Shamrock Scrattle FREEBIE!

Sure as there are shamrock shakes at McDonald's, it's about time for St. Patrick's Day.  Another holiday means another Scrattle game freebie for your classroom.

SCRATTLE is a Scrabble Battle between 2 students.  

To begin, give your students the letter set for this edition of SCRATTLE.

After your students cut the shamrock letters out, they manipulate them to make words. Their goal is to make words with the most value, just as in Scrabble™.  Using the recording sheet, the students write their words and compute the value of each word. Three different recording sheets are provided to allow for differentiation of operations per your students' abilities.

Once their words are recorded and computed, each student finds a partner for the battle. Upon entering each other's scores in the space provided, the students compare their scores and enter the correct mathematical symbol between them: >, =, or <.  The winner is the player with the most >s.

SCRATTLE is perfect for centers (literacy or math - gotta love that!).  This game is also terrific for fast finishers and/or enrichment.

You can get your FREE Scrattle file here.

You may also like these St. Patrick's Day activities:

It's About Time for a Presidents' Day Sale!

click here

Pinteresting Boards for Kindergarten Teachers

Collaborative boards dedicated to teaching abound on Pinterest.  A few months ago, there were scores of them.  Now there are hundreds of them.  Some have 1000s of followers.  Others are just getting started.  If you teach kindergarten, you should check out these collaborative boards:

Kindergarten Literacy
Kindergarten Math
Kindergarten Science and Social Studies/
Kindergarten Freebies
Kindergarten Holidays Crafts
Kindergarten Classroom Management
Math for Kindergarten
ELA Letters & Letter Sounds
ELA Sight Words & Word Families
ELA Letter/Word/Sentence and Syllables
ELA Punctuation and Grammar
ELA - Games
Kindergarten Teacher
Activities for Early Grades
100 is a Magic Number
Pre-K-K Teachers Pay Teachers
Keepin' with Kindergarten
Preschool/Kindergarten Science
Kindergarten Kreations
Kindergarten Kolleagues
Pre-K/K/1/2 Science Lessons And Activities
Lower Elementary Literacy
Lower Elementary Math
Lower Elementary Other
Lower Elementary Literacy
Early Literacy Activities and Ideas!
KindergartenKlub.com
Kindergarten materials under $3!
we teach: kindergarten
Primary grades wonderful picture books
free lessons
Learn to Read
Primary Reading and Math
Primary Materials from TPT
Kindergarten Lesson Plans
Kindergarten and First Classroom Ideas
Kindergarten and First Grade Common Core Standards
Kindergarten and First Grade Reading Resources
Kindergarten and First Grade Writing Resources
Kindergarten and First Grade Math
FREEBIES for Pre-K, Kindergarten and First Grade
Kindergarten and First Grade Spring Activities
KinderLand Collaborative
http://pinterest.com/misskinder/k-2-reading-writing-ideas/
Kindergarten Daily 5
*Primary* Must Have TpT Finds
KinderFun Collaborative
Pre-K and K Perfection
Kindercenter

This is certainly not a complete list.  Is that even possible? Hopefully, you will find a few in this list that are new to you.  If you have a favorite kindergarten collaborative board on Pinterest that isn't listed, please put the address in a comment. I'll happily add more to the list.

Presidents' Day Poetry FREEBIE!

It will soon be Presidents' Day.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know that must mean it is time for a poetry freebie!  So, here it is. . .

It is also time for a some Poetry Possibilities to go with the poem...

Following is a preview of the literacy center referred to in #3 of the Poetry Possibilities...

You can download the poem for free by going here.

This poem is taken from my Poetry Possibilities -- February.  The product has 17 poems and nearly 30 pages of skills, centers, and activities.  The range of reading levels in the poetry makes this product appropriate to both primary and intermediate classrooms. Possibilities for differentiation are included.  

Hats off to President Lincoln and to a holiday from school!

Scrattle Literacy Center -- Valentine's Day FREEBIE

It's about time for Valentine's Day!

Because I want you for my valentine, I have a literacy center freebie for you.  I call it SCRATTLE; SCRAbble + baTTLE.  

Scrabble™ and its social networking cousin, Words with Friends™, are jumping off the computer screen and finding their niche in the classroom.  It's always great fun to take a set of letters and challenge your class to make as many words with them as they can.  In Scrattle, I'm upping the ante by adding a math component and competition.  

Here's how it works:

• Give your students the letter set for this edition of Scrattle.

• Students cut out the letters.
• Students find a partner to battle.
• Armed with a recording sheet, the partners record the words they can devise.
• Once their recording sheet is filled, the students calculate the value of their words by adding the numbers on their letter pieces.
• Alternatively, older students calculate the value by multiplying the numbers.
• To differentiate for G/T and enrichment students, a combination of operations is available.  (It is possible that this version will create negative numbers.)
• After their calculations are completed, the partners compare their numbers, filling in their opponent's scores on the recording sheet. 
• Students then add >, <, or = to the scores box.
• The student with the most > scores is the winner.

Here's an example:

This center comes with letter sets in color, as well as black and white.  Also included are 3 recording sheets, allowing for differentiation.  

You can download this center here.

Enjoy!

You may also like these Valentine's Day products available on TpT or TN:

It's a big weekend for football and sales.  All of my products are on sale on both TpT 

and TN.

100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days

I'm challenging myself to name 100 ways to celebrate 100 days.  So, here goes . . .

1. Estimate how far 100 feet is, student feet, that is. Using sticky notes with their names on them, have your kiddos place their notes where they think 100 feet from the classroom door will be.
2. Have your students trace the outline of their shoes on construction paper and cut them out.  Then line them up, heel to toe in the hallway to determine the correct answer. Give a certificate to the student(s) who came the closest to the correct distance.  
3. If your students are capable, have them figure out how many construction paper feet each one needs to make using operations.  If they are not able to do that much math, have them count off by 2s, making tally marks or holding up fingers to track how many times they gave the next number in the skip counting, thus determining how many sets of footprints to make.
4. Give each student a 1 quart ziplock bag to take home.  Direct them to find 100 of the same item to put in the bag and bring them to school on the 100th day.  Stress that all items must fit in the bag and that are dear or valuable are to be considered carefully as their collections will be manipulated during the day.  Thus, there is the risk that breakables could be broken and valuables lost.  My personal preference is that they not bring in food that will attract bugs or vermin.
5. Read 100 Hungry Ants, by Elinor J. Pinczes.
6. Save the ads from your Sunday newspapers and bring them to class.  Challenge your students to find ONE item they could buy if they had $100 without going over $100. Ask them to record their purchase on a $100 bill representation.
7. Then ask your class to find 2 items they could buy without exceeding their $100.  Again they should record their purchases.
8. Repeat the task with as many numbers as you deem appropriate.  I recommend 4, 5, and 10, at the least.
9. Bring in 3 jars (mayonnaise jars work well) that you have filled with a collection of objects. Make 1 jar = exactly 100.  Make the other jars greater than and less than 100. Ask your students to vote for the jar they think has exactly 100 objects.  Near the end of the day, count the objects in each jar to determine who selected the correct jar. Give certificates to those who guessed correctly.
10. Have your students determine the year in which they will turn 100 years old.                          
11. Discuss signs of old age.  Have your students draw a picture of themselves as they will look at 100.  For extra effect, have them crinkle the paper after their drawing is complete to make their faces look wrinkled.
12. Read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten, by Joseph Slate.
13. Ask your students to write a paragraph about what they think they will be doing when they are 100 years old.
14. Prior to 100th day, begin compiling a list with your students of 100 words they can read and write.  On the 100th day, have a spelling bee using those words.  For older students, challenge them to name 100 words that pertain to a specific subject (science, math, social studies, food, nouns, verbs, ...).  Use those words for the spelling bee.
15. Promote team work by providing several 100 piece jigsaw puzzles.  Divide the class into equal small groups; then give each group a puzzle to complete.  Certificates to those who finish first! 
16. Thumbs up to thumbprints!  Using a stamp pad, their thumb, and a marker, students will print their thumb on paper 100 times.  Each time they make 10 thumbprints, they should stop printing and use the marker to circle that group of 10.  Encourage them to label each set with the appropriate decade.
17. Calculate what year it will be 100 years from now.  Ask each student to draw and describe something that schools will have then that they do not have now.  Collate their pages and illustrations into a class book.
18. Give each student a 10 x 10 grid.  Flip a penny 100 times, recording H (heads) or T (tails) on the grid cells.  
19. Calculate how many Tails appeared in #18; calculate how many Heads came up.  
20. On another 10 x 10 grid, have students record the numbers that come up as they roll a die 100 times.  
21. Have your students graph the results of #20.
22. Read 100 Days of School, by Trudy Harris.
23. Have small groups of students make trains with unifix cubes.  Each train should be exactly 100 cubes long.  Compare the trains.  Are they all the same length?  If not, which one is correct?  The only way to figure that out is to break the trains into equal lengths (I recommend 10).  Give certificates to the students who used exactly 100.
24. Brainstorm a list of activities from the 1st 100 days that are memorable.  Limit your list according to the age and stage of your students.  Create a class graph of their favorite activities.
25. Working with a partner, complete this writing activity:  If we had 100 _____, we would _____.  The partners write about their idea and then illustrate it.
26. Another writing activity, perhaps more appropriate for older students:  Write about what it may have been like 100 years ago.  What would not yet be invented?  What would school have been like then?
27. Read aloud The 100th Day of School, by Angela Shelf Medearis.
28. Take a brain break and do 100 jumping jacks.
29. Because the 100th day falls in Feb. in my district, I include a Black History activity. The challenge is to compile a list of 100 African Americans of note.
30. Have a coloring race.  Give each students a 10 x 10 grid.  Using a die, each child rolls a number and then colors in that many squares.  Students should change colors for each roll of the die.  Play continues until 1 student reaches 100.  If you like, require the children to roll the exact number they need to complete the grid.  That is, rolling a 6 when you need 4 to finish will be disallowed.  They must roll exactly a 4 or a combination thereof.  Give the winner(s) a certificate and a pat on the back.  
31. Another variation of the coloring race is to give each child 2 dice which they roll together.  The number of squares they get to color is the sum, difference, product or quotient of the 2 numbers.  It's your choice!
32. After everyone has finished coloring their grid from above, have them cut the grid into the 100 squares.  Use the squares to create a mosaic picture.  This could be 1 huge, full class mosaic or each students could complete their own picture.
33. Read The Night Before the 100th Day of School, by Natasha Wing.
34. Hop on your right foot 50 times.  Then hop on your left foot 50 times.
35. Create paper chains of exactly 100 loops.  Join them together with a distinctive loop and hang them around the room.  Now you can count by 100s!
36. Sing the following song to the tune of Ta-ra-ra Boom De Ay:  It's the 100th day/ So shout, "Hip hip hooray!"/ We'll count and eat and play/ on the 100th day.   See all we've collected/ 100s on display/ Join in the fun and say,/ "Hooray for the 100th day!"
37. Clip 100 paperclips together.  With a partner, measure things in the room.  Find 2 each of the following:  shorter than, longer than, and equal to the 100 chain.
38. Have a 100 snack -- a pretzel stick and 2 round or oval crackers.  Tell you kiddos that it's a 100 snack, but they can't eat it until they figure out why it is a 100 snack.  (You may wish to discourage the breaking of the pieces into 1000s of crumbs!)
39. Make 100 placemats and deliver them to a nursing home.  I guarantee they will be appreciated by the seniors.
40. If your 100th day is near Valentine's Day, make 100 Valentine cards to send to soldiers who are deployed overseas.
41. Enlist the P.E. teacher to make the children do 10 different in sets of 10 exercises.  For example, 10 sit-ups, 10 toe touches, 10 push ups, etc.
42. Have the students estimate how long 100 seconds is.  The teacher uses a stopwatch, declaring the start time.  Students stand up when they think 100 seconds have expired.  The teacher may wish to note which student(s) were correct, if indeed, any were correct.  Repeat this exercise at various times throughout the day.  Hopefully, the children will get better at estimating the time.
43. Read 100th Day Worries, by Margery Cuyler.
44. Ask each student to list 5 things they are thankful for.  Display the lists together under the title, We are Thankful for 100 Things.  If you have more than 20 students, have each child name 4 things and complete the list with things you, the teacher, are thankful for.
45. Using long strips of paper (adding machine rolls work great) and 2 different color markers, have pairs of students write the numbers from 1 - 100.  For example, 1 = red, 2 = blue, 3 = red, 4 = blue, ...  Pairing a student who is struggling with this with a more capable partner is particularly helpful.
46. Have the children create a domino train with 100 dominoes.  Then have them watch as they fall down.
47. Using Do-a-Dot paints, have your students make 100 dots on a piece of construction paper.
48. Have each student graph the color distribution of #47.
49. Students complete 100 math problems of whatever operation is most appropriate to the grade level.
50. Dance for 100 seconds.
51. Read Lester L. Laminack's book, Jake's 100th Day of School.
52. Using Froot Loops, create a 100 loop necklace.  Students should use 10 loops of 1 color and then switch to another color for the next ten.  Yarn works well for the chain.
53. Give small groups of children 100 paper cups.  Ask them to build a wall or structure with the cups.
54. Have the children add their ages together.  Did the sum equal 100?  Was it larger than 100?  Was it smaller than 100?  You may want to ask your students to predict the answers to those questions before completing the computation.
55. Give small groups 100 pattern blocks to share.  Together they should make a design. Take pictures of their designs and display the pictures in your classroom.
56. Using the 100 collection the students brought from home, have them divide the objects into 2 equal groups.  Use a piece of construction paper folded in half to provide spaces for the groups.  Make note of how many objects are in each group. 
57. Repeat #56, dividing the objects into 4 equal groups.  Note the number in each group.
58. Repeat #56, dividing the objects into 5 equal groups.  Note the numbers.
59. Clap hands 100 times.
60. Read It's the 100th Day, Stinky Face! by Lisa McCourt.
61. Give each student a 10 x 10 grid.  Have them write their first name, putting 1 letter in each square, repeatedly, until the grid is filled.  Students then choose a color for each letter and create a key.  They then color the squares according to the key.
62. Collect the grid from #61 and combine them to make a large "quilt."
63. Bounce a ball 100 times.
64. Ask the music teacher to help celebrate 100 days by having the children strike percussion instruments 100 times in unison during music class.
65. Give each student a 100 chart.  Direct them to color only the odd numbers. 
66. Brainstorm a list of 100 things we do at school.
67. Skip rope 100 times.
68. Create a class book in which each student completes a page that reads, "Once I saw 100 _________."  You may wish to share some ideas before turning the students loose.  For example, Once I saw 100 ants in my lunch bag.  Students should also illustrate their page.
69. Display a large 100 chart.  Ask the students how many numbers on the chart have the number ___ as a digit?  Repeat with other numbers for as long as is appropriate for the age of your students.
70. Still using the 100 chart, ask how many numbers have 1 digit?
71. How many numbers on the chart have 3 digits?
72. How many numbers have 2 digits?
73. How many numbers have a 5 in the ones place?
74. How many numbers have a 5 in the tens place?
75. Using 100 unifix cubes, make a pattern.
76. Using rubber stamps, make 10 different patterns with 10 items in each pattern.
77. Name 3 things you can eat 100 of at one time.
78. Build the tallest tower you can in 100 seconds.
79. Read Emily's First 100 Days of School, by Rosemary Wells.
80. Write the number 100 as many times as you can in 100 seconds.
81. Solve the math problems in these couplets:  100 thumbs working at the fair.  How many fingers are also busy there?
82. Now try these couplets.  Some have math answers; some have common knowledge answers.  100 dogs with black & white spots.  If you add 1 more dog, what have you got?
83. 100 shoes are on the stairs.  How many do we have if we're talking pairs?
84. 100 flowers in the garden and 100 weeds.  What percentage of the whole did the gardener plant as seeds?
85. 100 kinds of food to eat.  If you enjoy 3/4 of them, what number are a treat?
86. 100 blades of a plant, green and thin, times hundreds more; what are you walking in?
87. 100 pieces of sweet cherry pie.  If I keep 25 pieces, what fraction have I?
88. Make a list of 100 animals.
89. Have challenges between 2 students to see who can count backwards from 100 the fastest.
90. Jump up and down 100 times.
91. Build a shape with 100 blocks.
92. Read Young Cam Jansen and the 100th Day of School Mystery, by David A. Adler.
93. Have each child make a 100 Day crown.  Decorate it by punching out 100 holes with a hole punch.
94. Using the letters in ONE HUNDRED, make as many words as you can.
95. Make trail mix using 100 items of each ingredient.
96. At a center, have 100 pennies.  Have the students sort them into shiny and dull piles.  Count and record the number in each pile.
97. At the same center, have the children look for a penny with their birth year on it.  How many pennies did they look at before they found that one?
98. Stand on 1 foot for 100 seconds without holding onto anything.
99. Weigh each student's 100 collection.  Which collection weighs the most?  Which weighs the least?
100. Sing this song --

Yahoo!  I made it.

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Time for a Sale!

It's time for a special sale, teachers!

Buy two products from my TpT Store from 1.27.13 - 1.29.13 and I will email you a 3rd product of your choice for FREE!    The value of the free product must be equal to or less than the value of the purchased items.  After you purchase the 2 products, email me @ itsabouttimeteachers@gmail.com. Include the title of the product you would like, your TpT username, the date of your purchase, and the email address to which you would like the free product sent. That's it!  

This offer is valid from 12:00 a.m. on Sun., Jan. 27, 2013 through 11:59 p.m. Tues., Jan. 29, 2013.  Times are Central Standard Time.  

Have you heard the latest buzz?  Mrs. Mc over at Buzz Buzz Buzz! is having a milestone giveaway.  More than 75 products are being given away.  Check it out!