1-2-3 Come Make Some Storytelling Sliders With Me 

Since the "Brown Bear What Do You See?" and Pete the Cat's "I Love My White Shoes" storytelling sliders that I designed this month, have been so popular, I decided to make one for"Polar Bear What Do You Hear?"

Special Note: If you're interested in purchasing the Pete Slider for $2.50 clink the link to e-mail me, as he is no longer available in my TpT shop.

While working on the polar bear this week, I had a request from Enadia in Michigan, for a sequencing craft for "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie". 

When I told her about the storytelling sliders, she loved the idea, and thought it would be perfect for her "kinder kids", thus "Cookie Mouse" was born. 

Today's blog features my newest sliders, along with a fun FREEBIE. 

First up is the "Polar Bear What Do You Hear?" storytelling slider.  It’s one of my students' all-time favorite stories and perfect for practicing the “sequencing and retelling a story” standards, or introducing verbs and onomatopoeia to older students, as animals roar, hiss, snort and snarl.

I also use “Polar Bear What Do You Hear?” and “Brown Bear What Do You See?” when we’re studying the 5 senses.

If your kiddos are like mine, I know that they will enjoy making this hands-on craftivity, that will help them retell the story in the proper sequential order.

There are several bear options. I’ve included a large, full-page pattern for teachers, as well as a smaller, 2-on-a-page pattern for your students.

Children color the story characters on the “slider strip” then cut and glue it together.

As they pull on the end of the “slider” the various pictures go through the bear’s “tummy window”, so that children can take turns retelling the story to a partner or reading buddy, then take their polar bear home to share with their family, once again practicing these standards.

Storytelling sliders are also an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension. 
I’ve included a “sequence the story” slider worksheet for this, where students color and trim the picture “windows” then glue them in the correct order on the blank strip.

I introduce the lesson by reading ”Polar Bear What Do You Hear?”, then share my completed "slider craftivity” with my students.
So that you can quickly, and easily make an example, I’ve included a full-color slider pattern.

After I read the story, we retell the tale together, using the picture prompts on my slider.
I have them guess which animal they think comes next before I pull the picture through the “window”.

My students now know what’s expected of them, and are very excited to transition to making a Polar Bear story slider of their own.

I’ve also included a “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet, as another way to check comprehension plus practice sequential writing, hopefully using a variety of ordinal numbers or other transitions.  

"Cookie Mouse"  follows the same format as the polar bear slider packet, but I've also inlcuded another idea, that will be included in any new story telling sliders that I create. 

Besides assessing comprehension via making the "color, cut & glue" slider, or completing the "Here's What Happened" writing prompt, I designed a "Sequence the Story" worksheet. 

Children simply color, cut and glue the story element pictures to their worksheet in the correct order.  This way, teachers can read the story, have children make their slider, review the sequence with the craft, then assess comprehension with the worksheet.  

I'm currently working on a storytelling slider for The Very Busy Spider, and will be making one for "The Jacket I Wear In The Snow" as well.  I welcome requests for any other stories you'd like a slider for. They really are a super-fun way for students to practice those sequencing and retelling a story standards. 

In case you weren't aware of it, whenever I put something new in my shop, it's on sale for 40% off for the first 48 hours. Since most of my packets are just $3 this is a huge savings.

Today's featured FREEBIE is a sweet "My Selfie" packet.    Do you have your kiddos draw a self portrait during the first week of school?  Do you take a photograph of their first day?

Why not hop on the "selfie" rage and use these cute worksheets for your kiddos to do their work on.  They're sure to become a keepsake. Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board too.

Well that's it for today. I have a very long "to do" list of errands, so time to put my zoom-zoom hat on and get cracking!  Wishing you a productive day.

"The best way to predict your future is to create it!" -Abraham Lincoln

1-2-3 Come Do Some Writing "Craftivities" With Me

My students really enjoyed Laura Numeroff's "If You..." books, particularly If You Take A Mouse To School.  Since it's especially popular as a back-to-school book, I wanted to dream something up that your current kiddos could do for your next year's students that had a mouse theme.  Thus the Nice Mice Advice packet was born. 

The packet is perfect for some end-of-the-year fun, as children write some helpful advice to your in-coming students. 

I've found that children really enjoy giving advice, as most of them feel that they are experienced experts on a variety of things. I'm sure you'll also enjoy reading what they have to share.

During the last week of school, I had my current kiddos make something for the new students that would soon be in my class.  I scattered their completed work on a bulletin board.

They were really excited to do this, and I could check off one more thing that I didn't have to get ready for the start of school. 

With that in mind, I wanted to design a quick and easy "craftivity" with a mouse that you could do, that would make a cute bulletin board.  

Use my mouse pattern and make a template out of an old file folder.  Trace once and then cut 3-6 mice out of a variety of colored construction paper. 

Students choose one and fold the "head" portion down so that it will "flip up" to reveal one piece of advice that they have for next year's kiddos. 

Have them glue on the ears, and add some wiggle eyes, a pom pom nose, and a yarn or ribbon "tail", for those finishing touches. 

Scatter them on your bulletin board and use the "If you take a mouse to school, he'll want to give you some advice" poster, as your center. 

A cheese border would be cute, as this advice comes from your former "all-knowing" students, who are now "big cheeses" in a higher grade.

After they have shared their projects, give them a bookmark from you, wishing them a nice summer.  Write students' names at the top and then sign the bottom.  You could jot a note on the back that says something like "Keep reading!" as your summer advice to them. 

I've also included a black and white bookmark, if you'd like to have your students color one to leave inside their desk, as a sweet surprise for your new students.

Click on the link to view/download the Nice Mice Advice packet.  This FREEBIE is part of my 58-page Mice Advice packet in my shop on TpT.  Click on the link to check out all the super-fun activities, goodies and crafts.  It's currently on sale for only $3.95.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you have a simply wonderful last-week-of-school with your kiddos!

"Summer vacation is a time when some parents realize how grossly underpaid teachers are!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Craftivities With Me!

Hopefully things are winding down this last week of school before Christmas Break.  If you're looking for a few last-minute things for your kiddo's to do, you've come to the right place.  Here are some quick, easy and simple activities, I think your students will enjoy. 

Since the 3D cylinder shape was always the "toughy" for my Y5's to wrap their heads around,  I tried to do several projects each month involving that shape.  The cylinder-shaped Santa windsock, was one of their favorites.  I made Santa's beard by tracing their hand once and then cutting it out 4 times.

Children work on a flat surface; when they are done, then help them roll their Santa into a cylinder shape.  Pulled-cotton and glitter, add those finishing touches. Punch a hole in the top, tie a yarn loop, so it can hang from the ceiling. 

Review the triangle, oval, and circle shapes as well.  If you have your kiddo's do a craft on party day, these are great as a whole-group, or independent center activity. 

To expedite things, make sure you trace and cut their hand prints the day before. Click on the link to view/download the Keepsake Hand Print Santa

Quite a few of my favorite Christmas Stories involve mice, so I thought it would be fun to design a sweet treat for my Y5's, featuring this Christmas character.  You can review the oval shape with this craftivity as well.  His ears are heart-shaped.

I don't buy peppermint candy canes for my kiddo's, as when we graphed whether they liked peppermint or not, most of them did not. 

This was true every year, so I looked for the flavored candy canes.  You can get a box of a dozen at The Dollar Store.  Wiggle eyes and a pom pom nose added extra pizzazz.

You can make these for your students as a gift, but I liked doing them as a craftivity the last day of school.  I used silver wallpaper for a sparkling effect.  You could also glue metallic wrapping paper to tag board.  Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Mouse.

Another peppermint activity I call "Me Mints."  I made the larger one out of a sturdy 8-inch paper plate.  Students striped the edges.  Enlarge a photo, cut into a circle and mount it in the center of the plate. 

Wrap with clear cellophane.  (You can buy it by the roll at The Dollar Store.)  Twist the ends and tie with curling ribbon. 

These make a super bulletin board boarder, or have students glue the "greeting" to the back and suspend from the ceiling. 

I also made a "Mini Mint" ornament template for you. Run off the peppermint candy.  Students color with markers and glue to a circle of tag board. Follow the above directions to complete this "Awww-dorable" craftivity.  Click on the link to grab this FREEBIE.

Finally, Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman, would be fun to do on the last day, so that you would have some winter decorations up when your students return from Christmas vacation. 

If you look closely, you'll see that Wally's face is textured.  I made the circles out of embossed wallpaper.  You can buy a roll of white textured wallpaper for less that $5, or visit a paint, wallpaper, or home-decor store, where they sell wallpaper, and ask if you could have or buy a sample book. 

I used these sample books for die cuts, banners, backgrounds, and stationery for my students to write on.  I've included 4 winter writing prompts so that students have a choice.

Children write a rough draft and when they have finalized it, they write it on the circle and glue it to the back of Wally.  These look wonderful dangling from the ceiling.  Click on the link to view/download Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman Writing Prompt Dangler.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  I design and blog daily, so I hope you have the time to drop by tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.

"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." - Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol

It's Time To Mouse Around

As I’ve stated in other articles, I try to plug in a nursery rhyme whenever it seems to fit in with whatever else I’m doing, so at the start of learning about telling time, it just seems appropriate to read Hickory Dickory Dock to children.

When looking into the background of this nursery rhyme, I discovered that it was indeed intended to teach about counting.

Who knows, maybe that led to the possibility of a little bit of time telling thrown in, as the reason why numbers were so important.

Hickory, dickory, and doc, is believed by some to mean,  8,9,10.  How we got to one and why a mouse is running around the clock, remains a mystery, but makes a wonderful writing prompt.

In my packet, Hickory Dickory Clock, I’ve included 2 such writing prompts that turn into what could be hilarious class books: Hickory Dickory Dock: Who Else Went Up The Clock and Why? Helps students use their imaginations and work on verb skills.

I’ve written an extension of the poem to help jumpstart their imaginations, as well as review all 12 numbers, where a duck waddles up the clock at 3, followed by a rabbit who hops up at ten only to do it over again, culminating with my favorite, the cow, who of course jumps over the clock at noon, hoping to later jump over the moon.

A trace and write the verbs worksheet is also included.

The other class book is entitled: Why Did The Mouse Run Up the Clock? Did he have a secret meeting with his girlfriend; was there a piece of cheese hidden up there; was he running away from the cat?  Your students will have fun solving the mystery on their page and illustrating it.

There’s an anchor chart poster of the modern version of the rhyme, as well as one of the 1901 Mother Goose version that uses the intro line “Hickety Dickety…”

Also included are two “craftivities” and a spinner game, which help reinforce telling analog time as well as digital time.

Hickory Dickory Dock Clock Game:

Hickory Dickory Dock Glue the Numbers on Your Clock, is a spinner game that is played with 2 to 4 players.

Students twirl the spinner. Whatever number they land on, they snip & glue to their clock and trace the digital time on the pendulum area.

The first child to complete all 12 numbers is the winner and receives a mouse for the top of his clock as well as a mini-certificate.

The rest of the children glue their numbers on their clock to earn their mouse sticker as well.

Teachers can have students add a brad and paperclips for clock hands to make this game into a “working” clock to whole-group assess the students, if they want to take this one step farther, or stop there and make the paper plate mouse clock.

Paper Plate "Mousin' Around" Clock:

Here students cut out their clock face and glue it to a colored paper plate.  I used multi-colored Halloween plates that I got on sale and then ran off the mice on neon green construction paper for a nice pizzazzy complimentary color.

Pre-cut small strips of black paper. Students will snip these into a point and glue one to the back of their mouse.  If you want the ears to be 3-D have them cut on the lines and bend back.  This will help them move the mouse to the different times, as they can gently tug on an ear.

Poke a hole through the mouse, add a brad and fasten it to the back of the plate.

Whole group assess to the hour, by calling on students to give you a time.  Children move the mouse’s tail to show that time and then hold up their clock.

Cat Got Your Tail? Time to the hour mouse slider:

Finally, “Time to Pull the Mouse’s Tail” also reviews time by the hour.

Students glue their two "clock tail” strips together and make hands to show the time from 1 to 12.

Teachers cut slits with an Exacto knife in their mouse and slip their “clock tail” into the mouse.

Using glue dots, I’ve added wiggle eyes and a small pom-pom nose for that extra touch of pizzazz.

The teacher calls on quiet students to call out a time.  Children slide the mouse’s “tail” to reveal that time and hold up their mouse.

Play continues ‘til all 12 times have been shown.

I’ve also included traceable word flashcards for analog as well as digital times + covers to make an Itty Bitty booklet.

A sample of each one of the activities makes a sweet bulletin board: "Time to see what's up in ____________'s classroom!" or... Hickory Dickory Dock What's Going On On Our Side Of The Block?

Click on the link to view/download the  Hickory Dickory Clock Packet

I hope this idea comes just in TIME to be a nice fill-in for whatever you’re doing right now.

I’d enjoy hearing about how you use it. diane@teachwithme.com

Feel free to PIN away if you find anything on my site worth sharing!

"Don't put a question mark, where a period should be." -Unknown