IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for MARCH!

It's about time, teachers. . . for March winds to blow in some springtime sun and weather.  Where I live, in central IL, it's beautiful, sunny, and unseasonably warm. And the wind is blowing gusts in excess of 30 mph!  

Since March is blowing in, it's time to start some March poetry; my passion.  One of my favorite 1st grade poetry activities is. . .

Use the following poem for handwriting practice. As you write each line of the poem on the board for your students to copy, you have the perfect opportunity to conduct myriad mini-lessons.  Think out loud with your students as you capitalize the proper nouns, insert punctuation, read the punctuation, notice rhyming words, apply suffixes, highlight high frequency words, . . . The possibilities are almost endless, the review priceless, and the ability to succeed guaranteed.  (The latter being 1 of the chief reasons I prize handwriting practice so much.)

March 

March is blowing, 

Huffity puff.

March is showing 

Liony stuff.

March is crying, 

"I really am,

Trying to be 

An April lamb."

              by Carol Quinn

Reward their hard work by having them create lions and lambs from paper plates. My craftivities for this are pretty simple, straightforward, and time friendly (since we all have to feel the urgency in educating our students).  

Each student will need 2 plain white paper plates, crayons, 5 or 6 cotton balls, crayons, glue, and construction paper scraps.

The lion is easiest.  Using their crayons, the students draw a lion's face on the flat, center section of the plate.  Then color the mane on the bumpy part, interspersing shades of brown and yellow.

The lamb takes a bit more time. We created everything on the lamb using scraps of construction paper, except the mouth.  You could simplify this by using crayons or markers to make the eyes and nose, as well.  But, I think it's well worth the time to make the eyelids with curly eyelashes.  Glue cotton balls on the forehead, or, if you have a plethora of cotton balls, they could be glued all around the bumpy part of the plate. 

You can see that we staple the ears on. After many years of trying to glue them, let me tell you, it just doesn't work.  So break out the stapler and move on.

Use the products to create 2 displays:  

• Make a bulletin board graph using these crafts.  Have your students place their lion or lamb in the appropriate cell of the graph according to their prediction of March's entry. [BTW, a really quick and easy way to make lines on the bulletin board is to use yarn.]  

• Attach the other paper plate craft to the poem.  Display these examples of their handwriting.

Now, March winds, do your work; blow winter away and usher in spring.

You may like these March resources:

It's About Time, Teachers, for Syllable Rules!

 

Did you know that teaching syllable division is included in every elementary level of CCSS?

Do your students struggle with dividing words into syllables?

Do you need help teaching the syllabication rules? 

It's about time, then, that you checked out these resources that clearly and concisely explain 16 rules for dividing words into syllables.  

• The rules in each resource are the same.  The graphics reflect the theme.  
• Each poster includes an example word to further illustrate the rule.  That example also reflects the theme.  

To peruse these products, you can click on the above images, or proceed to my TPT store following this link.  You will also find products for practicing these skills.

WILD ABOUT LEARNING FREEBIE!

 It's about time, teachers, for a FREEBIE!

Here's what you will find in Wild About Learning Posters and Garlands:

These 8 posters are letter sized. I plan to print them on cardstock and post several of them with my welcome back banner. All of this will go on the big, cement block wall outside my classroom; a dull space if ever there was one.  

But the display still needs some pizzazz. So I made some garlands of forest elements. I will make several leaf and acorn garlands for the beginning of school. Later, I will provide the components for my students to create garlands of their own. To that end, I have included black line elements so the students can color them to suit themselves. Or, maybe I'll print them on construction paper for the kiddos. I haven't decided yet.  

Here's my display so far:

[Wild About Learning... does not include the pennants.  They are available here.  Neither are the toadstools included.]  

It is my pleasure to offer this product for FREE. If you download it, I would greatly appreciate feedback on TPT.  TYIA

A quick trip to Michael's scored this wreath for my forest theme.

While it definitely has a fall feel, I think I can justify leaving it up all year since it blends with my theme. The room number part is just a simple sign I printed and glued to the back of the wreath. It's much more appealing than the room sign my school provides. It's the little things...

This product joins a plethora of other Forest Friends resources. Check them out here!

March Teaching Resources

 

Are you ready for all things March? Prepare your classroom and lessons for this special month that ushers in spring.

What could be better than a bulletin board that serves as a math center? 

Challenge your students' critical thinking and fluency as they determine how many ways they can reach the target number. The task is similar to Boogle™ for numbers. Post the operation symbols and the target number you choose to easily differentiate the task.

Try this FREEBIE:

SCRATTLE is a differentiated, math and literacy, learning center activity that combines word work with computation; individual effort with competition. As in Scrabble™, students use a set of letters to create words. After recording their words, they calculate each word’s score using the letter values. Then they engage a friend in a battle wherein they compare their scores using >, <, and =. The student with the most >s wins the battle! (SCRAbble + baTTLE = SCRATTLE!)

This brand new resource is specially made for TPT Easel. (No print product is available.) 

Students will exercise deductive reasoning, inferencing, drawing conclusions, sequencing, problem solving, and computation.

It simply wouldn't be a fresh, new month without a new poetry unit.

POETRY POSSIBILITES for MARCH is a collection of 11 poems about St. Patrick’s Day, March weather, signs of spring, and kites. Each poem is followed by a page of teaching possibilities. These possibilities include a teaching point pertaining to poetry, as well as custom designed skill lessons and activities from multiple disciplines.

MATH CENTERS FOR PRIMARY GRADES 103

 

When creating math centers, help yourself by teaching smarter, not harder.  To this end, one of my favorite math centers is a bulletin board display, too!  Killing 2 birds with 1 stone is definitely smart.

HOW MANY WAYS? is an example of a bulletin board math center that exercises multiple skills, differentiates instruction, and easily challenges fast finishers, enrichment students, and G/T kiddos all at once.

This BACK TO SCHOOL version is FREE!! It provides all the materials you need to customize the center to your needs. For example, you may choose to post pencils with counting dots for very young learners, or eschew the counting version for pencil icons with just numbers.

Additionally, you can select the question that best suits the abilities of your learners:

• How many ways can you count to --- ?
• How many ways can you get to --- ?

The 2nd question requires students to use basic operations to reach the target number.  This, too, provides differentiation as you select the operation(s) under study and/or within your children's skill set.  

The target number can be changed daily, weekly, or at whatever interval seems most doable to you.  The operation symbols can also be exchanged/added/subtracted as you wish.

This math center can be used during your math block or in a number of other ways.  For example, establish it as an bell ringer activity, training your students to engage in it upon arrival each day. It can also be used for enrichment students, G/T, and/or fast finishers. As its name implies, the challenge is to find multiple ways of reaching the target number. This exercises your learners' Higher Order Thinking Skills, fluency, and flexibility.

The procedure for How Many Ways? can challenge each individual to list all the ways s/he discovers. Or, the center group of students can work collaboratively to make a list.  You can even create competition between center groups to determine which group can find the most ways to answer the question.

Individuals can list their solutions in their math journals.

Another option is to have your pupils write each equation on a sticky note, posting it on the wall by the bulletin board.  This choice also calls on the children to check for duplicates and inaccuracies.

If you are intrigued by How Many Ways?, you can get all nine versions in the bundle in my TPT store.

WANTED NUMBERS is another bulletin board math center that I love. 

This, center, too, can be used in various ways:

• bell ringer
• math center rotations
• math journals
• enrichment, G/T, early finishers
• team competition

The above picture shows the bulletin board display. The number on the wanted poster can be changed by the teacher, as can the form of the wanted poster. Three versions of the poster are included, allowing growth over time and instant differentiation.

Provide copies of the poster for your students. They add the wanted number that is displayed, then complete the form. Exemplars can be printed for their use or simply require the children to illustrate their ideas.

Expectations for the posters will naturally evolve as the class advances through the curricula. Thus, primary classes may start with single digit numbers, adding more digits as their understanding grows.

Teachers may also choose to allow students to select their own number for the posters, giving them choices with parameters such as:

• odd/even numbers
• numbers between 40 & 70
• 3 digit numbers
• fractions
• factors of 5
• etc.

All of the choices available for Wanted Numbers should make this math center bulletin board an enduring activity.  One bulletin board done for the entire year!

Always strive to work smarter!

CORAL & NAVY CLASSROOM DECOR

During this time of sheltering at home, I've used my time to create resources and refresh existing ones.  It's about time 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.  In respect for that, I have created a line of products that feature a coordinated navy and coral color scheme.  The products also boast unBEARably cute teddy bear graphics, all from Alice Smith at Clipart4resale.  

Start with a warm welcome.  Included are:  

• alphabet flags (capital letters only)

• spacer flags (some with bear illustrations)

• ordinal number grade level flags (Kdg – 6th)

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

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

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

• word wall headers with upper and lower case letters

This product also includes these editable components:

• 10 flags

• 16 fancy frames

• 16 oval frames 

• 20 rectangular frames 

      Displaying your classroom expectations 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. 

Use classroom signs to provide information, procedures, and general decor.  The contents are:  

• Travel plans clip chart (dismissal plans)

•  Birthday clip chart

• North, south, east & west direction placards

• 10 table signs

• 2 bathroom passes (boys’ and girls’)

• 2 library passes

• 2 office passes

• 2 nurse passes

• This is a nut free classroom

• A dot is a lot (glue use)

• Fire drill procedures (editable)

• Storm drill procedures (editable)

• 2 name badge masters (editable)

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 coral, while the consonants are navy.

• 11 color posters 5.5” x 8.5”

These sight word cards are the perfect accompaniment to the word wall headers (found 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 (24)

• 3.2” x 3.2” editable day cards (6)

• 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)

Coral and navy 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 coral and navy 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 coral; even numbers are navy

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 coral and navy color scheme

• Quotation Quest task card activity

• 1 direction placard

• 12 task cards

• 1 Quest Grid master

In case you are as in love with this décor as I am, you can score all 11 products in this economical bundle.

Stay safe and healthy!