If You Take A Mouse To School and If You Give A Mouse A Cookie: Fun Back To School Books

Whenever I can, I like to make up lessons that go with favorite books. It’s a plus to have an activity that reinforces standards, for students to transition to, after reading a story.

If You Take A Mouse To School, and If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, by Laura Joffe Numeroff are 2 wonderful stories to read in September. I do a take off of these books with my easy reader: If You Give A Mouse A Letter He'll Want The Whole Alphabet.

Students read the sentence, then trace and write the letters.  When everyone is done, read the booklet as a whole group to review concepts of print as well as upper and lowercase letters.

Run off a set of the 52 upper and lowercase mouse letter cards, laminate and cut them apart.  Pass them out to your students.  As you read the story, whomever has those letter cards drops them into the mouse pail.

To make a mouse to "feed", run off my template, cut him out, glue him to brown construction paper and slit the line above the letter box. Staple a Quaker oat box or Baggie behind the slit.

Besides the easy reader, this 32-page packet includes:

• A feed the mouse template
• Upper and lowercase matching skill sheet
• Upper and lowercase trace and write skills sheets
• 4 "What's Missing?" upper and lowercase skill sheets
• Circle the letters of your name skill sheet
• An upper and lowercase letter assessment
• 26 upper and lowercase letter cards + covers to make Itty Bitty Booklets
• 2 assessments +
• 3 certificates of praise

The packet will help with Common Core State Standards: RF.K1d & L.1.1a.  Click on the link to view/download If You Give A Mouse A Letter Packet

Shapes are another standard that my Y5's have to master, so I also did an If You Give A Mouse A Shape packet.

Here you'll find two easy readers, two graphing extensions + several worksheets.

One easy reader is entitled: If You Give A Mouse A Shape (These are 2D shapes.)

The other is: If You Give A Mouse a 3D Shape. 

Along these same lines, is the If You Take A _________ To School class-made book, where students think up another animal they'd like to take to school and then write and illustrate their page. 

I've also included the Mary Had A Little Lamb nursery rhyme in this packet.

Thanks for visiting today. I'm onto yet another project.  So many fun things to do, so little time... I bet you can relate. 

“Little by little does the trick!” –Abraham Lincoln

1-2-3 Come Make A Back-To-School Kitty Craft With Me

A kajillion years ago, just before I was student teaching, I had a professor ask us to bring 3 things in a lunch bag that represented us.  We’d be sharing it as an icebreaker during our next class.

I really liked this idea and filed it away in my brain, thinking it would be fun to do with my “someday” students.  Many “some days” have come and gone and I’ve since seen variations of the “me bags” all over the Internet and on Pinterest.

When I was an aide, only ½ a jillion years ago, I did a writing prompt with my 2^nd graders entitled: “The Cat’s Out Of The Bag.”  I had an “all about me” checklist, written on a cat’s belly, that they filled out and then read to their classmates.

Later, they colored, cut and glued the cat, to the outside of a brown lunch bag, and after sharing them with their classmates, they hung their cat on the front of their lockers, so passers by could also get to know them.

My kiddos really enjoyed doing them, and we got lots of compliments from hallway visitors. I thought this would be a nice creative twist to my icebreaker bag of long ago.

Here’s what you do:

Make up your own personal “Cat bag” and share it with your students so they get to know a little bit about you too.  I included a family photo, (my students always thought it was cool that I have an identical twin), a small stuffed poodle to represent our pet Chloe, a tiny book because I love to read, a pen because I love to write, and paintbrush because I enjoy art.

No matter what grade I taught, I always made samples.  My students really enjoyed getting to know me this way, as well as being able to “see” something and refer to it, as they worked on their own project. 

Examples also made things easy to explain and acted as an attention grabber as well.  Run off the note to the parents, along with the cute cat and “The cat’s out of the bag” sign.  There are two on a page to save paper. 

Attach them to a brown lunch bag and send them home with students on the first day of school, or during your Open House. 

Not only is this an easy and fun way to get to know your students, it will afford an opportunity to give them some practice sharing in front of their new friends. 

This is a wonderful alternative to Show and Tell.  Plan to have 2-3 children (or as many as time will allow) share their bag each day during snack time, or at the end of the day before dismissal.

Click on the link to view/download The Cat’s Out Of The Bag packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Do you have a getting-to-know-you project or icebreaker you’d be willing to share with us?  I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

Feel free to PIN away.  My "Pin it" button is at the top on the menu bar.  To check out more back-to-school ideas, click on the link, and stay tuned for more articles with lots of FREEBIES through out the summer.

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you can help them become what they are capable of becoming.” –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

An Apple (Activity) A Day Keeps Boredom Away!

One of my favorite units that I did with my Y5’s was APPLES.

I think they really enjoyed it too, as visiting an apple orchard and picking 3 different kinds of apples was our first fieldtrip.

I feel it’s important to have lots of hands-on centers for little ones, to help them increase fine motor skills through cutting and gluing.

Doing centers helps with a variety of life skills and forces them to listen in order to follow directions.

As they become independent, they are empowered and their self-esteem soars.

Seeing their creations hung on our “Wall of Fame” in the hallway, also helped give them a sense of pride.

Knowing I was going to display their work, was a good incentive, to give their best effort.

Through art, I could also incorporate reading, writing, math, and science; sometimes all of them in one quick project, which covered a variety of report card standards.

The 92 – page Apple Art Projects Book has a large variety of activities in it and includes directions, patterns and pictures.

These make terrific center activities, something for students to do when they have completed other work, a nice home-school connection project to be given as homework, or something to tuck in your substitute folder.

The results are wonderful back to school bulletin boards, or hallway and door displays.  Some can be suspended from the ceiling.

The crayon-melt apple poem was one of my favorites.

The poem introduced my students to rhyme; the rhyme taught them the science fact they needed to learn about apples; twisting the 3 color crayons through a sharpener was a terrific fine motor skill, and the result after I put a sheet of wax paper over their shavings and applied a warm iron was awesome!

I also reinforced the 3 colors with this rip and tear apple, which strengthened finger muscles as well.

Students enjoyed making the Life Cycle of an Apple on a paper plate, which was a quick and easy way to get some science in.

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Art Projects Packet.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

Do you have an apple 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.

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

“We should say to each [child]: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel.  You are unique -- you may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. 

You have the capacity for anything!” –Pablo Casals

Be True To The Red White And Blue

A big part of going back to school is teaching a variety of routines.

One of the things that my Y5’s were learning for the first time was The Pledge Of Allegiance.

Like many schools through out the US, we started our day with announcements.

Our principal’s voice would boom over the PA system and lead us in the Pledge.

My Y5’s were doing a wonderful job with memorization, but when I asked my little ones what they were saying, they were clueless, or had a very different interpretation of what some of the words meant.

For example, many of them thought indivisible meant being invisible.

I told them that it was important to understand what they were pledging, and asked them if they wanted to know what the words really meant?

Their curiosity was peaked and most of them raised their hands in agreement.

I designed My Pledge Definition Dictionary with kid-friendly synonyms they could understand.

As long as teachers are required to increase students’ vocabularies, why not start with these very important words!

This packet also includes a certificate of praise as well as a copy of The Pledge of Allegiance for students to practice tracing, as a means of memorization, so that they become familiar with the words.

Click on the link to view/download My Pledge Of Allegiance Definition Dictionary Packet

I feel that knowing about our flag is very important.

The Easy Reader booklet My Flag is a wonderful way to learn important facts about the flag, as students trace and then write key words, cutting and gluing matching pictures to the appropriate sentences.

The booklet can be used as an introduction to The Pledge of Allegiance or a review and has 3 different endings, which makes it very versatile.

Click on the link to view/download My Flag.

The 49-page Flag Activities Packet, covers the history of our flag, information about the flag, and includes links, articles, art projects, skill sheets and writing activities.

It’s a wonderful resource for something patriotic to do with your students.

One of my students' favorite activities was making their own personal flag.  These are a great way to learn about your new students and make a terrific back to school bulletin board too.

Click on the link to view download the Flag Activities Packet.

Finally, the I’m Proud To Be An American Writing Prompt fits well at the beginning of the year when you’re teaching the Pledge, or looking for an activity for Constitution Day.

Use students’ finished pages as an easy bulletin board, or collate them into a class book.

Click on the link to view/download Proud to be an American Writing Prompt

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can also stop by tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

Do you have one to share?  I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or take a moment and post a comment here.

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

“I find that a great part of the information I have acquired was by looking up something and finding something else on the way.” –Franklin P. Adams

1-2-3 Read With Me!

Here are 4 easy readers that are great activities for the first week of school.

My First Day Of School, is a quick and easy activity that will engage your students on that busy first day.

Take their photo and include it, to make this a real keepsake.

I've also included a page for preschool, Y5's, 1st grade + a blank page for you to fill in whatever other grade is appropriate for you.

How Do You Go To School, helps reinforce how children get to school. Students will enjoy reading this booklet and sharing how they arrive.

To make it more personal, have students put an X by the picture on the cover, of how they get to school, then have them write the name of their school on the last page.

Children read the sentence using pictures as clues.  They trace and write the key word, then cut and glue another picture to the matching numbered boxes.

The easy reader School, reinforces the idea of students liking school!

Children use picture clues to read the sentence. Students trace it and then write the main-idea word.  Children then cut and glue a picture to the matching numbered boxes.

The packet includes:

• 14 word-wall word flashcards +
• Covers to make an Itty Bitty Word Book
• 3 picture cards,
• A class book writing extension with two different writing prompts
• 2 math skill sheets
• A graphing extension +
• A certificate of praise

Finally, We Go To School works on days of the week.

Being able to read (sight words) word wall words is a Common Core State Standard. I listed the parts of a calendar as part of my word wall and thought an easy reader that addressed this concept, would be a fun way to learn them.

I included a quick and easy schoolhouse days of the week slider in this packet as well.

I hope you find these easy readers a nice addition to your classroom activities.  They work well for Daily 5 or a Reading/Writing center too.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can pop back tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

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

“Whoever retains the natural curiosity of childhood is never bored or dull.” -Unknown

Send Them Off With A Kiss!

I LOVE the book The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. The gist of it is that a baby raccoon wants nothing to do with going to night school.  He’d just as soon stay home with his mom and continue to play in the forest.

Mama raccoon wisely explains that he’ll make all sorts of new friends, naming several other nocturnal animals and that he’ll really like his new teacher (an owl of course) and doing all sorts of fun school activities.

She places a kiss on his hand that travels up his arm and straight into his heart, warming him instantly.  Something he can look at all evening long reminding him that “Mama loves you.”

As he excitedly scampers off to school, he pauses to kiss his mommy’s hand, letting her know that “Chester” loves her too.

My Y5’s really enjoyed this story, especially petting my soft pet raccoon puppet that would not come out of his garbage can at first because he was frightened.  It’s a wonderful way to introduce feelings and graph how children felt on this first day.

I found if they got to put on a mask and pretend they were raccoons that even my shyest children could talk and tell me how they really felt.  Anyone holding the raccoon was the one who got to speak and share.

Because this story is extremely popular I decided to dream up some activities your students would enjoy doing during the first week of school. Perhaps even on the first day, if it isn’t too hectic and packed with other “must get done” rules and regulations activities.

The 24-page Kissing Hand Packet includes two keepsake “craftivities” involving tracing students hands. These make wonderful and easy back to school bulletin boards.

To expedite this with little ones, have a room helper trace and cut them out in the morning, so they are ready in the afternoon.

If you don’t have anyone helping you, think about including a piece of flesh-toned construction paper in your summer note, or open house packet with an explanation to have parents trace and cut their child’s hand and return it for the first day of school.

You could also set this up as a quick “Please do!” station at your open house, if you have one before school starts.. Parents stop at the station, “get it done” and then leave it in the basket.

Click on the link to view/download The Kissing Hand Activities The Raccoon upper and lowercase letter activity packet helps with Common Core State Standard RF.K1d and RF.1.1a

Use them as flashcards, Memory Match Concentration games, or play ‘I Have, Who Has?” later in the year.  I include a tip list of what else you can do with the cards.

If you want to use them on the first day, you can sprinkle them around the room, and have students find them.  See how many students can identify any of the letters.

A really fun thing to do, would be to pass out the raccoon masks from the first packet. (Make ahead of time out of foam and hot glue to paint sticks.)

Tell your little ones that they are going to be Raccoon ABCDe-tectives and look for Chester's ABC card clues he’s hidden around the school. Tape them to places you want the children to learn about.

Put the Bb cards by the bathroom and then check it out. Find  the Ll cards by the library, and then have the children meet the librarian.

Give the Pp and Ss cards to the principal and secretary and make a stop at the office.

Gg is for gym, Mm is for music,  Cc is for computers or cafeteria.  Your students will have fun spying the cards, while they tour the school and learn where things are.

Rr can land them back to your room where you can have a note from Chester and a Hershey kiss waiting on their desk.

Click on the link to view/download Raccoon Upper and Lowercase Letter Kissing Hand Activities

I hope you enjoy these activities and your first week of school is simply fantastic!

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

“A good teacher is like a candle, which consumes itself to light the way for others.” -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make A Pattern With Me!

Learning how to make, identify and extend a pattern are report card standards for our Y5’s.

They had fun doing that with all sorts of colorful manipulatives.  I also used a variety of food during snack time.

They also glued mini-die cuts to a 1/2 sheet of construction paper each month, making a line pattern in their pattern booklet.

When we were out and about during field trips or for a fall or spring walk, I’d have them try and find patterns in nature as well.

Because I needed a “hard copy” to prove my students passed that assessment, I also needed to have some paper examples of them making and extending patterns, so I designed patterning skill sheets in every unit.

I just completed some anchor charts for you to laminate.  You can use these as ways to whole group explain the concept.

Have students come up to the board and complete and identify the pattern.

Make this part of your daily calendar time, or plug in before or after you read a story. It only takes a minute.

You can also run off copies for your students as a worksheet, or use as an assessment when you are ready to evaluate their progress.

Because I used all of the colors and shapes, you can also take a moment to review those as well.

Click on the link to view/download the Pattern Anchor Chart Posters.

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can stop by tomorrow for more back to school activities.

Feel free to PIN anything you think might help others.

“If we did all of the things we are capable of doing, we would truly astound ourselves!” –Thomas Edison

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Look Who's In Our Classroom!

One of my favorite books that I read during the first week of school was Chicka Boom.

My hallway bulletin board had a floor to ceiling palm tree on the side with a monkey hanging by it that would ooh ahh if you pulled its tail.

It was a great way to help anxious students calm down. “Do you want to hear my monkey talk?”

On the bulletin board was a monkey with each child’s name.  During our Open House treasure hunt, students had to find their name.

Being able to recognize their name was one of our report card standards, so I was always trying to think of fun ways for my students to do that.

The caption on this b. board was: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Welcome To Our Classroom!

Another year, I skipped the b. board and used a wall to make the display even bigger because I wanted to include alphabet letters.

To get the wiggles out after reading the book, I pass out monkey masks and my Y5's played "Monkey See Monkey Do" and we copied the "Monkey In The Middle."

I know many teachers all over the country also read this book, so I wanted to design lots of activities for a variety of standards to go with it.

The Picka Chicka File Folder reinforces colors, upper and lowercase letters (Common Core State Standard RF.K1d) and shapes; as well as reading and writing.

Click on the link to view/download the 67-page Picka Chicka-Chicka Boom File Folder Packet.

Chicka Boom Boom Look Who’s In Our Classroom is an easy reader class book, that helps students get to know their new friends, reinforces name recognition, as well as upper and lowercase letters.  (Common Core State Standard RF.K1d)

The 35-page Chicka Boom Trunk Tricks packet includes a variety of adorable Chicka Boom tree projects that reinforce letters, shapes, patterns, and other report card standards in a unique and fun way.

The packet includes:

• Keepsake handprint art activity
• Chicka Boom There's Enough Room booklet
• Name tree
• Vowel tree
• Count by 10's tree
• Color tree
• Pattern block tree
• Pinch & Poke tree
• Connect the ABC's tree
• Trace Race tree
• b & d tree
• Hide & seek letters tree
• Hide & seek name tree and
• A certificate of praise

Click on the link to view/download Chicka Boom Trunk Tricks

Finish up your Chicka Boom studies with this fun hands-on Chicka Boom snack.

To compliment all of the Chicka Boom activities I have a variety of monkey-themed activities as well.

Click on the link to view/download a variety of easy readers etc. This link will take you to the Monkey section, where I hope you’ll have a barrel of fun!

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

I hope you can swing by tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why and pursued the answer.” –Bernard Baruch

Let's Decorate!

Use the large road signs as gentle reminder posters for a wall.

Print double ones and hang them back-to-back with a piece of fish line and suspend from the ceiling.

Several “My students are out of this world” signs, hung from the ceiling, dangling down at various lengths in front of your back to school bulletin board, with your students’ first day photographs, would add interest.

Use the smaller ones for a bulletin board boarder, or make bookmarks, a magnet, or cut slits and make pencil toppers for your students.

Hang the “Danger” sign on your door, and suspend the “Quiet Zone Testing” one, on your doorknob when you are assessing.

Use the “Think” sign as a cover for a writing prompt for a “What are your thoughts today?” journal.

Whatever you decide to use the signs for, I hope you find them helpful.

Click on the link to view/download Student Road Signs

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can STOP by tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

Feel free to PIN anything from my site that you think others may find useful.

“ I touch the future; I teach.” Ms. McAuliffe

Grammar Can Be FUN When You Make It A GAME!

Since the Goin On A Bear Hunt Punctuation and Capitalization activities were such a huge hit, as promised, I made cat, dinosaur, frog and pig, cards too.

They follow the same format.  The beauty of this is, that it empowers students and builds their self-esteem.

Repetition of some activities is important, especially with young children, because they can’t read directions.

Once the teacher has read, explained and modeled an activity and students have done it, they are good to go the next time around.

This independence makes them feel great and the teacher is freed up to work one-on-one with struggling students or ESL children.

A definite win-win all around, and the big reason I set up my tabletop lessons and easy readers the way I do.

By sprinkling the cards around the room and having children search for them, you help get the wiggles out, add some variety into your students’ grammar routine, and make correcting sentences a lot more fun, than simply handing out a worksheet.  + it only takes a few more minutes and your students are now excited and ready to “get down to business!”

Because of this, these cards and recording sheets make great Daily 5 or writing center activities and help students nail the Common Core State Standard: RF.1.1

Click on the links to view/download: the cat, dinosaur, frog, or piggy punctuation and capitalization activity packets.

Each set also includes a certificate of praise.

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

I hope you can stop by tomorrow for more back to school ideas. 

Do you have a back to school idea or teaching grammar tip you could share with us? 

I'd enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here. 

Thanks in advance for taking the time to do that. 

If everyone took a moment to share, just think how full our bag of tricks would be, and how much easier our lives would become!

“It’s possible we could teach kids anything.  I get them to live the concepts.  My job is to push them.  I want 30 Rocky Balboas, 30 students who are thirsting to learn.” -Joseph Vicari