Items filtered by date: March 2013

4 pages. 7 different graduation bookmarks to tuck in a book, bag, or whatever little gift you are giving your students for graduation.

1 page. Good advice. Use posters as writing prompts and ask students to comment on them. Do they agree or disagree? What does the poster mean? etc.  This FREEBIE is part of my jumbo 203-page Miss Nelson is Missing Literacy & Math packet in my TpT shop.  Click on the link to pop on over.  For your convenience, I've included a PREVIEW here.

1-2-3 Come Be A Word Wizard With Me

As you go through the year, you add lots of words to your word wall.  We sometimes take for granted that because we've covered a set of words for a while, that they will have stuck in our students' brains. 

This is not necessarily true for some children; that's why it's so important to review these words on a daily basis. 

To make this more fun, a few minutes before lunch, or just before we got ready to go home, I'd turn off the lights and choose a Popsicle stick with a child's name on it. 

They got to turn on my neon laser sword and read a group of words. Then they'd point to the words and everyone would say them together.

When they were done, they'd choose another student to do the same, 'til time ran out.

My students LOVED doing this.  I'd also play "flash a word" with a flashlight.  The room was dark and I'd suddenly flash the light on a word.  The first one who identified it, got the flashlight.

Being able to recognize words is a Common Core State Standard: (RF.K.3c)

I'd often use our word wall for Daily 5 Word Work activities.

When all of the office supply stores are having huge loss leaders in August, I'd buy a class supply of notebooks. Most of the time these were only 10 or 15 cents each.

My Y5's felt very "grown up" getting a notebook and enjoyed practicing all sorts of writing activities and recording them in their notebooks.

I had my students become word wizards, which helped them enjoy vocabulary-building activities even more.

In the Word Wizard packet, I've included a cover for your students to glue to their notebook.

They can give their covers more pizzazz, if they draw or glue a picture of themselves as the word wizard.

Have children think of 4-5 adjectives that describe themselves. They write those words around their wizard.

Every day assign a numbered activity for them to do, with words from your word wall, or give them a choice of what activity to choose.

I've included a list of 51 activities that can easily be repeated with different words on another day.

This packet is a quick and easy way to cover "word work" for your Daily 5 activities.

There's also a certificate of praise to hand out at the end of the year when students have completed their notebooks.

Click on the link to view/download the Word Wizard packet.

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"The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make A Mother's Day Gift With Me!

Are you looking for some quick, easy and inexpensive ideas for making a Mother's Day gift that will become a cherished keepsake?  You've come to the right blog.  How about some "paper love" where that adorable creation becomes even more special when their child reads it to them!

I've designed several easy readers that teach a variety of common core standards. Be sure and read the completed projects as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print, and as a fun way for students to practice before they take their treasures home to read.

My Book Of Flowers reinforces color words. Students read the simple sentences and add end punctuation.

They trace and write the words in their matching colors, color the flower the appropriate color, and then color, cut & glue the matching picture.

The end of the story includes a Happy Mother's Day greeting with a  lovely bouquet.  I've also included a blank template for students who are giving the booklet to someone other than a mommy.  Click on the link to view/download My Book of Flowers Mother's Day easy reader.

Where Are The Flowers? is another easy reader,  This one reinforces spatial directions. 

Students read the simple sentences and add end punctuation.  The sentence "clues" tell where they should glue the flowers (in, above, under, between etc.)  

Children trace and write the directional words.   The surprise ending has a 3D door where Happy Mother's Day wishes and a lovely bouquet await mom when she flips it open.

As with the above booklet, I've also included generic pages, so students can fill in another special person. Click on the link to view/download the Mother's Day Spatial Direction booklet.

My Mom is my personal favorite.  Here students use adjectives and adverbs to describe their mommies. 

They also draw a picture and cut out the Happy Mother's Day heart.  You can make this booklet even more of a keepsake, by adding a school picture.

I've done the pages in traceable format for little ones.  Older students can simply write their own pages.

Click on the link to view/download the My Mom easy reader.

Finally, Thanks For All You Do Mom was my Y5's favorite.  They especially enjoyed making a blue-ribbon badge for their mom and tucking it in this easy reader.

The list of things that "mom's do and are loved for," was compiled throughout the years by my Y5's via a discussion, so the booklet is truly from a child's perspective.

Students read, trace, write, color, cut, glue and add end punctuation.  I've updated this packet and included 3 booklets for various ages/ability levels + the original one in color. 

Older students can draw their own pictures, where as younger kiddos color, cut and glue the picture to the page, as well as trace and write the main idea words.

I've included a variety of little square pictures for students to choose from to include on their blue ribbon badge for mom, or you can have children draw their own.  

The pictures reflect the ideas in their booklet and were thought up by my Y5's.  Click on the link to view/download the Thanks For All You Do Mom activity packet.

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"Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions!" -Unknown

8 pages. This is a sweet booklet perfect for a Mother's Day gift card. Students read the simple sentences and add end punctuation; they trace & write the color words, color the flowers the correct colors and then color, cut & glue the matching picture.

1-2-3 Come Make a Glyph With Me

Are you going to be studying insects?  Do you need a quick, easy and fun way to assess listening and following directions?

Then I think you'll enjoy this cute little bee glyph.  A glyph is a wonderful way to see if students are listening and following directions. Completed projects are proof of that ability.

They are also a fun way to collect and analyze data, which will help you with Common Core State Standards:1.MD.4, K.MD.3

The packet also includes 6 graphing extensions and a data collection sheet.

Have your students choose a partner to interview (questions included) and see how many they need to ask before they guess which is their classmate's glyph.

My Y5's enjoyed becoming glyph detectives and their completed glyphs made wonderful bulletin boards and hallway displays.  Click on the link to view/download the bee glyph.

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"Be the change you want to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

1-2-3 Come Make Butterflies and Flowers With Me!

Are you studying butterflies or looking for a quick and easy center activity that makes a lovely spring bulletin board or window display, that will brighten up your room?

Wax paper butterflies jazzed up with melted crayons, might be just what you need.

Here’s how to make them:

Run off the body part of the butterfly on a variety of colors of construction paper.

Rough cut them and stack them into color piles so that students can choose their favorite.

While students are working on a tabletop lesson, call them individually to the table.

Students choose a color or colors of crayons that they want to shave.

Students hold the sharpener over a sheet of wax paper big enough to be able to trace 3 hearts on.

You need it larger so that when the shavings melt, they do not run outside of the wax paper.

Make sure the wax paper is on a mini ironing board or a folded towel.

When the child has enough shavings sprinkled around the paper, lay a second piece of wax paper on top.

Using an iron on the lowest setting, slowly melt the shavings. Be careful that the pools do not run off the paper.

Let cool a few seconds and have the child step to the side to trace the heart template onto the wax paper.

Once done, she takes her paper back to her seat and cuts out the hearts and glues them to the back of her butterfly’s thorax.

When they are done, they can bring their butterfly up to you, so that you can give them glue dots for their wiggle eyes and rhinestones that they have picked out.

These look fabulous on a window. Simply put a small piece of folded tape on the thorax and stick.

Click on the link to view/download the wax paper butterfly activity

If you don’t want to mess with melting crayons, squares of tissue paper attached with
Elmer’s glue also look awesome.

There are 12 different templates in the wax paper and tissue packet.

These projects are simple, inexpensive, quick, and also look fantastic hanging in a window.

My students loved making them and always asked to do more than one.

Tape them to a sheet of construction paper as a "flip up" and you have a "way cool" greeting card for Mother’s Day or whatever.

Click on the link to view/download the Monthly Wax Paper Art Projects

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“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” –Maya Angelou

10 pages. Common Core State Standards:1.MD.4,K.MD.3 A glyph is a wonderful way to see if students are listening and following directions. They are also a fun way to collect and analyze data.

1-2-3 Come Make Student Gifts With Me

Are you looking for something quick and easy to make your students, for the last week of school, that won't break the bank? You've stopped at the right blog.

I always sent my students home with a little something as a good-bye gift, but when you have 2 classes of Y5's with 20 in each class, that often got a bit expensive.

The "Wishing a "kool" kid a very kool summer" treat, is a breeze to put together. A box of 48 Kool-Aide packages sells for around $13 Dollars. 

If you don't have that many students, perhaps another teacher will split the cost with you.

I bought the Curly Straws at The Dollar Store. (6 in a package.)

Here’s how to make them:

Cut toilet paper rolls in half.

Run off the owl template on a variety of colors of construction paper, or simply light brown to look more realistic.

If you want to add a bit more pizzazz, color in the beak and feet and add wiggle eyes with a glue dot.

Staple or tape the owl to the toilet paper tube.

Run off the teacher and student notes + bookmark(s).

I’ve included black and white bookmarks for students to color, or colored bookmarks if you want. You can tuck in one of each if you choose.

On the teacher paper, write a note to each one of your students telling them why they are a “Kool” kid and then sign them.

Roll them up and insert into the toilet paper tube. They will unwind and fit snug.

Bend a package of Kool-Aid so that it fits and tuck that in along with the bookmark(s) and a Curly straw.

Give directions and model the lesson. Pass out the student “You rule” papers to each student.

I included this writing extension because it is a real self-esteem builder for kids and puts the icing on the cake.

Have them write their name on the top and then pass it to another student close by.

Students complete the thought: “I think you’re a really “Kool” kid because…”

When they are done writing their sentence they sign their name at the end and pass it to another child.

Continue passing papers ‘til everyone has written a compliment on all of the papers.

Children will be really excited to read their classmates comments, but tell your students they will get to read them later, and quickly collect the papers.

Roll them and insert them into your note.

Make sure you can see the students’ names, so that you can put the correct one on their desk the last week of school.

I don’t save things ‘til the last day, as some students might be absent.

Click on the link to view/download the Kool Kid Owl Miss You packet.

I hope your students enjoy this activity. I wish you a wonderful last week of school.

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"Life is a great big canvas. You should throw all the paint you can on it." -Danny Kaye