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Getting to the Core

Eggs-cellent Telling Time Activities

1-2-3 Come Add Some "Egg-citement" To Teaching Time With Me

Are you working on telling time with your kiddos?   egg clock, clock template, clock pattern, teaching time, time activities, time cards, time flashcards, digital time, analog time, digital time flashcards, analog time flashcards, activities for teaching time, time games, clock games, What’s the Eggs-act Time? packet, is filled with fun analog and digital time activities with a spring-theme. It's and "oldie but goodie" that's been around for a while, but is still a popular download.

Your students will enjoy making their own egg clock. Simply run off the pattern on a variety of colors of construction paper.

Teachers can easily whole- group assess, by asking students to show them an “egg-sact” time.  Children adjust the paperclip hands on their clock and hold it up.  Teachers can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

I’ve also included an egg spinning game as well.  Children play in groups of 2-4 and take turns spinning.

egg clock, clock template, clock pattern, teaching time, time activities, time cards, time flashcards, digital time, analog time, digital time flashcards, analog time flashcards, activities for teaching time, time games, clock games, Whatever number they land on, they trace and then write that time to the hour.  The student who fills up their time card first is the winner.

There are also digital and analog traceable time cards so you can make Memory Match games, as well as Itty Bitty booklets, or play the game “I Have Who Has?”  Cards are for time to the hour, half hour, as well as quarter hour times too. 

For example, the child with the analog 2:00 O’clock card, asks for the digital 2:00 time card.  Students can also sequence these cards.

Play “Speed-Flash” where the teacher flashes a time card and students show that time on their egg clock.  The child who shows the correct time the quickest, by holding up their clock, earns a sticker for the back of their egg.

Match Three is yet another game with 3 matching time cards to the hour: an analog clock, a large digital time and a time that is written out.   Students can play a Memory Match game with these by finding all 3 matches, or play a card game with another partner that works like Go Fish.

This game is called, Do You Have The Time?  Deal out 5 cards and put the rest face down.  egg clock, clock template, clock pattern, teaching time, time activities, time cards, time flashcards, digital time, analog time, digital time flashcards, analog time flashcards, activities for teaching time, time bookmark, time games, clock games, Students match their groups of 3 with the cards they have.  When it is their turn they may take a card from the pile or ask their partner “Do you have 2:00 0’clock? “

If their partner has any time card that is 2 O’clock they give it to them etc.  Play continues ‘til all of the cards are matched or when the timer rings.

The student with the most matches is the winner.  When you are done with the various activities, you can reward your students with a certificate of praise bookmark, which is also included in the packet.

Click on the link to view/download Eggs-actly What Time Is It? packet.  If you'd like to see all of my time-themed FREEBIES, click on the link to pop on over to that section of TeachWithMe.  I also have an entire Pinterest board devoted to free telling time activities, crafts, and ideas.

egg clock, clock template, clock pattern, teaching time, time activities, time cards, time flashcards, digital time, analog time, digital time flashcards, analog time flashcards, activities for teaching time, time bookmark, time games, clock games, Thanks for visiting.  I just glanced at the clock on my computer; (So glad that that's there, as I totally lose track of how my morning is flying by!) and it's time to do some major work cleaning up my garden. 

Winter has certainly wrecked havoc out back, and I'm anxious to take advantage of a 50 degree day, where it's finally warm enough to work!  Wishing you a prosperous day. 

"A garden requires patient labor and attention.  Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions.  They thrive because someone expended effort on them." -Liberty Hyde Bailey

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A Super-Cute Spring Writing Prompt Craftivity

                                        1-2-3 Come Hatch Some "Craftivities" With Me                                                                                                                 spring writing prompts, april writing prompts, graphs, graphing seasons, graphing months, daily 5 activities, daily 5 writing activities, april writing prompts for preschool kindergarten and first grade, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, easter activities, easter bulletin boards, spring bulletin boards, chick bulletin boards, april bulletin boards, april bulletin board ideas, spring bulletin board ideas, writing bulletin boards, writing bulletin board ideas, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, spring writing centers, spring writing activities, spring daily 5 activities, spring writing prompts, april writing prompts, graphs, graphing seasons, graphing months, daily 5 activities, daily 5 writing activities, april writing prompts for preschool kindergarten and first grade, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, easter activities, easter bulletin boards, spring bulletin boards, chick bulletin boards, april bulletin boards, april bulletin board ideas, spring bulletin board ideas, writing bulletin boards, writing bulletin board ideas, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, spring writing centers, spring writing activities, spring daily 5 activities,

I Hatched, is an easy spring writing activity that makes an adorable bulletin board or hallway decoration.

Your students will not only have fun with this March/April writing prompt, but will learn more about their classmates and possibly about themselves as well.

Simply run off my chick and egg templates.  Students cut them out and fill in the information.

I’ve included a letter home to parents, as younger children don’t always know any more than the month they were born in, and some don’t even know that.  You could also send this activity home to be completed over spring break, and then share on the day children return.

The “favorite activities” pennant adds more flair and an additional writing extension.  I’ve included 6 graphing extensions to reinforce that math standard and so students can visually “see” their classmates' answers.

Add feathers; wiggle eyes and straws to jazz things up and you hopefully have “eggs-actly” that little something you’ve been looking for to spice up your writing block.

spring writing prompts, april writing prompts, graphs, graphing seasons, graphing months, daily 5 activities, daily 5 writing activities, april writing prompts for preschool kindergarten and first grade, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, easter activities, easter bulletin boards, spring bulletin boards, chick bulletin boards, april bulletin boards, april bulletin board ideas, spring bulletin board ideas, writing bulletin boards, writing bulletin board ideas, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, spring writing centers, spring writing activities, spring daily 5 activities, spring writing prompts, april writing prompts, graphs, graphing seasons, graphing months, daily 5 activities, daily 5 writing activities, april writing prompts for preschool kindergarten and first grade, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, easter activities, easter bulletin boards, spring bulletin boards, chick bulletin boards, april bulletin boards, april bulletin board ideas, spring bulletin board ideas, writing bulletin boards, writing bulletin board ideas, writing centers for preschool kindergarten and first grade, spring writing centers, spring writing activities, spring daily 5 activities, To reinforce verbal acuity skills and learn more about their friends, have students share their creation with the class, after everyone has  “hatched” their egg, then hang them in the hallway for that finishing touch of springtime.

Click on the link to view/download the I Hatched Springtime Writing Activity

Each year our preschool hatches baby chicks in their classroom.  It's a fascinating experience they share with my Y5s. 

spring bulletin board ideas, baby chick activities, spring writing prompts, chick crafts, april bulletin boardsI found a short baby chicks hatching video (1:13) on YouTube, if you'd like to share it with your kiddos before or after they do the "I Hatched" craftivity.

spring bulletin boards, spring writing prompts, writing prompts for spring, chick activities, chick crafts, baby chicks hatchingThanks for visiting. Do you have a spring writing prompt or craft that's a favorite?  Would love to hear from you.  diane@teachwithme.com  or feel free to leave a comment below.

"If you want to feel rich, count the things you have that money can't buy." -Unknown

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Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities

1-2-3 Come Feed The Very Hungry Caterpillar With Me

the very hungry caterpillar activities, caterpillar activities, butterfly activities, skip counting activities, adjective activities, counting activities, traceable alphabet cards, traceable number cards, the very hungry caterpillar fruit cards, ther very hungry caterpillar puppet, the very hungry caterpillar manipulatives, the very hungry caterpillar sequencing cards,Review Eric Carle's story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by feeding him a variety of "food" story cards and a whole lot more, with this fun-filled caterpillar packet.

the very hungry caterpillar activities, caterpillar activities, butterfly activities, skip counting activities, adjective activities, counting activities, traceable alphabet cards, traceable number cards, the very hungry caterpillar fruit cards, ther very hungry caterpillar puppet, the very hungry caterpillar manipulatives, the very hungry caterpillar sequencing cards,Use my template to make this cute caterpillar for a whole-group review game, or have students color the pattern and make their own.

I made mine out of construction paper.  You can run the master off on red construction paper and students can cut eyes out of yellow and green scraps if you want to make them that way.

Cut a hole for the mouth, Scotch tape a small Baggie to the back and you’re all set to feed this hungry boy all sorts of traceable cards.

the very hungry caterpillar activities, caterpillar activities, butterfly activities, skip counting activities, adjective activities, counting activities, traceable alphabet cards, traceable number cards, the very hungry caterpillar fruit cards, ther very hungry caterpillar puppet, the very hungry caterpillar manipulatives, the very hungry caterpillar sequencing cards,The packet includes traceable number cards from 1-30, skip counted numbers: 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s, upper and lowercase letters, all 14 adjectives used in the book, the days of the week, the months in the year, + covers so that students can make Itty Bitty booklets to match all of the categories!

There's also cards for everything that the caterpillar ate in full color as well as in black line, so students can color their own little "My Itty Bitty Very Hungry Caterpillar" booklet, which includes the rest of the story telling cards as well.

Review more concepts by using the word cards from my other free packets, such as the Dolch words, CVC words, Shape words, Number words or Color words.

Decide which cards you want your students to work on and run those off.  Make all the sets for yourself, so that you can play “Flash Review” to nail all of those standards.

Besides "feeding" the caterpillar, students can also play Memory Match or “I Have, Who Has?” games.

the very hungry caterpillar activities, caterpillar activities, butterfly activities, skip counting activities, adjective activities, counting activities, traceable alphabet cards, traceable number cards, the very hungry caterpillar fruit cards, ther very hungry caterpillar puppet, the very hungry caterpillar manipulatives, the very hungry caterpillar sequencing cards,I’ve also included several "What’s Missing?" worksheets for upper and lowercase letters, as well as all of the skip counted numbers + a blank template so you can program your own worksheets with whatever.

Students can also color a pattern on their caterpillar or play the "Caterpillar Creeps" dice game reviewing the life cycle of a butterfly.  I’ve included traceable life cycle cards as well. 

Click on the link to view/download this 50-page fun-filled packet: Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities.

If you're looking for more caterpillar and butterfly FREEBIES, click on the link to pop on over to that section of my blog.  I also have an entire pin board for The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and another for butterflies, with lots of creative ideas, cute crafts and other other FREE activities.

the very hungry caterpillar activities, caterpillar activities, butterfly activities, skip counting activities, adjective activities, counting activities, traceable alphabet cards, traceable number cards, the very hungry caterpillar fruit cards, ther very hungry caterpillar puppet, the very hungry caterpillar manipulatives, the very hungry caterpillar sequencing cards,Thanks for visiting.  It's time for this caterpillar to morph into a butterfly.  It's a better way to flit through the day getting things done, rather than be a slow slug-a-bug; certainly no time for a nap in a chrysalis or anywhere else.

Sigh....So much to do with so little time to get it all done. I can't believe Easter's this weekend.

"The beautiful spring came; and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also." -Harriet Ann Jacobs

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Leave A Smaller Footprint On The Earth

1-2-3 Come Learn About Reducing Your Environmental Footprint With Me

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, Since both my sons are Eagle Scouts, we were very into recycling while they were growing up.  From paper drives to cleaning up the parks and river projects, we enjoyed "going green" and trying to do our part to help conserve the earth's resources. 

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, Caring about conservation followed me into the classroom as well.  We collected paper trash in a box and I tried to do at least one recycled sort of craftivity each month. 

Even though Earth Day is celebrated only one day on April 22nd, I did a huge week-long unit about ways even a child can pitch in and do their part to help sustain the earth.  I can only hope that the information that they learned, became healthy habits for them. 

Reducing man's carbon footprint has been a much talked about topic lately, so I thought I'd design an Earth Day writing prompt and footprint craft with that in mind.

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, Start by explaining to students the fact that we’ve all seen our footprints on the beach or left in the mud.  When we step, we leave marks that can last even after we are long gone.

In the same way, all of us place pressure on the environment by the way we live our lives.  Scientists call this an “ecological or carbon footprint” one which can show how hard we tread on our earth’s resources.  

Leaving an environmental footprint means we have left things behind, that have not or can not be recycled, and the size of our footprint depends on how much biologically productive land and water we require to live our life. 

No matter what one knows about leaving a "carbon footprint" the fact is, that we all need to try to reduce them,  thereby impacting our world in a positive way.  I thought a good way to start, would be to make up a list of how to go about this. 

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, Hours of interesting research later, I comprised quite a long list, and was surprised at how simple many of these activities are to do.  Quite a few items are not difficult, expensive, or time intensive to perform, and merely easy behavioral changes.

Hopefully, just by sharing them, and making students aware of do-able things, via this checklist, they'll start implementing a few into their lives. 

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, After reviewing the information in the Reducing Your Environmental Footprint packet, (I've included a list of informative websites you may also want to visit) have students do the footprint writing prompt craftivity.  

To make things more personal and a keepsake, students can trace their own foot, or they can opt to use my flip flop template. 

After discussing things people can do to reduce their footprint and checking ones off the list that they can truly start doing, students write these down on their footprint. 

I've included several ways to go about this.  Students can write the prompt on their footprint, or they can write it on the back of the earth and simply glue their footprint on the globe. 

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, They can also make a smaller, 3 dimensional earth, by gluing 3 earth "circles" together, and then suspend their footprint from the sphere, or simply hang students' footprints from the ceiling and enlarge the earth and hang that in the middle of your display. 

A caption you could write on the large earth could be "Mr./Mrs. ____________'s class is stepping up to help the earth!"   earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, Click on the link to view/download the Earth Day Footprint Writing Prompt Craftivity.  I hope your students enjoy it.

Every little bit truly does help and I find it comforting to know that many others are also on board, trying to make a difference one step at a time.  

If you're looking for a few more Earth Day recycling actvities and crafts, click on the link to pop on over to that section of my site. 

I also have a very "pinteresting" PIN board, entirely filled with more FREE Earth Day ideas, activities & crafts. I spend way too much time looking for free educational "stuff", but then you don't have to!

Thanks Stephanie, a librarian from Seattle,  who told me about a wonderful list of links to all sorts of recycling projects for children. (And a special thank you to Mary, her student, who shared it with her!)  If you have an educational website, craft or activity you'd like to share to help others, I'd enjoy hearing from you.  diane@teachwithme.com  or feel free to post a comment here.

earth day activities, earth day writing prompts, earth day bulletin boards, a list of activities students can do to help the earth, how to reduce your carbon footprint, carbon footprint writing prompt, carbon footprint crafts, carbon footprint activities, earth day crafts, That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  Praise the Lord the sun is shining, especially since we had snow flurries yesterday (What? I's March 28th for pete's sake!) and it's only 27 degrees out.  Sigh... I guess this is just another cold Michigan spring.  Wishing you a clean and green weekend.

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."  Mahatma Ghandi

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I'm All Ears For Common Core

1-2-3 Come Practice, Review and Assess With a Bunny and Me

Spring has sprung and it's time to review some of those Common Core Standards you've been teaching all year. 

Sigh.... as we all know, just because our little ones passed an assessment months ago, if we didn't continue to practice it throughout the year, sadly, a few of them did not retain that information.

bunny crafts, bunny activities, bunny games, Popsicle stick crafts, Posicle stick activities, craft sticks activities, Easter games, Easter crafts, Easter activities, spring assessments, assessment games, common core review, common core assessments, common core games, contraction activities, contraction games, antonym activities, synonym activities, color words, number words, shape games, shape activities, 2D shapes, 3D shape activities, 3D shape gamesWith that in mind, I designed the very versatile  "I'm All Ears" game packet that will make reviewing a variety of standards quick, easy and fun. 

I don't know about your kiddos, but I've found that if I make a game for anything, I've grabbed my Y5's attention and can easily have them focused for a nice chunk of time.

Use the large and small bunny for a center activity, assessment, or game.  Run off the large and small bunny heads on ivory construction paper; laminate and trim.

Program large and small craft sticks with whatever you'd like to reinforce.  Keep each set in their own Baggie. 

bunny crafts, bunny activities, bunny games, Popsicle stick crafts, Posicle stick activities, craft sticks activities, Easter games, Easter crafts, Easter activities, spring assessments, assessment games, common core review, common core assessments, common core games, contraction activities, contraction games, antonym activities, synonym activities, color words, number words, shape games, shape activities, 2D shapes, 3D shape activities, 3D shape gamesI've included a list of synonyms/antonyms and a list of contractions so you can easily program the bunny ears with words that fit your age group.  

Here are some ideas:

  • uppercase-lowercase letters
  • number-number word
  • number-group/set
  • contraction-words that make up the contraction
  • synonyms and antonyms
  • equation-answer
  • color-color word
  • shape-shape word
  • 2 words-compound word
  • singular-plural
  • long or short vowel sound to a matching word example

As you can see the possibilities are endless!  I hope this makes those end of the year reviews a bit more fun and less tedious.  Click on the link for the "I'm All Ears" For Common Core Bunny Game Packet

bunny crafts, bunny activities, bunny games, Popsicle stick crafts, Posicle stick activities, craft sticks activities, Easter games, Easter crafts, Easter activities, spring assessments, assessment games, common core review, common core assessments, common core games, contraction activities, contraction games, antonym activities, synonym activities, color words, number words, shape games, shape activities, 2D shapes, 3D shape activities, 3D shape gamesThanks for visiting.  It's hard to believe that the school year is almost at an end.  Aprill and May months always seemed to simply fly, as there was so much to cram into the limited time I had left. 

My timer's ringing, so I'd better check the "No Peek Chicken".  It's one of my favorite recipes and smells delicious.  Wishing you a carefree day.

"Sweet April showers do spring May flowers!" -Thomas Tusser

 

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