1-2-3 Come Be A Very Hungry Caterpillar With Me!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my favorite book by Eric Carle; it was also one of my Y5's all-time favorites too.

Because so many teachers read this book, as well as study butterflies some time during the school year, I decided to make a variety of lessons that incorporate this hungry little guy. 

Hopefully your students will have fun gobbling up the lessons too!

A quick and easy way to review the Common Core Standards that involve "parts of a book" is to have students make their own caterpillar anchor chart cover.

Anchor charts are a terrific way to help students understand concepts and retain information.

This one reviews the parts of a book. I've included a teacher's poster + a template for students to make their own mini anchor chart.

To make it more of a keepsake, have students make the body of their caterpillar by dipping their index finger into a dab of paint, or inked stamper.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Parts Of A Book anchor chart activity.

Since the caterpillar is starving, why not feed him a variety of letters, numbers, and shapes as a quick and easy way to whole-group assess your students.

I've also included color as well as black and white picture cards, of all of the items the caterpillar ate in the story.  Pass them out to your students and have them feed the caterpillar when you come to that part in the story.

Afterwards, see if they can sequence the cards in the order that the caterpillar ate them.

This 50-page packet also includes:

• traceable number cards 1-30,
• traceable skip counting cards by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's,
• traceable upper and lowercase alphabet cards,
• traceable cards for all of the adjectives in the book,
• traceable life cycle of a butterfly cards,
• picture life cycle of a butterfly cards
• story cards,
• traceable days of the week cards
• traceable months of the year cards
• traceable number word cards,
• covers to go with all of the word cards to make Itty Bitty booklets
• What's missing? number and letter worksheets, for skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's & 10's + counting by 1's
•  caterpillar color a pattern worksheet,
• + a Caterpillar Creeps dice game.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar activity packet.

Finally, if you are still working on counting to 100/120 with your students, I think you'll enjoy The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things booklet.

This packet includes:

• 2 caterpillar craftivities,
• a food sorting idea, + 64 circle pictures of food.

Students trace and write numbers & number words, as well as the time, drawing the appropriate hands on the clock. 

They also circle the capital letters and add end punctuation. Children cut and glue the groups of 10 pieces of food to their matching numbered boxes, as they count by 10's to 100.

As you can see, a lot of Common Core Standards are covered in 1 easy reader!

Click on the link to view/down load The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats 100 Things.

Thanks for visting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find useful.

"Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on the door forever." -Unknown

1-2-3 Do Still More Mustache Lessons With Me!

I often turned my Y5's into detectives, so that they could scamper around with their clipboards and collect data.  They absolutely LOVED this.

Since data collection and analysis are common core standards, I decided to make up an investigation lesson using the "I mustache you a question" concept.

Run off the templates, and explain to students that they can think up any yes or no question and then interview their classmates for 5 or 10 minutes.  Set a timer.

We did graphing every day as a whole group and center activity, so I knew my Y5's would be able to take the data they had collected,  and in-put it into their own graph.

Model the activity, by asking a question, making tally marks, and filling in the various forms, and then turn your students loose.  I know they will enjoy themselves.

When everyone has completed their data collection and analysis sheets, call them together as a whole group, to review their findings. 

If you want to extend the lesson, you could make a total-classroom graph for yes answers versus no answers.

Click on the link to view/download the Mustache Data Collection packet.

When I was dreaming up "mustache stuff" I thought making a mustache game, that would review colors and color words, would be fun.

You can use the templates for a puzzle center; individual worksheets that students, color, cut & glue, or for a spinner game.

Click on the link to view/download the Mustache Color game.

Finally, I designed a mustache template for upper and lowercase letters, numbers and number words, as well as shapes and shape words. 

The collection of cards makes a nice wall decoration, or cut them apart and use them as puzzles, or to play Memory Mustache Match and "I Have; Who Has?" games.

Click on the link to view/download the Mustache Alphabet, Number and Shape packet.

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

I hope you and your students have as "mustache" fun as I did designing these things.

"Too often we give children answers to remember, rather than problems to solve." -Roger Lewin

1-2-3 Come Do More Mustache Activities With Me!

I wanted to design some mustache items that teachers could use as incentives, decorations, and labels, so I put together a mustache "Stache" Of Stuff packet.

Here you'll find bookmarks, templates to make a mustache for your students, labels for their files or folders, etc.

I was watching my 6-month-old grandson, so I took a picture of him with the mustache. He wanted to eat it, but you get the idea.

Click on the link to view/download this mustache packet.

I also designed 3 "I mustache you to please raise your hand" reminder posters.

Question of the Day of course is perfect for the "I mustache you a question" phrase.

Print off the template, laminate and attach to a metal door or cookie sheet. Print off your students' school picture, add a mustache to their face, laminate, cut out and put a magnet on the back.

Using a dry erase marker, write a new question each day. Students answer the question by sticking their photo under the yes or no section of the poster.

Click on the link to view/downloas the Question of the Day mustache poster.

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

If you'd like to see a few more mustache activities, I have one more post for today.  Simply scroll down to read it.

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning; but for children, play IS serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood." -Mr. Fred Rogers

1-2-3 I Mustache You To Please Measure Stuff With Me!

I've had quite a few requests for measurement activities that will help review Common Core State Standards: K.MD.1, K.MD.2, 1.MD.1, 1.MD.2.

I thought it would be extra fun for your students to become a detective, don a mustache and scamper around the room figuring out the length, width, height etc. of a variety of things.

Simply run off the mustache ruler template on a variety of colored construction paper.

For ease of printing, I've included 2 on a page. Make sure you measure the ruler after you print it. 

I made it to scale, but sometimes when printers read a scanned PDF they print it a bit smaller. Simply enlarge it a tad on your copier, so that it is exactly 10 inches.

Students trim their "stache" and do one of the measuring worksheets that you've run off.

There are 10 different measuring activities to choose from.

Several of the worksheets ask students to find and measure things, others ask them to measure their mustache with "stuff," like paperclips, unifix cubes, their thumb, etc.

I've also included a cut and glue longer or shorter comparison activity.

Students measure the objects shown on their paper and then decide if they are longer or shorter than their mustache. 

They then cut and glue the representative picture to the appropriate side of their graph.

There are also 2 "measure the animal" worksheets.  One is Tatum the turtle, the other Alfred the alligator.

Click on the link to view/download the I Mustache You To Measure packet.

I hope these activities measure up, and that you'll enjoy doing them as much as I did designing them.

Do you have a measurement or mustache activity you could share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment below.

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

"America's future walks through the doors of our school each day." -Mary Jean Le Tendre

1-2-3 Come Do Mustache Activities With Me!

As promised, here are some fun mustache things to do with your kiddo's.

I just love the phrase, "I mustache you a question." I think it's a cute way to introduce question activities to children.

I don't know about your students, but my Y5's had a difficult time understanding question statements, versus telling statements. 

Whenever a visitor would say: "Does anyone have a question?" I'd cringe, because I knew the majority of waving hands couldn't wait to share something, instead of ask something.

To help them understand the concept, I made a list of question words.  I told them, that if their sentence didn't start with one of those words, then it wasn't an "asking" sentence, and they were NOT asking a question.

I made an entire activity mustache packet based around the question words. 

The packet includes:

4 I "Mustache" you a question posters.

20 question word mustache cards.

A blank set of mustache templates for you to program with whatever.

20 traceable question word cards with covers to make Itty Bitty booklets

A "My Stache" dictionary cover for question words

A question-word, alphabetical-order worksheet + a certificate of praise.

Click on the link to view/download the I Mustache You A Question activity packet.

Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything that you think others might find useful.

i like to keep my blog articles short, so if you'd like to see a few more mustache ideas, simply scroll down to read the other mustache posts today.

"Kissing a man without a mustache, is like eating an egg without salt." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Have Fun Becoming a Pirate and Writing With Me!

Since pirates continue to be an extremely popular theme, I've been working on a variety of activities this week.

I just completed these two, so if you are looking for a fun writing prompt before students leave for spring break, I think your students will enjoy making a class book entitled: Arrrr You Ready For Spring Break?

If your spring break has come and gone, you can make this booklet in May or June and have students write about what they are going to be doing over the summer. 

This class book is entitled: Arrrr You Ready For Summer Vacation?

I've included insert pages for both.  There's a girl pirate page, as well as one for the boys.

Students trace the beginning sentence and then complete the thought.

When they are done, they illustrate their page.

Make the book even more of a keepsake by having students glue their school picture over the face of the pirate and then color it.

Collect the pages, laminate and collate the book.

Make sure you do a sample for yourself as well.

When you read the book to your class, have each student come up and read their own page.

Making a monthly class book is a wonderful way to show student progress and are great items to set out for Parent-Teacher conferences.

Click on the link to view/print the Arrrrr You Ready spring and summer writing prompt packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Be sure and check back in a week to see what other pirate things I've designed, and if you're into "mustache mania" you'll love the mustache activities I'll be posting tomorrow!

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

"Don't ignore the small things.  The kite flies because of its tail." -Hawaiian Proberb

1-2-3 Come Fly A Kite With Me!

As the wind is whipping around your school this month, are you looking for some kite-themed activities?  Well you've come to the right place!  I'll talk about a few of my favorites here, and then give you a link for the rest.

To help you review the Common Core State Standard: MD.1.3, I've designed a kite clock.  The game is entitled "Time Flies!" and reviews digital as well as analog time.

Click on the link to view/download the analog and digital time - kite clock.

If you're working on colors and patterning with your students, you'll enjoy the Kite Patterning packet.

You can quickly and easily whole group assess your students, as they have fun adding a variety of colored strips, to make a patterned kite tail.

Kites come in a large array of sizes and shapes, so I thought it would be fun to see if I could find examples of all of the 3D shapes.

I learned a lot doing this research, and found many examples of spheres, cones, cubes and cylinders.

In the easy reader: 3D Kites, students trace and write the shape words as well as glue the matching pictures to the numbered boxes.  Click on the link to view/download the 3D Kite booklet

No kite unit is complete, without studying the -ite and ight word families.  I made a kite poster listing these word families as well as included them in the My Kite Booklet. 

The easy-reader kite-booklet packet, is chock full of -ite & -ight activities, like the Zite Story Poem. 

There's also some trace and write worksheets as well as well as a graphing extension, plus 25 traceable word cards.

The packet also includes an -ite -ight word family kite "craftivity."

Click on the links to view/download the My Kite Packet.

Finally, since all of the glyphs have been such popular downloads, I decided to make a kite glyph too.  Click on the link to grab this freebie.

To see more kite activities, click on the link to zip over to the kite section, with 23 kite activities!

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"Distance means so little, when someone means so much. " -Unknown

1-2-3, Come Slide With Me, To Study a Word Family!

My Y5's really enjoyed making "sliders."  I named them that, because you slide a strip of paper through slits that then revealed something in the cut out "window."

I made sliders for lots of my report card standards: upper and lowercase letters, numbers, skip counting, counting backwards, shapes, colors, word wall words etc.

A slider was an especially successful way for my students to actually see, how a word family operated. 

They liked seeing new words appear, as they slid their letter strip up and down.

To make a slider, simply run off the templates on construction paper.  Students cut out and assemble.

Add pizzazz to their chick with wiggle eyes, a 3D beak, a yellow feather atop the head, and by folding the wings forward.

I added that finishing touch to the bunny, with wiggle eyes and a pink pom pom nose. Students can also glue a cotton ball to the back for a fluffy bunny tail.

Sliders are a wonderful way for discovering words that your students are not familiar with.

Add these to the vocabulary-building activities included in the packet like this sweet -ick ending word dictionary.

I often built vocabulary for a variety of themes and word families via a dictionary.

I've included a cover for both the -ick chick word family slider, as well as the bunny -op word family slider.

I hope your students LOVE learning new words as much as I do!  One of my favorite things about the internet is the unbelievable amount of information available at the click of some keys. 

While I was researching ick and op ending words I learned a few new ones I didn't know: snick, strop and swop!

There's also a worksheet in each slider packet, where students trace and then write the word family words in alphabetical order.

Because I thought it would be slick for students to skip count with their chick, I also included skip counting strips for 2's. 3's, 5's and 10's.

Click on the link to view/download the chick ick word family and skip counting sliders.

Click on the link to view/download the -op word family bunny slider packet.

If you like these spring sliders, you'll probably want to take a look at the sheep slider, featuring -eep Da -eap word family words.  Click on the link to view/download it.

Thanks for visiting.  The birds are chirping; the sun is shining and it's time for a much needed break to grab some fresh air.

"Do your work with your whole heart and you will succeed; there's so little competition." -Elbert Hubbard

1-2-3- Have Fun Writing About Goals With Me

Pot of Goals is a fun "craftivity" March writing prompt, that reinforces Common Core State Standards: L.K.2a, L.K.2b, RF.K.3d,  RF.K.1c, RF.1.1a, L.1.2b

Simply run off the templates on construction paper. 

Students complete the "goal" coin sentences and add their reasons why.

Remind students to use appropriate capitalization, end punctuation and spacing, when they write their goals on the coins.

Lay out a selection of large construction paper, in the colors of the rainbow.  Only have enough paper so that all of it will be chosen, and you'll have a sampling of every color.

Students cut out their pot and coins, and glue them to the construction paper.

Hang the completed pots, in rainbow color order, on a large wall.  Your title can be: A Rainbow Of Wonderful Writing.

For a bit more pizzazz, have students write their names in rainbow colors, add a school photo + gold and silver glitter.

Click on the link to view/download the March writing prompt: St. Patrick's Day Pot of Goals.

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

"Learning is not a spectator sport, so let's play!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make Some Spring Glyphs With Me!

When I think of spring I think of bunnies, eggs, and butterflies, so I designed some cute glyphs with those things in mind.

My Y5's really enjoyed making glyphs.  Completed projects make wonderful bulletin boards, and they are a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess listening and following directions. 

This was a report card standard for my Y5's.   So that this is not just my "opinion" that was made through observing their child, a glyph provides nice "paper proof."

If a parent ever questions why you feel their child is not listening and following directions, or asks you for "proof", a file of incorrectly done glyphs is a terrific resource. 

After I took down this spring bulletin board, I kept completed glyphs in my assessment folder. 

I paperclipped incorrect ones together, and put them on the top. 

I also kept an answer key, so that I had a correct comparison for parents to peruse, as they looked at them side-by-side, and I pointed out problems.

After conferences, I'd send those glyphs home and start fresh.

The photographs are of completed glyphs.  As I stated above, each Glyph makes a sweet bulletin board on their own, but you could also combine them. 

Have students cut out their eggs and then use them as a border, scatter the bunny glyphs on the board, cut out and hang the butterfly glyphs back-to-back, and at different lengths from the ceiling, or "resting" on the wall. 

For a more 3D effect, fold the wings up, and just tack down the thorax portion.

Glyphs and graphing are also wonderful ways for your students to collect and analyze data, which will help you review the Common Core State Standard: 1.MD.4

Click on the link to view/download the egg glyph and/or the butterfly glyph and the bunny glyph

Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"It's OK to not know, but it's not OK to not try." -Unknown