1-2-3 Come Make Silly Shaped Owls With Me!

Since the Silly Shaped Penguins were such a huge hit in January, I decided to whip together a packet of 2D shape activities using owls. 

I love owls, and lately, they seem to be all the rage.

You can quickly make these silly shaped owls and increase your students knOWLedge of shapes, shape words, attributes etc.

These activities make nice Daily 5 Word Work lessons, and will help reinforce Common Core State Standards: K.G.1, K.G.2, K.MD.3, 1.MD.4, 1.G.1

• Owl shape "craftivity".  Using the patterns, make the owls and laminate. 

• Use them as anchor charts, a shape bulletin board, oral assessments, or manipulatives for students to hold up during a shape story.
• Make an extra laminated set and cut them in half for an independent math center. 
• Choose 4 and suspend them from the ceiling in each corner of your classroom, so that you can play "4 Corners".  My kiddos absolutely LOVE this game and it's a quick, easy and super-fun way to reinforce the more difficult shapes.  When they've learned those, I hang up 4 other ones 'til they know them all.
  

• Students could also make one or several at a math center, perhaps choosing their favorite shaped owl(s).

Click on the link to view/download the Silly Shaped Owls packet.

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"I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again."

1-2-3 Come Lace And Learn With Me!

The more ways you can get students involved in shapes, the better the chance of the recognition-light bulb finally going on.

Lacing is fun for little ones, as well as an awesome fine motor skill.

These "Lace To Learn" shapes are quick and easy to make.

Simply run them off on card stock, laminate, trim and punch holes. 

Students can lace in and out through the holes with a long piece of yarn or ribbon with the tips taped, or a big shoestring is also fun.

Have children say the shape several times as they lace.

I've labeled the shapes with traceable words, so that tracing them with a dry erase marker is also great word reinforcement.

When students have completed their project, ask them to name 1 or 2 attributes that they discovered while they were lacing.

Click on the link to view/download the Learn While You Lace 2D Shape Activity.

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"They believed they could, so they did!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Shape Up With The Lorax And Me!

Since the Silly Shaped Penguins have been such a huge success, I thought I'd try to make something similar, with a Seuss character.  The Lorax, because he's already an oval, was the perfect fit.

You can make a set and simply use them as shape anchor charts, for a fun review, during Seuss Week or March is Reading Month, or you can have students choose their favorite shape and make their own. 

I've included 2 different mustache patterns for you to choose from.  One says, "I mustache you what shape am I?" and the other one is plain. 

I personally love the play on words and think students will think that is sort of cornball fun too.

If you want to add a bit of keepsake value to their shape, have them pick a partner, so they can trace each other's hand, on a folded-sheet of yellow construction paper. 

Keeping the paper folded, they only have to cut once, making 2 hands that are perfect for a Lorax mustache.

Start off by reading The Lorax and asking students what shape he is. Show them your samples and ask them which they like the best.

You could graph this for an easy math extension.  Simply hang the Lorax shapes on the white board, and write students' names under whatever one they like the best.

Tell the students that the Lorax ate some leaves from the Truffula tree and has Truffulaitis, which made him lose his normal shape. 

They can help him return to the real Lorax, by completing the Lorax Shape Mystery easy reader. 

Show your sample and explain what you want them to do.  i.e. circle the capital letters, add end punctuation, trace and write the shape word, trace and draw the shapes etc.

As children complete their Lorax easy reader, they can make a Lorax shape of their choice.  Run the templates off on orange paper.

Children can add wiggle eyes, and accordion folded, construction paper arms and legs.  Suspend the Lorax shapes back-to-back from the ceiling, or mount them on a pastel blue bulletin board, flanked by truffula trees.

Your caption could be: "Reading Really Gets Us In Shape!"  Click on the link to view/print the Lorax Shape Packet.

Finally, another sweet Lorax "craftivity" is making a mustache/moustache to launch a writing prompt.  It's an interesting and "Suessical" way of doing things that I think your students will enjoy.

For an adorable bulletin board, take everyone's photograph wearing their mustache and put it next to their writing.  Your bulletin board title could be the same question you are asking: "We mustache you, would you save a truffula tree?" 

Flank the board on either side, with 2 colorful truffula trees, made out of strips of neon-colored tissue paper, and rolled up green bulletin board paper for the trunk, that you can stripe with brightly colored boarder.   Click on the link to view/download the Lorax Writing Prompt packet. 

If your class is into the mustache thing, click on the link for more mustache-themed FREEBIES.  To see another fun Lorax activity, scroll down for the next blog article.  

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"Fill your house with lots of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks." -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Make A Shape Booklet With Me

The Dollar Shapes Up is a fun, quick and easy way to review Common Core State Standards: L.K.2a, L.K.2b, RF.K.3c, L.1.2b, RF.1.1a, K.G.2

Show students a real dollar bill and ask them, "What shape is inside the center of the dollar? Who is the president that is pictured here?"

Tell them that they are going to help shape the dollar up, because the booklet that they will be working on, is all messed up.

The booklet includeds the hexagon, pentagon and octagon shapes. If you don't cover those, simply leave those pages out.

Students trace and write the shape word, trace and draw the shape, circle the capital letters in the sentences and then add the end punctuation. 

Children cut and glue the various shapes to their matching one in the booklet.

These shapes are all INSIDE the dollar.  As an added activity, run through spatial directions by having students put a shape above, behind, beside, between, under etc. so that you are reviewing that Standard as well.

Click on the link to view/download The Dollar Shapes Up easy reader booklet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Do you have a President's Day activity you could share with us? I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme or leave a comment here.

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" People don't always need advice.  Sometimes all they really need is a hand to hold, an ear to listen and a heart that understands." -Unknown

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

I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that today is February 1st.  Is your life flying by you like mine?  Groundhog Day falls on a Sunday this year, so I'm hopefully not too last-minute to help you find some things to add to your lessons on Monday. 

Groundhog Day was one of my Y5's favorite units, so I have an assortment of FREEBIES on the shopping cart for you. Click on the link to view the groundhog offerings.

Since so many visitors have requested the pentagon, hexagon and octagon shapes, I’ve included them in all of the new shape books that I design, and am in the process of adding those pages to the oldies when time permits.  I just finished revamping The Shape of My Shadow.  It’s a complete re-do as I now have a dotted-trace-the-letter font!

I just wish I had time to re-do everything, as the quality is so much better now,  but since I design 2-3 new things a day, write a blog and cram so much other "stuff" in, re-doing things is beyond being on the back burner.

One thing you can do to incorporate the new shapes when they aren’t in the older booklets, is to ask your students what shapes are missing, and have them design their own page(s).

To cover more standands with the easy readers, I now have students circle the capital letters and write in the end punctuation. 

I also include at least one graphing activity, to hit a few more standards.  This booklet has two.

To cover even more standards, when everyone has completed their booklet, read it aloud as a whole group, so you can review concepts of print, proper spacing, reading from left to right etc.  Click on the link to view/download The Shapes Of My Shadow.

The ever-popular 10-frame counting booklets have also been up-dated. Click on the link to view/download the one for groundhogs. 1-2-3 Count Groundhogs With Me

1. Students read, trace and write the number and number word. 
2. They see a number of groundhogs in a sentence and say it. 
3. They spy the number in a sequence and circle it.
4. They X-out that many boxes or use a bingo dot marker or stamp in the 10 frame. ( I encourage my students to make a color pattern.)
5. Plus cut and glue the set/group to the matching numbered box.

The packet includes:

• 53 number and word wall word flashcards, including number cards that count to 20.
• Covers for the flashcards to make Itty Bitty Books
• A + one more math skill sheet
• 1 graphing extension &  a certificate of praise.

I Spy A Number is another groundhog math booklet. It's a great way to reinforce counting, numbers and number words. The last page provides some writing extensions.  Students read the simple sentence and include end punctuation.

They trace the number and number words and then write them, as well as circle that number in the sequence, count that many objects and color them if they want to.

This Groundhog packet includes:

• The Easy Reader My I Spy A Number Groundhog booklet.
• Traceable skill sheets for counting to 50, 100 and 120.
• 2 number card sets from 1-20 featuring 2 different groundhogs, so students can sequence and play Memory Match or "Speed" games with a partner + a certificate of praise

Finally, I revamped the easy reader: My Groundhog Day Booklet.   Students trace and write the main idea word, circle the capital letters, add end punctuation and then cut and glue the picture to the matching numbered box in their booklet. 

There are two pages to choose from to include in the "results" portion. 

One is if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, the other is if he did not.  Students then write about how this prediction makes them feel. 

Two graphing extensions are also included. Click on the link to view/download the Groundhog Day Easy Reader packet.

If you missed yesterdays' article, and are looking for a few more Groundhog Day activities, scroll down. 

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"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."