It's about time, teachers, for Halloween resources.  Check these out!

Hink Pinks for Kinders

My followers surely know by now that I'm "the Hink Pink guru," having dozens of units of Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, and Hinkity Pinkities in my teaching repository. I've even invented Hitinkity Pitinkities at the urging of my enrichment students. 

Recently, a lovely kindergarten teacher friend asked if I had resources for pre-readers. Indeed, I did not.   But, I have been inspired by her question. Thus, I take pleasure in . . .

Examine the picture while searching for a 2 word phrase that describes it.  The 2 words must rhyme and they can only have 1 syllable each.  Did you get it?  The answer is PINK DRINK.

Try these:

Obviously, 2 beach balls are pictured.  Note the green arrow.  It points to the smaller of the 2 balls.  Hence, the answer to this one is SMALL BALL.

It should be getting easier now.  After all, experience is the best teacher.  The answer to this one is BLUE SHOE.

Working with Hink Pinks has myriad benefits for students.  They offer fun word play and learning is always best when it's fun.  Hink Pinks challenge children to think critically and creatively.  They increase vocabulary and hone rhymes.  Although they may not know what a synonym is, your kiddos will quickly learn to think of words that mean the same thing.  And, Hink Pinks are even aligned with the CCSS.

I invite you to download my Freebie Hink Pinks for Kinders.   Introduce them to your students by solving ALL of them together, modeling your thinking as you do so. Hink Pinks can be tricky at first.  That's why it is key to work through several together.  Once your students get the hang of it, they will be hooked.  Then you can post a Hink Pink card at a center or use it for fast finishers.  Grab a card for a sponge activity or choose one each morning for an anchor activity.

Once your students are hooked, you may want to try these Hink Pink units for Kinders:

 

HP for Kinders I                             HP for Kinders II

Election Vocabulary

It's about time, teachers,  to work with election vocabulary.  

I love to sneak learning in with fun activities.  To that end, I cast my ballot for Election Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, Hinkity Pinkities, and Hitinkity Pitinkities. With just a few days left until the national election, you have undoubtedly introduced vocabulary associated with it.  So now, you need to add the fun.  

If you are unfamiliar with Hink Pinks, they are riddles for which the answer must be a pair of rhyming words; each word having just 1 syllable (as do hink and pink).  Hinky Pinkies are riddles with rhyming word pair answers; each answer word having 2 syllables.  You guessed it, Hinkity Pinkities have 3 syllables and Hitinkity Pitinkities have 4 syllables.

Try these examples:

 

Skills involved in solving these riddles include: 

• vocabulary development
• parts of speech
• synonyms
• rimes
• Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)

This product includes 24 cards with election themed clues and, of course, an answer key. The cards are copy ready; just print them on card stock (pink, of course), laminate, and cut them apart.  Now you are ready to place them at a center, use them as an anchor activity, grab a few for a sponge activity, and/or use them for whole group problem solving.  If your students have never tried Hink Pinks, et al, solve several together, modeling your thinking.

Were you able to solve the above examples? As you can testify, they are not quick and easy.  I recommend them for upper elementary and middle school.

And the answers are...

• vote tote
• tally rally
• President's residence
• politician opposition

Grab your copy of Election Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, Hinkity Pinkities, & Hitinkity Pitinkities here.  They are only $2.50.

Remember to

  

GR8 PL8

It’s about time, teachers, for some creativity!  Here’s a fun project that is sure to get your students’ creative juices flowing.

Challenge your students’ creativity with vanity license plates.  Vanity plates are car license plates that convey a personalized message using just 8 letters and/or numbers.  Many vanity plates have cryptic messages that symbolize something important to the owner.  The message may tell something about the person’s:

appearance --   

personality --

accomplishment --

occupation -- 

or philosophy --

Present several examples, asking your students to deduce the meaning.  This will get your class into the right frame of mind for creating vanity plates. Then challenge them to design 2 vanity plates. 

The first license plate should describe someone or something well known.  For example:

• A famous person like Abe Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, or Christopher Columbus
• An occupation such as cook, artist, or computer programmer
• A fictional character like Cinderella, Superman, or the 7 dwarves
• A fictional place such as Never-Never Land or the Land of Oz
• A well-known site such as Mount Rushmore or the Eiffel Tower
• An historic event like the 1^st moon landing or the Civil War

The second license plate should describe something unique to the student.  It may be a personality trait, a favorite activity, a goal, an accomplishment, or a message s/he wishes to express. 

Encourage your students to think of several ideas before selecting the license plates that suit them best.  Fluency of ideas often leads to increased creativity.  Distribute 2 templates to your students and encourage them to use upper case letters.  Numbers can be used for words (1 for ONE or WON, 8 for EIGHT or ATE).  Alternate or incomplete spellings are absolutely acceptable (CS for SEES or SEAS, or EZ DUZ IT).  

Display the vanity plates on a bulletin board in the hall.  Then prepare for traffic jams as spectators gather to decipher the messages.  

You can download all the materials for this project for FREE at my TpT Store or TN Shop

 Enjoy!

Easter Hink Pinks

Are you egg-cited about checking your answers for the Easter Hink Pinks and Hinky Pinkies?  Or are you egg-ravated that you had to wait?  Are you cracking up at my egg humor or do you just want to yolk choke me?  Before I reveal the answers, I have to share the following egg humor:

This cracked me up, no yolk-ing!  (I think the season has me deviled.)  

Egg-nuff already!  Here are the answers:
     9. Twin rabbits = hare pair
    10. Royal leader of the season = spring king
    11. Egg coloring belongs to me = my dye
    13. Chocolate bunnies by the ocean = sandy candy

    14. Tall building made of lilies = flower tower

    15. Bunny's routines = rabbit's habits

How did you do?  Did you find them to be hard boiled and frustrating?  Or were they over easy?  

One of the things I love most about Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, and Hinkity Pinkities is that they require ALL students to really think.  Even "Gavin Gifted" can't produce the answer before you finish reading the clue.  That alone makes them worth their weight in gold! However, I will admit that the more of them you present to the class, the quicker the response time.  I like to think they are building new neural pathways in their brains.  

If you are intrigued by these riddles, you may be interested in:  

      

These are FREEBIES:

As you can see, I'm really into Hink Pinks.  This is just a fraction of what I have in my files.  Do you think I need an intervention?

Easter Hink Pinks Freebie

Eggs-actly what you need for spring -- a fun, challenging, activity that develops vocabulary, practices parts of speech, eggs-ercises synonyms and rimes, all while using Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS).  I'm not eggs-aggerating; I'm talking about Easter Hink Pinks & Hinky Pinkies.   

If you're not familiar with Hink Pinks, you are in for some egg-citement! Hink Pinks are riddles for which the answer must be a pair of rhyming words with just 1 syllable in each word (hink & pink each have just 1 syllable).  Similarly, Hinky Pinkies are riddles with rhyming word pair answers, but each answer word must have 2 syllables (Hinky & Pinky have 2 syllables each).  For example:      

 

                      

Hink Pink clue: superior bird home  

Hink Pink answer: best nest             

Both you and your students will be egg-cited about learning when it’s this fun!  

These riddles and their cousins, Hinkity Pinkities, have been staples in G/T education for decades.  They eggs-ercise  brain muscles your students didn't know they had.  As a teacher, I eggs-perience great satisfaction when I witness that "AHA!" moment in a student.  

The best way to understand Hink Pinks & Hinky Pinkies is to try them for yourself.  So, try these:

                                            

                                           

   

If you're not eggs-actly sure if you solved them, check back tomorrow for the answers. Until then, I hope you have an egg-cellent weekend.