Ready. Set. Action!

Having to write a simple sentence with a noun and verb, with appropriate capitalization and end punctuation is now a standard for even our youngest students.

This can be a pretty big mountain to climb, as some of them are just learning how to write their name and to identify the letters of the alphabet, so I thought why not cover all of these standards in a fun way with an alliterative class-made alphabet book!

The 36-page Name & Action Verb and Noun Class Book packet, is perfect for first graders, and something that can be done later in the year for kindergartners and makes a great Daily 5 or reading or writing center activity as well.

The packet covers the Common Core Standards: RF.K1a, RF.K1c, RF.K1d, RF.K3a, RI.K.5, RI.K.6, L.K1a, L.K1b, L.K2a, L.K2b I'm very familiar with Kindergarten standards, and I know some of the first grade standards over lap, but I don't have a handle on all of them. Sorry I don't have the numbers for you. 

Students write a simple sentence using a letter from the alphabet that starts with the letter of their name.They underline the capital letter of the beginning word, as well as the ending punctuation. So that you have a complete alphabet book with all of the letters, you can also assign a letter to each student, and allow them to make up a name.

To make sure they have included an “action word” (verb) and a “thing word” (noun) they need to underline those as well. Children then illustrate their page.

I chose to make this an alliterative book because I think tongue twisters are not only more fun, and a bit more challenging for first graders, but they help reinforce the Common Core Standard RF.K3a where students demonstrate basic knowledge of letter-sound correspondence, by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each consonant.

If you think this is too difficult for your PK’s or K’s, simply have them think of any verb or noun and simply work on that skill, rather than make it too complicated.

I suggest sitting in a circle around the white board and brainstorming each child’s words, as a whole group, which would help the light bulbs go on via repetition, as you are continuously working on the same concept over and over with different letters, with everyone helping you until you have completed the task.

You could also send the page home as a home-school assignment, and let parents work one-on-one with their child.  For that finishing touch, add a photo to make the book even more interesting.

You can run off the last page so everyone can work on their letter skills.  Have them trace and then write their letters and then pair up with a partner and quiz each other on which letter is which.  I've also included a certificate of praise.

When everyone has completed their page, laminate and collate them into a class book. Make sure that you do a sample page of your own.  My students are always surprised to find out that I too, have a first name.

When they are done, they can choose one question to ask the class: What the action verb was, what the noun was, what was the name of the end punctuation or what letter was capitalized?

Students will enjoy “playing teacher” and you will be reinforcing several standards in a fun way, as each child shares their page! Click on the link to view/download Name and Action Class Book

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“See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little.” –Pope John XXIII

1-2-3 Come Make A Scarecrow Glyph With Me

Since the pumpkin glyph was such a big hit, I decided to make another fall glyph for you. (A Glyph Makes A Diff!) I thought scarecrows would fit for October or November.

The oval template is for girls; the round one for boys. The directions help students create their unique scarecrow from there.

I’ve found that if I gave my Y5’s a template of some sort, they did much better.

At the beginning of the year, little ones tend to have a difficult time drawing something to fill up an entire page, let alone have a circle or oval look like that particular shape.

Be sure to make one for yourself to show as an example. The ones pictured, I did for me and my husband.

It's a great way for your students to get to know you. Just a "heads up", when it comes to putting down age, I assumed the age of my students, so it didn't confuse them.

My Y5's often copied me, and when I put down lots of hair or whatever, instead of doing 4 or 5 to represent their age they did "lots" too.

I explained to them that I was ________ (age) but I was only putting down 4 or 5 strands of hair because that was how old they were and this is what their scarecrow would look like.

Glyphs are a great way to whole-group assess listening and following directions.  When completed, they make adorable bulletin boards or hallway border displays too!

By having students sign their names on the back of their glyphs, you can give your students some time to collect data from their classmates, to try and figure out whose glyph belongs to whom.

Set a timer, and award a prize of some sort to the student who figures out the most glyphs. Click on the link to view/download the scarecrow glyph.  For other glyphs, click on the link:  Seasonal Glyphs

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“Courage is resistance to fear, a mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” –Mark Twain

Pumpkin "Punkin" Praise!

Woo Hoo! This is my 400th Blog Article! Wow; that sure happened fast. I hope you've found them helpful.

Are your little “punkins” in need of a little calming?

I’ve found that as the year progresses and students get to know their classmates and become friends, they begin to get more comfortable and very social.

On one hand this is terrific, on the other, little ones can become so excited that they forget to stop talking, raise their hand, and use inside voices.

There’s nothing like a little incentive to make rules and reminders fun. Since October is just around the corner, I thought a Pumpkin Praise Puzzle would be appropriate.

Students earn a pumpkin puzzle piece with a letter on it, for whatever behavior you decide upon.  When completely assembled, the pumpkin spells “Pumpkin Praise”.

For those schools celebrating Halloween, I have a Jack-O-lantern.  For those who celebrate a harvest theme, I have a plain pumpkin puzzle.

Decide ahead of time, what behavior will earn a pumpkin letter i.e., everyone lining up before the timer rings, everyone completing a task, etc.

For preschoolers you can have instant gratification at the end of the day; they earn a letter for a list of behaviors they have accomplished throughout the day.  Remind them that a letter can be taken away for inappropriate behavior as well.

Older students can have delayed gratification, and earn 1 or 2 letters per day, with their reward coming at the end of the week.

Decide with your class what the reward should be, perhaps an extra recess, a nature walk, everyone gets a special treat that they help make for snack time, etc.

Do this for only a day or week or continue through out the month or until interest wanes.

Simply run off the template on orange construction paper.  I ran off another copy on green so that I could have a green stem.  I also colored in the pumpkin’s facial features with a black marker.

Laminate the pieces and cut them out.  Attach a magnet or piece of Velcro so you can attach your pumpkin puzzle to a white or flannel board.

As students earn a puzzle piece, assemble the pumpkin on the board.

I designed this so you could do this as a whole-group activity, but you could easily have your students work on the other pumpkin as a personal achievement puzzle pumpkin.

As children earn puzzle pieces, they could glue them to a sheet of black construction paper and collect their reward once they have completed their pumpkin!

You could make these individual pumpkins smaller by shrinking my template on the copier.

Click on the link to view/download Pumpkin Praise Behavior Modification Puzzle

I hope Pumpkin Praise works for you and that you find yourself praising your little “punkins” through out October!

Do you have a behavior modification technique you could share with us? I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or feel free to leave a comment here.

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“The rain falls on all of the fields, but crops grow only in those that have been tilled and sown.” –Chinese Proverb

Attention-Getting Fall Glyphs!

Glyphs are a quick, easy and fun whole-group listening and following directions  tool that can be used for assessments.

During conferences, if you have to prove to parents that their child is not listening and following directions,  glyphs are a perfect example to haul out and share.

Since listening and following directions is a standard on most report cards, glyphs are a fun way for students to show you that they can do that. 

Completed glyphs also make an interesting bulletin board or hallway border display.  By having students write their names on the BACK of their glyph, you can challenge them to try and figure out whose glyph belongs to whom. 

Have children interview their classmates, collecting and then analyzing their data, which is also a standard for many. This 18-page packet includes graphing and tally mark extensions,  so you can cover these math concepts as well. 

The pumpkin glyph is also a nice review of 2D shapes.  Click on the link to view/download the pumpkin glyph.  If you have a scarecrow theme going on, I think you'll enjoy this cute scarecrow glyph. 

My Young Fives LOVED doing glyphs, so I dreamed up one for just about every month. To view other glyphs, click on the link. More Seasonal Glyphs

Thanks for visiting today. Do you have a glyph you could share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you diane@teachwithme.com or take a moment and leave a comment here.

It's a gorgeous fall day!  Outside my office window, I can see some of the trees starting to turn and a few yellow leaves floating in the breeze, as they spiral to the ground, seeming to avoid the busy squirrels scampering willy nilly. 

I think it's time for a break.  Chloe, my poodle pup, will enjoy a brisk walk too.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have done." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Farmer In October

October is often inundated with Halloween, and for schools who don't celebrate that, it's sometimes hard to find "harvest' related activities.  I wrote The Farmer In October with a harvest theme in mind, because of that.  I've included a teacher's copy, with manipulatives that you can laminate so that your story can be interactive.

There is a "cut & glue" version for students, to reinforce fine motor skills. Have students transition to this activity after reading the teacher’s edition.  It makes a nice independent reading/writing center or great Daily 5 activity.

If you’d like to do Daily 5 “word work” use the traceable flashcards that are included.

Have students combine them with other word wall word flashcards, from other packets, to make sentences.  After everyone completes their booklet, gather children in a circle and act out the story.  Manipulatives are included.

The Farmer in October can be sung to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell.  The "characters" in the story are fruits and vegetables that he harvests. Students can play these parts just like the farmer's wife, the dog, cheese etc. in Farmer In The Dell.   Children make a circle and sing The Farmer in October song, picking fruits/veggies and having them stand in the middle, as you would for The Farmer In The Dell.

I've also included, a graphing extension, as well as a tally sheet to incorporate math with reading! Click on the link to view/download The Farmer in October 28-page packet.

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Happy Harvest to you and yours!

“Schoolteachers are not fully appreciated by parents until it rains all day Saturday.” –E.C. McKenzie   

My Pumpkin Shape Booklet Easy Reader (K.G.2)

Since yesterday’s My Pumpkin Booklet was such a huge hit, I decided to continue with a pumpkin theme for the rest of the week.

The 14-page My Pumpkin Shape Booklet Easy Reader packet is a fun way to review the basic shapes and common Word Wall words with your students.

When students make these easy readers you can review concepts of print with them by asking simple questions: Where is the cover, where is the back page, what is the title? (RI.K5) They will delight in the fact that they are part author as well as the illustrator of the booklet. (RI.K6

You can point out to them that the first word in the sentence is capitalized (L.K2a) and ask them what the end punctuation is. (L.K2b) In my easy readers where they re-write the entire sentence this reinforces those standards.

Students are also following words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.  (RF.K3a ) They are seeing and understanding that words are separated by spaces in print as they trace and then write them. (RF.K3d)

I specifically choose common high-frequency words in the easy readers and repeat them through out the booklets so that simply via repetition students learn them. (the, of, to, you, she, he, my, is, are, a, do, does, it, etc.) This is also a Common Core State Standard: (RF.K3c)

Children TRACE the words in the sentences as well as the shape and then write the shape word and draw the shape on the oval pumpkin, which they also trace.

Because of the spatially placed shapes, the last page has the pumpkin turning into a Jack-O-Lantern.

Take this opportunity to ask your students how the shapes are placed. Is the circle nose ABOVE the triangle teeth? Are the square eyes UNDER the rectangle stem? You have then incorporated the Common Core standand K.G.1 where "Students describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to. "

Younger students can trace him, older students can draw their own. (There are 2 different pages.)

Also includes 3 skill sheets about shapes, a certificate of praise, and 8-word wall-flashcards including 6-shape picture cards.

Students can make these into an Itty Bitty booklet. Make a laminated set to use for a Memory Match game, where the students can match the words to the picture or the colored picture to the non-colored picture.

The booklet + worksheets make a great independent writing center or Daily 5 activity.

Click on the link to view/download My Pumpkin Shape Booklet Easy Reader packet.

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Do you have a pumpkin activity your students really enjoy?  I’d LOVE hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or take a moment and leave a comment here. Thanks in advance!

“What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul.” –Joseph Addison

My Pumpkin Book Easy Reader

October will soon be here; this easy reader covers a variety of standards, skills and subjects.

You can use the straight version of the booklet and concentrate on reading and writing skills, or you can use the "cut and glue" version (pictured) and incorporate fine motor, cutting, gluing, sequencing, listening and following direction skills as well.  

When students make these easy readers you can review concepts of print with them by asking simple questions: Where is the cover, where is the back page, what is the title? (RI.K5) They will delight in the fact that they are part author as well as the illustrator of the booklet. (RI.K6

You can point out to them that the first word in the sentence is capitalized (L.K2a) and remind them to capitalize it when they rewrite their sentence. Ask them what the end punctuation is. (L.K2b) and again remind them how important it is to include it when they write their sentence. By rewriting sentences or making up additional ones, in some of my easy readers, children are practicing and reinforcing these standards.

Students are also following words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.  (RF.K3a ) They are seeing and understanding that words are separated by spaces in print as they trace and then write them. (RF.K3d)

I specifically choose common high-frequency words in the easy readers and repeat them through out the booklets so that simply via repetition students learn them. (the, of, to, you, she, he, my, is, are, a, do, does, it, etc.) This is also a Common Core State Standard: (RF.K3c)

The text has rhyming words which make it a fun read-aloud as well as covering RF.K2a which is being able to recognize and produce rhuyming words.  Take this opportunity to ask your students what other word(s) rhyme with that word.  Which other ones could have fit that would make sense in the sentence.

This easy reader makes a nice activity for Daily 5 or an independent reading or writing center for October.  When everyone has completed their booklet, be sure to read it together as a whole group to review concepts of print.

Because the life cycle of a pumpkin is also sequenced, this is a nice way to cover a bit of pumpkin science too. so don't forget to point out the various stages as you read it aloud.

Why not laminate a completed booklet, attach Velcro or magnet strips to the back and have students sequence the stages on a flannel or white board?

Children will enjoy taking it home to share with their family, which will reinforce lessons learned at school.

Click on the link to view/download My Pumpkin Booklet

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"It is not so much what s poured into a the student, but what is planted that really counts." -Anonymous

1-2-3 Come Read AND Count With Me!

I designed the 1-2-3 Counting series of booklets to combine Common Core Math and Reading standards.

There is so much to cover in a day that I like to over lap subjects and to use an old colloquialism “Kill two birds with one stone.”

Also the consistency of these booklets helps empower students and builds their self-esteem, as it only takes one time for students to need assistance, instructions and then they can work independently on their booklet.

This makes them perfect for a Daily 5 activity or center and frees the teacher up to work one-on-one with other children to help strugglers or do assessing.

You can do one a week or month, depending on your themes or the needs of your students.

They are nice as a home-school connection if you need “homework”, something for students to do when children finish mandatory work, or perfect for a sub folder or something that can be sent home for those students who still don’t “get it.”

Read the booklet as a whole group to review concepts of print and reinforce the vocabulary.

Students read, trace and write the number and number word. They see the “themed object” in a sentence and say it.

They spy the number in a sequence and circle it.

They X-out that many boxes or use a bingo dot marker or stamp.  As an added math concept, I had my Y5’s use 2 different colored bingo dot markers and show me an ABAB pattern. (See sample page above.)

Children cut & glue the set/group to the matching numbered box. My students really enjoyed doing these booklets and they caught onto concepts quickly.

I have a nice collection of fall 1-2-3 easy readers that will hopefully add to your autumn themed lessons.

Each one includes a graphing extension, traceable word-wall word flashcards, a cover for the flashcards so students can turn them into an Itty Bitty Booklet, a “Plus one more” worksheet, and a certificate of praise.

Click on the links to view download any or all of the following: 123 Count Apples With Me,   123 Count Leaves With Me, 123 Count Footballs With Me,   123 Count Pumpkins With Me,   123 Count Fire Trucks With Me,   123 Count Scarecrows With Me. 

Click on the 123 link to view the entire collection of easy readers.

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“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” –Thomas Dewar

Come Get Caught In The Web Of Learning

Although I detest spiders (uhg!) it was one of my very favorite themes, and my Y5’s LOVED learning about them.

Since September is simply flying and October is just around the corner, I decided to make some lessons you can use in a variety of fun ways to teach Common Core standards.

This 47-page packet has a little bit of this and that.

Use the math mats to sort odd & even numbers, do addition & subtraction activities, show greater and less than groups & sets of numbers etc.

Students can sequence the number cards as well as make Itty Bitty booklets.

I've also added some flies so they can get caught in the web to add another "manipulative" for students to use in a variety of ways.

Also included in the packet are:

• Upper & lowercase letter spiders
• Lowercase flies
• A tip sheet of how to use these cards to play games etc.
• Spider webs for uppercase letters, lowercase letters, odd numbers, even numbers, and a generic web for whatever
• Skip counting spider cards by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's
• Numbered spiders and fly cards to 35
• Greater & less than spider card symbols
• Addition question sheet and a subtraction question sheet
• 4 traceable spider number grid worksheets to 100
• 4 traceable spider number grid worksheets to 120 +
• 2 certificates of praise

Click on the link to view/download the Spider Packet   I hope your little ones have a simply spider-iffic time as they get caught in a web of learning!

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“They can, because they think they can!” -Virgil

Syllables and Long & Short Vowel Word Work

Sorry I didn’t blog for 2 days, but…

Woo Hoo!

My daughter had a baby on Thursday night, after 21 hours of labor…

so to say my brain had left my body for Thursday and Friday is an understatement.

Welcome to the world 7.6 oz Kaiden Michael!

To make up for things, I’ve whipped up some “add on” anchor charts I think you’ll enjoy.

Simply laminate them and then list CVC, spelling, vocabulary, Dolch and other words your students run across during reading time, and then list the appropriate words in the correct columns.

For the syllable-clapping poster, clap the words out by how many syllables they have, and then write the words in the appropriate columns.

Use the posters as anchor charts and/or run off copies for students to keep in a reading folder to use during "Word Work" for a Daily 5 activity.

Click on the link to view/download the Clapping out Syllables Word Anchor Chart

Click on the link to view/download the Long & Short Add A Word Vowel Anchor Charts

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“Children are our most valuable natural resource.” –Herbert Hoover