Since some schools head back to school as early as the 2nd week of August, I wanted to post some art projects and activities that would go with that theme.
A favorite book that many teachers read the first week of school is Chicka Boom Boom, so I wanted to dream up some new ideas for that, as many teachers also make a Welcome bulletin board with that theme, and gear several days around letter activities as well.
I'm trying to design more things around favorite books and did two huge projects for Chicka Boom because of its popularity.
The first is entitled Trunk Tricks and has a variety of activities based around the trunk of the coconut tree.
I've seen others make painted handprints for fronds, which is cute, but sometimes messy and difficult and time-consuming to do if you're teaching a bunch of little ones by yourself.
I decided to trace my handprints to see how they would turn out and I really liked the affect.
You can have a room volunteer do the tracing and cutting for you, or send the green paper home during open house and have parents do this step
With the handprint portion out of the way, this adorable keepsake artwork can be whipped together in about 10 minutes.
For extra pizzazz, I used brown textured wallpaper for the trunk of my tree.
Brightly-colored foam letters also added that bit of 3-D pop and the picture on the coconut makes it all the more precious.
Click on the link to view/print the masters for the Chicka Boom handprint tree.
In Trunk Tricks you can also make a Name Tree, a Vowel Tree, a Color Tree and a count by 10's to 100 Tree.
Any of these would make quick and easy bulletin boards: "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Look What The K's Did In Mrs. Henderson's Room!"Click on the link to see the rest of this fun-filled activity book. Trunk Tricks
Chicka Boom Envelope Letter Game:
There's nothing like a game to help students learn lessons. Children can play with a partner or in a group of 3.
You can make a class set of Chicka Boom trees, or allow each student to make their own "Chicka Boom Name Tree". Play the game several times in class and then let children take them home to enjoy with family.
Children glue construction paper to a sealed envelope making a trunk so that they can insert letters into the back of their tree's "pocket". Students roll a dice to determine how many letters they put in their envelope.
If they roll a 1 they take a letter out, if they roll a 6 they lose their turn.
Click on the link to view/print the Chicka Boom Envelope Letter Game patterns.
Chicka Boom Popsicle Stick Puzzle:
I love making Popsicle stick puzzles. They are easy and inexpensive and fun for students to put together.
I've also made a Welcome To School apple puzzle for you as well. They'd make a cute gift for each of your students.
You could print their names with a black marker across the center of the apple. A great "learn-to-recognize-your-name" activity for little ones.
Click on the link to view/print that pattern. Back-to-school Apple Puzzle.
A is for Apple and A is a VOWEL.
As mentioned above, apples are a big theme for back-to-school, so I wanted to toss in an apple project.
One of the things that I taught my first graders was a Vowel Song to the tune of Bingo that I made up. (There was a class who knew their vowels and this it what they sang oh: AEIOU-AEIOU-AEIOU They were a very smart class!)
When I designed this project for my first graders years ago, I thought it was funny how they would break out in song while they worked on this vowel apple! They really enjoyed both! I hope your kiddo's do too!
Run off my master on red construction paper, have your students cut and assemble the parts and glue either the vowel song or a words on the back.
Punch a hole in the stem and hang from the ceiling with fish line.
This makes a great decoration as well as a reminer of what all of the vowels are.
Click on the link to view/print the vowel apple pattern.
The Very Hungry Student!
A fun activity for the first week of school.
Your students will enjoy writing what they learned each month in this adorable booklet; it's sure to become a cherished keepsake!
Do you have a tip to share? I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com
Remember... sharing a tip or commenting on an article are two ways to enter our back-to-school button bracelet CONTEST!
Click on the CONTEST link to see all the details.
Be sure to pop in tomorrow to print another adorable keepsake booklet entitled The Students On The Bus. This one is a great math extension!
Last summer 123 Count With Me By The Sea launched with our website, to rave reviews.
Students enjoy counting the seashells and then X-ing off that many squares, putting in stickers, or dabbing the boxes with a bingo dot marker.
I have been using this bingo-dot concept with my Y5’s for over 10 years on skill sheets, as well as “find and circle the number in the sequence of numbers.” Both these techniques are fun ways for students to learn numbers.
As with the seashell booklet, many of my booklets also have a cut and glue the group/set of objects to the matching box in your booklet.
This helps reinforce counting, one-to-one correspondence, matching groups of objects and numbers, as well as having students refine their fine motor skills.
Several subscribers asked for more of these counting booklets as they cover a variety of standards, skills and subjects.
Students can do them independently in 5-8 minutes so they can be plugged in for Daily 5, centers, or something for students to work on, at their own pace, when they have completed other work.
They also make wonderful “Easy Readers” that help reinforce word wall words and build self-esteem.
You can also tuck them in a take home folder for “homework” or a home-school connection; or for parents to work on with a struggling child. They are perfect for a substitute as well.
I sat down to make a template and a list of all the themes for back-to-school and came up with apples, buses, crayons, and footballs.
I made 123 Count With Me booklets for each of them and plan to make at least 4 for every month.
October’s counting booklets will be leaves, pumpkins, bats, spiders and candy corn.
To celebrate the launch of the 123 Count With Me booklets I designed a special counting booklet that has a similar format.
It’s entitled: The Students On The Bus.
This one is more of a keepsake, because students glue their own photo on the first bus and then 14 of their friends’ school pictures on the next 4 buses.
Teachers simply print their class composite on the photo setting of their copier for each student.
The last page is made extra special as well, when the teacher glues their picture over the driver’s face before running it off.
Click on the link to view/print The Students On The Bus back-to-school booklet.
Why not become a subscriber and be able to download all of the 123 Count With Me booklets (There will be approximately 40!) Click on the link to see how.
Do you have a counting idea that works for you? I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com
Remember…commenting or sharing an idea are 2 ways to enter our back-to-school-button bracelet CONTEST! Click on the link for all the details.
LIKE us on Facebook and link this article and then e-mail to let me know, and there you have another way! Thanks for participating.
This article will go towards next week's winner, which will be announced Monday August 8th instead of Friday the 5th.
Check out this week's winners in the article after this one.
Simple scroll down! (We had 3 winners!)
Be sure to pop in this week for back-to-school idea #28 and make an adorable Alligobbler to help your students understand the concepts of less than and greater than.
The Shaplies Have Arrived:
A Fun Way To Teach Shapes That Will Excite Your Students!
Teaching shapes by making them look like “happy faces” makes learning about this flat math concept a lot more fun.
That’s why I designed “Shaplies”. Make a set for your room for an instant dangling decoration to hang from your ceiling for a great review each day!
In their debut appearance in the booklet: My I See The Shape booklet, students trace the large shape on the left, read and trace the simple sentence and then write the shape word.
On the right hand side of the page, they again read the sentence (this time the shapes are plural), color the shape, count how many are on the page and write that total on the line.
They also trace the dashed lines of the small shape at the bottom and then draw the shape next to it.
You are covering reading, math, and writing; while students reinforce a variety of skills and report card standards in a fun way!
They’ll also enjoy taking this booklet home and sharing it with their families, because they’ll be able to read it by the time they have completed the booklet—a real self-esteem builder!
To top off this reading-math block, students choose their favorite Shaplie and get some practice cutting and gluing, as they assemble an adorable Shaplie Friend dangler.
Send your student detectives on a Shape Hunt and have them make TALLY marks for each of the 6 shapes that they can find in 5 minutes.
When the timer rings help students add their totals and grand total and then graph the results.
To celebrate the birth of the Shaplie Family, click on the link to view/print the circle.
I've also include the circle page from the I See A Shape Booklet.
They're free through the first week of August.
Click on the link to view/print a set of FREE shape posters to hang on the wall or use as extra-large flashcards for shape review.
It's fun getting freebies isn't it? Why not become a subscriber and be able to download everything, anytime, at no additional charge + receive our 50+ Apple Bytes newsletter packet each month.
August’s packet was a whopping 78 pages! Click on the links to check things out.
Do you have a tip you can share about shapes? I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com
Remember… sharing or commenting are 2 ways you are able to enter the back-to-school-button bracelet CONTEST! Click on the link to see the details.
Thanks for participating.
Be sure to stop back tomorrow to see how to make an adorable monthly keepsake booklet!
Contest for Back-To-School FUN!
I was surfing the net and landed on a few blogs that had contests. I LOVE contests, so I wanted to have one too. Don’t you just love winning a prize?
OK I hear some of you moaning: “I never win anything!” Well this is your chance. No talent needed.
There are 7 ways to win and it’s as easy as falling off your computer chair.
How easy is that, especially after a crazy day of getting ready to go back to school.
Ways to win:
1. Subscribe.
2. Register: Fill out our form and register with us. At the top of this page, in the right hand corner of the burgundy menu bar, you'll see LOGIN. Click on that. The last sentence says: "No account yet?" REGISTER. Click on Register and fill out the form.
3. Leave a Comment or Share an Idea on the blog in any of the sections: “Getting to the Core”, “Care to Share”, “Books of the Month”, “Dishin’ Up With Diane”, “Hot Tips & Cool Solutions”,or “Arts-Crafts & Activities”
4. Tell a friend about our site and have them REGISTER. When they fill out the “How did you hear about us?” part of the form, have them type in your first and last name. You BOTH will be entered in the contest.
5. Make a Purchase.
6. Blog about our site on your site and link to us. Let me know via an e-mail so I can check it out. I’m constantly being reminded about how important networking is, so let’s see it work!
7. Don’t have a blog? Do you have a Facebook acct? LIKE us on Facebook, and link one of our articles on your page, let me know via an e-mail so I can check!
Well there you have it! Wasn’t that easy? Did you fall off your chair?
You can enter ALL of the categories if you want to.
You can enter categories 3-7 EVERY DAY as long as it's something DIFFERENT! i.e., you order more than one product, you have more than one friend register, you like and link more than one article on Facebook, you blog about and link more than one article, you comment on more than one article, you share more than one tip or idea etc.
Obviously the more times you enter the more chances you have of winning!
All of the above partiipants will have their names thrown into a hat or box, or whatever Chloe, my puppy, has not hauled out of my office to chew on, and I will draw a name out EVERY Friday through AUGUST. That lucky person will win a back-to-school button bracelet.
I will post the winner-of-the-week on the Blog, on Fridays as well, notifying the winner via an e-mail and sending the back-to-school button bracelet via snail mail.
This week's winner will be announced this Friday on my birthday! How special is that for a first-ever contest?
A note about the bracelets:
I’m big on making crafts WHEN I have the time. My grama Lydia had a huge button jar, some of these are her buttons, others I’ve collected over the years, and some I just went crazy selecting at a variety of craft stores and flea markets.
I made one for myself and got so many compliments and “Could you please make one for me?” that I made up several to give as hostess gifts.
I enjoyed making them so much, that I decided to make a bunch the summer I was pink-slipped. Everyone is different! There is NO time for a craft show in my life, nor time for parties and hostess gifts. I’m having a contest and YOU may be the lucky winner, of a back-to-school-button-bracelet!
You can’t win if you don’t enter, so what are you waiting for?
Do something today!
And...be sure to visit tomorrow, to print off the time-saving first-day of school name tags and posters!
Helpful "How Do I Get Home?" Name Tags
One of the things that can sometimes be a stress-filled moment for me is the time when I’m getting my children ready to go home.
When you are dealing with little ones who are also anxious and a bit nervous and worried about that too, it is very important that they see you cheerful, calm and in control.
If you have things organized this will run smoothly.
Children are exhausted by now, it’s hot and everyone’s beyond spent at this point in the day.
I always try and enlist a few adults to help me so that things run smoothly. Having them hold up a sign works wonders.
Here’s an easy way to manage who goes where via pictures.
Print off the clipart of the various options:
Students are riding the bus: They line up in the order that they will board their specific bus numbers, behind the bus picture.
Their nametags all have a matching picture of a bus on them so you know at a glance that these children are in the correct line. Their tags also say what NUMBER bus they are on.
Students are walking: They line up in the walking line, behind the picture of a pair of tennis shoes. Their name tags all have a matching picture of the tennis shoes on them. Their tags also say whom they are walking with.
Students are getting picked up: They line up in the pick up line, behind the picture of a van. Their name tags all have a matching picture of a van on them. Their tags also say who is picking them up.
Students are going to after-school care: They line up in the after-school care line, behind the picture of a group of children. Their name tags all have a matching picture of a group of children on them. Their tags also have that room number on it.
On the back of the card is their address and phone number. This has saved me a lot of time when a bus driver has told me: “They're not on my bus. Where do they live?”
or “I don’t think he rides today. You better call his parents.” Or for whatever else I need to know an address or phone number quickly. I don’t have to go back to my room or search for a file, I simply flip over their name tag and all the info is there.
My name tags are also YELLOW which is a different color from the other kindergarten teachers (everyone has their own color) so everyone knows that these are Y5 students. I include Teacher: and write my name after that heading. It helps staff if one of my students wanders out of line.
I laminate my name tags and ask parents to safety pin them to their child for the entire month.
I also make an extra set to keep at school incase they lose them or forget to wear them.
I tell parents to simply take them off as soon as they get home and pin them to their backpack, that way they are always handy and if they forget to pin it on in the morning, I’ll still have it.
I walk the bus children to their buses. The other adults take the rest of the students to our designated “pick up room” where all the kindergarten children are “deposited” for safety reasons.
Parents who are picking up their children can go here and sign them out. Older children who are walking with these young ones can find them there, and the teacher in charge of the after school care program can get the K’s here as well, or send an assistant if she is busy.
Having a designated “pick-up room” has kept children safe and eliminated little ones running all over the hallways unattended.
Our librarian watches the room until the teachers get done boarding children on buses, then we stay with our students ‘til everyone is picked up.
Click on the link to view/print the back-to-school posters and name tags
I've also included a graph of "Where do I go after school?" This is a great math extension as well as a way to review with children before they line up at the end of the day. Click on the link to view/print the back-to-school line up graph.
These back-to-school-name tags, posters and graph came from this August's 78-page Apple Bytes, our newsletter packet, which goes out each month.
Why not become a subscriber and enjoy this benefit! Click on the link to see how.
Do you have a tip you can share about name tags? I'd enjoy hearing from you!
Remember... sharing a tip or commenting on an article are two ways to enter our back-to-school button bracelet CONTEST! You can also click LIKE us on Facebook and link this article on yours, then send me an e-mail so I can check it out!
Thanks for participating! Winner will be announced the 29th. Be sure to check out the cute way to teach shapes tomorrow and print off an adorable circle dangler + 6 posters!
1-2-3 Count Up To 100-Day With Me!
I always like to repost the Zero The Hero packet (a super popular download) at the end of July, as teachers are thinking about back to school. It's a whopping 171 pages (!) and an oldie but goodie for "Throw Back Thursday".
I start keeping track of how many days we'd been in school that very first day. A counting up to 100-Day idea, that is a “must have” for me, is Zero The Hero. He is a fun vehicle for incorporating all sorts of math skills.
I designed an entire packet around Zero, including a friend named Zippy, who would allow teachers to toss in a little geography.
There just never seems to be enough time in the day for everything, and geography is one of those “things” that my students needed a bit more of.
Zippy is a quick, fun and easy solution, as he travels to places around the world that begin with the letters O and Z.
Celebrate every 10th day by making a page in your Zero the Hero book.
What a great keepsake to take home on 100 Day, and interesting way to learn how to count by 10's.
Students put 10 reinforcement holes on their number. (I use these instead of stickers because they are really inexpensive, but you could switch things up if you wanted to. )
This is a nice fine-motor and counting skill + each child will then have 100 “zero-stickers” in their booklet on the 100th Day of school when they complete their last page!
Students will also enjoy zipping around the world to interesting O and Z places with Zippy.
The passport is sure to be a huge hit, complete with travel and award stickers.
Included are: clue sheets, notes, and an
“I Wonder Where Zippy Is?” Guessing-Poster.
Students will have fun learning about the various places as they work with parents to find and bring in an interesting fact in their "home-school" connection assignment.
Follow up their adventures, by locating places on your classroom map.
Make a Zero the Hero count by 5’s slider and a Zippy count by 10’s slider to review skip counting and identify numbers.
Various activities reinforce a variety of report card standards and are sequential and repetitious, so that students know what to do.
Because of this, kids are empowered and are able to do these as independent center activities, which are great for Daily Five or other “no hassle” centers.
For example, on the 30th day of school, students bingo dot their skill sheet and then graph their cup of 30 Froot Loops. Afterwards, they can make a necklace out of the brightly colored cereal or eat it.
Students keep everything in a folder and have a wonderful keepsake to take home on the 100th day of school.
Click on the link to see sample pages from this 171-page unit and then download it.
What a fun way to count up to 100-Day while reinforcing a variety of report card standards! Zero the Hero packet For more fun ways to count up to 100 Day click on the link.
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Do you have an activity that you do for Open House? I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here. Thanks in advance!
I hope you can stop by tomorrow for more back to school ideas.
"Use what talent you possess: The world would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." -Henry Van Dyke
Bright Behavior Lightbulb
Sometimes I need a shut off button so that my brain can turn off so I can go to sleep at night, but because it didn’t, I now have a really cute “Bright Ideas Behavior Motivator” just in time for back-to-school.
Here’s how it works:
Run off a copy of the Behavior Bulb.
1. Put forth their finest effort.
2. Try their best. And…
3. Have a positive attitude!
You hang it on the wall and have a quick reminder as well as a nice decoration.
These posters come from the 16-page Bright Ideas packet. Click on the link to look it over.
Included in the packet are individual badges you can make for your students with just their name or with a photo.
Add a bit of sparkling pizzazz by sprinkling on some gold glitter.
Become a Gold Subscription member and be able to download it all now at no additional cost.
Do you have a bright idea you’d like to share? I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com
Be sure to pop in tomorrow for some awesome Zero The Hero back-to-school tips!
Punt With A Scavenger Hunt
One of the sayings I heard from the boys on the football team was, "When all else fails, punt!" You can do that quite successfully with a scavenger hunt for your Open House or the first day of school.
Sometimes teachers need a few quiet moments to get their sanity back and have their students doing something to keep them occupied, while they tackle that "paper mountain" of administrative duties on the first day of school.
Why not go on an alphabetical scavenger hunt? "Go exploring and you will see, things in our classroom from A to Z!"
These ideas come from my 28-page ABC Scavenger Hunt booklet. I'm posting the check list as a freebie through the 31st of July.
Here's how:
I always include a cover template for the word cards so that you can run off a set for students to cut, sequence and make into Itty Bitty booklets.
Children enjoy these "just-the-right-size" books.
26-upper and lowercase alphabet cards are also included as well as 38-picture cards.
These can be made into several different kinds of Itty Bitty Booklets or used in a Memory Match or "Find the Pairs" Game.
All the word cards are traceable for handwriting practice. My Y5's enjoy using a highlighter every chance they get.
Why not become a Gold Subscription Member and get my entire shopping cart for an entire year at no additional charge + our 40-70 page Apple Bytes newsletter packet each month!
Click on the links to check things out.
My ABC School-Words Dictionary booklet, goes perfectly with the scavenger hunt, as the pictures and words match!
It's a wonderful activity for students to transition to, after they complete their ABC scavenger hunt. The dictionary is something that they can work on at their own pace through out the month of September and makes a nice keepsake.
Students trace and then write the words for a nice fine motor skill and handwriting extension. Both upper and lowercase letters are shown for the perfect letter review as well! Click on the link above to check it out.
Be sure to pop back Friday when I'll tell you about my Open House Scavenger Hunt!