1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple and Pumpkin Activities With Me!

One of the much-needed skills for little ones, is the ability to cut.  Just learning how to hold a scissors is quite an accomplishment for some.  To help my Y5's strengthen their hand muscles and increase dexterity, I incorporated cutting practice in some form or another every day.  To make this less tedious and frustrating, many of the activities revolved around creating a craft that included other skills as well.

Keeping this in mind, I designed "A-peel-ing Apples" so children could practice cutting in a circle.  This is a wonderful opportunity to add the term spiral to students' vocabulary as well.  Giving a red, yellow or lime green color choice for the apple, also reinforces that science fact. 

To add a bit more pizzazz, older students can glue two different colors together.  The thicker paper lessens the drop of the spiral, and the double-sided colors add interest to the dangler.  Students glue a stem and leaf to the top.  Punch a hole; add a yarn loop and suspend from the ceiling, or as a border against a hallway wall.  Click on the link to view/download the A-peel-ing Apples activity.

Cutting on a straight line is also not that easy for some little ones. These apple and pumpkin "strip" puzzles, will not only give your students practice with that skill, but review and reinforce sequencing numbers from 1-10, skip counting by 10's, or counting backwards from 10-1. I've used a dashed-line font, for the numbers on the apples and pumpkins, so that students can get some writing practice in.  Encourage children to count quietly as they trace the numbers.

Simply choose a number concept you want to work on and run off the puzzles on construction paper.  Children choose a puzzle; trace the numbers; cut the strips, lay them in the proper sequence on a sheet of black construction paper, and then glue them down. 

Remind students to keep a small space between the strips.  Students add a stem and leaf to the top.  You can make the pumpkin more of a keepsake, by having children, or a room helper, trace their hand, with their fingers spread, onto green construction paper.  They trim and glue next to their stem.  Completed projects make a sweet harvest bulletin board.

You may want to laminate one of each kind, to keep in your math center.  Each puzzle has its own Baggie.  Children can work indepently, or pick a partner to play "Speed" against.  The first one who completes their puzzle, is the winner.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple and Pumpkin Number Puzzles.

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1-2-3 Come Use 10-Frames With Me.

As promised, I got the rest of the fall 10-frames completed this week.  Pumpkin 10 frames, Spider 10 frames, Scarecrow 10 frames, Leaf 10 frames, Football 10 frames, Bat 10 Frames, Fire Safety 10 Frames and Candy Corn 10 Frames are now ready for instant download. (Whew!) Just click on the links.  If you missed the apple 10 frames, or the owl 10 frames for September, simply click on their links.  To view all of my 10 Frame FREEBIES click on this link.

Thinking about numbers using 10 frames, can be a helpful and easy way for students to learn basic number facts. A 10 frame is a simple graphic tool that allows people to  “see” numbers.

They will help your students with number sense, place value, patterns and relationships, as well as subitizing (being able to recognize at a glance, domino and dice patterns, without having to count the dots).

There are lots of activities that you can do with the 10-frame packets besides the obvious.  Use them as flashcards, examples in your pocket chart, switch up your number word wall to be seasonal, and post a themed set there. You can make laminated sets for games and/or run off copies of whatever you'd like your students to work on, and use them as a table top lesson, math center, or to make booklets.

A set of numbers, number words, and math symbols (plus, minus, equals, greater and less than) allows students to make equations (covering more standards) plus play a variety of games. i.e.  Match the 10 frame to the number card, or number word, to play a Memory Match game, or play "I Have; Who Has?" 

You can also use the number word cards to ask questions of "How many more to make ______?" i.e. There are 2 pieces of candy corn on the candy corn number cards.  How many more are needed to equal the number on a particular card.  (1 more is needed for the one card, 9 more for the ten card etc. ) 
Do the same with the bat number word cards, that feature 4 bats. 

The scarecrow-number word cards have 2 different pictures in an ABAB pattern.  Ask students which picture is on all of the even numbered cards and which is on the odd numbered cards. You can do the same with the spider number cards as they are 2 different colors.

I'm always looking to improve things, so I thought I'd make some extra tiles for you to print, laminate and cut out, so that your students can use these as matching manipulatives for the 10 frames.  Use them for the above games to fill in a 10 frame.  Children can also count, sort, and pattern with them. For added fun, and a sweet treat, give students 10 pieces of candy corn when you're working with the Candy Corn 10 frames.  As a reward for wonderful work, students can eat a few at the end of the activity.

If there's a fall theme that I missed, that you'd like a 10-frame packet for, simply shoot me an e-mail diane@teachwithme.com and I'll see what I can do.  10 Frames for Turkeys and Pilgrims are in the works for November.  I'll also be making 10 frames for winter and a set for spring as well, so if you have a request, let me know.

If you'd like some links to a few wonderful 10-frame videos and 10-frame games, click on the link to pop on over to that blog article.  For more 10-Frame practice that incorporates reading standards too, try our 1-2-3 Count ____________'s With Me booklets.  They are themed easy-readers, based on 10 frames.  All of the above 10 frame packets, have matching "Count With Me" booklets, that would be wonderful seasonal extensions.  Click on the link to zip on over to my 10-frame section, and scroll down to see all of the 1-2-3 Counting booklets.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might enjoy.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin It"  button located on my menu bar.  If you'd like to take a peek at all of the creative-educational things I pin, simply click on the heart to the right.

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me." -Erma Bombeckdo

1-2-3 Come Work On The Alphabet With Me

Have you tried several ways to get the light bulb to turn on in your students' heads, so they stop confusing the similar b and d letters?  This was a problem for my Y5's.  They had narrowed it down to recognizing that the letter was either a "b" or a "d", but needed a little trick to help remember, which was which.  I made up a little story about baby b and dinky d and it really helped!

This packet is filled with helpful tips for taking the confusion out of the letters b and d and includes 12 anchor charts plus 3 skill sheets.

There  are posters of several other successful "memory-trigger" methods, (like the word bed) along with the story of b and d. 

As a fun way to practice their b and d letters, have students become ABCDe-tectives.  

Click on the link to view/download the b and d packet.

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"Every individual, has the capacity to become a unique and special person unlike any who has ever existed before or will ever exist again." -Elisabeth Kubler Ross