1-2-3 Come Do Some Activities For The "5 Little Pumpkins" Poem With Me

One of the seasonal poems I do for October, is “5 Little Pumpkins Sitting On a Gate”.   (Click this link to take a look at an animated version on YouTube.)

The poem is chock full of Dolch words, rhymes, has ordinal numbers and is a fun way to practice counting with little ones.

With that in mind, I made up some quick, easy and fun activities for the “5 Little Pumpkins”, which practice a variety of standards and am featuring 3 (hot-off-the-press) packets on the blog today. 

First up is a simple "flip the flap" craftivity, which is a super-fun way for students to read and share the "5 Little Pumpkins" poem.  

Besides the black and white templates for students, I’ve also included colorful patterns, so that you can quickly and easily make a sample to share.

Even if you don’t do this as a whole-group activity, you can whip one together for yourself to use as a storytelling manipulative, which will be a great visual for your students.

I’ve also included an “Itty Bitty” emergent reader booklet for children to color, cut and collate.

Have them pick a partner and take turns reading to each other, then encourage them to remember to read it to their families.  

Next up, is another quick "5 Little Pumpkins" craftivity. 

My kiddos absolutely LOVE making and wearing crowns, so I thought it would be fun to design 5 crown options for my own little pumpkins.

The patterns come in color as well as black and white.

Children color, trim around the crown, then glue the bottom to the center of a sentence strip, or length of card stock.

Bulletin board border also works really well, and adds extra pizzazz because you can choose either plain or a  Halloween-themed pattern. 

Afterwards I have my kiddos line up and we have a pumpkin parade, marching around the room to some spooky music. 

Finally, I created a jumbo, "5 Little Pumpkins" packet, with a nice assortment of simple activities which help practice a variety of standards.

The packet includes:

* 2 versions of the poem.
The original with the line “witches in the air”, as well as an optional poem which changes the line to “bats in the air”.

The poems come in a colorful poster, as well as black and white “color me” worksheets.

One features the words for emergent readers, while another alternative for PK kiddos, has just the pictures.

* I’ve also included a fence and 5 pumpkin manipulatives for telling the “story”.

There's also a colorful set of pocket chart, sentence cards. (For both versions.)

* Plus pocket chart cards that feature numbers 1-5, with the number words, and a group of pumpkins showing that many.

* There’s a matching set with “cutting lines” so that you can make an independent puzzle center, as well as a set of ordinal number cards children can sequence.

* Plus a set of "Memory Match" cards, which can also be used to play “I Have; Who Has?” games.

* An “Out went the light” storytelling-pumpkin craft
* 5 pumpkin-themed worksheets

* A “5 Little Pumpkins” Itty Bitty booklet
* A “Pumpkins On A Roll” dice game
* 2 “I Spy” a number game sheets, which are wonderful for whole group assessing.

* A pumpkin “slider” craftivity, which will help practice numbers 1-5, 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, as well as skip counting by 5s. And finally…

* Pete the Cat has a “5 Little Pumpkins” book out, so I’ve included a worksheet where students “trace the numbers” and color the pumpkins who are “rolling out of sight” on a skateboard.  This is today's featured FREEBIE.  Click on the link to grab your copy.  

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

We are losing some of our beautiful autumn leaves today, as it's windy with a misty drizzle. 

Just the kind of weather for a spicy hot cup of apple cider and a good book.  Wishing you a peaceful and snuggly day.

"There's something about autumn that lifts up our senses and reminds us to truly take a moment to notice all of the beauty that surrounds us, which we sometimes take for granted." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Pumpkin Stuff With Me!

Our pumpkin theme was one of my Y5's favorites.  We especially enjoyed all of the fabulous pumpkin books available.  I'd always introduce a theme with a selection of interesting books, many of which, my little ones asked to have read over and over again.  Click on the link for a copy of my October bibliography. 

Songs were also a special part of our day and a great way to get the wiggles out.  

One of our favorites was Pumpkin Round and Fat.  I have a huge collection of puppets that made reading and lessons extra special, so I often helped my kiddo's make a puppet-manipulative of their own. 

When I Googled this poem, to get some ideas, I found a sweet Popsicle puppet idea over at Teacher Mama.  This is my version: Click on the link to view/download the Jack-O-Lantern Popsicle stick puppet. 

I've had several requests for some coin activities involving pumpkins, so I dreamed up an easy-reader entitled, Pumpkin Payment.  Besides reinforcing the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, it also reviews all of the basic 2D shapes kiddo's are required to know, including that crazy hexagon.

Children trace and write the coin words, coin values, as well as the shape words.  They trace the shape and then draw one of their own on the pumpkin.  Finally, they cut and glue the appropriate coin(s) to the matching numbered boxes. 

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print.  Click on the link to view/download the easy-reader booklet, Pumpkin Payment.

For more math extensions, with a 10-frame format, I think your students will enjoy 1-2-3 Count Pumpkins With Me.  

• Students read, trace and write the number and number word. 
• They see a "thing" 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. 
• They cut and glue the set/group to the matching numbered box. 

Another quick booklet, that would work well for a Daily 5 activity is the easy-reader Pumpkin On A Vine.  Students read, trace and write the simple sentences and then cut & glue the pictures to the matching numbered boxes.

Finally, Let's Count Pumpkins  covers quite a few Common Core State Standards which includes an easy reader where students read, trace and write the numbers, + circle them in a sequence. 

Children circle capital letters, add end punctuation to the simple sentences, + count the pumpkins in the group/set and color the puffy numbers as well.

This pumpkin math packet also includes trace and write worksheets for counting from 0 to 120, + skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's. There are 2 sets of pumkin number cards to use for sequencing, games, and making equations using the matching math symbol cards.  

You can practice counting forwards and backwards with the pumpkin bookmark that is also included in the packet.  Use this as a whole-group assessment tool too. 

Give each child a bookmark and a candy pumpkin.  Students trace the numbers.  Teacher calls out a number and students put their pumpkin on that number.   You can tell at a glance who is struggling and make a note of it.  As a special treat, students can eat their candy pumpkin when the lesson is over.   Click on the link to view/download the Let's Count Pumpkins math packet. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and try to blog daily, so I hope you can stop by tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site.  I think sharing truly makes all of our lives easier.  To take a look at all of the helpful educational items that I PIN click on the heart button to the right of the blog.

"Knowledge and understanding are ife's faithful companions who will never be untrue to you.  For knowledge is your crown and understanding your staff, and when they are with you, you can possess no greater treasures."  -Kahlil Gibran

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 Do Some Pumpkin Activities With Me!

A quick, easy and fun way to help little ones understand number sense, is to have them practice 1-to-1 correspondence. The numbered apple cards, were such a huge success, I decided to make some with pumpkins. With the repetition, children feel empowered, as they know what to do; you don't have to spend time explaining directions, and because there's a new theme, students' interest is still high.

I've included a set of 1-10 pumpkins in color, as well as a set in black and white. Print off, laminate and trim several sets of colored pumpkins.  Using small manipulatives such as mini-pom pom's, flat-backed jewels, or pony beads is great fine motor practice.You can run off the black line set and send home with students who need more help, or as a table top worksheet, have children draw X number of "seeds" to match the number on the pumpkin.

I've found that using a smaller card, instead of one with all 10 pumpkins on it, is less overwhelming for little ones, and keeps them from messing up their piles as they work. When a child completes a mat, they can get another one with higher numbers. You can also use a set of mats to review ordinal numbers.  Click on the link to view/download the 1-to-1 Correspondence Pumpkin cards.

Another quick and easy fall game, is Peek-A-Boo Pumpkins.  It took me an entire morning to design yesterday, but only half an hour to make the actual game, so little ones can play it.  You'll find it so worth your effort, as you can do lots of things with just the letter cards!  I've included a list of activities + Kaboom cards to play even more games. 

To make the Peek-A-Boo alphabet game, simply trace the pumpkin template onto orange construction paper and cut 4-6 pumpkins at a time.  Fold the pumpkins in half, and glue just the edge, to the left side of your yellow-construction paper cards, so that the pumpkin will flip open on both sides of the card, revealing the little ghost.  You can write the letters by hand, or use an extra set of pumpkin tiles and glue them to the front of the pumpkin.  I colored mine to add a bit more pizzazz. 

Children choose a card, and look at the letter on the front of the pumpkin.  They place the matching lowercase letter tile on the card, that they think will match the ghost hiding under the pumpkin.  They flip up the pumpkin to see if they are correct.

To add math practice to the activity, have children keep track of how many answers they get right, by making tally marks on their "pumpkin pal". When children have done all of the uppercase pumpkins, they can flip the cards over and do the lowercase ones on another day.  Click on the link to view/download The Peek-A-Boo Alphabet Pumpkin Game.

For a Pumpkin Word Find, click on the link. There's an alphabetical list of wonderful pumpkin words to increase your students' vocabularies. 

As a little something for "early finishers" print off some easy-to-difficult pumpkin mazes, by clicking on the link:  "A-maze-ing" Pumpkins. I hope YOUR "little punkins" enjoy these fall activities with a pumpkin theme.

Thanks for visiting today.  I blog daily; so I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES hot off the press.

Feel free to PIN away.  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 on my menu bar.  If you'd like to take a peek at all of the awesome-educational items, I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to the right of the blog. I have an entire board of just pumpkin activities.

"The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge, is the power of teaching." -Aristotle

1-2-3 Come Measure Pumpkins With Me!

Since the Apple Investigation booklet was such an overwhelming success, I decided to make one for your pumpkin studies.  This quick and easy booklet, will help your kiddo's learn about measurement in an interesting and fun way.

Students measure height, weight, width and circumference of their pumpkin. They trace and write vocabulary-building words, predict, answer questions, + collect and analyze data.  Investigating pumpkins, will help with Common Core State Standards: K.MD.1a, K.MD.2, 1.MD.1, and 1.MD.2.

Introduce measurement, by showing students all of the measuring materials and ask them if they know the names of these objects and what they are used for. 

Discuss the value of measurement, as well as how and why people measure things. 

You can do this booklet as a whole group activity using one or two large pumpkins, have students work in groups of 2-5 sharing a pumpkin, or use miniature pumpkins, and ask for donations. 

One year I had a parent who grew the gourds that look like miniature pumpkins; they brought in an entire box full. Another year, a child's family grew pumpkins, and donated a class supply of really small ones.  Often, farm markets will give teachers a discount, if you simply ask. 

Allow a few minutes for children to really examine their pumpkin by touching it, smelling it, and then describing their pumpkin to a partner etc.  I think one of their favorite pages will be measuring a partner with a pumpkin.

To make this do-able for non or beginning readers, work on the booklet as a whole group.  Read the 1st page aloud and model what you want your students to do, then have children do that portion of their investigation with their pumpkin. 

If you are teaching PreK, you might want to do just 1 booklet as a class.  Older students can work on this independently.  Allow enough time, so children don't feel rushed, and everyone gets a turn using the scale etc. 

To expedite things, you may want to borrow several other scales from fellow teachers for that part of your day.  To keep interest, with little ones, and because of time, you can also work on just one or two pages a day.

When your pumpkin booklet is completed, read it aloud once more, and have children share their results as you read that page.

Reinforce vocabulary by reviewing the measurement tools and words, and asking students: "What is a scale? What is it used for?"  "What is height? How can you measure it?" etc.  Click on the link to view/download the Pumpkin Investigation booklet. Looking for more Pumpkin Activities? Click on the link to pop on over to that section of my site for lots more FREEBIES!

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away!  If you'd like to see all of the creative educational items I pin, click on the heart button to the right of the blog.  I have a board especially for pumpkin activities.

"The whole art of teaching, is the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds, for the purpose of satisfying them afterwards." -Anatole France

1-2-3 Come Practice Letter Recognition With Me!

The more you emmerse your kiddo's with letter activities, the more likely the light bulb of understanding will easily come on.  Although important, trace and write worksheets, can become tedious and boring after awhile. (skill-drill & kill) It's important to give little learners a variety of hands-on activities.

I try to think up ideas that involve some sort of crafty aspect.  Children LOVE these; they provide fine motor skill practice, and completed projects make great bulletin boards and wall displays, that help build a child's self-esteem.  I call today's quick and easy letter "craftivity" Search & Find. I strived to do at least one activity a month that recycled something, so using old newspapers to trace on, fit the bill and the results look terrific.  These are wonderful for a seasonal Daily 5 activity too!

Here's what to do:

• Print off the fall-themed templates.
• Cut out; trace onto an old file folder and then trim. 
• Make several templates to expedite tracing by students.
• Allow children to choose a shape and trace it on a page of the newspaper, that has plenty of writing on it. I try to include several standards when I design an activity, so I made a prediction page to practice some math skills. 
• Students cut out their shape, and fill out the prediction part of the data on the matching worksheet. (Common Core State Standard: 1.MD.1)

Students find and circle the upper and lowercase letters that the shape starts with.  i.e. If a child chooses an apple, they will search for Aa’s. I tried to think up themed-shapes for fall, and added a football, to help excite the boys in your class.  To make this a bit more difficult for older students, have them search and circle all of the letters that are in the WORD and then tally or total, how many of each letter they found.  

When they are done, students color their newsprint craftivity, with a watercolor marker or highlighter, so that the newsprint still shows through.

Students glue their work to the matching worksheet and fill in the data. Older students can use the greater, less than, or equals symbol, to show THEIR answer, to the correct answer.

When everyone is done, you can graph how many of each beginning letter, that your class found, counting by 10’s.  Write each child’s amount on the board and show the addition, one step at a time, to get to a grand total.

Before graphing, have students predict which letter they think they will find the most of, and why. Click on the link to view/download the Search & Find Alphabet Craftivity packet. For more Alphabet FREEBIES, click on the link, to pop on over to that section of my site. Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN away.  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 on my menu bar.  If you'd like to take a look at all of the creative-educational items I pin, click on the heart to the right of the blog. Hope you can pop back tomorrow, for my newest FREEBIES hot off the press!

"Those with a lively sense of curiosity, learn something new every day of their lives." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Learn About Pumpkins With Me!

Our pumpkin unit was one of my Y5's favorites.  We culminated our apple studies and launched into pumpkins, with a field trip to an apple orchard, that also had a huge pumpkin patch.  My little ones really enjoyed the tractor ride, and picking out a class pumpkin.

To empower my students, I designed activities that incorporated the same directions from the previous unit.  I had already spent quite a bit of time explaining how various things were done, when we studied apples, so to save time, I repeated some of those activities only with a pumpkin theme. 

My students were now familiar with the format and could get right down to business.  This was a great self-esteem builder.  Because the theme had changed, students' interest was high, and children whose "light bulb" had not come on with apples, had another chance to practice and reinforce those lessons with pumpkins.

Keeping that in mind, I wanted to turn some of the most popular apple downloads, into pumpkins, so that this time-saving concept would work for you too.

It usually took through November, before all of my Y5's could identify the flat shapes, so I made a Pumpkin Shape Matching Game like the apple one.

Likewise, the apple counting anchor charts with matching "What's Missing?" worksheets, were extremely popular, so I made a pumpkin set. 

Click on the link to view/download the Pumpkin Counting Packet.

I also made pumpkin number cards.
This packet includes pumpkins numbered from 1-120; pumpkin number words 0-10, pumpkin tiles for counting, and a set of math symbols on pumpkins, so that you can show and make equations, plus a blank set of pumpkins to program with whatever. Click on the link to view/download the Pumpkin Number Packet.

Finally, there's also a Pumpkin Number Word Matching Game. Print, laminate and trim the cards.  Students pinch a clothespin on to the number that matches the number word on the pumpkin. 

If you mark an X on the back of the cards to show the correct answer, students can self-check their work.  I made a set for apples too.  All of these activities make wonderful independent centers, or something students can go do, if they finish their work early.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything from my site.  

If you'd like to take a look at all of the wonderful-educational items that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart to the right of the blog.

"More people than ever before are graduated, but not really all that educated." -Robert Gunderson

1-2-3 Come Make Some Autumn Activities With Me!

Since the apple puzzles and flip-to-find puzzle-booklets, were such a huge hit, I decided to make them for each season and major theme.   I just finished 12 fall puzzles and have included leaves, spiders, owls, scarecrows, pumpkins and Halloween in the pictures. 

As with the apple puzzles, there is a set using numbers 1-10, as well as a skip count by 10's set.  I design every day and welcome suggestions, so if there's a fall theme I've missed, that you'd like a puzzle for, shoot me an e-mail: dianehen@teachwithme.com and I'll whip something together.  

The puzzles are a quick, easy and fun way to get your kiddo’s sequencing numbers. One of my Y5 report card standards, was to be able to put a puzzle together, so these are especially beneficial.

Print off the puzzles on construction paper, or card stock, laminate and trim.  Keep each puzzle in its own Ziplock Baggie. Pass them out to your students and set a timer.  See who can complete their puzzle the fastest.  When they are done with one, they may exchange theirs, with another student, who has a different puzzle.

You can use these each year, or skip the lamination and give each child a puzzle to take home. They can cut their own strips, mess them up and put them together.

Another thing you can do with the puzzles is make a puzzle flip book.  I used 3 puzzles for the booklet in the photo. Print the puzzles, and cut into strips.  Alternate the 3 different puzzles, so that when you make your flip book, the puzzle picture is now all jumbled. 

Glue just the number portion to the top of the 1-10 or count by 10’s puzzle template, gluing all of the #1 strips, onto the #1 square, the 2's onto the 2 square etc. Children decide on a puzzle to "flip and find" and then flip the puzzle strips up 'til they find a match. Click on the link to view/download the Fall Number Strip Puzzles.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  If you'd like to see all of the terrific educational items that I pin, click on the big heart to the right of the blog. 

I try and blog every day, and post the newest FREEBIES that I've just designed, so I hope you can pop by tomorrow.  As always, I enjoy reading any comments you wish to share.

"One of the secrets of teaching, is to appear to have known all of your life, what you have just learned this afternoon." -Unknown