1-2-3 Come Do Some Coin Activities With Me!

Since President's Day is in February, I did a lot of coin related activities with my students during that month.  We learned a bit about our US presidents at the same time practicing coin identification.

I made up a set of coin anchor chart posters that you may find helpful. Print them off; mount on a variety of colors of construction paper; laminate and then affix a real coin using a glue dot.  They make a nice bulletin board, as well as giant flashcards.

The packet also includes entire sheets of each coin, so that you can make manipulatives, games, and math centers. 

There are also separate templates for each coin featuring the head and tail side. Simply fold, cut, glue and laminate.  Punch a hole at the top and suspend them from the ceiling. 

Several coin conversion posters are included as well.  i.e. How many pennies make up each coin?  This anchor chart is a fun way to practice skip counting by 10s, as I made lots of groups of ten pennies.

Another visual that I use is a coin Venn diagram.  I believe that if a child has to compare and contrast the coins, it will help them identify them as separate units. 

You can do these as a whole group, as an independent worksheet or partner activity.  I pass out real coins for children to examine.  Completed projects make a nice bulletin board.  Making a coin Venn diagram also helps reinforce descriptive writing, as children use lots of adjectives while comparing.

Since putting a puzzle together, was one of our Y5's standards, as well as counting backwards from 10 to 1 and skip counting by 10s, I designed these coin-themed number puzzles. 

Print and laminate for an independent center, or run them off and give children a choice.  They color, trim, mix up their pieces and then put their puzzle together.  For an interesting mosaic craftivity, have students glue their pieces to a sheet of construction paper, leaving a small space in-between each piece.

Ten frames are also wonderful for visual learners.  With that in mind, I designed a set of 10 frames for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, plus extra tiles of each, so you can run them off and use them as manipulatives. Click on the link to view/download the 10 Frames Coin Packet.

There's nothing like saying "Would you like to play a game?" to grab your students' attention.  I used dice to help my Y5's  subitize, (Quickly identify how many in a group, without having to count.) so I designed the Coins On A Roll dice game. 

Simply run off the coin bookmarks.  Students pick a partner and take turns rolling the dice.  If they roll a one they color in the penny.  If they roll a two, they color in the second coin, which is a nickel and so on.   However, if someone rolls a six, they lose their turn. 

The first child who colors in all of the coins on ther bookmark is the winner.  The game is also a nice opportunity to review ordinal numbers as well. Before the game starts, ask children what the first coin is, the last coin, third coin etc. is.  Later, when children are done playing the game, for a quick whole-group assessment, have them cover the names of the coins and ask them to: "Point to the penny."  "Now point to the quarter." and so on.  Click on the link to view/download the Coins On A Roll dice game.

If your school requires you to send homework home, or if you need some coin-themed worksheets for early finishers to do, click on the link to view/download the 10-page Coin Worksheet packet. These are also great for Daily 5 word work or a sub folder.  

For a more advanced activity, students can make a Flip For Facts File Folder. They are a simple and effective way to introduce research to early elementary students.  Children search for interesting facts Online, choose their favorites, and then put them into their own words. 

As with my other flip for facts file folders, I've included several pages of how to explain citations to your kiddos. Helpful links are also provided.  The Flip For Facts File Folders are a nice pre-cursor to writing a report. 

Finally, to help review coin facts as well as grammar, I designed 30 coin-themed grammar cards. Students circle letters that should be capitalized and add end punctuation. 

You can do this with a pocket chart and call on students, or pass one card out to each child, to correct with a dry erase marker. 

After eveyone has shared their card, have students choose 3-6 cards and rewrite the sentences correctly.  This is a great Daily 5 word work activity.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting. I hope you found a few things to help make learning about coins a bit more fun. 

For all of my FREE coin activities, click on the link to zip on over to the money section of TeachWithMe.com

The wind is howling outside my window, so it's time for a well-deserved hot cocoa break.  Wishing you a warm and snuggly day.

"Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen, on the 'gotta have it' scale." -Zig Ziglar

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

Since the lists of my all-time favorite books for various units, have been so popular, I decided to make one for my love-themed selections, which include Valentine's Day books and books about hugs, kisses and love. 

I think it's probably my biggest collection, as Valentine's Day has been my favorite holiday since I was five.   Click on the link to view/dowload the list of My 100 All-Time Favorite Valentine Books.

Books need a bookmark, so I designed ten Valentine bookmarks that you can use as incentives (challenge students to collect all of them as they complete various tasks each day) or give as prizes on your party day. 

Click on the link to view/download the Valentine's Day Bookmark packet.

Like the book lists, the punctuation pocket cards, have also been extremely popular, so I made a set of 30 with a valentine theme.  Print; laminate and trim. 

You can put them in your pocket chart, read as a whole group and then make corrections with a dry erase marker. 

Students circle the letters that should be capitalized, and then add end punctuation. 

I made a lot more cards for this packet, as I thought it might be a fun activity for Valentine's Day. 

Pass one out to each student to make corrections and then share the results with the class. 

I purposely included quite a few contractions in the simple sentences to provide yet another teachable moment.  Click on the link to view/download the Valentine Grammar Cards.

While I was making the valentine clock cards yesterday, I was working on several other telling time activities, and finished them today. 

Time For Valentines is a candy heart spinner game.  Children play with a partner or in groups of 3 or 4 taking turns spinning the candy heart clock. 

Whatever number they land on, is the heart that they color on their recording sheet.  Students also write in the digital time, and if you want, have them cover the heart with a candy one. 

The student who completes their clock first is the winner.  The prize can be the candy hearts. Inform students that they may eat one, and then put the rest in the box to take home.  Click on the link to view/download the Candy Heart Clock Game.

Finally, I also finished the Watch Me Tell Time whole-group assessment activity.  Print off the pocket watch page on tan or gold paper, cut off the directions. 

Run off the clocks and digital time rectangles on glossy photo paper. Cut out the clocks and boxes and glue one to each pocket watch paper.  You've now created a dry erase board.

Call out a time. Using a dry erase marker, students draw hands on the clock face and write the digital time in the box.  When they are done, they hold up their pocket watch. 

This is a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess analog and digital time to the hour or half hour.  (Common Core State Standard:  1.MD.3)  Click on the link to view/download the Watch Me Tell Time assessment packet.

Thanks for visiting today; I hope it's love-filled.   Feel free to PIN away! 

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." -John Dewey 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Pilgrim Activities With Me!

I'm always open to suggestions for 10-frames templates.  They are such a wonderful vehicle for teaching all sorts of math concepts, so it's nice to revisit them each month. 

By changing the theme and manipulatives for the cards, you keep things fresh and interesting; so when Kathie, over in Montana, asked for a Pilgrim set, I whipped some together and thought others might enjoy them too.  Click on the link to view/download the Pilgrim 10 Frames packet.

The easy reader 1-2-3 Count Pilgrims With Me is a wonderful accompaniment.

• Students read, trace and write the number and number word.
• They see a pilgrim in a sentence and say it.
• They spy the number in a sequence and circle it.
• They X-out that many boxes or use a bingo dot marker or stamp.
• They cut and glue the set/group of pilgrims to the matching numbered box.

The packet also includes:

• 3 graphing extensions
• 30-word wall word/number flashcards
• Covers for the flashcards to make Itty Bitty Books
• A "Plus one more" math skill sheet &
• A certificate of praise.

As long as I was diddling around with my master templates, I decided to make a Pilgrim Shape Game packet too.  I've included a shape spinner in the newer shape game packets. 

You can continue to use the laminated shape cards in a math center, or you can have students pick a partner and take turns spinning.  

Whatever shape they land on, they place the matching shape tile on the twin Pilgrim card.  Make extra sets, and reinforce colors too.  Using a dry erase marker, students color in whatever shape they spin with that matching color.   Click on the link to view/download the Pilgrim Shape Games.

In another Pilgrim-themed math game, students work on their addition skills.  They take turns rolling dice to come up with an answer, and then color the sum that they find on the Pilgrim coloring sheet.   Click on the link to view/download the Pilgrim additon coloring game.

I See "Sum" Fall Puzzles includes some Pilgrim/Thanksgiving  templates and is also a math activity that can be set up as an independent center or played as a game. 

You can print, laminate and cut the puzzles to use in your math center, or run them off and have students cut and glue them together.  There are blank templates so that you can do subtraction as well as addition. Click on the link above to view/download it.

Thanks for visiting.  As always feel free to PIN away. The "Pin it" button is located at the top, on the burgundy menu bar.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can pop on by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving." -W.T. Purkiser

1-2-3 Come Do Some Scarecrow Activities With Me!

I love scarecrows; they were one of my favorite things to draw as a child.  Having grown up in Wisconsin, I enjoyed seeing the variety of these farmer-creations that kept watch over the pastoral countryside.

One of the first Art & Activities units that I designed was on scarecrows.  This was prior to all of the software programs, fonts and clip art that I now have at my disposal, but I think you'll still enjoy making some of these cuties from my hand drawn patterns.  Click on the link to view/download the 66-page Scarecrow Art & Activities packet. 

Here are a few samples:

Patrick, the paper chain scarecrow, can help your kiddo's countdown to Thanksgiving break.  Choose 2-colors for the links and review an ABAB pattern, or add a 3rd color to do ABCABC. 

You can simply make one to hang in your classroom, or set this scarecrow up as an independent center and have children work on one of their own. (Assign as many links as are appropriate for your age group.)  To incorporate blends, have students write an sc word on each link.

Carl, the counting scarecrow, will help your students review numbers 1-10, skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's as well as the spatial directions of left and right. 

Five Little Crows in a Cornfield, is a "craftivity" that also includes math practice.

My all-time favorite scarecrow craft I call "Personal Scarecrows."  They are "jointed" so you can pose them in different ways.

Cut out a variety of colored construction paper shapes to use as "patches" for a quick and easy shape review.

I enlarged my students' school photo.  This became the scarecrow's head. The picture appeared very pixilated, which added to the awesome scarecrow looking effect. 

If you don't have the ability to do this, I've also included a scarecrow head template your children can cut and color.

When I was a freelance writer for Mailbox Magazine, my editor asked me to write a scarecrow poem.  The personal scarecrows were my inspiration. 

We received zillions of compliments on our hallway display, and my Y5's really enjoyed making them.  Click on the link to view/print the Personal Scarecrow craftivity.  

On a smaller scale, you could do Sam/Samantha the Shapely Scarecrows.   Give students the option of whether they want to make a boy or girl scarecrow. 

With the personal scarecrow, students got in some great cutting practice, by snipping on the lines of a square to make "hay". They glued these to the ends of the scarecrow's arms and legs. 

For Sam/Samantha, I ran yellow construction paper through my husband's shredder.  Pick up a bunch, crinkle it even more and tape the end to the back of the scarecrow. 

If you don't have a shredder, The Dollar Store sells bags of all sorts of colors.  Look for shredded paper in the gift bag section.  Most school offices have a shredder; you can ask to borrow it. 

To make "stuffing hay" a bit easier for little ones, put a piece of double-sided tape on the back. Children pick up pieces of shred and press them on the tape, when they are done, cover the stickiness with a piece of regular tape.

Remind students ahead of time, that if they throw the shred around and make a mess, that they will not be able to use some on their scarecrow. I think it gave Sam/Samantha that finishing touch. 

A template of additional shapes is included. Students can cut and glue as many "patches" to Sam's/Samantha's clothes as they desire.  I used a piece of yarn to make a dangler.  If you want this to look good on both sides when they spin, each child needs 2 of everything. 

A simpler way to assemble the scarecrow is to have students glue their pieces together.  Punch a hole in the triangle and suspend from the ceiling back-to-back with another child's scarecrow.   Adding a few real buttons adds a bit more pizzazz.  Click on the link to view/download Sam/Samantha The Shapely Scarecrow craftivity.

Finally, my favorite scarecrow easy-reader is My Scarecrow's Nose.  It too reviews shapes, as the scarecrow tries on different shaped noses.  In the end, he gets his favorite, the triangle. Children read, trace, write, color and draw. 

A graphing extension is included, where students vote on their favorite nose for the scarecrow; 2 worksheets continue the shape review.  Click on the link to view/download My Scarecrow's Nose.

I have a nice variety of other scarecrow activities on the site, including scarecrow 10 frames, and a scarecrow glyph.  Click on the link to zip on over to the scarecrow section. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you can pop by tomorrow to grab the newest FREEBIES. 

You may PIN anything you want.  If you'd like to take a peek at all of the cute-educational stuff I PIN, click on the heart button on the right.

"It will not always be summer; build barns." -Hesiod

1-2-3 Come Use 10-Frames With Me.

As promised, I got the rest of the fall 10-frames completed this week.  Pumpkin 10 frames, Spider 10 frames, Scarecrow 10 frames, Leaf 10 frames, Football 10 frames, Bat 10 Frames, Fire Safety 10 Frames and Candy Corn 10 Frames are now ready for instant download. (Whew!) Just click on the links.  If you missed the apple 10 frames, or the owl 10 frames for September, simply click on their links.  To view all of my 10 Frame FREEBIES click on this link.

Thinking about numbers using 10 frames, can be a helpful and easy way for students to learn basic number facts. A 10 frame is a simple graphic tool that allows people to  “see” numbers.

They will help your students with number sense, place value, patterns and relationships, as well as subitizing (being able to recognize at a glance, domino and dice patterns, without having to count the dots).

There are lots of activities that you can do with the 10-frame packets besides the obvious.  Use them as flashcards, examples in your pocket chart, switch up your number word wall to be seasonal, and post a themed set there. You can make laminated sets for games and/or run off copies of whatever you'd like your students to work on, and use them as a table top lesson, math center, or to make booklets.

A set of numbers, number words, and math symbols (plus, minus, equals, greater and less than) allows students to make equations (covering more standards) plus play a variety of games. i.e.  Match the 10 frame to the number card, or number word, to play a Memory Match game, or play "I Have; Who Has?" 

You can also use the number word cards to ask questions of "How many more to make ______?" i.e. There are 2 pieces of candy corn on the candy corn number cards.  How many more are needed to equal the number on a particular card.  (1 more is needed for the one card, 9 more for the ten card etc. ) 
Do the same with the bat number word cards, that feature 4 bats. 

The scarecrow-number word cards have 2 different pictures in an ABAB pattern.  Ask students which picture is on all of the even numbered cards and which is on the odd numbered cards. You can do the same with the spider number cards as they are 2 different colors.

I'm always looking to improve things, so I thought I'd make some extra tiles for you to print, laminate and cut out, so that your students can use these as matching manipulatives for the 10 frames.  Use them for the above games to fill in a 10 frame.  Children can also count, sort, and pattern with them. For added fun, and a sweet treat, give students 10 pieces of candy corn when you're working with the Candy Corn 10 frames.  As a reward for wonderful work, students can eat a few at the end of the activity.

If there's a fall theme that I missed, that you'd like a 10-frame packet for, simply shoot me an e-mail diane@teachwithme.com and I'll see what I can do.  10 Frames for Turkeys and Pilgrims are in the works for November.  I'll also be making 10 frames for winter and a set for spring as well, so if you have a request, let me know.

If you'd like some links to a few wonderful 10-frame videos and 10-frame games, click on the link to pop on over to that blog article.  For more 10-Frame practice that incorporates reading standards too, try our 1-2-3 Count ____________'s With Me booklets.  They are themed easy-readers, based on 10 frames.  All of the above 10 frame packets, have matching "Count With Me" booklets, that would be wonderful seasonal extensions.  Click on the link to zip on over to my 10-frame section, and scroll down to see all of the 1-2-3 Counting booklets.

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"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me." -Erma Bombeckdo