1-2-3 Come Do Some More Mitten-Themed Activities With Me

Friday I featured activities to go with Jan Brett's story The Mitten.  (Scroll down for that article.) Today I want to highlight a few more popular mitten FREEBIES.  These all have to do with Common Core math standards.

If you're doing things with 10 frames, and want a winter theme, click on the link for the mitten 10 frames packet. (I use them for +1 more, addition, & subtraction.)

Are you working on skip counting with your students? Since mittens come in pairs, I thought it would be fun to do some activities to practice skip counting by 2's and use a mitten theme. 

Challenge your students to make up a list of other things that come in pairs. 

To assist with this, the packet includes a list of 38 items that are found in pairs, as well as some trace and write worksheets, What's Missing? worksheets, a bookmark and a certificate of praise.

Click on the link for the Skip Counting By Twos Mitten packet. 

Is telling time part of your math block?

The mitten-themed time card packet includes digital, as well as analog time to the hour and half hour.

Use them as flashcards, pocket chart cards or for a January bulletin board.  So that students can play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games, make a few extra sets.  You can also cut them up to make puzzles and play even more games (Like  Kaboom, which is included.)

If you're practicing place value with your students, then I think you'll enjoy this mitten place value craftivity. 

It's a "slider" and the packet includes one for each month, plus extras, which are great for assessing, and cover Common Core State Standards: 1.NBT.2a, 1.NBT.2b, 1.NBT.2c, 1.NBT.3, K.NBT.1

A number is given and students move their sliders up and down to make that number. For further reinforcement, have them jot the new number down.  With each number given, students tell how many 1s, 10s and 100s there are.

For more CCSS practice, have students compare 2 numbers as greater or less than. 

To include some addition and subtraction practice as well, ask children to make the number that is 10 more or 10 less, 

Finally, I made a mitten-themed number packet. 

As with the mitten time cards, print, laminate and trim these to use for flashcards, pocket chart cards or your winter word wall. 

Make a few extra sets, so students can play games like Memory Match or I Have; Who Has?  You can also cut them up to make puzzles and other games. 

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting. Time to sort my piles of "idea paper-sketches" and little notes that I jot down for myself.  I need to clear up the clutter, so I can get down to the fun business of creating some more winter FREEBIES. 

I hope you can pop by tomorrow for the latest.  Wishing you a sparkling, stress-free day.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show." -Andrew Wyeth

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

Do you read The Mitten by Jan Brett?  It's one of my favorite winter stories and perfect for all sorts of sequencing activities. 

With the aid of the materials provided for teachers on Jan's site, I designed 5 activity packets that cover all sorts of standards.  I hope you enjoy them.  They are today's featured FREEBIES and have been very popular downloads.

Help students retell the Ukrainian folktale, by making this cute mitten slider. This is a simple way to review sequencing too.  Graphics copyright janbrett.com

The Language Arts Mitten packet also provides sequencing practice. 

My kiddos loved making the mitten paper plate pocket to keep their things in.

This 24-page packet is chock full of activities that cover a variety of standards and includes:

• Move Over Please, So I Won't Freeze an emergent reader booklet, which reinforces lots of Common Core, especially ordinal numbers and verbs.
• A mitten paper plate pocket "craftivity" students make to keep all of their mitten-related work in.
• A set of ordinal number pocket cards
• A Mitten Matching card game, where students match the animal character to the animal's name, or the ordinal number position it had in the story, or all three: i.e. the word mole, picture of the mole, ordinal number card 1st-first
• Ordinal number character assessment strip with answer key.
• 2 graphing activities
• 2 mitten writing prompts
• Several mitten worksheets, including one that covers rhyming words + more verb-work. (Great for Daily 5 activities.) and ...
• A certificate of praise bookmark that can be used to play another game.

Another Mitten Literacy Packet, includes more ordinal number-sequencing practice that will help your kiddos retell the story, including a "beginning-middle-end" graphic organizer.

There's also a worksheet  where students label the parts of a book, plus pocket chart cards for character, setting and event.  I've also included 8 bookmarks to prompt retelling the story.

Another interesting way to review the story and practice end punctuation and capitalization at the same time, is with The Mitten Pocket Chart Punctuation packet.

You can do this as a whole group activity with laminated cards (give students a dry erase marker for them to make corrections) or give each child a card to fix, by rewriting it on a sheet of scratch paper, then sharing their corrections with the class. 

Finally, Venn diagrams are a quick, easy and fun way to introduce students to the concept of comparison-contrast writing. 

They're great practice if you've already done so, and especially perfect for visual learners.  

There are 3 in the Mitten Venn Diagram packet to choose from. 

Do one as a whole-group activity to explain things, (compare mittens and gloves) and then give students a choice of the other two. (Compare two characters in The Mitten, or compare the story The Mitten with Jan Brett's other story The Hat.)

To see a short (3 minute) YouTube video featuring Jan Brett click on the link.  Another fun video (11 minutes) features Jan showing children how to draw a hedgehog.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found some extension activities to do with your mitten theme. As for me, it's time to help my grandson pick up Toys R Us that seems to have deposited itself all over my office.  Wishing you a day filled with contentment.

Cute quote: "If kisses were snowflakes, I'd send you a blizzard!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some More Cat In The Hat Activities With Me

I love the hat that Dr. Seuss created for his cat.  It's the perfect vehicle for all sorts of interesting activities.  I've designed a few more for today's article that cover a variety of standards.  I hope you enjoy them. 

I've had a few requests for more place value items, so I designed the Cat Hat Place Value Mat activity.  After running off the hat template, you can make it more durable and add some red to the hat,  by gluing it on a sheet of red construction paper, then trim and laminate.

Run off the number tiles on Seuss colors like red, yellow and turquoise.  Each number needs its own color.  Laminate and trim. 

I would do this as a whole group activity, so every student needs 10 of each of the 3 kinds of number tiles.   Store the set of 30 tiles in a Ziplock snack Baggie and make a class set.  By having 10 of each in the Baggie, you’ll have extras incase students lose one.

Have students take turns calling out 3-digit numbers.  Using a dry erase marker, children write that number on the hat brim and then put the correct number of tiles in the appropriate columns.  This is a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess.

The packet also includes a certificate of praise.  Click on the link to view/download the Cat Hat Place Value Mat

For more math fun with the cat's hat, I designed a How many ways can you show a number, Popsicle stick activity.  There are several ways to use the Seuss Hat for different number games. 

Students can put the "How many ways can I show the number ______." hat brim strip, on their hat and then place all of the Popsicle stick equations, that make that number, on their Seuss hat.

Children place the Popsicle sticks on the hat in such a way, that they look like an ABAB striped pattern.

Students can show addition and subtraction as pictured, or to expedite things, just addition OR subtraction equations.

This is an easy and fun way to whole group assess a variety of concepts. 

I've included number tiles from 0-120 with a blank sheet for you to program with even higher numbers.  I've also included pages so students can work on fact families.

Besides using the hat for math, I made a few hat activities for language arts.  The Cat Hat AT family slider, is a fun way for students to see the various AT family words that they can make by pulling on the "slider."   Click on the link to view/download the Cat Hat AT slider craftivity.

I will read... is a hat bookmark that can be used as a writing prompt.  Share my example with your students and challenge them to write verses of their own. 

I've alluded to a variety of Seuss books in my poem. "I will read with Mr. Brown; I will read upside down.  I will read with duck feet; I will read because it's neat."

Challenge your students to figure out which books I've used.   Click on the link to view/download the I Can Read Dr. Seuss bookmark-writing prompt.

After reading The Cat in the Hat, review story elements with this Cat in the Hat language arts packet.

The packet includes pocket cards, a beginning-middle-end graphic organzizer, plus sentence strips to sequence the story. 

Students arrange the sentences in the correct order and glue them to their hat. 

Click on the link to view/download the Cat in the Hat story elements packet. 

Finally, because the punctuation pocket cards have been so popular, I decided to tweak this idea, and make the "cards" into stripes for the cat's hat. 

Run off the cat hat template on red construction paper. 

Run off the sentence strips on white copy paper.   Students underline the letters that need to be capitalized and add punctuation.  They cut their stripes and glue them to their hat in an ABAB pattern, leaving room so that the hat will look like it has alternating red and white stripes. 

If you want, have students re-write the corrected sentences on the red stripes.  So that each students' hat could be different, I made up 108 sentences from a variety of Dr. Seuss stories. 

Completed projects make a nice bulletin board.  A caption could be: "Hammer, slammer, whammer; ___________'s class really knows their grammar!"  Click on the link to view/download the Cat's Hat Grammar "craftivity" packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  To view more Seuss activities, scroll down for other articles and more Dr. Seuss FREEBIES.

"I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells." -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Do Some Dental Hygiene Activities With Me!

Since so many of you have been dealing with snow days, and were busy with Groundhog Day, 100 Day, Valentine's Day, (perhaps visiting a post office), and President's Day, (Did you study money?) as well as activities for the Winter Olympics, it's no wonder why there's only a few days left to cram in some dental hygiene activities, before we all launch into "stuff" for March is Reading Month. 

So that you don't have to,  I spent some time making fun dental hygiene things to possibly make life a little bit easier for you.  I hope it's not too late for you to use a few of these new FREEBIES with a tooth theme.  I'll be finishing up with the rest tomorrow.

For those of you who like to start your themed-units with a KWL, click on the link for a dental hygiene one you can do as a whole group, as well as a template your students can do in their writing journals.  Dental Hygiene KWL

Another great way to learn where your students stand on dental hygiene is to do some graphing activities. 

Have they lost a tooth?  Do they have a cavity?  Have they ever been to the dentist?  Would they like to be a dentist? What color is their  toothbrush and how many times do they brush a day? 

These are some of the eight tooth-related graphing questions you can ask your kiddos.   Click on the link to view/download the 8 Dental Hygiene Graphs.

Sending a brushing chart home with your students, is also a fun way for them to let you know that they are practicing good dental hygiene.  I've designed 4 toothbrushing charts that children can choose from. 

They can X off the chart, cover with stickers or color the various icons as they brush.  Click on the link to view/download the 4 Brushing Charts.

Studying dental hygiene provides a wonderful way to build vocabulary.  To help you, I made an alphabetical list of 101 words that are associated with dental hygiene. 

To reinforce these new words, I've included several word searches plus a dental hygiene word journal, where students can record vocabulary as well as definitions.

Click on the link to view/download the Dental Hygiene Word packet, which is great for your Daily 5 word work activities too.

After you've watched some dental hygiene videos and perhaps had a dentist visit your classroom, choose several of these graphic organizers to help reinforce the information that they are learning.  Click on the link to view/download the dental hygiene graphic organizer packet. 

Another way for students to gain more dental hygiene knowledge, is by doing the Flip For Facts File Folder activity. 

Take your students to the computer lab, so they can look for information on teeth and how to take care of them. 

Students jot down their favorite dental hygiene facts and then write them on the template.  I've included tips and links of how to make citations for information found Online. 

This activity is a great precursor for writing a report.  Click on the link to view/download the Dental Hygiene Flip For Facts File Folder packet. 

To incorporate some math skills with your dental hygiene activities, I also designed a Timothy Tooth Counting booklet with a matching center activity. 

Students trace and write the numbers and number words, and then draw the appropriate number of teeth in Timothy's mouth.  Click on the link to view/download Timothy Tooth's Counting Booklet.

The center activity has large tooth posters.  Using dry erase markers, children trace and write the numbers and number words and place that many tooth tiles inside the mouth. 

There's also templates for doing some subtraction activities as well.   Click on the link to view/download the Counting Teeth Center Packet.

The Dental Hygiene Number Puzzles are another way to integrate math, and help practice counting to ten, counting backwards, and skip counting by 10's to 100. Click on the link to grab these FREEBIES.

Finally, just for fun, I made up a poster with a cute tooth quote that I found on Pinterest.  There's also a matching bookmark. 

Click on the link to view/download the Take Care Of Your Teeth packet.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  I think sharing is so important; it's the major reason I enjoy doing what I do. 

I hope you can pop back tomorrow when I finish up with dental hygiene and post even more FREEBIES.

“Life is short.  Smile while you still have teeth.” -Mallory Hopkins

1-2-3 Make A Graphic Organizer With Me!

I LOVE graphic organizers.  They are especially helpful for my visual learners. I took this concept and made it work for a number worksheet.  It's quick and easy to implement and can be part of your daily or weekly table top lessons, or plugged into your math center. 

If you need "stuff" for your early finishers to work on, or some activities for your sub folder, these are perfect.  Many teachers have asked for simple homework lessons, because their districts require homework! 

These make that task less work for you, and more fun for your students.  As you can see in the sample, a lot of Common Core math is covered in a fun way.

I've used the same template and changed the clip art, so you have a variety of worksheets for each month and LOTS of themes. This packet is a whopping 94-pages! 

Pick and choose what suits your kiddo's. By repeating the format, students feel empowered and can get right down to business.  Because they know what to do, they can work independently, you're not wasting time explaining directions, and are freed up to work one-on-one with strugglers.  Things stay interesting and fresh, because of the seasonal clip art and the new number that they choose.

Students roll one or two dice to arrive at their number for the worksheet, or you can have children choose a number card from a seasonal container.  (I've made cards for numbers from 1-120.) 

You may want to make extra sets for students to sequence and play games with.  I've included a blank grid children can write numbers in, or laminate some grids and have students place tiles on them. 

I was bopping around the internet and found a little dice INSIDE a larger dice!  How cool is that!  Less noise and less likely to have one flying on the floor. I think your kiddo's will think they are especially cool too! 

I Googled where you can buy them and found several places.  You can get a pack of 8 for only $2.28 from Pure Fun or $2.69 from On The Fly Supply.

Students write their number in the middle square and fill in the rest of their graphic organizer.  

Children can write in the coin values, or/and you can have them cut and glue the appropriate coin tiles to their worksheet.  (A coin template is included for a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.) Ask students to write down one way to arrive at the coin value, or several.

For the group/set section, children can make dots, X's or whatever, to show how many.  For smaller numbers, students can use stickers or a seasonal stamp.   Click on the link to view/download the Monthly Math Graphic Organizer packet.  

While I was didling around designing this, I thought I'd include a separate mustache-themed packet, because "mustache mania" is still going strong.  

This packet's number cards have a mustache on them.   Click on the link to view/download the Mustache-Math Graphic Organizer packet. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I blog and design daily, so I hope you can drop by tomorrow too.  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 on the burgundy menu bar.  

If you'd like to check out all of the awesome-educational items that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the big heart button to the right of the article.  

"It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful." -Ann Landers

1-2-3 Come Get Organized With Me!

I'm a visual person.  I need to see things to help make sense of whatever I'm learning.  I'm also a maker of lists.  I have zillions for all sorts of reasons, so you can only imagine how a graphic organizer makes my life a whole lot easier.

I found that when I helped my elementary kiddo's, as well as my college students, design graphic organizers to get their thoughts together, writing became easier for them, and things flowed better and were more concise as well.

I use them for a variety of reasons and wanted to design some with Common Core State Standards in mind.  If children are able to jot down specific details in a certain order (beginning-middle and end) they are better able to re-tell a story, and then later, write one themselves.

With that in mind, I made an apple and pumpkin graphic organizer, to help students retell a story on those themes, and then practice writing what they learned in the appropriate boxes.  I used pictures that represented the beginning-middle and end of the apple and pumpkin life cycles as well.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple and Pumpkin Graphic Organizers. I blog every day, so I hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site that you think others might find helpful.  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 take a look at all of the wonderful educational items that I pin, click on the heart to the right.

"If education doesn't prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives, then it is a failure, no matter what else it may seem to have accomplished."  -Sydney J. Harris