DECEMBER FREEBIES for TEACHERS

 

This time of year is all about giving.  It is my pleasure to offer these gifts to you:

• CHRISTMAS CONFECTIONS SQUARE PUZZLERS

• SCRATTLE: CHRISTMAS EDITION

• VOCABULARY FRACTIONS: CHRISTMAS EDITION
  
  
• JINGLE JINGLE MAKING WORDS CENTER  
  
  
• RUDOLPH'S RED NOSE & HO HO HOs WORKSHEETS
  
  
  
  
  
  

I hope you enjoy these FREEBIES.  Have a safe and wonderful December.

It's About Time, Teachers, for the Election!

Have you gathered your resources for teaching about the election?  You may be interested in these:

Election Hink Pinks, et al. task cards are perfect for working on vocabulary associated with elections, presidents, and civics.  The terms can be sophisitcated, suggesting that upper elementary and middle school students are the prime audience.  

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Encourage research with these Presidential Trivia Task Cards.  Your upper elementary students will uncover interesting and fun facts about presidents and the presidency.

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Patriotic Squares are differentiated, critical thinking activities that can be employed in any elementary classroom.  While not specifically related to elections, they are patriotic.  Oh, and they are such a fun way to build up to Sudoku!

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SCRATTLE is a FREE differentiated, math & literacy, learning center activity. As in Scrabble™, students use a set of letters to create words. They then calculate each word’s score using the letter values. Finally, they engage a friend in a battle wherein they compare their scores using >, <, and =.  Like Patriotic Squares, this fun product is patriotic; not specifically related to the election.  Math skills required range from simple addition  to mixed operations. Thus, SCRATTLE can be used in 1st to 6th grades.

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RED, WHITE, & BLUE COMPOUND WORDS literacy center is not election related.  It is patriotic in nature and thus, may be appropriate to primary classrooms during the election season.

All of these resources, except the Election Hink Pinks, et al., are appropriate for any patriotic holiday (Veterans Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Indepence Day) and thus can be used throughout the year(s).

Enjoy the resources and remember to vote!

 

It's that pumpkin time of year...

Like so many of you, I'm relishing this special time.  So armed with my pumpkin spice latte, I'd like to share some pumpkin ideas for your classroom.

First up is a FREEBIE! Create a pumpkin bulletin board with How Many Ways? Math Challenge - Fall Edition.  This is a fun, open ended, critical thinking math challenge that covers a bulletin board for a month or more. Use it as an anchor activity, math center, sponge activity, or a challenge for fast finishers.  Similar to Boggle(TM), your learners seek to arrive at a target number in many different ways.  It may be easily adapted to any elementary grade level and provides differentiation within a single classroom.

Another pumpkin activity is Pumpkinoes, a math center that is differentiated to use in any elementary classroom.  This domino style activity exercises counting & cardinality, composing & decomposing numbers, even & odd numbers, greater than & less than, basic operations, and Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).

Pumpkin Squares is another differentiated, critical thinking activity that can be used in any elementary classroom.  The tasks progress in difficulty while honing the deductive reasoning necessary to eventually solve a Sudoku puzzle. 

Jazzy Jack-o'-Lanterns is another FREEBIE.  It challenges your students' creativity and is intended to be used as an enrichment activity that is completed at home.

I hope you enjoy your pumpkin time.

BACK TO SCHOOL SALE!

It's about time, teachers, for TPT's BACK TO SCHOOL sale.

 

When you use the code BTS20, you will get 25% off everything in my store on 8/4 & 8/5.  My store will continue to be on sale on 8/6.  Everything will be 20% off on that day.

Happy shopping!

POETRY - MY PASSION!

POETRY - MY PASSION!  

If you follow my blog, you know that I'm passionate about poetry.  I love writing instructional poetry and I love teaching WITH poetry.  Teaching WITH poetry does not mean specifically teaching "poetry," as in figurative language, iambic pentameter, sonnets, etc.  While I do teach those things when appropriate, I use poetry to teach reading skills, science, math, social studies, and a whole lot more.  To that end, I have a line of products called POETRY POSSIBILITIES.

I find it rewarding to take a poem and parse it for all the lessons hiding inside it.  Here's a sample to illustrate what POETRY POSSIBILITIES are all about --

This poem is from Poetry Possibilities for Animal Poems.

Are you skeptical about teaching math with poems?  Check out this poem from Back to School Poetry Possibilities and its potential math lessons:

Many of the possibilities are completely adaptable to distance learning.

POETRY POSSIBILITIES are well received by teachers.  

I'm confident you'll like them, too!

BIRTHDAY BASH SALE!!

Help me celebrate my birthday!

I'm throwing a BIRTHDAY BASH in which a set of products will be 1/2 price for 1 day. Come back each day to see what has been featured.

Today's special is CLASSROOM DECOR. More than 100 products are 50% off today. Check it out!

PHONICS SORTS LITERACY CENTERS FOR PRIMARY CLASSROOMS

It's about time, teachers, for 

This bundle contains 7 phonics sorts literacy centers.  

• Two centers focus on consonant sounds
• 4 concentrate on vowel and vowel digraph sounds 
• One offers practice with initial consonant blends. 
• Two centers are seasonal; the others are not. 
• Four of the centers provide word/picture cards for sorting while one supplies pictures only. These centers provide more support for early readers. 
• Two centers supply word cards only, making them more challenging. 
• Three centers are ideal for book extensions: Owl and Crow Phonics Sort pairs with Barn Dance by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault and is included in my thematic unit, Hoedown!; Bat Blends Phonics Sort and Bats and Bridges Phonics Sort work well with Jannelle Cannon's, Stellaluna. Both bat phonics sorts are included in my thematic unit, Hanging Out with Stellaluna.

By purchasing the bundle, you will save 20%.    

CREATE CLASSROOM PANDA-MONIUM! Panda Themed Decor

It's about time, teachers, to create

This amazing bundle saves you 20% on a dozen products that will transform your classroom into a panda paradise.  You will love it as much as your students do.  

It's about time to start thinking about your new classroom decor!

BTW, this collection is also available in red and black.  Same products; different color theme.

BLUE & GREEN - SO SERENE - CLASSROOM DECOR

It's about time, teachers, to consider your decor needs when schools reopen (hopefully) in the fall. Many teachers are shying away from the over-the-top, Pinterest-worthy, busy decor and opting for a more subdued style. With that in mind, I have created a line of products that feature a coordinated blue and green color scheme. These 11 coordinated products will yield a cool and serene classroom.

Start with a welcome banner.  Included are:

•  32 alphabet pennants (capital letters only; 2 of each vowel)

•  spacer flags

• ordinal number grade level flags (1st– 6th)

• appellation flags (Mr., Mrs., Miss. Ms)

• punctuation flags (comma, period, apostrophe, exclamation point)

• “TO” pennant, for WELCOME TO 5th    GRADE

•  word wall headers with upper and lower case letters on each

This product also includes these editable components:

•  48 rectangular frames useful for word wall words

• 28 editable, medium size pennants (suggested use = student names or photos)

      

Posting classroom rules is always a good idea.  This set includes 23 classroom rules and 5 bathroom rules.  Thus, you have plenty of directives from which to choose. 

Display these alphabet and color word posters. Provided are:
• 52 alphabet posters (26 each of 2 sizes/styles)
   • 8.5” x 11” portrait posters include the upper and lower case letters, an illustration aligned to that letter, and a word describing the picture.
   • 5.5” x 8.5” posters use the same font and illustrations, but do not include the picture label. They are formatted 2/page, requiring you to cut them apart.
   • The vowels are presented in blue, while the consonants are green.
• 11 color posters 5.5” x 8.5”

These sight word cards are the perfect accompaniment to the word wall headers (included in the welcome product). The complete list of Dolch Sight Words are included, as well as editable cards for vocabulary you wish to add. The cards are labeled and color coded for each grade level.

Everything you need for daily calendar work is provided in this unit. 

• 4.25” x 11” month placards (12)
• 3.2” x 3.2” days of the week headers (7)
• 3.2” x 3.2” date cards (1-31) in 5 designs (155)
• 3.2” x 3.2” special day cards (28)
• Interactive signs – Today is…, Yesterday was…, Tomorrow will be… (3)
• Day of the week placards for the interactive signs (7)
• Days in School interactive sign (1)
• Number cards (0-9) for the Days in School sign (21)

These number posters provide:
• 21 cardinal number posters (0-20) with visual representations
   • numerals
   • number words
   • tally marks
   • ten frames
• 20 ordinal number posters (1st –20th) with visual representations
   • numerals
   • numeration words
   • ten frames

This blue and green number line supplies:
• 71 color posters of the numbers 1-120 in landscape orientation
   • posters have 2 numbers per page for 1-98; 1 number per page for 99 – 120
   • odd numbers are green; even numbers are blue

Create a math word wall with these elements:
• 26 alphabet headers
• 242 vocabulary word cards
• 12 editable word cards

These 43 math concepts posters provide visual reminders of math concepts in numbers and operations, geometry, and measurement. Each poster includes a graphic representation of the concept, as well as a brief, written description. Add them to your math focus wall.

Hone higher order thinking skills with these classroom quotations posters. They provide:  

• 45 letter size, quotation posters in a blue and green color scheme
• Quotation Quest task card activity
   • 1 direction placard
   • 12 task cards
   • 1 Quest Grid master

Create a well behaved class by combining the behavior clip chart with a vast array of kudos cards. Supplied are:

• 7 clip chart signs

• editable name badges for the chart

• 3 types of kudos cards

   • behavior

   • academics

   • event 

• 3 editable kudos cards masters

 If you are as excited about this decor theme as I am, you can save money by purchasing the bundle!

IT'S WHIRLYBIRD TIME!

I awoke this morning to what I thought was hail hitting my skylights.  Odd since it was sunny, calm, and beautiful outside.  Then I realized --

Watching this seed dispersal is fascinating and inspired me to write a little poem.

If you follow me, you know that I love poetry and use it extensively in the classroom.  I give focus to poetry elements and appreciation, but I use poetry primarily as a vehicle for teaching an abundance of other subject matter.  

My nod to poetic elements for this poem would be to discuss the theme.  Obviously, the theme is whirlybirds, but more importantly, it's about their movements.  I establish this through discussion.

This leads naturally to an exploration of present participle verbs.  Students are directed to highlight the present participles on their copies of the poem.  Then I challenge them to write a present particple, or -ing poem.  The most intriguing of these poems are composed almost entirely of these verbs.  Thus, I present just such a poem -

We compare the 2 poems; feeling, rhythm, flow, etc., before I launch my young poets to do their writing.

There is an obvious correlation to the science of seeds.  So we study nature's methods of seed dispersal, collecting seeds and classifying them.   

There are so many more lesson possibilities for this poem....

• fluent reading
• punctuation
• alliteration
• rhymes
• rhythm
• syllables
• parts of speech
• phonics
• and so forth

Enjoy!

If you would like more poetry possibilities, you may like