Items filtered by date: August 2012

Owl Be Learning The Alphabet and How To Count In Kindergarten!

As promised, here are the traceable alphabet and number owl-themed cards. The adorable clipart is from Laura Strickland.

This 20 - page packet helps with  Common Core State Standards: RF:K1d and L.1.1a

Your students will enjoy tracing these cards and making Itty Bitty booklets to take home and share with their family.

Have students use the cards to sort vowels and consonants; have them make CVC words; use the cards for "Word Work" for your Daily 5 activities.

I've included a tip sheet of other ideas you can use the cards for, including a variety of games like Memory Match Concentration and "I Have; Who Has?"

Number cards include counting to 30, skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's. 

Students can choose a card and begin counting from that number, sort numbers in even and odd piles, sequence numbers, count backwards etc.

Click on the link to view/download the traceable owl alphabet and number cards.

Tomorrow I'll post the other set of owl cards, I'm still working on some skill sheets to go with them.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site you think others will find helpful.

"Attitude determines altitude!"-Unknown

Owl Promise To Read So I Can Succeed!

Owls seem to be a popular theme this year, so I whipped together a reading packet for you.

This 26-page packet includes:

• 2 posters
• 9 incentive bookmarks
• A button badge
• 5 different colored blank owls.  Use them for name tags, tub labels, pencil toppers, cubbies, punch cards, or put them on a bulletin board with your students' names on them and a caption that says: "Look whoooooo's reading in __________'s class!"
• A book report form
• A reading log
• A calendar star chart "promise to read" monthly sheet
• A monthly reading graph of student participation +
• A certificate of praise

Click on the link to view/download Owl Reading Packet

If you liked this theme packet, and are doing other owl things in you classroom, you may also like my Owl Treat Bag candy bag,  Owl Treat Bag lunch bag, as well as my "Owl Be Watching You!" RULE poster,  and other Owl Activities. 

Click on the links to check these things out.  I also have an owl mask available in my mask packet too.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can drop by tomorrow for 2 more owl-themed activities: two sets of  owl alphabet and number cards, pefect for all sorts of games.

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity no matter how impressive their other talents." -Andrew Carnegie

Getting To The Core, With Clothing, Specifically--What She Wore!

Mary Wore A Red Dress is another of my favorite back to school books.

It’s a great book for introducing color words to students.

In my “Red Dress Packet” I’ve included 11 color-picture cards to go with the book.  You can pass them out to your students to use as manipulatives when you read the story.

Print and laminate them.  Attach a magnet or piece of Velcro to the back and have students sequence them on your white board or a flannel board to enhance story time.

After the reading, pass out the pieces again and have students retell the story using the manipulatives.  See if they can get them in the proper order.

I’ve also included 2 different class books with two different writing prompts.

One reinforces their name and what they wore to school having them incorporate a describing color word.  “My name is _______________. I wore ______________________ to school.”

The first page begins with the teacher: “I'm the teacher, _____________. I wore _______________ to school."

The other is a take off of Martin’s Brown Bear and asks: “________________ what do you see?” What makes this class book so special is that the teacher glues the students’ first day photograph on the pages and students use describing words to write the sentence.

There’s even a page for the teacher. 

You could also take pictures of the principal, secretary, lunch staff, librarian, playground assistants and anyone else you think students need to be familiar with, and include those in the book, so you can use it as a handy reference tool as well, helping your students become familiar with names as well as faces.

This 38-page packet of fun activities that reinforce color recognition, reading, writing and math skills also includes:

• 10 color-word wall word flashcards with 10 matching color cards +
• Covers to make an Itty Bitty Color-Word Book
• 5 Graphing extensions
• 8 skill sheets including "Rhyme Time" with words that rhyme with dress, shirt, pants and hat.
• "We CAN Tie Our Shoes!" Poster-Roster
• A connect the dots tennis shoe and
• 4 Certificates of Praise for shoe tying

Class book pages are great for your Daily 5 activities, or September writing prompts!

Click on the link to view/download Activities For Mary Wore A Red Dress Packet

Thanks for visiting today.

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

“Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the whole world.” –Albert Einstein

Hot Tip With A Cool Solution For Bothersome Bulletin Board Borders!

Are your bulletin borders in a big mess, getting bent & folded?

Are you constantly losing those little end pieces that you need to complete a bulletin board?

Do you have a problem finding borders when you need them, because you don’t really have a decent way to organize them?

I used to too, and then I came up with round storage tubs and LOVE them!

Two large tubs solved my problem.  They stack on top of each other, so things are neat and conveniently organized and consolidated in one place.

I organize my borders by season, and simply twirl them inside the tub.

When I’m done with that seasonal border,  it goes on the INSIDE.  The one I will use next, is on the OUTSIDE of the ringed bunch.

This rotation system keeps me from having to search for a particular border.

I snip off an end of each border and tape it to the inside of the top of the lid, so I can see at a glance what I have in the tub.

ANOTHER Hot Tip:

If I decide not to use a border anymore, I remove the picture label from the top.

If the label has a blank section on it that I can write on, I’ll snip the border into pieces and write upper and lowercase letters on them, or numbers, and turn them into Memory Match Concentration games.

They make cute cubby labels, or name tags too.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you are having a wonderful school year!

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

"A good teacher is like a candle which consumes itself to light the way for others.” –Kahlil Gibran