Items filtered by date: September 2012

Halloween Triangles

One of the shapes that my Y5’s had a bit of difficulty with was a triangle; not sure why, but more often than not that was the toughie.

They often enjoyed playing “I Spy” and trying to find a shape in the real world, so I decided to think of some fun triangle shapes that they might see on Halloween, and the booklet,  Halloween Triangles was born.

I introduced the easy reader ike this:

“Uh Oh! It's Halloween and these spooky triangles can be seen! Count them if you dare!”

Your students will enjoy reading, tracing, writing, counting, and coloring the Halloween triangles.

They’ll have fun during "Tally Time" and then afterwards, graph childrens opinions of what triangle character was their favorite.

I’ve also included 10 traceable word flashcards for students to practice or cut out and use with other sets, to make new sentences.

Great for "word work" during Daily 5 activities.

This is a cute rhyming booklet, (rhyming is a Common Core Standard) that packs in a lot of skills, as it incorporates math with reading in a fun way.

Click on the link to view/download Halloween Triangles.

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

“Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.” –Les Brown

Howl With The Owls And Learn About Vowels!

Vowel Owls are a fun, hands-on way to teach Common Core State Standards:RF.K3b, RF.K2a, RF.K2d, RF.K3c.

Students sort the 570 CVC & Dolch word cards  into the various long and short vowel owl cups.

The Vowel Owls make a great "Word Work" Daily 5 activity. The cards are just the right size, small for little hands and easy printing. With 60 CVC words on a page, and 10 pages, you'll have enough cards to practice as a whole group.

I've also included a Vowel Howl game board, as another option for a fun way to practice long & short vowel sounds, as well as a list of other things you can do with the word cards, including games, + sorting the cards by rhyming sounds, to cover another Common Core State Standard.

Click on the link to view/download the Vowel Owl Packet.

Thanks for visiting today. Do you have a vowel activity you could share with us? I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

I hope you and your students get a hoot out of these activities and are enjoying a fun-filled fall!   It's brisk this morning and frost is definitely on the pumpkins.  Time to drain and bring in our garden hoses.  Wishing you a delightful day.

"Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes." -Parkes Robinson

19 pages. Vowel Owls are a fun, hands-on way to teach Common Core State Standards:RF.K3b, RF.K2a, RF.K2d, RF.K3c. Students sort the 570 CVC & Dolch word cards into the various long and short vowel owl cups.

In 1492 Columbus Sailed The Blue, So What Are You Planning  To Do?

Are you looking for a few activities to do Monday for Columbus Day?

I have a day's worth of fun-filled activities to help you celebrate and teach all sorts of report card standards at the same time.

There's something for everyone here, that involves all sorts of subjects and skills. 

The 42-page Columbus Day packet includes a geography book, 3 art projects, songs, 2 games, a 2-page easy-reader activity, and all sorts of skill sheets from dot-to-dots (you choose how to count), to a maze, alphabet sort, matching,  a cut and glue activity, pinch and poke to a trace to pre-write skill sheet.

Choose what suits your students and staple them together to make a Columbus Day Activity Booklet for your morning Table Top routine.

The ship picture on the left has sails that are 3-Dimensional.  Adding students' pictures makes this "craftivity" even more of a keepsake.

I've also included a certificate of praise to pass out at the end of the day.

Click on the link to view/download the Columbus Day packet.

Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find useful.

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” –Abraham Lincoln

7 pages. Review shapes and make an awesome fall wall display with these adorable jointed personal scarecrows!

This Old Man Is A Scarecrow!

One of my favorite themes in the fall was scarecrows.  It’s a great non-Halloween theme for those schools that don’t celebrate that holiday too.

I liked to involve music and gross motor movement whenever I could, to help make learning extra fun and get the wiggles out at the same time.

Incorporating rhyming songs via music with a beat, helped children get the hang of things quickly.

This Old Man is a terrific vehicle to introduce counting.  After reading that story, and playing the CD, I told my Y5’s that they were going to pretend to be scarecrows.

I showed them how a scarecrow would stand, and pointed out the 2 scarecrows we had propped in the corners of our room.

I demonstrated how to slap, clap, and snap and asked them if these words rhymed.

After passing out the manipulatives I read the teacher's edition of This Scarecrow; the students did the movements.

Afterwards, children transitioned to their desks to read, trace, write, count and spy numbers of scarecrows completing their own booklet.

Once everyone was done, we read the booklet as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print.

Click on the link to view/download This Scarecrow

Something Extra:

My favorite scarecrow "craftivity" I did with my Y5's was the "Personal Scarecrow"

I pre-cut large sheets of construction paper into the various shapes.

Students cut and glued smaller shapes to the body portion of the scarecrow.

We reviewed them as they assembled their scarecrow.

For the head, I enlarged their school photograph on the copier. 

When you enlarge to that size, it becomes pixilated so their face really does take on a  burlap-scarecrow kind of appearance!

For great fine motor practice, have students snip  yellow pieces of construction paper so that they look like straw.

Children glue these behind the end of the sleeves and pant legs.

I used brass brads so that the arms and legs were "jointed."  The scarecrows could dance and prance down the hallway wall.

I wrote a poem for Mailbox Magazine that I posted under the scarecrows. You can imagine all of the cool comments we received.

Click on the link to view/download the Personal Scarecrow

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

Do you have a scarecrow idea you could share with us? I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here.

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” –Mark Twain

Fall Into Some Fun Common Core Writing For Fall!

I LOVE combining art with creative writing.  I call these activities “Craftivities” and when you can mix in a little science at the same time, that's a real win-win.

Craftivities also make simple and easy bulletin boards or hallway displays that are pretty outstanding.

These fall writing prompts will help you teach several Common Core State Standards. They are listed and explained below.

Draw an oak tree on brown bulletin board paper with bare branches so that you can hang the leaves and acorn writing prompts on it, and scatter the squirrels underneath.

The leaves say: I see... I hear... I smell... The acorns say: I taste... and the squirrels say: I feel... (Older students write the entire sentence; younger students trace the first few words.)

Display the tree on a wall in the hallway.  You can use the caption: Our 5-Senses Creative Writing Oak Tree OR Using Our 5-Sense In The Fall.

If you want this to appear a bit more 3-D, twist brown lunch bags into strands, and use duct tape to attach them to the branches and down the trunk.

Run the oak leaves off on a variety of colored construction paper, as this will look better than brown leaves, even though oak leaves turn brown when they lose their chlorophyll.  Mention this fact to your students.

Gather students in front of the whiteboard. Review what the 5 senses are.  Brainstorm with them about using their 5 senses to see, hear, smell, taste and feel different things typical of the fall season.

Review beginning capitalization of words, Common Core State Standard: L.K.2a, as well as ending punctuation. Common Core State Standard: L. K. 2b, and RF.1.1 as well as L.1.2b for 1^st grade.

Have students spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships, or write a list of words from your brainstorming session on the white board having students help you spell them as you write them. Common Core State Standard: L.K.2d for kindergarten and L.1.2d for 1^st grade where they use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

Review what a noun, verb and adjective are, with older students.  Keep things simple for PK students and have them TRACE the beginning words and complete the sentence with 1 noun and a period.  K’s can add nouns and verbs; older students can add adjectives as well.

Make sure that you do an example yourself, explaining the parts of speech, grammar and punctuation as you go. RF.K.1a (Point out to students that they are reading words from left to right, top to bottom and page by page.) RF.K.1c (Point out that the words are separated by spaces and remind them to make sure they have a finger-space between their words too.)

Students can add color to their cut out pieces.  Remind them to include their names.  For a bit more pizzazz, you can also add glitter.  Use this as an incentive for students if they give their best effort and do their work correctly.

To give variety to your “wall board,” I have designed two squirrels.  You can run off both kinds and give children a choice.  Sprinkle the squirrels around the bottom of your oak tree.

If you don’t want to make a bulletin board, or hallway tree mural out of these writing prompts, you can collate the pages together to make a class book.  I’ve provided a cover for you if you want to do that.

You can also suspend the various similar pieces back-to-back from fish line and hang from the ceiling.   Click on the link to view/download 5-Senses Oak Tree Creative Writing packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

"It takes time to save time." -Joe Taylor