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!