1-2-3 Come Play Some Color Games With Pete and Me

To get my students excited about learning, I try to design things that feature a “hot button”.

Since they absolutely love Pete the Cat, I made these color games and activities with a shoe theme, inspired by 2 of their favorite stories: Pete’s “I Love My White Shoes” and Pete’s “Rockin’ In My School Shoes”.  

I'm featuring my 5 newest creations on the blog today, along with today's fun FREEBIE. 

First up, is the packet "We're Rockin' In These Color Shoes!"  which is a whole group game and assessment, as well as an independent center activity.

Use the 12, colorful posters featuring a wonderful variety of ethnicities, as a super-fun, non threatening way to individually assess colors and color words. 

My students can’t wait for their turn to show me what they know, as they get to play a game with their teacher.

The packet also includes black and white worksheets featuring 12 different children, so that students can color, cut and make their own game, which can now be used as a whole group assessment tool.

When everyone is done, simply call out a color. Children find those matching colored shoes, as well as the color word and place them on their worksheet. You can see at a glance who is having difficulty. 

Next up is the "Cool Cat Rockin' In My School Shoes!" color game, which includes spinners in color as well as black and white, with a "color me" bookmark.

You can also skip making the spinners (I use them for a center), and run off the black and white game sheet, which have the spinner already on the worksheet; simply "Print & Go!"  

I also made the "We're Rocking In Our School Shoes" color-me booklet, to not only reinforce colors and color words, but as a fun way for students to learn how to read and write their fellow classmates’ names.

To complete the first sentence on each page, Students fill in the name of one of their new friends.

There are 2 pages on a template to create a “just the right size” booklet.  Children color, trace and write the color words then color the graphics accordingly.

Besides the booklet, I’ve also included a colorful set of pocket chart cards featuring color words with matching colored shoes.

Another emergent reader "Cool Cat Shoe Colors" is a bit more advanced as it includes 20+ Dolch sight words; however, I keep it simple by setting this up like a worksheet, with just 3 pages.

Children read the simple sentences, fix letters that should be capitalized, and add end punctuation, then trace, write and color the color words and shoes.

For the cover, children color the cat their favorite color, color his shoes to match the color shoes they are wearing, then name their cat.

The story ends with children drawing a picture of the shoes that they are wearing. 

Finally, my largest Pete Color Packet ("I Love My Shoe Colors!") can be used for centers, games, and assessments.  

The main focus of the packet is having fun playing games using 20+ sets of colorful cards.

Besides depicting a huge variety of shoes, the cards include colorful cats, paw prints, and guitars. 

There are also word cards in matching colored ink, as well as sets in black ink so you can test comprehension.

Children enjoy using the cards for . . .

Sorting: Simply print and laminate the color-word sorting "mats" on a matching color of construction paper; have children pick X number of cards, then sort them by color.

Patterning: Children choose 2 to 3 colors or kinds of cards, then create a row of patterns. (ABAB, ABC etc.)

Math: Children can make groups/sets with the cards, and use them as manipulatives to count, add, subtract, and show greater & less than. I’ve included those math symbol cards as well as a “recording equations” worksheet.

Games: Most of the templates have 11 color cards on a full page pattern, so they are perfect for Memory Match and “I Have; Who Has?” games, or card games like “Go Fish”.  

Besides the individual card games, I’ve also included several whole group games like...

“Pete! Pete! Where are you? We think you’re hiding under a shoe!”;  "What's Missing?";  "Oh No! Pete's Lost A Shoe."; "1-2-3 Come Find Pete With Me" (a number recognition game) and "Cat-Cat Who Took Your Shoe", as well as a syllable, color-chant game.  

In addition to the games, I’ve also included 2 color-word worksheets, which can be used for an assessment.

There's also an Itty Bitty “My Colors” booklet, plus 2 mini-certificates of praise.

Use the activities for centers, as a whole group, partner fun, in small groups, or as an assessment tool.

Today's FREEBIE also features Pete's shoes, and is called Alpha-Cats.  I hope you find it useful. 

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. I usually don't post on Saturdays, but it pouring rain and my husband's taking a nap. 

Perfect time to dash off a blog article. Wishing you a relaxing and fun-filled week. 

"Anyone who thinks sunshine is pure happiness, has not danced in a gentle summer rain." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some More Butterfly & Caterpillar Activities With Me 

Is April flying by for you too? Here are a few more super-fun butterfly & caterpillar activities that practice a variety of standards.

Since the apple & pumpkin-shaped number puzzles were such a huge hit in fall, I decided to make some butterfly-shaped ones for a springtime center.

The puzzles help reinforce sequencing numbers, counting from 1-10, 11-20, as well as counting backwards from 10-1, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s.

For something new, I've also included a set of alphabet letter puzzles as well. (Aa-Jj, Kk-Tt, Qq-Zz) 

Choose which puzzles are appropriate for your students. Print on a variety of colors of construction paper or card stock. Trim and keep in their own Ziplock Baggie in your math & alphabet centers.  These are also fun for your students to make one of their own. 

Have them trace & write the numbers/letters then trim. They can pick a partner and play "Speed Sequence" with them, to see who will be the first to complete their butterfly. 

Besides these "shape" puzzles, another packet includes 50 regular number puzzles for The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Some are vertical, others horizontal.  They come in color plus black and white and are a super-fun way to review Eric Carle's story, as well as practice the life cycle of a butterfly.

Another math center activity featuring The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a 10 frames game, which reinforces numbers 1-10, number words, groups/sets, and addition.

Children pick a partner and take turns rolling one dice to fill in 10 frames 1-6; then use two dice, and add them together, to fill in 10 frames 7-10.

Before starting the game, children number the body segments. To reinforce number words, have them write the number above the 10 frame and the number word underneath.

If a child rolls an 11 or 12 they get to draw facial features on their caterpillar's head. The first one who completes their caterpillar is the winner.

Each month I do a glyph with my students, so I designed a butterfly one for April. 

Glyphs are a quick, easy and fun way to get to know your students better, at the same time practice listening and following directions. 

Because each glyph is different, they make a terrific bulletin board display.  No matter what grade I taught, my kiddos absolutely LOVED making glyphs.

In April I'm also trying to get my students to improve their writing by using adjectives, which help make sentences "come alive" because they are more descriptive. 

Caterpillars and butterflies are a perfect vehicle for that, thus the reason behind the "print & go" Butterfly Caterpillar Adjective Worksheets, great for Daily 5 word work, or your writing block.  

I’ve included 28 photographs of real caterpillars, along with an assortment of 32 butterfly photos. There are 4 on a page. Choose your favorites, print, laminate & trim, then have students take a look and pass them around.

Afterwards, discuss what an adjective is, and brainstorm a list of words that describe caterpillars and butterflies. Students then write as many words as they want on each of the worksheets.

Remind students to color the pictures, then include those words on their worksheet as well.   I've also included a "trace, cut & glue" option for younger students.

For more word work practice, after students complete their worksheets, have them write some sentences on the 8 choices of “stationery” provided, using the adjectives that they thought of. 

Finally, to practice colors and color words, I designed a 3D Caterpillar Paper Chain Craft.

I’ve included word strips for all of the colors pictured, plus optional spellings for gray & grey. 

Completed projects look fabulous suspended from the ceiling, or used as a border along a hallway wall. 

Since a lot of teachers study rainbows in March, I decided to add a snake head pattern as well, making this a fun activity for St. Patrick's Day too.

Today's FREEBIE is entitled "Butterfly UT Word Play" and features 3 different worksheets with a butterfly theme, perfect for Daily 5 word work activities.

Students fill in the UT to make words; + trace, write and alphabetize words that rhyme with butter as well as fly. 

It's an "oldie but goodie" that I designed years ago before all of the design programs I use now.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

I've got so many "idea piles" on my desk for Mother's Day, I best get to sifting and sorting to see what fun things I can come up with for May. 

Wishing you a productive and fun-filled day.

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." -Rabindranath Tagore

1-2-3 Come Do Some Spring Things With Me

During spring, it’s a good idea to once again assess things like colors, color words, and shapes. 

With that in mind, I designed the “Bunny Tails & Tales” packet as a super-fun way to practice, assess, or teach.

Add a bit of “crafty” to writing practice, and your students will be excited to show off their writing skills, with the “Bunny Tale” shape booklet.

The cover flips up to reveal their bunny tale. Add a cotton ball for that finishing touch.

I’ve included my silly story about the “Magic Carrot”, so that you can easily make an example to share with your students.

Review thirteen, 2D shapes with the “Shapely Bunny” game.

Students match the appropriate shaped tail to the matching bunny with that shape word.

I used glue dots to add a mini, white pom pom to each piece.
This not only makes manipulating the tails easier, but the pinching aspect, is a great way to strengthen finger muscles.

If you’re making this center for PK, simply trace the tail shape onto the bunny, so they can practice one-to-one correspondence.

The packet includes patterns for these 2D shapes: circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, hexagon, octagon, pentagon, rhombus, trapezoid, star, heart and crescent. Choose those appropriate for your group.

Besides writing and shapes, the packet also practices colors and color words.

I’ve included mini word cards for all of the basic colors, which are placed over the matching rectangle on that color bunny. Children then place the matching colored pom pom “tail” underneath.

There are word cards in matching ink colors for little ones, as well as cards with black ink, so you can use this as an assessment tool as well. 

I wanted to see if you could do the games with a 3-year-old, so I tested them out on my grandson Kaiden, and he absolutely loved playing them.

When he got done matching the color words and pom poms he proudly exclaimed, "I did it!" 

He also enjoyed the shape matching game, so you're good to go with a preschool group.

Finally, the packet includes a sweet “just the right size” Itty Bitty Shape booklet.

Children read the shape word, write it on the bunny’s head, then draw that shape for a tail.

There’s a booklet with the standard 2D shapes, as well as optional pages for the rest.

When children have completed their booklet, graph which shaped tail they liked the best. 

Continuing with the bunny theme, I designed a packet called "The Shape Of My Bunny's Nose", which is a center activity, game and Itty Bitty booklet, that reinforces thirteen, 2D shapes.       

The pattern comes in color on a full-page size, as well as a two-on-a-page size to use as a center activity.  I've also included shape word cards, so that older students can practice matching a shape to its shape word.

There's a smaller, 3-on-a-page size to use for games, where children pick a partner and play “Show me the shape.”  I’ve also included black & white patterns, so that children can make their own shape games.

* To play the game as a large group, attach a soft Velcro dot to the nose section of the bunny, as well as the word section, then scratchy Velcro dots to the pieces.
* Pass out the pieces and call for a shape.
* The child holding that shape, comes up and attaches it. Everyone says the shape as the child points to the nose, then repeats it by reading the shape word as they point to it.

There’s also a black and white “My Bunny’s Nose” booklet, with options for additional pages which feature other shapes.

Children read the word and draw that shape on the bunny’s face, then color, trim and collate their shape booklet.

I’ve also included a graphing extension to practice another standard. 

Finally, since April showers bring May flowers, and Mother's Day is just around the corner, I designed this 3D tulip writing prompt craftivity.

PK kiddos can simply make the craft, while older students can choose from 2 writing prompts.  Use the blank pattern to program whatever.

I've also done a "two lips" play-on-words, for a sweet Mother's Day card.

Cutting on a spiral to make the "stem", is wonderful fine motor practice. I've included a pattern for "lefties" as well.

Completed projects look wonderful suspended from the ceiling.  There's a "Spiraling Into Spring" poster for the center of your display. 

The FREEBIE today, also reinforces colors and color words.

Since the "mustache craze" continues, I thought it would be fun to make an "I 'mustache' you about colors" game, with two versions, one for PK kiddos, plus another for older students.  

Well that's it for today.  The snow has finally melted here in Michigan, and although the sun is shining, temperatures are still in the 40s, so I'm looking forward to when spring truly arrives.  

Wishing you a stress-free, happy day.

"In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours." -Mark Twain

1-2-3 Come Do Some Horton The Elephant Activities With Me

The first week of March we do a lot of Cat in the Hat activities to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday. For the rest of March is Reading Month, I sprinkle in activities for some of his other popular stories, like Horton Hears A Who.  This blog article features 4 of my new packets. 

First up is "Hangin' Out With Horton".  Since so many teachers have the 5 senses as one of their science standards, I decided to make this sweet flip booklet featuring Horton because he HEARS a Who.

The pages of the booklet act like a "stem" for the clover that Horton is holding. Each page features one of the senses.
Students complete the simple writing prompts by filling in what Horton sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels.

This can relate to the story, or be whatever they imaginations dream up. 

The last page is also up to them, as they finish the sentence: "Horton...

For that finishing touch, have them glue their school picture to the clover. They are now an official member of "Whoville". 

Next up is Horton Hears, which also reviews the 5 senses and matches the above packet.  

The packet includes . . .
* An alliterative and "tongue twisting" writing prompt craftivity
* Alliteration and tongue twister definition posters
* A class mini book: “Horton Hears A Who. How About You?”

* “We spy an elephant’s eye and these Ee words:” posters, with matching worksheet
* Horton’s senses whole group activity, with matching individual worksheet

* Label the elephant poster, with matching worksheets
* 5 photo-posters of elephants, featuring one of the 5 senses

* “My favorite sense” writing prompt with a “What’s Your Favorite Sense?” graphing extension
* “If I had to give up one of my senses it would be . . .” writing prompt with graphing extension plus a ...

* “Where might an elephant walk?” photo-poster, with matching writing prompt. 

An elephant is my favorite animal, so I'm also big on the Elmer stories by David McKee. 

I thought it would be fun to design a packet with both pachyderms , and just finished up-dating Horton & Elmer Fun.  This 102-page jumbo packet includes:

* 4 “Craftivities”
* Games
* Pocket chart cards

* Worksheets
* Posters
* Writing prompts

* Graphing activities
* Venn diagrams
* Itty Bitty color booklet

* Rhyming activity
* Lollipop certificate of praise plus
* Bookmarks.   

Finally, I just finished the "I Saw An Elephant" packet today. 

I designed these color activities specifically to go with Horton, but I kept this packet generic, so that it would work anytime of the year, and fits in nicely with a zoo or animal theme as well.     

It's differentiated for PK-1st grade, plus I've also included the UK "colours" and "grey" spelling options.

The packet includes a variety of posters, games, writing prompts, pocket chart cards for 12 colors, with a matching bookmark.
My students keep theirs in their writing journals.

There's also an emergent reader, “Elephant Colors” booklet, filled with lots of Dolch sight words, plus  a "favorite color elephant" graphing extension, with matching “color me” worksheet.

Besides the Memory Match games, there's also 2 options for a “Roll and Color” dice game, with numbers 1-6 for PK children, plus a game sheet for numbers 1-12 with addition practice and two dice, for older kiddos.

To mix math with literacy, there are full color, plus black and white number puzzles (sequencing numbers from 1-10 for PK kiddos, plus skip counting by 10s to 100 for older students.

There's also a set of Color mixing (primary to secondary colors) pocket chart cards, with a matching black & white template for students to color, which I staple together as a flip booklet.

The “mixing colors” elephant craftivity will be a big hit. My students absolutely LOVED mixing colors with finger paints.

They got so excited when a new color appeared as if by “magic”. The results are awesome and make an interesting bulletin board. A caption could be: “Mixing It Up In (Kindergarten)”. 

Today's FREEBIE also features Horton. It's a sweet writing prompt craftivity, that includes the puppet craft, plus 22 writing-prompts!

Well that's it for today.  I hope you still have some time left in your busy March schedule to fit in some fun with Horton. 

The weather's hit 60 today, so the dreary snow is finally melting like crazy!  Woo Hoo; I can smell spring in the air.  Wishing you a wonderful day. 

"Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes." - Carl Friedrich Gauss

1-2-3 Come Do Some More Snowman Activities With Me

 Whenever I toss in a bit of craftiness to our learning, I grab my kiddos' attention and they can't wait to get down to business. It's an absolute joy to see them so happily engaged. 

The little bit of extra prep time is well worth the effort, as everyone is focused and on task, with no wasted time with discipline problems or re-explaining things to students who were not listening. 

Plus, completed projects make wonderful bulletin boards and hallway displays, which promote pride in their work and increased self-esteem.

With this in mind, I designed a variety of snowman-themed activities, that practice a variety of standards.

"The Snowman's Nose" is a quick, easy and fun way to practice: upper & lowercase letters, numbers to up to 20 or backwards from 31, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s, and can also be a way to whole-group assess. 

There are 8 different snowman heads to choose from. Simply choose which one is appropriate for your kiddos.

"Snowy's Nose" by Kelly Asbury, is a sweet book to read before or after this craft.

Another way to practice upper and lowercase letters, counting forwards and backwards, as well as skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s, is with Pete the Puzzling Snowman.

Print, color, laminate and trim a set, keeping each puzzle in its own Baggie, and use them for an independent center activity, or do as a whole-group craftivity.

Children can color my snowman face, or they can draw one of their own, on the blank pattern. 

After children cut up their puzzle template, they arrange the pieces on a blue sheet of construction paper, leaving a little gap in-between each strip, creating a cool mosaic effect.

For more alphabet practice, try my Dollar Deal Alphabet Wheels, which build the vocabulary needed to give an example of a word, with that beginning sound.

They feature 6 nouns that begin with that letter, and come in black and white, for individual word work, as well as color, so that you can use them as an independent center activity.

I've also included a worksheet where students trace & write the words in alphabetical order. 

We revisit the letter Ss in January, with the Ss is for Snowman alphabet wheel.

To practice 2D shapes, make a set of "Shapely Snowmen". 

Look closely at the photo, and you'll see that the snowman's facial features match the 2D shape of his head. 

I put a sprig of holly on my hats, but a paper punched snowflake would also look cute.

Use them as giant flashcards, (Hold one up. Children call out what shape it is, along with its attributes, like the number of vertices), use them as a 2D bulletin board display, independent math center, or do as a craftivity, and have students make one of their own.

You can also play a variety of games with them. I've included directions in the packet.

My kiddos absolutely LOVE playing  "4 Corner Freeze" . 

It's easy-peasy for me, and only takes a few minutes, so it’s perfect for the end of the day, or when you want to give your students a brain break or get the wiggles out. 

Finally, if your kiddos need some review with color and color words, the Colorful Snowman Games packet is an interesting and fun way to practice.

Students can play the color-matching game as an independent center, or choose a partner and play a spinner game.

Make an extra set and glue the puzzle hat and scarf pieces to the appropriate snowman and use them for your winter word wall, or a bulletin board display.

I’ve also included a plain set, for students to draw in their own snowman face, if you want to do this as a whole-group craftivity, where each child makes their favorite color snowman.   The packet also includes a “Colors on a Roll” dice game. 

The other snowman color activity is Snowman Colors, which features an emergent reader that covers lots of standards, as students read the repetitive sentences, circle capital letters, add end punctuation, trace and write the words, and color the pictures.  Days of the week + color words are also reinforced.

The packet includes 3 graphing extensions, a game, bookmark and a worksheet, plus a cute snowman craftivity, where the “scarf” is a little flip booklet, featuring color words.

The featured FREEBIE today is a set of "I Spy" snowface worksheet games, which help reinforce upper and lowercase letters + numbers from 1-20.

I did "I Spy" daily, as a fun way for my Y5's to practice, as well as a quick and easy way for me to whole-group assess.

Well that's it for today.  Hope you found something here that tickled your fancy. The sun is shining outside my office window and making the snow sparkle.

As Mr. Rogers used to say: "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood." Wishing you a carefree day filled with Brrrrr-illiance!

"Some people are so much sunshine to the square inch." -Walt Whitman

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

“Gingerheads” are a quick, easy and fun craftivity with a variety of game options, that will help reinforce 2D shapes. 

If you look closely at the photographs, you will see that the eyes and noses of the gingerbread "cookies", match the 2D head shape.

Make a set for an independent math center, so students can practice 2D shapes; cut another set in half, and use as puzzles--this is an interesting way to review symmetry too.

The bows, with the shape word in the center, are matched to the appropriate gingerhead.
Place a bow on the top to make a girl, use them as a bow tie for a boy.

Play 4-Corner FREEZE! Which helps practice a variety of life skills, like listening and following directions, as well as the 2D shape vocabulary, plus recognition, and counting backwards from 10 to 0.

My kiddos absolutely LOVE this game.
Easy-peasy for me, and only takes a few minutes, so it’s perfect for the end of the day.

You can also use the gingerheads as big flashcards. Hold one up. Children call out what shape it is, along with its attributes, like number of vertices.

Play “Who’s Missing?” Display the smaller set on a wall. After children leave, take one away. In the morning, children guess which one is missing.

Besides the 5 games, I’ve also included a 2-on-a-one-page template, so children can pick their favorite and create their own gingerhead. There’s a graphing extension as well, plus directions for the games.

I used white puffy paint for the trim.
It looks so real, and adds that finishing touch.

Children name their gingerhead, write what shape it is, along with its attributes on the back. 

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a look: Gingerheads, A Gingerbread 2D Shape Craft.

The featured FREEBIE today, is a sweet set of gingerbread-themed alphabet cards.  I hope you find them useful. 

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Hopefully we can get our tree up, which is a big enough job for one day. 

We'll save decorating for the next.  Wishing you a delightful day.

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

Are you studying colors or color words with your kiddos? Do you read Brown Bear Brown Bear, by Bill Martin & Eric Carle? If so, I think you'll enjoy Brown Bear's Colors.

I designed this color packet to go along with the story because it's one of my all-time favorites; my students really enjoy Brown Bear too, and it's perfect for sequencing as well as reinforcing colors.

You’ll LOVE the versatility of this packet, as it’s suitable for PK through 1st, and particularly helpful for ESL students.

Practice a variety of skills & standards, by simply taking the teachable moment to point out & explain, or skip that skill if it doesn’t apply to your age group/level.

The packet includes:

An emergent reader (2 options) One booklet is entitled "A Rainbow of Colors" and reinforces 6 colors of the rainbow. 

The other, "Lots of Colors" includes 11 basic colors.

Students read the simple sentences, which are packed with plenty of Dolch words, trace and write the color word, then color the crayon and bear's sweater the matching color.

So that you can have a "teachable moment" to review end punctuation, I've purposely included sentences with a period, question mark & exclamation point. 

To ensure that students are really reading their booklets, instead of repeating "I see a ________(color) crayon." I switch up the pronouns, so that you can  practice pronouns, which are also on the Dolch lists.

An anchor chart pronoun poster is also included.

I figure as long as my kiddos are learning to read these words, I might as well briefly explain pronouns, adding yet another word to their growing grammar vocabularies. 

The packet includes games galore! There are 4 separate games, plus 10 more you can play with just the colorful crayon poster!

I've made full-color sets to use as independent centers, as well as black & white games so that students can make their own to practice at home. 

Add the Kaboom cards for even more fun.  The packet also has . . .

* A whole group assessment
* Worksheets
* An assortment of anchor chart posters

* A  Rainbow Color song
* Favorite color graphing activity and
* A bookmark and certificate of praise

Since I have a lot of visitors from Australia, Great Brittain and Canada, I've also included templates with the "Colours" and "Grey" spellings.

* As always, directions, photographs and completed samples. Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to have a look at this 80-page packet of color fun: "Brown Bear's Colors.

Today's featured FREEBIE, comes from the packet.  There are two; woo hoo!  The first one is the "Favorite Colors" graph. Click on the link or picture to get your copy.

The graph comes in color, to use as a whole-group activity,  as well as black and white, so that students can collect data on their own. 

The other FREEBIE is a set of posters. "We know our colors!" and "We know our color words."

Pick the one that's right for your kiddos. When they have mastered the standard, they get to sign the blank poster that's displayed underneath. 

This provides a nice incentive that promotes self-esteem.  There's also a "colours" set for my non USA teacher friends.  

Well that's it for today. Art Prize has started here in Grand Rapids, so I'm off to go meander around downtown with my hubbie and grandson.  Wishing you an ed-venturous weekend as well.

"The purpose of art is to wash the dust of life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso

 1-2-3 Come Make A Common Core Scarecrow With Me!

So much to do and so little time to cover it all.  Sound familiar?  It's a no wonder that teachers constantly complain that there's simply no time for any of the fun craftivities of yesteryear. 

But wait!  There's hope! I spent a zillion hours making a comprehensive "Patches" the Standard Scarecrow. 

He's 17 scarecrows in one, so you can pick the standard(s) you want to practice.  Patches covers the following Common Core/Report Card Standards in a quick, easy and super fun way:

upper & lowercase letters, numbers 0-30, odd & even, skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, 10s, 2D shapes, 11-colors, vowels, telling time to the hour and half hour, and words: SC blend, contractions, compound words, beginning Ss sound words, CVC words that begin with S, plus rhyming words!

Wow!  That's a whole lotta bang out of one little scarecrow craftivity, and 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.

I 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.

 Students 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. 

The packet also includes shape and color cards, along with a variety of worksheets for more practice.

For extra reinforcement, 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". 

Children 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 match the colorful patches to the color words, 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 a FREE alphabetical list of over 3,000 compound words.)

Connie, is a contraction action scarecrow; (With an alphabetical list of 72 contractions)

Sam, 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 word cards as well as pocket chart cards.

The packet also includes an entire SC blend section, with lots more activities.

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

For a quick review, I've also included 4, Ss word, picture posters.

Rodney, 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. 

You 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. 

The puzzles review counting from 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, as well as skip counting to 100 by 10s.

Two emergent readers also reinforce numbers, as well as colors.

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.

If 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.

The Common Core Craftivity Scarecrows are part of a whopping 184-page jumbo packet in my TpT shop for just $5.95. Click on the link to pop on over. Patches, The Standard Scarecrow Packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  It's a really hot July afternoon, with temps expected to flirt with the 90's, which is too hot for this midwest gal.  Time to put the AC on and make some lemonade.

“I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.” -Edna ST. Vincent Millay

1-2-3 Come Do Some Green Eggs and Ham Activities With Me

I think one of the reasons that Seuss is so popular with children, is that he captures the reader's attention with outlandish characters, tongue-twisting alliteration, and nonsense words that complete the sing-song rhyme, a poetic beat that has become synonomous with Seuss. 

Ironically, as a child I didn't really care that much for him.  Possibly, because teachers across the world were not as enamored with this author, as they are now.  Back then, it was all about Dick and Jane and "See Spot run."

It wasn't 'til I started teaching that I too hopped on board the Seuss bandwagon.  You might go as far as to say I became quite "obseussed" wth Seuss and all things silly.

My "obseussion" is reflected in the over 50 Seuss-themed FREEBIES that are available on TeachWithMe, especially for Seuss's iconic Cat in the Hat. 

No matter what grade I taught, the cat was always the chosen favorite on our "Who's Your Favorite Seuss Character?" graph.  I thought this was perhaps, because we had done a lot of Cat in the Hat-themed activities. 

With that in mind, I wanted to expand my students' horizons, and read a different Seuss book each day, followed up by some interesting and fun activities that they could transition to. 

Green Eggs and Ham quickly became "the" favorite, 'til of course I introduced them to the Lorax... Today's blog article features some of my most popular Green Eggs and Ham downloads.

The Green Eggs and Ham packet is a whopping 65-pages long, and covers all sorts of reading, writing and math Common Core State Standards. The packet includes green eggs and ham-themed alphabet cards, as well as number cards from 0 to 120. 

My personal favorite part of the packet, is the 3D writing prompt craftivity pictured.  Completed projects make an interesting bulletin board for March is Reading Month.  Students write whether they like green eggs and ham or not; the half paper plate features 2 things that they like to eat, as well as a combo they think is disgusting.

By folding up the edge of the plate, and inserting it through a slit in a sheet of brightly colored construction paper, it looks like a ledge.  The traced hand of the child, is holding up the plate, just like the illustration in Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham book.  

The packet also includes a "Would You Eat Green Eggs?" graph.  Each year I find that I'm in the minority, as most of my Y5s are quite adventurous and would eat Sam's green eggs. 

My students also enjoy picking a partner and filling in a Venn diagram, comparing the book Green Eggs and Ham, with the Cat in the Hat story.  There hasn't been a run-away winner here.

Since the other grammar card downloads have been so popular, I included 12 green eggs and ham-themed pocket chart cards in the packet as well.  

Using a dry erase marker, students correct the sentences by adding capital letters and end punctuation. 

Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs and Ham Activities Packet.

Toss in some math standards, by playing the It's Time For Green Eggs and Ham spinner game.  Students can choose to play with clocks to the hour, or time to the half hour.   Whatever time they spin, they color in the green eggs under that clock.

Review colors and color words in a fun way, with the Green Eggs and Ham Color packet. Children spin the colored egg spinner.  Whatever color they land on, they color the matching color word egg that color.  There's also a recording sheet with no words, so  young children can easily play the game too.

I've also included colored eggs with matching, traceable-color word cards. 

These are great for more games or to make an Itty Bitty booklet.  Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs and Ham Color Packet.

Another egg activity that I think your students will enjoy is an egg color matching game.

Students can match either the colored egg yolk to the color word, in a face up fashion, or flip the cards over and match a colored egg with a word color egg, for a Memory Match game.

If you have plastic eggs, have students twist them apart and match the colors and color words that way. 

Students can also play "I Have; Who Has?"  i.e. "I have the color word egg yellow.  Who has the yellow egg?"  Click on the link to view/download the Egg Colors Packet. 

I wanted to make another activity to help students learn and practice contractions. A cracked egg shape was the perfect vehicle to show the contraction on the top, and the words that make it up, on the bottom.

Run the template off on a variety of shades of green to use with Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, or use pastel colors for springtime. Keep the laminated eggs in a basket. 

There's also a blank set of eggs to program with upper and lowercase letters, word wall words, spelling words, equations or whatever.  Click on the link to view/download the Egg Contraction Packet.

Finally, since continued reinforcement of standards is important, I like to review shapes throughout the year.  Where Have My Green Eggs Gone?  Is an emergent reader about a shape mystery.

Students read the sentences, circle the capital letters and add end punctuation. 

They also trace the shape word, write it, trace and draw the shape and then color the shaped egg yolk green.

This booklet reviews the circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, hexagon, pentagon and octagon shapes. Click on the link to view/download the Green Eggs Shape Booklet.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  My tummy's reminding me that it's time to get some breakfast.  "I'm Diane I am, and I won't be eating green eggs and ham."  Wishing you a delightful day.

"If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too." -Dr. Seuss

 1-2-3 Come Do Some Super-Fun Grinch Activities With Me

There are so many activities out there for Seuss's Cat in the Hat, that I wanted to design some things with another popular character. 

We usually think of the Grinch in December, because after all, he tried to steal Christmas, but I felt he was the perfect "creature" to "munch and crunch a variety of standards for lunch!" so I created the "Feed the Grinch Game".

"Feeding" cards to a Grinch-topped container, is a quick, easy and fun way to review all sorts of things.

Print, laminate and trim the "food" cards. 

These are mini cards that include upper and lowercase letters, numbers from 0-120, 11 number word cards, twelve 2D shape cards, twelve 3D shape cards, 35 contraction cards, 94 "GR is for GRinch" gr word blend cards, and 11 color word cards!

I chose bright neon-colors, for that extra touch of Seuss-pizzazz. There's also a set of blank tiles for you to fill in with whatever else you want to review or practice. 

Besides "feeding" the Grinch, make extra sets of the cards to play all sorts of games.  I've included tip lists suggesting more activities, plus the "Kaboom!" game.

There's also a set of math symbols as well, so you can use the number cards for other math activities, like making up equations and solving them, plus showing greater & less than. 

Students can also sort the number cards into odd and even piles and sequence them.

Play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games with the number word cards and their matching number cards.

The shape cards, as well as the color cards, work in the same way.  You can also play these games with the letter cards, matching an uppercase letter to a lowercase one. 

There are a number of options you can use for the container.  I bought a green bucket from The Dollar Store.  Currently, they have all sorts of pails and buckets for the Easter season.  

Print off the Grinch on green construction paper then cut around the edges.  If you want his eyes to pop, print another Grinch on yellow construction paper then cut out just the eyes and glue them on.

So that the Grinch’s face, easily fits over the top of the bucket, I glued it to half of a sturdy paper plate. Fold his “mouth” on the dotted line so that children can flip it up and drop the Grinch “food” cards inside the bucket.

Add a green "hair" feather at the top, for extra pizzazz, and hold the plate down with some glue dots.  The packet includes labels to decorate your container.  Store each set of “food” cards in their own Ziploc Baggie inside the bucket. 

To play, simply pass out whatever cards you want to practice with to your kiddos, then call out a word, letter, number etc.  The child holding that card comes up, reads and shows it, then "feeds" the hungry grumpy Grinch.

Besides using a bucket, you can also use a dishwashing-detergent, flip-top container, to make your hungry Grinch.   Only the front section lifts up, making the perfect “mouth” for “feeding”.

The container in the photo, is from a 10-pack of Mr. Clean erasers that I bought at Sam’s Club. Cascade, as well as other dishwashing detergents, also use this type of container.  (It's the detergent that comes packaged in little pillows.)

Finally, celebrate Seuss with these two Grinch "craftivities" that I just finished today. 

Both of them are in the  Rhyming & Writing Are a Cinch With the Grinch packet. 

One features two writing prompts.  Students think of things that make them grin like the Grinch. 

They jot these down on the left side.  On the right side, they list things that make them "Grinchly and grumpy".  

The other craft is a "doorknobber".  Children fold their paper in half and glue it together, cutting the slit and hole at the top.

On the front, students glue their photo face over the Grinch's, after they color it. 

On the back, they list all of the words that they can think of that rhyme with whatever word you assign.  I chose Grinch and Seuss. 

Samples of both are included, so you can easily show examples to your students, to help explain what you want them to do.

Well that's it for today.  It felt good to get a few more things checked off my too-long "To Do" list.  Feeling overwhelmed, definitely makes me feel "Grinchy". 

My feet have hit the floor running, as there's lots to do today.  Wishing you a "Seuss-tastic" day, filled with giggles galore.

 "So be sure when you step, step with care and great tack, and remember that life's a great balancing act!" -Dr. Seuss