1-2-3 Come Make Some Number Booklets With Me
If your kiddos are like mine, they will absolutely love making these “just the right size” number booklets.
Teachers will enjoy the easy-peasy "Print & Go" prep as well.
There are eleven, 2-page booklets for numbers 0-10 .
Besides number recognition the booklets also provide great fine motor practice while cutting & gluing.
Each booklet has a bit of a different shape, as they follow the contours of the numbers, which adds interest to their appearance, as well as provides “curved” cutting practice as well.
The assembly of each booklet is also simple, and is a great way to practice listening & following directions too.
For the inside pages, children trace and write the number & word, then color the group of that many things.
I include number words because even though I’m not teaching “reading” or number word recognition at this time, I’ve included it “on and in” the booklet, for several reasons.
At the same time we are learning numbers, children are also learning letters. Seeing them together helps kiddos differentiate the two.
Children will also realize that a number symbol has a word that’s also associated with it, and that those words, are made up of letters.
Even though children might not be able to correctly match up a word to a number yet, I’ve discovered that by continuously seeing numbers with their matching words, my students were successfully recognizing them later!
It’s sort of like being able to read the word Cheerios, or McDonalds simply because they are associating.
When everyone is done with their booklet, we “read” it together.
We count from 0 to that number, flash that many fingers, then clap each letter as we spell the word.
You can send each booklet home after your kiddos create it, or you can have children keep them in a 5x7 manila envelope.
Holding the envelope horizontally, I slit the top. Students seal the flap shut .
After they have colored the picture, they glue their worksheet on the front.
When we finish studying a number, children trace and write it, then tuck the booklet inside the envelope.
I also give my kiddos a "student number". This matches the alphabetical order of their first names; Anna, Bill, Bob etc.
Along with their name, they write this number on any work that I keep for folders, portfolios etc.
This way, students can assist me in filing "stuff", which I keep in tubs. This takes just a minute, and finding a student's work is a breeze.
Plus I never have piles of "need to file" papers all over the place!
Because students are tracing and writing the number on the front, I can also see at a glance, who was absent and is missing a number.
After we are done with the envelopes, I call for a number; as we all, slowly count out loud.
Number one student brings theirs up, then 2 and so on. Everything is now numerically filed and easy to accesss, in a plastic shoebox.
These are great to take out and share during parent-teacher conferences too.
Once all of our booklets are done, I have students sit on the floor and arrange them in order from 0-10, practicing the "sequencing" standard in a fun way.
The packet also includes a certificate of praise, as well as several “I Spy a Number” worksheets.
This game is a super-fun way to whole group assess, while practicing number recognition.
Today's featured FREEBIE is a collection of 5, fall matching games, which help practice 2D shapes.
Print, laminate and trim. Students place the colored shape tile on the matching shape on the leaf, spider, bat, owl, or turkey card.
I've also included a blank template for each theme, so you can program with more shapes or whatever.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.
Time to put my party hat on, as we're celebrating my birthday early, and hitting the beach for some fun in the sun.
Wishing you a stress-free & relaxing day.
"Live the party. Love the party. Be the party." -Unknown
1-2-3 Come Do Some "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" Activities With Me
Do you read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff?
I absolutely love her "If You Give A..." series of stories. So do my students. They truly get a kick out of the endings, where things come full circle and then repeat.
Glad that a publisher finally agreed, as that best-selling book was rejected 9 times!!!! Puts new meaning behind the words, "Try, try again."
These books are perfect for sequencing! With that in mind, I designed a storytelling flip booklet, as well as a slider craftivity.
Both packets will help practice the "sequencing & retelling a story" standards, and make for a wonderful transition activity, after you're done reading the story.
First up is the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" flip booklet.
Fun for your kiddos and easy-peasy for you too, as it’s simply “Print & Go”.
Simply run the mouse pattern off on construction paper or card stock.
Students color & trim. This becomes the sturdy “base” of their booklet.
Students color, cut & collate the pages into a little book, which is then glued to the base.
I purposely did not number the pages, so you can assess comprehension & ability to sequence correctly.
I've included black & white patterns, as well as colorful ones, so that you can quickly & easily make an example to share.
Because children absolutely love giving their opinion, the last page allows them a chance to rate the story with a thumbs up or down, as well as coloring in a star ranking.
To further check comprehension, I’ve included a “color, cut & glue” worksheet too.
As another way to assess comprehension, as well as include some writing practice, there’s also a “Here’s What Happened…” worksheet, which can be done as a whole group with younger children.
When everyone is done, have children pick a partner and take turns telling the story, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” to each other.
We sometimes do this sort of thing with our older reading buddies.
Afterwards, encourage students to share their mouse craft with their parents, once again retelling the story.
Next up is the slider. There are several mouse options. I’ve included a large, full-page pattern for teachers, as well as a smaller, 2-on-a-page pattern for your students.
Children color the story elements on the “slider strip” then cut and glue it together.
As they pull on the end of the “slider” the various pictures go through the cookie “window”, so that children can take turns retelling the story to a partner or reading buddy, then take their mouse home to share with their family, once again practicing these standards.
Storytelling sliders are also an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension.
I’ve included a “sequence the story” slider activity for this, where students color and trim the picture “windows” then glue them in the correct order on the blank slider strip.
You also have the option to do the regular slider with the story graphics in the appropriate order, then assess comprehension afterwards, using the “Sequence the Story” worksheet.
I introduce the lesson by reading "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie", then share my completed "slider craftivity” with my students.
So that you can quickly, and easily make an example, I’ve included a full-color slider pattern.
After I read the story, we retell the tale together, using the picture prompts on my cookie mouse.
Have children guess which story element they think comes next before you pull the picture through the “window”.
My students now know what’s expected of them, and are very excited to transition to making a Cookie Mouse story slider of their own.
As with the flip booklet, this packet also includes a "Here's What Happened..." worksheet, in black & white, as well as color, so that you can do this as a whole group discussion with little ones.
Today's featured FREEBIE is a fun little "back to school" icebreaker.
You can play this "get to know you game" with M&Ms or Skittles, This activity works with a variety of ages and grade levels. I hope you find it useful.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for popping in.
Not sure about you, but my summer is going at the speed of light.
Seems like we were all just cheering on the last day, and now we're getting ready for that exciting first week of school.
Wishing you a blessed day free of stress, and those too long "To Do" lists.
"You do enough. You are enough. You've done enough. You have enough. Relax." - Unknown
1-2-3 Come Do a Back to School Icebreaker With Me!
Nowadays, our classrooms are filled with lots of diversity, which sometimes makes starting a new school year a bit scary.
I truly believe that making the time to do some “get to know you” activities the first few days of school, is so very important in building community, camaraderie and a team spirit.
Once those things are established, children build friendships. That bond helps them enjoy school more, learn better and feel safer.
Discipline problems are lessened as well because of mutual feelings of genuine caring and respect.
With that in mind, I designed this super-fun icebreaker craftivity, I call it, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, which not only helps everyone get to know each other, but also practices writing skills in a fun way.
I find that students truly enjoy sharing things about themselves.
A bonus is that completed projects also make an awesome back to school bulletin board as well.
I’ve included a variety of posters, for your display.
There's also a nice selection of "Don't judge a book by its cover", thought-provoking photo posters.
Use them as an attention grabbing way to introduce the lesson, or jump start a discussion of why it’s important not to prejudge others.
Later, sprinkle them throughout your display of children's book stacks.
As another discussion starter, I've also included a set of 4, interesting quote cards. These too, can become part of your display.
So that this idea works for a variety of grades, ages and skill levels, I’ve included patterns for lower elementary kiddos, as well as patterns for older students.
There are 6 young boy "topper" options, along with 6 for girls.
Patterns come in black & white so students can color them. I've also included several in color, so that you can quickly & easily make an example to share.
This "topper" sits on a stack of books.
Each book features a "favorite" writing prompt. Such as favorite food, animal, color etc.
Making this a quick, easy and a super-fun way to get to know your students.
Younger kiddos can dictate their answers to a parent, which makes this an interesting activity to do during your open house or "Meet the Teacher" night.
There are also 2 options for “teacher toppers” so that you can quickly & easily make an example to share. Students love learning things about their new teachers.
For older students there's a taller stack of books, with a pattern for a boy as well as a girl.
These come with "favorites" book headers, as well as a pattern where the books are numbered, so you can taylor your questions for your own class.
I've included a list of ideas you can choose from, to help design your own categories.
Simply peruse my list, circle your favorite 14, then number them.
After students have colored, cut and assembled ther book stack, read the first item you want them to write down on the first book: ie. "What is your favorite movie? "
For extra writing practice, I've also included several writing prompt worksheets.
Because "Don't judge a book by its cover" and "I can read them like a book" are idioms, be sure and take that teachable moment to explain what that term means.
I've included some definition posters to assist you.
Today's featured FREEBIE is a set of two coloring pages, inspired by two of my all-time favorite back to school books: "The Kissing Hand" and "Chrysanthemum".
Use them for a few minutes of sanity-saving time. While children are engaged and happily coloring, you 're freed up for a bit.
Plus, kiddos have a nice little something to bring home to share with their families.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.
Our weather here in Michigan has been absolutely gorgeous! Feeling very blessed.
Wishing you a stress free and very relaxing day.
"Life seems to begin all over again during the summer." - Unknown
1-2-3 Come Do Some Name Writing Activities With Me
Put some fun into “name writing” practice.
This important skill can be daunting for little ones just learning how to hold a writing utensil.
Likewise, “practice makes perfect” can become tedious and boring.
With these things in mind, I designed this “kid topper” name craftivity.
There are a variety of ways you can use this packet.
The first way is to use as a worksheet with a “child topper”.
Run off the boy & girl patterns on copy paper, or to make them sturdier, use white construction paper.
There are 18, BW girl options, as well as 18 boy options. Children color the child, then trim and glue to the top of one of the worksheets.
There are 4 “I can write my name" worksheets. Choose which is most appropriate for your students.
To add variety & make things more fun, students write their name with a crayon, pencil, marker, pen & piece of chalk.
If your kiddos are like mine, this is a “big deal” that meets with lots of enthusiasm.
Another option, is for students to simply write with one utensil. My kiddos’ favorite is markers.
They can do this all at once, writing their name six times, or do this once each day for the first week of school.
IDEA: Have students choose two different colored markers, then show an ABAB color pattern to cover yet another report card standard.
Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board. I’ve included 2 posters to add extra pizzazz.
IDEA: After you take your bulletin board down, save your students’ work, then have them repeat the assignment, the last week of school.
You should see wonderful improvement in coloring, as well as writing! What a great keepsake too.
The other option is to make a “strip booklet”.
To make one, staple X number of pages together, add the cover, then staple to the base of each students’ “kid topper”.
Children write their name on the first day, then again, once each month.
This is great to share during parent-teacher conferences, and also makes a wonderful keepsake at the end of the year.
I've also included 3, "bookmarks of praise" for boys, and another 3 for girls, which you can hand out when they pass this report card standard.
Today's featured FREEBIE is a "Getting to know you!" name map.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for popping in.
It's summer; it's Friday, and I'm feelin' oh so fine!
Time to don my straw hat & flips flops. Hoffmaster Beach here we come.
"A little sand between your toes, is a simple way to take away your woes. " -Unknown.
1-2-3 Come Do A "Dog Gone Great" Writing Craftivity With Me
No matter what grade I taught, all I had to do to grab my students’ attention and get them excited about writing, was to add a bit of craftiness to an interesting and fun writing prompt.
With that in mind, I designed this (flip the flap) “Dog Gone Great!” activity, which is another one of my “double duty” writing prompts.
I call them double duty because they have patterns that serve a dual purpose.
You can use them for either the beginning of the year, for a super-fun back to school activity, or plug them in at the end of the year, for pre-summer writing.
There are 5 different dog designs to choose from, as well as 3 writing prompts:
“I had a dog gone great summer!”
“I had a dog gone great school year!” and...
"________________________ is dog gone great!” where students fill in the blank with something they think is awesome: a sport, activity, subject, book, person, vacation, etc.
There are also 3 writing page options as well: 2 with different sized lines, plus a blank pattern.
Pick which is most appropriate for your students, or give them a choice.
There’s plenty of room to write, as the patterns take up almost a full page.
I’ve included black & white patterns for students, as well as 5 colorful patterns, so that you can quickly and easily make an example to share.
When everyone is done, have students pick a partner and take turns sharing, or make some time for children to share with the entire class.
Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board.
I’ve included 2, “Dog Gone Great Writing!” posters to add some extra pizzazz to your display.
Today's featured FREEBIE is a super-fun "Shape Matching Game For Fall".
Print, laminate and trim. Students place the colored shape tile on to the matching shape on the leaf, spider, bat, owl, or turkey card.
I've included a blank template for each theme, so you can program with more shapes or whatever. I hope you find it useful.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.
Since the heat index is 110 I'm going to continue to craft away in my blessedly cool office today.
Wishing you a stress-free & happy-go-lucky day.
"It's summer! If you're not barefoot, you're overdressed." -Unknown
