Setting Sail For America.  It All Adds Up!

Are you looking for an easy and fun way to review simple addition facts?

You’ve come to the right place.   I found that if I made a game of things, my Y5’s got into the lesson a lot more.

Dice games are simple and don’t take a lot of time.  They are perfect for easy addition practice.

Your students will have fun reinforcing their addition skills, as they roll the dice and compete against their classmates, to see who can make equations that equal the sums on the Mayflower picture.

Students can play with a partner or in groups of 3 or 4.

When a child rolls a 2 and a 3 they add the two dice together to get a sum of 5.  One of the bottom sails is labeled with that sum, so they color it.

If you want, you can have your students write the equations on the back of their paper.

Set a timer for a designated amount of time.  The first child to color their entire picture, or the one with the most sums colored when the timer rings, is the winner.

If you want the game to be a bit more difficult, you can inform students that they must roll sums of 8, 9, 10 and 11 twice.

The first time they roll that sum, they will color the clothes of the pilgrims; the second time they will color the pilgrims’ hair and body parts.

Click on the link to view/download the Mayflower Addition game.

I hope you and your students enjoy sailing through addition this way.

Do you have a math game you could share with us?  I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here.

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“Organization brings peace and makes room for creativity.” –Apples and Chalkdust

Teaching Shapes With a Pilgrim's Hat Buckle!

Yesterday I posted a booklet with a turkey theme that reviewed shapes.  (Scroll down for that article.) I had requests for more Thanksgiving-themed ideas, as many mentioned they are difficult to find.

Keeping with the shape idea, here's a booklet that has a pilgrim theme. 

When I was looking at the pilgrim hat, I thought the buckle was a perfect vehicle to change into the various shapes, thus My Pilgrim's Hat Shape Booklet was born.

I begin the booklet with a rhyming introduction, so you can cover that standard as well.

Students trace the buckles and shape words, as well as the letters that the shapes begin with. 

There's also enough room if you want your students to write the letter, shape word, and then try their hand at drawing the shape.

When students have completed their booklet, ask them which buckles they liked the best.  You can also show them some pictures of real pilgrims wearing hats from that period and ask them what the shape of the real buckles were.

This booklet makes a nice independent activity for your reading block time, or "word work" if you do Daily 5.

I've placed two pages on one master page, for easy printing and to conserve paper.

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Click on the link to view/download My Pilgrim's Hat Shape Booklet.

Do you have a Thanksgiving idea you could share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or you can leave a comment here.

"The way you travel through your life is the most powerful legacy you can give your students." -Vicki Caruana

Help Your Students Strut Their Stuff With This Turkey Booklet

If you're looking for something for your Daily 5 "word work" or a reading block activity, with a turkey/Thanksgiving theme, I think you and your students will enjoy The Shape My Turkey's In.

Students trace the shape and the shape word and help Gobble, the turkey, disguise himself  with a variety of shapes, so he doesn't end up on the table for Thanksgiving dinner!

There's 2 on a page for easy printing.

Rhyming text,  makes this a fun read aloud and allows you to reinforce a Common Core Standard.

When everyone has completed thier booklet, read it aloud as a whole group to review concepts of print. 

You may want to pause before the second rhyming word to have children fill it in.

I hope your students have fun gobbling up knowledge this month.

Click on the link to view/download The Shape My Turkey's In rhyming booklet.

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"If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking him if there's anything you can do.  Think of something appropriate and do it. -E.W. Howe

There’s No Place Like Home, Unless It’s Your Classroom.

I always called my classroom my home away from home. 

I really endeavored to have my classroom look warm and friendly and decorated it to the hilt with soft –mood lighting, comfy bean bags and crates stuffed with toys, manipulatives and things that would excite and entice children to want to read and learn.

My students were my extra “kids.”  We truly were a family and worked as a team; and as the acronym stated, Together Everyone Achieved More.

I thought a poster listing our wonderful qualities would make a nice addition to our decorations.

I saw a list of “We do…” quite a few places on Pinterest.  A little bit different twist in each place, with no one really knowing who to give initial credit to, so if this is your original idea, let me know so I can give a shout out to your creativity.

I loved the concept and just had to make up my own list, with a few tried and true items that fit our classroom too.

This is my version with a fun font and lots of color.  You can use mine, or challenge your students to add more, or come up with an entirely different one to post in your classroom.

Click on the link to view/download In Our Classroom poster.

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“Statistics are no substitute for judgment.” –Henry Clay

From Tiny Acorns Come Mighty Oak Trees...

Another theme I had for November was acorns. It seemed fitting for fall, as my Y5's watched a zillion squirrels scurry around the school yard stuffing their cheeks with acorns and then scampering off to bury them in their winter stockpiles.

As per your requests, I made acorn alphabet cards. You can use them for a variety of things, including flashcards, bulletin board aids, borders, and games.

I've included upper and lowercase letters+ a blank template for you to program as you'd like, with numbers, words, equations etc. 

I've also make a tip sheet of what else you can do with the cards.

Click on the link to view/download the Acorn Alphabet Cards.

Since shapes are another Common Core State Standard, I made an interesting acorn shape easy reader.  Students trace the shape as well as the shape word.  There's plenty of room for students to also write the shape word and try their hand at drawing the shape themselves.

If your school district has also added the pentagon, hexagon or octagon, simply have your students add a page by drawing those acorns in themselves, and insert it before the last page.

Click on the link to view/download the The Shape Of My Acorn easy reader booklet.

Looking for still more acorn-themed activities?  Click on the link to get to an entire section of fun Acorn "stuff". 

Simply scroll down for an Acorn packet, Acorn unit, Acorn crafts, more Acorn easy readers and a variety of other Acorn activities that cover different standards and subjects.

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Do you have an acorn activity that you could share with us? I'd enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or take a moment and post a comment here.

"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm." -Abraham Lincoln

Creative Writing With A Scarecrow--Not So Scary!

This cute scarecrow helps reinforce reading, writing and cutting skills, as students enjoy reviewing the pretty colors of fall that their scarecrow sees.

Students trace the color sight words and can either make a scarecrow out of construction paper or simply color one.  

The pages of the booklet are cut out, sequenced and glued to his tummy. The master has 4-on a page for easy printing.

Because it focuses on color words, the booklet makes  a great activity for "word work" during Daily 5.

When everyone is done, read the book as a whole group reinforcing concepts of print and reviewing Common Core Standards.

Students will be able to take the booklet home and share it with their families, which will help reinforce lessons learned in school further, as well as build their self-esteem.

The scarecrows also make an adorable bulletin board.  Cover the top half of the board with sky blue construction paper and the bottom half with a cornfield-colored background. For a 3-D effect, you may want to lash a few real cornstalks on either side of your bulletin board.

Sprinkle your students work so that the scarecrows are dotted around the cornfield.  A few crows suspended from fishline flying from the ceiling adds the finishing touch.  I have a crow activity in the the November Arts and Activities book. 

Click on the link to check that out.  Click on the link to view/download Scarecrow What Do You See?

A title for your board could be any of the following: Great Work Worth Crowing About! OR: Not So Scary Lessons In Mr(s) ______________ Class! OR: Just Hangin' Around Doin' Good Work In ________________'s Class!

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"A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles." -William Hazlitt

A Creative Writing Prompt That Will Have Your Students Saying: "I'll Have Seconds Please!"

One of my favorite writing prompts for my Y5’s was Thanksgiving Dinner. Use a paper plate for the cover, add plastic "silverware" for a realistic 3-D effect and tie with some yarn.

Simply show your little ones the sample and they'll get excited about making one of their own.  Since “flying solo” writing things on a blank page didn’t really work for them, I designed booklets where they could first trace a sentence and then rewrite it.

This got them used to reading from left to right and top to bottom. I could also explain to them that the first letter of the first word was capitalized and that they needed punctuation at the end of each sentence.  We worked on the period, question mark and exclamation point. They could also see that they needed a space between words. Although simple, I was covering quite a few Common Core State Standards.

My students were also listening and following directions, strengthening their finger muscles, improving their penmanship, and learning to recognize words.

Students had the option to add the sight word NOT to their sentence if they were not going to be eating that food.

They could also substitute other foods in, such as another vegetable in for corn.  I also included a page for them to get more specific about what else they would be eating.  Here they could also illustrate those foods.

We’d brainstorm together on the floor in front of the white board and I’d add words to the board, so they could refer to the list, when they wrote in their booklets.

When everyone had completed their booklet, we’d read it together a few times, as a whole group.

The booklet also was a nice vehicle for discussion, for students from different cultures who might not be celebrating Thanksgiving.

These children could substitute a cultural word in their title and write about the kind of dinner or celebration they have.

You may also want to discuss how today's Thanksgiving foods are different or the same as the 1st Thanksgiving by making a Venn diagram.

Students will enjoy taking their booklets home to their families to read again, reinforcing the lessons they have learned at school.

Because my Y5’s could read these simple booklets, their self-esteem grew as they became emergent readers. I hope they do the same for your kiddos.

These also make an awesome November bulletin board display too.  Cover your bulletin board with a fall looking table cloth, then "set the table" with the plates.

Add a few napkins on the side for a more 3-D effect.  For even more pizzazz, add your students' school pix on a leaf with a splash of glitter, and staple to the napkins as a napkin ring!

Click on the link to view/download My Thanksgiving Dinner.

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“Take time to look at the winning team and find out what they do to win.”

Gobbling Up Glyphs!

Glyphs are a great way to whole group assess listening and following directions.

Completed projects make great bulletin boards and hallway displays.

Includes 2 completed glyphs for examples + a list of interview questions to try and figure out whose glyph belongs to whom.

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"Always do your best so that you can be proud of your work and effort. Strut your stuff!"

Turkey-riffic November "Craftivities."

As I discussed yesterday, there's always time for art, when you incorporate standards into the lesson.  I look at trying to do that, as an interesting challenge, when I design my hands-on lessons.

The 105 page November Art and Activities packet is filled to the brim with November-themed activities you'll be thankful for, as the "craftivities" are quick, easy and fun for your students.

Some full color pictures, copy-ready patterns and step-by-step directions for each project are included.

I try to involve many of your report card standards, so children are learning and reinforcing much-needed math, writing, and science concepts while enjoying art.

"Craftivities" help increase listening and following direction skills, as well as provide practice for improving cutting and other fine motor skills.

Completed projects can be used as gifts, bulletin boards, hallway and classroom decorations or for portfolios.  Many make great keepsakes for parents, such as the footprint turkey pictured.

Some of the projects include songs and poems to reinforce these concepts.

Others help discuss traditions of Thanksgiving and introduce history and vocabulary, such as the lunch bag cornucopia and the Indian corn made with melted crayon shavings. 

The results of both projects are quite impressive. My Y5's were amazed and delighted seeing them sparkiling on a bulletin board, and glittering on our Wall of Fame.

Click on the link to view/download the November Art and Activities packet.

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

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"He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mighty." -H.L. Mencken