1-2-3 Come Make A Venn Friend With Me

Venn diagrams are a quick, easy and fun way to help students understand the concepts of comparison and contrast. 

I thought making an apple Venn Friend would be a fun way to introduce this type of writing, as well as an interesting way for your students to get to know their new classmates. 

It's a nice icebreaker for back to school, or can easily be plugged in during your apple activities. This "craftivity" also works well for Daily 5

There are 3 different types of apple Venn friends that you can make with this packet.   If you teach preschool or young kinders (Y5's) who are just learning to recognize and write their names, you may want to do the letter Venn friend.  

I've included upper and lowercase letter tiles in both color and black and white.  (There are 2 black letter options.) LOVE the graphics and fonts by kpmdoodles (color) and djinkers (black and white).

Run the letter tiles off on white paper.  Students can easily add a bit of color to the black striped letters if they want to. 

Students choose a partner to make a name Venn Friend with. Each pair of students needs only one upper and lowercase letter sheet.

To make this "craftivity" really pop, I used yellow and red 8" paper plates.  You can get a pack of 20 at The Dollar Store.  To expedite things, pre cut the plates, as well as the brown stems and leaves.  I also trimmed off the tab on the file folders

Run off the file folder labels. Each pair of students needs only one sheet.  They trim and glue to their file folder, writing their names in the spaces provided. (See photo.) I outlined the labels to add a bit more pizzazz and added school photos for that finishing touch. 

Children add a bit of detail with markers to their stem and leaves.  They can glue these to the front of their apple "plate" or you can come around with a stapler.  They glue the white "same" section in the middle of their file folder, and then glue their apple plates on either side.

I always made samples to share with my students.  A picture is really worth a 1,000 words, in helping to explain things.  You could use your husband/wife or a friend for the 2nd Venn diagram.  I'm sure your students will get a kick out of learning your first name.  Mine were amazed that I even had one! 

Children cut out only the letters that they need for their Venn diagram.  So that students can use these letter tiles for other things, like Daily 5 word work, have them toss the extra letters in an alphabet box.

Looking at their names on the labels, children sort what letters are the same, and which ones are different from their partner.  They glue them in the appropriate places on their Venn friend file folder diagram. 

To add a bit of math to this activity, students count up how many letters they each have in their name.  After adding a bit of color to their apple label, they write in the number of letters in each of their names and put a  < = > symbol in the center of the green apple.  

You can also have students add the total of letters in both of their names, as well as the total number of similar letters.   Later, you can graph who had the highest Venn friend total of letters, as well as the greatest and least amount of similar letters.  Did any team have zero letters for their "same" section?

Have students share their Venn friend with the rest of the class.  Completed projects make an awesome fall bulletin board.  This craft is also a wonderful extension after reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  If you don't want to do an apple-theme, use tan or brown paper plates as coconuts.

Another option for the paper plate, apple-Venn friends craftivity, is to have students compare and contrast their new friend. 

This is an easy and fun way for them to get to know each other better.  The whole class will become more knowledgeable as well, when students share their completed projects.  

I found that the better my students knew each other, the more apt they were to become friends.  This generated a caring community in the classroom, where students truly enjoyed being part of our team.

I've followed pretty much the same format in this file folder Venn friend, except that instead of letters, students each jot down similarities and differences. 

I've provided a checklist with 41 ideas that they can chat about with their partner.  This will hopefully jumpstart their writing and help students be more in-depth when finding out about their classmate, as well as ensure a nice variety of Venn friends. 

I've also included a whole-group graphing activity:  Did students find that they were more similar or more different than their Venn friend?

Finally, if you don't want to fiddle with paper plates, I've created flat apple templates that work in the same way. 

To jazz things up, I've included Willie the worm.  Run the pattern off on lime green construction paper. 

Instead of labels that say "different" I used worms.  Simply make a slit in each side of their apple, and have students color, trim, insert and glue.  

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Venn Friends packet.  These "craftivities" are different enough that you could actually do both.  The letter Venn diagram is a simple icebreaker for the first week of school, and the flat apple Venn can be done during your apple activities, later in September. 

I like to revisit certain activities, but with a new theme or twist, as my students feel empowered and can get right down to business, because they are familiar with the directions. 

Keeping that in mind, you may want to do a few other seasonal Venn friends when those months roll around.  I have a heart one for February, a Leprechaun Venn friend for March, a Bunny Venn for April and a Tulip Venn Friend for May.  I'm currently working on a pumpkin one for October, an acorn for November, a gingerbread one for December and a snowman Venn friend for January.  

Thanks for visiting.  I can't believe it took me most of the day to get this done and blogged about.  Time for some fresh air.  Wishing you a wonderful school year filled with lots of Venn friends.

"Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." - Josef Albers

1-2-3 Come Be a Leprechaun and Make a Venn Diagram With Me!

Making a Venn diagram is an easy and fun way for students to practice the concept of comparison and contrast.

It's also a time-saving way you can learn more about your students, and make an adorable March bulletin board at the same time.

Students partner up and discuss their similarities and differences and then make their Venn Friend Diagram.

To help them think of similarities and differences, I've included a list of questions students can ask their partner.

To make the Venn Friends extra cute, have students color their leprechaun and add a photograph of their face.

Click on the link to view/download the Leprechaun Venn Friends packet.  I also made some Venn diagrams comparing the different holidays, including St. Patrick's Day.  Click on the link to grab this FREEBIE.

Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find worthwhile.

"Be the light that helps others see." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Study Lincoln and Washington With Me!

If you're still looking for some quick and easy activities for President's Day on Monday, you've come to the right place.

My Y5's loved making and wearing crowns, so I whipped off one that takes just a few minutes to put together.  Run off the Lincoln & Washington template. 

Students glue it to a sheet of red or blue construction paper and trim around the edges.  Cut 3 inch wide red or blue construction paper strips the length of extra large construction paper.

Staple a strip and 1/2 together to make a quick headband.  Students glue their Lincoln/Washington picture to the middle. Measure a strip to fit snuggly around the student and staple so that the picky points are on the outside.  This way the band won't scratch or get caught in hair.

If you don't want to make a crown, this picture makes a nice poster.  Hang and use as a writing prompt for students to write about which President they like the best and why.

Click on the link to view/download the President's Day crowns. 

Another simple President's Day activity will help your students understand the concept of comparison and contrast.

Whenever I teach this form of writing, I always introduce it with a Venn Diagram.

I've included a Venn diagram so students can compare Lincoln to Washington, or Lincoln to Kennedy.

There's also a trivia sheet to help students think of ideas.

Click on the link to view/download President's Day Venn Diagrams.

Finally, I always liked to have a few Tabletop worksheets for students to do.  Since some of my kiddo's were still struggling with upper and lowercase letter identification in February, I continued to play "I Spy!" games.

They are a quick and easy way to whole group assess, and students love doing them.

Simply run off the Lincoln and Washington templates.

Have a quiet child start the game by calling out a letter.

Children search for the letter and circle it.  As soon as they've found it, they shoot their hand in the air.

A quick glance around the room will ascertain who knows their letters and who doesn't.

You can walk around glancing at papers, while children are searching for letters, to make sure they are circling the correct one.

Click on the link to view/download Lincoln and Washington "I Spy A Letter" worksheets.

 For more President's Day activities, click on the link to go to that section of my site.

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

"Try not to over think things, lest you create a problem that wasn't there in the first place." -Unknown