1-2-3 Come Do Some Letter Tile Activities With Me
If you're a blog hopper or Pinterest pinner, then you've probably seen all sorts of wonderfully creative activities for the alphabet or word work that involve letter tiles.
Some teachers and homeschoolers use magnetic ones on cookie sheets, others order colorful plastic alphabet squares from a company, or use the Scrabble tiles from a garage sale find. Although many educators have their kiddos cutting and gluing letters to make words, I didn't find any templates to do this with.
With that in mind, I designed a packet that includes both upper and lowercase letter tiles in 4 different sizes. From one set on a page, to 8 sets. Simply print, laminate and trim to use in centers and for games.
Run off extra sets for students to use for Daily 5 or other word work activities, where they cut and glue letters to make words. The packet includes a 4-page tip list, filled with ideas and games to use the letter tiles for.
Make an uncut laminated copy of the large set to use as an assessment tool. Individually, ask a student to point to a letter or cover it with a block or other manipulative. Click on the link to view/download the Upper and Lowercase Letter Tile packet.
Besides this newest FREEBIE, since it's Thursday, I also wanted to feature something for TBT (Throw Back Thursday).
As far as cutting and gluing letters to make words go, one of my most popular downloads is this word-work worksheet. It's simple and fun and fits easily into Daily 5. Students write and stamp the word, plus use the letters included in the packet, to cut and glue a word together.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for visiting. A soft and gentle rain is falling. My office window's open and the fresh air smells wonderful. I find the sound of rain very soothing, so I'm just going to kick back and relax, while I cut, paste and play today. Wishing you a carefree day.
"...I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.” -Mark Haddon
1-2-3 Come Play Some Halloween Games With Me
Are you looking for a few quick and fun things to plug in on Halloween? Something interesting for your kiddos, easy for you, and will still be educationally relevant? Then I think you'll enjoy my Ready Set Ghost! Halloween games packet.
Everything's pretty simple with a lot of variety. You can review and practice math, counting, letter recognition, end punctuation, capitalization, spelling, sequencing and more.
Here are a few things that I've included in the 28-page packet:
There are all sorts of math dice games that will help review numbers, counting and addition: A very simple one is the coloring puzzles.
Students choose one of three options; color their paper then cut on the lines making a 6-piece puzzle.
They pick a partner and take turns rolling a single dice. Whatever number they roll is the numbered puzzle piece that they glue on their grid.
Older students can work on addition, with the Race to 100 game. They too pick a partner and take turns rolling dice.
Children add the 2 dice together and then X off that many boxes on their 100 chart. Who will be the first one to get to 100?
Another 100 chart activity is a Halloween hidden picture worksheet. Students can listen and follow the directions of the teacher, or read the numbers on their worksheet. A successfully completed paper, will reveal a Jack-O-Lantern.
Have you made a list of all sorts of fall words for your word wall? The "I mustache you to unscramble the words" worksheet, will help students practice them.
Give children a minute or two to try and figure out as many as they can. Did anyone get all 22? There's an answer key to save you time.
I've also included another mustachioed ghost worksheet, which asks students to add end punctuation to however many Halloween-themed sentences that you want them to work on.
Students can work on more vocabulary skill building, by challenging them to use the letters in pumpkin, to see how many new words they can create. I've included my list of 20.
Younger students can spin and spell Happy Halloween! There are two spinners to choose from, a recording sheet and a colorful answer key poster to help little ones know where to put the letters.
Even preschool children can work on addition skills with the candy corn counting game. There are several math mat options, including one that the children color.
Students can work independently or choose a partner and take turns rolling the dice. Each child gets 13 pieces of candy corn. (Pre count them and put in Dixie cups).
Children can eat one, then use the rest as manipulatives to put on their candy corn counting mat, making groups of whatever numbers they roll. I've also included a recording sheet (2 on a page) where students can "show" their work.
If you want to practice letter recognition, play upper or lowercase "I Spy" . You can reuse the worksheets as many as 5 times, depending on how you have students record their findings. (Trace the letter, trace the circle, color, X-off, bingo dot etc.)
Finally, just for fun, I've included a Halloween version of "Trick" Tac Toe. There are six manipulatives children can choose to play with, plus a set of black line tokens they can color.
Click on the link to view/download the Halloween game packet: Ready, Set, Ghost!
Well that's it for today. I hope you found something useful that will make Halloween less stressful for you, and more fun for your students.
I'm off to change the light bulb on the front porch. Since I'm ready for those sweet trick or treaters, I better have the lights on. Wishing you a safe and happy Halloween.
"I love the childhood memories of Halloween, the excitement and energy that comes with it. Even the air feels different on Halloween; festive, fresh and crisp."