1-2-3 Come Do Some Bat Activities With Me

The writing prompt, “Driving My 5 Senses Batty” is an interesting way to reinforce the 5 senses, which in turn helps students be more descriptive in their writing.

Because this is a topic students easily identify with, they will be excited to get down to the business of writing!

You’ll love the versatility of this bat packet; as a variety of options make it easy to diversify your lessons for various abilities, grades & skill levels.

As always, patterns come in black & white for students, as well as full-color, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share. I’ve also included my completed worksheets as a real time saver.

Samples not only help explain things, but act as a catalyst for excitement.

Anytime I add a bit of craftiness into our writing block, my students are engaged and focused from the get go, which is why I designed a “cave topper” as well as a “bat dangler” to add extra fun & pizzazz to their writing worksheet.

Younger kiddos can simply write or dictate a one-word answer to a classroom helper, or assign this as homework to be done with parental help. 

If you have older "reading-helper buddies" you can also do this activity with their assistance. 

My kiddos absolutely love working with our 5th grade friends, and the feeling is mutual.

Encourage older students to write in complete sentences, giving several examples. 

Completed projects make a striking bulletin board or hallway display, so I’ve also included 2 posters to enhance things.

Use the "definition poster" to introduce your lesson,

The Packet Includes:

• A bat cave with & without text, with 2 patterns to choose from for different cutting abilities. This graphic is glued to the top of their writing prompt paper.

• A bat “dangler” which will be glued to the bottom of their worksheet.

• A “Five Senses” writing prompt worksheet, which come with & without lines, as well as with and without labels ( hear, smell, see, touch & taste ).

• A “definition poster” to introduce your lesson.

• A “Going ‘Batty’ Over Great Writing!” poster.

• For additional writing, I’ve also included 3 different “bat papers” to choose from, which you can use to assign other writing prompts for, or perhaps use for an acrostic poem, bat facts, bat vocabulary or whatever else you think of.

• A bonus extension about the positive & negative connotations for the word “batty”, with an extra writing prompt, which can be done as a whole group, with a partner or as an individual assignment. Great for early finishers or homework too.
• These activities would be fun for the week of Halloween or that "something different" on party day too.

Today's featured FREEBIE also helps practice descriptive writing, as students describe fall.

Including adjectives, enhances students' writing, so I designed 10 fall-themed describing worksheets that will help your students practice this skill. 

Students write  a "describing" word in each of the boxes on the themed worksheet, which include bats, school, apples, pumpkins,spiders, leaves, sunflowers, scarecrows, turkeys, and pilgrims. 

These worksheets make a nice Daily 5 fall writing activity, and can also be inserted into a writing folder or journal. 

I've also included an adjective definition anchor chart.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

I’m Diane from Teach With Me, hoping you & your students will go batty over learning.

Wishing you a fun-filled time of it.

For more 5 Senses activities, click on the link.

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"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something." -Thomas H. Huxley

1-2-3 Come Do Some Bat Activities With Me

Are you familiar with the story Stellaluna, by Jannell Cannon?  It's a personal favorite. 

Don't have the book? Click this LINK for an awesome read aloud on YouTube.  This actress does a wonderful job bringing the story to life.

It's one of our favoirte fall stories, and perfect for practicing the "sequencing & retelling a story" standards.  

It's extremely current for today, especially in our very diverse classrooms.

Children easily identify with Stellaluna as she struggles with trying to fit in, and empathize with the conflicts that happen when people are asked to pretend to be someone that they are not.

While the premise of a bat trying to live with birds is a bit humorous, there is an underlying realization that Stellaluna is happiest when she discovers the joys of simply being herself, a bat.

With that in mind, I created these quick, easy & fun activities that will help your students sequence & retell the story.

You will love the versatility; as you can easily diversify your lessons with the variety of options.

As always, all patterns come in color, so that teachers can quickly & easily make examples to share, as well as black & white for students.

The packet includes:

          A bat craft perfect for teachers & librarians to make & use for a whole group activity, then later put up as an interesting bulletin board.

This is a nice big bat, and is created with two wing patterns, plus a body.

Simply run off the 3, full-page patterns on construction paper, trim & glue together.

Underneath Stellaluns, place the sequencing mat, using the "picture ovals" to sequence & retell the story.

I like to pass out these picture cards before I read the story, then when I get to that part of the story depicted by the picture, the child holding that card comes up to our Stellaluna board and attaches the picture. 

This really helps involve my students, and they absolutely love participating. 

You can attach the pieces with a magnet, Velcro, or a glue dot, or simply a piece of Scotch tape.

I laminate my pieces, so that I can use them each year. 

To solidify the sequence of the story, we retell it using the pictures on the poster. I ask questions like, "What's happening in this picture?"

For further reinforcement, and to give more children a chance, I again pass out the cards and see if they can sequence it.

You can also use the bat as  a whole group sorting activity, where the “picture ovals” are put on “Beginning, Middle & End” of the story mats.

I’ve included  “word labels” for your bat, as well as blank mats to position under the bat.

There is also a colorful pattern with the answers already inside the ovals.

I’ve done this for this activity, as well as the sequencing one. This way you have an answer key if you want to use these as independent center activities after doing them as a whole group.  

For writing practice, I've also included a "Branching Out" worksheet, where students write a few sentences about the beginning, middle & end of the story. 

Besides the large, teachers' bat, I designed a smaller bat craftivity, which is perfect for students.

There are 4 activity options to choose from:

1. Students sequence the picture tiles.

They color, cut & glue them to the ordinal numbered worksheet.

 After students have sequenced the pictures, they add a bat "topper" as well as a bottom bat "hanger".

2. Students can also do the same thing, only with the Beginning, Middle & End worksheet.

As you can see by the photo to your right, there are completed answer keys in both color & black & white.

I did this for the sequencing activity as well.

3. & 4. There’s also a “tracing” option for little ones, as well as several writing prompt activities for older students, such as:

"Did you like the story? What was your favorite part?" or " Would you like to be a bat? Why or why not?"

You could also list interesting bat facts, or write an autumn acrostic poem.

All of these options use the “bat topper” and the bottom “hanger” bat patterns.

To make things easier for younger kiddos, simply have them color, cut & glue on just the "topper" bat.

Completed projects make a cute bulletin board or hallway display.

I’ve included several posters to add extra pizzazz to your decorating.

To check & assess comprehension, there are 3 worksheet options, with answer keys.

All activities can be used individually, as a whole group, or in a language arts center.

Today's featured FREEBIE also has some bats, as well as spiders, leaves, an owl & turkeys.

It's a super-fun, fall matching game.

Students match the 2D shape to its counterpart on the bat, and other cards.

It's a wonderful activity for your math center, or something for early finishers to do.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Come join the fun on Facebook for my exclusive FREEBIES & Monthly Giveaways.

Check out my educational Pinterest boards.

Don’t forget that all of my new products are 40% off for 48 hours.

Click this LINK to follow my shop & you'll be notified of these huge savings. 

We are having beautiful "Indian summer" weather in the 70s, so it's time to go play outside.

Wishing you non batty & stress free days.

"What we learn to do, we learn by doing." -Aristotle

1-2-3 Come Do Some Spider-ific Activities With Me!

I guess a lot of people must be doing a spider theme this month, as spider activities have been my #1 download this past week.  It's certainly a nice alternative if your school doesn't celebrate Halloween.

I have some quicky spider activities for you today. The Spider Web Roll & Color game will help students review math skills in a fun way.  Younger students choose a partner and take turns rolling a dice.  Whatever number they roll, they color in a section of their web.  I made the spider webs small, so coloring won't be so time consuming.

Older students roll 2 dice and add them together.  I've also included a web worksheet where children write down their equations.  There's also a prediction sheet.  Students take a guess of how many individual sections there are on the web, and then figure out the correct answer.  Click on the link to view/download the Spider Web game. 

Since the October Pumpkin and Fire Safety Bibliographies have been popular, I decided to make one for my all-time favorite Spider books too. Click on the link to view/print the Spider Bibliography. 

Finally, the Speaking of Spiders packet is chock full of writing activities and includes a venn diagram for comparing spiders and bats. 

Since many of my Y5's think that a spider is an insect, I also made a Venn diagram where students compare spiders with insects. Venn diagrams are a terrific way to practice comparison & contrast.

There's a Spiders can... worksheet, as well as a spider KWL and several fact versus opinion activities. 

Involve some science and have students label their spider.  I've included a fact sheet that will help explain the parts of a spider. 

Also included is a mini spider report - graphic organizer, as well as a spider acrostic poem page + 2 adjective and verb practice pages.

Click on the link to view/download the Speaking of Spiders packet.

I know a lot of my visitors collect the themed 10 frames to switch things up each month. 

If that's you, click on the link for the spider-themed 10 frames packet.  

If you also do the 1-2-3 Count With Me easy reader booklets, based on a 10 frame, click on the link for the 1-2-3 Count Spiders With Me  FREEBIE. 

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you can drop by tomorrow to grab some more FREEBIES.   I'm off to help my daughter with a children's sale.  Wishing you a fun-filled fall day too. 

"Good things are attracted to a good heart." -Kobi Yamada

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fall Writing With Me

Since the "Apple Sense" craftivity was downloaded quite a bit, I decided this format would also work well for Pumpkin Sense.   No matter what grade your students are in, they need to be reminded to use their senses to make their writing "come alive."  The use of adjectives is equally important, and such a simple thing to explain using examples.  I find that if students can add a bit of art to their creations, writing is more fun and completed projects make wonderful bulletin boards that build self-esteem.   

Run off the pumpkin template on orange construction paper.  Students add a bit of color to the the stem, with a green crayon.  You can make this even cuter, by having students trace their hand (with their fingers spread) onto a sheet of green construction paper, trim and glue their "leaf" next to the stem.  Adding a photograph gives things that finishing touch.

Run the "pumpkin guts" off on yellow construction paper.  Students trim and fill in their answers.  Before hand, discuss the 5 senses, as well as what an adjective is, explaining the importance of using both to write better.  

Brainstorm words that can be used to describe a pumpkin using the various senses and write them on the board.   Students can draw from this word bank when they write. 

So that they are practicing starting a sentence with a capital letter, have students write a complete sentence, rather than filling in their answer.  Review proper end punctuation.  To make sure that they use adjectives, encourage students to underline them.

You may want children to write a rough draft, checking to make sure that every noun has a descriptive word before it.  Can they think of a better word to describe what they are seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, etc?  When they are satisfied with their final draft, they can write it on the yellow insert.   Click on the link to view/download the Pumpkin Sense craftivity.

Continuing with adjective practice, I designed a Describing Fall packet. 

Students think of words that describe the various fall themes: school, apples, leaves, pumpkins, spiders, bats, scarecrows, sunflowers, turkeys and Pilgrims, and then fill in the appropriate boxes with adjectives.  Once they have done that, students incorporate several words into 1 or 2 sentences that they write on the back of their worksheet. 

Children can add a bit of color with crayons or markers.  When everyone is done, have them share their work.  I've also included a definition of an adjective anchor chart. Click on the link to view/download the Describing Fall Adjective Writing packet.

If you're looking for more activities involving the 5 Senses you may like Sam's Senses craftivity.  Children cut and glue the labels to Sam the pumpkin man.  What makes Sam special is that his hands are the traced hands of the student.  Click on the link to view/download Sam. 

My Fall Senses, is a quick and easy candy corn graphic organizer that again helps students practice their writing skills.  Click on the link to view download this fall writing activity.

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and write daily, so I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN away.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button on the burgundy menu bar.   If you'd like to take a look at all of the wonderful-educational items that I PIN, click on the heart button to the right of the blog. 

"Strength: A river cuts through a rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make A KWL With Me

I first learned about a KWL in college. KWL's are graphic representations that are especially helpful for visual learners. They are a wonderful way for teachers to see what prior knowledge their students have, as well as what they'd like to learn.  KWL's are simple, easy and a fun way to accomplish quite a bit in a short amount of time.

K stands for what students Know about a topic, W for What they Want to know, and finally, L representing what students have Learned when the unit is over.  I used them quite a bit to introduce a variety of subjects to my Y5's.  I'd simply put a KWL chart on the board and we'd have a discussion.  As students shared, I wrote things under the appropriate letters.  The chart stayed up 'til the end of our unit.  As children learned things we'd add them to the L section. 

I was cruising Pinterest awhile ago and found a KWL on apples over at The Lemonade Stand.  Click on the link to check out Rayann's sweet blog.  She made a KWL using a red, yellow and green apple.  I thought this bit of art, thrown into the KWL concept, was a terrific idea, so I decided to make some creative KWL's for fall.  I've included an apple and leaves KWL for September; along with a KWL for pumpkins, spiders and bats for October, and finally, a turkey and Pilgrim KWL for November.

Besides the large KWL that you can put on your board, I've made matching 1-page personal KWL's, so your students can practice their writing. 

When I taught 1st grade, I made writing folders for my students to use as journals.  They were simply a pocket folder with brads inside.  Anytime I gave a writing extension, students would 3-hole punch their worksheet and put it in their folder. 

The folders documented wonderful progress throughout the year and were shown at parent-teacher conferences.  These individual KWL's would be terrific for your students' writing journals/folders and something they could do during Daily 5. Click on the link to view/download the KWL's For Fall packet.  

Thanks for visiting today.  I blog and design daily, so I hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site. 

To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button located on the burgundy menu bar.  If you'd like to see all the wonderful-educational items I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to the right of the blog.

"Imagination is the eye of the soul." -Joseph Joubert