1-2-3 Come Learn About Seasons and Months With Me

Since the alphabet emergent readers have been so popular, I decided to do a seasonal one, as my kiddos have to learn the seasons, as well as the months of the year, plus other aspects of the calendar.

At the beginning of the year, when my Y5s are just learning about the calendar, they always make me laugh with the names that they come up with for the months.

"What month is it?"  I ask. "It's pumpkin month!"  or... "It's snow month." They exclaim excitedly. They also confused the seasons with the months, often thinking they were the same thing.

With that in mind, I incorporated both in this sweet emergent reader, which will help reinforce a variety of skills in a fun way; helping your kiddos learn the 4 seasons, as well as the months of the year, plus information about those months.

Students read the repetitive sentence, trace & write the season, month & the number of that month.

(January is the 1st month so it's number one.)
They also jot down the number of days that are in that month.

Students color the picture, as well as the monthly word, then fill the blank in, to complete the sentence writing prompt.

To reinforce end punctuation, I have left it out of the sentences, so that students can practice writing in the period.

The packet includes 2 mnemonic poster poems to help students remember the seasons and how many days are in each month.

There are 2 size choices for the booklet: A 2-on-a-page template, as well as 4-on-a-page pattern, so that you can make Itty Bitty booklets & save paper.

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it together as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print.

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT shop to check it out. 

This 20-page packet is just $1.95.

There are 2 FREEBIES today.  Both come from the packet.

One is the seasons mnemonic poster poem, the other is the "How Many Days?" poster poem, which I tweaked a bit. 

Click on each link or the pictures to grab your copy.  

Thanks for visiting. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and it's a sweatshirt and bonfire kind of Friday. 

Wishing you a whimsical and wonderful weekend.

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus

1-2-3 Come Do Some Snowman Activities With Me

Since the Venn diagram downloads have been so popular, I decided to make some with a snowman theme.  There are lots of wonderful winter books out there featuring snowmen. 

They are great for comparison and contrast writing prompts.  Venn diagrams are perfect to help students organize their thoughts before they write.

There's one where they draw details on the snowmen to look like the two characters they are comparing.  For the other one, they contrast two snowman books.  Click on the link to view download the Snowman Venn Diagrams.

The positive comments about the Gingerbread easy reader, which reinforced color words, were a deciding factor in designing one featuring snowmen. 

I took the snowman packet a step farther and also reinforced the days of the week. 

Students circle capital letters, add end punctuation, trace and write the color and day words, + color the hat and scarf on the snowman. (See photo for a close up.)

A worksheet, 3 graphing extensions, a bookmark and spinner game, are also included.  Click on the link to view/download Snowman Colors.

I'm also working on a matching snowman color puzzle to go along with this packet.  Students can put them together as an indendent center, or play a game with a partner.   You could also give each child one of their own to complete and then use for your winter word wall.  I'm putting the finishing touches on, and will post it with tomorrow's newest FREEBIES.

So glad you popped by today. Feel free to PIN away. 

“I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meander the streets and children trudge sleds and chase snowballs. No one seems to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other, whenever and however it happens.” -Rachel Cohn

10 pages.

Lots of standards are covered with this interesting, snowman-themed emergent reader, as students read the repetitive sentences, circle capital letters, add end punctuation, trace and write the words, and color the pictures.  Days of the week + color words are reinforced.

1-2-3 Come Review The Alphabet With Me.

I like to do "regular routine" stuff with a different theme each month.  Even tho it's the "same old-same old" things are kept fresh and interesting by simply tweeking them for the seasons.  With that in mind, I designed 20 Letter of the Day anchor charts.  There are some for each month as well as a few extra's for popular themes.

If you’d like to use these each year, print, laminate and clip to your white board changing things up each month.  This is also a nice activity to use as a review if you post it on your calendar board.

Another option is to not laminate the pages and have children fill in the information.  When the page is complete, add it to your Letter of the Day binder. (I've included a cover for this. )

When you have done all 26 letters, put this student-made booklet in your classroom library.

Occasionally, you may want to run a page off for your students to work on for Daily 5 Word Work.

It's easy to make this a part of your morning routine, job chart, or calendar time. Using a dry erase marker, write the upper and lowercase letters in the boxes.  You can show correct formation of the letters, or choose a student to do so.

Ask students, “What sound does the letter make?”  Say the sound several times.  Ask them if they know any words that begin with that sound?  Write the words in the appropriate boxes.  Have students look at your word wall to see if they can find any more to add to the list.  Another question could be,  "Is this letter a vowel or a consonant?"

Make it personal, by also asking, "Do any classmates have a name that starts with that letter?"  You can either write their name on the paper or have the child with that name come up and write it. 

Choose another child to circle the letters in the “Find it” section. This is a good time to point to each letter and say the letter or sing the alphabet song.  Click on the link to view/download the Letter of the Day Packet.

If you're looking for more alphabet activities, click on the link to zip on over to that section of our site to grab some more FREEBIES.

Thanks for visiting today.  I design and blog daily so I hope you can stop by tomorrow to check out the newest FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN anything.  To ensure that "pinners" return to THIS 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 take a look at all of the wonderful-educational items, that I spend way too much time pinning, click on the heart button to the right of the blog.  I have an entire board on just alphabet stuff.

"The life you live is the lesson you teach." -Unknown

80 pages. A wonderful variety of skills and fun activities to help your students learn the days of the week, the months of the year and other calendar concepts. Includes lots of easy readers and class books.

1-2-3 Come Learn About Seasons and Months With Me

At the end of the year, I liked to make a list of lessons I wanted to expand on for the fall.

I'd take an item a day and search the Internet for new and fresh ideas through the summer.

One of the topics I listed quite often was calendar.  There just never seemed to be enough time to include everything I wanted to, during calendar time.

So that this activity did not get too long, I'd do a bit in the morning, some in the afternoon, and then tie everything up at the end of our busy day.

There is so much important "trivia" that can be covered in quick easy reviews during calendar time.

I also liked to supplement what we covered in some additional activities relating to days of the week, months, and seasons.

Because these were words on our word wall, short independent activities were perfect for Daily 5.

With this in mind, I designed "My Book Of Months" as well as "My Book Of Seasons."

They both cover a variety of Common Core Reading Standards as well as the math concepts of counting, ordinal numbers andpatterning.

Children read the simple sentence, trace and then write the number, month and season words. They circle the capital letters and add end punctuation as well.

Students color the puffy words in an ABAB pattern with appropriate colors for that particular month.  i.e. red and green for December.

Children also complete the sentence by adding something they see during that month, or like to do during that season. 

There are also additional writing extensions in the season booklet, as students tell what their favorite season is and why, as well as what month they were born in.

These booklets will be free for an entire year, after which time they will be combined and updated into an emergent reader for my TpT shop: Months & Seasons Emergent Reader With Matching Posters Packet

Thanks for visitng today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

"You can't start a fire without a spark." -Bruce Springsteen

1 2 3 Countdown With Me!

This changeable monthly calendar wheel is a fun way to countdown to a special day.

I've designed both color as well as black & white templates.

Print them off for yourself, as one classroom countdown activity, or run off the black & white set and pass them out to your students. You can do a different one each month.

They'll enjoy coloring and collecting their wheels.

The wheel helps curb the zillions of questions students ask about "How many more days 'til:" vacation, holidays, parties, fieldtrips, tests, assignments, a special visitor etc.

These are the ones I've listed on the wheel, with plenty of room for you to write in other events such as assemblies, birthdays etc.

This is a great addition to your calendar board, and fun way to review the passing of time and counting down from a number.

If you don't want to change it each month, you can simply use the generic schoolhouse one I've designed, and keep it on/near your calendar board.

Click on the link to view/download the Calendar Countdown Wheels.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

Do you have a calendar idea you'd like to share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here.

"The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday." -Unknown