1-2-3 Come Do Some Letter Tile Activities With Me

If you're a blog hopper or Pinterest pinner, then you've probably seen all sorts of wonderfully creative activities for the alphabet or word work that involve letter tiles.

Some teachers and homeschoolers use magnetic ones on cookie sheets, others order colorful plastic alphabet squares from a company, or use the Scrabble tiles from a garage sale find. Although many educators have their kiddos cutting and gluing letters to make words, I didn't find any templates to do this with.

With that in mind, I designed a packet that includes both upper and lowercase letter tiles in 4 different sizes.  From one set on a page, to 8 sets. Simply print, laminate and trim to use in centers and for games.

Run off extra sets for students to use for Daily 5 or other word work activities, where they cut and glue letters to make words. The packet includes a 4-page tip list, filled with ideas and games to use the letter tiles for.

Make an uncut laminated copy of the large set to use as an assessment tool.  Individually, ask a student to point to a letter or cover it with a block or other manipulative.  Click on the link to view/download the Upper and Lowercase Letter Tile packet.

Besides this newest FREEBIE, since it's Thursday, I also wanted to feature something for TBT (Throw Back Thursday). 

As far as cutting and gluing letters to make words go, one of my most popular downloads is this word-work worksheet.  It's simple and fun and fits easily into Daily 5.  Students write and stamp the word, plus use the letters included in the packet, to cut and glue a word together.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  A soft and gentle rain is falling.  My office window's open and the fresh air smells wonderful. I find the sound of rain very soothing, so I'm just going to kick back and relax, while I cut, paste and play today.  Wishing you a carefree day.

"...I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.” -Mark Haddon

23 pages.

This Woodchuck Word Work packet, provides perfect worksheets for Groundhog Day, including some tongue twisting fun, perfect for Daily 5 or your language arts block.

11 pages.

The Spin and Read Word Game packet includes an alphabetical Dolch word list for Pre-Primer, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades, plus the Dolch list of nouns.  This game is played as a whole group.

15 pages.

Here are a variety of quick, easy and fun activiies for your students to practice words that begin and end with the st blend.

 1-2-3 Come Do Some Back To School Writing With Me

Here's a quick, easy and fun writing prompt for back to school.  Completed projects look awesome dangling from the ceiling, swirling and twirling as they wave so long to summer, and hello to a brand new school year.

Even if you've already started back, summer's not technically over 'til the first day of fall (September 23rd) so you can easily incorporate this craftivity into your writing block, or Daily 5 activities.

Give students a variety of construction paper-color choices, to trace their hand and arm on.  They trim and cut out.  Run off the writing prompt rectangles.  I've included templates for preschool through 8th grade.

Students color and complete the prompt, using words and phrases about things pertaining to their summer, as well as the new grade that they're in.

Younger students can do this with the help of their parents at Open House or Meet the Teacher Night.  If you don't have one, tuck the activity in their backpacks for a nice home-school connection.

Students glue the summer prompt to the front of their hand, and the school one, to the back.  For a bit more pizzazz, children can draw on polished fingernails and jewelry.  (I used a flat-backed rhinestone to make a ring.) 

Be sure and make a sample of your own to help explain what you want your students to do.  This is also an interesting way for them to get to know you a little better.  

I've included my writing samples, so that you can easily make an example if you don't have time to make one of your own. 

After students share, punch a hole in a finger tip, add a yarn tie and suspend from the ceiling.  Your caption could be "High Fives For Wonderful Writing." 

I didn't dangle these samples from my ceiling, but you can get an idea from the photo, of how colorful and really cool your students' completed projects will look. 

Click on the link to view/download the So Long Summer; Hello School Year Writing Prompt craftivity.

Thanks for visiting today.  It's pouring outside my window, giving me a sleepy kind of feeling --the perfect day for doing all sorts of crafty things, or perhaps snuggling into a good book.  Wishing you a relaxing day. 

"Believe you can and you’re halfway there!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Back To School Sidewalk Chalk Activities With Me

I LOVE sidewalk chalk and so did my young fives.  You can buy 6 to a dozen sticks at The Dollar Store, so I always had a big bucket on hand, for those crazy days when everyone has had enough, and you just need to take a break and get outside. 

Keeping in mind, that just about everything we do has to be "educational" and include the "standards", I'd have my kiddos practice writing their names, letters, numbers and drawing shapes.  After we got that out of the way, they enjoyed creating "mess-terpieces" 'til it was time to go in. 

For quick cleanup, make sure you bring some wet wipes with you, so students can wipe off their dusty hands.

If you give your students a first day gift or treat bag of some sort, and are looking for something easy and inexpensive, then I think you'll enjoy my "Welcome! ___________ is 'chalk' full of learning fun!"  treat bag.  I have templates for preschool, kindergarten and first grade, plus a blank one to fill in with whatever you teach.

And... no worries if you've already started school.  There's a generic "Wishing you a day that's "chalk" full of fun!" black & white, plus colorful note too.

My inspiration for this packet, came from My Sweet Sanity's blog spot.  She used the "chalk full" play on words, for an end-of-the-year summer gift.  Click on the link to zip on over and see her rainbow version. 

So that you have a time-filler if you need it, run off the header on white construction paper, so that students can pull it off, color and use as a bookmark. 

You could also run them off on a variety of colors of construction paper, or print the ones that are in color. 

Attach the card to the front of a Snack Baggie, with a glue dot.  (I don't like using staples with little ones.) Put a piece of sidewalk chalk inside and you're done! 

Because students will want to play with the chalk right away, I wouldn't put them on their desks.  Instead, put the treats in a big basket in full view and wait for children to notice, or show them one and let them know that they will get their Baggie at the end of the day to take home, or...

Use them as a behavior modification technique.  Tell students that they need to work as a team with their new friends. 

Each time they complete a task, or show great group behavior, you'll color in a letter on the "chalk" poster.  When all of the letters have been colored in, they get their chalk and are able to go outside for some special fun.

As long as you're outside, why not take some pictures. Pinterest has quite a few photo op examples that involve sidewalk chalk.  If you take a first day of school picture, one of these ideas would be adorable.  Children tend to be less camera shy while playing outside, so you should get some adorable shots like the ones pictured here.

I especially like the kindergarten idea.  Write your grade level as shown, and then have each student pose. 

I've linked back to give credit when I could, however some showed just a photo and went no where.  (Hover over the photo to see if it's linked and then bop over to those sites for more details.)

The balloon and crown idea are also easy and cute. That little guy is so joy-filled!

Keeping with the sidewalk chalk theme, I designed some writing prompts that I call "Chalk Talk". 

There's one for boys and one for girls.  Children complete the prompt: "I had a nice day at school.  These are a few of the things that I did."

I've also included two "chalk talk" posters to use for whatever you deem appropriate. 

Click on the link to view/download the Chalk Talk packet.

To see if I could find any other interesting things to do with sidewalk chalk, I Googled it.

For 30 fun games and activities with sidewalk chalk check out this creative birthday party idea website.

You can buy a bucket of sidewalk chalk at The Dollar Store, but if you’d like to make some, you can find a recipe on wikihow. For 7 fun ways to make ice chalk, click on the link.  I like the idea of using Popsicle sticks, so children's hands don't get as messy.

Finally, click on the link for a recipe for scented sidewalk chalk paint, (She used Kool-Aid for non-toxic fragrance) and says: "This is a super-simple and inexpensive paint recipe that rinses off with a hose."

Well that's it for today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

I'm headed outside with my brand new tub of sidewalk chalk to create some awesome photographs with my little grandson Kaiden.  Hope you have a day full of giggles too. 

"A picture is a poem without words." - Horace

27 pages.

This is a wonderful back to school packet that you can use for a variety of activities. 

1-2-3 Come Make An Ice Cream Cone With Me!

The end of the year is super-charged with energy.  You can literally feel it in the air and it's obvious in your students' excited behavior.  Many kiddos are already sharing about vacations that their family is going to take and what they want to do for the summer, so I thought it would be fun to have them write about that, and make a craft as well. 

When I think of summer, I think of ice cream cones.  It seemed the perfect "craftivity" for an end of the year writing prompt, and led to the "Here's The Scoop" packet.

Run off the cone pattern on brown construction paper, run the ice cream scoop template on a variety of pastel colors of construction paper that would be the shades of real ice cream flavors.  Scrapbook paper really looks awesome; I used it for several of my samples.  

Students cut out their cone and scoop.  They also trim and glue a plain scoop of "vanilla" to the top of their cone.  This is where they will complete the writing prompt.  Remind students not to write beyond the indentations, as you can see by the photo, the white scalloped section will peek out to give the illusion of another scoop.

Using a tiny piece of Scotch tape, students "hinge" the top scoop to the right hand side of the bottom scoop, so that it flips open to reveal the writing portion.   For that finishing touch, add a cherry with a school photo to the top.

There's a template for "Here's the scoop ! These are some of the cool things I'd like to do this summer..."  as well as one you can use at the beginning of the year: "Here's the scoop! These are some of the cool things that I did this summer..."

After students have shared their creation, give them a "Wishing you a sweet summer" bookmark.  Write students' names at the top, and sign yours under the greeting.

Completed cones make a cute bulletin board too.  Make the background out of a plastic picnic table cloth and scatter the cones on it.   Your caption could be "Cool writing by some sweet 1st graders." or "Looking foward to a sweet summer!"  

For another writing prompt, have students color the "I hope you have a cool year!" bookmark and write a note to a new student, who will be in your class in the fall.  What a fun surprise for them to find this on/in their desk on the first day of school. 

Also included in the packet is the "Secret Sweetie" game.  Have students fill out the cone portion, write a clue on the scoop and then glue their photo on the inside. 

Collect them and read several a day.  Call on students to guess who they think the "secret sweetie" might be, then flip open the top scoop to reveal the photo.  

This can be used at the beginning of the school year to help children get to know their new classmates, or at the end of the year to see how well they know their friends. 

Click on the link to view/download the Here's The Scoop packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

18 pages.

Soar into spring with this fun synonym kite craftivity.  Students choose a word from the list of 70, or pick a kite word card.  They write their word on a bow and then list up to 11 synonyms.  If you want, have students make a list of antonyms on the antonym kite and glue it to the back of their synonym kite.  This packet provides several activities perfect for your Daily 5 word work.

1-2-3 Come Do A Few More St. Patty's Day Activities With Me

I had a few special requests this week, and thought I'd combine them all in today's blog article.  I hope you enjoy them.

Kyanne, from Wisconsin, wanted a simple St. Patrick's Day word search for her young five students.  Even though there are a lot of word search generators out there, they mostly have uppercase letters. 

Further difficulties arrise,  because they share letters, show the words going backwards, as well as diagonally and vertically, so I usually make up my own.  I like to include a shape to add interest as well.

Word searches are a great way to practice spelling and build vocabulary, so that's why I think they should be in lowercase letters.  I also like them relatively easy (showing the words in forward-horizontal fashion) so that my kiddos don't get frustrated. 

If you want to do these easy ones with older elementary students, simply give them 1-minute to find as many as they can.  Speed games, help prepare children for timed tests in a non-stressful way.   Besides using them as a game, they are a nice plug-in for your Daily 5 word work activities too.  Click on the link to view/download the 2 St. Patrick's Day word searches.

Another way to work on words, is by giving students a themed-word and challenging them to create other words, using only the letters that appear in that word.  With that in mind, I created How Many Words Can You Find in Leprechaun, and another one for the word shamrock. 

Surprisingly, I made 97 words from the letters in shamrock, and found 161 words using the letters in leprechaun.  The packet includes recording sheets, as well as my answer keys.  Click on the link to view/download the How Many Can You Find St. Patrick's Day activity. 

Betty, from Texas, wrote that she's collected most of the number puzzles for center activites, for her PK students.  She wondered if I had any puzzles for St. Patrick's Day.  I didn't, but do now. 

I made 16, which includes some in color, as well as 5 in black and white, so that students can color their own. 

The puzzles help students practice counting to 10, counting backwards from 10 to 1, as well as skip counting by 10's to 100.  Click on the link to view/download the St. Patty's Day Puzzle Packet.

Gloria, from Wisconsin, collects my alphabet cards, and wanted some with shamrocks and kites, two big theme weeks for her kinders. 

I had already made shamrock alphabet ones, and am now working on the ABC kite cards, to add to our growing collection. 

All of the alphabet packets, include a tip list of what to do with the cards, including games like Kaboom, plus a separate set of upper as well as lowercase letters, so that you can play Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?"  games.   Click on the link to view/download the shamrock alphabet cards.  The kite cards will be done and posted by Monday.

Finally, Sara from Maine, likes to change her 10 frame math center each month.  She was looking for some with shamrocks.  I spent quite a bit of time making 10 frame templates, so it's pretty easy for me to plug in appropriate clip art to make them for any theme you do. 

If you have a special request, simply shoot me an e-mail, and I'll see what I can do.  diane@teachwithme.com  Click on the link to view/download the Shamrock 10 Frames packet.  

Just a reminder, that all of the 10 frame packets, have matching 1-2-3 Count With Me 10 Frame-Based easy readers to match. Click on the link to view/download the 123 Count Shamrocks With Me.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.

"Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow beloings to the people who prepare for it today." -Unknown