alphabet crafts,

1-2-3, Come Make a Letter Shape House With Me

This quick, easy & fun little craftivity, reviews a variety of standards; more value for your "time buck".
Do this sweet craft when you're working on the letter H, shapes (twelve, 2D shapes are included) or doing social studies and studying about families, communities & neighborhoods.

shape crafts, alphabet crafts, shape activities, alphabet activities, letter h crafts, letter h activities, alphabet centers, address activities, hape centersTo review more standards, when students share completed projects, encourage them to name the shapes & colors they chose, describing where they are located spatially. i.e. "My green rectangle door is beside the yellow window..." etc. 

shape crafts, alphabet crafts, shape activities, alphabet activities, letter h crafts, letter h activities, alphabet centers, address activities, hape centersFor a quick review, I've included 12, colorful flashcards featuring the 2D shapes.  If you're also working with fractions, have students draw windowpane lines, "cut" their windows in half and then in quarters.

shape crafts, alphabet crafts, shape activities, alphabet activities, letter h crafts, letter h activities, alphabet centers, address activities, hape centersIf you have "knows their address" as a standard, have students write theirs in the middle of the letter.

shape crafts, alphabet crafts, shape activities, alphabet activities, letter h crafts, letter h activities, alphabet centers, address activities, hape centersI've also included two worksheets in the packet as well.

For that finishing touch, add a school photo.  Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board too.

To celebrate 300 followers, this is a special FREEBIE in my TpT shop.  Simply click on the link to grab your copy today. 

shape crafts, alphabet crafts, shape activities, alphabet activities, letter h crafts, letter h activities, alphabet centers, address activities, hape centersThanks for stopping by.  It's a beautiful 70 degrees today; the sun is shining and I'm feeling especially blessed.  Wishing you a wonderful day.

1-2-3 Come Make Some Letter Puzzles With Me

Woo hoo!  I just finished another alphabet packet.  I hope your little ones enjoy practicing letters with them, as much as I did designing the puzzles.

number puzzles, alphabet puzzles, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, back to school gifts, back to school activities, These letter puzzles are not only great as a center or word work activity, they make an inexpensive & fun gift for your kiddos for that special first day or week of school. 

number puzzles, alphabet puzzles, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, back to school gifts, back to school activities, Print off each child's initial in color and laminate.  Cut them apart, mix up the pieces and fasten with  a paperclip. While you're doing all of those busy 1st-day activities, children can be putting their personal puzzle together. 

Numbered strip-puzzles are a quick, easy & fun way to help your kiddos practice counting and sequencing numbers, as well as review lowercase letters and words that begin with that letter.

Each letter has a puzzle that counts by 1s to 10, counts backwards from 10 to 1 and skip counts by 10s to 100.

letter a number puzzles 9They are in color as well as  black & white, so that on another day, they can color and create a different letter puzzle.

Make a laminated, full-color set, to use as an independent center, or do as a whole group activity.

For more word-work practice, older students cut their puzzle into strips, have them write the words that are featured in the picture. 

After they have cut their puzzle into strips, they can write an additional word that begins with that letter, on the back of each strip.

http://teachwithme.com/downloads/item/4810-alphabet-activities-alphabet-puzzles-alphabet-games-alphabet-bulletin-boards-alphabet-craftsFor an interesting “craftivity” have students glue their puzzle to a sheet of brightly colored construction paper. 

Remind them to leave a little bit of a gap between each section for an especially cool mosaic effect. Completed projects make an awesome bulletin board.

Another idea is to make a student-made classroom border, by assigning a different letter to each child. These could also be used for the letters above your word wall. 

This jumbo letter puzzle packet is in my TpT shop.  It's a whopping 163-pages long and just $3.95.  Click on the link to pop on over.  As always, there's a FREEBIE.   I pulled the 6, lowercase letter "a" puzzles, so you can try them out.  Click on the link to grab them.

number puzzles, alphabet puzzles, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, back to school gifts, back to school activities, That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Time to take a much-needed break and go kayacking with my hubby. Such a peaceful activity once you hit the water.  Wishing you a lovely day.

"Summer: If you're not barefoot, you're over-dressed." -Unknown
 

7 pages. Number puzzles are a quick, easy and fun way for children to practice sequencing numbers from 1-10, counting backwards from 10 to 1, and skip counting by 10s to 100.

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

Every year I had at least 3 or more kiddos that consistantly reversed the letters b and d.  Most of the other children, at one time or another, had also been a bit confused with these similar-looking letters; many had to pause and think about which was which, before they wrote.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, Because of that, I taught b and d together when we worked on letter of the week.  All they needed was a little tip or trick that they could remember and the confusion ended.  With that in mind I designed a jumbo Taking the Confusion Out Of b & d packet. 

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, I'm beyond relieved that it's done, as it took a zillion hours of research and work. 

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, Like most of my projects, I started out designing a "few posters" and things morphed into so much more; a few hours turned into an entire week! 

I really hope you find it beneficial.  I know in my heart that your kiddos will enjoy the projects.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, I truly believe the more you immerse children in a variety of engaging letter activities, the easier it is for them to learn, as well as differentiate.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, The packet is chock full of  a huge variety of all sorts of different, interesting and fun activities: worksheets, games, posters, tips, craftivities, graphs, assessments, stories, songs, emergent readers, puzzles; and even a maze, Venn diagram, some graphic organizers and a nursery rhyme thrown in!

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, Select what’s appropriate for your kiddos to use for: table top lessons, homework, partner play, games, a sub folder, early finishers, assessing, or centers. 

Many completed activities make awesome bulletin board displays as well.  

I think I’ve stuffed just about everything you’ll ever need, for helping students to differentiate between the lowercase letters b and d, with plenty left over to use for your individual letter of the day/week activities.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, Whether it’s a “bat and ball”, “bunny and dog”, “drum and stick”, “dish and spoon”, “handy hands”, “bulldog”, “baby b & daddy D”, a “closed and open mouth”, “Here’s looking at you”, or a “doorknob and door”, one will click for your kiddos, and I’ve included all of them in this packet.  

To help further reinforce the memory tactic,  for every tip-trick, there’s a poster, as well as matching worksheets and activities.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, So that you can reinforce more than one standard, math skills like counting, adding, subtracting, greater & less than, as well as graphing, shapes andtally marks, are all incorporated in some of the activities and worksheets.

Because the world is not made up entirely of “Times New Roman”, a variety of fun fonts are incorporated  as well.  

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, I have so many "favorites" in this packet, but one of the things I really enjoyed dreaming up, was the silly "b is for bubble gum" and "d is for Doofus the dog" stories. I hope they make you smile.

To conserve paper and ink, I also designed many of the worksheets with two, even 3 on a page.  Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop, and arm yourself with an arsenal of creative and fun ways, to end the confusion of b & d.  

Because the initial packet got so big, my husband thought I should divide it into two, not an easy task, but worth doing.  The best deal is to buy the "Bundle" which includes both packets and is a whopping 294 pages long!  You save $4 by doing this, as it's just $9.95.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, As always, I have some FREEBIES for you too.  I selected my 7 original tip posters, for taking the confusion out of b & d and included those in a mini packet.  Click on the link to grab it.

taking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, I introduce "Pinch & Pokes" as well as "Rip & Tears", in the jumbo b & d packet as well.  They are a great way to strengthen finger and hand muscles, so important in pre-writing.  My Y5's and kinders absolutely LOVED doing them!

Completed R & T's make awesome bulletin board displays too.  Click on the link to get your FREE 34-page upper and lowercase letter packet and let the muscle building begin.  

Ttaking the confusion out of b and d, letter reversal tips, letter reversal posters, problems with b and d, confusing b and d solutions, alpahbet activities, alphabet games, alphabet assessments, alpahbet crafts, alphabet stories, alphabet songs, hat's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  I have a zillion "I want to make this" piles on my desk, so it's time to get down to business. 

However, the summer sunshine is calling me, via the beautiful breeze coming through my office window; so perhaps a walk with Chloe, my poodle pup, might come first.  Is summer going way too fast for anyone else out there?

"Oh, the summer night, has a smile of light, and she sits on a sapphire throne." -Bryan Procter

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

Woo hoo!  I just finished another alphabet-themed packet.  This one features alphabet wheels, and is chock full of activities, worksheets, assessments, games, goodies and fun!

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, It's a whopping 190 pages long!  I never set out to create anything more than 20-30 pages, but then I get on a roll, and one thing leads to another, 'til I finally have to say that's it, and endeavor to turn the creative juices off.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, I'm relieved to get it done, as the "Turn While You Learn" picture wheels, nearly drove me insane.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, Lots of tweaking to get the layout just right, so that the letter, as well as the matching picture would show up in the middle of the appropriate window.

I have 3 FREEBIES from the packet that I'm offering in this blog, as I tell you a bit about my latest labor of love. 

Alphabet wheels are that "something different" that will get your kiddos excited about learning to recognize letters.  The wheels have been around in some form since the 70's, when I made my first one in college for a methods class.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, They are a super-fun way to whole group or individually assess a variety of alphabet standards. I've designed my alphabet wheels so that your kiddos can practice uppercase letters or lowercase letters by using an apple "pointer" that's attached to the center of the wheel. 

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, They can also match the lowercase letter to the uppercase letter using two wheels.  Finally, children can match a picture to a lower or uppercase letter, to practice letter sounds, as well as words that begin with that letter.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, Make a "triple wheel" by combining all of the wheels, so you can practice all three alphabet skills.

There are 5 large picture wheels all with different pictures to better increase vocabulary and letter-to-word association.  (Color plus black & white).

I've included directions for whole group assessing with the alphabet wheels, an assessment recording sheet, plus a note home to parents, enlisting their help for a struggling child.

Besides these items, the packet also includes the following:

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, An Alphabet Poster Game, with 20-template options, including pictures (black & white + color), words, uppercase letters and lowercase letters.

  • alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, A large Uppercase Letter Wheel
  • A large “Trace & Write” Uppercase Letter Wheel
  • A large blank wheel, so students can write their own letters, and/or draw their own pictures, along with 7 lowercase wheels to choose from, including a lowercase one that is scrambled and not in alphabetical order, which is great for assessing. They all have matching “Trace & Write” worksheets.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, There's an alphabet recording-sheet bookmark, 2 “Trace & Write” letter worksheets, and 4 I Spy A Letter” game worksheets. (Great for whole-group assessing) Includes an assessment recording chart.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, I designed the "I Spy" worksheets so that you can reuse them 6 times!

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, As a different way to practice, which strengthens finger muscles and improves dexterity, I designed a Clothespin clip apple center/station activity/game. Click on the link for this FREEBIE.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, Since my kinders studied letters through November, I've also included a clothespin clip pumpkin game as well. Click on the link for FREEBIE #2.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, As promised, the 3rd FREEBIE is a set of apple alphabet cards

There are 3 full-color sets: uppercase, lowercase, & both (Aa), with a 4-page tip list of how to use the cards. Includes a blank (black and white) template, so students can make their own, as well as the "Kaboom" game.

There are 3 other games as well:

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, The “Spin & Win Wheel Fun” game, is an independent-worksheet, that uses a paperclip and a pencil to make a spinner.  It's a "no-prep" print and go activity.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, “The Wheel Deal” Wagon wheel worksheet game, is played 4 times with various partners.

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, The “Wheeler Dealer What’s the Word?” game, is played in teams and reinforces letter recognition, beginning sounds, sight words and spelling. 

It includes 182-pocket chart word cards that match all of the pictures for all of the wheels.

alphabet games

 

Finally, there are bookmarks, certificates of praise, and award ribbons, to use as incentives or "paper prizes" for the games or whatever. Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to take a look. 

alphabet activities, alphabet worksheets, alphabet games, alphabet posters, alphabet assessments, alphabet cards, alphabet wheels, alphabet crafts, That's it for today.  I hope you can pop by tomorrow for more goodies and another FREEBIE. It's a gorgeous sunshine-filled morning.

The birds are singing a serenade and the bulldozer next door is adding to the summer symphony.  Wishing you a beautiful day.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. " -John Lubbock

1-2-3 Come Do Some Animal-Themed Alphabet Activities With Me

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets Summer's a great time to visit the zoo.  It was also my favorite field trip with my first graders.  With fond memories of special animals and outings, I decided to design some animal-themed alphabet activities. 

Woo hoo! After an entire week of "playing", I just finished my  "Wild About the Alphabet" packet. Animals are a hot-button for children, so I think these will grab their attention and keep them focused.

Whether assessing to see where your kiddos are at for the beginning of the school year, or learning and practicing upper and lowercase letters throughout the year, I think you'll find some unique and useful activities here.

The packet includes the following:

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets An ABC Emergent Reader: “My Animal Alphabet Booklet” (Black & white plus color copies). Students read, write, trace & color.

ABC Cards: There are 5 different sets in various sizes for upper and lowercase letters; in color plus black and white, with blank templates to program with whatever.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets Word Cards: Since part of learning the alphabet, is associating the letters with sounds and words, I've also included 26, mini-animal word cards, that match the emergent reader booklet, plus 26 more, with additional animals that include those on the Dolch noun list.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 8 Games: "Mischievous Monkeys" a wall-display game; "Monkey Business" a hidden-letter game; "I Spy!" plus "Feed the Alpha-gator and Lion" game.

Along with a 4-page tip list to explain the card games: Memory Match, I Have; Who Has?, Kaboom, Speed and What's Missing. 

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 2 Center/Station Activities: Animal-print, strip puzzles for the uppercase letters, plus a Clothespin Clip game.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 23 Worksheets for both upper and lowercase letters. "Monkey Mess", "Zooey Zoo", and "Bonkers Barnyard"  to name a few, which include colorful answer keys. 

I've included "trace & writes", "missing letters", matching, word finds, a Venn diagram, scrambled words, alphabetical order, a poem, Elkonin boxes, plus "cut & glue".

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 3 Craftivities: Gg Is For Giraffe Letter Slider, which can also be used as a fun way to whole-group assess.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets Animal-Print Initials, (Make extra strips out of the animal-print paper:snake, leopard, zebra, giraffe, alligator & tiger used for the puzzle center.)

Children create their first initial to make a personal letter puzzle, or glue the strips down. 

For that finishing touch, add their school photo and make a "Wild About Kids, Learning & Letters" bulletin board.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets "Feed the Animal" Kleenex-box craft.  I've included black and white templates for both the lion & alpha-gator.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets As well as the B&W alphabet cards, (snack crackers), so that children can make their own "Hungry for the Alphabet" game, for a fun way to practice at home. 

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 10 Posters: Color, plus black & white. Use the B&W ones, as worksheets.

There are also 26-large, uppercase, animal-print letter posters, to use in your puzzle center for little ones to lay the strips on.  These also make fun flashcards or anchor charts as well.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 6 Assessments with recording sheets, so you can assess: uppercase, lowercase, sounds, &letter formation.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets I've also included a quick & easy "note home to parents", with assessment results, which identifies letter difficulties, and enlists their assistance.

3 Bookmarks: Color, plus black & white. Use as a reference, reward or mini assessment tool.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets 2 Certificates of Praise: Black & white, plus color for upper & lowercase letters.

As always, there are also directions, samples and photographs.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets You can see, I've packed in a little bit of everything you need to help make learning the alphabet less tedious and more fun. 

This big boy is a whopping 200-pages long and just $7.95 in my TpT store.  I truly enjoyed every minute of the zillion hours of work that went into it. Click on the link to pop on over. 

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets I haven't forgotten the FREEBIES either. You can get a color copy of the Animal Alphabet emergent reader, plus the matching poster, by clicking on the link.  

Can't visit a zoo? I've also put together another FREEBIE:Virtual Zoo Field Trip packet, click on the link to grab a copy and let the "ed-ventures" begin.

alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet posters, alphabet cards, alphabet games, alphabet poems, alphabet crafts, alphabet centers, alphabet assessments, animal activities, animal alphabet, alphabet emergent reader, alphabet booklet, animal alphabet booklet, alphabet worksheets Well that's it for today.  Doing the happy dance that I finally finished this whopper, and can concentrate on knocking off some much smaller back-to-school projects.  Wishing you a carefree day.

 "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." -Anatole France

1-2-3 Come Do An Alphabet Craftivity With Me

Woo hoo for me; woo hoo for you!  As some of you know, I just opened a shop on TpT May 6th  We've reached our 1st "milestone" of 100 followers.  In celebration of that, here's a special little FREEBIE great for anytime, but especially nice for back-to-school.

alpha bird, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, alphabet activities, alphabet assessments,back to school activities, back to school games, back to school crafts, back to school bulletin boards So that I could get a handle on where my new kiddos were at, I always liked to do some fun assessing the first week of school. 

Testing and assessing students can be tedious and overwhelming for young children, as well as time consuming for teachers.  Keeping that in mind, I designed Alpha Bird.

Precut "Alfie's" body parts from a variety of colors of construction paper.  Students choose the pattern pieces that they want, and glue them to their paper plate bird body, which is simply a folded paper plate.

alpha bird, alphabet activities, alphabet assessments, alphabet games, bird crafts, bird activities, common core alphabet, common core state standards kindergarten, common core state standards first grade, bird crafts, alphabet crafts, alphabet assessmentsTo expedite things, I'd fold and staple them shut ahead of time, leaving the bottom middle open so that students can insert the birds "legs".  For extra pizzazz, I added several feathers for a tail.  You can buy a bag at The Dollar Store.

alpha bird, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, alphabet activities, alphabet assessments,back to school activities, back to school games, back to school crafts, back to school bulletin boards Students cut and glue the alphabet strips to make Alfie's legs. When everyone has completed their alpha bird, play "I Spy" by calling out a letter.  Because the legs are long, and to increase upper body strength, have children lie on their tummies.

Students find and trace both the upper and lowercase letters.  When they  have done so, children raise their hand, so that you know that everyone is done. 

alpha bird, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, alphabet activities, alphabet assessments,back to school activities, back to school games, back to school crafts, back to school bulletin boards With just a glance, you can see who is struggling, either trying to find a letter, tracing the wrong one, or peeking at others to see what they're doing.  

Jot yourself a note, so that you can work with these children later. Call on a child to choose the next letter.  Play 'til all of the letters have been traced.

Alfie offers a simple, quick and interesting way to whole group assess, while providing a nice review of upper and lowercase letters

The birds also make a stunning hallway wall border.  Simply tie a yarn loop at the top and suspend from the ceiling.  Caption: "We know our letters and that's something to TWEET about!"

If you don't want to do this craftivity with your students, but like the different assessment idea, simply make your own alpha bird, hang him on a wall, and use Alfie to individually assess, in a non-threatening fun way. alpha bird, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, alphabet activities, alphabet assessments,back to school activities, back to school games, back to school crafts, back to school bulletin boards Click on the link to grab a copy of this fun FREEBIE: Alfie the Alpha Bird.  

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by, and a very special thank you to all of my loyal followers!  Wishing you a warm and wonderful summer.

"If plan B doesn't work, don't give up; the alphabet has 25 more letters!"  -Unknown

 1-2-3 Come Make An Alpha Tree With Me

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesAre you a fan of Pinterest?  It's the first place I go now, if I'm looking for some inspiration.  While popping around looking for autumn ideas, I came across this darling letter tree by Brooke over at Blissful Roots, which she made for her son's room, using scrapbook paper and die cuts.

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesleaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesIt was my inspiration for creating two classroom alpha trees.  You can easily make them to use as a center or game, to help reinforce upper and lowercase letters.  There are several ways to make and use the alpha trees.

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leaves#1. Run off the bare trees on white construction paper.  (There are 7 to choose from.) Give students a choice. 

Using fall-colored stamp pads, have students make 26 “leaves” with their fingerprints.  Set aside to dry. 

Using a black marker, children write either the upper or lowercase letters on each one of their fingerprints.

For a review game, give students a piece of candy corn to use as a manipulative, and then play “I Spy!” Choose a student to call out a letter.  Children place their piece of candy corn over that letter “leaf” then raise their hand.  This is a quick and easy way to whole group assess, as you can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

#2. Instead of making fingerprint leaves, use sticker dots.  You or your students can write the letters on the dots.

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leaves#3. Besides sticker dots, you could also run off the blank squares template, on a variety of fall colors of construction paper.  Give students a strip of each color and have them write letters on the construction paper squares.  They snip and glue to their alpha tree. Or...

#4.  Use the colorful letter "leaf" tiles that I’ve provided and run off the uppercase letters.  Students trim, sort into color piles, then arrange the letter tiles on their tree.  When they are satisfied with the look, they glue the letter "leaves" down.  Also give each child a set of lowercase letter tiles to trim. 

They use these as manipulatives to cover the matching uppercase letter leaves on their tree. This can be set up as an independent center, or whole group activity. If you do this as a whole group, children can take their letter leaves home in a Snack Baggie to continue to play at home. 

#5. So that you can play the game two different ways, assemble and laminate several sets of uppercase trees, with lowercase tiles, and lowercase trees with uppercase tiles.  Use these as independent centers for center time, early finishers, or to send home with a struggling child, to be returned later.  

#6.  I’ve also included a set of blank color tiles, as another option.  Use this template if you want your kiddos to have more writing practice.  Students write the letters inside the colored "leaf" squares, trim, and then glue to their tree.

#7.  If you’d like to turn this into a cute keepsake craftivity, have students pick a partner, so they can trace each other’s hand and arm on a sheet of brown construction paper.   Remind them to spread their fingers (these will be the branches of their “tree”) and keep their arm straight, as this becomes the tree trunk.  Children trim and glue to a large sheet of blue construction paper.  

#8. If you don’t have time to make your own alpha trees, I’ve included completed ones.  Simply print, glue to a sheet of fall-colored construction paper, laminate and trim. 

#9. Children can also play "Speed".  Have students pick a partner and see who can match their letter tiles the fastest.

#10. Another thing you can do is to print, laminate and trim extra sets of both upper and lowercase letter leaf tiles. Keep each set in their own separate Snack Baggie.  Children sequence the tiles putting them in alphabetical order. 

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesClick on the link to view/download the alpha tree packet.

This packet will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be up-dated and placed in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop.

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesIn keeping with my latest endeavor to post an oldie, but goodie for TBT (Throw Back Thursday) click on the link for the leaf alphabet cards

I've also included separate upper and lowercase letter cards, so that you can use them as a fall border, or for games like Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?"  There's a tip list of suggestions. 

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesBesides letters, you can review shapes with the easy reader booklet, The Shapes On My Tree.  Students trace and write the shape words, then draw that shape on their tree. 

Finally, I used the same tree template (I like when things match) for the Counting Leaves packet, which helps reinforce a variety of standards. 

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesAs with the shape booklet, you can fun off copies for each student, or print, laminate and use for a math center. 

Students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words, then place/glue that many leaves on the tree. I've included 4 different leaf tiles for you to choose from.

leaf activities, alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet crafts, shape activities, 2D shapes, fall crafts, fall games, common core leavesThanks for visiting.  Time to rush off to my next project, on a way too long list of things to accomplish today.  Wishing you a stress-free day.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

 

 1-2-3 Come Make A Multi-Purpose Scarecrow With Me

Since there are so many standards on our plates these days, there never seems to be enough time for everything, let alone a fun seasonal craft that we know our students would enjoy. That's why I spend so much time designing hands-on "craftivities" that revolve around all sorts of standards. 

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsBecause it's so comprehensive, it took me several days to complete this Common Core scarecrow, and even more hours to make a sample of all 11 scarecrows, but it was time well spent, as they turned out so cute, are easy for your kiddos to make, and reinfore the following: 

Upper and lowercase letters, vowels, sc blend, beginning s sounds, matching words with pictures, numbers 0-30, odd and even, skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s, shapes, telling time, colors, contractions, number words, color words, compound words, CVC words, and rhyming words.

Completed projects make a wonderful fall bulletin board, or look sweet hanging back-to-back from the ceiling.

To make this extra special, fold a sheet of white construction paper, have students trace their hand and then cut once, to get two hand prints for their scarecrow's "gloves".  I ran yellow construction paper through a shredder to make the "hair". 

Run off the scarecrow's body templates on a variety of colors of construction paper.  Students trim and glue together. 

For more fine motor practice, cut yellow rectangles with a paper cutter.  Have students snip the bottom portion and glue the "hay" to the back of the scarecrow's pant legs, then crumple.

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsI purposely made these patterns super simple to cut out, but if you think this is too much for PK kiddos, have a room helper trace once and then cut 3-6 shirts and pants out at a time,  leaving just the head for preschoolers to cut out.  

There's a blank head so children can draw their own scarecrow face, as well as a completed template for little ones to color.

 scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsStudents make their scarecrow and then trim and glue on the appropriate patches.  The vowel scarecrow is especially versatile, as it not only covers vowels, but shapes and colors too.

For extra practice, when everyone is done, play an "I Spy" game and give students a piece of candy corn to use as a manipulative.  Choose a student to call out a "patch". 

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsChildren locate that letter, number, shape or whatever, cover it with the candy corn, and then raise their hand. 

This is a fun way to practice and review standards, as well as a quick and easy way to whole group assess, as you can see at a glance who is having difficulty. 

I've also included blank patches for you to fill in with whatever, plus ideas and templates to use the number, letter and shape scarecrows for matching games.

i.e. match the lowercase patches to the uppercase letters; match the number word patches to the numbers; and/or match the shapes to the shape words.

For more scarecrow-themed letter fun, click on the link for a set of scarecrow alphabet cards.

The following scarecrows are wonderful for vocabulary building and Daily 5 word work: Carl is the Compound words scarecrow; (Click on the link for an alphabetical list of over 3,000 compound words.)

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsConnie, is a contraction action scarecrow; (With an alphabetical list of 72 contractions)

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsSam, is a scarecrow that loves 37, 3-letter words that begin with S; (CVC practice!)

Scott, is the SC blend scarecrow, with a list of 50 words. The packet also includes an entire SC blend section, with lots more activities.

vSophie, is a scarecrow with 47-picture patches, for simple words starting with the letter S

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsFor a quick review, I've also included 4, Ss word, picture posters.

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsRodney, is the Rhyme Time scarecrow, with 56 words that rhyme with scare and a list of 274 words that rhyme with crow.

Write the words that rhyme with scare on the front of Rodney, and have children choose some words that rhyme with crow and write them on the back.

In the sample, I chose 24-scare rhyming words and wrote them on the shirt, and then wrote an equal amount of words that rhyme with crow, on the pants.  The alphabetical lists include rhyming words that start with every letter except U & X.  I chose one of each.

Finally, the number scarecrow, has several options and serves double duty.  There are number patches from 0-30, which  I traced in a variety of colors. 

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsYou can make Odd Todd and Even Steven scarecrows (front and back) or put the odd numbers on the top and the even numbers on the bottom.  (See photo.)

For more math number practice, I've also included skip counting patches.  Children can skip count by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's.  There are matching worksheets in the packet as well, along with number cards, plus number puzzles in color & black and white.  

For more odd and even scarecrow number fun, click on the link to practice numbers from 1-120, in the Scarecrow's Pumpkin Patch packet.

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsIf your kiddos are familiar with that concept, but need to work on matching numbers to their number words, use the Norman & Nancy number scarecrow patterns, with numbers 0-10, along with their matching number word patches.

Glue the numbers on the shirt and the number words on the pants.  For more practice, have students write the words above their matching number patch.

Click on the link to view/download the "craftivity" portion of the Common Core Scarecrow Packet.

This section will be FREE for an entire year!  After that, you can pick up the whopping 184-page jumbo packet in my TpT shop for just $5.95.  Click on the link for Patches, The Standard Scarecrow Craftivities packet to pop on over.

scarecrow crafts, scarecrow activities, common core scarecrows, alphabet activities, blends, list of contractions, list of compound words, list of words that rhyme with scare, list of words that rhyme with crow, odd and even activities, vowel activities, scarecrow crafts, scarecrow shapes, common core scarecrows, shape crafts, shape games, alphabet games, odd and even activities, common core scarecrowsThanks for visiting today.  I need to unclutter my brain, so we're off to a nearby fall festival.  It's a beautiful autumn-weather day, if the rain just holds out for awhile. 

 "If stars can shine with darkness, so can you." -Unknown

 1-2-3 Come Make Two Apple Games With Me

Do your students do centers or stations?  Are you looking for some easy-peasy ones to whip off? LaVonne from New York, and Kathy from Wisconsin, were. 

They e-mailed me and asked if I had any independent centers with an apple theme.  LaVonne was looking for an alphabet one, and Kathy needed one for number words.  It was fun designing their requests.  I hope you enjoy them too.

apple activities, apple games, apple crafts, alphabet games, alphabet assessment, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, CCSS for K, CCSS for 1stHere's a quick, easy and fun ABC game that you can make for an independent alphabet center, which will help reinforce upper and lowercase letter recognition.

apple activities, apple games, apple crafts, alphabet games, alphabet assessment, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, CCSS for K, CCSS for 1stSimply run off the uppercase letter apple templates on red, yellow and light green construction paper; add a bit of color, laminate and trim. 

I used these three colors, because my Y5's are learning that apples come in 3 colors.  Students can also sequence the apple cards and see the ABC color pattern.

So that students can insert the matching lowercase worms, use an Exacto knife to cut a slit to the right of each letter.

apple activities, apple games, apple crafts, alphabet games, alphabet assessment, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, CCSS for K, CCSS for 1stAs with the apples, run the lowercase letter worms off on (green) construction paper; add a bit of color, laminate and trim.

Students insert the lowercase worm into its matching uppercase apple. 

Keep the apples and worms separate, in small Ziplock Baggies, and then put both Baggies in one larger one.  Place in your alphabet center. 

To make this self-correcting, write the lowercase letter on the back of the apple, or the uppercase letter on the back of the worm. 

apple activities, number word matching, number games, apple games, apple crafts, alphabet games, alphabet assessment, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, CCSS for K, CCSS for 1stI've included a certificate of praise that you can give to students when they have successfully completed the center.  They can color and take it home to share with their family.

Make a few extra copies of the game to send home with struggling children, to be returned when they have mastered the standard. 

alphabet activities, alphabet games, alphabet centersIf you have the time, you can also use this activity as an interesting option when assessing a child. 

This Wormy Apple Alphabet Matching Game will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be up-dated and put in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop. 

apple activities, number word matching, number games, apple games, apple crafts, alphabet games, alphabet assessment, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, CCSS for K, CCSS for 1stFinally, the other center game I made reinforces numbers 0-10 and their matching number words. 

There are several ways to play the game, as well as some worksheets to further reinforce number to word recognition. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Number Word Fun packet.

apple activities, apple games, apple crafts, alphabet games, alphabet assessment, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, CCSS for K, CCSS for 1stThanks for visiting today.  It's rather hot and muggy outside so I'm enjoying the air conditioning.  Time to work up a sweat doing a bit of housework and laundry, or not...

I'm wishing you a refreshing day.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." -Unknown

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