1-2-3 Come Make A Mother's Day "Craftivity" With Me.

It's hard to cram in making a Mother's Day gift when you have to cover so many standards every day, so I designed a writing prompt "craftivity" that covers writing standards and makes a sweet keepsake gift for mom. 

The horse's head is made by tracing the child's foot with their shoe on. Simply run off the rest of the templates on brown construction paper.

Students glue the pieces together to make a quick and easy "horseshoe."  I've included a little rhyme students can glue to the neck of the horse, or have older students write it themselves.

It says: "This horse's head was made by me tracing my shoe.  A keepsake for Mother's Day and an I love you."

Run off the writing prompt template: How do I love you?  Let me count the ways: Students think of at least 10 things they love about their mom, which includes the first one: I love playing and horsing around with you.

For more pizzazz add wiggle eyes and students' school picture.  Completed projects make a cute bulletin board.  Take it down and send the horses home the Friday before Mother's Day.

Click on the link to view/download the Mother's Day Horseshoe Writing Prompt Craftivity.

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"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and the voice will be silenced." -Vincent van Gogh

1-2-3 Come Make Butterflies and Flowers With Me!

Are you studying butterflies or looking for a quick and easy center activity that makes a lovely spring bulletin board or window display, that will brighten up your room?

Wax paper butterflies jazzed up with melted crayons, might be just what you need.

Here’s how to make them:

Run off the body part of the butterfly on a variety of colors of construction paper.

Rough cut them and stack them into color piles so that students can choose their favorite.

While students are working on a tabletop lesson, call them individually to the table.

Students choose a color or colors of crayons that they want to shave.

Students hold the sharpener over a sheet of wax paper big enough to be able to trace 3 hearts on.

You need it larger so that when the shavings melt, they do not run outside of the wax paper.

Make sure the wax paper is on a mini ironing board or a folded towel.

When the child has enough shavings sprinkled around the paper, lay a second piece of wax paper on top.

Using an iron on the lowest setting, slowly melt the shavings. Be careful that the pools do not run off the paper.

Let cool a few seconds and have the child step to the side to trace the heart template onto the wax paper.

Once done, she takes her paper back to her seat and cuts out the hearts and glues them to the back of her butterfly’s thorax.

When they are done, they can bring their butterfly up to you, so that you can give them glue dots for their wiggle eyes and rhinestones that they have picked out.

These look fabulous on a window. Simply put a small piece of folded tape on the thorax and stick.

Click on the link to view/download the wax paper butterfly activity

If you don’t want to mess with melting crayons, squares of tissue paper attached with
Elmer’s glue also look awesome.

There are 12 different templates in the wax paper and tissue packet.

These projects are simple, inexpensive, quick, and also look fantastic hanging in a window.

My students loved making them and always asked to do more than one.

Tape them to a sheet of construction paper as a "flip up" and you have a "way cool" greeting card for Mother’s Day or whatever.

Click on the link to view/download the Monthly Wax Paper Art Projects

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“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” –Maya Angelou

1-2-3 Come Make Some Spring Glyphs With Me!

When I think of spring I think of bunnies, eggs, and butterflies, so I designed some cute glyphs with those things in mind.

My Y5's really enjoyed making glyphs.  Completed projects make wonderful bulletin boards, and they are a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess listening and following directions. 

This was a report card standard for my Y5's.   So that this is not just my "opinion" that was made through observing their child, a glyph provides nice "paper proof."

If a parent ever questions why you feel their child is not listening and following directions, or asks you for "proof", a file of incorrectly done glyphs is a terrific resource. 

After I took down this spring bulletin board, I kept completed glyphs in my assessment folder. 

I paperclipped incorrect ones together, and put them on the top. 

I also kept an answer key, so that I had a correct comparison for parents to peruse, as they looked at them side-by-side, and I pointed out problems.

After conferences, I'd send those glyphs home and start fresh.

The photographs are of completed glyphs.  As I stated above, each Glyph makes a sweet bulletin board on their own, but you could also combine them. 

Have students cut out their eggs and then use them as a border, scatter the bunny glyphs on the board, cut out and hang the butterfly glyphs back-to-back, and at different lengths from the ceiling, or "resting" on the wall. 

For a more 3D effect, fold the wings up, and just tack down the thorax portion.

Glyphs and graphing are also wonderful ways for your students to collect and analyze data, which will help you review the Common Core State Standard: 1.MD.4

Click on the link to view/download the egg glyph and/or the butterfly glyph and the bunny glyph

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"It's OK to not know, but it's not OK to not try." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Write With Horton and Me!

Are you looking for a writing prompt for your Dr. Seuss activities?  Do you need a quick and easy Seuss bulletin board for March is Reading Month?  Well, you've stopped at the right blog.

I think your students will enjoy making a Horton Hears  "craftivity." Simply run off the templates on gray construction paper.

Children cut out the pieces, and glue their "ear flap" on Horton, so that it flips open.  Students complete the thought: Horton hears a Who how about you? and think of something that they hear and describe it. 

Challenge older students to use rhyme in their writing like Seuss does.  Remind them that made up words are OK as well.  After children have completed their writing, they draw a picture of what/who they heard, under the ear flap.

For that finishing touch, add the child's school photo to the front of the ear.

Mount on a green-backed bulletin board; sprinkle some jungle leaves around the edges to act as a border. Your caption can be the same as the one on Horton's ear, or Stampede To Read.   Click on the link to view/download the Horton Hears writing prompt craftivity.

Looking for more Dr. Seuss activities? Scroll down for other articles, or click on the link to zip to that part of my site for over 40 Seuss FREEBIES, and if you count all of the activities within the packets, there are over 100 Seuss ideas to help you have a wonderful Seuss Day/Week!

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"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you know, the more places you'll go." -Dr. Seuss

1-2-3 Come Write With Me! Waddle You Write About?

I love using a poster as a segue for a writing assignment.  Dr. Seuss's "Lucky Duckie" quotation is a great vehicle for that. 

It's from his book Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?  which is a wonderful story for discussing the theme of contentment, and being happy with who you are.

"Thank goodness for all of the things you are not! Thank goodness you're not something someone forgot...That's why I say, "Duckie! Don't grumble! Don't stew!  Some critters are much-much, oh, ever so much-much, so muchly much-much more unlucky than you!"

Print off the poster and share it with your students. In a discussion before hand, brainstorm why a person is lucky.  What things do they have, that others who don’t live in America, or who are poor, don’t have etc.

Print off the cover for the class book + the writing prompt page for each of your students. 

Remind them of beginning capitalization, end punctuation and spaces between their words and you have covered 3 common core standards.

Students trace the beginning prompt and then complete the sentences: "I think I'm a lucky ducky because..." and "I'm glad I don't..."

Collect and collate the pages and share the completed book with your class, by having each student read their page when you come to it.   If you don't want to make a class book, you can use the duck template and make an adorable spring bulletin board for March is Reading Month.

Here's How: Run off the ducks on yellow construction paper.  
Students cut them out and then write why they feel they are lucky.  

For more pizzazz, add a wiggle eye. student photo, feather, and a 3 dimensional beak. Mount the ducklings on a blue background bulletin board, so that the ducks look like they are swimming in a pond.  Add clouds to the sky.

Glue the poster to a sheet of pastel construction paper and put it in the middle of the board. Add some toilet paper roll “cat tails” for a 3D effect + some pastel polka dot or striped bulletin board boarder for that finishing touch.

Click on the link to view/download Dr. Seuss Lucky Ducky Packet.

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"Today you are you; that is truer than true, there is no one else that is youer than you." -Dr. Seuss