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

Venn diagrams are a quick, easy & fun way to introduce the concept of comparison-contrast writing.

Years ago, I came up with the concept of students choosing a partner to make a "Venn Friend" with, as an interesting way for students to get to know each other.

I designed the fall "Venn Friends" packet, which feature apples, pumpkins, leaves, turkeys, Pilgrims & Native Americans.

Introduce the lesson with the "What's a Venn diagram?" poster.

To help them do a thorough job completing their Venn diagram and jump start the writing process, I've included a list of 40 questions that they can choose from to discuss with their partner.

Each student does their own "different" portion of the "circle", and then, once they glue their "circles" together, they take turns recording the similarities that they have with their Venn Friend, using the middle "same" section.

I used a "pumpkin seed" for the middle of the Pumpkin Venn Friends, and an acorn for the leaf ones. 

You can see little boy & girl "toppers" in the pumpkin photo. 

These are black & white so kiddos can color them.  Use them on the pumpkins, leaves or apples. 

I encourage students to do a boy/girl Venn friend, not only so they have an extra "difference" but so they can see how much they truly have in common with eachother.

Doing a Name Venn with a classmate, is another option, and practices upper & lowercase letters, along with name recognition & counting. 

I also incorporate the concept of “greater & less than” with this activity, as students decide who has the most or least number of letters in their name.

I’ve made a sample using an apple, as I do this in September, for a “Getting to Know You” activity for “Back to School”.   There are 3 sets of letter tiles for your kiddos to choose from.

My Y5s enjoy this activity so much, I repeat it in October with pumpkins, and see quite a bit of improvement.

As you can see by the photograph, colorful paper plates (smaller 8” size) provide a nice 3D effect.

I pre-cut these to expedite the activity. Besides yellow & red, I also buy lime green plates, giving my students an option. 

Besides using paper plates, I've also included a wormy apple pattern.

There’s also more than one option for November. Students have 3 choices for their Venn friend topper: a turkey, a Pilgrim boy or girl, or a Native American boy or girl.

You can have a turkey find a turkey partner, a boy Pilgrim find a girl Pilgrim, or a boy Native American find a boy Pilgrim, mixing and matching however you or your students wish.

I designed the Venn friends, specifically so students could get to know a classmate better, but you could certainly have students pretend to be "real" Pilgrims and Native American children, and then compare and contrast historical information as well.

Each seasonal Venn, comes with a graphing extension, so you can get some math practice in as well.

For that finishing touch, add a school photograph. Students could also make a green hand print "leaf" for their pumpkin.

Completed projects make awesome fall bulletin boards. Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to check out the super-fun, 51 page, Fall Venn Friend packet. 

Since Halloween is just a week away, I thought a "Halloween Boo Boos" worksheet would be a fun FREEBIE. Students make corrections to the sentences that have mistakes in them.

Click on the link to grab a copy.  It's certainly a little something fun, yet educational for party day.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by. 

The winds have knocked a lot of leaves off the trees, so this afternoon the hubby, pup & I are going for a relaxing drive to see what's left of the gorgeous fall colors, before they become  a distant memory, as barren trees dot the landscape.

I am so not ready for winter. Wishing you a pretty and peaceful day.

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." - John Burroughs

1-2-3 Come Make An Autumn Dangler With Me

There's nothing quite like adding a bit of craftiness to a writing assignment, to get your kiddos excited and down to business.

With that in mind, I created this "Welcome Fall" dangler.
I call it that because the leaves are "falling" as they dangle from the ceiling.

They look amazing as they swirl & twirl just like real leaves.
PK kiddos can simply color and cut their leaves.

Run the templates off on a variety of colors of construction paper, so that older students can complete the writing prompt: "Leaves CAN-HAVE-ARE..." on the back of the leaves, then cut them out.

I've included a worksheet for this that you can do as a whole group, or individually, for pre-writing practice.
A completed template makes it easy for you to incorporate.

The back also sports a "Red, orange, yellow and brown.  Autumn leaves flutter down." poem.  The front simply says: Welcome Fall. I chose open-faced letters so that students could add a bit of color.

You can also dream up another writing prompt as well, such as "Why I Like Autumn" or describe fall with some nice descriptive adjectives.

I tossed these into Diane's Dollar Deals, to make adding that excitement inexpensive, quick, easy & of course super-fun.

For that finishing touch, my students ran their leaves through a crimping roller.
They came out looking like corrugated cardboard, which makes for an awesome 3D effect that will have passersby saying: "Cool!" "How'd you do that?"  If you look closely, you can see these "wavy lines" in the photo.

You can pick up one of these cool tools at most craft and scrapbooking stores.  Mine was $18 and well worth the money, as my kiddos LOVE using Mr. Cruncher Muncher each month.  It's a fun way for them to strengthen their finger muscles too.

Click on the link to grab this delightful Dollar Deal from Diane: Welcome Fall Writing Prompt Craftivity.  Here's hoping you get a chance to make time for a little crafty-creative writing this fall. And . . .

If you're one of those blessed teachers who have time to do a craft "just for fun" (like the good old days), your kiddos will absolutely LOVE "Autumn Splendor". 

It's another one on my Dollar Deals, and my personal favorite fall craft. 

The photo does not do the finished products justice, as they turn out so amazing!!!!!

Some of my kiddos actually squeal with delight as I carefully peel the wax paper off their melted crayon creation.  They are so proud of this project. 

I tossed in some upper and lowercase letter practice for the "Alpha Trees" that are also part of this packet, so take heart if you're dying to do something crafty, and need a reason why.

Today's featured FREEBIE is also a leaf craft.  It's super-simple and a quick, easy & fun way to reinforce the science vocabulary word chlorophyll, which your kiddos will be learning with any study of leaves.

All little ones do is glue half of a folded yellow, red, or orange leaf to a green "cholorophyll" leaf. 

Explain that the colored leaves are that color because they lost their ...(lift up the flap) to reveal the word chlorophyll and the green leaf. 

This FREEBIE is in the equally free "Leaf Man" packet.  It's one of the first fall things I posted years ago, before classes, software, clip art & fonts were purchased, so it's not up to my quality of standards today... 

But hey, it's free and still fun. As you can see, our leaf men turned out rather awesome! Afterwards, we read Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.  

Well that's it for today.  The leaves have not started turning as yet, a little unusual for October here in Michigan.

However the nights have been pretty cool, so Mother Nature will soon be turning heads.  Wishing you a colorful day.

"If you can't be in awe of Mother Nature, there's something wrong with you." -Alex Trebek

1-2-3 Come Do A Super-Fun Writing Prompt With Me

There's never enough time to get in all of the wonderful "Getting to know you" activities we do for back to school, so I do at least one each month.

My kiddos LOVE sharing about themselves, so they really enjoy this type of writing. Plus, it's fun to continue to learn more about our classmates.

With this in mind, I designed "Me!" A Fall-Themed Writing Prompt packet. 

All you have to do to get excited about this "craftivity", is make a sample of your own, to see how much fun this is!

An added bonus is that completed projects make an easy bulletin board you can keep up for months! Woo hoo. Caption: "Fall Into Writing!"

Plus, this activity is so versatile, it can be done by PK kiddos with one-word answers, all the way up through 5th grade!

Have older students write 3-4 things in each section.
You can also encourage the use of adjectives too.

There are 7, autumn-shapes to choose from: an apple, 2 pumpkins, 3 leaves and an acorn.

Because they are all fall pictures, you can give students a choice for an eclectic bulletin board display.

Just pumpkins in a patch, leaves and acorns blowing in the wind, or apples on a tree or in a big basket look terrific too.

If you choose the pumpkin pattern without a leaf, have children trace their hand on green construction paper, trim and add to the top for a "keepsake" leaf.

I've also included blank templates, so you can dream up your own writing prompts.

Do in class, or send home as a homework assignment that your kiddos will really want to do!

For that finishing touch, add a school photo. I also have my students choose 2 or 3 colors, so we can practice an AB-AB or ABC-ABC pattern, which really makes their completed writing prompt stand out.

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to have a look see at this 20-pager: "Me!" Fall Writing Promt Craftivity packet.

While there, I'd so appreciate it if you'd follow me.  That way you'll know when I post FREEBIES, Diane's Dollar Deals, new stuff or have a sale. 

I know it sounds silly, but I really get excited seeing that  number grow.  I'm anxious to reach 700 followers.  Whenever I achieve a milestone, I create a special freebie that will hopefully knock-your-socks off!

Speaking of FREEBIES, today's featured free item is a 15-page leaf-themed math worksheet packet.  Reinforce numbers, sequencing, skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s. Plus, there are "What's Missing?" worksheets, and some for counting to 120.  Click on the link to grab a copy. 

Well that's it for today.  It's a chilly morning, but no frost on the pumpkins yet (PTL).

I am so not ready for winter-weather during fall.  Wishing you a warm and snuggly kind of day.

"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of life and color are their last days." -John Burroughs

1-2-3 Come Do Some Colorful Fall Activities With Me

Because of the Halloween Colors packet, I had 2 requests for something similar, that was less Halloween and more fall in content.  Both gals teach at schools where they don't celebrate Halloween, but do cover all of the Common Core that I incorporated into the packet.  

I decided to revamp The Colors Of Fall easy reader.  It's one of my first booklets, before I took computer classes and bought lots of software, clip art and fonts, yet it's one of my personal favorites, as my husband helped me tweak my poem. 

He's a stickler for the appropriate number of beats for consistancy in a rhyme.  I've included a poster poem to share with your students before they start working on their own booklet.

Children read the simple sentences (lots of Dolch and word wall words here). 

They correct the beginning capitalization and then add end punctuation. 

Using matching colored markers or crayons, they trace, write and color the color words and then color the pictures.

There's also a color word worksheet, graphing extension and spinner game.  

Click on the link to view/download The Colors Of Fall packet.

As long as I was on a roll, I decided to whip up an all-leaf themed one, using the same format. 

I wasn't sure I was going to use all of the colors, because purple, pink, blue and white are certainly not common leaf colors, but I managed to fit them all in.

As with the other two packets, there's a booklet, worksheet, graphing extension and game.  Click on the link to view/download The Colorful Leaves packet.

Anna and Karla were happy about the new additions, and said "Just what I was looking for!"  so I hope you can use them too. 

Now that I'm calmer, I'm off to try and figure out 3 stupid TV remotes, (Isn't 3 times a charm?) so that I can watch a Disney movie with my grandson.  Things have gotten so complicated I'm ready to throw them all out the window!  Oh for the days of on-off-and fast forward, with only ONE remote.  If you hear a crash you'll know I wasn't very successful... Wishing you a stress-free day.    

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it." - Henry Ford

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

There are so many themes that I incorporated into my October lessons, that it was sometimes difficult to get to them all.  I think one of my favorites though, was leaves.

Probably, because of all the fond childhood memories I have of raking up big piles of colorful leaves and then playing in them for hours.

A leaf theme is an easy way to toss in a little bit of science, and build vocabulary with words like chlorophyll and photosynthesis. Leaves also work well with math and language arts too.

Here are a few of my favorite leaf-themed activities:

To help practice all sorts of math skills, (addition, subtraction, odd & even, greater than and less than) click on the link for the Leaf Counting Games.

Students can play the math games and do the center activities independently or with a partner. 

There are also leaf cards with number words on them, to help reinforce reading skills.  I've included a 3-page tip-list of ideas.

The 10 frames leaf packet is also a fun way to practice a variety of math skills.

Are you working on ordinal numbers?

The Ordinal number packet not only has a leaf worksheet (2 on a page for easy printing), but other fall themes as well.

Likewise, the Fall Graphing packet has similar themes, including one for leaves. 

Besides graphing, you can also reinforce the various 2D shapes.

I always tried to include some sort of hands-on "craftivity" with any theme that I taught. 

With that in mind,  I designed the leaf dangler.  It's the newest addition to my leaf collection of activities,  and includes a little rhyme: "Red, orange, yellow and brown, autumn leaves flutter down."

Older students can complete the "Leaves are, can, have" writing prompt on the back of their leaves. 

I've included a worksheet for this as well.  Do it as a whole group, or have children fill in their own.  There's a completed sample to share as well. 

Do some of your kiddos still need practice identifying the letters of the alphabet? 

These leaf-themed alphabet cards will help.  I've included separate upper and lowercase letter cards as well, which are perfect for all sorts of ABC games.  A tip-list of what to do with the cards is also included.

Finally, since the weather is so beautiful during the fall here in Michigan, I liked to take my Y5's for a mini nature walk. 

This was just a walk around the block of our school to look for things on a nature list that we brainstormed before departure. 

I gave each child a paper bag to collect "nature stuff" in, then we'd go back, wash up and design a paper plate "leaf pal". 

As you can see by the photographs, they turned out absolutely awesome. 

Click on the link for the leaf man craft. After everyone was done, we'd read the Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. 

Also in this packet is a quick and easy chlorophyll leaf craft.  Simply run off the leaf template on a variety of colors of fall construction paper. 

Students trim, fold in half and glue only one side to their matching green leaf, so that the other side flips up to reveal the green leaf underneath. 

This was an easy way to show that leaves were green when they were filled with chlorophyll, but changed to their natural color once it was gone. 

By the end of the activity my little ones could tell you about chlorophyll, as well as photosynthesis.  (Their parents were duly impressed.)

Well that's it for today.  I hope you found something you could use to help your students fall into some learning fun. :-)

Time to go get dinner started.  We're having stuffed red peppers.  Yum!

"Everyone must row with the oars he has." -English Proverb

 1-2-3 Come Make An Alpha Tree With Me

Are you a fan of Pinterest?  It's the first place I go now, if I'm looking for some inspiration.  While popping around looking for autumn ideas, I came across this darling letter tree by Brooke over at Blissful Roots, which she made for her son's room, using scrapbook paper and die cuts.

It was my inspiration for creating two classroom alpha trees.  You can easily make them to use as a center or game, to help reinforce upper and lowercase letters.  There are several ways to make and use the alpha trees.

#1. Run off the bare trees on white construction paper.  (There are 7 to choose from.) Give students a choice. 

Using fall-colored stamp pads, have students make 26 “leaves” with their fingerprints.  Set aside to dry. 

Using a black marker, children write either the upper or lowercase letters on each one of their fingerprints.

For a review game, give students a piece of candy corn to use as a manipulative, and then play “I Spy!” Choose a student to call out a letter.  Children place their piece of candy corn over that letter “leaf” then raise their hand.  This is a quick and easy way to whole group assess, as you can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

#2. Instead of making fingerprint leaves, use sticker dots.  You or your students can write the letters on the dots.

#3. Besides sticker dots, you could also run off the blank squares template, on a variety of fall colors of construction paper.  Give students a strip of each color and have them write letters on the construction paper squares.  They snip and glue to their alpha tree. Or...

#4.  Use the colorful letter "leaf" tiles that I’ve provided and run off the uppercase letters.  Students trim, sort into color piles, then arrange the letter tiles on their tree.  When they are satisfied with the look, they glue the letter "leaves" down.  Also give each child a set of lowercase letter tiles to trim. 

They use these as manipulatives to cover the matching uppercase letter leaves on their tree. This can be set up as an independent center, or whole group activity. If you do this as a whole group, children can take their letter leaves home in a Snack Baggie to continue to play at home. 

#5. So that you can play the game two different ways, assemble and laminate several sets of uppercase trees, with lowercase tiles, and lowercase trees with uppercase tiles.  Use these as independent centers for center time, early finishers, or to send home with a struggling child, to be returned later.  

#6.  I’ve also included a set of blank color tiles, as another option.  Use this template if you want your kiddos to have more writing practice.  Students write the letters inside the colored "leaf" squares, trim, and then glue to their tree.

#7.  If you’d like to turn this into a cute keepsake craftivity, have students pick a partner, so they can trace each other’s hand and arm on a sheet of brown construction paper.   Remind them to spread their fingers (these will be the branches of their “tree”) and keep their arm straight, as this becomes the tree trunk.  Children trim and glue to a large sheet of blue construction paper.  

#8. If you don’t have time to make your own alpha trees, I’ve included completed ones.  Simply print, glue to a sheet of fall-colored construction paper, laminate and trim. 

#9. Children can also play "Speed".  Have students pick a partner and see who can match their letter tiles the fastest.

#10. Another thing you can do is to print, laminate and trim extra sets of both upper and lowercase letter leaf tiles. Keep each set in their own separate Snack Baggie.  Children sequence the tiles putting them in alphabetical order. 

Click on the link to view/download the alpha tree packet.

This packet will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be up-dated and placed in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop.

In keeping with my latest endeavor to post an oldie, but goodie for TBT (Throw Back Thursday) click on the link for the leaf alphabet cards. 

I've also included separate upper and lowercase letter cards, so that you can use them as a fall border, or for games like Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?"  There's a tip list of suggestions. 

Besides letters, you can review shapes with the easy reader booklet, The Shapes On My Tree.  Students trace and write the shape words, then draw that shape on their tree. 

Finally, I used the same tree template (I like when things match) for the Counting Leaves packet, which helps reinforce a variety of standards. 

As with the shape booklet, you can fun off copies for each student, or print, laminate and use for a math center. 

Students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words, then place/glue that many leaves on the tree. I've included 4 different leaf tiles for you to choose from.

Thanks for visiting.  Time to rush off to my next project, on a way too long list of things to accomplish today.  Wishing you a stress-free day.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford

1-2-3 Come Make A KWL With Me

I first learned about a KWL in college. KWL's are graphic representations that are especially helpful for visual learners. They are a wonderful way for teachers to see what prior knowledge their students have, as well as what they'd like to learn.  KWL's are simple, easy and a fun way to accomplish quite a bit in a short amount of time.

K stands for what students Know about a topic, W for What they Want to know, and finally, L representing what students have Learned when the unit is over.  I used them quite a bit to introduce a variety of subjects to my Y5's.  I'd simply put a KWL chart on the board and we'd have a discussion.  As students shared, I wrote things under the appropriate letters.  The chart stayed up 'til the end of our unit.  As children learned things we'd add them to the L section. 

I was cruising Pinterest awhile ago and found a KWL on apples over at The Lemonade Stand.  Click on the link to check out Rayann's sweet blog.  She made a KWL using a red, yellow and green apple.  I thought this bit of art, thrown into the KWL concept, was a terrific idea, so I decided to make some creative KWL's for fall.  I've included an apple and leaves KWL for September; along with a KWL for pumpkins, spiders and bats for October, and finally, a turkey and Pilgrim KWL for November.

Besides the large KWL that you can put on your board, I've made matching 1-page personal KWL's, so your students can practice their writing. 

When I taught 1st grade, I made writing folders for my students to use as journals.  They were simply a pocket folder with brads inside.  Anytime I gave a writing extension, students would 3-hole punch their worksheet and put it in their folder. 

The folders documented wonderful progress throughout the year and were shown at parent-teacher conferences.  These individual KWL's would be terrific for your students' writing journals/folders and something they could do during Daily 5. Click on the link to view/download the KWL's For Fall packet.  

Thanks for visiting today.  I blog and design daily, so I hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site. 

To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS blog article, click on the green title at the top; it will turn black, now click on the "Pin it" button located on the burgundy menu bar.  If you'd like to see all the wonderful-educational items I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to the right of the blog.

"Imagination is the eye of the soul." -Joseph Joubert

1-2-3 Come Read AND Count With Me!

I designed the 1-2-3 Counting series of booklets to combine Common Core Math and Reading standards.

There is so much to cover in a day that I like to over lap subjects and to use an old colloquialism “Kill two birds with one stone.”

Also the consistency of these booklets helps empower students and builds their self-esteem, as it only takes one time for students to need assistance, instructions and then they can work independently on their booklet.

This makes them perfect for a Daily 5 activity or center and frees the teacher up to work one-on-one with other children to help strugglers or do assessing.

You can do one a week or month, depending on your themes or the needs of your students.

They are nice as a home-school connection if you need “homework”, something for students to do when children finish mandatory work, or perfect for a sub folder or something that can be sent home for those students who still don’t “get it.”

Read the booklet as a whole group to review concepts of print and reinforce the vocabulary.

Students read, trace and write the number and number word. They see the “themed object” in a sentence and say it.

They spy the number in a sequence and circle it.

They X-out that many boxes or use a bingo dot marker or stamp.  As an added math concept, I had my Y5’s use 2 different colored bingo dot markers and show me an ABAB pattern. (See sample page above.)

Children cut & glue the set/group to the matching numbered box. My students really enjoyed doing these booklets and they caught onto concepts quickly.

I have a nice collection of fall 1-2-3 easy readers that will hopefully add to your autumn themed lessons.

Each one includes a graphing extension, traceable word-wall word flashcards, a cover for the flashcards so students can turn them into an Itty Bitty Booklet, a “Plus one more” worksheet, and a certificate of praise.

Click on the links to view download any or all of the following: 123 Count Apples With Me,   123 Count Leaves With Me, 123 Count Footballs With Me,   123 Count Pumpkins With Me,   123 Count Fire Trucks With Me,   123 Count Scarecrows With Me. 

Click on the 123 link to view the entire collection of easy readers.

Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything from my site you think others may find helpful.                                                                                                                   

“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” –Thomas Dewar