1-2-3 Come Do Some Kite-Themed Activities With Me

One of our themes for spring is kites; so I've been busy designing an assortment of kite activities to help teach a variety of standards.

Today's blog features 4 of them, along with the featured FREEBIE.

Practice 3D shapes with the "Shapin' Up With 3D Kites" packet.  The  emergent reader reinforces 3D shapes as well as colors.

The packet includes:

* A 2-on-a-page emergent reader booklet.

* Students read the simple sentences, trace and write the shape and color words, then color the pictures appropriately.

* A set of colorful, 3D shape pocket chart cards, with matching black and white ones, so that students can color, cut, and add the cover, to make an Itty Bitty Booklet.

* I've also included a graphing extension, a “design your own kite” worksheet, plus  40 lovely photographs of real 3D-shaped kites, many of which also feature 2D shapes.

Print, laminate and trim. (There are 4 pictures per page.)  Children choose one or two and write the shapes and colors that they see on their “I Spy!” recording sheet.

For writing practice, have students write a sentence or two about the kite picture. To use as an independent center, have students sort the photographs by shape. The pictures also make a lovely spring bulletin board.

* Since I included color words in the emergent reader, I also included a set of colorful pocket chart cards, as well as a set in black and white, so students can add the cover and make a “Flipping Over Colors!”  Itty Bitty Booklet. (“grey” & “colours” spelling options are also included). 

Next up is an ordinal number "craftivity". It's a quick, easy and fun way for students to review ordinal numbers, ordinal number words + sequencing.

Encourage children to color the stripes on their kite in a pattern, or in rainbow-color order.

I've included ordinal number kite cards to play a Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" game, as well as a set of mini, sequencing cards, which could double as a bookmark for students' math journals. 
There's also a whole-group assessment worksheet, with 2 size options.     

Do your students enjoy playing with pattern blocks? Spring things up with these 2, kite-themed pattern block games.

I've included a full-color pattern, as well as a black & white version, so that little ones look for a shape, rather than a color.

There's also a set of pocket chart cards that show and name the pattern block shapes.

Use them to introduce the lesson, then put the cards in a center, for a "trace, draw, and place the pattern piece" activity.

Students can play "Spin to Win" with the spinner, or practice numbers as well, by rolling a dice, then referring to the poster to see what pattern block they should place on their mat.  Students can play independently or with a partner. 

Finally, practice synonyms with the "Soaring With Synonyms!" packet.  So that you can also do this packet with younger kiddos, I've included a blank kite pattern.
They could list rhyming words, sight words, color words etc. PK students can simply do the craft.

The back of the kite can also be used for a writing prompt, or spring poem. Completed projects look awesome suspended from the ceiling in our hallway.

Studying synonyms and antonyms not only increases vocabulary, but enhances students’ writing; making it more interesting and vivid, as it gives children a better word base to choose from, so their writing is not redundant and boring, filled with over-used words like “said”, “pretty”, “went” etc.

Besides the synonym/antonym kite craftivity, the packet also includes:

48 kite word cards to play Memory Match & "I Have; Who Has?” games, plus a blank set of kite cards to program with whatever...

Black line mini kite worksheet for more synonym/antonym practice, plus a full-color, completed worksheet to use as a sample, along with synonym and antonym “definition” anchor charts plus . . .

An alphabetical, word-list poster of 70 words students can choose from to complete their kite, with background information about synonym/antonym word work, as well as a list of 290 synonym/antonym pairs. 

The FREEBIE today also features kites.  It's a set of alphabet cards.

I've included separate upper and lowercase letter cards, as well as ones displaying both letters. 

There's also a tip list of things you can do with the cards, including playing games like Memory Match, "I Have; Who Has?" and "Kaboom!" 

Well that's it for today. The wind is howling outside and making my office window rattle, the perfect background to work on my wind activities!

Wishing you a fun-filled, easy peasy breezy day. 

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - Jimmy Dean

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

This poster packet features four, 3D shapes: the sphere, cylinder, cube & cone.

There are a variety of sizes to choose from: large 8x10, as well as smaller 5x7 ones, to use as anchor chart posters or flashcards.

I've also made a poster with all 4 shapes on one page, as well as that poster with 2-on-a-page.

There are cards to make a Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" game.

Students could play "Speed" with a partner, taking turns flipping over a pack of cards. 

The frist one to say the name of the shape, gets to keep the card. 

Print off the 6-on-a-page, 3D shape bookmarks; laminate & trim.  Pass them out to your students to tuck into their math journals.

Make an extra set of the large ones, cut them up, and use them for an independent puzzle center.

This is a special FREEBIE in my TpT shop to celebrate 400 followers.  If you're one of them, I want to thank you so much for following me; I truly appreciate it!

I know it sounds a bit corny, but I really do get excited when I see the numbers grow. 

I promise to post at least one FREEBIE each month, plus celebratory "milestones" like this one, which are only available in my TpT shop.

Click on the link to grab the 3D Shape Poster packet today.   I hope you find it useful in helping your kiddos understand 3D shapes. 

That's it for today.  My husband is whisking me away to the Henderson Castle!  The fact that our last name is Henderson, makes this date even more special.  Wishing you a delightful day, over flowing with love-filled moments.

"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." -Mother Teresa

A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words

I continue to have a great time making word art with Tagxedo.

I had written an article about this wonderful site last month and I’m once again happily fooling around with it today, making anchor chart shape posters.

I figure if we expect students to learn the shapes, as well as recognize the words for them, why not make a word shape poster!

If they see the words written right in the shape, that should help right?

I made the time to do this so you wouldn’t have to! Woo hoo!

I chose different colors for the various shapes and included the star, crescent, diamond, heart  to the mix of standard flat shapes.

I’ve noticed on chat rings, that some poor teachers actually have to teach the hexagon as well as the pentagon shapes!

What rocket scientist decided a 5-year-old could wrap their head around those shapes?

Honestly, at least when they threw the octagon our way we could explain it with the stop sign! I’ve included them + the octagon, in case you need the help.

I’ve also made posters for the 3-D shapes, since  the same ivory tower fella’s felt those shapes would be age-appropriate for Y5’s and Kindergarten kiddo’s too.

What next the Einstein theory?  I think it’s time they asked some teachers to be part of the committees.  What say you?

Any hoo, hopefully this will help turn a few light bulbs on! 

Since the 3D shapes are a bit harder to distinguish in word art, I've also included a picture of a "real" 3D object on the poster.

I feel when you're teaching shapes it is easier for students to understand them if you can put them in real world context and have children spy the shapes they see around them.

i.e. This is a rectangle.  A door is a rectangle.

Besides using them as anchor charts to help students remember the shapes and associate that particular shape with that word, you can also use them as jumbo flashcards; or shrink them to make Concentration Memory Match games for students.

Another way to help children remember shapes is to show how they are different. Put 2 posters next to each other and have students compare and contrast them.

I like doing this with a Venn diagram and often use hula hoops to start.

Play what's the shape?  Each day put one of the shape posters face down on the board. 

Give clues about the shape and have the students guess which one is the mystery shape of the day that is "hiding". 

Make a shape bulletin board and display all of them there. Take one away and ask students which one is missing.

Pass the posters out to students and play I have; Who has? "I have the circle shape.  Who has the triangle shape?"

Play "I'm Thinking Of A Shape." Start giving clues and have students guess which shape you are describing. 

Finally, reveal which one it is by showing them the poster.

Click on the link to view/download Word Art Shape Posters

For those of you who are still in school, I hope things are really shaping up with your little ones, and that you are having a great end-of-the-year winding down time.

Feel free to PIN anything you think might be interesting or helpful to someone else.

Hope you can visit tomorrow for an adorable summer writing prompt to see how to make a quick and easy creative writing "craftivity"kid.

October SHAPES Up!

October is a wonderful month to review shapes! I have some fun activities to help you do just that.

Kids love candy and in case you haven’t noticed, candy comes in every shape you need, even the more difficult 3-dimensional ones, so why not take “sweet” advantage?

Here’s how:

Treat Bags:

Make a treat bag (I have several samples to choose from) and fill it with an example of each shape of candy. Click on the link to view/print the patterns. Treat bag samples.

Play a “Guess What Shape The Candy Is?” game with your students as you display the bag on your lap and pull out a piece of candy, showing it to your students as they sit on the floor in front of you.

As a treat, you could give each of them a triangular piece of candy corn, or make up a treat bag for everybody.

The Dollar Store has a nice selection of inexpensive paper ones, as well as Ziploc Snack Baggies that come in packs of 18-24.

If you do make up a bag for everyone, they can take it back to their desk and sort the candy on the shape sorting mats, or you can do a whole-group assessment and have children spill the candy out.

Teacher says: “Show me the triangle, show me the sphere, cube, etc.” ‘til you have reviewed each shape.

Tell the students that they may eat their M&M, Skittle or Smartie (one piece of candy that is not a big deal, but will satisfy them) and then put all of the rest back in their bag to take home so that they can share the lesson with their family.

Click on the link to view/print a shape sorting mat. 3-D shape sorting mat.  Regular shape sorting mats.

What's Missing Candy Game?

• You could also transition to having your students sit in a circle on the floor. 
• Arrange one piece of each of the 3-D - shaped examples of candy on the carpet in the middle.
• Have students close their eyes.  Hold a sheet of orange construction paper over the candy, and with your other hand, remove one of the pieces of candy.
• Tell your students to open their eyes.
• The first one to say the missing SHAPE wins a piece of candy corn.
  
• To make the game more difficult add another different kind of candy. 
  
• Remember to review the different names of the SHAPES in the circle as you add candy.
  
• You can also play a separate game with the regular-shaped candy, or for older students combine both 3-D and regular shaped candy!
  

Posters:

I have purchased candy and taken pictures with a white or black background for you to print off and laminate for your classroom.

Click on the link to view/print 17 black and white background 3-D and regular shape posters 

You can hold them up and use them as a review of the various shapes, a comparison of the 3-D shapes with the flat shapes, a memory match game, counting fun, discussions, writing prompts, or graphing extensions.

Click on the link to view/print shape graphs.

When you are done using them, hang them up in your room.  I truly believe that if a student “sees” a shape in real life, especially one that they can identify with, it helps them remember the name.

If you think of other ways to use them, I’d enjoy hearing from you so I can pass along the idea to help everyone! diane@teachwithme.com

October Shape Booklets:

I have a variety of cute shape booklets (over 50!) that my own students really enjoy making and parents have given lots of positive feedback about.

Here are some of our favorites for October:

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Shapes (Complete with a head and manipulatives you can make and pass out to your students so they can "feed" her.) The Shapes of October, The Shape of my Kitty's Tongue (Perfect for a black cat mini-unit) + Shape booklets involving an Acorn,  Spider,  Bat,  Leaf,  Candy Corn and  Scarecrow!

Why not become a subscription member and be able to download all of this, at no additional charge for an entire year, + get our 60+ pages Apple Bytes newsletter packet as well!

Fun Shape Freebies:

Don't forget to check out this month's free booklet, A Flame On My Candle, which also involves shapes, as well as all the cute shape activities in our Book of the Month side-blog to go along with Go Away Big Green Monster.  Your students will especially enjoy the envelope monster that eats shapes.  

For some 3-D shape posters as well as regular shape posters click on the links to view/print them.

I also made up some shape word flashcards. You can put them up on your word wall, or make Memory Match games. 

My students enjoy tracing them and making them into Itty Bitty books.  Click on the link to view/print the shape word cards.

I think building a child’s self-esteem is extremely important.  One way I do this is via certificates of praise.  Click on the link to view/print a certificate for 3-D shapes or a certificate for regular shapes. 

I hope you found these ideas helpful and that things really shape up for you and yours