1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Scarecrow Activities With Me

I thought I was finished diddling around with scarecrows for the season, and was ready to move on to turkeys, until I got a request for some scarecrow alphabet cards. 

I enjoy making ABC cards; they don't take that long, so I'm always happy to oblige special requests, even if they come from only one visitor. I think others will also enjoy them as well.

Click on the link to view/download the scarecrow alphabet cards, along with a 3-page tip list of what else to use them for, and some "Kaboom!" cards to make alphabet games even more fun.

A teacher from Michigan, e-mailed me that she really liked The Scarecrow's Shapely Nose packet and wondered if I could make a shape slider of a scarecrow like the puppy pal.  Great idea Lynn! 

Click on the link to view/download The Scarecrow's Nose Shape Slider.  For extra pizzazz I added "straw" that was made by running yellow construction paper through my husband's shredder!

Children are bound to get antsy when doing seatwork, so I liked to include some gross motor activities to help get the "wiggles" out.  Brain breaks are equally important.  I tried to include my theme whenever I could. 

One of my Y5's favorite movement-songs was This Scarecrow.  It's sung to the tune of This Old Man.  The packet is filled with lots of silly rhyming fun. 

I hope your kiddo's enjoy "snapping, clapping, tapping, and slapping" as much as mine did. Click on the link to view/download it.

Finally, because it's difficult to fit in science to an already packed day, I try and design things that incorporate some science, along with a variety of other Common Core State Standards.  My Scarecrow's Senses does just that. 

Students read, trace, write, add end punctuation, underline the adjectives and color.  After asking the scarecrow what he see's, hears, feels, smells and tastes, it's the child's turn to write about their autumn senses.  Click on the link to view/download My Scarecrow's Senses.

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and blog daily.  I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES that I so enjoy sharing.  Feel free to PIN away.   If you'd like to take a look at all of the wonderfully-creative educational items that I pin, click on the heart button to the right of the blog.

"For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be." -John Connolly

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