5 pages.

Get organized and make life easier with a book hospital basket.  When students are reading a book from your classroom library and discover that it needs some repair work to avoid further damage, have them fill out an Rx form of what's wrong with the book and how you can fix it. They tuck the note on the page that needs repair, so that the end sticks out and then drop the book in the "hospital" basket.  This is a special FREEBIE in my TpT store.  Click on the link to grab this easy, classroom management activity.

7 pages.

I'm putting this in my back-to-school section as well as something to make in May or June, so that you can remember to make a copy of your first day photographs, in order to have them to make this sweet keepsake craftivity at the end of the year.  If you look closely you'll see the butterfly that "frames" the "then and now" photos. 

1-2-3 Come Do An Alphabet Craftivity With Me

So that I could get a handle on the ability of my  new students, I always liked to do some fun assessing of my first graders the first week of school.  

Testing and assessing students can be tedious and overwhelming for young children, as well as time consuming for you.  Keeping that in mind, I designed Alpha Bird.

Precut "Alfie's" body parts from a variety of colors of construction paper.  Students choose the pattern pieces that they want, and glue them to their paper plate bird body. 

To expedite things, I'd fold the paper plates and staple them shut ahead of time, leaving the bottom middle open so that students can insert their alpha-bird legs.  

For extra pizzazz I added several feathers for a tail.  You can buy a bag full at The Dollar Store.

Students cut and glue the alphabet strips to make Alfie's legs. When everyone has completed their alpha bird, play "I Spy" by calling out a letter. 

Students find and trace both the upper and lowercase letters.  When they  have done so, children raise their hand, so that you know that everyone is done. 

With just a glance, you can see who is struggling.  Call on a child to choose the next letter.  Play 'til all of the letters have been traced.

Alfie offers a simple, quick and interesting way to whole group assess, while providing a nice review of upper and lowercase letters.  The birds also make a stunning hallway wall border.  Simply tie a yarn loop at the top and suspend from the ceiling.  Caption: "We know our letters and that's something to TWEET about!"

Click on the link to grab a copy of this fun FREEBIE: Alfie the Alpha Bird. 

"If plan B doesn't work, don't give up; the alphabet has 25 more letters!" 

4 pages

Alfie, the alpha bird is a special 100 followers FREEBIE in my TpT shop.  Click on the link to grab your copy.

1-2-3 Come Play Some Alphabet Games With Me

I designed these cards to go along with the FREE ABC Zoo Booklet that I posted yesterday. (Scroll down to the next blog article to have a look or click on the link for the item.) Whenever I did a theme with my Y5's I really tried to find or make matching things.  I'm not sure if that's the perfectionist or artist in me. 

Any hoo, I thought you might like a few matching things to supplement your lessons too, so I once again used the adorable clip art of djinkers.  She's one of my favorite artists and I simply fell in love with her cute critters.

These alphabet cards, can be found in my whopping 200-page Wild About the Alphabet packet in my TpT shop.  For a limited time, the cards will be FREE (all this week), simply click on the word FREE.

Use the cards as a border or for flashcards. They are also great for games like Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?"   Students can match uppercase cards to lowercase ones or they can match the word card with the picture card.  Have them find all three to complete a puzzle. 

One of my favorite games that I played with my Y5's was "What's Missing?"  I'd gather my kiddos in a circle and lay 4 small seasonal items in the center, then point to each one and we'd say the name together.  They then closed their eyes and I'd take one away.  To make sure there was no "peeking cheating" I held a paper plate or some sort of cover over the items, then reached under and took one.

"Open your eyes!"  I'd whisper and they'd try to figure out what I took away. To strengthen their memories, I'd continue to add up to 7 items for them to look at.  To reinforce standards, you could do this with shapes, numbers or these ABC cards.

Make things a bit more interesting, by giving the missing card to the person who calls out the correct answer first, then add another card and continue to play 'til you've used all of the letters.  For more ideas, and games, such as "Kaboom" , take a look at the 4-page list of tips that are also included in the packet.

I've also included a black and white set of cards, so your kiddos can make an Itty Bitty alphabet booklet to color, cut and collate, then take home and share with their family. (Great  home-school connection and fun way to reinforce lessons.)

Mix up the word cards and have students put them in alphabetical order, then post them on a mini-word wall, or pass them out and then flash an uppercase letter card. 

Whomever is holding the matching word card holds it up and reads it.  Afterwards, as a writing extension, have students use their word card in a sentence.  There's a "No Lion About It" worksheet for that in the packet as well.

 For letter-writing practice, there are plenty of upper, as well as lowercase "trace and write" worksheets, along with 20+ other fun worksheets to reinforce letter recognition, formation, as well as word sounds. I hope you like the packet as much as I enjoyed designing it. Wild About the Alphabet

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away.  Do you have an alphabet game you could share with us?  I'd really enjoy hearing from you.  You can contact me at dianehen@teachwithme.com  or leave a comment below. 

It gets rather lonely on this side of the computer screen.  I often wonder what people think when they read my blogs, and if what I design truly helps make someone's life easier and more fun.  Blessings to you and yours.

"I love acting, but it's much more fun to take the kids to the zoo." -Nicole Kidman

1-2-3 Come Make An Alphabet Booklet With Me

This emergent reader is a wonderful activity to do before or after your zoo field trip, as most of the letters are associated with an animal.  This colorful FREEBIE is part of my jumbo (200-page)  "Wild About the Alphabet packet in my TpT shop.

I have another cover that doesn't say zoo and is simply an ABC book, if you prefer that.  The FREEBIE is in color, but I also have a black & white version, so that students can make their own booklet to trace, write and color.

To practice comprehension, ask students which letters didn't have an animal associated with them, like Ii is for ice cream, or which animals would they probably not see at a zoo, like a dog or cat.

The packet also includes an alphabet anchor chart/poster in color.  I have a black and white student version in the big Wild Packet.

Posters can also be used as an assessment tool, or to play an "I spy" game.  Simply call out a letter; children find and color the animal associated with it.  

Continue saying a letter 'til all of them have been colored in.  This is a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess. 

Click on the link to view/download the Animal Alphabet Booklet and poster.  Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. 

"The city is not a concrete jungle; it's a human zoo." -Desmond Morris

22 pages

This emergent reader is a wonderful booklet to do before or after your zoo field trip, as most of the letters are associated with an animal.  When students get back read the booklet and discuss which animals the children saw. This FREEBIE is part of my large "Wild About The Alphabet Packet".  For your convenience, I've included a preview. 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Zoo Telling-Time Activities With Me!

As promised, I'm continuing to design some zoo-themed activities in celebration of National Zoo Month, as well as the fact that many lucky little kiddos get to go on an end-of-the-year field trip to the zoo!  Woo hoo for you!

Whenever I went on an outing with my students, time was everything.  When to get ready; when to board the bus and leave; when do we arrive?  When can we eat; when do we leave to go back to school; when do we get there? etc.  So I thought it would be fun to create a zoo booklet centered around time.

I've included analog clocks that students draw hands on, as well as blank spaces for them to record the digital time that things happened.  Be sure and remind them to complete the sentences with appropriate punctuation. 

Share the Zoo Time booklet with your students before you leave, to make them aware of the times that they need to be thinking about. 

Attach a copy to your clipboard (I always carried one with an attendance sheet, emergency information and contact numbers on it. )

As you arrive and go through the zoo, ask your students what time it is.  You can use a watch or your cell phone.  When they come up with an answer, record it in your booklet. 

When you get back to school, have children help you make a list of the various times on the board.  They can refer to this, as they record the digital time in their booklet and then draw hands on the analog clocks to show those times.

Give them a few minutes to color the pages and then read the Zoo Time booklet, as a whole group.  Note some of the various other times that students have come up with for their last page. 

Click on the link to view/download the Zoo Time booklet.

Finally, More Zoo Time is a matching packet with time cards to the hour and half hour. 

Print, laminate and use as flashcards, in  a pocket chart, for Matching or "I Have; Who Has?" games.  Make up an extra set and cut them into puzzles. 

There's also an elephant clock "craftivity" for your students to make as well as a certificate of praise bookmark (in black line as well as color).  Click on the link to view/download the more Zoo Time packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away.  My "Pin it!" button is at the top on the menu bar. 

"All you need is twenty seconds of insane courage, and I promise you, something great will come of it." - From "We Bought a Zoo"

1-2-3 Come Do Some Zoo Animal Activities With Me

Are you planning a year-end field trip to the zoo?  If so, I think you'll enjoy looking over these before and after-you-go, zoo activities. 

Studying a variety of animals was always a fun theme for my Y5's and me.  I didn't have a specific zoo theme with them, because I didn't want to steal the thunder from our first grade teachers.  When I taught 1st grade that field trip was a much-looked-forward-to "ed-venture," culminating with our animal reports. 

However, I know that lots of preschoolers and kinders all over the map visit the zoo, especially at the end of the year.  After all, June is National Zoo Month, so why not!  With that in mind, I decided to whip together some "zoo stuff" that you could review with your kiddos before their trip, as well as some activities you could do with them afterwards.

I have a huge collection of animal and zoo books, so I thought I'd make an alphabetical list of all my super-duper zoo-per favorites.  It was a difficult task narrowing down my 3 boxes of these themed books, but I finally came up with 90.  

I always tried to read some non-fiction books along with all the wonderful fictional storybooks, and have included them in my list, such as the job of a zookeeper.  If you do a community helpers unit, these would be quick and easy read-alouds for that too.  Click on the link to view/download the list of 90 Favorite Zoo books.

I really enjoy making templates for programmable notes home to parents, using cute clip art, so I whipped together a "We're Goin' On A Fieldtrip" form featuring dj Inkers sweet creatures. 

Simply write in your data and you're good to go. Another item in the Zoo Fieldtrip Packet are some zoo scavenger hunts.

I sent my students on all sorts of scavenger hunts throughout the year. 

They truly enjoyed them and learned a lot along the way, so I designed two zoo scavenger hunts that involve the alphabet.

I never liked to have my students holding things in their hands when we were on a field trip, stuff got dropped and slopped or lost. 

Tears would ensue and something that was meant to be helpful became a hindrance. 

Thus I suggest sharing the scavenger hunt with children before hand, so they are aware of what they need to be on the look out for. 

Teachers can carry a copy on a clipboard with an attached pen.  When someone spies something that begins with that letter or is on the list, you can check it off, circle it, or jot it down depending on what form you choose to use.

Once back, students can circle animals that they saw that are on the alphabetical list, or they can fill in something that they saw that begins with each letter of the alphabet. 

You can make this a bit more interesting by having a competition between your students or another class that also went on the field trip, to see who got the most points.

Since we have a huge Hispanic population in our school, I tried to teach some Spanish words with each unit.  My students really enjoyed learning new words and parents were pretty impressed when they shared their new-found vocabulary at home. 

With this in mind, I included a list of Animals in English as well as Spanish. 

There's also an alphabetical order worksheet, where students trace and write the animals in alphabetical order. 

Finally, there's a "We Went To The Zoo" class book activity.  I've designed a black and white as well as full-color cover, plus a template for the inside pages. 

Students complete the prompts and draw a picture.  (I've included a sample for you to share.)

Teachers collect and collate their pages into a zoo book.  Read it as a whole group.  When you come to a particular student's page, they read it.

Click on the link to view/download the Zoo Field Trip packet. 

While working on these activities I wondered about students who don't live near a zoo, or teachers who don't have the time or the budget to take their students on a field trip, so I started researching virtual zoos online. 

After several hours of work, I came up with a list of my top eight, the San Diego Zoo was one of my favorites.

I chose them because they were kid-friendly, contained live animal cams, videos, games, activities and a plethora of photographs with interesting information, which would be helpful for any animal report your kiddos might be working on.  Click on the link to view/download the Virtual Zoo list. 

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away.  My Pin It button is at the top on the menu bar.  Be sure to stay tuned, as I'll be working on more zoo-themed activities the rest of this week.

 "Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings!" -Evan Esar

4 pages.

If you don't have a zoo near you, or there's no budget or time for your kiddos to visit a real zoo, why not take them on a virtual fieldtrip?  I researched zoo websites to find the best virtual experience for your students and listed 8 of my favorites.  All of them are kid-friendly, many have live animal cams, videos, and games.  All of them contain a plethora of pictures and information suitable for animal reports.