1-2-3 Come Do More Community Helper Activities With Me!

Scroll down if you missed yesterday's Community Helpers article. 

As promised, here are a few more community helper activities to round out your studies.

If there is something specific you're looking for, that I didn't cover, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.diane@teachwithme.com

I have so enjoyed designing community helper - themed items.

An interesting and fun way to study community helpers is to compare and contrast them. 

An easy way to do this, is by using a Venn diagram.

I've made 11 different Venns comparing 22 community helpers, and included a blank template if students want to choose 2 others that are not provided.

To explain and demonstrate the lesson, put one up on your white board and do as a whole group.

Afterwards, children partner up and choose a Venn diagram that they will fill in together. 

Each child does their "different" half of the diagram, and then they take turns writing the similarities in the "same" section of the Venn diagram.

Children share their diagrams with the class.  Display them in the hall, on a bulletin board, or collate them into a class booklet.

Click on the link to view/download the Community Helpers Venn Diagram packet. 

I've also designed a picture and word card sorting activity entitled "Tools of the Trade." 

Children place the appropriate "tools of the trade" picture cards that are associated with a community helper, on a sorting mat. 

There are 85 picture cards to choose from, 10 sorting mats + community helper word cards.

Click on the link to view/download Community Helpers' Tools of the Trade activity packet.

Another fun game is "Name That Community Helper."  The teacher or students read 19 clue cards. The first child with the correct answer, writes it on the card.

There are also more than enough pictures of community helpers, to make a class-set of "Popsicle-stick puppets."  (Teachers laminate, cut out and glue a community helper to a Popsicle stick.)

Before the game begins, teachers pass the community helper "Popsicle puppets" to their students.

Children hold up their community helper puppet when the appropriate clue card is read.

Click on the link to view/download the Name That Community Helper packet.

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"Don't be afraid to give up the good, to go for the great!" -Kenny Rogers

1-2-3 Come Learn About Community Helpers With Me!

For a social studies lesson, many teachers choose to study community helpers. 

I've had quite a few requests for community helper activites, so I decided to design a nice variety of items incorporating the Common Core whenever I could.

To get the ball rolling, I spent a kajillion hours online, at the bookstore and reading at the library, to compile a bibliography of 63 of my favorite Community Helper books.

Summer is the perfect time to add to your classroom library via garage sales, and introducing a unit with books, is a wonderful way to get children excited.

Click on the link to view/download the Community Helpers bibliography.

I also wanted to make an alphabetical list of all the community helpers/occupations I could think of, so that students could make an ABC booklet, ask about community helpers and jobs that they were not familiar with, and use the list to do a variety of writing activities, including what they'd like to be when they grow up.

From astronauts to zookeepers, I came up with a list of over 300 community helpers/occupations.

Click on the link to view/download the alphabetical list of community helpers/occupations.

I love dj Inkers artwork and am thrilled to have her permission to use it to design lessons for you. She has a variety of licenses available.

Her community helpers, done with bears, were perfect to make picture word cards, that can be used for your word wall or pocket chart.

I've included a 3-page tip list of what else you can use the cards for, including writing prompts, puzzles and games.

There are also several booklet covers, so you can make individual or a whole group class book.

Click on the link to view/download the Community Helpers card packet.

I also used them for a Roll, Count and Color Community Helpers dice game. 

You can run off a few of each kind of community helper, and give students a choice of which one they want to color for the dice game, or you can choose whatever community helper you are working on, and give each child the same one.

Before you begin, have students point to each number. As a whole group, count to 12. Explain to students that whatever number they roll, is the section that they color.

Demonstrate how you roll one die first, and then color numbers 1-6. If they’ve already rolled that number, they lose their turn.

When students have completed those sections, they roll 2 dice, and then add them together to get numbers 7-12 to color.

The child who colors all of the numbered sections first, or has the most numbers colored when the timer rings, is the winner.

After you explain the game, have students choose a partner to play with.

Remind them that they should write their name on their paper, as well as trace and write the name of their community helper.

Click on the link to view/download the Roll and Color the Community Helpers Dice Game.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful, and be sure to pop by tomorrow for more community helper activities!

"Books are not men, and yet they are alive.  They are man's memory and his aspiration; the link between his present and his past; the tools he builds with." -Stephen V. Benet

1-2-3 Come Make A Special Treat With Me

Make these treats for your students at the end of the year using the summer "Orange you glad summer vacation is here? Have a sweet one." template, or  pass them out at the beginning of the year for Open House or the first day of school using the "Orange you glad you're in __________ grade" header.

I've included headers for kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade + a blank template for you to fill in for whatever grade you teach.

You can make your treat bags filled with a few orange candy slices that look like smiles, or slice up real oranges or tangerines.

Since Capri Sun juice bags were a favorite with my Y5's, I thought it would be cute to attach the header to an orange juice bag or orange juice box.

You could start your year with the juice box, and end it with the candy.  Click on the link to view/download the "Orange you glad..." treat bag headers.

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"Everyone has talent. What is rare, is the courage to follow the talent to where it leads." -Erica Jong

1-2-3 Make A Gift Baggie With Me

If you're still in school and want to make a sweet treat for your kiddo's to give their dad's for Father's Day, you may want to try this puzzle activity.

I designed two different puzzle headers: I love you to pieces as well as, we love you to pieces.

You can use the "I" header for a beginning of the year treat bag for your students, or a gift for Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Use the "We" header for a gift for Secretary's Day.

You can buy bulk Reeses Pieces at Sam's Club. Have children put a few scoopfuls in a Snack Baggie.

If you're only making a few gifts for volunteers or secretaries, you can buy Reeses in a snack package or mini box, and attach your puzzle pieces to the top and bottom.

Run the headers off on white construction paper and have children color them lightly with crayons in an assortment of colors.

Add a bit more pizzazz by having students glue their school photo to a puzzle piece and then sign their name on yet another one.

Click on the link to view/download Love You To Pieces Gift Baggies.

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"A college degree and a teaching certificate define a person as a teacher, but it takes hard work and dedication to be one." -Paul McClure

1-2-3 Come Make A Father's Day Booklet With Me

As I've stated in a previous article, daddies sometime get jipped out of a homemade gift or card for Father's Day, that their little one made in school, because many children are alreay on vacation, before that special day rolls around.

If you still have a few days or weeks left, you may want a sweet summer writing prompt for your kiddo's to work on.

This booklet makes a wonderful card for Father's Day and a nice independent activity for your Daily 5 or writing/reading center.

It's a nice review of a variety of Common Core State Standards, that students need to incorporate, as they work on their booklet. 

Students use adjectives and verbs to describe their dad and then draw a picture of him.

Children can also cut out the happy Father's Day heart or the square and glue it to their paper for a bit more pizzazz. 

Make this even more of a keepsake by adding a school picture.

Click on the link to view/download the My Dad, Father's Day activity.

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"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used to create them" -Albert Einstein

1-2-3 Come Learn Some New Compound Words With Me!

Summer is a wonderful time to revamp things for next year.  My daughter could never understand why I was always working on teacher stuff, no matter how many years I had taught a certain grade. 

She felt that things should get easier and therefore the time commitment for "making stuff" less.  Even though things did get easier, I was always revamping and trying to make lessons more exciting and current. 

I also have this unquenchable drive to learn new things, and really enjoy spending hours designing educational items.  It's like an addictive hobby for me.

Surfing the Net doing research on something that I'm designing, is exciting for me.  I feel like I'm on a treasure hunt of sorts, and not a day goes by where I don't learn something new and extremely interesting.  

I think that's one of the best things about computers, you have an unbelievable resource at your fingertips on just about anything you're looking for.   Thus it goes when I make a word list. 

It's never quite finished, as I'm always discovering new words to add to my lists. Just when I think I've exhausted anymore possibilities, another word comes my way and I add it to my notebook, 'til I've reached a point where it's worth redoing the published item.  I'm going to put this list to rest now as 3,000+ seems pretty comprehensive.

I've added over 500 new compound words in this 6th and final update, for a grand total of 3,317 compound words!  It's also in alphabetical order for easy reference.  So that your students can make their own compound word dictionaries, I've made a helpful dictionary cover template, 

I also thought it would be fun to feature a new compound word each day, as an interesting way to count up to 100 Day. 

So that your students can make their own compound word dictionaries. After discussing the word, students write it in their personal dictionary.  What a quick and easy way to build vocabulary!

To get things rolling, I've included a poster for the compound word of the day, as well as a definition of a compound word poster, that you can use as an anchor chart.

Click on the link to view/download the alphabetical list of 3,317 compound words + activities.

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"If you're doing your best, you won't have any time to worry about failure." -M. Jackson Brown Jr.

1-2-3 Come Write About Summer With Me!

If you visit often, you know I enjoy dreaming up things with an interesting "play on words."  "Orange you glad it's almost summer?" "I am because..." seemed a perfect fit for a fun writing prompt that I think your students will enjoy.

Make your own sample, so that you can share it with your students.  Mine always enjoyed hearing a bit about me and my life, and the example was a quick and easy way to explain what I wanted them to do. 

Afterwards, brainstorm with them about all of the things that they are looking forward to doing during summer vacation. 

During our brainstorming sessions, I jotted their ideas on the board to help my kiddos with spelling.

Here's What To Do:

Run off the orange slices on orange construction paper. Rough cut them so that each student gets a "topper" to trim.

To add a bit more pizzazz, students can color the outside edges with a dark orange crayon, or add some sparkle with orange glitter glue.

Students glue the oranges to the top of their writing prompt paper and write about what special things they can do during the summer.  Completed projects make a nice end-of-the-year bulletin board, especially if you add a school picture. 

They also look nice hung back-to-back from the ceiling. Click on the link to view/download the "Orange you glad?" summer writing prompt.

Looking for more summer writing prompts and summer bulletin boards? Click on the link to view/download a very popular packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.  My "Pin it" button is at the top of the page.

While diddling with the "orange you glad" idea, I thought it would also make an easy and rather inexpensive end of the year gift for your students.  To see what I did, scroll down to the next blog article. 

"The purpose of life, is a life of purpose." -Robert Byrne

1-2-3 Come Hang Up A Poster With Me!

The school year is coming to an end and many will be cleaning and sorting their classrooms.

I always made a list of new things that I wanted to look for, or things I wanted to make, during summer break. 

My husband found it amusing that even though I was finally on vacation, my teacher-mind never turned off.

Although I rested and enjoyed summer, I was always cutting, pasting, and "playing school" for a great part of "vacation."

Planning how I would decorate my classroom and acquiring those goodies, was one of my favorite things to do.

With that in mind, I decided to design some new classroom posters.

I used posters to not only decorate my room, but to inspire, challenge students to think, and remind them to make wise choices.

I turned many into anchor charts, that would help review a variety of concepts in a concise and interesting way.

I also used posters to ignite discussions, that would lead to interesting writing prompts, which my students of various ages, seemed excited to give their opinions about.

I've added 10 new posters this week.  I hope you find something that you're looking for.

To view/download the posters pictured, click on their links: Im Possible, I Choose, Wake Up, Don't, and Actions Speak.

To zip on over to the poster and anchor chart section, click on the link. There are over 100!

Simply scroll through and select whatever you like.

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"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson

1-2-3 Come Make A 10 Frame Booklet With Me!

I've had quite a few requests for more 10 frame activities, so I designed this 10 frame packet that can be used in a variety of ways.

Print the pages, laminate and use them as anchor chart posters or large flashcards to refer to and do group activities with.

I incorporated quite a few math concepts along with the 10 frames. 

Students put an X on the appropriate number in the group/set.

They trace and write the number and number word however many times you want them to, and count that many dots and identify the pattern in the first 10 frame.

In the second 10 frame, students make that many marks, bingo dots, or place that many stickers in the boxes.

Children also circle that number in the sequence, and then add +1 more to the number, to get the next number.

Besides whole group-oral math activities, you can make several sets and put them in a math center. 

Students can complete the pages with a dry erase marker. 

Children could also use manipulatives instead of markers to fill in the ten frames.

Students can play games by choosing a partner and playing "Speed" to see who can complete the 10 frame booklet the quickest or simply sequence them in order, seeing the +1 factor, as they go.

Make a workbook for each child. For your math block or a quick tabletop lesson, students can work on a page a day.

When everyone is finished, read the booklet together to review the math concepts, as well as the various aspects of reading.

Click on the link to view/download the 10 Frame Activity Packet.

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"Teachers spend hours working on lessons to capture their students' attention, but all a little spider has to do, is crawl across the window screen." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make A Slideshow With Me

Whenever May rolls around, teachers are always left saying: “I can’t believe how fast the year has flown!”

With just a few weeks left, there is still so much to do, especially if your kiddo’s are graduating, or you want to plug in all of the pictures you’ve taken throughout the months, in a sweet end-of-the-year slideshow.

I think it’s especially heart-warming when little ones sing a few songs and a slideshow is also presented. (I recommend IMovie for this, as it's pretty user friendly.)

I feel this is most effective at the end of the program, with perhaps one quick, happy and uplifting or humorous song that your students sing to complete the show.

You certainly want to end on a joyous and positive note, so mom’s are not overly tearful that their baby is growing up too fast, as some  “graduation” songs, are sure to have parents asking: “Do you have a Kleenex?”

I spent countless hours searching the web, for lists of songs that teachers have shared in chat rooms and on their blogs that they felt were great choices for their graduation programs and end of the year slideshows.

With the latest update there are now 150 songs!  For easy reference, I listed them alphabetically, and included the artists.  To find any of the songs, simply Google them.

I also included several different singers for a few of the same songs.  I love Judy Garland's original Over The Rainbow, but my personal favorite is IZ rendition singing it with his ukulele.

I also spent several hours on YouTube looking for memorable performances from children singing a variety of songs at their graduations, and included the links so you can get the words.

While searching, I found some cute songs creative teachers made up, to popular tunes, like New York New York, The Adams Family, and even an Army Drill Echo Chant.  They are so cute. I've included the lyrics, along with a few other poems and their links.

I hope this makes your May a bit less hectic for you. Remember to relax and enjoy the day, it really does zoom by!

On a less crazy note, I also discovered that many teachers simply had their students sing a few of the songs they sung everyday, as a sort of “Welcome To Our World” this is what we do every day idea.

Several commented that parents really enjoyed this, and they didn’t have to teach their little ones a bunch of new songs for one day. 

Others chose to have students sing a patriotic song that they already knew from a Constitution Day activity or could easily teach them.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a wonderful time.

Click on the link to view/download the list of 150 slideshow songs for the end of the year or for kindergarten or preschool graduation + extra's.

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"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend." -Paul Sweeney