Howl With The Owls And Learn About Vowels!

Vowel Owls are a fun, hands-on way to teach Common Core State Standards:RF.K3b, RF.K2a, RF.K2d, RF.K3c.

Students sort the 570 CVC & Dolch word cards  into the various long and short vowel owl cups.

The Vowel Owls make a great "Word Work" Daily 5 activity. The cards are just the right size, small for little hands and easy printing. With 60 CVC words on a page, and 10 pages, you'll have enough cards to practice as a whole group.

I've also included a Vowel Howl game board, as another option for a fun way to practice long & short vowel sounds, as well as a list of other things you can do with the word cards, including games, + sorting the cards by rhyming sounds, to cover another Common Core State Standard.

Click on the link to view/download the Vowel Owl Packet.

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

I hope you and your students get a hoot out of these activities and are enjoying a fun-filled fall!   It's brisk this morning and frost is definitely on the pumpkins.  Time to drain and bring in our garden hoses.  Wishing you a delightful day.

"Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes." -Parkes Robinson

In 1492 Columbus Sailed The Blue, So What Are You Planning  To Do?

Are you looking for a few activities to do Monday for Columbus Day?

I have a day's worth of fun-filled activities to help you celebrate and teach all sorts of report card standards at the same time.

There's something for everyone here, that involves all sorts of subjects and skills. 

The 42-page Columbus Day packet includes a geography book, 3 art projects, songs, 2 games, a 2-page easy-reader activity, and all sorts of skill sheets from dot-to-dots (you choose how to count), to a maze, alphabet sort, matching,  a cut and glue activity, pinch and poke to a trace to pre-write skill sheet.

Choose what suits your students and staple them together to make a Columbus Day Activity Booklet for your morning Table Top routine.

The ship picture on the left has sails that are 3-Dimensional.  Adding students' pictures makes this "craftivity" even more of a keepsake.

I've also included a certificate of praise to pass out at the end of the day.

Click on the link to view/download the Columbus Day packet.

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“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.” –Abraham Lincoln

This Old Man Is A Scarecrow!

One of my favorite themes in the fall was scarecrows.  It’s a great non-Halloween theme for those schools that don’t celebrate that holiday too.

I liked to involve music and gross motor movement whenever I could, to help make learning extra fun and get the wiggles out at the same time.

Incorporating rhyming songs via music with a beat, helped children get the hang of things quickly.

This Old Man is a terrific vehicle to introduce counting.  After reading that story, and playing the CD, I told my Y5’s that they were going to pretend to be scarecrows.

I showed them how a scarecrow would stand, and pointed out the 2 scarecrows we had propped in the corners of our room.

I demonstrated how to slap, clap, and snap and asked them if these words rhymed.

After passing out the manipulatives I read the teacher's edition of This Scarecrow; the students did the movements.

Afterwards, children transitioned to their desks to read, trace, write, count and spy numbers of scarecrows completing their own booklet.

Once everyone was done, we read the booklet as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print.

Click on the link to view/download This Scarecrow

Something Extra:

My favorite scarecrow "craftivity" I did with my Y5's was the "Personal Scarecrow"

I pre-cut large sheets of construction paper into the various shapes.

Students cut and glued smaller shapes to the body portion of the scarecrow.

We reviewed them as they assembled their scarecrow.

For the head, I enlarged their school photograph on the copier. 

When you enlarge to that size, it becomes pixilated so their face really does take on a  burlap-scarecrow kind of appearance!

For great fine motor practice, have students snip  yellow pieces of construction paper so that they look like straw.

Children glue these behind the end of the sleeves and pant legs.

I used brass brads so that the arms and legs were "jointed."  The scarecrows could dance and prance down the hallway wall.

I wrote a poem for Mailbox Magazine that I posted under the scarecrows. You can imagine all of the cool comments we received.

Click on the link to view/download the Personal Scarecrow

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

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

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” –Mark Twain

Fall Into Some Fun Common Core Writing For Fall!

I LOVE combining art with creative writing.  I call these activities “Craftivities” and when you can mix in a little science at the same time, that's a real win-win.

Craftivities also make simple and easy bulletin boards or hallway displays that are pretty outstanding.

These fall writing prompts will help you teach several Common Core State Standards. They are listed and explained below.

Draw an oak tree on brown bulletin board paper with bare branches so that you can hang the leaves and acorn writing prompts on it, and scatter the squirrels underneath.

The leaves say: I see... I hear... I smell... The acorns say: I taste... and the squirrels say: I feel... (Older students write the entire sentence; younger students trace the first few words.)

Display the tree on a wall in the hallway.  You can use the caption: Our 5-Senses Creative Writing Oak Tree OR Using Our 5-Sense In The Fall.

If you want this to appear a bit more 3-D, twist brown lunch bags into strands, and use duct tape to attach them to the branches and down the trunk.

Run the oak leaves off on a variety of colored construction paper, as this will look better than brown leaves, even though oak leaves turn brown when they lose their chlorophyll.  Mention this fact to your students.

Gather students in front of the whiteboard. Review what the 5 senses are.  Brainstorm with them about using their 5 senses to see, hear, smell, taste and feel different things typical of the fall season.

Review beginning capitalization of words, Common Core State Standard: L.K.2a, as well as ending punctuation. Common Core State Standard: L. K. 2b, and RF.1.1 as well as L.1.2b for 1^st grade.

Have students spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships, or write a list of words from your brainstorming session on the white board having students help you spell them as you write them. Common Core State Standard: L.K.2d for kindergarten and L.1.2d for 1^st grade where they use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

Review what a noun, verb and adjective are, with older students.  Keep things simple for PK students and have them TRACE the beginning words and complete the sentence with 1 noun and a period.  K’s can add nouns and verbs; older students can add adjectives as well.

Make sure that you do an example yourself, explaining the parts of speech, grammar and punctuation as you go. RF.K.1a (Point out to students that they are reading words from left to right, top to bottom and page by page.) RF.K.1c (Point out that the words are separated by spaces and remind them to make sure they have a finger-space between their words too.)

Students can add color to their cut out pieces.  Remind them to include their names.  For a bit more pizzazz, you can also add glitter.  Use this as an incentive for students if they give their best effort and do their work correctly.

To give variety to your “wall board,” I have designed two squirrels.  You can run off both kinds and give children a choice.  Sprinkle the squirrels around the bottom of your oak tree.

If you don’t want to make a bulletin board, or hallway tree mural out of these writing prompts, you can collate the pages together to make a class book.  I’ve provided a cover for you if you want to do that.

You can also suspend the various similar pieces back-to-back from fish line and hang from the ceiling.   Click on the link to view/download 5-Senses Oak Tree Creative Writing packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

"It takes time to save time." -Joe Taylor

What Day Is It?

You requested them, you got them! A set of "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" calendar cards!

Not only one set,  but a set for EVERY month, so you can change them seasonally when you switch out your calendar bulletin board!

I also made two extra sets with apples and owls, as they seem to be the big themes this year.

Laminate the cards so you can write the days of the week on them or put them above your days of the week cards.

The cards help students understand verb tense (past-present-future) as well as learn the days of the week.

Click on the link to view/download Monthly Calendar Cards For Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

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"A good laugh is sunshine in a house." -William Makepeace Thackeray

Getting Boxed In, Can Be Educational AND Fun!

The 50-word Elkonin Box Packet was such a popular download; I decided to do another packet.

More Elkonin Boxes includes 19 more word templates.  I drew these words from the Dolch noun word list.

I also made a sheet of blank Elkonin Box templates, so that students could try their hand at writing a word at the top and then segmenting the word into individual phonemes underneath.

I believe that by providing a template, students are empowered, instead of being frustrated, as my Y5’s often had a difficult time drawing boxes.

This also expedites the exercise and allows children to concentrate on the lesson at hand.

Click on the link to view/download Elkonin Box Packet #2

In  Introduction To Elkonin Boxes I give detailed instructions of how to guide your students through segmenting simple CVC words and then moving on from there.

This packet includes 3, 4, and 5 Elkonin box blank templates.

Unlike the first two Elkonin Box packets, these do not have pictures, and are boxes that are equal in size.

I also give you a variety of quick and easy ideas of things you can do with the Elkonin boxes,that are sure to not only turn light bulbs on, but get your students excited about segmenting words.

Click on the link to view/download Introduction to Elkonin Boxes.

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“Never know too much to learn something new.” –Og Mandino

Getting To The Core With A Box

If someone asked me what was the most Googled Word or phrase that was "hit" for my site,  I would easily answer Elkonin Boxes.

If you are not familiar with them, they are a huge help in teaching the Common Core State Standard: RF.K2b as they are simply "boxes" that are a visual representation that helps students count, pronounce, blend and segment syllables in spoken words.

The 20-page packet includes 50 word templates + 3, 4, and 5 letter box blank templates, for teachers/parents to use in a variety of ways.

• Elkonin boxes can be used to teach phonemic awareness by having students listen for individual sounds and marking where they hear them in the boxes.
• Each Elkonin box in an Elkonin box card represents one phoneme, or sound.
• Elkonin boxes are a physical segmentation of words into phonemes.

• I make my boxes a bit longer when a digraph or blend is involved because it fixes the spelling in a child’s mind. (I think this helps them with decoding and spelling, as phonemes count as one sound not one letter.)
• There are many activities that teachers can do with Elkonin boxes, but the main activity teachers usually use them for is to 'stretch' out words, identify similar or different sounds and then guess at spelling.
• I’ve made an alphabetical list of some of the more popular words for kindergarten and first grade.

• You can use them as skill sheets or run them off and laminate them and use them as a center activity, or flashcards.
• Students can use counters, chips, or unifix cubes to mark the boxes or run the masters off on copy paper and have students use a bingo dot marker or write in the letters.
• There's also a writing master, where students are given a word to break down and then they use that word in a sentence. 

Here you can remind students to separate their words, capitalize the beginning word and use end punctuation, which are  Common Core State Standards: RF.1c, L.K2a, and L.K2b.

Any of these Elkonin Box worksheets make great "Word Work" for Daily 5 activities too.

Click on the link to view/download Elkonin Boxes

Do you have an activity that you use Elkonin boxes for, that you could share with us? I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here.

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

"What comes from the heart, goes to the heart."-Samuel Taylor Cooleridge

Writing Prompts From A Poster!

Well the creative juices were flowing last week when I diddled around with a song to teach Common Core Standards.  I didn't think I could get more fun than Old MacDonald helping out with vowels.

I putzed with the idea of making up a poster to help students do a bit of creative writing.  Kids love posters, and as the saying goes "A picture is worth a 1,000 words" so why not use one to stimulate writing those words.

I thought by making an interesting and thought-provoking poster, teachers could use it as a segway into several writing prompts their students would enjoy diving into.

Older students could write about the symbolism and what the poster means.  Teachers could explain this to lower elementary.

Even young children can think of other things in the classroom that could give advice and tell what advice they would give.

After discussion, let them choose an object and complete a sentence, like the poster, making an illustration. Have them cut and glue their contribution to a class tag board poster.

This would make a nice "Word Work" activity for Daily 5.

Older students can make their own poster, using their room or another room in their home or school as the example.

What a hoot to do the cafeteria, gym, locker room, kitchen, basement or garage!

Click on the link to view/download Wisdom From The Classroom Poster.

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"Nothing has a better effect upon children than praise." -Sir Philip Sidney

Old MacDonald Had Some Vowels!

Well, I've written several blog articles using kiddie lit to help teach the Common Core Standards, as well as class-made books and art activities.  I thought is there a song that children know that I can use to teach Common Core?

That got me to thinking of what song do most children know? Old MacDonald came to mind, and as soon as I sang E-I-E-I-O, I thought of vowels! So, the Old MacDonald Had Some Vowels song-booklet was born.

It's 7 pages and covers the Common Core State Standards:RF.K1a, RF.K1b, RF.K1c, RF.K3b, RF.K3c, RL.K.10 woo hoo!

As I stated above, because most children are familiar with the tune of Old MacDonald, this booklet is a fun way to guide them into learning about long and short vowels.

In case you have some children who are from other countries and cultures, or live here and are not familiar with Old MacDonald, obtain a picture book of the original as well as a CD of the song. 

Introduce both to your students, so that you can also compare and contrast the two.  Get the wiggles out by having children choose an animal and prance around for a few minutes as animals, before you get down to business, then begin your lesson.

You should already have introduced vowels to your students and done letter sorting between consonants and vowels with them.  I have several activities, posters, puzzles, and packets that you can obtain lessons for this. Simply click on my Vowel link.

Students are able to read the repetitious simple sentences, because they are filled with common Dolch sight words.

The pictures help them guess the new words that begin with the long or short vowel sound that they repeat to the tune of Old MacDonald.

Cutting and gluing a matching picture helps them practice much-needed fine motor skills, which makes this a nice independent reading center or Daily 5 activity.

Instead of the familiar E-I-E-I-O of the old favorite, children are learning all of their vowels by repeating them through out the story-song: A-E-I-O-U. 

Animals and songs are favorites with children; combine them, and you have a winning combination for learning!

Click on the link to view/download Old MacDonald Had Some Vowels

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

""Things can be different only if you can make them different." -Unknown