1-2-3 Come Do Some Dr. Seuss Activities With Me    

 Seuss is on the loose and I'm celebrating with some super-fun Seuss-themed activities. Today's blog features some of my favorite ways to practice standards using a Seuss hat.

First up, word families. The "Stackin' Up Word Families With A Seuss Hat" packet includes 39 word families! Not surprisingly, a lot of these words appear in Dr. Seuss’s stories!

Simply choose the word families that your students are working on.  

Use them for a bulletin board display, your word wall, centers, games, assessing and worksheets! 

Next up are the "Flipping Over 2D and 3D Shapes!" emergent reader booklets.   

Students read the simple sentences, underline the capital letters and add end punctuation.

They trace and write shape words, then trace, color and draw the various shapes.

Gluing the top square to their cat’s hat, then snipping on the lines, creates a "flip the flap" booklet.

I really think it’s important for students to not only be able to identify the various shapes, but pick them out in real life and give examples. 

With that in mind, I designed both booklets with graphics of real life things.

When everyone is done, read the booklets together as a whole group, to reinforce concepts of print.

I specifically used lots of Dolch word pronouns for more teachable moments. I’ve also included a graphing extension.

Finally, I created some Seuss-hat, telling analog & digital time to the hour and half hour activities for the "It's Time For Seuss!" packet.

There are dice games, worksheets, an anchor chart, cat clock craftivity, clothespin clip game, sequencing time "Speed" game, pocket chart digital & analog time cards to the hour and half hour, an Itty Bitty Time booklet, praise certificates and an assessment!    

The featured FREEBIE today is a Seuss hat writing prompt with a "Seussism" quote poster. 

Use the poster to introduce the lesson, then display it in the center of your bulletin board display, surrounded by your students' completed hats. 

Simply run off the template. Students write the things that they enjoyed doing the most during their day at school, writing something on each stripe of the cat's hat.

They write their name in the oval on the bottom.  Add a school photo for that finishing touch.

Since a lot of teachers decorate with Seuss for back-to-school,  I’ve also included a template for that special first day.  

Well that's it for today. Time to get busy with Horton and Green Eggs & Ham stuff!  

Wishing you a non-crazy, carefree day!

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

 1-2-3 Come Do Some Telling Time Activities With Me

Since March is national reading month, and Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat is a symbol for Read Across America, I like to do all sorts of Seuss-themed activities in all my subjects, not just reading.  With that in mind, I designed some telling time activities using Seuss's iconic Cat in the Hat's hat. 

Practicing analog & digital time to the hour and half hour with these Seuss-themed  games, make learning these concepts less tedious and more fun.

The packet includes:

Two "It's Time For Seuss" dice games.  (One to the hour, the other to the half hour.) There's a large worksheet as well as a smaller one, with two-on-a-page for quick printing.

I've also designed a time to the half hour anchor chart, reminding students to also move the hour hand. 

You may find that some children will draw the hour hand on a clock that shows 12:30 directly on the 12, which is incorrect. Use the poster to explain things, then hang it up as a reminder.

There's also a time to the hour Cat's Hat clothespin clip game.  Pinching a clothespin is a fun fine motor skill, which will strengthen children's finger muscles.

I thought it would be cute to make the tip of my clothespins look like mini Cat in the Hat hats.  Simply trim and stick on a white Avery address label, then add stripes with a red marker. 

Toss the cards and a few clothespins into a Seuss hat or other container.  To make this independent center game self-checking, simply put a dot on the back of each card.  When a child clips a clothespin to the correct digital time, they can flip the card over to see if their clothespin is covering the dot.

I've also included a "sequencing the time" card game.  Print up two sets on two different colors of construction paper. There are 6 clock cards on a page (2 pages total) for easy printing.

Students choose a partner, and play "Speed" to see who will be the first to sequence all of their cards. You could also use them to play Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?" games.

Besides games, there are two "Trace the digital time, and draw the hands on the analog clock" Itty Bitty booklets as well. (One for time to the hour, the other time to the half hour.)

All 12 time cards are on one page, including a cover for their booklet.  These booklets could also be used as a fun way to assess your students too.

The packet has a set of Seuss-themed pocket chart digital and analog time cards, for time to the hour & half hour.

Use them as a pocket chart review, mini anchor charts, flashcards or puzzles.  Make extra sets for games.

You can give the two certificates of praise in the packet, to the winners of the games, or to everyone who now understands time to the hour or half hour. 

Finally, there's an analog and digital time assessment worksheet, which can be used individually or as a whole group. 

Click on the link for the "It's Time For Seuss!" Telling Time Games & Activities packet.  

If you're looking for more activities to help your kiddos learn about time, click on the link to pop over to that section of my site.  There are over 40 Telling Time FREEBIES there.  I also have an entire Telling Time Pin board, with more ideas, and free activities. 

Thanks for visiting today.  It's 27 degrees this morning, so I'm not sure if that qualifies as March's weather coming in like a lion or a lamb.  Regardless, I'm certainly glad it's March, which brings us one step closer to springtime! 

I'm off to do a zillion and one errands, not the least of which is to mail our taxes at the post office.  So happy that's done!  Wishing you a sunshiny day.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not!"  -Dr. Seuss  from The Lorax

20 pages.

Practice analog & digital time to the hour and half hour with this Seuss-themed packet of games and activities.

1-2-3 come Enjoy Winter Wonderland With Me!

Oh my!  It's  really snowing hard, and the winter wonderland swirling outside my office window is spectacular!  We are supposed to get 17 inches! Woo hoo!  As long as it's winter it might as well snow.  There's always the added excitement of a snow day right? So bring it on!

Making templates for my daily tabletop lessons, was a real time saver for me.  The repetition empowered my Y5's, as they were familiar with the format and could get right down to business, without wasting time with a lot of directions.  To keep things fresh and interesting, I simply changed the clip art. 

With this in mind, I designed monthly Fun With Number Worksheets.  They review a variey of standards in an interesting way.  I used a graphic organizer-format, that's especially beneficial for visual learners. The different clip art (snowmen, snowflakes, mittens, Martin Luther King, penguins, New Years etc.) added variety.

Print, laminate and trim the number cards 1-120.  Toss them into a basket.  Have a child choose one, as the number students will use to fill in their worksheet with.  When kiddo's are done, they can exchange their paper with another child to correct.  (Saves you time, and provides extra practice for your kiddo's.)

You can also use these for your sub folder, homework practice, something for early finishers, or assessments.  Click on the link to view/download the January Number Fun Packet.   If you'd like the Big Bundle number fun packet (105 pages!) that includes all of the months, click on the link.

If you're working on +1 simple addition with your little ones, I think you'll enjoy the snowy +1 Snowman booklet. 

Students trace and write the numbers, circle the number in the sequence, add +1 to arrive at a new number and then cut and glue X number of snowflakes around the snowman. 

I've also included a graphing extension.  Click on the link to grab it. +1 Snowman Addition booklet. 

Finally, help review analog and digital time (to the hour and half hour) with the Time For Snow snowman clock matching game.  Print the snowman template on white construction paper; laminate and trim.  Run off the hatband-time words, the digital time-rectangles and the analog clocks; laminate and trim.

Students choose a time and then match all of the pieces and parts to complete that snowman.  Make an extra set and glue together for a "Time For Winter" bulletin board. 

Run off the analog clock and digital time box templates, on glossy photo paper.  Children trim and glue to their snowman, to make a dry erase digital and analog clock. 

Teacher calls out a time and students draw hands on the clock and write in the digital time in the box, using a dry erase marker. 

Children hold up their snowman when they are done.  This is a quick, easy and fun way to whole-group assess. Students erase that answer and the teacher calls out another time. 

Play continues 'til you have reviewed all of the times to the hour or half hour.  Click on the link to view/download the Time For Snow matching game.

Thanks for visiting today.  I'm off to unbury my snow shovel.  Wishing you a warm and snuggly day.

"Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood." -Andy Goldsworthy