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

President George Washington's picture is inside an oval shape on the one dollar bill, but wait; these dollar bills are wacky, as other 2D shapes have snuck in and taken over. They need some "shaping up!"

This emergent reader practices a variety of standards at the same time reviewing the circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle and hexagon shapes, with two size options.

Students trace and write the shape word; trace and draw the shape; circle the capital letters in the sentences; add end punctuation, then cut and glue the shapes to the matching pages of their booklet.

Use the booklet in February with your money and Presidents' Day activities, or in March during Seuss week, as a "Wacky Wednesday" activity.

For writing practice, I've included a Venn diagram comparing Washington's dollar bill with Lincoln's five dollar bill, as well as a "design your own" dollar bill writing prompt craftivity.

Completed projects make an interesting bulletin board.  

Since Dr. Seuss's birthday is coming up, I also designed a "Flipping Over Coins 'Cent-sational' Seuss" hat craftivity.   

Children color and cut on the dotted lines to make a "flap", that when flipped, will reveal the picture of the coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar) that they have colored, trimmed and glued underneath.

The packet includes a large, full-page hat, as well as a smaller, two on a page template.

To show an AB-AB color pattern, I have my students color every other strip the color of their choice. Many chose red because of Seuss's Cat in the Hat story.  

Finally, My Buck Booklet, is a quick, easy and fun way to practice a variety of standards, including coin identification, and how many ways you can make a dollar.

Students trace and write words, then color, cut and glue the matching coin to the appropriate box in their booklet.

I've also included practice for skip counting by 5s & 10s, plus there's an optional last page to mix math & literacy, as I've included 2 fun writing prompts.

This is an interesting activity for table top, homework, or a sub folder, and plugs in nicely for Presidents' Day too. 

Today's featured FREEBIE is a "coin sort" craftivity. It practices the concept of small-medium & large, which will help students with coin identification.  

Completed projects make a nice bulletin board too. 

Well that's it for today. We've got family coming in from Colorado this morning, so I better finish my cleaning!  

Wishing you a wonderful weekend. 

"Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." - Henry David Thoreau

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

Today's blog features some of my favorite coin activities, which will help your students learn to identify the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. 

Use them for your coin studies, or plug them in with your Presidents' Day lessons.

In the Poster & Game Packet,  I’ve included pocket chart cards, flashcards, strip puzzles, large posters showing both the front and back of the coin, plus “How Many?” posters, which show how many pennies make up each coin.

There are also cards to play Memory Match and “I Have; Who Has?” games, as well as several “I Spy a Coin!” whole-group game sheets, which can be used as an assessment too.

I've included smaller versions of the posters, plus a bookmark, that students can keep in their math journals to use as a reference tool, plus  a certificate of praise for 4 as well as 6 coins, with two size options.  

Another way to quickly and easily reinforce coins is with the "Coins On A Roll"  Dice Game Bookmark packet.  

You can explain the directions, or hang up the rebus poster.
Afterwards, they have a nice bookmark to keep in their math journals.  

I truly believe that when children really take a look at the various coins, checking out similarities and differences, that they will latch on to information that helps them remember which coin is which.

A visually fun way to do that, at the same time getting in some comparison-contrast writing, is with a Venn diagram.

Children can work independently, with a partner or in small groups to analyze and evaluate each coin using the various Venn diagram worksheets.

For younger students, do this as a whole group activity, where they come up with the answers and you jot them on the worksheet. 

The 45, "Fix The Sentence" cards, are also an interesting way to review coins, and practice reading, as the cards are packed with  Dolch sight words.

They are a quick, easy and fun way to review all sorts of facts about US coins, which will help students differentiate, so that they can remember which coin is which. 

At the same time students are practicing end punctuation and capitalization, along with a few math concepts.

There are a variety of sentences that need a period, exclamation point or question mark.
Proper nouns, as well as the first word, need to be capitalized as well. Have students use a dry erase marker to make corrections.

After you read and correct the sentences as a whole group, have children choose X number of mini cards to fix independently, by writing the sentences correctly.  

Finally, I designed Lincoln's Log Cabin.  It features a brand new, shiny penny to help reinforce the fact that Lincoln's face is on that coin. 

Older students can practice skip counting by 5s or 10s (the logs are numbered), while PK kiddos use the logs that are numbered 1-10.

I’ve also included 4 worksheets, as well as 2 writing prompts, along with blank templates so you can mix math with literacy.

Assign a prompt, give students a choice, or have them make up their own, gluing their completed worksheet to the back of Lincoln’s log cabin.

For a nice hallway display, punch a hole at the top and suspend from the ceiling. 

Today's FREEBIE is a set of "I Spy" a letter worksheets, featuring Abe Lincoln and uppercase letters, as well as George Washington and lowercase letters.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you found something useful here to help enhance your study of coins and Presidents.

"Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will." -Nelson Mandela

1-2-3 Come Do Some Presidents' Day Activities With Me  

Because February is packed with so many special celebrations, I do President's Day throughout the week and tie Presidents in with our study of coins. 

Recognizing a penny, nickel, dime and quarter are part of our report card standards, so I designed some quick, easy and fun ways to practice. 

Here are four of my students' favorities. 

The coin “Popsicle stick puppet paddles” are a simple way for me to review various facts about the coins, as well as whole-group assess.

Students need just two Popsicle sticks, as they glue the penny & nickel back-to-back, and the dime and quarter back-to-back.

Since size is one of the ways my kiddos differentiate the coins, I designed the coins on a background circle.

Children color, cut and glue to the top of two different colored Popsicle sticks.  I’ve included small, medium, and large pattern choices.

They can simply write the names of the coins right on the sticks using a marker, or have them trace, trim and glue the labels.

Teacher reads clues from the poster.  Kiddos hold up their coin “puppet paddle” when they know which coin is being described.  You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.     

Number puzzles are a quick, easy and fun way for students to practice sequencing numbers from 1 to 10, counting backwards from 10 to 1, as well as skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s.

By featuring a penny, nickle, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar coin on the puzzles, they are also a way to reinforce differences, to help students identify and remember the various coins.

Print, laminate & trim and use as an independent math center.  I've also included trace & write ones as well, so that students can color & cut up their own puzzle. There are 42 coin puzzle options in all. 

Next up, is the "Money Matters Mobile".    There’s nothing like a “hands on” craft to get my students excited about learning something new.  This craftivity will help your kiddos learn to identify the fronts and backs of coins.

I’ve also included coin templates for the half dollar and dollar, and scanned in a real dollar bill, then adjusted it to use as a header for our mobile, giving our “dangler” a bit more color. 

Finally, the "Flipping Over Coins" is another crafty option.  I truly believe this visual helps students differentiate, helping them to remember which coins are which.

I not only wanted my kiddos to be able to identify the coins, but tell a little bit about them. In so doing, they have additional ways to remember each one.

I've included a variety of options for you to choose from, including a 4-coin flip up, as well as one with 5 coins.

Students color, cut and glue the coins to the front, then snip on the dashed lines to make a "flap" which they flip up to reveal the name, color and value of each coin, as well as which president appears on the coin.

Finally, they tally how much it's worth, as a fun way to get in a little more math practice.  

Today's featured FREEBIE is a sweet "You are cent-sational" craft, which would be fun for students to make after they have learned to identify all of the coins.  

To add some writing, have students write why they feel they are "cent-sational" on the back.  To tie the craft into Presidents' Day, have them choose a President that they felt was awesome and write why they think he was the best.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  The wind is howling outside my office window, but the sun is shining in; so I might venture out in this 2 degree weather, or not . . . Wishing you a super-duper day.

"Believe you can and you're half-way there." - Teddy Roosevelt

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

Yesterday's "Let's Do Something With Those Valentines!"  Math & Literacy activities, were such a huge it, that I decided to make a few more worksheets where students use their valentines.  These have to do with measuring.     

Because my kiddos rip through their valentine cards and are done in about 5 minutes, when I really wanted that activity to last longer, I designed these quick, easy and fun worksheets to extend my sanity-time on party day.

There are 2 worksheets children complete using their valentine cards.  They are independent activities, as well as one where they partner up.

Choose just one worksheet, or print both back-to-back.

Children will enjoy playing with their valentines longer, as they practice a variety of non-standard units of measurement, while you grab a few stress-free moments to relax before the next activity.

Another "print & go" activity is the Valentines For Sale emergent reader, which practices a variety of standards.

Children read the simple sentences filled with 37 Dolch sight words, trace and write the color, number and coin words, color the valentine hearts the appropriate colors, then cut and glue the matching coins to the boxes.

This quick, easy and fun activity is perfect for party day. 

Today's featured FREEBIE is "Lovie".  She's a fish made from heart shapes.  This craft is a simple and fun way to show small-medium-large and explain symmetry.  

Use it as a valentine craft for party day and give children some Fishy crackers to "o-fish-cially" wish them a happy Valentine's Day. 

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

February is so packed full of special celebrations and themes that my mind's on hyper-drive.  Wishing you a happy-go-lucky day.

"If you can believe it, Hollywood wanted to change my birthdate. I was born after Valentine's Day, so they wanted to change it to February 14. A Latin lover should be born on Valentine's Day. I said no." - Cesar Romero

1-2-3 Come Do Some Valentine Party Day Activities With Me

Do your kiddos rip into their valentines and are done with that activity in about 5 minutes, when you were hoping to stretch that out a bit for more sanity-time on party day?

With that in mind, I designed some "Print & Go" easy-peasy valentine worksheets, that students complete using their valentine cards.

There are 4 worksheets to choose from (plus one also has a boy & girl option).

Pick what fits your needs, or do all 4 and simply print back-to-back for a 2-pager.

Your students will enjoy pouring over their valentine cards to complete the quick, easy & fun worksheets, which practice a variety of math & literacy skills, and you'll have some time to yourself to relax a bit before the next activity. 

I've included colors, 2D shapes, counting, sorting, sight words, tally marks, greater & less than, graphing, plus a Venn diagram for comparison-contrast writing, and a place to glue their favorite valentine, then tell who it's from & explain why it's their favorite. 

Today's FREEBIE is a paper chain craft. It's super simple to make the links look like hearts, and the perfect, "little something different" for pary day.

Younger kiddos can count links and show an AB-AB or ABC-ABC pattern, while older students can write spelling or sight words on the strips, or math equations from the board, then solve the equations on their links.  

You can also use the hearts for other things, such as a bouquet for mom. 

I've included an owl pencil topper in the packet as well.  Just a little something you can whip together and leave on top of your kiddos' desk as an inexpensive party-day surprise.  You can get a pack of 20, valentine pencils at The Dollar Store.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by. Today was short & sweet as I just got out of the hospital. 

Sigh... some of my friends are zipping off to Florida or taking a cruise; me, I land in the hospital for a 2-day "staycation" because of breathing problems.

Feeling tons better and raring to design some more stuff! 

Nothing like a little set-back to really make you appreciate life. Wishing you a healthy, rest of winter and beyond.

"They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything." -Bill Keane

1-2-3 Come Do Some More Valentine Activities With Me

I love Valentine's Day; it's one of my favorite parties at school too, so I'm constantly dreaming up new ideas to make the day special, while still learning standards.     Today I'm featuring 3 of my newest creations. 

“Valenteens” are goofy little heart people that feature a ten-frame. 
I designed the craftivity to showcase teen numbers, which can be toughies for kiddos. However, because of the blank templates provided, you have the option to simply make a silly valentine, or one with numbers 1-12, for younger students.

Children can create a boy or girl "valenteen", by where they glue the bow.
The bows come blank, as well as printed with a teen equation.

There is a blank full-size heart pattern, so that children can draw their own silly face, as well as 10 hearts with a variety of faces for them to choose from.

I’ve also included a 1/2 heart pattern. Print and fold on the dashed line. Keeping the paper folded, students cut on the black line and then unfold their paper to reveal a large heart.   My students are always amazed at this, adding to the fun of our lesson.

There are 4 options for the 10 frames: a blank set, a set with numbers, a set with hearts, and a set with numbers & hearts.

If you choose the blank set, children can make X’s & 0’s (hugs & kisses), use stickers, bingo daubers, or draw and color shapes to fill in the boxes.  For that finishing touch, I’ve also included gloved hands and shoe templates.  

You don’t have to have legs, but I think they add to the silliness of the “valenteens”, plus accordion-folding paper is a fun fine motor skill, that helps strengthen finger muscles.

I included links for the "My Funny Little Valentine" song, so you can play it while your kiddos work on their creations. 
There’s also a poster of the refrain, as well as an “Our Funny Little Valenteens”  poster to use in the center of your bulletin board display. 

Next up is the "Hh is for Hearts" alphabet wheel. I'm currently in the process of making one for each letter, and introduce them when the theme is appropriate.    

Dollar Deal Alphabet Wheels, are a quick, easy & fun way to practice letters, and build the vocabulary needed to give an example of a word, with that beginning sound.

They feature 6 nouns that begin with that letter, and come in black & white, as well as full-color, so that you can use a colorful one for an independent center and use the black & white pattern for a whole-group or individual word work activity, where kiddos make their own.

Finally, The “100 Chart, Heart Art” is a very versatile activity, as I’ve differentiated the directions for PK to 2nd grade. 

“Mystery Math”  hidden pictures, are a quick, easy & fun way to practice recognizing some of those big numbers that kiddos often trip over, when learning how to write and count numbers.

Using a 100s chart so students are seeing numbers in proper sequence, helps them wrap their head around a variety of math patterns, and is especially helpful to visual learners.

I’ve included a 100s chart worksheet without directions, so you can do this as a whole-group, “Listening & following directions” activity.  For younger kiddos, simply call out the numbers they need to color. 

I feel even young children can gain number sense by doing this as a “monkey see-monkey do” activity.

I’ve also included a set of spatial directions for you to read to older students: “Find the number 66. Color that box and the box that is UNDER it.”

There’s also a worksheet that includes the numbers to color, if you want to use this as a homework assignment, table-top activity, independent center, or something for early finishers.

To practice double digit addition and subtraction, there's a worksheet where students have to solve problems to find out what numbers they are supposed to color.

Completed projects make a cute February bulletin board.   Use the “We LOVE Mystery Math!” poster in the middle of your display.  

The featured FREEBIE today is a set of valentine 10-frames.  A nice "go along" to the Valenteen 10-frame craftivity mentioned above. 

Besides the 10-frame cards, the packet also includes heart-themed, counting tiles, plus math symbols and number cards, so that you can make equations and play a variety of games. 

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Wishing you a blessed day filled with lots of "warm fuzzy" moments.

"Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move.  Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love." -William Shakespeare

1-2-3 Come Do Some Valentine Actvities With Me

Here’s a quick, easy and fun little heart craftivity that can be used in a variety of ways!  
Run the pattern off on an assortment of colors, then for a bucket-filling, writing prompt activity, write children’s names on slips of paper and have your kiddos choose one.

This will be the person they write a “secret” heart message to. Remind them to include a compliment as well.

I’ve also included a “Whooo loves you?” owl valentine template that students can make for their family.

The folded heart pattern can also be used to practice upper and lowercase letters.  

Great for Daily 5 word work and practicing contractions too.  I’ve included an alphabetical list of 69 contractions for you to choose from. The same thing works for compound words. 

Assign each student 1-2. They write the words on the outside of the heart, with the contraction/compound word inside. After they’ve shared their hearts, collect for an instant center activity.

The pattern also works as a creative way to practice math facts. 
Students can solve the equation on the inside, or exchange their hearts with 3 other students and have them solve the problem.

Another super-fun activity is a Valentine Venn Friend. Venn diagrams are a visual way to practice comparison-contrast writing and an interesting way for students to get to know each other better.

I've included a list of 40 questions that they can choose from to discuss with their partner. 
Each student does their own "different" portion of the "heart", and then together, using the middle “same” section, they take turns recording the similarities that they have with their Venn Friend.

Completed projects make an awesome February bulletin board.  I’ve included 4, “Venn Friends” poster options for your display.

Another simple literacy activity, is a set of 30, valentine-themed, "Fix the sentence" cards, which are an interesting way to review capitalization and end punctuation at the same time practicing a lot of Dolch sight words too.

Choose a student to come up and using a dry erase marker, circle letters that should be capitalized and then add end punctuation. (period, question mark & exclamation point). 

I've also included a set of mini cards.  Children choose X number of cards, then write the corrected sentences on a sheet of paper.      

Finally, mix math and literacy with a Valentine Number Puzzle.   Some are horizontal, others vertical. 

They help practice sequencing numbers from 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, & 10s.   

Use the colorful ones as an independent math center, or to play a "Speed" game against a partner.  Use the black & white ones as a whole-group activity.  

I've also included 17, writing prompt valentine puzzles as well.   Children pick a classmate's name out of a container and write a "secret" message to them on the puzzle, then color & trim.  

On party day, kiddos put their puzzles together.   

For an inexpensive gift for your kiddos, I designed 6 mini puzzles (4-on-a-page), along with 3 "header" options to attach to a Snack Baggie. 

Add a heart-shaped lollipop for that finishing touch.  I bought a bag of 20 at The Dollar Store.

Today's FREEBIE is a set of valentine bookmarks, which could also go in your little treat bag.

Well that's it for today. I hope you found something to make February extra special for your kiddos. 

The sun is shining brightly and making the snow especially sparkly.  Wishing you a love-filled day. 

"All you need is love.  But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." - Charles M. Shultz

1-2-3 come Do Some Winter Word Work With Me

Are you working on silent, or “magic” e word work with your kiddos? If so, I think they’ll really enjoy this Magic e Mitten packet.

Simply run the mitten pattern off on a variety of colors of construction paper.
I wanted mine to have a red mitten with a green cuff + a green mitten with a red cuff, so I ran off two of each page (one on red and one on green).

Laminate, trim and then cut the cuffs off so that you create puzzles for an independent center, or use for a “Magic e” Mitten Matching Game.  You could also use these for an “I Have; Who Has?” game too.

The packet also includes a Magic e Word Work journal. Students trace the word, add a “magic e” to the end (using a different color) and then write the new word that’s made.

Encourage students to look up words that they don't know and define them on the “new-word-to-me” definition worksheet, which can also go in their journal.

* There are also Mitten Math worksheets, where the word + an e ='s a new word,
* A magic e rules poster,
* Long & short vowel sorting mat, with matching worksheet,
* An alphabetical list of 86 magic e words, plus
* A pattern to make a magic e, mitten wand.

These make easy-peasy activities for your Daily 5 word work too. 

Another winter word work activity is the UG family of words.

There's nothing like a nice mug of hot chocolate when the wind is whipping up a winter chill, and since I like to have some sort of theme, when we work on a word family,  I thought it would be a fun to use a mug of cocoa.

This not only grabs my students’ attention, but makes the activities a bit more fun, and my kiddos seem to catch on more quickly, retaining the information better because of the graphic.

Since most mugs are also a 3D cylinder shape, I’ve incorporated this into the lesson, so that you can add a bit of math with literacy.
The packet includes:

* 2 Craftivities
* 5 worksheets
* A set of 6, pocket-chart sentence cards
* 3 Posters, plus
* 9, three-piece UG puzzles

Use the activities as a whole group activity, independent center, games, or something for early finishers, homework or your sub folder. 

When my kiddos have completed their lessons, they've earned a special treat for snack time, a cup of hot chocolate.  Mmmmm mmmmm good, especially after a chilly recess. 

Finally, I know a lot of teachers read The Mitten  by Jan Brett, so I designed a cute winter word work packet "Our Mittens" that reinforces verbs based on that story.

The packet includes two class-made books. Making a class book, is a quick and easy way to practice a variety of standards; contributing a page for a class book, is super-fun for your kiddos, and will grab their attention from the get go.

In the first book, Our Mitten, the teacher loses a mitten. As children find it, they tuck something inside. 

Here, I wanted my kiddos to take size into consideration, and think of something that could realistically fit inside a mitten.

On their page, students state their name and tell what they put inside their teacher’s mitten and why, adding an illustration.

The Animals In Our Mitten, is the next book. The cover and pages, are in the shape of a large mitten.  Children fill in the blank with an adjective, animal and action verb. i.e. “A slow, green turtle shuffled into our class mitten.”

I feel that even PK kiddos can come up with a descriptive word and action for their animal, and believe it’s not too early to have children practice writing a vivid and complete sentence, however, there’s also a simpler page, where they just name an animal and draw a picture.

I’ve tied the packet into Brett’s folktale,The Mitten, by including an alphabetical list of 39 of the action verbs in her story, along with a worksheet.

There’s also a verb-definition poster, plus 39 action verb cards, and 11 character cards, which you can use for several games and activities.      

I've also made a similar, classroom management packet that's a quick, interesting and fun way to build students' vocabularies, practice verbs, and reinforce synonyms, while improving dictionary & alphabetizing skills as well.

My students absolutely LOVE playing these games, and I’ve noticed nice improvement in their writing, as well as their verbal vocabulary.
 
The other portion of the packet, Ready! Set! Action! I use as a simple, yet highly effective classroom management tool, that reinforces verbs, while helping students “get the wiggles out” or transition to another activity.

Children enjoy the action of the activity, while you reinforce the grammar concept, at the same time easily & successfully managing classroom behavior.

The classroom management portion, includes several posters, student name cards, 45 action verb cards, plus a blank set to program with whatever.  

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so there are two featured FREEBIES today because they both involve melted crayons.  

The first one is a melted crayon valentine. 

Completed projects are quite lovely and make a nice window display. 

The other one is using broken crayons to make an inexpensive, valentine gift for your students. 

Here's the link for the valentine crayons  FREEBIE.  

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

Wishing you a warm and snuggly kind of day.

"Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face." -Victor Hugo

1-2-3 Come Do Some 100 Day Money Activities With Me

For those of you who haven't celebrated 100 Day yet, the "Making Cents on 100 Day"  packet includes some different and interesting activities for your celebration, that involve money.

Even tho' I designed the packet to go along with my 100 Day activities, they easily fit your lessons about coins, and would be appropriate anytime.

The activities are simple enough for kinders, but can be challenging enough for older kiddos as well.  Simply pick which activities are most appropriate then "print & go".

The packet reinforces addition, counting, data analysis, comparison, greater & less than, coin identification, graphing, & tally marks.

Students work independently on their worksheets, or can partner up to complete one as well.

I've also included a writing prompt that relates, plus some "funny money" and a "We're 100 Days Smarter!" poster for your bulletin board display.

The "Building Vocabulary With Dollar & 100 Dollar Words" is also a super-fun, money-themed activity appropriate for 100 Day or any other time.

I did a ton of work on this packet to make it easy-peasy for you! 
The Dollar Word packet reinforces addition, critical thinking, strategy, cooperative learning, counting, plus greater & less than.

There are also teachable moments for reviewing prefixes, suffixes, plurals & parts of speech, as part of the strategy of finding a dollar word.
Keep things simple for younger students, raise the bar and include more for older kiddos.

Using calculators for checking, provides added practice and enables younger students to take part in these activities.

Dollar words are great anytime for building vocabulary and practicing math skills, as well as an interesting Daily-5 word work activity.

Because words are worth 100 points (pennies for dollar words, or dollars, for one hundred dollar words) it’s perfect for your 100-Day celebration too.

Each letter is given a point value.  Introduce the lesson by having students find out the value of their name. (A worksheet is provided).
Afterwards, challenge students to try and find words whose total equals 100.

Beforehand, discuss some strategy: Can you make it plural to gain easy, additional points? How ‘bout a prefix or suffix?
Have students keep track of their efforts, so even if they don’t find a dollar word, they can share the word with their highest total.

Students can work individually, with a partner, or in small groups.
I’ve included cute, one and one hundred dollar bill templates for children to record their dollar word on.

They can draw a picture of themselves or glue on a photo to the front. Run these off on light green paper. Students fold over & glue together. 
There’s a balloon option, with 2 sizes as well.

The packet also includes an alphabetical list of 740 “dollar” words; a dollar word dictionary for students to record their results; worksheets; 60, dollar word clue cards for playing a Dollar Word riddle game, with an answer key, and 2 recording sheets; as well as a letter value bookmark, plus mini-certificates of praise. 

Today's featured FREEBIE is a sweet "Shapely Snow Angel"  packet that includes an emergent reader, craftivity, plus graphing extentions that reinforce 2D shapes. I hope you find it useful.  

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

The wind is howling outside my window, so it's time to toss another log on the fire and grab a cup of tea. Wishing you a warm and cozy day.

"I say to myself that I shall try to make my life like an open fireplace, so that people may be warmed and cheered by it and so go out themselves to warm and cheer." - George Matthew Adams

1-2-3 Come Do Some Groundhog Day Activities With Me!

I take advantage of all of the February holidays to practice a variety of skills with an interesting theme.  One of our favorites is Groundhog Day. I'll be featuring 3 of these groundhog-themed activities on the blog today.

"Punxsutaney Punctuation With Phil", features 18, groundhog-themed, sentence cards, which are a quick, easy and fun way to review some groundhog information, as well as rules for appropriate grammar. (Capitalization & end punctuation.)

Read the cards together as a whole group to practice a lot of sight words.

Choose a student to come up and using a dry erase marker, circle letters that should be capitalized and then add end punctuation. (period, question mark & exclamation point).

You can do this on a whiteboard, with a pocket chart or pass one card out to each child, to correct.

After everyone has shared their card, have students choose 3-6 cards and rewrite the sentences correctly.

I've provided 2 sizes of mini "fix the sentence" cards for this, which makes a nice Daily 5 word work activity too. 

Next up is the jumbo, Groundhog Number Fun Packet.  

It's a whopping 109 pages, and chock full of a huge variety of activities with a groundhog theme; many are “Print & Go” or require just a bit of prep.

Pick and choose what’s appropriate for your kiddos (PK-1st) and use the activities for table top lessons, morning work, a sub folder, homework, early finishers, and assessing..

The packet includes an assortment of games like “Kaboom!”, “Stack the Hats”, “ I Spy”, “Memory Match”, “I Have; Who Has?” “What’s Missing?” “Race Your Groundhog to 100”, and “Puzzles On A Roll”, along with a 3-page tip list of what to do with the two sets of number cards.

There are also some center activities as well: “Clothespin Clip”, “Sorting With Odd Todd & Even Steven”, plus a 6 piece puzzle that can also be played as a dice game.

Besides that puzzle, I’ve also included 21 of my popular number “strip” puzzles.

They come in vertical as well as horizontal, and help practice sequencing numbers from 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, & 10s.

I’ve also included an emergent reader plus 2 different “flip” booklets. One includes 10 frames, and the other has options for counting to 10 or 20.

There are 3 “slider” craftivity options too. Sliders are an interesting way to practice numbers & counting, as well as a quick, easy & fun way to whole group assess.

I’ve included slider “strips” for counting from 1-10, 1-30, counting backwards from 10-1 and 20-1, plus skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5,s & 10s.

There are also a variety of worksheets that practice numbers and counting to 10, 50, 100, & 120, as well as graphing 2D shapes, tally marks, plus greater & less than, and simple addition.  And finally a certificate of praise.

If you're studying blends and digraphs with your kiddos, there's no better day than Groundhog Day for some great GR word work.

I've given the packet a groundhog theme, as the "Woodchuck Word Work packet", provides a wonderful variety of activities for Groundhog Day, including some tongue twisting fun, perfect for Daily 5 or your language arts block.

However, you can use it anytime, not just for Groundhog Day, as the compound word activities, as well as the GR consonant blend activities are very comprehensive.

The packet includes:

* Compound word activities: Games, word cards, worksheets, plus a "sunny" emergent reader flip booklet featuring 65 Dolch sight words, as well as 18 compound words, with "sun" as the root word.

The emergent reader, comes with 22 matching puzzle cards with colorful sunglasses on them, perfect for an independent center activity.

* There are also 42 (sets of 3), groundhog compound word cards to use as puzzles and for playing a variety of games with.
I've also included an alphabetical list of over 1,000 compound words that you can refer to, plus a cover to make an "I Spy 100 Compound Words For 100 Day" booklet.

* The packet also practices the GR consonant blend with a variety of activities for that.
* There's an alphabetical list of 92 GR consonant blend words, plus ...
* 92 GR consonant blend mini word cards, along with a "Feed the Greedy Groundhog's Grumbling Tummy" craftivity.

*There's also a set of alphabet cards, and a variety of worksheets, a graphic organizer which practices adjectives, plus some bookmarks, a word search, tongue twisters, as well as a "How many words can you make?" using the letters in groundhog game.  

As you can see I've packed in a huge variety of word work activities.

The featured FREEBIE today is "Fickle Phil".  It's a quick, easy and fun groundhog craftivity, made out of a brown paper lunch bag.

On one side Phil is ready for spring, on the other side, he saw his shadow and is ready for 6 more weeks of winter. 

Well that's it for today.  I'm feeling the chill of a winter cold coming on, so it's time to make some honey tea and snuggle in, shadow or not.

Wishing you a delightful day.

"The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it." ~Patrick Young