A Spook-tacular Math Game:Haunted Fact Family Houses!

Since the Fact Family Schoolhouses were such a huge hit for back to school, I decided to make a Fact Family set for October too.

This  "craftivity" and game help reinforce addition and subtraction math standards in a fun way.

The 17-page packet includes:

• Fact Family "craftivity" templates.
• Fact Family spinner game templates.
• Directions and link for a home-school math connection for fact family online homework skill building practice
• Directions and sample of how to make mini dry erase envelope boards.
• Fact Family T-bar "mad-minute" skill sheets +
• A certificate of praise.

If your students did the Schoolhouse Packet, they are already "empowered"! This one will be a real self-esteem builder for them.

Click on the link to view/download Fact Family Haunted House Packet.

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"Let us endeavor so to live, that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry." - Mark Twain

1-2-3-Come Count and Sort Monsters With Me!

I enjoyed doing a mini-monster theme in early October.  My Y5’s LOVED it.

For a gross motor activity I had them prance around to the Monster Mash.

So I decided to make a Monster Math packet to help study even and odd numbers. “Odd Twad” and "Even Shteven” make it all the more fun!

The numbers go up to 30. Students can also count and sequence the numbers and make an Itty Bitty booklet.

You can play the game “I Have; Who Has?” by  tossing the cards in a basket.  Have each child choose a card and then start with the number 1.

The child holding monster card number one says: “I have monster 1.  Who has monster 2?” Children show their cards and then put them back in the basket.

Play continue til all of the cards have been called.

You can also put these cards up on the wall as a number line. Have some mischievous monster steal one each day. Students can guess which number is missing.

I've also put numbers on a clothesline, clipped with tiny clothespins. Mess up 3-5 numbers each day and have students tell you, using spatial direction words,( behind, beside, between, before, after etc. ) how to fix the line.

I hope you have a monstrously great time with this Monster Math Packet.

Click on the link to view/download it!

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“Winning isn’t always finishing.  Sometimes winning is just finishing!” –Manuel Diotte

ABC-123 KnOWLedge is Power!

As promised, here is the other set of Alphabet-owl themed cards. The clip art is again by Laura Strickland and includes a separate set of upper and lowercase letters so that you can play Memory Match Concentration games as well as “I Have; Who Has?”

You can also use these cards as an assessment tool for Common Core RF.K1d and L.1.1a

Besides having students arrange the cards in alphabetical order and making an Itty Bitty KnOWLedge Booklet, or matching upper to lowercase letters, have children make up CVC words for "word work" during Daily 5 time.

For games and other ideas of how to use the cards, check out my idea tip sheet that's included in the packet.

Click on the link to view/download the Owl-Themed Upper and Lowercase Alphabet Cards

Since the owl-themed things have been so popular, I wanted to make counting cards to match the alphabet cards too.

The cards go up to 120 since that's now the standard for 1st grade.

I have a cover for Counting to 100 and a cover for Counting to 120 if you'd like students to sequence and then collate the owls into a mini booklet of KnOWLedge.

Have students sort the cards into odd and even piles.

Give two children an owl. Ask the class: "Whoooooooo has the numbered owl that is greater than?" Pass out two more owls and choose two more children and ask: "Whooooo has the numbered owl that is less than?" Play until everyone has had a turn.

If you have an owl theme in your room, put one up each day as you count up to 100 Day!

Click on the link to view/download the Owl-Themed Counting Cards

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

If there are other owl-themed things you’d like me to incorporate into “something”, just shoot me an e-mail diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

“The mind is an iceberg-it floats with only one-seventh of its bulk above water.” –Sigmund Freud

Owl Be Learning The Alphabet and How To Count In Kindergarten!

As promised, here are the traceable alphabet and number owl-themed cards. The adorable clipart is from Laura Strickland.

This 20 - page packet helps with  Common Core State Standards: RF:K1d and L.1.1a

Your students will enjoy tracing these cards and making Itty Bitty booklets to take home and share with their family.

Have students use the cards to sort vowels and consonants; have them make CVC words; use the cards for "Word Work" for your Daily 5 activities.

I've included a tip sheet of other ideas you can use the cards for, including a variety of games like Memory Match Concentration and "I Have; Who Has?"

Number cards include counting to 30, skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's. 

Students can choose a card and begin counting from that number, sort numbers in even and odd piles, sequence numbers, count backwards etc.

Click on the link to view/download the traceable owl alphabet and number cards.

Tomorrow I'll post the other set of owl cards, I'm still working on some skill sheets to go with them.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site you think others will find helpful.

"Attitude determines altitude!"-Unknown

Owl Promise To Read So I Can Succeed!

Owls seem to be a popular theme this year, so I whipped together a reading packet for you.

This 26-page packet includes:

• 2 posters
• 9 incentive bookmarks
• A button badge
• 5 different colored blank owls.  Use them for name tags, tub labels, pencil toppers, cubbies, punch cards, or put them on a bulletin board with your students' names on them and a caption that says: "Look whoooooo's reading in __________'s class!"
• A book report form
• A reading log
• A calendar star chart "promise to read" monthly sheet
• A monthly reading graph of student participation +
• A certificate of praise

Click on the link to view/download Owl Reading Packet

If you liked this theme packet, and are doing other owl things in you classroom, you may also like my Owl Treat Bag candy bag,  Owl Treat Bag lunch bag, as well as my "Owl Be Watching You!" RULE poster,  and other Owl Activities. 

Click on the links to check these things out.  I also have an owl mask available in my mask packet too.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can drop by tomorrow for 2 more owl-themed activities: two sets of  owl alphabet and number cards, pefect for all sorts of games.

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity no matter how impressive their other talents." -Andrew Carnegie

Getting To The Core, With Clothing, Specifically--What She Wore!

Mary Wore A Red Dress is another of my favorite back to school books.

It’s a great book for introducing color words to students.

In my “Red Dress Packet” I’ve included 11 color-picture cards to go with the book.  You can pass them out to your students to use as manipulatives when you read the story.

Print and laminate them.  Attach a magnet or piece of Velcro to the back and have students sequence them on your white board or a flannel board to enhance story time.

After the reading, pass out the pieces again and have students retell the story using the manipulatives.  See if they can get them in the proper order.

I’ve also included 2 different class books with two different writing prompts.

One reinforces their name and what they wore to school having them incorporate a describing color word.  “My name is _______________. I wore ______________________ to school.”

The first page begins with the teacher: “I'm the teacher, _____________. I wore _______________ to school."

The other is a take off of Martin’s Brown Bear and asks: “________________ what do you see?” What makes this class book so special is that the teacher glues the students’ first day photograph on the pages and students use describing words to write the sentence.

There’s even a page for the teacher. 

You could also take pictures of the principal, secretary, lunch staff, librarian, playground assistants and anyone else you think students need to be familiar with, and include those in the book, so you can use it as a handy reference tool as well, helping your students become familiar with names as well as faces.

This 38-page packet of fun activities that reinforce color recognition, reading, writing and math skills also includes:

• 10 color-word wall word flashcards with 10 matching color cards +
• Covers to make an Itty Bitty Color-Word Book
• 5 Graphing extensions
• 8 skill sheets including "Rhyme Time" with words that rhyme with dress, shirt, pants and hat.
• "We CAN Tie Our Shoes!" Poster-Roster
• A connect the dots tennis shoe and
• 4 Certificates of Praise for shoe tying

Class book pages are great for your Daily 5 activities, or September writing prompts!

Click on the link to view/download Activities For Mary Wore A Red Dress Packet

Thanks for visiting today.

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“Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the whole world.” –Albert Einstein

Hot Tip With A Cool Solution For Bothersome Bulletin Board Borders!

Are your bulletin borders in a big mess, getting bent & folded?

Are you constantly losing those little end pieces that you need to complete a bulletin board?

Do you have a problem finding borders when you need them, because you don’t really have a decent way to organize them?

I used to too, and then I came up with round storage tubs and LOVE them!

Two large tubs solved my problem.  They stack on top of each other, so things are neat and conveniently organized and consolidated in one place.

I organize my borders by season, and simply twirl them inside the tub.

When I’m done with that seasonal border,  it goes on the INSIDE.  The one I will use next, is on the OUTSIDE of the ringed bunch.

This rotation system keeps me from having to search for a particular border.

I snip off an end of each border and tape it to the inside of the top of the lid, so I can see at a glance what I have in the tub.

ANOTHER Hot Tip:

If I decide not to use a border anymore, I remove the picture label from the top.

If the label has a blank section on it that I can write on, I’ll snip the border into pieces and write upper and lowercase letters on them, or numbers, and turn them into Memory Match Concentration games.

They make cute cubby labels, or name tags too.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you are having a wonderful school year!

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

"A good teacher is like a candle which consumes itself to light the way for others.” –Kahlil Gibran

1-2-3 Come Get Rid Of The First Day Jitters With Me!

As promised here is the Common Core packet for First Day Jitters.  As with If You Take A Mouse To School, it was requested by a lot of teachers.

If there are more Common Core Packets you'd like me to whip together, just drop me an e-mail diane@teachwithme.com, or leave a comment here. 

These packets truly are a very simple, quick, and easy way to cover the Common Core State Standards: RI.K5,RI.K6,RI.K9,RI.K10,RL.K2, RL.K3,RL.K6, L.K1d, RI.1.9, RL.1.2, RL.1.3 in a short amount of time.

Your students will enjoy them, as they are empowered by the consistency in format.  To view/download the other common core packets, click on the following links:  The Kissing Hand,  Chrysanthemum,  If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, and  If You Take A Mouse To School.

 The packet includes:

• A beginning-middle-end story map that will help students retell First Day Jitters
  
• A "favorite part" retelling "writing prompt" bookmark
• A compare and contrast Venn diagram with The Kissing Hand book
• Character, Setting and Event cards. (Laminate, put magnets on the back and put them up on your white board. Write down students' answers under the cards.)
• Question Words activity sheet, reinforcing the who, what, why, when, where, how words.
• Cover of book to label book parts + review author and illustrator
• Feelings worksheet and writing prompt
• Feelings graphing extension
• "Jitters" synonym discussion and worksheet

The "Feelings" worksheet is great for a September writing prompt, and the one covering synonyms is great for Daily 5 "Word Work". Click on the link to view/download First Day Jitters Common Core packet.

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope you're getting excited, rather than anxious for your first day!  As for me, I'm off to take a break and get some fresh air.  My brain's been on overload lately...perhaps basking a bit in the sunshine will help unclutter my mind.

"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." - Woodrow Wilson

If You Take A Mouse To School You'll Have A Lot Of FUN!!!

The Common Core packets using kiddy lit continue to be one of our most popular downloads. I started with The Kissing Hand added Chrysanthemum, then If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, and today I bring you If You Take A Mouse To School, which was one of the most requested books that I do a packet for.  I also just finished First Day Jitters.

Like all of the others, Taking A Mouse To School, follows the same format. it nails the Common Core State Standards: RI.K5,RI.K6,RI.K9,RI.K10,RL.K2, RL.K3,RL.K6, L.K1d, RI.1.9, RL.1.2, RL.1.3

I feel following a specific format when you do things, empowers students and builds their self-esteem. 

They feel smarter, because they know right from the start, what is expected of them and they can get "down to business"right away.

Less time is wasted because you are not reinventing the wheel preparing, nor are you having to continuously explain the directions and then having to repeat them to children who aren't listening or still don't "get it."

The packet includes:

• A beginning-middle-end story map that will help students retell If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
• A "favorite part" retelling "writing prompt" bookmark
• A compare and contrast Venn diagram with If You Take A Mouse To The Movies book
• Character, Setting and Event cards. (Laminate, put magnets on the back and put them up on your white board. Write down students' answers under the cards.)
• Question Words activity sheet, reinforcing the who, what, why, when, where, how words.
• Cover of book to label book parts + review author and illustrator
• Mouse "craftivity" writing prompt. My sample says: "I brought a baby elephant to school and he used the water fountain to take a bath and squirted water everywhere!"

The mouse "craftivity" makes a cute back to school 3-D bulletin board as the doors are slit open to reveal what "thing" each student has brought to school.

Make the schoolhouse extra special by having students write the name of your school over the door and gluing their picture in one of the windows.

This is also  great for a September writing prompt or Daily 5 activity. Click on the link to view/download If You Take A Mouse To School Common Core Packet.

This is truly a quick, easy and fun way to review a lot of common core state standards, so if there are other books that you’d like me to make packets for, just shoot me an e-mail.  diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment below.

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you can help them become what they are capable of becoming." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1-2-3 Come Do Some Give A Mouse A Cookie Activities With Me

Since the Common Core Kissing Hand packet was such a huge hit, I decided to make a few more popular back-to-school book packets for you!  Today’s freebie revolves around the fun book If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.

Like The Kissing Hand, it nails the Common Core State Standards: RI.K5,RI.K6,RI.K9,RI.K10,RL.K2, RL.K3,RL.K6, L.K1d, RI.1.9, RL.1.2, RL.1.3

The packet includes:

• A beginning-middle-end story map that will help students retell If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
• A "favorite part" retelling "writing prompt" bookmark
• A compare and contrast Venn diagram with If You Give A Pig A Pancake book
• Character, Setting and Event cards. (Laminate, put magnets on the back and put them up on your white board. Write down students' answers under the cards.)
• Question Words activity sheet, reinforcing the who, what, why, when, where, how words.
• Cover of book to label book parts + review author and illustrator
• Mouse "craftivity" writing prompt

The mouse "craftivity" makes a cute back to school 3-D bulletin board and is great for a September writing prompt or Daily 5 activity.

Click on the link to view/download If You Give A Mouse A Cookie Common Core Packet  I hope you enjoy this packet as much as The Kissing Hand one.

This is truly a quick, easy and fun way to cover a lot of common core state standards, so if there are other books that you’d like me to make packets for, just shoot me an e-mail.  diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment below. Tomorrow I'll be posting the If You Take A Mouse To School packet.

If you'd like to make another sweet little "craftivity" for the If You Take A Mouse Books, click on the link for the pattern and directions to make his cute blue jean bibs. I've made mini sequencing cards that students can tuck into the mouse's bib cup.

Thanks for visiting today.  I'm off to open up all of my windows and enjoy the wonderful summer breeze while I craft away.  "If you put Diane in front of a computer, she's sure to design away..."

“I have tried to write the best I can; sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.” –Ernest Hemingway