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

Make learning how to count and identify numbers, super-fun with pumpkins; which are not only perfect for October, but can still be used throughout November too.

I find that if I have an interesting theme for things that I’m trying to teach my students, they get excited and are happily engaged and on task.

With that in mind, I designed a variety of pumpkin number activities, which will help your students practice counting, number recognition, sequencing, subitizing, sorting, patterning, and one-to-one correspondence.

The packet includes:

* Eleven sets of different pumpkin cards. There's a sample of each set in the photograph.

You can use them for all sorts of activities, including a variety of games like "Memory Match", "I Have; Who Has?", "Kaboom", "Speed" and "Flip It". 

I've included a 4-page tip list, filled with interesting and fun ideas of how to use the cards, including directions for a variety of games.

There are also covers for some of the sets, so that your kiddos can make (just the right size) "Itty Bitty" booklets. 

Because of the nice selection of cards, students will also njoy sorting them into "Pumpkin Piles". 

For example, children put all the pumpkin cards that represent the number one in a pile; all those that show the number 2 in another pumpkin pile and so on.

To strengthen upper body muscles, have children lie on their tummies and sequence the numbers in long lines.  A group of my Y5s enjoyed making a "pumpkin snake" all the way out the door!

I also made a specific set of pumpkin cards to be puzzles. These make a wonderful math center. 

There are 5, strip puzzles on a one-page pattern, which makes them "just the right size" for little learners.

Simply snip on the line to cut the number from the matching group of pumpkins.  Each line is different, so there's only one way for students to complete the puzzle, which will give them the correct answer. 

Another fun way to practice with the cards, is to make Jack.  This cute pumpkin pattern is printed on card stock, then laminated.

Cut out the jack-o-lantern's "mouth" and place over the opening of an empty Kleenex box. (There are lots of fall-patterns available. A Boutique box also works).

Pass the pumpkin cards out to your students, then call for the number one pumpkin.

The child holding that card comes up, shows the number to their classmates; everyone says "One", then she "feeds" Jack by dropping the card into his "mouth". 

Another fun, whole group game is done with pumpkin seeds.  I use a package of real pumpkin seeds, which you can buy in most food stores.  You can also save the seeds when you carve your pumpkin. 

Make a class set of pumpkin "mats" that you can use each year, or run off the worksheet. 

My kiddos sit at tables, so I spill a cup of seeds on a paper plate.  They each count 10 seeds and put them in their Dixie cup.

When everyone is set, choose a pumpkin number card;  show it to your class; they count out that many seeds and place them on their pumpkin mat. 

You can see at a glance who is having difficulty. My kiddos LOVE this activity. 

Added bonus: pinching & placing pumpkin seeds, is a great fine motor skill that will help strengthen finger muscles.

I've also including one-to-one correspondence mats that you can use for an independent math center.

If you don't have access to pumpkin seeds, simply print, laminate and trim the page of realistic-looking seeds that I've included in the packet. 

There are also a nice variety of interesting worksheets as well as "print and go" game sheets, like "I Spy" or "Pumpkins on a Roll" which is played with dice. 

Use them for individual and whole group activities, assessing, and math centers; homework, early finishers and help for those who are struggling.

Nice for a substitute, and fun for a harvest celebration or Halloween party day.

Do you know the song "Ten Little Indians?"  This popular rhyme is a super-fun way to help students learn to count forwards as well as backwards.

I substituted pumpkins for Indians, and included a poster poem "10 Little Pumpkins in a Pumpkin Patch" in the packet. 

Stick Velcro or magnet dots to the back of the 10 pumpkin cards, and use them as manipulatives, to attach to a flannel board or white board.

I make an extra set of the "puzzle" cards, and instead of cutting them apart, I use the whole strip in my pocket chart.

The song poster and set of 10 pumpkin cards from the packet, are today's featured FREEBIE. Click the link to download your copy today. 

While the concentration in this packet is on numbers 0-10, there are several activities which also include numbers 11-20, so that you can diversify your lessons and add a challenge.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Time for a nature walk and much-needed break.

The fall colors are beautiful here in Michigan.

"October's poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter." - Nova S. Blair

1-2-3 Come Make Some Number Booklets With Me

If your kiddos are like mine, they will absolutely love making these “just the right size” number booklets.

Teachers will enjoy the easy-peasy "Print & Go" prep as well.

There are eleven, 2-page booklets for numbers 0-10 .

Besides number recognition the booklets also provide great fine motor practice while cutting & gluing.

Each booklet has a bit of a different shape, as they follow the contours of the numbers, which adds interest to their appearance, as well as provides “curved” cutting practice as well.

The assembly of each booklet is also simple, and is a great way to practice listening & following directions too.

For the inside pages, children trace and write the number & word, then color the group of that many things.

I include number words because even though I’m not teaching “reading” or number word recognition at this time, I’ve included it “on and in” the booklet, for several reasons.

At the same time we are learning numbers, children are also learning letters.  Seeing them together helps kiddos differentiate the two.  

Children will also realize that a number symbol has a word that’s also associated with it, and that those words, are made up of letters.  

Even though children might not be able to correctly match up a word to a number yet, I’ve discovered that by continuously seeing numbers with their matching words, my students were successfully recognizing them later!

It’s sort of like being able to read the word Cheerios, or McDonalds simply because they are associating.

When everyone is done with their booklet, we “read” it together.

We count from 0 to that number, flash that many fingers, then clap each letter as we spell the word.

You can send each booklet home after your kiddos create it, or you can have children keep them in a 5x7 manila envelope.

Holding the envelope horizontally, I slit the top. Students seal the flap shut .

After they have colored the picture, they glue their worksheet on the front.

When we finish studying a number, children trace and write it, then tuck the booklet inside the envelope. 

 I also give my kiddos a "student number". This matches the alphabetical order of their first names; Anna, Bill, Bob etc.

Along with their name, they write this number on any work that I keep for folders, portfolios etc. 

This way, students can assist me in filing "stuff", which I keep in tubs.  This takes just a minute, and finding a student's work is a breeze.

Plus I never have piles of "need to file" papers all over the place!

Because students are tracing and writing the number on the front, I can also see at a glance, who was absent and is missing a number.

After we are done with the envelopes, I call for a number; as we all, slowly count out loud.

Number one student brings theirs up, then 2 and so on. Everything is now numerically filed and easy to accesss, in a plastic shoebox.

These are great to take out and share during parent-teacher conferences too. 

Once all of our booklets are done, I have students sit on the floor and arrange them in order from 0-10, practicing the "sequencing" standard in a fun way.

The packet also includes a certificate of praise, as well as several “I Spy a Number” worksheets.
This game is a super-fun way to whole group assess, while practicing number recognition.

Today's featured FREEBIE is a collection of 5, fall matching games, which help practice 2D shapes. 

Print, laminate and trim.  Students place the colored shape tile on the matching shape on the leaf, spider, bat, owl, or turkey card.  

I've also included a blank template for each theme, so you can program with more shapes or whatever. 

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

Time to put my party hat on, as we're celebrating my birthday early, and hitting the beach for some fun in the sun. 

Wishing you a stress-free & relaxing day.

"Live the party. Love the party. Be the party." -Unknown 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Alphabet and Number Activities With Me

Amy, from Kentucky, asked if I was going to do a Kissing Hand -Themed activity packet for the alphabet, or one for counting & numbers that would match the trio that I posted this past week.   Like me, she likes to teach a variety of standards using a theme. 

I actually had one in the works, which includes both, and just finished it today!  Woo hoo. This ABC-123, raccoon-themed packet, matches the other 3 “Kissing Hand” inspired packets: Literacy,  Shapes &  Where’s the Raccoon?

The ABC-123 includes the following:

3 sets of letter cards: uppercase, lowercase, & both UC & LC on one card, so you can play all sorts of games like Memory Match, “I Have; Who Has?”, Kaboom & Speed. I’ve included a 4-page tip list of ideas & directions.

An accordion-fold out, “trace the letters” booklet.

0-10, number & number word pocket chart cards, with a matching poster.

9 number puzzles (color + black & white) to practice numbers 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, as well as skip counting by 10s to 100.

Use for an independent center & games. Run off the black line ones for children to color, cut & make their own number puzzle.

Counting Kisses 0-10 poster, with a matching worksheet & game cards.
An accordion-fold out Counting Kisses booklet.

Large (8x10) Counting Kisses poster cards for numbers 0-10, with a matching set of 5x7 cards. Use as anchor chart posters & flash cards.
A matching booklet for students. They glue on the appropriate number of kiss “stickers”.

5 number worksheets.
2 roll & color games. You can also use these as “I Spy” game worksheets.

A letter poster showing the arrow directions to write letters, with a matching worksheet, along with 5 other alphabet worksheets.

2 “I Spy A Letter” game sheets for whole-group assessing upper & lowercase letters, with a recording sheet.

A raccoon “slider” craftivity for upper & lowercase letters, numbers 1-20, counting backwards from 10-0 & 20-0; plus slider strips for skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, & 10s. A quick, easy & fun way to whole group assess. Includes an assessment sheet.

Upper & lowercase assessment mats & recording sheets, along with a set of upper & lowercase Kissing Hand letter cards, and an alphabet matching game.

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to take a peek at my newest Kissing Hand packet: ABCs & 123s.

However, since many teachers offer a bundle to give you added savings, I combined this new ABC-123 packet, with the Shape & "Where's the Raccoon?" packets.

You'll save $3 by buying the bundle, as this 247-page whopper, is only $10.95.  Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to check it out: Kissing Hand Bundle.

And now for today's featured FREEBIE: A "Dear Students..." poster.  Perfect for back to school. Click on the link to grab it.

Well that's it for today.  It's super-hot and muggy here in my little corner of the world. 

Yuk! Humidity really zaps my energy, so it's time to escape for a dip in the the pool.  Wishing you a refreshing day filled with Ahhhhh moments.

"The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it." -Woodrow Wilson

1-2-3 Come Play Some Number Games With Me

As things are winding down, for a much-deserved Thanksgiving break, you may want to plug in a few educational, yet quick, easy and fun games on that last day.

The Easy As Pie Learning packet, reviews all sorts of standards, with a cute little turkey game that's easy to differentiate, for a variety of learning levels. 

Use the 10-sectioned pie pattern, to simply make a 10 piece puzzle, for younger students to practice counting and sequencing numbers 1-10. 

Older students can practice numbers and their number words, if you cut the puzzle slices into numbers and number word pieces, making a 20-piece puzzle.

You can also review colors with your little ones, by running off the number wheel pattern, on 10 different colors of construction paper; mixing and matching pieces 'til you have 30-mini puzzles, each with 10 different colored pie slices.  It only took me a few minutes to make 10.  Store them separately, in Ziploc Snack Baggies.

 Reinforce life skills, by playing with the puzzles as a partner game.  You can use dice and practice addition, or use the spinner (3 are included) to play that way. 

Students take turns rolling one dice, to fill in pie slices numbered 1-6, then use two dice and add them together, to play puzzle pieces 7-10.

If your kiddos are also studying fractions, they can play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games, with the turkey's pumpkin pie fraction cards. There's also a larger set to use as flashcards.

For more fraction practice, I've included a set of black and white pocket chart cards that you can run off, so your students can make an Itty Bitty fraction booklet.  Click on the link to grab this fun fall FREEBIE:  Easy As Pie Learning Thanksgiving Game packet.

Thanks for visiting.  It's really started to snow outside, so I'm off to go find the snow shovel, as it is tenaciously sticking to the ground. 

Sigh... I am so not ready for winter yet, but then I don't think I'm ever happy when it truly arrives either. 

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

 1-2-3 Come Make Some Thanksgiving Emergent Readers With Me

My Y5's loved when we made little booklets.  Even though they didn't really know how to read, via picture clues and repetition, they were able to remember simple words and actually "read" these booklets, by the time we were finished with them. 

This helped build their self-esteem and confidence and they were eager for more. Parents were excited and encouraging, when their little one would share what they had made in school that day, a total win-win. 

With that in mind, I decided to design a template that I could use to make all sorts of emergent readers, for the various months and themes. 

Thus, a "strip" booklet, as well as a "snip and flip" booklet, came about. They are being debuted here.  I'm excited to make some for December and winter themes as well; working my way through the year, as my days fly by. 

The first "snip and flip" booklet is a Thanksgiving Counting booklet, which packs in quite a few standards. 

I named these emergent readers "snip and flip" because students snip on the dashed lines and then flip the pages over, to reveal a page underneath.

Students trace and write the numbers and number words; they read the simple sentences and add end punctuation, then color the pictures in the group/set.

Review adding one more to complete the next grouping, as students count from 1 to 10. You can also practice counting backwards from 10 to 0 by reading the booklet in reverse.

Snipping the pages on the dashed lines, provides great fine motor skill practice.  When everyone is done, read the booklet as a whole group to review concepts of print. 

As you read the booklet, reinforce some of the Thanksgiving facts that your students have been learning: i.e. What was the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America?  What was the name of the Wamapanoag brave that helped the Pilgrims? etc.

Click on the link to view/download the Thanksgiving Snip and Flip Counting booklet.

The next emergent reader, is a Thanksgiving "strip" booklet.  I named these easy readers that, because I can fit 5 pages or strips, on a one-page master, for easy printing. 

Students get one to two whole pages that they cut into strips, then collate and staple into a 5 to 10 page "just-the-right-size" booklet.

Students read the simple sentences that I've packed with Dolch words, as well as sight words, using the pictures as clues for unfamiliar words.  

They trace those words then rewrite the sentences, remembering proper capitalization, spacing and end punctuation.

Both these emergent readers, are perfect for your Daily 5 activities, or are wonderful to send home if your school requires homework or home-school connections.  Click on the link to view/download the My Thanksgiving Emergent Reader Strip booklet.

The 1-2-3 Count With Me booklets, can also be used as emergent readers.  They involve all sorts of simple math standards and are based on a 10 frame. 

That monthly set is complete, with over 20 booklets.  Click on the link for the 1-2-3 Count Pilgrims With Me or the 1-2-3 Count Turkeys With Me.

Thanks for visiting today.  It's time for me to organize my desk. 

I'm one of those people who can't work when things are in a mess and I have drawings, notes, and half completed piles of paper everywhere.  No more flitting!  Wishing you an energy-filled and productive day.

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer

1-2-3 Come Do Some Apple Math With Me

The last few articles have covered apple art, some apple science (apple facts and the apple life cycle) plus a bit of writing, so I thought it was time to throw in a little apple math.  I've designed some numbered apples from 1 to 100.  You can put them up all at once, or add one each day of school, as you count up to your 100th day celebration.  

Another fun way to reinforce counting, is with Willie the Worm.  His body is a numbered "slider".  Children trace the numbers and then insert Willie into their apple.  Call out a number, students slide the worm to that number. 

This is a quick and easy way to whole group assess, as you can see at a glance who is having difficulty.  I've also included strips for skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's for a non-boring way to practice. 

For just-the-right-size number fun, with an apple theme, click on the Apple Number packet.  The packet includes: Smaller numbered apples (1-120) that students can easily sequence.  Use these as anchor charts or a help poster for your students' math folders. The apple 1-120 individual strips, can be cut to form a number line. 

I've included 16 "What's Missing?" activity sheets, that are especially helpful for those toughy teen numbers. Run them off for students to fill in, or laminate and have children place number tiles on empty spaces.  The apple math symbols, allow students to use the apples to create and solve addition and subtraction equations, as well as show greater and less than.

Apples with numbers as well as number words, help with reading comprehension. Use them for games, pocket charts, or your word wall.  Skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's is also included, plus 4 games, with the ability to create many more.  Click on the link to get the 35-page comprehensive Apple Number packet.

For more addition and subtraction activities, you'll enjoy the apple-themed 10-frame packet.

If you teach little ones just learning to count, or ESL students, they'll enjoy the 1-to-1 correspondence apple game.  I've included full-color cards, as well as black line masters if you want your kiddos to color their own. 

I used red, yellow and green pony beads as manipulatives.  This provides great fine motor practice as well.

Puzzles are also a fun way for students to practice sequencing numbers. 

I've included an apple as well as a pumpkin shaped puzzle in this packet. Run the apples off on red, yellow and lime green construction paper; give students a choice of what color they want for their apple. 

Children can simply put the puzzle together, or have them create an interesting mosaic picture, by gluing the pieces to a sheet of black construction paper.  (Make sure they leave a little space inbetween the pieces.) 

For that finishing touch, add their photo to the leaf.  To make it more of a keepsake, have students trace their hand for the pumpkin leaf.

There are 7 more apple-themed puzzles in another packet. Use the skip counting by 10's puzzles for older students.

Finally, when doing apple math, one can't forget to include shapes as well as graphing.  Both are accomplished in the Shapely Fall Graphs packet. 

I hope you found a few things here that you're excited about sharing with your students.  Do you have an apple activity that you could share with us?  I'd love to hear from you.  diane@teachwithme.com  or feel free to leave a comment below.

It's a rainy day, and although it's tempting to venture into some time-sucking fun on Pinterest, I'm off to higher priorities.  (Perhaps curling up with a good book!) Wishing you an apple-icious afternoon.

1-2-3 Come Do Some Thanksgiving Turkey Activities With Me

Come November, it can become a bit boring for kiddo's to review letters, numbers, and various other basic standards.  Yet it's imparative to keep kids practicing these skills, so they retain them, as well as for slower learners to finally be able to "get it" and catch up. 

With that in mind, I designed some "Stuff Me!" turkey worksheets that make reinforcing upper & lowercase letters, counting, adjective use, and sight word recognition more fun. 

There are 6 "Stuff Me" skill sheets, that ask students to stuff their turkey with something.  I've also included a "you-fill-in-the- blank" one, to program with whatever. 

Some other ideas you could do would be: verbs, nouns, sight words, student names, names that begin with T, colors, rhyming words, words that contain the U vowel, spelling words, ways to show a given number etc.

To add to the fun, set a timer for 1 to 2 minutes.  Challenge students to write in as many as they can, before the timer rings.  For addition practice, have students count up their total and write it down on their recording sheet. 

When you have completed as many Stuff Me worksheets as you want, have students add things up to arrive at a grand total. 

Be sure and do these activities along with your students.  You might also want to revisit a worksheet to see if any of your kiddos can beat your totals.  Use the word worksheets, for something different, for your Daily 5 activities.  Click on the link to view/download the "Stuff Me" activity packet. 

Another "turkey-rific" writing activity, I designed several years ago, and just revamped today. My Thanksgiving Dinner, continues to be a favorite among visitors so I wanted to mention it today.

There are several options for the cover of the booklet.  In the first photo I used a large paper plate, glued just the cover to the center then stapled the other pages together and glued them on a second paper plate.

Punch a hole in the side and connect the front and back cover plates with a piece of yarn.  The Dollar Store sells plastic "silverware" that is silver and looks so realistic!  I used glue dots to add that finishing touch. 

If you want things to be a bit more colorful, use decorative fall paper plates.  The Dollar Store also sells these. In the bottom photo I used a small 8 inch plate, put the entire booklet on that and then glued it to a construction paper "placemat" gluing the "silverware" on either side.  

Completed projects make a cool bulletin board.  Use a "real" plastic or fabric tablecloth for your background and scatter on the plates. 

Students read the simple sentence, trace and then write the food word and add end punctuation. 

You may want students to include an adjective when they are writing their sentences.  i.e. I am going to eat warm homemade bread.

Students have the option to put in the word NOT if they won't be eating that food, or create their own picture page of what they will be eating. I've included a blank page template for this.

I've also included a different cover that says: My Favorite Dinner and a blank page template, for students you may have in class that don't celebrate this holiday.  They can make a booklet with their favorite foods, or a special meal that their family makes for one of their celebrations.

When everyone is done, read the booklet aloud, to review concepts of print, stopping to share pages that are different.  The packet also includes 10 traceable word cards.  These are the words that were used in the booklet. 

You can use them for a Daily 5 word work activity to help reinforce word recognition.  Click on the link to view/download the My Thanksgiving Dinner "craftivity".

After you have read a few books about the first Thanksgiving, a nice follow up to the above activity, would be to have students complete a Venn diagram comparing their Thanksgiving celebration with the Pilgrim's. 

There's also a Venn diagram comparing Thanksgiving then and now.  Click on the link to view/download the Thanksgiving Venn Diagram.

My personal favorite book about Thanksgiving is an awesome rhyming story, by Diane Z. Shore. It's entitled: This Is The Feast.  

For more books, click on the link to view/print a list of 70 of my favorite Turkey & Thanksgiving Books.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can strut on over tomorrow for another FREEBIE hot off my computer. 

Feel free to PIN away.   If you'd like to see all of the wonderful-educational FREEBIES, that I can fritter an entire morning away looking for and pinning, click on the heart button to the right of the article.  I've done lots of fun work, so that you don't have to!

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." -Tyrion Lannister

Monkey Business

Are a few of your students still struggling with skip counting, or are you teaching PK and decided to raise the bar and add a K standard to help out for next year while you still have some days left before school ends?

I’m always looking for fun ways to reinforce skip counting with kids, so I dreamed up “Barrel of Monkeys!”

There are traceable number cards for skip counting by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s as well as counting by 1’s to  30 with, matching covers for each set so that students can make their own Itty Bitty booklets.

Make a large “teacher’s monkey” and laminate.  Pass out your class set to the students and “feed the monkey” while you count whatever set you want to reinforce.

Play “I Have; Who Has?” and feed the monkey that way. i.e. “I have 2 who has 4, 6, 8?" etc.

Make class sets in a variety of colors.  Children choose a partner.

Mix up the cards, but keep the packs separate.  Each child flips over a card.

The one with the lowest card goes first and skip counts from that number ‘til the end.  If they do it correctly they get both cards. i.e. if they flip a 4 and their partner flips an 8, they get to count 4,6,8,10 all the way to 40.

If they can do that, they get to keep their 4-card and their partner’s 8 card.  If they can’t do it, their partner gets a turn to try it.

If they are successful they get the cards.  Play continues ‘til all of the cards are gone.

You can also use them to play Concentration-Memory Match games.

Click on the link to view/download Barrel Of Fun Monkey cards.

A nice companion to this packet is the rhyming easy reader booklet Counting Monkeys, which includes a graphing extension, to reinforce yet another standard.

Click on the link to view/download Counting Monkeys.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure and pop back tomorrow for more fun tips.

Do you have one you'd like to share?  I'd enjoy hearing from you diane@teachwithme.com or feel free to leave a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas. I really enjoy hearing from you.

It's OK to PIN anything you think will help another teacher or parent as well.

I hope these activities have your little monkeys having a barrel full of fun!

Crawling With Creativity!

Is anyone still doing caterpillar stuff?  Even if you’ve completed your studies, I bet you’re still assessing and need a moment of sanity.

Why not plug in anyone of these independent activities for your kiddo’s to work on? Your students can make their own hungry caterpillar by simply coloring the template.

I made mine out of construction paper.  You can run the master off on red construction paper and students can cut eyes out of yellow and green scraps if you want to make them that way.

Cut a hole for the mouth, Scotch tape a small Baggie to the back and you’re all set to feed this hungry boy all sorts of traceable cards.

I went crazy making traceable number cards from 1-30, skip counted numbers by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s, upper and lowercase letters, all 14 adjectives used in the book, the days of the week, the months in the year, + covers so that students can make Itty Bitty booklets to match all of the categories!

There's also cards for everything that the caterpillar ate, including black and white cards so students can color their own little My Itty Bitty Very Hungry Caterpillar book which includes the rest of the story telling cards as well.

Use word cards from other packets (such as the Dolch, CVC, Shapes, or Color word card packets) and feed to review even more concepts!

Decide which cards you want your students to work on and run those off.  Make all the sets for yourself, so that you can play “Flash Review” to nail all of those standards.

To make things even more fun, while reviewing whatever concept you want to work on, play “I Have, Who Has?” with your students. i.e., I have 3 who has 6?

I’ve also included several What’s Missing? worksheets for upper and lowercase letters, as well as all of the skip counted numbers + a blank template so you can program your own skill sheets.

Students can also color a pattern on their caterpillar or play the Caterpillar Creeps dice game and review the life cycle of a butterfly.  I’ve included traceable life cycle cards as well. Use them as a fun way to "review-read and feed!"

Click on the link to view/download this 50-page fun-filled packet. Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities.Feel free to PIN anything you feel might help someone.

Spring Into The Garden and Reinforce Color and Number Words

In My Garden is another easy reader that’s great for your writing center or Daily 5 activities too.  Once students get used to these little booklets they feel empowered and it builds their self-esteem as well as their skills.

This booklet reinforces number and color words and touches on a little science as it involves insects, which can lead to a discussion of what might go on in a garden.

I’ve included 2 graphing extensions to nail that core standard as well.

Besides the graphing extensions, the booklet also offers a variety of other discussion opportunities

All of the things in the garden are seen doing something.  Do they all do the same thing?

The last page asks students how high they can count to.  Which student in your class can count the highest?  How high is that?

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print and so students can take it home and enjoy sharing it with their families.

Click on the link to view/download In My Garden

You may also want to teach or read the nursery rhyme Mary How Does Your Garden Grow? I never had enough time for my nursery rhyme unit at the end ot the year, so I tried to plug in nursery rhymes throughout the year, whenever they seemed to fit with other themes.

Click on the link to view/download this  nursery rhyme. (2 anchor chart-posters)

I hope your day is filled with sunshine and flowers and that you can flutter on over tomorrow for some more tips.