What Key Will Unlock The Secret Shaped Lock? What Will You Find When You Do?

Announce the booklet activity with that question, and I'm sure you'll have your students' attention.  They LOVE a mystery.

When I owned an old Victorian house and renovated it to be the Hastings House gift shop, one of my best sellers in the “Kids’ Collection” were little metal locks.

I always let my own children “shop” the catalogs with me, to see what they’d want.

They were a great gage as to what other children would want too.

I never would have ordered the locks, because I had no idea what a child would do with them.

They came with a set of 2 little keys.  Well, a zillion other kids liked those pretty-colored locks too; I used to order them by the gross every few months.

It was that memory, that inspired this little booklet, which I dedicate to my awesome adult “kids”.

It’s a fun way to review the various 2D shapes, including the pentagon, hexagon and octagon, as well as the Common Core State Standards: RF.K.3a, RF.K.1c, RF.K.3d, RF.K.3c, L.K.2a, L.K.2b, L.1.2b, RF.1.1a, K.G.2

Students read the simple sentences, helped by picture clues.

They trace and write the shape word, circle the capital letters and add the end punctuation, as well as cut and glue the key, to the matching numbered box in their booklet.

The last page offers some additional writing practice.

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it aloud as a whole group, to reinforce concepts of print, as well as reminding them that there are spaces between words, they read from left to right and from the top down.

Click on the link to view/download The Secret Shaped Locks easy reader booklet.

Do you have a shape lesson you could share with us?  I’d enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

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

“Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects.” – Will Rogers

The Silly Shaped Penguins Family Has GROWN!

Do you remember the Silly Shaped Penguins I packet I made a while back?

It features 2D shaped penguin craftivities + an easy reader with a surprise ending, where the last penguin is in the shape of a child’s shoe, thus making the booklet a special keepsake.

It has been THE most popular download in January and has been pinned a zillion times.

Many requests have come in for an additional page with penguin patterns for the newer shapes: pentagon, hexagon and octagon, that have since become standards for some teachers.

Well, you asked for them, you got them.  Here is the Silly Shaped Penguins 2 packet.

It contains the patterns for the pentagon penguin as well as the hexagon and octagon penguins.

I’ve also included these as an additional page in the booklet.

If you don’t teach those shapes, simply don’t add that page, or you could “raise the bar” and challenge students to learn some new ones!

Click on the link to view/download Silly Shaped Penguins 2.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might enjoy.

“Write it on your heart, that every day is the best day in the year.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson