winter centers

Activities For "Polar Bear What Do You Hear?"

1-2-3 Come Do Some Activities For "Polar Bear What Do You Hear?"  

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, emergent reader books, class made books Bill Martin's ”Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?” is one of my Y5s all-time favorite stories.

With that in mind, I just finished designing some quick, easy and fun activities children can transition to after you read the tale.  I'm featuring 3 on the blog today.

polar bear what do you hear activities, winter bulletin board ideas, winter center activities, literacy centers, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, class made books First up is a story wheel craftivity, which is an interesting and simple way to assess comprehension and practice the sequencing and retelling a story standards.

There are full color patterns to use for centers, plus a black and white pattern so your students can make their own.

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, class made books When everyone is done with their story wheel, have children pick a partner, and take turns retelling the story.

We sometimes do this with our older "reading buddies".

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books As a comprehension-assessment tool, and for fine motor practice, another option is to make the “Polar Bear Pie Puzzles”, which have BW & color templates.

In order to practice a variety of standards, there are 5 different puzzle-base options.

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books Simply choose which is most appropriate for your kiddos.

There's also a writing prompt worksheet, where students write what happened in the story, which will further check comprehension and reinforce chronological writing.  

 

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books Next up is the "Polar Bear What Do You Hear?" SOUND packet.

Because the characters in the story hear different sounds, the tale is perfect for explaining onomatopoeia & reinforcing the 5 senses.

Since most of my students have never heard the sound of these animals, I’ve included links to real animals roaring, hissing, snorting etc. (One for each animal in the story!)  
My kiddos absolutely LOVE this activity, and are truly amazed how animals “speak”.

The packet also includes:

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books * 3 writing prompt worksheets.
If your students are like mine, even your most reluctant writers will enjoy contributing their page to 3 class-made books.

1. “Animals Animals What Would You Like To Hear?”
( Fill-in-the-blanks & illustrate worksheet page).

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books 2. “Chit Chat With The Animals”
( If a _______ (animal) could talk what are some things they might say?” Color-me worksheet pages featuring a variety of animals for children to choose from). 

Younger students can dictate or write one simple sentence, encourage older students to do a bit of research on their animal and write sentences that incorporate that information. "The zookeeper measured me today and I weigh 5 tons and an 11 feet tall."

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books 3. “Children Children What Do You Like To Hear?”
(When it comes to awesome sounds, here’s a list of my top ten favorites: color-me worksheet pages).  Includes girl & boy options.

Completed work makes a wonderful bulletin board.

I've included 3 posters to use for the center of your displays.
Later, add the covers to make class-made books, which are great for parent-teacher conferences.  There's also . . .

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books * A set of puzzle cards where students match the animal section to the sound section. Fun for Daily 5 word work, or a vocabulary-building activity.

* 2 graphing extensions.

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books * A set of pocket chart cards, which helps reinforce the onomatopoetic vocabulary in the story.

Make an extra set for an independent center activity, where students match the sound card to the animal/zookeeper card.

These can also be passed out prior to reading the story.
As you read “Polar Bear What Do You Hear?” the child holding that card brings it up and places it on your flannel or white board.

Afterwards, pass the animal cards out and see if children can arrange them in the correct sequence of the story. Grab that teachable moment to practice ordinal numbers.

* I’ve also included a mini-set of the cards for “Memory Match” & “I Have; Who Has?” games. Children can sort, sequence & alphabetize these smaller cards, as well as use them to make up sentences.

Toss them into a container and have children choose an animal card then make that noise, or choose a sound card and tell which animal made that noise.

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books Finally, the farm unit, is one of our preschoolers favorites, so I wrote “Farmer Farmer What Do You Hear?” as a fun, parody-like writing prompt, for them to transition to after we read “Polar Bear What Do You Hear?”  Instead of wild animals, this story features animals on the farm.

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books Even beginning writers will enjoy filling in the blanks, then illustrating their page for a sweet class-made book. PK kiddos can simply dictate their answers.

Completed projects also make an adorable bulletin board.  I’ve included a poster for the center of your display.

Later, collate the pages and add the cover to make the booklet, which is perfect for parent-teacher conferences.

polar bear what do you hear activities, 5 senses activities, eric carle books, bill martin books, polar bear crafts, retelling a story activities, sequencing a story activities, farm animal activities, story wheels, emergent reader books, winter center activities,class made books Besides the class book, I’ve also included an emergent reader.
There are 3, BW options, making it suitable for PK kiddos as well as kindergarten and first grade, or to diversify within your classroom.

5 senses anchor chartI've also included colorful teacher templates as well.

The featured FREEBIE today is a cute "5 Senses" anchor chart poster.  I hope you find it useful. 

Me 3Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.

I'm watching 2 of our 8 grandchildren today, so it's time to switch to my "Nana hat"; we're going to make Valentines. 

Wishing a day filled to the brim with blessings.

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." - Doug Larson

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"Let's Go! Let's Play In The Snow!

1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Clothing Activities With Me  

This “getting dressed for winter” - themed packet, is jam-packed with all sorts of quick, easy & fun activities, which practice a variety of standards.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word gamesThere are easy-peasy activities for PK, as well as more challenging "Print & Go" ones for K-1st, which makes it simpe to mix & match to fit the various levels in your class.

The packet includes:

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* Label the winter wear “color me” worksheets, with matching full-color posters for the teacher. 

* Picture cards to practice sequencing, ordinal numbers and the correct order to put things on. Can be used as a poster, center or game. Has matching BW bookmark.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* "Color Me" ordinal number, fill-in-the-blank (boy & girl) worksheets, with full-color posters for the teacher.  I've also included an ordinal number, whole-group assessment. 

* Picture & word cards for an ordinal number game.
* A graphing extension.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* 3 Emergent Reader Booklets:

1. ”Let’s Go! Let’s Play In The Snow!”  is packed with lots of Dolch sight words. Practices ordinal numbers.
There’s a full color teacher’s edition plus 2, BW options for students: a “color me” one, plus a “color, cut & glue” version.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games2. “Wintry Colors” With lots more Dolch sight words. Students read the simple sentences; add end punctuation, trace, write & color the color words, then color the picture.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games3. “My Winter Clothes” is my personal favorite, as it makes a sweet keepsake.  Students complete the sentences by filling in the blanks with the color of their clothing, then coloring the pictures to match.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word gamesI've included a matching “Let’s Go!” label-me poster worksheet option.

As your kiddos get ready to go out for recess, snap their picture and then print them off, so that they can trim & glue to their worksheet and label it. 

As you can see by my samples, these turn out absolutely adorable, which makes for a sweet bulletin board.  There's also . . .

* A variety of worksheets which practice: contractions, plurals, alphabetical order, word recognition, compound words that begin with snow, ordinal numbers & color words.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* 2 sets of pocket chart-size, picture-word cards for winter clothing. Use on your word wall, as flashcards, or cut in half to make puzzles.


* Word games:
word scramble worksheet, winter clothing word search, “How many words can you make using the letters in jacket?” game, with a colorful 15-word answer key.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* 8, colorful “Dress the Child” cards, with a variety of outfits. There are 4 boy & 4 girl options which cover various ethnicities. 

My Y5s absolutely LOVE this independent center.
Use the matching BW options as a color, cut & glue worksheet.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* A set of colorful clothing cards for sequencing, patterning, & Memory Match or “I Have; Who Has?” games.

* 8, color-me “In the winter I wear…” writing prompt bookmarks
* 12, clothing word cards to use for more games, with a “Write a Sentence” worksheet.

* Colorful “Winter-Summer Clothing Sort” center game, with matching BW worksheets.
* 10 sets of colorful clothing cards (red, orange, yellow, etc.) with matching word cards and sorting mats.

Use for sorting, patterning, and a variety of games.  Mix & match with the “Colorful Mittens” and “Colorful Hats” for more card options.

Elkonin Box Center Game, * A set of “trace, write & place” Elkonin box cards for an independent center; with 2 matching worksheets.* A set of “trace, write & place” Elkonin box cards for an independent center; with 2 matching worksheets.

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word games* 21, “Dressed for Winter” number puzzles, which practice counting forwards (1-20), backwards, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, & 10s. One set comes in BW so children can color, cut and make their own; the other set is different and in full-color so you can use them for an independent center activity.

I’ve also included some tips, tricks and posters to help motivate your students to want to get dressed as quickly as possible, saving your sanity and precious teaching time. 

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word gameswinter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word gamesThere are also 3 snowman posters to use in your bulletin board displays of student work. 

Woo hoo! There are two featured FREEBIES today, which are both from the jumbo "Winter Clothing Activities" packet.  

winter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word gamesThe first one is a set of boy & girl "Color-me" number posters which will help reinforce sequencing numbers and counting from 1-20.

The other FREEBIE is the "This is how we get ready!"  poster.  Reviewing these steps with my Y5s was a HUGE help in getting them independent.

Iwinter cothing games, winter clothing activities, winter worksheeets, writing prompts for January, activities to go with the story The Jacket I'll Wear in the Snow, color games, word gameshope you find them useful. You may know that you don't put your boots on before your snow pants; or not to put your mittens on first or you won't be able to zip your jacket, but the "Littles" do not!

Although many valiantly try, only to waste more time taking things off and retrieving a stuck boot in a pant leg.  Some just stand there totally befuddled.  I hope you find the poster useful and have as much success as I've had with it. 

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

The only good thing about the rainy weather today, is that it will hopefully wash away all the dirty, ugly snow blobs left here and there.  I am so looking forward to spring and some much-needed, and energizing sunshine! Wishing you a fun-filled day.

"No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn." -Hal Borland

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Wonderful Winter Activities

1-2-3 Come Frolic With Me: Winter Craftivities, Bulletin Boards and Games

I was really on a creative roll yesterday.  All one needs to do is spend a little time on Pinterest and your brain will shoot into over drive!  So many ideas and not enough time in my life to do everything I'd like to.  Sound familiar?

winter games, winter centers, math centers, math games, alphabet activities, alphabet assessments, snowman crafts, snowflake activities, snowman activities, winter alphabet cards, winter number cards, snowflake games, snowflake centers, snowflake number cards, penguin activities, penguin number cards, penguin games, penguin alphabet cards, new years activities, new years writing prompts, new year games, how many words can you make out of happy new year, christmas tree activities, puzzles, number puzzles, alphabet puzzles, football activities, football bulletin boards, bulletin boards for january, igloo activities, igloo crafts, fact family activitiesWhile browsing, I found a wooden snowman used as a countdown to Christmas.  I found versions of this idea all over, so not sure who was the originator, but I thought the moveable carrot nose would be perfect for the classroom. 

It was fun designing a paper snowman face that can review upper and lowercase letters and numbers to 20.  I've included a face for skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's or 10's.  

You can also simply make one for your calendar center and countdown the days in January.  

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, These make a quick and easy way to whole-group assess too. 

Call out a number/letter and have students move their snowman's nose to that position or... move your teacher sample to an uppercase letter, and have students find the matching lowercase letter on theirs. 

For added pizzazz I ran the carrot noses through my crinkle machine.  My Y5's called this the "Cruncher Muncher."  It provided great fine motor practice as students turned the crank to get the paper through the rollers. 

Poke a hole at the end of the carrot and use a brass brad to fasten the nose to the snowman.   Click on the link to view/download the Snowman's Nose packet.

For more letter and number practice, have your students put together these winter pine tree puzzles.  They can be done as an independent center activity, or you can make copies for your students. 

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, Children cut the green number/letter tiles and then glue them in appropriate order on the boxed grid.  For that extra bit of pizzazz, run the template off on blue construction paper and have students dot on "snowflakes" with a Q-tip. 

If you celebrate 100 Day in January, this is a wonderful "craftivity" that makes a cool bulletin board.  Caption:  Mrs. Henderson's Kinders Are Doing Tree-mendous Work!  Click on the link to view/download the Pine Tree Puzzles

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, Another awesome bulletin board for January, features a New Year's writing prompt. 

Basketball, soccer and football are all sports where players score goals, so I thought it would be fun to have students write what their goals were for the New Year on the ball of their choice.  

I've included a poster that you can put in the center of your bulletin board as a caption. 

Besides the balls, there are also 2 writing prompt pages for journal writing, which includes one with a hockey theme.   Click on the link to grab the New Year Goals Packet. 

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, Another New Year's activity you can have your kiddo's do, is see how many words they can come up with, using the letters in Happy New Year.   I've included a list of 267 words. 

When students are done, share your list to see if there are any words that they aren't familiar with; have them write them on their paper and look them up.   Click on the link to check out the How Many New Year activity.


snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, Since the fact family houses have been such popular downloads, I designed an igloo "Frosty Fact Family Fun" packet.  Choose whatever number you want your students to work on. 

They write it in the center of the snowflake and then write all of the equations that they can think of, on the outer sections of their snowflake, to show that number.  

Do one each day; to make their booklet, have students glue their snowflake to an igloo-shaped page.  Add their photo for that finishing touch.  Click on the link to view/downlaod the Frosty Fact Family Fun packet.

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, For More number fun, I think you'll enjoy the snowflake number cards.  Use these for your word wall, a bulletin board, flashcards, games, or an independent center. 

Print; laminate and cut into puzzles for even more ideas.   I've also included 3 sets of snowflake tiles so students can sort, pattern and make groups/sets to match the number on the cards.  Click on the link to grab the Snowflake Number cards.

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, Finally, I had a request from Karla out in Vermont, for penguin alphabet and number cards. 

She wanted something small that her pre-schoolers could manipulate.  She only needed numbers to 10, but I included a blank template for you to program with more. 

There's also a list of ideas you can use the cards for, including games like "Kaboom!"  Click on the link if you'd like a set of these mini-penguins.   

snowflake activities, snowman activities, snowman crafts, penguin activities, new years activities, new year's activities, january bulletin boards, wriitng prompts for january, football activities, winter puzzles, winter games, winter centers, skip counting activities, Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  My "Pin It!" button is at the top.  As you can see I design and blog daily, so I hope you can stop by tomorrow to see all the newest FREEBIES, created by this brain that needs a shut-off button!

"Celebrate what you want to see more of." -Tom Peters

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