Boo!! Some Centers for You!

It's Halloween week!

This is actually my least favorite holiday. Shh...don't tell anyone under the age of 12. I've never loved this holiday, even when I was a little kid. 

We are doing a couple fun math centers,

and of course I'm sharing with you!

We will be working on counting in the teens (SO HARD!).

The majority of my class needs practice practice practice on this!

We will also be working on our plus 2s.
I think we have play 1s down!
Time to move onward and upward!

Halloween rings and erasers make life better, huh?
I like to have my kiddos record their work on simple whiteboard

 to save on paper and it makes them practice their number writing. 

I'm sneaky like that. 

Grab both of these FREEBIES here. =)

I made them in color and black/white for your copying needs.
Happy Halloween!

A Very Vowel Week!

Happy Friday Folks!

We are working like crazy to master the good 'ol short vowels! Anyone else? Each week we work on a vowel, we read these poems aloud in all sorts of silly voices! 

I've been using these poems since my very first year.  I cannot take credit for writing them - I just cutsied them up! Share the source if you know, please! 

Want a copy? Head over to my Facebook page and click on the Fan Freebies tab! They're waiting in that little folder for you {along with a few other goodies!}

This week, we also mixed up our short vowel practice with a new activity!

We became Super Vowel Sleuths! My awesome team partner Lisa shared this idea and I whipped up this FREEBIE to share with you!

Together, we generated a list of short e words. Then, the students selected one of those words {or any other short e word they wanted to use} 

They wrote 3 clues about this short vowel word. Inside, they drew a picture of their mystery word. 

It was a nice change to our normal vowel practice and I was able to slip in some writing, too! 

The kids had a blast walking around the classroom sharing their clues and making guesses at the mystery words! 

Have a great weekend! 

Boo!

Happy October friends!  It's Renee from Fantastic First Grade Froggies here today.  I just love October, the cooler weather, pumpkins, Halloween, and I could go on and on and on.    Well I am always teaching my kids games to play that can reinforce skills I want them to really know.  Every year, I have some sweet-n-lows (thank you Cara for that term, love it!) who are still learning their numbers.

Here is a fun game I made called Boo!  It's a great way to reinforce numbers.  Click below to check it out, it's free.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

Some October Fun (Spiders, Ghosts, Bats...oh my!)

Hey everyone, it's Nicki from Mrs. Thigpen's Kindergarten.

I think this is my most favorite time of year! I love being able to talk about all things fall: pumpkins, spiders,bats, Halloween stuff (monsters, ghosts, etc.) and being able to use great non-fiction texts to teach!

We definitely use tons of non-fiction texts for bats, spiders, and pumpkins! Here are a few of my favorites:

      

 

What are some of your favorite non-fiction texts to use?

We also have some fun playing Spin and Cover--Ghost (it's a freebie!!)

 

We read about those silly 5 Little Ghosts!!

 

And we do a LOT of spin and graph activities!!

 

 We have fun writing about those colorful spider webs in our pocket chart and throwing those silly bats on our number pumpkins to practice number recognition!

 

I would love to hear about your favorite October activities!!

 

A Little Halloween Freebie

Hi everyone! It's Angie from The First Grade Scoop. I wanted to stop by to share a little Halloween freebie for you!

Around this time of year, my students start adding single-digit numbers that add to more than 10, and sometimes, it is a MESS. I don't know why, but going from 10 to more than 10 throws the kiddos off! So, I created a fun little freebie to share with your students. I plan to use the little Halloween erasers from the Dollar Spot at Target as the "markers," but you can use any bingo chips, small candies, or other manipulatives to mark the board.

Just print and go for a quick, no-fuss center!

Grab your freebie by clicking the image below!

Have a happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Activities

Halloween is still a few weeks away, but I want to go ahead and share with you a favorite activity of mine.  It's never too early to start planning!

Several years ago, I started doing a "Pumpkin Day"  in the classroom instead of celebrating Halloween point on.  The students have always had a blast and never noticed any difference.  It's a great way to incorporate the season into curriculum but still keep it friendly, not scary.

For Pumpkin Day, I ask parents to donate pumpkins and pumpkin foods.  On Halloween, or a day near it, I set up several stations involving pumpkins in the classroom.  The stations have a cross-curricular focus and touch upon topics such as writing, adjectives, counting, estimating, circumference, reading, science, and more.  The class is split into small groups that rotate through the stations.  The stations are ran by teachers and parent volunteers. 

I set up some stations in my dining room to give you an idea of how they look when put together!

Description Station - Students describe a pumpkin.  There are several activities included in the book for students to complete at this station.

Circumference Station - Students estimate and measure the circumference of a pumpkin.

 

Float or Sink? Station - Students create and test a hypothesis on whether or not pumpkins will float or sink.

 

Students have their own Pumpkin Day book that they take with them to each station.  The book is a way to record their work and thinking. 

At the conclusion of the day, students participate in a class graphing activity about favorite pumpkin foods.  Also included in the day/week are lessons about the pumpkin life cycle and parts of a pumpkin.

It's a relatively easy and fun way to incorporate the season into the classroom and curriculum!

I've put together a packet that includes the stations, a parent letter, graphing sheets and printables, student book, a fluency sheet and student reader, graphic organizers, and more.

Here's a look at what is included:

-Unit Instructions 

-Parent Letters (3 versions with variations in food list) 

-Taste-testing Graphing Sheet (3 versions with variations in food list) 

-What Was Your Favorite Pumpkin Food Item? Whole Class, Large Graphing Graphics for Anchor Chart/Bulletin Board (Title and Individual Food Graphics) 

-Station Explanations/Instructions Sheet 

-Station Posters (Description Station, Weighing Station, Circumference Station, Tasting Station, Float or Sink? Station, Candle Station, Story Station, Counting Station or Estimation Station, Carving Station) 

-My Pumpkin Day Student Booklet (For students to carry to stations - 20 pages to choose from) 

-All About Pumpkins Fluency Sheet for Advanced Readers 

-Pumpkin Labeling Sheet (2 variations - one with word list, one without) 

-Graphic Organizers: *Pumpkins Can, Have, Are *Jack-o-Lanterns Can, Have, Are *Pumpkins Bubble Map *Jack-o-Lanterns Bubble Map *Pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns Double Bubble Map *The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Flow Map *Parts of a Pumpkin Brace Map *Pumpkin Circle Map *Jack-o-Lantern Circle Map *Pumpkins and Oranges Venn Diagram 

-The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Emergent Reader 

-The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Cut and Paste Sheet 

-The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Poster Cards 

-Pumpkin Technology Links 

-Pumpkin Book Suggestions

 

 

You can snag it here!

What fun things do you do for Halloween/October?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Let's Go to the Pumpkin Farm! (and Bring Home a Math Freebie!)

Hi, Teaching Friends!

Little kids + pumpkin picking = autumn magic!

Do you take your class to the pumpkin patch? What an amazing way to help your students connect with nature and get a close up view of seasonal changes. Lots of farms now have hayrides, honeybees, cornfields, and even animals, like this little {BIG!!} cutie who lives at the pumpkin farm we love, Argos Farm in Lacey Township, NJ.

Class trips are a blast for our kids, and that's not even counting the ride on the school bus! But for us as teachers, there's always that dreaded time when you get back to school and everybody's gone to the restrooms, come back, had a snack, you've read them a book, and ... it's still a loooong time before the end-of-day bell is going to ring. Teaching? Not so easy, considering the kids are going bonkers and your energy is completely gone!


Try this.



As you see, these two color-by-the-code activities are part of "Our Trip to the Pumpkin Farm", a set of  22 literacy, math, and pumpkin patch fun activities for PreK-2. Everything you'll need to keep

everybody happy (you, too!) both before and after your pumpkin patch adventure.

Do you know someone who owns a pumpkin farm? I can customize this set for you like I did for Argos Farm, where every teacher who visits with his or her class will get the set free! Farm name, logo, coupons, map, whatever you need!

Do you have any great tricks to share for how to fill that "dead time" when you get back early from a field trip?

Have a great October! Happy Teaching!







So Much October FUN + A FREEBIE

October Math The KFUN Way:

Give each student a plain black cat and 20 cents.
Set up a store with craft supplies where they can "buy" the parts
to decorate their cats.  No two cats will look alike!

Here is another shopping activity.
Give each chile a green square face and 10 cents.
They buy the pieces to create their own monster.

You can find out all about this fun shopping activity by clicking RIGHT HERE.

You can grab my shopping receipt templates by clicking HERE.


More Halloween FUN:

Use a slice of a pool noodle to create these 5 Little Pumpkins and teach ordinal numbers.

Find out how to make these cute little pumpkins by clicking HERE.

Halloween Sight Word FUN:

Practicing color sight words has never been so much fun and your students can make an easy reading book to take home and share with their families.

This is a color version of the black line book cover.

I usually complete one page a day with my students in a whole group setting.  The book contains 9 pages plus the cover, so we complete it over two weeks, but you can also complete several pages at one time in a small group setting.

Here are the directions.

One the first page, the students copy the sight word "Black" and color the cat black.

On the next page, they copy the sight word "Orange" and color the pumpkins orange.

This is my favorite page:  I see a green monster looking at me!

They continue in this manner until all of the characters end up at a Halloween party.  

You can grab this book by clicking RIGHT HERE.

Have You Seen My Pocket Lockets?

My students beg to make these each week.  They can make a sight word pocket watch or a sight word locket.  This is how:

First, they trace the letters and numbers.

Next, they cut out the pocket-locket.

Then, they cut out the individual letters of the sight word.

Next, they glue on the letters on in the correct order.

Last, they add a piece of yarn.

They can wear it in their pockets as a pocket watch or around their necks as a locket.

This set contains 18 sight words plus a blank
pocket-locket so you can add more sight words.

You can grab two FREE Pocket Lockets by clicking RIGHT HERE.

Grab the entire set by clicking HERE.

More Sight Word Fun:

Shaving cream creates the perfect surface for writing sight words.
And when you're all done, just clean it up and your desks are nice and clean!

Check out my blog for more FUN:

kfundamentals.blogspot.com

You can grab two pocket lockets for FREE by 

CLICKING RIGHT HERE.

Check out my:

FaceBook:

 Click Here to see my Facebook. 

(Tons of FREE ideas.)

PiNtErEsT:

 Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards. 

(Oh, the ideas on these boards!)

TeAcHeRs PaY TeAcHeRs:

Click Here to see my TPT Store

(Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

I'll see you all next month on the 4th!

Palma :)