Items filtered by date: June 2012

2 pages. Laminate and then write in your daily activities. Keep this on your white board. Check off the activities as you go, so little ones have a concept of time. I've included extra books so you can add more activities to your day, like library, ar

1 page. Print off this template, laminate it, and then write in your classroom rules, or type them up in a square, and then glue them to the center and laminate!

Dots of Glue Pictures and Pinch and Pokes Help Fine Motor Skills

Use these seasonal dotted clips to help your students learn to use glue bottles and use just a dot of glue with the cute rhyme-song that goes to the tune of “If You’re Happy And You Know It!”

I’ve seen it all over the Internet with no credit given to who is the originator, so if you’re that creative person, let me know and I’ll acknowledge you + link up.

Simply run off the art work and have students color it if you want, for that extra fine motor practice and then placing it on a sheet of scrap paper to avoid the “oops spills” give students a small glue bottle and have them practice plopping a small dot (not a lot) on each little spot on the picture.

Remind them to sing the little ditty while they plop and dot.

If your kiddo’s are like mine, they will enjoy this activity.  It will strengthen their finger muscles as well as their aim, (hand-eye coordination) and in no time you won’t dread passing out liquid glue, because there won’t be lakes of it running all over the place.

You can also use these as mini-Pinch & Pokes.

Students LOVE doing these, and they help increase the same finger muscles as the above activity.

Plus they strengthen the upper body, because students lie on their tummies on the carpet.  The paper needs to be on a carpet square or the carpet, so the “poker” can go through the paper.

My Y5’s had no problems being trusted with a fat tack as long as I explained the rules: No poking themselves, another child or anything but the dots on the paper.  Any infractions and they had a time out and could no longer do Pinch & Pokes, period.

Since this was an activity as fun as Play-Doh, they behaved.  If you still cringe at the “sharp object” idea, a golf tee works well, but makes a bigger hole and is a bit harder to poke into paper and sometimes tears things rather than gives a nice circular hole.

Since this is seasonal and themed clip art, with 4 to 5 on a page, I’m sure you can dream up cubby tags and a variety of other “stuff” to use them for. Enjoy!

Click on the link to view/download Just a Dot Not A Lot Pinch and Poke Picture Packet

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

"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

More Chicka Boom Stuff!

Yesterday’s Chicka Boom Activity Packet was a huge hit, so I wanted to share the Picka Chicka packet.

I LOVE using file folders with children because they are relatively inexpensive and I have 4 pages I can fill up with “cool stuff”.

Because they are made of heavy-duty cardstock, they can also handle the abuse of 4-year-olds or the soggy “oops” of too much glue as well.

My kiddo’s also enjoyed them because they were something different and something  “older”  people used, so they felt extra special.

After reading Chicka Boom have your students put together their “lap files”.  Choose whatever things you are going to study with them.

This 67-page packet includes:

• Directions, pictures and patterns to make a student "Lap-Office" Picka Chicka File Folder
• 4-"I Spy" skill sheets
• Coconut Colors booklet
• Chicka Boom name tags
• Coconut facts and a list of interesting websites
• 4 graphing extensions
• A Venn diagram activity +
• A certificate of praise

Chicka chicha boom boom, I hope you enjoy all of the new kids in your classroom!

Click on the link to view/download the Picka Chicka Chicka Boom Activity File Folder Packet

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

"Losers are people who are afraid of losing.” –Robert Kiyosaki

Using Chicka Boom Boom To Help Teach A Common Core Standard

You might have noticed that any item in the shopping cart, that has to do with learning the upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet,  now has Common Core RF:K.1d in the description.

I ran off a copy of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Kindergarten and First Grade and am going through each standard and then finding all of the items on my shopping cart that will help teach that standard and labeling it with that standard.

Since I have so many items that help teach upper and lowercase letters, I thought I’d start there.

I hope teachers will find this helpful.  I also want to make positive affirmation cards for you, as well as take a crack at assessments and certificates when students pass the standard.

I plan to work on this each day throughout the summer.  I feel there is a real need out there for this information, as there are only a handful of states that haven’t jumped on the bandwagon and teachers don’t have enough time to prep all of this.

I hope to have the shopping cart cataloged by the end of summer.  It would be so helpful, if you are downloading an item, because you find it will be helpful for a specific CCSS, and you see that I don’t have it marked, if you would please take a moment to shoot me an e-mail and tell me what standard you are using it for.

If everyone would do that, who is using items for CCSS, I could get this job done so much faster, and everyone would benefit! diane@teachwithme.com

It’s a bit labor intensive for me, because there are no standards for Y5’s, so I never had to worry about them.

I’ve been spending lots of time doing research online learning about Common Core and picking my teacher friends’ brains.  Anyway….thanks in advance.

One of my hottest downloads that teach CCSS RF:K.1d is my Chicka Boom Activities packet.

This packet is great for the first week of school and a fun way to help your students learn about their classmates, as you include their photo on the coconuts and write their names in alphabetical order in your first class book!

I LOVE the Chicka Boom books; they were certainly a favorite read aloud for my students, and are perfect for back to school.

Click on the link to view/download the Chicka Boom Activities packet.

Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

"Dear teacher.  I like to talk to everyone, so moving my seat won't help."

1 page. A nice encouraging reminder poster for your students.