Show Me The Money! Manipulatives That Motivate.

I find that students learn so much better with manipulatives, all the more if they make their own, because they are reinforcing concepts as they put their project together.

Not only will children enjoy making these coin Popsicle stick puppets, they will have fun playing the "What Am I?" game that follows perfect for a President's Day activity.

Here's how to make the Coin Sticks:

Run off the masters. Students cut out their coins and color them the appropriate colors.

Children cut and glue the penny and nickel back-to-back and the dime and quarter back-to-back. This way they will only have 2 “puppet” sticks to manipulate for the game.

I've pictured the fronts and backs of the coin sticks in the photo as I made 2 pair.

Students trace the coin words with a crayon, cut them out and glue them to the matching coin stick.

Older children can simply write the name of the coin on the stick with a marker.

To make the papers a little more durable, I glued mine to a scrap of construction paper.

Using a hot glue gun, or glue dots, teachers glues REAL coins to their Popsicle sticks.

Students sit on the floor in front of the teacher. Teacher reads one clue at a time for a coin.

Children can raise their Popsicle stick coin puppet anytime they know the answer, but may change it only once after the teacher reads: What am I?

The teacher holds up a real coin stick and asks: "Is this the correct coin?"  This can be the correct one, to which the children reply “Yes!” or an incorrect one. The teacher then chooses another stick, ‘til (s)he gets it right.

This is a great way to whole-group assess, and a fun way to have students learn the different facts about the coins.

Have students keep their coin sticks in their desks/cubbies so you can play the game daily/weekly. When the novelty has worn off, or when students can identify the coins they can take them home.

You can also use these coin sticks to help students with spatial directions.  i.e. Hold the penny stick in your left hand. Show me the quarter stick in your right hand. Put the dime beside the nickel etc.

Likewise, you can review body parts and have children put the penny on their thigh, the nickel on their wrist, the dime on their hip etc.

Your students will enjoy these “Simon Says” type games. They are quick reviews, and you can whole group assess in a matter of a few minutes.

Click on the link to view/download the Coin Popsicle Stick Puppets  To hang up some coin posters with poems click on the link. Coin Poster Poems

To reward students with a certificate of praise click on the link. Coin Certificates

Because President's Day is tomorrow I wrote 2 more articles for you. Scroll down for a "You're Cent-sational!" Star Student neckace.  Perfect for President's Day. 

Do you have something you'd like to share?  I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com OR...feel free to leave a comment, especially if you use an idea.  Thanks in advance!

Get In Shape On President's Day!

A quick and easy little booklet your students will have fun making on President’s Day, is The Dollar Shapes Up.

It’s a nice review of the 6 basic shapes.

Students cut out the shapes and glue them to the matching dollar bills.

To make it more of a keepsake, print off a copy of your class composite, cut your student’s pix into ovals and have them glue their photo to the cover of the booklet.

For an interesting discussion and math extension, inform students that President Washington is on the dollar bill as well as the quarter.

Ask them how many quarters does it take to make a dollar, how many pennies, nickels and dimes?

Click on the link to view/download The Dollar Shapes Up booklet.

Be sure and pop back tomorrow for 3 more cute President's Day ideas!

Making Washington's Tricorn Hat and Lincoln's Stovepipe Hat On President's Day

For a fun center, on President’s Day, set up a hat-making table.  Students can choose to make a Washington tricorn hat or a Lincoln stovepipe top hat.

Lincoln’s hat is a perfect example of a cylinder and will make a nice review of that 3-D shape.  Washington’s hat is 3-cornered like a triangle.

George Washington's tricorn hat was the fashionable hat for his time period, as it was the thing to wear during the American Revolution.

American Patriots, including the Minutemen, wore a three-cornered, or tricorn hat.

The hat was made of wool. Men who considered themselves to be wealthy and fashionable would wear tricorn hats decorated with lace, feathers, and would often have silver or gold accents and buckles on them.

Even pirates enjoyed wearing these hats.  Your students might have seen the Disney character, Jack Sparrow, sporting one in the Pirate’s of the Caribbean movies.

Similarly, the top hat was very popular during the Civil War period when Lincoln was President.  History relates stories that Abraham often kept important papers and notes tucked under his hat  for safe keeping as  he hurried off somewhere.

For  directions of how to make a tricorn hat out of a paper bag click on the link. Washington's Tricorn Paper Bag Hat

For directions of how to make Washington’s hat out of black construction paper click on this link.

Washington's Construction Paper Tricorn Hat

YouTube has a short step-by-step tutorial of  how to make Lincoln’s stovepipe hat. 

This would be perfect for a Seuss hat during March is Reading month as well. To view the video click on the link.

How to make Lincoln's or Dr. Seuss's stovepipe hat.

This is a photograph of the hat that Lincoln wore the night he was shot while watching a play at the Ford theatre. It is on display at the Smithsonian institute.

Click on the link to read about the details. 

This is a photo of one of Lincoln’s favorite beaver hats. His fingertips wore marks on the brim where he continuously put his fingers to tip his hat.

Click on the link to see other Lincoln memorabilia.

To print out this article and pix click on the link. How to Make a Washington Tricorn and Lincoln Stovepipe Hat.

Hats off to you for being a wonderful teacher! I hope your students enjoy President’s Day and wearing a hat!

Pop back tomorrow for The Dollar Shapes Up! A fun way to review shapes, study money, and do a fun center for President's Day, all rolled into one booklet!

Scroll down for more President’s Day ideas.

Making Class Books For President's Day!

President’s Day is coming soon, Monday the 20^th.  I have some fun activities chock full of standards for you.

Students will enjoy writing so much more if they know their page will become part of a class book.  I think they take a little more pride in their work.

After you laminate and collate their pages into a class book, read it to the class by having each student share their page. Let them know ahead of time that you will be doing this.

Work on books in class, or send them home as a home-school connection for parents to work on with their child.

My Washington and Lincoln Fact Book is a quick and interesting way to learn a few things about both presidents in a side-by-side comparison method.

Students trace the sentence, write the main word, cut and glue the matching picture and then read the booklet via the picture clues.

There is a math graphing extension included.

Click on the link to view/download the Washington and Lincoln Fact Book.

Share with your students the responsibilities of the President of the United States and then have them complete the writing prompt:

If I Were President... Children illustrate their page and teachers collate them into a class book.  Adding student school pictures makes the books even more personal. 

There are 2 graphing extensions to this book as well. 

Click on the link to view/download If I Were President class book.

Washington or Lincoln Comparison Class Book allows students to decide which president they liked best and then write why. There’s a graphing opportunity here as well.

Click on the link to view/download Washington or Lincoln Comparison Class Book.

Facts About US Presidents is a nice mini research-computer lesson where students find three facts about the president of their choice and list them along with a picture and at least 2 sources. 

Teachers compile these into a class book as well.  A list of all the Presidents and the terms that they served are included.

Click on the link to view/download Facts About US Presidents.

Finally, I made a packet of 12 “Just for fun” skill sheets, including 2 similarities and differences worksheets.

(It’s a report card standard to recognize similarities and differences and so hard to find worksheets to assess this, so I’ve included them in all of my units.) 

Plus a complete the pattern worksheet (also a standard that’s hard to find practice sheets for.)

There’s a cute “Happy President’s Day” paperclip bookmark, that makes a cute gift from the teacher, included in this packet as well.

It could also be a quick center activity.

Click on the link to view/download Washington & Lincoln's Skill Sheets & Activities

I got the idea for them from these paperclips from Sherry’s Blog Altered To Perfection. 

Click on the link to see her creative things.

For a fun center activity, pop back on Friday to see how to make Lincoln and Washington’s hats!

Scroll down for yesterday's President's Day mobiles and past PD articles!

Learning About President Lincoln, President Washington and Money All Rolled Into A Few Fun Art Activities

February 20^th is just around the corner when government agencies will be closed for President’s Day.

After Valentine’s Day I take a few days to study Washington and Lincoln, and add the color blue to our red and white décor for a patriotic look.

It’s also the time I launch our coin studies, as these two famous gents are on our money.

Making mobiles is an easy and fun center activity, that quickly creates a great hallway decoration, as they dangle from the middle of the ceiling or twirl as a border against the wall.

They help reinforce shapes, listening and following spatial directions and are a wonderful way for students to learn facts, as they compare and contrast the lives of these legendary presidents.

All of these mobiles can be found in my February Art and Activities Book.

Click on the link to view/download it.

The Money Mobile is one of my personal favorites and a terrific way for your students to review all of the coins at once.

I find if children do hands-on projects where they can compare and contrast coins, they are able to identify them more easily when they are assessed.

Arranging them from smallest to largest also helps them get this fact in their mind.

Little ones seem to think that because a dime is worth 10 cents, it should be larger than a nickel and penny.

Cutting, gluing and then coloring the “Coin ID Sort” helps them with this.  Click on the link to view/down load Coin Identification Sort

The Lincoln and Washington Information Mobile, helps students learn a few facts about the presidents; Lincoln is on one side, Washington is on the other side.

The same is true of the paper chain mobile, which helps reinforce patterning.

I’ve made money poster-poems that you can put up in your room/read to your students.

I found the poems all over the Web so I don’t know who to give credit to.   If you know the originator, please drop me a line so I can credit the source.

I revamped the 50 cent one as fries are no longer that price, and also changed the dollar because of ITunes.

Click on the link to view/download the Coin Poster Poems

I've also made coin certificates when your students have mastered identifying them as well as being able to name them.

Since these are two different standards, I've made certificates for both. 

Our Y5's do not have to identfy the quarter, but I've included  certificates with the quarter on them as well. Click on the link to view/download them. Coin Certificates

For your convenience I’ve posted last year’s President’s Day article after this one, so you don’t have to hunt through the archives for more tips.

If you're looking for coloring pages of the presidents,  Lil Fingers has all of them! Click on the link to check out their selection. 

They also have coloring pages for all of the coins too. 

I use coloring pages to make a variety of skill sheets like Pinch and Pokes, bingo dot a pattern, dot-to-dots, I Spy a Number etc.

Be sure and pop back tomorrow for more fun teaching tips.  

Last Minute Fun:

I know Valentine's Day is tomorrow, but I just had to post a few more things for people who still need a couple of finishing touches for their parties. 

These Valentine Wands are super easy, and your students will LOVE finding them on their desk as a special surprise tomorrow.

Here's how to make them:

Run off the master on red/pink construction paper.

Cut out the hearts.

Cut the smaller back heart out of old file folders so that the wand is sturdier and won’t flop over.

Insert skewer into straw.  This will make it sturdy so it won’t bend. The point will stick out about two inches.  I don’t like to just use a skewer, as little ones wave their wands and I don’t want to chance them poking each other accidentally.  

Glue the heart on the back on top of the skewer point. Tape the skewer in place.  I’m big on finishing touches so I added two stickers to cover the tape.

Cut 3 pieces of 15-inch long curling ribbon. Use one strand to tie all of them to the end of the heart and curl the ends. I think metallic really gives it that extra sparkle.

You can simply write a student’s name on the back, leave it plain or really add pizzazz by writing their name in glitter glue.  It’s worth the extra effort for the “wow!” effect you’ll get.

Lay them name up on your students’ desks on party day.

Click on the link to view/download the Valentine Heart Wand

Whatever you’re doing I hope it truly is magical!

Scroll down for article #2 - another quick surprise for your kiddo's.

Angry Birds Activities

Are your children/students crazy over the game Angry Birds?

Sometimes you can harness that enthusiasm and have it overflow into school lessons, by incorporating those goofy characters into their skill sheets and activities.

I remember when Pokemon was all the rage.  My second graders were so addicted, that the principal had to put a ban on card collecting at recess.

To motivate them to study spelling, I drew the characters on their spelling lists and gave bookmarks to anyone who got a 100 on their test.

I couldn’t believe how they improved.

I was reading another teacher’s blog yesterday and a kindergarten teacher was asking others if they had any ideas for letter and number help with an Angry Bird theme, as one of her struggling students really enjoyed the game.

Even my 4-year-old grandson loves to play it.  I thought why not design some activities that will hopefully help this child, as well as others who might also enjoy those crazy little birds and that adorable pig.

Thanks to the free clipart of Melysa Gonzalez at squidoo.com’s party ideas, I was able to make traceable upper and lowercase alphabet cards, as well as number cards. These make great Itty Bitty booklets as well as games.

Make the alphabet cards into Memory Match games, or pass a card out to students and play “I Have-Who Has?”

Sprinkle them on the floor and have students who have an uppercase letter find their lowercase partner.

Play with a partner and put the cards in alphabetical order.  See which team does it the quickest.

Make a bird bag like the one pictured at Squidoo. 

 The template for the bags and the balloons pictured below are at this link. Angry Birds bags & balloon patterns.

Students reach in and pull out a card and identify it.  If they do, they stay in the circle, if they can’t, they are out of the game.

Make the game even more exciting by playing Kaboom.

Pass around the Angry Birds bag.  Instead of showing their card as they choose it, students keep their card a secret.

Teacher chooses a student to start the game.  They show and identify  their card and then call on someone.

That person shows and identifies their card.  If it is a red-bird Kaboom card, they are both out, and everyone yells KABOOM!

Another really fun whole-group game is “SWAT!”  The Dollar Store is currently selling two fly swatters for a dollar. Ironically they are lime green and yellow!

Make 2 balloon birds and tape them to the top of each one of the flyswatters.

Print off my piggy alphabet cards and sprinkle them on the floor face up.

Choose 2 children who have 30 - 60 seconds to swat piggy cards with their angry bird swatters.

Teacher calls out the letter that they should swat. The first bird to swat the card gets the point.

If they don’t slap the correct piggy their turn ends.   I’ve designed "Super Swatter" certificates of praise for the "slap happy' students who participated.

Dabble with Dawn's blog inspired my next game idea. 

She had an Angry Bird birthday party for her son.  Click on the link to view her creative ideas.

Make a Dixie cup tower like Dawn did in this photo, only make one with 26 cups; one for each letter of the alphabet.

Print my piggy letter cards and tape one around each cup.

Give students a small red rubber ball that you have drawn bird features on.

Each child gets one chance to toss the ball at the piggy letter-cup tower.

Children get to score a point for whatever pig letter cups that topple, but only if  they can identify the letter on the cup.

The student with the most points wins the game.

My Y5’s always enjoyed wearing masks, and it truly helped the shyer students come out of their shells, so I designed an Angry Bird “I Spy!” mask for more fun activities.

Run off the bird mask on red, yellow, white, black, and blue construction paper. These are the colors of the Angry Birds.

Students choose a color and cut  out their bird.  You can add that bit of extra pizzazz by adding a feather to the top with a glue dot.

To expedite things, run off and pre-cut the beaks using yellow construction paper.

Students glue their beaks on.

Little ones will need help cutting  the eyeholes.  Tape a Popsicle to the bottom.

Students can now go around the room spying letters and numbers “tweeting” out their success when they find something starting with the letter A, or actually see that letter etc.

Dawn also made a cute piggy mask out of a paper plate.

You can do these same “I Spy” games by making my piggy magnifying glass. Have students use it when they are reading.

Being able to catch and toss a beanbag is a Y5 report card standard, so I designed this activity:

Section off a lime green sheet of tag board into 26 squares.

Write a letter of the alphabet in each square.  Buy a slingshot at The Dollar Store or a novelty shop.

Give each child a chance to sling a red, yellow, blue, or black beanbag onto the tag board.   You can easily make a beanbag by sewing up squares of felt and filling them with rice.

To make the game more Angry Bird appropriate, draw a bird face onto the beanbags, and draw piggy faces in the corner of each square on the tag board.

Whatever letter their beanbag bird lands on, the student identifies.  If they can’t, they are out of the game.

You could also put the Dixie cup letters on the tag board and see how many pig letter cups their beanbag bird knocks down.

Students accumulate points by how many letters they can identify.

After playing games, reward students with pencils topped with an Angry Bird or a piggy.  Add a colored feather to the birds for that finishing touch.

The piggy and bird number and letter sliders are also a fun way to spy and review numbers and letters.

I’ve also included 7 Angry Bird skill sheets including 3 “I Spy” tabletop skill sheets.  Teacher starts by calling out a letter/number.

Students trace the piggy letter/number with a green marker or crayon.  The first child with their hand raised gets to spy the next letter/number ‘til everyone has had a turn.

Finally, I created Piggy Puzzles as a fun way to reinforce upper and lowercase letter recognition and matching. 

Students match the uppercase letter helmet to the lowercase letter pig. Run off my templates on lime green construction paper, laminate and cut the pieces apart. 

This is a fun way to partner children for a game or activity too!

As an incentive, I’ve created Angry Birds certificates of praise + students can keep track of which letters they know by tracing them on their Angry Birds' Letter Logs.

Parents can use playing the real game as an incentive for learning as well.  For each letter/number recognized, their child earns a minute of time on the computer.

Click on the link to view/download the 60-page Angry Birds Learning Activities

If you're looking for some coloring pages, click on the links. Angry Bird Coloring page 1.  Angry Bird Coloring page 2.

I hope these activities are fun for your students and help them blast through those learning blockades!

Be sure and pop back tomorrow for more fun tips!

First Aid For the Alphabet!

 Are some of your students still struggling with a few of their letters?

Is identifying body parts a problem for some of your little ones too?  It’s a Y5 report card standard that some struggle with.

Boo-Boo Alphabet to the rescue!

This is a fun ABC booklet that I made out of Band-Aids!

Students trace the various words that start with that letter of the alphabet.

For added fine motor fun, make a trip to The Dollar Store, buy a few boxes of Band-Aids and have your students design their own boo-boo initial.

You could also make a boo-boo number line.  It’s currently on my long “To Do” list!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, have students cut a heart on the fold, tear it in half and then “mend” it with a Band-Aid.

Get the “wiggles” out by doing the Band-Aid Pokey with their hearts or Band-Aid initials.  Click on the link to view/print the Band-Aid Pokey.

You can also review and whole-group assess their body parts, by having students place their heart/Band-Aid initial on various parts of their body.

Reveiw spatial directions as well.  Have students place their Band-Aid behind, above, between, on, beside, to the left, to the right, under etc.

Click on the link to view/download The Band-Aid Alphabet Book

I hope this little booklet is the first aid that does the trick in getting your students over that learning hump!

You might find these Animal ABC cards helpful as well.  There are two different sets.

Print off a double set of each one; laminate them and make Memory Match games, or run off copies so that your students can make Itty Bitty Booklets that they will enjoy sequencing and sharing with their families.

You can also play: "I Have, Who Has?" with your students. 

You hold a letter card and show it to your students and then ask for a letter.  The child holding the "asked for" card shows that letter and then asks for another card, until you have gone through all the letters of the alphabet. 

This is a quick, easy and fun way to review letters that your little ones will enjoy. 

Click on the links to view/download the neon animal alphabet cards and/or the realistic animal alphabet cards.

Don't Break My Heart by not knowing your letters, is perfect for February too!

Sprinkle the puzzle hearts on the floor to match the number of students you have in class for the day. 

Students with the uppercase letter find the matching lowercase letter to mend their "broken heart."

This is a great way to partner off students for a game or lesson. 

You can also play Memory Match and I Have-Who Has? with these cards as well.  Run off a set for struggling students to take home to play with their families.

Click on the link to view/download Mend My Heart ABC Matching game.

Do you have a teaching tip you could share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com OR... feel free to leave a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas.  I so enjoy and appreciate feedback.  Thanks in advance and...

please pop in tomorrow for more fun ideas!