1-2-3 Come Make A T-Shirt With Me

Because it's very versatile, I'm especially excited to post this latest FREEBIE for some end-of-the-year fun.

As I was designing the "T"-'rrific Memory Book packet, I thought, with a few tweaks this can also be used as a self-esteem builder, for your "fill a bucket" activites too. 

Students choose a T-shirt and matching cover, sign their name at the top and glue their photo to the pocket. 

Children pass their booklet to another child, who writes a compliment (why that person is terrific) and continue passing, 'til everyone has signed everybody's booklet. 

If you're looking for a Father's Day activity, or you have grandparent's come visit at the end or beginning of the year, you can fill the blank in with My Dad is "T"-'rrific or use the other blank template for My Grandparents are "T"-'rrific.  Students write why they think so on the blank pages.

If you like to have lots of interesting writing practice for back-to-school week, as icebreakers to get to know your new students, use the My Summer was "T"-'rrific template.   These would be cute displayed on a clothesline, along a wall and hung up with clothespins!

Any option you choose is pretty easy-breezy. Run the T-shirt pattern and covers off on a variety of colors of construction paper. (Make sure the cover matches the T-shirt so they blend.)

For even more pizzazz, use scrapbook paper! You can also buy a 50-sheet pack of printed paper (they have lots of options like tie dye, rainbow and animal prints, which would also be cool).

Students choose one, trim their pages, collate and staple their booklet to the front of their T-shirt so that it flips open.  Adding a school photo gives it that finishing touch.  

I'd take a few days to make the memory book.  To ensure quality, students can work on 1 or 2 pages each day.  (Great for Daily 5)

I've included color templates as well as black and white to save ink, but also because I think it's even more of a keepsake if kiddos do the coloring.

There's a blank template for you to write a note to your students.  You can print the templates and write a personal note to each one, or if you're pressed for time, write a generic note to everyone, sign and run off.  To make it more personal, write the student's name at the top. 

To help you out, I searched for some sweet teacher comments and found a variety of poems by unknown authors.  I revamped them a bit and included two options for you to include if you want. 

Click on the link to view/download the versatile "T"-'rrific Writing Prompt Craftivity Packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

If you're a frequent visitor to the TeachWithMe blog, you know I like to end with some sort of quote that pertains to the topic. 

While surfing I found this sweet one from Winnie The Pooh.  Hope you enjoy it too!

20 pages.

This "craftivity" is very versatile, as it includes templates for an end-of-the year memory book, with covers for preschool through 6th grade, plus a blank template.  If you already have a memory book, have students write why they think this grade was terrific.  You can also use this as a self-esteem builder (fill a bucket) activity (use the ______ is "T"-'rrific!" template) and have each classmate write a compliment in everyone's booklet; or fill in the blank with My Dad, or Grandparents and use for Father's or Grandparent's Day.  It also works for back-to-school. Have students write about why their summer was terrific.

1-2-3 Come Build Self-Esteem With Me

"Filling buckets" seems to have really caught on in a lot of schools.  I know we have this program in our school as well.  The idea is to encourage positive behavior.  Children catch on fast and see how easy and rewarding it is to express sincere kindness, appreciation, and love on a daily basis. 

With that in mind, I wanted to think up a quick and easy end-of-the-year "bucket filler" so to speak, that would help promote a child's self-esteem.   Thus the Classmate Compliment Cat Craftivity was born. (Try to say that tongue twister three times!)

Here's How:

Run off the lined paper pattern.  Students accordion fold it following the lines.  This provides wonderful fine motor practice.  Students color and glue their cat to the top of the folded paper. 

Pass out a different color marker/pencil to each student.  Children pass their "compliment cat" to another child to write something nice about about them on one of the accordion-folded sections.

They continue passing 'til everyone has signed something on every child's cat, finally ending up with their own. 

So students get a special compliment from their teacher, make sure you are part of the signing,   Add the finishing touch by having students glue a piece of colorful bulletin board boarder to the top.

Give students time to read the nice things their classmates had to say about them, then have children accordion fold their papers back up and fasten with a paperclip to take home.

Skip refolding and let the compliments dangle; display them on a bulletin board, (cover with paw print wrapping paper) or hang in a long row on a hallway wall.  Your caption could be "A purr-fect way to end our day." or "'Paws"ing To Write."

The packet also includes a bookmark that you can pass out to everyone after they have completed their projects. 

Click on the link to view/download the Classmate Compliments Cat Craftivity packet.

Finally, if you're new to the "Fill A Bucket" idea and would like to add this to your teaching bag of tricks, click on the link for a sweet "Fill A Bucket" song by the Learning Station.

 This link has all of the Fill A Bucket books for children, with some free resources, coloring pages, puzzles, and activities. 

My personal favorite is their alphabetical bucket filling checklist.  

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  If you're looking for more end-of-the-year activities, click on the link to zip on over to that section of my site. 

I always end with some sort of matching quotation.  While looking for one, I found this cute quote-card that fits the idea of giving compliments and filling buckets perfectly. 

Blessing to you and yours, today and always!

"

1-2-3 Come Write About Summer With Me

I'm not sure about you, but I was always looking for some fun things to do the last few weeks of school.  Lessons had been learned, assessments were done, and things were winding down, as my students' energy was reaching an all-time high. 

If you find yourself in similar circumstances, I think your students will have fun making a pair of sunglasses and thinking about their summer plans, so they can write about them. The title of this FREEBIE is Shades Of Summer.

Brainstorm with them about the things they'd like to see and do over vacation and write their ideas on the board. 

Run off the sunglasses template on a variety of colors of construction paper, or for real pizzazz, use scrapbook paper.  Give children a choice and then have them cut them out.

To make this activity even more special, take a photo of each student wearing goofy sunglasses.  I got mine at a party store.  I was looking for the jumbo-sized ones, but couldn't find them.  I thought that would be extra silly and add fun to my photo shoot. 

Print the pix and cut them into oval shapes, so students can glue theirs to the right lens of their pair of sunglasses.

Print the lens pattern and trim.  Make a template out of an old file folder.  Trace once and then cut 3 to 6 lenses at a time. 

Each student needs a dark right lens, as well as however many white lens pages they need to complete the writing prompt: "what I'd like to see and do this summer..." 

So that the words "Shades Of Summer" would show up, I chose a light black, but gray, silver, and brown also looked sharp. 

Run off this template, rough cut, and give each student one of these "title lenses" to trim and glue on the left hand side of their sunglasses.

When they have completed their writing, students collate and staple into a booklet, so that the dark lens cover, flips over to reveal their writing. Children glue on their photo, and using a white crayon, write on their name, and glue the booklet to the right side of their sunglasses. 

After everyone has had a chance to read and share their completed project, scatter the sunglasses on a bulletin board.  For something different, and that finishing touch, use a beach towel for the background.  Just above the board, suspend a few bottles of suntan lotion from the ceiling.  Caption: "We're Looking Forward To Summer!"

Click on the link to view/download the Shades Of Summer packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

"In winter I get up at night, and dress by yellow candle-light.  In summer quite the other way;  I have to go to bed by day." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

6 pages.

Have students write what they'd like to see and do during summer vacation on the lens-shaped pages. For more pizzazz, run the sunglasses off on scrapbook paper.  Take a photo of each student wearing goofy sunglasses; cut into oval shapes and have them glue theirs to the right lens.

5 pages.

Help build your students' self-esteem, with this sweet end-of-the-year activity.  Students color their cat, glue on the blank template(s) to include a space for X number of students to write a compliment on, and then accordion fold it.  Includes bookmarks.

1-2-3 Come Make A Memory Booklet With Me!

Since I truly enjoy designing stuff, I like to give all sorts of options to my visitors.  Because the Memory Books I've created have been such popular downloads, I thought I'd putz with some more memory-making activities. 

I wanted to come up with something a little less involved for teachers who are in a time-crunch, so I used my "flip for facts file folder" idea and designed something that would be perfect for a mini memory booklet. 

I call it "These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things..." and even included the first musical bar from the sheet music, for that finishing touch on the template.

I've included templates for preschool through fifth grade, plus a blank one to fill in with whatever.  Make a sample to share with your students to help explain what you want them to do. 

To save you time, I've included the inside page that I dreamed up, if you want to use it.  To expedite things, especially for little ones, pre-cut the folders, so that the templates fit nicely on the page.

A room helper can assist little ones, or send the page home for parents to work one-on-one with their child to fill in and then send back to assemble.

Students glue the "These are a few of my favorite things..." page to the front and then cut on the lines so that each of the 9 sections flip open to reveal their answers. 

To add a bit more pizzazz, have students choose a different colored marker/pencil to write each answer.   Adding a school photo at the top adds the finishing touch. 

I've included an autograph template that students can glue on the back.  If you're really pressed for time, have everyone sign one paper and then run off a copy for everybody.  (This way you can easily get signatures from the principal, secretaries, librarian etc.)

Click on the link to view/download the Memories Flip Folder.  

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  My "Pin it" button is at the top. I hope that the last few weeks with your kiddos are especially memorable, and that in some small way I helped make things less hectic for you.

"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." -Henry Miller

18 pages.

This packet is a great alternative to the usual end-of-the-year memory book.  Students glue the templates to a file folder and cut on the lines to  create a flip booklet.  An autograph page is included that can be glued to the back.

1-2-3 Come Make An Ice Cream Cone With Me!

The end of the year is super-charged with energy.  You can literally feel it in the air and it's obvious in your students' excited behavior.  Many kiddos are already sharing about vacations that their family is going to take and what they want to do for the summer, so I thought it would be fun to have them write about that, and make a craft as well. 

When I think of summer, I think of ice cream cones.  It seemed the perfect "craftivity" for an end of the year writing prompt, and led to the "Here's The Scoop" packet.

Run off the cone pattern on brown construction paper, run the ice cream scoop template on a variety of pastel colors of construction paper that would be the shades of real ice cream flavors.  Scrapbook paper really looks awesome; I used it for several of my samples.  

Students cut out their cone and scoop.  They also trim and glue a plain scoop of "vanilla" to the top of their cone.  This is where they will complete the writing prompt.  Remind students not to write beyond the indentations, as you can see by the photo, the white scalloped section will peek out to give the illusion of another scoop.

Using a tiny piece of Scotch tape, students "hinge" the top scoop to the right hand side of the bottom scoop, so that it flips open to reveal the writing portion.   For that finishing touch, add a cherry with a school photo to the top.

There's a template for "Here's the scoop ! These are some of the cool things I'd like to do this summer..."  as well as one you can use at the beginning of the year: "Here's the scoop! These are some of the cool things that I did this summer..."

After students have shared their creation, give them a "Wishing you a sweet summer" bookmark.  Write students' names at the top, and sign yours under the greeting.

Completed cones make a cute bulletin board too.  Make the background out of a plastic picnic table cloth and scatter the cones on it.   Your caption could be "Cool writing by some sweet 1st graders." or "Looking foward to a sweet summer!"  

For another writing prompt, have students color the "I hope you have a cool year!" bookmark and write a note to a new student, who will be in your class in the fall.  What a fun surprise for them to find this on/in their desk on the first day of school. 

Also included in the packet is the "Secret Sweetie" game.  Have students fill out the cone portion, write a clue on the scoop and then glue their photo on the inside. 

Collect them and read several a day.  Call on students to guess who they think the "secret sweetie" might be, then flip open the top scoop to reveal the photo.  

This can be used at the beginning of the school year to help children get to know their new classmates, or at the end of the year to see how well they know their friends. 

Click on the link to view/download the Here's The Scoop packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent

17 pages.

The packet includes templates that you can use at the beginning of the school year to get to know your students, as well as one to use at the end of the year, plus bookmarks you can give to your kiddos, plus one they can make for your next year's students.