IT'S PUMPKIN TIME!

 

Pumpkin season is just the best! From pumpkin spice lattes to carving Jack-o'-lanterns, it's a special time of year.

In the classroom, my favorite project is challenging my learners to create Jack-o'-lanterns, but I have one caveat:

That's right, no pumpkins.  Their creations can be made from literally anything else.  The results are always amazing.

Alternate foods and gourds are perennial favorites.

But, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Look at the variety of materials students have used - 

Conduct this activity as a home project. This provides a wonderful opportunity for parents to be involved in cultivating their children's creativity.

Give your students one week to create their Jazzy Jack-o'-lanterns.  Encourage them to bring their creations in on the designated date. Consider putting them on display for the entire school to enjoy.

I have used this project successfully with all elementary grades. 

Read more about this project in my FREE product:

If you enjoy this project, you may like these products from the Destination Imagination via Creative Thinking collection in my TPT store.

It's About Time for Halloween, Teachers!

Halloween is next week.  That means that your class will be more excited, or excitable, than usual.  I have some tips for handling those holiday high spirits (pun intended).

Giving students highly engaging activities is key.  One of my favorites is HALLOWEEN SQUARE PUZZLERS.   This resource offers differentiated puzzles that will challenge your children's critical thinking and problem solving while disguising them as fun.  Moreover, the task is demanding enough that your little goblins will not be able to dash through them.  The task is to reconstruct the square array so that the images match on each interior side.

Another activity I like to roll out as a treat for my students is PUMPKIN SQUARES.  Also known as Latin Squares, these brain teasers are differentiated, too.  While used in math for statistical analysis, these arrays are excellent precursors to traditional Sudoku.  The challenge ranges from 3x3 squares to 7x7 squares.  

HALLOWEEN HINK PINKS, et al. are task cards that can be used as bell ringers, anchor activities, a center, and/or a sponge activity.  If you have a few awkward moments, whip out a Halloween Hink Pink card.  These word riddles will test your pupils' vocabulary and activate their problem solving skills.  But the best part about Hink Pinks, is your kiddos just can't get enough of them.  They are a treat, indeed.  

I've saved the best for last... HALLOWEEN SCRATTLE.  Why is it the best?  Because it combines word work with computation, individual effort with competition, offers differentiation, and it's FREE!  Using a set of letters, individual pupils construct words.  They write their words on the recording sheet and calculate the word values using addition, multiplication, or mixed operations.  Next they challenge a friend to battle, comparing their recording sheet values.  The kiddo with the most winning scores is the champion.  But, that's not all!!!  Allow your students to rechallenge each other, or another student(s).  You won't believe how quickly their word choices grow in complexity.  My classes beg to do SCRATTLE.  

These activities have been field tested for years.  They help me keep my classes learning and growing while acknowledging the appeal of Halloween.  I'd love to hear how your children like them.

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Teacher Treats

It's About Time for Hallowe'en, Teachers!

And, this weekend, all the treats are for you!

No tricks; these 5 products are FREE this weekend, 10/27 - 10/29.

I hope you will take a moment to leave TPT feedback.  It benefits you and me.

Halloween Phonics Sort Literacy Center

If you are looking for a fun, easy, low prep, literacy center for your class, I've got just what you need.

Get your little ghosts busy, practicing the sounds of O.

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Autumn Themed Centers

Autumn themed centers for your classroom -- check them out.  

Ghosts Say, "Boo!" is a literacy center for primary classrooms. In this activity students will focus on 2 sounds of /o/:  ō and ōō.

There are 2 ghost work mats: 1 labeled "Ghosts," and the other labeled "Boo!" Students sort the 20 word/picture cards by matching the vowel sounds to the 2 ghosts.  This center includes a recording sheet and labels for your center folder.

Bats & Bridges Literacy Center also challenges students to work with vowel sounds; long and short /a/. Students will sort the bat word cards and fly them to the proper bridge for roosting.  A recording sheet is included, as are labels for your center folder.

This center activity is part of my thematic unit, Hanging Out with Stellaluna.  It is now available as a stand-alone product for the first time.

You get to combine 2 subjects in 1 center when you use Scrattle: Halloween Edition.  This wildly popular activity challenges your students to exercise their verbal fluency by making words out of the letters provided on candy corn pieces. Each letter has a numeric value, as in Scrabble(TM).  As your students record their words, they compute the value of each of them.

Then they challenge a friend at the center to compare their numbers.  In the process, your students will practice using >, <, and =. The winner of this word battle is the 1 with the most >s.  (Scrattle gets its name from Scrabble + battle.)

Not only does Scrattle give your students practice with ELA and math, but it comes with 3 different recording sheets: 1 using addition only, 1 requiring multiplication, and 1 employing mixed operations. Thus, you can readily differentiate your instruction. Moreover, this center is CCSS aligned. And better yet, it's FREE! Even better, there are multiple editions for several holidays and they, too, are FREE!

John Hughes, author of An Educator's Life blogspot, is hosting a Fall-Tastic Activities and Resouces linky party.  You are sure to find some great activities there.

Until next time...

It's about time, teachers, for Halloween.  For your emergent readers, my original book, What the Little Ghost Saw on Halloween, is available on TPT and TN.  

The simple text is predictable, following this pattern:

He saw a/an [adjective] [Halloween object supported by the picture]. 

The last page breaks the pattern, allowing the teacher to determine if the student is attending to the text or reciting a memorized pattern. 

High frequency words include he, saw, a/an, his, it, & was. Because the last page has was in the same position as saw on the previous pages, this book is useful for addressing saw/was confusions.  Do this by drawing the student's attention to the first letter of was on that last page. Without confirming whether the child read the word correctly or not, ask her what sound that letter makes.  Assuming she replies correctly, ask her if that is what she would expect to see at the beginning of was.  By drawing her attention to this detail of the text, you are giving her the ability to self-check.

The book is offered in black and white line art.  I encourage you to let your students color the pictures, especially the pages that employ the color words.  

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