SANTA CLAUS CONTRACTIONS

 

One of my favorite, December activities with  first graders is making Santa Claus Contractions books. They write the text and add the illustrations.  All you need to do is supply the booklets.

To create the booklets, simply put several sheets of writing paper inside a construction paper cover.  You can provide the cover copy and illustration, or not!  They can certainly make their own.

Next I demonstrate writing a sentence containing a contraction, then make a quick illustration.

Finally, I send them off to do their writing and drawing.  The books they produce provide insight into which children may need more contractions instruction.  Their compilations always make me smile.

If you try this project, consider these suggestions:

1. You can easily differentiate the assignment by limiting or increasing the number of pages in the booklet.
2. Challenge your more capable writers to include more than one contraction in the sentence. (See the last page above.)
3. Discourage the use of markers. Those sheets of writing paper with illustration space at the top are thin! The marker will bleed through. Encourage the children to use crayons or colored pencils.

IT'S ABOUT TIME for STELLALUNA RESOURCES!

 

STELLALUNA, by Janelle Cannon, is not only one of my favorite picture books, but a unit I love to teach in the fall. For one week, I immerse my 1st and 2nd graders in all things batty.

To that end, I have created Hanging Out with Stellaluna, a thematic unit that includes activities for literacy centers, math centers, writing, poetry, word work, math journal prompts, lots of printable worksheets, and more! This unit is also available digitally on TPT Easel.

Naturally, center work includes bat related activities.  Tangram Puzzles tailored to the story make a fun math center.  

There are 2 phonics centers.  Bat Blends provides practice with consonant blends.

Bats & Bridges is a phonics sort focusing on vowel sounds.  

Both phonics centers are also available digitally on TPT Easel.  

You can get all of these materials in a bundle that will save you 30%!  

TEACHING RESOURCES for THE MITTEN

Winter brings mitten weather. So what could be better for your primary classroom than a study of THE MITTEN?  I love to immerse my class in all things mitten while we study various versions of this Ukranian folktale.

We begin our week long study by reading all the versions of the folktale I can find. The above 3 are available in my library. Then I provide a plethora of materials with the mitten theme.

One of my favorite winter bulletin board displays is this one:

It is not only a winter display, but provides an awesome math center, anchor activity, sponge activity, enrichment, &/or fast finishers' challenge. Learn more about it from this video:

This thematic unit has literacy centers, math centers and printables. It is available on TPT Easel for digital learning. Explore its offerings by watching this video:

Mitten math centers include:

Practice number sense and numeracy with Mitten Math. It is available on TPT Easel for digital learning. 

This video explains its numeracy activities:

Glyphs are always popular with my learners. This activity also provides a fun display. Watch the video to see what it offers:

Although my curriculum map does not include graphing at this time of year, I like to spiral my students' exposure to these skills.  This product offers 9 graphing sets with differentiation built in. Video follows:

Latin Squares combine math & critical thinking.  They are open ended activities that can challenge even the most gifted of students. This product is available on TPT Easel for digital learning. Learn more here:

Mitten literacy centers include:

Establish a literacy center focused on antonyms and synonyms. It's 2 centers in one and it is available on TPT Easel for digital learning. Here's a video introduction:

Matching Mittens gives practice with onset & rime. This center is differentiated to give more challenge to those who need it. It,too, is available on TPT Easel for digital learning. See it in action here:

Sight word practice is always beneficial.  These color-by-word printables with delight your pupils. See more about them with this video:

You can also exercise CRITICAL THINKING while studying The Mitten. Mitten Square Puzzlers are learning disguised as fun.  They, too, provide varying levels of challenge for differentiation. To see how they work, watch this:

You can buy a bundled version of all of these products.  The bundle saves you 20% over the individual prices, PLUS, the bulletin board math center, How Many Ways?, is included for FREE! 
 

Happy winter teaching!

It's About Time for a Gingerbread Man Unit!

December is the perfect month for a gingerbread man unit.  Just in time for your study, I have 2 literacy centers to extend the learning.

Contraction Cookies is CCSS aligned for grades 1-3, but would be a great resource for kindergarteners who are already proficient readers.  Not surprisingly, it provides practice with contractions.  It is HOLIDAY NEUTRAL, so you can use it with students who do not participate in holiday activities, and/or employ the center at other times of the year.

Gingerbread Man Compound Words also extends your gingerbread man study.  It, too, is CCSS aligned for gr. 1-3.  The compound words are seasonal, but not holiday specific (e.g. peppermint, snowball).  So, once again, this center is appropriate for children who do not join in holiday celebrations.  

Both literacy centers include labels for your center folder, work mats, gingerbread men word cards, recording sheets, and answer keys.

Enjoy your gingerbread man time!

It's about time, teachers, ... 

As a new school year dawns, young children, parents, and teachers are faced with a dilemma: saying goodbye.  Every parent has encountered the tears and heart-wrenching pleas.  Every teacher of young children has ached for the children and parents.  (Separation anxiety works both ways; parents cry, too.)  And, as a teacher with many years of experience in early childhood education, I would like to offer a suggestion for easing this transition...

...establish a transition tradition.

Young children thrive on routine.  They find comfort in being able to predict the events of the day.  They find reassurance in repetitive, positive procedures.  Thus, teachers can help ease these transitions by encouraging parents and children to establish a parting protocol. One transition tool is teaching children and care-givers to give a quick, fun, light-hearted good-bye.

Most people are familiar with these:

In my quest to establish a forest friends' classroom, I challenged myself to create such sayings using forest animals.  Here's a sampling:

At our parent information meeting before school starts, I plan to have this set of posters displayed near the door.  Drawing the parents' attention to them, I will encourage them, along with their children, to select a pair of favorite phrases for their farewells. In my experience, the tearful transitions will quickly give way to smiling sendoffs.

If you are creating a forest friends' classroom, you may like these products:

It's springtime!

So, in the spirit of spring I have been busy renewing this product:

This is the "before" picture.  It has had a facelift & augmentation.(he-he)  

Here's the "after" product:

It now provides materials for 4 centers that can be used in a variety of ways, yielding at least 18 different centers. CCSS alignment has been added.  Here's what is included:

Picture Sorts

• 27 colorful, picture cards

• 5 suggested sorts with sorting headers

• number sequencing

• addition and subtraction within 10

• picture story

M-egging (Making) Words

• 25 alphabet cards in color and black line

• 3 suggested letter sorts with sorting headers

• making words

• recording sheet master

Egg Patterns

• worksheet to color

• describe pattern using letters (A-B-A-C)

Counting Carrots

• 40 colorful cards

• subitizing within 20

• number sequencing

• addition and subtraction within 40

• even / odd sort with sorting headers 

• skip counting

• WAR card game to compare quantities

Labels for your center folder are provided.

If you have downloaded this product in the past, I urge you to download it again for the new and improved version.  (It's free to download anything you already own.)

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