Summer Sunshine And Sunflowers

When I think of summer, I think of sunflowers.

When my children were little we always left sunflower seeds out for the birds.  They were a favorite of cardinals, one of my favorite birds.

The problem with the bird feeders tho’ is the squirrels made a virtual mess of them, so I had sunflowers popping up all over the place.

They are easy to grow and will sprout in just a few weeks, so I decided to see if we could grow some and make a sunflower “hideout” in the back 40.

It was a wonderful jungle and they loved playing in it.

I got the idea from Eve Bunting’s book, Sunflower House.  That book and Backyard Giant, are my two favorite sunflower books.

They are terrific read aloud’s for your kiddo’s.  Afterwards, compare and contrast the books and do a graphing extension.

I’ve included a graph in my Sunflower Packet, along with all sorts of other fun activities.

Click on the link to view/download the Sunflower Packet.

Where Is The Sunflower is an easy reader that works on spatial directions.  Students cut out the sunflowers and glue them to the appropriate places on the page.

Click on the link to view/download the Where Is The Sunflower easy reader booklet.

The Seeds On My Sunflower is another easy reader where students get practice counting to 10, reading, tracing, writing, cutting and gluing, as they match the appropriate numbered seeds to their sunflower.

I’ve included word-wall word flashcards, a math skill sheet, a graphing extension, and certificate of praise.

Click on the link to view/download the easy reader booklet The Seeds On My Sunflower.

Finally, 123 Count Sunflowers With Me, is the newest addition in the Count With Me collection of easy readers.

As with all the Count With Me booklets, this packet includes: a graphing extension, 40 word-wall word and number traceable cards, covers for the flashcards so you can make Itty Bitty booklets, a plus 1 more math worksheet and a certificate of praise.

Click on the link to view/download 123 Count Sunflowers With Me.

I hope your remaining days are filled with sunshine as warm and lovely as these yellow sunflowers.

Do you have a sunflower idea you’d like to share?  I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or feel free to post a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas!  Thanks in advance for making the time to do that; you’ll make my day.  I enjoy hearing from visitors.

PIN away if you think others might find anything on our site that is interesting or useful.

I hope you can skip on over tomorrow for more teaching tips that add fun to learning. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Let's Get To The Point: Edible Pencils!

Even easier than the “Owl Miss You” gift for students, is this pencil treat.

I first saw it last September on Pinterest as a back to school lunch box tuck in, as well as a teacher gift.

So if you are looking for a teacher appreciation gift, or wanting to make something for all of the volunteers that helped you, this would fit the bill for that too.

Again, I saw it pinned about a dozen times, tweaked in different ways, by different people, being used for different things, so if this was your original idea, please let me know and I will give you credit and link to your site.

I too, am tweaking it, to be used as an end-of-the-year gift for your kiddo’s, and adding a poetic note that you can attach.

The above people all used Rolo’s, but I found that there are several other rolls of things that you can wrap with yellow construction paper to make the pencil.

I used Sweetarts, because I found them at Walgreens on special 2 for $1.

You can buy the 2 different flavors of Mentos as well as Rolo’s by the box at Sam’s Club too.

If you use card stock instead of construction paper and pre-make the rolls instead of wrapping a candy roll, you can really cut down the cost, by dropping 7-8 Hershey kisses down the tube, or bubble gum or whatever other candy you find on sale.

If you do use a roll of candy, measure your candy roll so that you can wrap it.

Leave enough room at the “pencil writing end” to insert a Hershey’s kiss.  The eraser end will simply remain open.

Cut strips of pink construction paper for the eraser part and glue the strip to the end of the pencil BEFORE you wrap the candy.

Snip off the flag of the kiss and put it at the other end of the pencil.

Just an FYI, when you are making your rolls, make sure that you are not wrapping them too tightly around the roll of candy, otherwise the kiss will not fit in the end.

I had a hard time shoving my kiss into the point after I wrapped the sweetarts.

The Mentos were a bit wider, but still not as wide as a kiss.  You also don’t want it too loose, or the kiss will drop out.

I ended up adding a glue dot to the end to make sure the kisses stayed put.

For a bit more pizzazz, print off the U R Sharp! labels.  Put a sheet of Avery (30-on-a-page) labels in your printer.  Trim and press on the pencils.

Run off the notes, sign them and tuck everything in a Baggie.  You may even want to include a real pencil. 

I also made "You're sharp!" 10-on-a-page praise cards that you can cut 2 slits in and insert a pencil.  This is the sweet clip art of Laura Strickland from My Cute Graphics.

Click on the link to view/download U R Sharp Candy Pencil Gift

Do you have an end-of-the-year gift that you give your students?  I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or post a comment here.

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might enjoy or find useful.

Thanks for visiting; hope you can pop in tomorrow for more interesting teaching tips.

Owl Miss You! Sweet treats and special end-of-the-year student gift ideas...

Are you looking for a quick, easy and not too expensive little something to give your students at the end of the year?

I designed an “Owl Miss You” themed-packet of items I think you might enjoy.

I really like playing with words, and when I was surfing the net for owl clip art I came across that cute saying about a dozen or so times.

I like to give credit where credit is due, so if you are the originator of this sweet saying, let me know and I’ll post your name as well as link up to your site and whatever idea you had that you used it with.

In the meantime, candy is always a big hit with students and since I have a membership at both Costco and Sam’s Club I can buy in bulk and save.

The Dollar Store is also a great place to get goodies as well as Walmart.  Simply watch ads for Dollar Day Deals all spring and summer long too.

Buy a box of Hershey’s milk chocolate candy bars.

Run off my “Owl miss you!” candy bar wrapper on tan construction paper, leave it as is, or add some color with markers or crayons.

Personalize them by writing your students’ names on the heart balloon.

Wrap the bars and seal them shut with a large heart or smilie sticker, or print off my owl labels by putting a sheet of large, Avery (30-on-a-page) labels in your printer.

These adorable owls on the labels, are from Laura Strickland's My Cute Graphic's clipart collection. 

For added pizzazz, choose one of the owl bookmarks and tuck one inside the candy bar before you wrap it.

I also like to send home a variety of “Don’t forget!” kinds of things that my students can have fun reviewing over the summer.

I’ve included owl-themed traceable skip counting cards by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s as well as counting cards from 1-30.

There are also cards for the alphabet, ordinal numbers, days of the week, and colors.

I've also made a note from the teacher as well.

Click on the link to view/download I’ll Be Missing You! Owl-themed packet

Scroll down for article #2, another end-of-the-year, easy gift idea: You’re A Sharp Student.

Thanks For The Memories…

Are you looking for a nice keepsake for your students or an interesting end-of-the-year writing prompt?

How about making a keepsake booklet?  This makes a nice Daily 5 activity, or do the booklet as a whole group for your writing or reading block.

You can also send it home to be worked on during the summer.

Whether you send this home for students to work on with their families, or do a page or 2 each day during the last week of school, this booklet is sure to make a wonderful keepsake of the year your students were in your grade.

I've included cover pages for pre-school, young fives, kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades, + a blank page for others to fill in their grade level.

Add photographs of students and their best friends to make the booklet even more special and allow time for children to pass their booklets around to gather autographs.

To expedite things, why not run off an extra copy of the master autograph pages and have everyone, including yourself, sign the page and then simply run off enough copies for each student to include in their booklet.

Click on the link to view/download School Memories Keepsake Booklet

I hope all your memories were marvelous!

Learning With Owies!

It’s that time of year to haul out the Band-Aide box as children are coming in from the playground with scraped knees and elbows and a variety of other boo-boo’s.

It’s also a nice time to review all of the letters of the alphabet to make sure your students are retaining what you’ve taught them.

What better way to do that than with Band-Aides!

I made a boo-boo alphabet, using that “must-have” first aid equipment that a teacher simply can’t be without, and decided to turn the letters into an alphabet booklet that would reinforce parts of the body, which is a Y5 report card standard.

I had to get a little creative with some of the letters, but I think you’ll find this unique ABC book interesting and fun.

Simply make one for yourself as a teacher’s copy, and read it to your students or use them as flashcards, or print off copies for your entire class and use as a whole group writing/reading center.

It’s also a fun activity to send home for the summer.

Click on the link to view/download Band-Aide Alphabet booklet

A great companion to this is My Owie booklet.

Students cut and glue the matching numbered pictures to the correct boxes in their booklet.

This is a nice way to review parts of the body.

It's also a cute booklet to send home with a child who has gotten hurt on the playground.

Also includes:

• A graphing extension
• 3 skill sheets
• Dr. Simon Says Game
• 2 songs to review body parts
• 9 word-wall word flashcards with 7 picture cards and a cover-card to make an Itty Bitty booklet
• An Accident Report-form letter to send home to parents +
• An art Band-Aide activity to make, to use as a manipulative to use with the songs and game to learn/review parts of the body.

Click on the link to view/download My Owie booklet packet

Thanks for visiting.  Do try and pop in tomorrow for more ideas and tips.  How do you handle boo-boo's when they happen in your class?  I'd enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com or feel free to post a comment here. Thanks in advance for making the time to do that.

PIN away if there's anything you feel might excite parents or teachers as well.  I think sharing is so important!

Until next time may all of your boo-boo's truly be healed with a kiss and hug!

In The Good Ole Summer Time

When I think of summer I think of sunglasses.

I found this cute clip art and I thought what could I do with this?

As Dr. Seuss would say, A few “thinks” later, and I had several new things for you to do with your students!

My Sunglasses is an easy reader where students trace and write the color and number words, circle the number in the sequence and then color the sunglasses.

Number 10 has a twist. I’ve also included a graphing extension.

Click on the link to view/download My Sunglasses.

Do a few of your little ones still not have a handle on those 3-D shapes, or have you just begun to introduce them for next year’s kindergartners?

Then Seeing 3-D Shapes Through My Sunglasses is perfect for you.

Click on the link to view/download Seeing 3-D Shapes with sunglasses!

Next, there are a variety of ways you can use 20-Summer-Sun Compound Word Sunglasses.

You can run off and laminate the puzzle cards and have students put them together as a center.

I’ve included directions for a variety of games that you can play with them such as Memory Match Concentration or “I Have; Who Has?”

They are great as worksheets.  So that you can program the glasses with other lessons, to reinforce more report card standards and practice other skills, such as skip counting, subtraction or addition equations, shapes etc.  I’ve included a blank set of sunglasses.

Have students cut the sunglass pages apart, put them in alphabetical order, trace the words, collate the pages and make a booklet.

Click on the link to view/download Summer-Sun Compound Word Sunglasses

Finally, ABC Sunglasses are traceable upper and lowercase letter pages that can be made into a booklet or used as separate worksheets.

Again, there’s a blank set of sunglasses so that you can program your own skillsheets. i.e., Write only the uppercase letters in and have students fill in the lowercase letters, or write in the lowercase letters, and have students fill in the uppercase ones.

I’ve also made the sunglass letters into puzzles.  Color the sunglasses, laminate them and cut the pieces apart on the puzzle lines.

Besides a puzzle center activity, I’ve also included a list of game ideas you can use the pieces for as well.

Click on the link to view/download ABC Sunglasses.

Thanks for visiting. Be sure and pop back tomorrow for another teaching tip.

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

Do you have an end-of the year activity you do with your students?  I’d enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas.  Thanks in advance for taking the time. I hope these activity sunglasses are fun for your students, and your remaining days with them are made in the shade!

For your convenience, I reposted 3 of my visitors "favorite" articles from last year:  

Let's Have A Pet Parade, Sweet Summer Dreamin' Pillowcases,  & Thanking Volunteers.

Scroll down to check out these end-of-the-year fun things to do with your kiddo's.

1-2-3 Blast Off Into Summer With Me!

I discovered rather quickly that my Y5's, K's and even my 1st graders, had no real concept of time.  After all, the calendar involves many new vocabulary words that most of them were not familiar with. 

When introducing a new month I'd ask them what the name was.  For October they'd often say "It's pumpkin month." 

Likewise, their passage of time was limited.  Their focus was mainly on the present, or something special that was going to happen and they were completely clueless of how many days were in a month or left before that special day arrived. 

Consequently, I was inundated with daily questions of "How many days before.....?"  With that in mind, I designed some countdown activities that alleviated the problem.   Are you tired of being asked: "How many days 'til summer vacation?" or..."How many more days of school do we have left?"

A quick, easy and fun way to solve that problem and get some math skills in, is by hanging up this cute countdown paper chain.

Make the chains into a specific color pattern (ABAB or ABCABC, were the ones I used most)  and review patterns and colors. Have students say the color words in English and Spanish.  Review the days of the week to see what weekday their last day will be.

You can also cover a variety of number skills as well. Count in English and Spanish; blast off from 20 to 0 or 10 to 0 when you have 20/10 links left; skip count by 2's and 3's; review greater and less than; count how many chains are left and then count from that number or ask students some addition and subtraction questions like, "What's 1 or 10 more; 1 or 10 less."

Wow! There are so many things you can do with a paper chain!  If you think of more please leave a comment below.

You can simply make one for your class and suspend it from the ceiling close to your calendar, making this part of your calendar routine, or have each child make one to take home and keep track of the days there too.

Click on the link to view/download the Summer Countdown Paper Chain  If you like this idea and want to plan ahead and incorporate it next year, as one of your daily routines, click on the link for the How Many Days Left In The Month packet. 

As you can see, this is a quick, easy and fun way to cover all sorts of concepts in a few minutes, and was especially helpful when students were looking forward to something special like a fieldtrip, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's day or 100 Day celebration.  

I used Velcro dots to change the picture on the blackboard hanger each month.  i.e. The apple was for September; I had a pumpkin for October etc. 

To make extra special days standout, I put stickers on the various paper links.  Before counting, I'd have students glance at the chain and guess-timate how many days they thought we had left that month.  

To build vocabulary, I'd also ask them if our chain was getting longer or shorter and if the chain was bigger yesterday or today.  You can throw in some measurement by guess-timating how long they think the chain is and then use a yardstick to measure it.  Click on the link to view/download the How Many Days Left In The Month packet.

Finally, another "keeping track of the days" option, is the Monthly Special Date Wheels.  The packet includes a generic schoolhouse you can use all year, or a special one for each month. 

You can change the event that students are looking forward to, by turning the wheel.  Students can also see the numbers. 

Click on the link to take a look or download those for free as well. 

Thank you for visiting.  I hope you have fun counting down the days.   The last month of school always went by really fast for me.  

Feel free to PIN anything from the site.  My "Pin it" button is at the top.

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Emerson

1-2-3 Come Read With Me

Are you looking for some easy readers with a summer theme?  Well, you’ve come to the right place.

My Summer Senses is a great way to review the 5 senses as well as the 4 seasons!

Students get practice tracing and writing words and use picture clues to read the sentences.

Children also get cutting and gluing fine motor reinforcement by matching the numbered picture to the box in their booklet.

There's a graphing extension and a set of 10 word-wall word flashcards for the seasons and senses as well as a certificate of praise.

Click on the link to view/download the My Summer Senses easy reader booklet.

At The Beach is another easy reader where students enjoy cutting and gluing the various things that they can do at the beach, matching the pictures to the sentences.

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

I’ve also included a certificate of praise, 36 word-wall word cards that can be turned into an Itty Bitty booklet, and an Our Class Beach Book writing extension.

Click on the link to view/download the At The Beach easy reader booklet.

In The Colors of Summer easy reader, students trace, write and color the color words as they use picture clues to read the words.

They practice their cutting and gluing skills by matching the numbered pictures to the appropriate boxes in their booklet.

There's a math-graphing extension, 40-word wall word flashcards, and a certificate of praise + two color-word worksheets.

Click on the link to view/download The Colors Of Summer easy reader booklet.

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

"When you look at a field of dandelions you can either see 100 weeds, or 100 wishes." -Unknown