10 pages.

This packet is a fun way to reinforce colors and color words.  Use the cards for Memory Match and "I Have; Who Has?" games. Students match the color word card to the matching color shoe card.

 1-2-3 Come Make Two Apple Games With Me

Do your students do centers or stations?  Are you looking for some easy-peasy ones to whip off? LaVonne from New York, and Kathy from Wisconsin, were. 

They e-mailed me and asked if I had any independent centers with an apple theme.  LaVonne was looking for an alphabet one, and Kathy needed one for number words.  It was fun designing their requests.  I hope you enjoy them too.

Here's a quick, easy and fun ABC game that you can make for an independent alphabet center, which will help reinforce upper and lowercase letter recognition.

Simply run off the uppercase letter apple templates on red, yellow and light green construction paper; add a bit of color, laminate and trim. 

I used these three colors, because my Y5's are learning that apples come in 3 colors.  Students can also sequence the apple cards and see the ABC color pattern.

So that students can insert the matching lowercase worms, use an Exacto knife to cut a slit to the right of each letter.

As with the apples, run the lowercase letter worms off on (green) construction paper; add a bit of color, laminate and trim.

Students insert the lowercase worm into its matching uppercase apple. 

Keep the apples and worms separate, in small Ziplock Baggies, and then put both Baggies in one larger one.  Place in your alphabet center. 

To make this self-correcting, write the lowercase letter on the back of the apple, or the uppercase letter on the back of the worm. 

I've included a certificate of praise that you can give to students when they have successfully completed the center.  They can color and take it home to share with their family.

Make a few extra copies of the game to send home with struggling children, to be returned when they have mastered the standard. 

If you have the time, you can also use this activity as an interesting option when assessing a child. 

This Wormy Apple Alphabet Matching Game will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be up-dated and put in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop. 

Finally, the other center game I made reinforces numbers 0-10 and their matching number words. 

There are several ways to play the game, as well as some worksheets to further reinforce number to word recognition. Click on the link to view/download the Apple Number Word Fun packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  It's rather hot and muggy outside so I'm enjoying the air conditioning.  Time to work up a sweat doing a bit of housework and laundry, or not...

I'm wishing you a refreshing day.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams." -Unknown

14 pages.

This is a quick, easy and fun game that you can make for an independent alphabet center, which will help reinforce upper and lowercase letter identification.  This packet will be FREE for an entire year, after which time it will be updated and put in Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop. Click on the link to pop on over.

 1-2-3 Come Tweet With Me

Often teachers are so busy teaching, that sometimes they can miss important things that are happening in their students' lives.

Putting up a tweet board on a door, wall or bulletin board, helps you stay informed and builds community.  A more caring classroom will also be created.  Another bonus, is that this idea is also a quick, easy, and interesting way to get students writing.

Practicing writing sentences, that have appropriate capitalization, spacing, word choice and punctuation, can be tedious at times.  Switch things up with a little creativity, and students will WANT to write. 

Composing and dashing off a tweet, is a simple way to do that.  Encourage students to write a tweet at least once a week about things that are happening in their lives.

You may want to include this as part of your Daily 5 writing activities.  Taking a moment to read the tweets also fits in nicely with Daily 5.

To make your tweet board eye-catching, I've included tweet notes for students to write on.  Run them off on a variety of different colors and keep them handy near your tweet board. 

Explain to students that there are two kinds of tweets: "sweet tweets" are positive happy highlights, things that they are proud of, or what they are excited about -- something they are doing or involved in.

"Tweet talk"  are notes about something that a student wants to share because they are feeling a bit down or blue, and would like some encouragement. 

Perhaps a grandparent or pet passed away, or they didn't make the team.  Maybe a friend is ill or they failed at something; parents are planning a move, or a divorce is pending, but no one made you aware of this. 

The Tweet Board is a quick and easy way for students to share those feelings.  Teachers need to know about the things that are affecting their students' moods, and having an impact on their ability to focus and learn.   Knowing, gives teachers an opportunity to praise and encourage, as well as sympathize and give that extra TLC a child needs when their world is in upheaval. 

With that in mind, I also included tiny tweets in the packet.  These are little notes that  you or students, can jot to someone and leave in their desk or locker. These fit in nicely if you're doing a  "Bucket Filling" program as well.

For more writing practice, that is private and personal, have students keep a Tweet Journal.  I've included 2 cover options for this.  Students choose one, add some color and glue it to a notebook.  (I always take advantage of the back to school doorbusters, when notebooks are as inexpensive as 15 cents.)

Implementing this idea is easy-peasy.  Simply choose a tweet poster to showcase your tweet board. (There are 3 options.) 

Run off copies of the sweet tweet notes, keep them in a basket or envelope by your tweet board (I've included labels for these) explain the board to your students, and then let the tweeting begin!

As part of your going-home or morning routine, you could ask students if anyone wants to share one of their tweets.  At the end of the month, clear the board and start again. 

Click on the link to grab your FREEBIE: Sweet Tweet Talk

Thanks for visiting today.  It's a rainy day with lots of thunder.  (I find the rumblings and sound of the rain splattering on my office window very soothing.)  The perfect kind of day to read, color, cut, paste and play...  Here's hoping you can make some time to relax too.

"Your attitude decides your altitude.  Soar!" -Unknown

13 pages.

Often teachers are so busy teaching, that sometimes they can miss important things that are happening in their students' lives.  Putting up a tweet board on a door, wall or bulletin board, helps you stay informed and builds community.  A more caring classroom will be created. This is a special FREEBIE in my TpT shop.  Click on the link to grab your copy today:Sweet Tweets.

10 pages.

Here's a fun way to help your students learn how to read number words and match them to the correct numbers. There are 5 ways to play the matching games.  Print, laminate and trim the templates and use them as independent math centers.  This is an interesting game for a Daily 5 activity as well, and can also be sent home with a struggling student for 1-on-1 practice with a parent.

6 pages.

Use these alphabet anchor charts to help students remember and recognize lowercase letters.  I've also included 2 worksheets for practice. Afterwards, have students choose 2 letters from 2 of the categories and complete the Venn diagram. This FREEBIE is part of my large, Alphabet Activities packet on TpT.  Click on the link to pop on over.  For your convenience I've included a preview.

 1-2-3 Come Make A Venn Friend With Me

Venn diagrams are a quick, easy and fun way to help students understand the concepts of comparison and contrast. 

I thought making an apple Venn Friend would be a fun way to introduce this type of writing, as well as an interesting way for your students to get to know their new classmates. 

It's a nice icebreaker for back to school, or can easily be plugged in during your apple activities. This "craftivity" also works well for Daily 5

There are 3 different types of apple Venn friends that you can make with this packet.   If you teach preschool or young kinders (Y5's) who are just learning to recognize and write their names, you may want to do the letter Venn friend.  

I've included upper and lowercase letter tiles in both color and black and white.  (There are 2 black letter options.) LOVE the graphics and fonts by kpmdoodles (color) and djinkers (black and white).

Run the letter tiles off on white paper.  Students can easily add a bit of color to the black striped letters if they want to. 

Students choose a partner to make a name Venn Friend with. Each pair of students needs only one upper and lowercase letter sheet.

To make this "craftivity" really pop, I used yellow and red 8" paper plates.  You can get a pack of 20 at The Dollar Store.  To expedite things, pre cut the plates, as well as the brown stems and leaves.  I also trimmed off the tab on the file folders

Run off the file folder labels. Each pair of students needs only one sheet.  They trim and glue to their file folder, writing their names in the spaces provided. (See photo.) I outlined the labels to add a bit more pizzazz and added school photos for that finishing touch. 

Children add a bit of detail with markers to their stem and leaves.  They can glue these to the front of their apple "plate" or you can come around with a stapler.  They glue the white "same" section in the middle of their file folder, and then glue their apple plates on either side.

I always made samples to share with my students.  A picture is really worth a 1,000 words, in helping to explain things.  You could use your husband/wife or a friend for the 2nd Venn diagram.  I'm sure your students will get a kick out of learning your first name.  Mine were amazed that I even had one! 

Children cut out only the letters that they need for their Venn diagram.  So that students can use these letter tiles for other things, like Daily 5 word work, have them toss the extra letters in an alphabet box.

Looking at their names on the labels, children sort what letters are the same, and which ones are different from their partner.  They glue them in the appropriate places on their Venn friend file folder diagram. 

To add a bit of math to this activity, students count up how many letters they each have in their name.  After adding a bit of color to their apple label, they write in the number of letters in each of their names and put a  < = > symbol in the center of the green apple.  

You can also have students add the total of letters in both of their names, as well as the total number of similar letters.   Later, you can graph who had the highest Venn friend total of letters, as well as the greatest and least amount of similar letters.  Did any team have zero letters for their "same" section?

Have students share their Venn friend with the rest of the class.  Completed projects make an awesome fall bulletin board.  This craft is also a wonderful extension after reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  If you don't want to do an apple-theme, use tan or brown paper plates as coconuts.

Another option for the paper plate, apple-Venn friends craftivity, is to have students compare and contrast their new friend. 

This is an easy and fun way for them to get to know each other better.  The whole class will become more knowledgeable as well, when students share their completed projects.  

I found that the better my students knew each other, the more apt they were to become friends.  This generated a caring community in the classroom, where students truly enjoyed being part of our team.

I've followed pretty much the same format in this file folder Venn friend, except that instead of letters, students each jot down similarities and differences. 

I've provided a checklist with 41 ideas that they can chat about with their partner.  This will hopefully jumpstart their writing and help students be more in-depth when finding out about their classmate, as well as ensure a nice variety of Venn friends. 

I've also included a whole-group graphing activity:  Did students find that they were more similar or more different than their Venn friend?

Finally, if you don't want to fiddle with paper plates, I've created flat apple templates that work in the same way. 

To jazz things up, I've included Willie the worm.  Run the pattern off on lime green construction paper. 

Instead of labels that say "different" I used worms.  Simply make a slit in each side of their apple, and have students color, trim, insert and glue.  

Click on the link to view/download the Apple Venn Friends packet.  These "craftivities" are different enough that you could actually do both.  The letter Venn diagram is a simple icebreaker for the first week of school, and the flat apple Venn can be done during your apple activities, later in September. 

I like to revisit certain activities, but with a new theme or twist, as my students feel empowered and can get right down to business, because they are familiar with the directions. 

Keeping that in mind, you may want to do a few other seasonal Venn friends when those months roll around.  I have a heart one for February, a Leprechaun Venn friend for March, a Bunny Venn for April and a Tulip Venn Friend for May.  I'm currently working on a pumpkin one for October, an acorn for November, a gingerbread one for December and a snowman Venn friend for January.  

Thanks for visiting.  I can't believe it took me most of the day to get this done and blogged about.  Time for some fresh air.  Wishing you a wonderful school year filled with lots of Venn friends.

"Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers." - Josef Albers

17 pages

Venn diagrams are a quick, easy and fun way to help students understand the concepts of comparison and contrast.  These apple Venn diagrams are an interesting way to learn about your students, as well as an enjoyable way to practice name recognition and letters.

1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Apple Activities With Me...

I know that I said I was done designing apples for awhile, but I found a few more notes while cleaning off my desk, and one thing led to another, 'til 4 mini apple packets were knocked off.  I hope you enjoy them.  The desk is cleared and just waiting to be filled with all sorts of other fall fun . . . where to begin?

I always get a few requests for some worksheets that connect-the-dots for a variety of things.  Raesha, from Arizona, wondered if I had any connect the dots with skip counted numbers. 

She's reviewing skip counting by 5's and 10's with her firsties and thought these would be fun. 

I chose an apple theme for my template and included numbers from 0-10, as well as numbers from 0-30, plus apples for skip counting by 5's and then 10's. 

Since I had the template designed, I also made a connect the dots for uppercase letters and another for the lowercase letters.  Click on the link to view/download the Apple Connect The Dots packet.

Another request came from Rachel, over in Wisconsin.  She wanted a quick and easy way to whole-group assess a variety of standards, to see where her kinders are at. 

My favorite way to whole-group assess is with an "I Spy!" game.  I designed these with an apple theme.  Students spy uppercase letters, lowercase letters, shapes, and numbers. 

They trace the letter/shape/number called, and then raise their hand.  You can see at a glance who is having difficulty. 

Students enjoy this form of assessment, and you know where the majority of your students are, without a whole lot of time invested testing. 

Another plus for these worksheet-games, is that students can take them home and use them several more times, as they play with their parents, continuing to reinforce standards in a fun way.  

Click on the link to view/download the Apple-Themed "I Spy" packet.

I continued to reinforce name recognition with my Y5's through October, and tried to think of a variety of ways for them to practice finding and writing their names.  With a big apple unit in September, it seemed only fitting to do something with apples.

Print a copy of the apple name game template and then write your students' names on the inside. 

I also include my own name, so that I had a sample to share and show, as I explained what I wanted my kiddos to do. 

Every year some of my little ones were amazed that I had a first name (Diane). They simply thought of me as their teacher Mrs. Henderson. 

I guess it was sort of like asking the question: "What's your mom's name?"  To which most of them would reply: "Mommy." :-)

Students find and circle their name, write it on the bottom and then, because I was teaching them that apples came in three colors, I'd have them trace their apples with those 3 color markers or crayons.  Completed projects make a cute bulletin board. ("The Apples Of Mrs. Henderson's Eyes!" )

I've also included an apple card template for you to use as name tags and/or games. Print a few copies of the apple card master; write your students's names on one set and then run off on yellow construction paper. 

Print another set on white card stock and trim.  Each child colors their own apple and then glues their photo in the middle.  Collect, laminate and trim.  Use the photo apple cards with the name apple cards, to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games. 

You could also put both sets of apple cards on a split ring and use them as flashcards, to help your students learn the names of their classmates, as well as how to read their names.   Click on the link to view/download the Apple Name Game packet.

Finally, I made some apple puzzles, that make an easy and inexpensive little gift for the 1st week of school, or whenever. 

I've included 3 different header cards for your treat Baggies, as well as a black and white template, so that your students can color their own puzzle. 

When they are done, have them cut out their puzzle, mix up the pieces and challenge them to be the first one to complete their apple puzzle. 

I've also included a blank template to help young students easily put their puzzle together.  Click on the link to view/download the apple puzzle packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  The sunshine is calling and I'm happily answering.  See you later apple-gator.

"We can teach from experience, but we cannot teach experience."  -Sasha Azevedo