1-2-3 Come Make Some 10 Frames With Me

Thinking about numbers using frames of 10, can be a helpful and easy way for students to learn basic number facts. A 10 frame is a simple graphic tool that allows people to  “see” numbers. They will help your students with number sense, place value, patterns and relationships, as well as subitizing.

While researching 10 frames, I found a wonderful 10 frame game your students can play.  There's no reading involved, a voice tells you what to do. The four games that can be played with their applet, help to develop counting and addition skills. Children can independently play: How Many, Build, Fill and Add.  Click on the above link to hop on over.

I also took a look at YouTube to see if I could find some quick explanations.  There's a  Ten Frame 4-minute video that does a nice job. Click on the link to pop over. For a 1 minute 10-frame explanation click on that link.

Since I planned all of my teaching around various themes each month, I decided to make 10 Frames featuring the most popular ones I could think of.   Working on the same procedures can get a bit boring, but if you switch things up with different 10 frame templates, students will get excited to continue practicing skills.

There are a lot of ways to use these 10 frames.  They certainly enhance number sense.  They also help students subitize:recognize at a glance, domino and dice patterns without having to count the dots. 

Besides the obvious uses, I've also made a set of numbers, number words, and math symbols ( plus, minus, equals, greater and less than) so students can make equations and play a variety of other games. i.e.  Match the 10 frame to the number card, or number word, to play a Memory Match game, or play "I Have; Who Has?"  

To practice subitizing, use them as flashcards to see who can call out the correct number first. They are also nice in a math center, using manipulatives and dry erase markers to fill them in.  To make manipulatives to add to the 10 frames, simply run off extra pages of the 10-filled 10 frame and cut them into squares.  

I'm in the process of making some for each month, and started with September.  I just finished apple 10 frames, owl 10 frames and pirate 10 frames.  Click on the links to zip on over to download these freebies.  I also have pumpkins, leaves, scarecrows, frogs, stars, bats, spiders, dinosaurs and bees in the works, to round out fall, before I begin ones for winter.  If there is a theme that you'd like 10 frames for, shoot me an e-mail and I'll add it to my list, and let you know when I've completed it. diane@teachwithme.com

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"My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance, but understanding of illiteracy, because some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than some college professors." -Maya Angelou

1-2-3 Come Make A Back To School Icebreaker With Me

"It's 'owl' About Me" is an easy and fun activity that help your new students learn about each other.  Completed projects also make a cute bulletin board.  If your boards are already filled, use these as a boarder on a hallway wall for an eye-catching display.

I LOVE owls, and by the looks of items available in stores, and PINS on Pinterest, I guess I'm certainly not alone.  The word "owl" can be used for a variety of word plays, such as this  "Owl" (all) about me activity.

Run off the template on white construction paper.  Have students answer the numbered questions, by putting their short answers in the matching numbered areas of the books. The questions appear on the template.

Students color and cut out their owl, and share it with their classmates.  Collect them and scatter across a bulletin board. I've included a large owl, with the questions inside, for you to use as the center of your board.

I like to use bright-colored material, burlap, or pin-dot wrapping paper as alternatives to plain b. board paper. 

To add more pizzazz to your students' work, give them wiggle eyes and a photo to glue to their creation.  Click on the link to view/download the It's Owl About Me Icebreaker.

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"When a person points a finger at someone else. they should remember that 3 are pointing back at them." -Louis Nizer

1-2-3 Come Review Upper and Lowercase Letters With Me!

I liked to make up a summer fun packet for my students to take home at the end of the year.  It was a nice review of everything we had learned.

This packet was also handy for parents to have their child work on, if they complained of being bored, or an easy thing to give children when they wanted to play "school," while on vacation.

I designed this KnOWLedge Owl "craftivity" with that in mind. You could also make it at the beginning of the year, so that students can practice their letters, with their families at home.

Here's How To Make Them:

 Run off masters on a variety of construction paper. I chose funky color combinations, but you could also do more realistic owls in various shades of brown.

 Rough cut so that students can get their pieces and trim.

 You may want a room helper to cut the beaks and feet, just to expedite things.

 If you’re having someone cut these for you, it’s easier to trace a template on an old file folder. The helper traces once and then cuts 3-6 at a time.

 Pre-cut long envelopes so that students have a pocket to put their extra letter wheels in.

 Set up this “craftivity” as a center. When students are done with other work, they can come up and get the color owl pieces of their choice.

 Students glue the wings to either side of the owl. They can add some crayon details for more pizzazz.

 Student glue the feet to the bottom of their owl so that the tops are glued to the back. I also added crayon details here and then traced the belly of the owl with a white crayon so that the writing “popped.”

 Students cut out their white alphabet wheels. Older students can cut and poke their own holes in the eyes; younger students will need this done for them.

 To expedite things, I used a circle paper punch to make the letter “windows.”

Poke a hole through the owl’s head and attach whatever wheel you want your students to work on; fasten with brass brads.

 Students glue their beak on, after their eyes are in place.

 If you want the beaks to be 3D, simply cut a 4-inch wide strip of yellow construction paper, and fold it in half. Trace the triangle template so that it butts up against the fold, then cut the triangles out

Students glue their envelope half to the back of their owl and write their name on it.

 Close the open side with a piece of Scotch tape.

 This is a safe place where students can keep their extra wheels, so that they don’t lose them.

 There are lots of activities you can do with the KnOWLedge owl.

 Use as a review game. Choose a quiet child to call out a letter from a-j, k-t, or u-z.

 Students spin the top eye wheel ‘til they find those letters. You can also have students partner up and play this game with each other.

 You can play “I’m Thinking Of A Letter.” Give clues about the letter and students spin the wheels ‘til they find it. i.e. “I’m thinking of a letter that is a vowel. It comes after the letter N and before the letter P.”

 Play “Speed.” You call out a letter and see who can find the upper and lowercase letters the quickest.

 Use as an alternative or additional fun way to assess upper and lowercase letters.

 These are terrific sent home at the beginning of the year, so that students can practice with their parents.

 They also make a nice end of the year activity, so that students don’t forget what they learned over the summer, or preschoolers can practice before they come to kindergarten in the fall.

Ollie, the "Owl-phabet Owl" will be FREE for an entire year, after which time, he'll be up-dated and put in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop.

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"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn." -Unknown

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 Make Some Treat Bags With Me!

If you're looking for a quick and easy treat bag to make to hold some end-of-the year goodies, then I think you'll like these simple and inexpensive owl lunch bags.

If you've already got that covered, they are sweet for the beginning of the school year as well.  Simply change the saying to: "Owl" bet we have the best year yet or We're going to gain lots of knOWLedge in kindergarten or whatever grade you're teaching.

If you're looking for an owl puppet, simply glue everything on the bag upside down.  Students insert their hand inside the bag.

Here’s How To Make The Owl Treat Bags

Make templates of the pieces using an old file folder.

Trace the template onto one sheet of construction paper and then cut as many as you can.

I used daisy and circle paper punches. A flower petal punch also looks cool for the center of the eyes.

Glue the 2 triangles together.

Glue the 3 piece eyes together.

I added a bit of pizzazz to the black pupil using a dot of white out. It is quick drying and adds “life” to eyes.

Glue the set of triangles to the top-front of a brown paper lunch bag.

Glue the eyes a tad under the base of the triangle.

Fold the beak and glue it to the base of the triangle on top of a section of the eyes. (See photo.)

You can leave the bag plain and dispense with the “Owl miss you” breast piece. Simply write your students’ names on the bag or the saying: “Owl miss you! I hope your summer’s a real hoot.”

If you want to add that bit of flair, run off the breast note and glue it on the middle of the bag.

Open up the bags, line them up and tuck in candy, a book, bookmarks etc. in an assembly line fashion.

If you don’t want students peeking, staple the top shut.

Click on the link to view/download the Owl Treat Bag patterns.

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"A new idea is delicate.  It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow." -Charles Brower

1-2-3 Make a Memory Book With Me.

I LOVE owls and that cute little saying: "Owl" miss... (you fill in what) so I designed an end-of-the-school-year packet with an owl theme using that play on words.  

I'm posting this a bit early, as there is so much to get done towards the end of the school year, that May  was always the month that flew the fastest for me.   If you've been contemplating making some sort of memory booklet, hopefully this will help you out. 

The packet includes several writing prompts for students to write about what they'll miss. 

Run off the cover and student page. Children complete the thought: "Owl" miss... and then illustrate their page.

Collect and collate the pages and bind them into a class book. 

When you share the completed story with your students, have each child read their own page.

Make a copy of your school composite and give each child an oval of themselves to glue on the tummy of the owl.

I've also included a note from the teacher if you're looking for just a little something.  Tuck it in their backpacks for them to discover when they get home.   You can add slits to the page and insert a lollipop if you want. 

"I learned a lot of knOWLedge this year.  Here's a list of my favorites:" is a simple and quick writing prompt bookmark students can color.  This too makes a nice keepsake, and works well for a Daily 5 activity.

There's also a class memory booklet, complete with autograph page, where friends can sign their name on the owl's tummy. 

The beauty of this, is that students can work on their memory book writing prompts for several days, finally finishing the last week of school.  It's a great "something to do" while you get one-on-one assessing done with your students.

I don't know about your state, but Michigan had the worst winter on record and schools all over have quite a few snow days to make up.  My grandsons' last day is June 19th.  Having some copy-ready activities to do can help save your sanity.

You can make their memory book even more special, by taking a last week of school photo of each child doing their favorite subject, activity, or at play during recess; and then have them include it somewhere in their booklet.

Click on the link to view/download the Owl Miss School Packet

To take a look at another FREE end-of-the-year memory book click on the link.  I've included a cover page for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade and a generic one to fill in something else. 

If you run out of time, you can always send the booklet home for a parent to help their child fill out, especially if they complain: "I'm bored!"

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If you teach preschool or kindergarten and are looking for a graduation memory book FREEBIE, scroll down to the next article to take a look.

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings becasue it has a song." -Lou Holtz