1-2-3 Come Do Some Writing Prompt Crafts With Me  

Whether you're looking for a little something to save your sanity, and fill up a bit of time during the last week or school, or you need a writing prompt for back to school, you'll  “TOE-tally” love the versatility of my 2 newest packets.

I call these “double duty” writing prompt crafts because I’ve included patterns for the end of the year, as well as ones for back to school.

First up is the super-cute "TOE-tally" writing prompt packet, which  includes 3 different writing prompt crafts. Plus each of those has several options too!

All of the writing prompts use the “TOE-tally” play-on-words.
The graphics vary, but all feature cute little toes somewhere in the picture.

For the 1st option, the “shorts” of the child flip up to reveal the writing prompt.
There are 4 black & white boy options for students to choose from, as well as 4 girl patterns. 

Since completed projects make an adorable bulletin board, I've included a set of matching posters for your display.

All of the craftivities have a colorful option as well, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share.
To give you some ideas, I’ve also included my completed writing prompt samples.

The 2nd option is a card. The sweet graphics feature 10 toes peeking out of a pair of flip flops. 

I've also included some "I'm wishing you a 'TOE-tally awesome summer/school year" tags, with 10, on a one-page pattern.

Attach to an end or beginning of the year treat for your students. 

I buy the bags of mini candy bars or Skittles at The Dollar Store.

They usually have 10-12 in a bag, so it's an inexpensive little surprise, that's so appreciated by my kiddos. 

I have matching bulletin board posters for this craft as well.

Finally, the 3rd option sports a child chilling out under a beach umbrella, which flips up to reveal the prompt.

For this craftivity, there are 2 boy patterns, plus 2 girl templates for students to choose from.

I've included a set of 4, matching posters to use for this bulletin board display as well.

The other writing prompt craftivity packet is entitled, "Steppin' Into ..." These craftivities also serve double duty.

End of the Year Option:
Students trace and cut out one of their feet & then glue it to the base of their flip flop.

To add extra pizzazz and 3D pop, the “straps” for the top of the flip flop, are strips of paper that stick up.

You can also use quarter inch ribbon for something different.

I’ve included a daisy pattern as well, should some of your girls want to jazz things up a bit more.

Adding a heart with a school photo creates even more interest, making this a sweet keepsake as well.

They might also like to add glitter for “nail polish” & a flat-backed “rhinestone” for a toe ring.

Students glue their completed foot to one of the corners of their “Steppin’ Into Summer…” writing prompt paper.

There are 4 black & white options for students to choose from; as well as 2 colorful ones, so that teachers can quickly & easily make an example to share.

Completed projects make a terrific bulletin board.
I’ve also included a poster for the center of your summer display, plus a different one for your back to school bulletin board.

Back To School Option:
Summer flies and school has a way of “sneaking” up on you, so this “flip up” sneaker craft, features a pair of tennis shoes.

The black & white “cover” pattern, can be colored with markers or crayons, or you can expedite things & run the template off on a variety of colors of construction paper.

At the top of the sneakers is a glue tab, which is glued to the top of the matching blank base. This “hinge” is flipped up to reveal the completed writing prompt underneath the cover.

There are two prompt options:
Option 1. “Here’s how I feel about stepping into a new school year!”
I’ve also included patterns for “Here’s how I feel about stepping into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th grade…” with a blank option, so you can write in a different grade.

Option 2. “As you step into a new school year, here’s some advice:” For this end of the year writing prompt, your students write some advice, to your new students coming in the fall.

Tuck these away, then on the first day of school, lay them on your students’ desk, or attach to a locker door in the hallway.

If you’re a Pete the Cat fan, this “sneaker craft” is a fun activity that you can transition to, after reading one of Pete’s shoe stories.

Speaking of Pete, it seemed a nice "go along" to have today's featured FREEBIE, be a sweet story retelling craft, for Pete's "I Love My White Shoes".

A child's blue hand print topped with sneakers makes this a cute keepsake.

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

I think we've skipped spring here in Michigan, as we seem to have jumped from winter (which lasted into April), right into summer, with record-breaking 90 degree temps for May!

Have to dash and water my flowers before it gets too hot. 

Wishing you lots of "fun in the sun" as well.

"When the weather is hot, keep a cool mind.  When the weather is cold, keep a warm heart.." - Ajahn Brahm

1-2-3 Come Make A DIT Award Folder With Me

You’ve probably heard of DIY (Do It Yourself) stuff, but how about DIT (Do It Themselves)?
Maybe not, because it’s something I just made up for this particular packet.

I’m a firm believer in delegating when possible.  I try to give my students as much responsibility as they can handle, which helps build their confidence and self-esteem.  This responsibility also makes them more accountable,  so they put forth their best effort.

As teachers and parents we know how hectic the end of the school year is.  While it's certainly exciting, it seems that my “To Do” list usually gets longer instead of shorter.  I must confess I’m guilty of adding a few things that weren’t on the list that I somehow accomplished, just so I could have the satisfaction of crossing them off!  Anyone else relate?

Any hoo, having a “red-carpet” or special awards ceremony the last week of school, is super-fun for students of all ages. 

It’s a celebration of the vast amount of things they’ve accomplished and stuff they’ve learned along the way. They’ve succeeded and grown in the process.   You are spotlighting the importance of school too, and the value of a job well done. 

Simply roll out some red bulletin board paper, scatter with gold stars you can buy at a party store. If there's enough room, write your students' names on them. 

At the end of your "run way" have a poster that says: "Congratulations! You're Shooting Into First Grade!" or whatever the next grade level is for your kiddos.

Giving certificates, ribbons, candy bar awards etc. is truly exciting and fun for them.  
I’ve done it in the past and my students absolutely LOVED feeling extra special,  but let’s face it; it’s another thing that takes more work on your part.   

There’s dreaming up and designing the awards, figuring out who gets what and stretching yourself to make sure something fits every child, then running them off and writing them all out.   

Now trot yourself out to buy some candy bars or whatever other little treat you want to add, then assemble, plan the ceremony and deliver them to each kiddo.   This is all you-you-you.

With this in mind, I designed the Do It Themselves (DIT) Awards.  All you do is decide what you want your students to work on, then run off the “ingredients”.  The focus is now off you, and on your students. 

They pick a partner, interview them and design an Achievement Folder especially for their classmate.  There is a huge variety of award options in the packet, so each student's will be different and tailor-made for their friend. 

Many of the activities in the packet also work perfectly for "bucket fillers" and as separate end-of-the-year writing prompts that make awesome bulletin boards; such as the "high-flying balloon". 

This can be done as computer-generated word art using words to describe a fellow classmate, themselves, or things associated with their wonderful year in kindergarten, or done by hand using the balloon template. (The photo shows it being used on the Award Folder).

For that finishing touch, add a school photo to the "bowtie" and tie with some curling ribbon. 

Suspend back-to-back from the ceiling or on a wall with one of 3 "Celebrating Our Success" posters.  (I've included "word cloud" tips, tricks and 8 websites in the packet.)

The "You're a Sharp Student" writing prompt pencil, is another one that also stands alone, and perfect for an end-of-the-year "bucket filling" activity.

On awards day children also run the show, as they call their friend up and give this awesome gift to them, proudly sharing with the rest of the class what they’ve created. 

Believe me, your kiddos will really be excited for Awards Day, not so much because they are receiving an award, but because they made one and get to be a presenter!

Because students are making these, they are practicing the skills you’ve helped them master throughout the year. 

They also know how much work went into creating it, so they are much more appreciative than if you had done all of the work. 

This activity fits in well with your Daily 5, writing block, or as an independent center.

You decide how many award items you want your kiddos to include.  I've made samples using 2 folders glued together, as well as a single Award Folder using a variety of options.

What would have been a pile of extra “homework” for you, now turns into a super-fun classroom crafivity for your students that they can happily work on independently, freeing you up to check other things off on your "to do" list!

You can still buy those candy bars, but keep in mind this might not be your students' favorite candy. Just because a particular kind of candy fits a cute slogan, does not mean they'll be thrilled with it.

Once again, I like to make the "treat" thing totally DIT, so I’ve included a note home to parents letting them know what their child is working on.  

Via their interview, each child now knows their classmate’s 3 favorite types of candy.   Parents are asked to give their child a job to earn that dollar, then take them to the store to buy ONE of those items. 

Shopping for the candy goes on our "chore" list. However, children get truly excited about this, which helps make them beyond thrilled on Awards Day, and that favorite candy treat especially sweet. 

I've also provided headers for them to add to their treat Baggie

As children present their awards, self-esteem is built on both the receiving end, as well as making the presenter feel especially important too.

You’re teaching valuable life skills, and each child is getting a treat that they will truly enjoy, plus you save yourself time, gas, and at least $15, at the same time shortening that “To Do” list in the process!

Win-win; woo hoo! Take a bow! You deserve an award. The packet is a whopping 150 pages long (!) so you have plenty of options to choose from.

After students pick a partner, give them several days to work on their folder.  Remind them that this is all "top secret" and they shouldn't share what they are doing with anyone. 

The packet includes:

• 14 certificates
• 3 ribbon badges

14 "I'd like to praise my friend" writing prompt worksheets

• A "Tweet It!" writing prompt bookmark.
• A "Text It!" iPhone writing prompt, with samples of each.
  
• (Besides using these for the Award Folder, students could also "Text" and "Tweet" a note to one of your next year's students.)
• A "Star Qualities" writing prompt bookmark.
• A Wanted poster writing prompt.

An alphabetical list of 236 positive adjectives to help describe their classmate.

An interview-investigation worksheet to collect data.

53 page options to make a  "Flipping Over Your Awesome Achivements" booklet.  With a full-color sample booklet for you to share with your students, to help explain things.

• A medal of honor.
• A trophy, balloon, high-five, pencil, pennant and star writing prompt worksheets.
• An explanation and list of 8 word cloud websites with word art ideas and matching samples.

An explanation and list of word search options, to make a  complimentary word find that describes their classmate, plus 4 samples.

• What a super-fun way to increase vocabulary and practice spelling too!
• 5 templates filled with "You Rock", "You're a sharp student", "High Fives", "Applauding you" and  "You're a star student", stickers to embellish their folder with.
• And finally, lots of samples and photographs to make things easy and give you some ideas.

All of this for only $5.95 (Just 4 cents a page!) It's regulary $6.95, but I knocked a dollar off to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Month. I hope you and your kiddos have as much fun creating award folders, as I did designing them. 

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT store to grab the Student-Made Awards packet.  I still can't believe I have a store, after 5 years and 1,000's of FREEBIES, my family and I are pretty excited.

However, lots of FREEBIES will continue to be featured here on TeachWithMe.

Since you waded through this long blog, you deserve not one, but 3 little FREEBIES from the packet. 

There's the iPhone "Text It" freebie with 2 samples, the "Tweet It!" bookmark writing prompt, with a sample, a "Wow!" mini award certificate, where you can write in whatever you want in the "speech bubble", and finally, the list of 236 positive adjectives.   Click on the link to enjoy them.

 Thanks for visiting. The month of May always flies by and I still have so much I want to get finished.  For now, I'm dragging this aching old bod to bed.

The packet took much longer than I anticipated, then toss in finally getting to plant flowers, along with my oldest son's graduation from grad school, and my middle son's wedding last Friday, and this senior citizen is running on empty.   Wishing you a sunshiny, fun-filled and relaxing day.  

"Summer is when laziness finds respectability." -Unknown   

1-2-3 Come Make An Ice Cream Cone With Me!

The end of the year is super-charged with energy.  You can literally feel it in the air and it's obvious in your students' excited behavior.  Many kiddos are already sharing about vacations that their family is going to take and what they want to do for the summer, so I thought it would be fun to have them write about that, and make a craft as well. 

When I think of summer, I think of ice cream cones.  It seemed the perfect "craftivity" for an end of the year writing prompt, and led to the "Here's The Scoop" packet.

Run off the cone pattern on brown construction paper, run the ice cream scoop template on a variety of pastel colors of construction paper that would be the shades of real ice cream flavors.  Scrapbook paper really looks awesome; I used it for several of my samples.  

Students cut out their cone and scoop.  They also trim and glue a plain scoop of "vanilla" to the top of their cone.  This is where they will complete the writing prompt.  Remind students not to write beyond the indentations, as you can see by the photo, the white scalloped section will peek out to give the illusion of another scoop.

Using a tiny piece of Scotch tape, students "hinge" the top scoop to the right hand side of the bottom scoop, so that it flips open to reveal the writing portion.   For that finishing touch, add a cherry with a school photo to the top.

There's a template for "Here's the scoop ! These are some of the cool things I'd like to do this summer..."  as well as one you can use at the beginning of the year: "Here's the scoop! These are some of the cool things that I did this summer..."

After students have shared their creation, give them a "Wishing you a sweet summer" bookmark.  Write students' names at the top, and sign yours under the greeting.

Completed cones make a cute bulletin board too.  Make the background out of a plastic picnic table cloth and scatter the cones on it.   Your caption could be "Cool writing by some sweet 1st graders." or "Looking foward to a sweet summer!"  

For another writing prompt, have students color the "I hope you have a cool year!" bookmark and write a note to a new student, who will be in your class in the fall.  What a fun surprise for them to find this on/in their desk on the first day of school. 

Also included in the packet is the "Secret Sweetie" game.  Have students fill out the cone portion, write a clue on the scoop and then glue their photo on the inside. 

Collect them and read several a day.  Call on students to guess who they think the "secret sweetie" might be, then flip open the top scoop to reveal the photo.  

This can be used at the beginning of the school year to help children get to know their new classmates, or at the end of the year to see how well they know their friends. 

Click on the link to view/download the Here's The Scoop packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

12 pages.

Your students can make the cupcake for themselves or for one of your new students who will be coming in the fall.  What a nice surprise to find in or on their desk on the first day of school.  I also have a simple writing prompt option, where students color a cupcake on a bookmark that says: "Wishing you a sweet year!"  They can leave a note underneath.

The year is winding down, students have nailed the standards, temperatures are getting warmer (finally!) and vacation is just around the corner, so I wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

One of my readers e-mailed me this wonderful Beach Party idea and gave permission to share her name and ideas on the blog.  I thought they were so cute; perfect timing too, incase any of you want to throw a luau or beach party. Here's what she had to say:

Hi Diane I enjoy reading your blog and thought I would pass along some ideas I use for my classroom at the end of the school year that are a hit with my kindergarten students in Den Haag [The Netherlands]
We celebrate the end of the school year and beginning of summer by having a "beach party."

Decorations:

- I decorate the classroom with beach things, most of which I have either in the classroom or at home, and the rest can be purchased at a Dollar Store.
- Use beach towels as tablecloths or to sit on during reading time/circle. etc.
- Wash Frisbees, flip over and use as plates for snack.
- Have inflatable beach balls, sand, water and seashells in a texture table
- Lei's (from The Dollar Store) for prizes
- I have a CD of whale songs and we go "whale watching" at the beach.

Snacks
- Make blue Jell-O with gummy fish mixed in. (Use clear plastic cups so that you can see the fish:)
- We also have "Seaside cupcakes." Frost each cupcake with vanilla/white icing.
- Sprinkle yellow sugar on one half to create the “beach” and blue sugar on the other half to create the “ocean.” (Or use blue icing to make the ocean)
- Open and insert a parasol into each “beach.”
- Attach a gummy bear with a dab of icing onto a life saver “raft” and place onto the blue “ocean.”
- Eat snack outside (weather permitting) and sit on our beach towels

Reading:
At the end of the school year I read Goodbye House and Goodnight Moon.  The children are encouraged to draw things they would like to say goodbye to, and then during circle time we talk about what each child drew, and that it's okay to be sad and miss all of the things we did during the school year.  

Just thought I would share. Danku for all of your ideas. I hope you continue throughout the summer as we get ready for the fall.  Katja Zeldenthuis

Thank YOU Katja for this wonderful idea, and I WILL be continuing to design things through out the summer. 

I'm working on all sorts of fun science things, The solar system and outer space, weather, more things on seasons, nocturnal animals, insects, some more mini offices, + some geography things to name just a few. 

These were all requested by more than one person so they are a top priority.  Then there's a house to clean, all the usual teaching stuff to organize and sort, gardening, a new puppy, family and grandchildren to enjoy and love, well you know...and the summer is gone before you can say Happy Memorial Day weekend!  Stay Safe.