1-2-3 Come Do Some 2D Shape Activities With Me

"Funny Flamingos”  are a quick, easy and super-fun “print & go” craftivity, that will help review 2D shapes in some interesting & engaging ways.

The 2D shapes included are: circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, trapezoid, rhombus, star & heart.

The packet includes patterns for the above shapes, so that children can make a “Funny Flamingo Friend.”

They turn out absolutely adorable, so I think your kiddos will really enjoy making one. 

Templates come in a large, full-page size, as well as a smaller, two-on-a-page pattern.

Decide what’s most appropriate for your students.

You don’t have to, but accordion-folding the legs is a fun way to strengthen finger muscles. Your students will also enjoy the “boing-boing” effect.

Completed projects make a super-cute display. Dangle them from the ceiling as a border in your hallway. I’ve included a poster to add pizzazz.

The packet also includes 3 sets of game cards, so that students can play “Memory Match”, “I Have; Who Has?” and sorting games with them.

The 3 sets of cards feature: flamingos with a shapely body, plain shapes, plus word cards, so that you can practice a variety of standards. 

I’ve also included a “Spin to Win” game, where students partner up and take turns spinning.  Whatever shape they land on, they color the matching shape on their game sheet that color.

Several other worksheets, help to further reinforce 2D shapes in other ways.

The “Flamingo Slider” is another quick, easy & fun craft, that will help you whole group assess. 

My students absolutely LOVE playing this "I Spy" game. Simply call out a shape.  Students pull on their "slider" strip 'til it appears in the "window" then hold up their flamingo.  You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

Two graphing extensions add some additional math pratice to the packet as well.

Use the 3 photo posters of real flamingos to introduce your lesson, as well as the “What Shape is a Flamingo’s Body Most Like?” discussion poster.

Since I'm "warping" the true shape of a flamingo, as a fun way to review shapes, I thought it important to discuss this. The poster provides a nice visual.

I’ve also included a list of super-interesting links that I use as part of my introduction as well, which helps me add a bit of science in just a few minutes.

Students learn why a flamingo is pink and other interesting facts. The 2-minute clip showing 1,000s of flamingos all in one place in Africa, is quite amazing!

Today's featured FREEBIE is also a fun activity that involves 2D shapes.

It's a very versatile, "Letter H is for House" craft that you can do when you're working on a letter a day, shapes (12, 2D shapes are included.) or doing social studies & working on communities, families & neighborhoods.

Children can also practice their address by including that as well.
Add a school photo for that finishing touch. Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board too.

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

It's been unseasonably hot this week with scorchers in the 90s, so it's a good day to design some more activities in my air-conditioned office.  Wishing you a  super-de-duper summer.

"Woo Hoo! It's summer! If you're not barefoot, you're over dressed!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Chew On Some Common Core With the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Me

Since so many people read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I wanted to use Eric Carle's cute little critter as a spring board to studying a variety of Common Core Standards.

I created the caterpillar template and made a list of all sorts of ways I could use it, then set about to design the details.   You can choose which one you want your students to do, or give them a choice. 

Teachers could also make up their own set and laminate to use as spring anchor charts.  Make an extra set to use for independent sequencing centers or to play games with.  Don't glue the body-segment circles together, and you could also use them to  independently or whole group assess the various standards.

In The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet, students trace and write upper and lowercase letters.  I've also included a set where a bit of the butterfly's life cycle is also included with the letters. 

For example, for the letter  Zz, I added:  Zzzzzz sleeping in a chrysalis, and then included a butterfly pattern with the letters all over her wings to be cut and glued on the last section.  

I glued just the thorax portion to the last "body" circle and bent the wings up so that the butterfly is 3D and looks like she's flying.

Older students could also make a list of a food the caterpillar could eat that begins with that letter.  You may want to read Lois Ehlert's book Eating the Alphabet (Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z) to give students some ideas.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet packet. 

If you'd like to review just the life cycle of a butterfly, you'll want to take a look at The Life Cycle Of The Very Hungry Caterpillar packet.  Students trace and write the words, then color, cut and glue the pictures. 

If you look closely, you'll see that I glued down just the thorax with this butterfly too, so it looks 3 dimensional, like the larger one above.  Click on the link to view/download it. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow, reinforces colors as well as the days of the week.  Before hand, brainstorm what kinds of things the caterpillar could eat that are the various colors.  Write these words on the board to help children with spelling.

Students trace and write the color words and complete the sentence with something the caterpillar ate that was that color.  Adding end punctuation reviews another standard.  

Children then draw and color a picture.  I've included my sample so that you can quickly make one to share with your students. Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow packet.

You may also want to read one of the following books for some great examples of rainbow-colorful food: I Eat A Rainbow, by Bobbie Kalman;  Can You Eat a Rainbow? by Anastasia Suen;  and/or  I Can Eat A Rainbow, by Annabel Karmel.   

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers includes counting from zero to ten, where students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words.  I've  included a butterfly pattern to glue to the last section if you want.

There are also caterpillar "body" circles for skip counting by 2s 3s, 5s, and 10s. If you are practicing counting backwards from 10 to 0, simply have children put the caterpillar in reverse order.

In all of the packets there are patterns for the caterpillar's head if you want it to be made out of construction paper, as well as a pattern that students can color, like the "Skip count by 10s" caterpillar in the photo.

Since I have many requests for shape craftivities, particulary 3D shapes, I thought I'd make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes. 

This is the largest packet, as I've included a caterpillar that reviews 2D shapes, as well as the days of the week.  For this caterpillar, students trace and write the shape words, as well as draw the shapes. 

I've included a butterfly pattern with the various shapes sprinkled on the wings, if you'd like to include that on the last "body" section.  For a cool 3D effect, fold the wings up and glue only the thorax portion down.

Another caterpillar, is a cut-and-glue the 2D shapes on the "body" circles.  Besides the standard 2D shapes, you can also choose to include the hexagon, pentagon, and octagon, and/or the pattern block shapes: rhombus and trapezoid. 

There's also a separate caterpillar that simply "eats" all of the 3D shapes. As with the above activity, students cut and glue the 3D shapes to the "body" circles.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes.

Whew! That's a lot of Very Hungry Caterpillar options!  I hope they help your kiddo-caterpillars blossom into smart little butterlies!

To take a look at all the butterfly-caterpillar FREEBIES on my site, click on the link.  I also have a plethora of more free butterfly & caterpillar activities, crafts, snacks & ideas on my pinteresting PIN boards. 

Thanks for visiting.  The sun has actually ventured out today, so I'm going to bask in it for as long as I can tolerate the wind and 25 degree temperature.  Wishing you a stress-free day.

34 pages.

Review all sorts of standards with this quick, easy and fun Seuss-themed Cat in the Hat game.  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, 20 at family cards, and 11 color word cards. 

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

We didn't have much snow in December, but January is certainly making up for it. There's certainly enough to make a few fat snowmen; so I wanted to feature some of my favorite snowman-themed activities.

A snowman's head is perfect for reviewing 2D shapes.  I had a lot of fun making these shapely snowmen.  You can make a set for a winter bulletin board, anchor chart-posters, large flashcards to review and assess the shapes, a center matching activity, or have students choose their favorite and make one. 

Look carefully and you'll see that the snowman's facial features also match the 2D shape of his head.  Click on the link to view/download the shapely snowman packet.

Reinforce a variety of standards with these 7 snowman puzzles that cover upper and lowercase letters, counting backwards, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s.  Make a set to use as puzzles for an independent center.

These also make a lovely bulletin board.  Caption: Learning is “snow” much fun!  Have students choose a snowman that they want to make.  Run off copies, they trim and glue to a sheet of blue or black construction paper. 

For a mosaic appearance, tell students to put a small space in-between.  Add a bit more pizazz by having students make “snowflakes” with a Q-tip dipped in white paint.  For that finishing touch, sprinkle the wet paint dots with opalescent glitter.

If you are working on colors or color words with your students, I think you'll enjoy the Snowman Color Match packet. Students can play the game as an independent center, or choose a partner and play a spinner game. 

Make an extra set and have students glue the puzzle hat and scarf pieces to the appropriate snowman and use them for your winter word wall. There's a plain set for students to draw in their own snowman face, as well as an illustrated set.

The snowman-themed emergent reader, 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 reinforced. Three graphing extensions, a game, bookmark and a worksheet are all included as well.

Finally, help review analog and digital time to the hour and half hour, with the snowman clock matching game. 

Print the snowman template on white construction paper; laminate and trim. 

Run off the hatband-time words, the digital time-rectangles and the analog clocks; laminate and trim.

Students choose a time and then match all of the pieces and parts to complete that snowman.  Make an extra set and glue together for a "Time For Winter" bulletin board. 

Students can also make their own snowman clock to use as an assessment tool.  Run off the analog clock and digital time box templates, on glossy photo paper.  Children trim and glue to their snowman. They now have a dry erase digital and analog clock! 

Teacher calls out a time. Using dry erase markers, students draw hands on the clock and write the digital time in the box, then hold up their snowman when they are done. 

This is a quick, easy and fun way to whole-group assess, as you can see at a glance who is having difficulty. Children use a tissue to wipe off that answer, so they can play another round.  Continue the game 'til you have covered/assessed all of the time options.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you found some useful activities to help bring out the brrrr-illiance in your kiddos.  As for me, it's time to brave the wintry artic to buy a few groceries, as Mother Hubbard's cupboard is indeed bare, and I'm clueless what to make for dinner.

Hopefully it won't take too long to find my car under the avalance of snow it's frosted with.  Wishing you a stress-free happy day.

"I get a special feeling when I walk on snow that no one else has.  It's a mixture of awe, adventure and amazement; and makes me wonder if this is something akin to what explorers and astronauts experienced, when they left their footprints on places yet to be discovered by others.  Certainly a pleasant feeling of accomplishment at being first." - Diane Henderson

1-2-3 Come Study -ick and -eat Word Families and Shapes With Me

Here's a word family trick for helping teach Common Core, that's a real treat, as you'll  be covering the Phonological Awareness Common Core State Standards: RF.K2a, RF.K2c and RF.K2e  in a quick, easy and fun way.

Here's How: Run off my template with the adorable Laura Strickland trick or treaters on it. You can use the treat bag just as it is, or you can cut off the top of a brown paper lunch bag, so that it fits on the back of this treat bag, and glue it on.

It's a bit more difficult to manipulate the strips, but worth the extra effort as it's truly a functional bag for doing other things with, which I'll explain later.

Pre cut the top & bottom dashed lines of the squares. (I use an Exacto knife.) Insert letter strips, so students can make new words.    

I’ve also included traceable word flashcards, so students can practice the words in yet another way.  There's a cover if you want them to alphabetize the words and then make an Itty Bitty booklet.

When they have finished cutting & tracing their word cards, they can drop them in the bag when they are done.  Students write their name on the side of the bag. You can punch holes and put in real yarn for handles if you want a more 3-D effect.

After everyone has completed their bag, call on students to pull their strips to make the various sentences. Children read them in unison.  There'll probably be a few giggles as they say “Wick or wheat”, “Sick or seat” "Chick or cheat" and “Kick or heat.” etc.

Make sure the last one they read is “Trick or Treat!”  Drop a piece of candy corn, or a sticker, or special treat in their bag as a reward for their great effort!

You can also play “I Have; Who Has?” with the word cards.  Make a copy of the word cards and do not cut them out. Post these pages on the board.  Make another copy and laminate them.  Cut these out.  Put them in your Trick or Treat bag and have students choose cards ‘til they are all gone.

You read an –ick card and ask for an -eat card on the list. The –eat child reads their card. Both children say their “–ick or –eat!” sentence together. Those cards go in the bag. Play continues ‘til all of the cards are gone.

The packet also includes a poster that says: How many words can you make using the letters in Trick or treat?" plus a recording sheet and alphabetical list of 158 words that I thought of. 

Click on the link to view/download the –ick or –eat Word Family Treat Bag.

Finally, after doing this trick or treat-themed activity, you may want to review 2D and 3D shapes using my candy shape posters.  

There are 17 Candy Shape posters in all, with a white or black background. What a fun way to grab your kiddos’ attention. 

These “real life” shape examples will certainly help them understand and hopefully remember the various shapes.

As an incentive, reward them with a shaped sweet treat when they can identify all of the shapes on the posters.

Thanks for visiting today.  The rain's stopped and it's time to take my poodle pup out for a romp.  The fresh air is filled with the wonderful fragrance of fall.  Wishing you a splendid day.

"Like a ten-speed bike, most of us have gears we do not use." - Charles Schulz 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Whimsical Shape Activities With Me

Sometimes when I'm designing something, the initial idea comes from some clip art that I found.  I'll look at it and say: "This is so cute!  How can I use this to make something educational?"

Thus was the case with this whimsical boy and girl done in black and white.  I LOVE DJ Inkers graphics.  I've bought a lot of stuff on her site. You can click on her link to the left of my blog under "Other Resources" to check out the adorable goodies. 

By adding different shapes for the boy's and girl's mouths, I came up with the Shapely Mouth packet.  Use it to teach, review and assess shapes and shape words.

The packet includes:

• 12 large 8x10 posters of each shape.  Use these to make a border, bulletin board, or for large flashcards.  There's also a  large 8x10 "shapes" title poster to provide a caption for your grouping.
  

• 2 posters featuring all of the shapes on one page.  You can run these off and give each child a copy to refer to, or give them a manipulative and have them place it over the various shapes as you call them out. 
• This could also be done as an "I Spy" game where students would trace the shapes that are called out.  (A quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess.)
  

• 2 Boy & 2 Girl Face Mats for students to play the "Shapely Mouth" game.  I included lines above one set of head posters.  Laminate these.  Using dry erase markers, students write the name of the shape down for whatever word card was selected. 

• Run off the other set for students to keep.  Trim off the directions on the bottom.  Children use these to play the shape game at home.
  

• 12 mouth-shape pieces for manipulatives.  Laminate red or pink sheets of construction paper.  Trace the various shapes once, and then cut 3-6 shapes at a time. Store in Snack Baggies.  Run off the shape master for students to color, cut and use as manipulatives for their game.
  

• 12 word cards with no shapes. Use these if you want to whole-group assess your students knowledge of the names of the shapes.

• 12 word cards with shapes on them. Use these to help teach little ones the names of the shapes.
• They look at that card and then place the matching shape on their head mat.
  
•  

There are also 12 mini shapely mouth cards to use for Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?" games.

• Plus 2 trace and write shape booklets with 2 different covers.  Students trace and write the shape words, and then trace, draw and color the shapes. 
  

• Finally, there's a certificate of praise to help encourage your students and build their self-esteem.  There are 2 on a page for easy printing.
  

Click on the link to view/download the Shapely Mouth 2D Shapes Packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Of course it's raining, because I watered my flowers early this morning.  The down pour did nothing to alleviate the humidity.  It's hot and muggy and a nice day to stay in the cool air-conditioning designing the day away with new FREEBIES. 

Feel free to send any special requests you may have to: diane@teachwithme.com   Wishing you a refreshing day!

"If you’ve told a child 100 times, then it is not the child who is a slow learner." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Lace And Learn With Me!

The more ways you can get students involved in shapes, the better the chance of the recognition-light bulb finally going on.

Lacing is fun for little ones, as well as an awesome fine motor skill.

These "Lace To Learn" shapes are quick and easy to make.

Simply run them off on card stock, laminate, trim and punch holes. 

Students can lace in and out through the holes with a long piece of yarn or ribbon with the tips taped, or a big shoestring is also fun.

Have children say the shape several times as they lace.

I've labeled the shapes with traceable words, so that tracing them with a dry erase marker is also great word reinforcement.

When students have completed their project, ask them to name 1 or 2 attributes that they discovered while they were lacing.

Click on the link to view/download the Learn While You Lace 2D Shape Activity.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful. My pin button is at the top.

"They believed they could, so they did!" -Unknown

1-2-3's, ABC's, and Shapes Via The Mail

Woo Hoo! This is my 500th blog article! Hope you enjoy it.

I love making up special alphabet, number and shape cards for each month.

I think it helps students stay interested and focussed if they come in the first of every month and see a seasonal change that brightens up your room and adds variety to the "same-old- same-old"...

My Y5's loved going to the post office to mail their Valentines.  It was a fun way for me to cover that information, and just a few blocks walk from our school.

With that in mind, I wanted to dream up some cards involving envelopes.  I thought letters of the alphabet and letters in an envelope was a cute idea, thus Letter Letters, Number Letters and Shape Letters were born.

Number Letters covers the Common Core State Standards: RF.K.3c, K.CC.4a, K.CC.4b, K.CC.4c, K.OA.5,K.CC.6 and is a fun way to review counting, number words, simple addition and subtraction as well as greater and less than.

It includes a blank set for you to program with whatever...+ math symbols: < > + - = so students can make equations and solve them.

I've also included 2-pages of tips of what to do with the cards, including games.

Click on the link to view/downloard Number Letters.

Letter Letters  can be used as a border or laminate, cut them up into puzzles and use them to play games.

This packet includes a blank sheet for you to program with whatever...+ a cover so students can make an Itty Bitty Booklet, as well as 3-pages of tips of what to do with the cards.

Finally, Shape Letters is a delightful way to review these 11  2-D shapes: circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, heart, star and crescent.

The packet helps reinforce colors and color words as well. Remind students that these are two-dimensional shapes and lie in a plane or "flat."

Put them on the wall as a border, or run off a set for your students and have them write the shape word and then trace and color the shape.

You can also laminate them, cut them up and make them into puzzles. Students match the word to its shape.

Pass them out to students and give spatial directions: "Put your shape over, under, between, behind, beside, left-right, etc."

If you do the above, you'll be covering Common Core State Standards: K.G.1, K.G.2, K.G.3

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others will find helpful.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world." -Albert Einstein

What Key Will Unlock The Secret Shaped Lock? What Will You Find When You Do?

Announce the booklet activity with that question, and I'm sure you'll have your students' attention.  They LOVE a mystery.

When I owned an old Victorian house and renovated it to be the Hastings House gift shop, one of my best sellers in the “Kids’ Collection” were little metal locks.

I always let my own children “shop” the catalogs with me, to see what they’d want.

They were a great gage as to what other children would want too.

I never would have ordered the locks, because I had no idea what a child would do with them.

They came with a set of 2 little keys.  Well, a zillion other kids liked those pretty-colored locks too; I used to order them by the gross every few months.

It was that memory, that inspired this little booklet, which I dedicate to my awesome adult “kids”.

It’s a fun way to review the various 2D shapes, including the pentagon, hexagon and octagon, as well as the Common Core State Standards: RF.K.3a, RF.K.1c, RF.K.3d, RF.K.3c, L.K.2a, L.K.2b, L.1.2b, RF.1.1a, K.G.2

Students read the simple sentences, helped by picture clues.

They trace and write the shape word, circle the capital letters and add the end punctuation, as well as cut and glue the key, to the matching numbered box in their booklet.

The last page offers some additional writing practice.

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it aloud as a whole group, to reinforce concepts of print, as well as reminding them that there are spaces between words, they read from left to right and from the top down.

Click on the link to view/download The Secret Shaped Locks easy reader booklet.

Do you have a shape lesson you could share with us?  I’d enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN anything that you think others might find helpful.

“Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects.” – Will Rogers

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

I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that today is February 1st.  Is your life flying by you like mine?  Groundhog Day falls on a Sunday this year, so I'm hopefully not too last-minute to help you find some things to add to your lessons on Monday. 

Groundhog Day was one of my Y5's favorite units, so I have an assortment of FREEBIES on the shopping cart for you. Click on the link to view the groundhog offerings.

Since so many visitors have requested the pentagon, hexagon and octagon shapes, I’ve included them in all of the new shape books that I design, and am in the process of adding those pages to the oldies when time permits.  I just finished revamping The Shape of My Shadow.  It’s a complete re-do as I now have a dotted-trace-the-letter font!

I just wish I had time to re-do everything, as the quality is so much better now,  but since I design 2-3 new things a day, write a blog and cram so much other "stuff" in, re-doing things is beyond being on the back burner.

One thing you can do to incorporate the new shapes when they aren’t in the older booklets, is to ask your students what shapes are missing, and have them design their own page(s).

To cover more standands with the easy readers, I now have students circle the capital letters and write in the end punctuation. 

I also include at least one graphing activity, to hit a few more standards.  This booklet has two.

To cover even more standards, when everyone has completed their booklet, read it aloud as a whole group, so you can review concepts of print, proper spacing, reading from left to right etc.  Click on the link to view/download The Shapes Of My Shadow.

The ever-popular 10-frame counting booklets have also been up-dated. Click on the link to view/download the one for groundhogs. 1-2-3 Count Groundhogs With Me

1. Students read, trace and write the number and number word. 
2. They see a number of groundhogs in a sentence and say it. 
3. They spy the number in a sequence and circle it.
4. They X-out that many boxes or use a bingo dot marker or stamp in the 10 frame. ( I encourage my students to make a color pattern.)
5. Plus cut and glue the set/group to the matching numbered box.

The packet includes:

• 53 number and word wall word flashcards, including number cards that count to 20.
• Covers for the flashcards to make Itty Bitty Books
• A + one more math skill sheet
• 1 graphing extension &  a certificate of praise.

I Spy A Number is another groundhog math booklet. It's a great way to reinforce counting, numbers and number words. The last page provides some writing extensions.  Students read the simple sentence and include end punctuation.

They trace the number and number words and then write them, as well as circle that number in the sequence, count that many objects and color them if they want to.

This Groundhog packet includes:

• The Easy Reader My I Spy A Number Groundhog booklet.
• Traceable skill sheets for counting to 50, 100 and 120.
• 2 number card sets from 1-20 featuring 2 different groundhogs, so students can sequence and play Memory Match or "Speed" games with a partner + a certificate of praise

Finally, I revamped the easy reader: My Groundhog Day Booklet.   Students trace and write the main idea word, circle the capital letters, add end punctuation and then cut and glue the picture to the matching numbered box in their booklet. 

There are two pages to choose from to include in the "results" portion. 

One is if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, the other is if he did not.  Students then write about how this prediction makes them feel. 

Two graphing extensions are also included. Click on the link to view/download the Groundhog Day Easy Reader packet.

If you missed yesterdays' article, and are looking for a few more Groundhog Day activities, scroll down. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."