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!
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 10th 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 100th 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 100th 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.
Punt With A Scavenger Hunt
One of the sayings I heard from the boys on the football team was, "When all else fails, punt!" You can do that quite successfully with a scavenger hunt for your Open House or the first day of school.
Sometimes teachers need a few quiet moments to get their sanity back and have their students doing something to keep them occupied, while they tackle that "paper mountain" of administrative duties on the first day of school.
Why not go on an alphabetical scavenger hunt? "Go exploring and you will see, things in our classroom from A to Z!"
These ideas come from my 28-page ABC Scavenger Hunt booklet. I'm posting the check list as a freebie through the 31st of July.
Here's how:
I always include a cover template for the word cards so that you can run off a set for students to cut, sequence and make into Itty Bitty booklets.
Children enjoy these "just-the-right-size" books.
26-upper and lowercase alphabet cards are also included as well as 38-picture cards.
These can be made into several different kinds of Itty Bitty Booklets or used in a Memory Match or "Find the Pairs" Game.
All the word cards are traceable for handwriting practice. My Y5's enjoy using a highlighter every chance they get.
Why not become a Gold Subscription Member and get my entire shopping cart for an entire year at no additional charge + our 40-70 page Apple Bytes newsletter packet each month!
Click on the links to check things out.
My ABC School-Words Dictionary booklet, goes perfectly with the scavenger hunt, as the pictures and words match!
It's a wonderful activity for students to transition to, after they complete their ABC scavenger hunt. The dictionary is something that they can work on at their own pace through out the month of September and makes a nice keepsake.
Students trace and then write the words for a nice fine motor skill and handwriting extension. Both upper and lowercase letters are shown for the perfect letter review as well! Click on the link above to check it out.
Be sure to pop back Friday when I'll tell you about my Open House Scavenger Hunt!
Do Yourself and Your Students A Favor and Give Them A Notebook!
This is tip #17 & my 100th blog article! We will be celebrating our 1st-year anniversary at the end of next month!
You can click on the writing notebook ideas separately or click on the entire packet at the end. Enjoy!
My young Fives will see a writing notebook all too soon as they progress through the elementary grades, but to get one at this age is really a big deal.
Since most of the chain supply stores and even Target, have them as huge loss leaders in August for their back-to-school sales, I can pick them up for as little as .10 cents, so for the small investment of $2.00, I can light up the faces of 20 children in a few seconds!
For a few dollars you can use a notebook for a variety of writing skills for your students.
Mine is at the introductory level of simply practicing how to write their name.
Get parents on board and work as a team and you will definitely see improvement.
I buy an assortment of colors and give them a choice. It doesn’t matter that they don’t stay on the lines. What I want them to do is just practice holding a pencil, crayon or whatever they can take delight in holding, and practice writing their name once each night. I want it to be fun, not a hassle.
You can see the “My Writing Notebook” sticker in the photo. I print these off on large Avery labels on my printer to add a bit of pizzazz.
Each time they bring their notebook in to be checked they get to pick out several stickers to decorate the front of their notebook as an incentive to bring them back.
Since writing their name on everything we do in class can be labor intensive, I need parental help in getting these little ones over the hump ASAP and the notebook has been key in accomplishing that.
Their hands “poop out” or “run out of gas” as one of my students so adorably put it!
The notebook is a great At-Home connection and is easy, quick and fun, especially if parents buy some glitter or gel pens or some goofy or wiggly fun pen to make writing time more exciting.
I include due dates in my newsletters as well as post them on my monthly calendar.
Students get an award certificate for a great-completed notebook and a trip to the treasure box.
Click on the link to view/print a notebook award certificate. I also have certificates of accomplishment when they can hold a pencil correctly. Click on the link if you are interested in those.
To practice verbally expressing themselves, I have them share their favorite page of their notebook with their classmates.
Parents often ask me: “How can I help my child learn how to write?” So I typed up a list of fun things they can do to help strengthen their muscles. I tuck this list in the notebook. Click on the link to view/print hand-muscle building tip list. I also include a diagram of how to hold a pencil correctly.
The other thing I tuck in the notebook is a tracing guide of the alphabet. Click on the link to view/print the alphabet-writing guide.
I include a letter explaining the notebook to parents and asking for their help. If you’d like to see mine, to use it as a guide to tweak and develop your own, click on the link.
Since I started using the notebooks I’ve seen a dramatic improvement in my students’ penmanship, muscle coordination, and self-esteem.
What used to take me ‘til the middle of November with some of my little ones is now accomplished by the beginning or middle of October. Some really diligent students (and parents) who had no preschool, are set by the end of September.
If you have older students, decide what you want the notebooks to be used for, and make it a daily or weekly writing assignment that is simple, short and fun, so they will WANT to write. I give my college students ideas for them to journal about in their notebooks each week.
The notebooks can be kept in their desks to work on during free time, or kept at home like a “secret diary”.
I hope this idea is one that you can use and gets you excited to plan for your new class.
A quick and easy handwriting activity for you to do the first day of school is simply a Welcome To School "Trace & Write" Click on the link to view/print several different kinds.
If you want the entire writing notebook packet click on the link to view/print it.
Staples started their back-to-school penny sales this week. Click on the link to check out the deals! Every week they offer new things so start watching for the notebooks to go on sale! Staples allow teachers to buy 25 of their penny items here in MI. I imagine that would be a National thing.
Happy Shopping!
I hope Willie helps your students as much as he’s helped mine wiggle their way to knowing their ABC’s!
Be sure to check back tomorrow when I'll have another fun back-to-school tip!
Do you have a fun tip you’d like to share? I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com
Counting To 100-Day Continues...
Here are ideas 3 and 4
Drop something into a jar!
100-Day Jar:
Add A Piece To A Puzzle Each Day!
100-Day Puzzle:
One of the things I work on during the summer is getting my things ready for counting up to 100-Day. I’ve listed some of the “stuff” that I do. I hope you get a few ideas for your students and become excited for back-to-school.
I’m endeavoring to keep my articles short, so I will post only two ideas on a page. There are 6 ideas, so keep scrolling down for two more “mini-sub articles” if you want to read all of the tips for this topic!
Index Card Booklet:
Sammy Snake: