to 100-Day while reinforcing a variety of report card standards!  Zero the Hero packet   For more fun ways to count up to 100 Day click on the link.  

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

Bright Behavior Lightbulb

Sometimes I need a shut off button so that my brain can turn off so I can go to sleep at night, but because it didn’t, I now have a really cute “Bright Ideas Behavior Motivator” just in time for back-to-school.

Here’s how it works:

Run off a copy of the Behavior Bulb.

• Using different color markers or crayons, have all of your students sign it.
• By signing the “Bright Behavior Bulb” They promise to always:

1. Put forth their finest effort.

2. Try their best.  And…

3. Have a positive attitude!

You hang it on the wall and have a quick reminder as well as a nice decoration.

• To go with this, make a copy of the Photo Poster Bulb.
• Run off a copy of the poster on white AND yellow construction paper.

• Cut out just the bulb part from the yellow paper, and glue it to the white poster.
• Fill your name in on the blank space.
• When your student’s school photos come back, glue them on the bulb.

• Hang this next to the contract for an instant motivational wall-bulletin board.
• Click on the link to view/print a copy of the two bright bulb activities.
• These will be free through the 31^st of July.

These posters come from the 16-page Bright Ideas packet. Click on the link to look it over.

 Included in the packet are individual badges you can make for your students with just their name or with a photo.

Add a bit of sparkling pizzazz by sprinkling on some gold glitter.

• I also have an individual behavior modification sheet for those challenging students.


• You and the student decide what behavior(s) they are going to work on.
• List them on the form and sign it.
• Include what the reward for completing their behavior bulb will be.

• There are 20 connect-the-dots on two different counting sheets.


• Each time the student accomplishes a goal; they get to connect a set of numbers, until they have connected all of the dots, which completes their Bright Behavior Bulb, so they can achieve their reward.
• 
• I’ve also included a page of stickers, 6 happy grams, slap bracelets, and a certificate of praise for brilliant work.

Become a Gold Subscription member and be able to download it all now at no additional cost.

Do you have a bright idea you’d like to share?  I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com

Be sure to pop in tomorrow for some awesome Zero The Hero back-to-school tips!