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Wednesday, January 9, 2019

RED, WHITE AND BLUE Packets Just for You! Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Presidents' Day, American Symbols

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th, 1809.  
I love taking time to introduce him to the class during this time.
And YES I do believe you can take time away from your "language program" to introduce special events and characters.
This packet makes it easy because it includes reading, writing, word work, informational text and vocabulary...all key parts to the language standards.

I like to begin the day by gathering the students together to read this very special story.
If it is a little lengthy for your class ad lib a little.
Following the reading we do a class discussion and write key facts that we learned on a chart.
We will refer back to this at the end of the day.

During reading groups I use one of the three forms of informational text.
As we read we use our highlighters to highlight key facts.
In group or back at their seats they use this text to write key facts on the idea gathering page.
I post the vocabulary in a visual place for students.
You can also laminate them and use them for syllables or ABC sorting.
I put the Parts of Speech word work page in our word work center along with the vocabulary cards for sorting parts of speech.

As a whole group we go over the Word of the Day...Abraham Lincoln.
It encourages students to use facts they know to create a definition.
They look closely at the word HONEST.
You will also see a time line of Abe Lincoln which is ideal for formative assessment.

I have also included a poem in the packet.
Following the poem is a reading for detail page and a cute "what might Abe carry under is tall black hat".


During writing there are two options.  Students can write about if they had lived during the time with Abe or informative about Abe.
There are three leveled writing pages not show here for showcasing student writing.
My favorite for during math is the is the "flip a penny" activity.
Students get a partner and have fun flipping a penny and making tallies.
Have them predict before if they will flip more heads or tails.
This can also be in one of your math centers.
Also during math figure how old Abe Lincoln would be!

I use the Let's Make Words as a class game.
I divide students into groups and then have them make words with the letters Abe Lincoln.  Encourage them to keep there creative efforts quiet so other groups do not hear their ideas.
Groups then share how many words they made.
You can have a group secretary.
I put the word search on the desks as the students enter.

George Washington was born on February 22nd, 1732.  
I love taking time to introduce him to the class during this time.
And YES I do believe you can take time away from your "language program" to introduce special events and characters.
This packet makes it easy because it includes reading, writing, word work, informational text and vocabulary...all key parts to the language standards. 
 These are two of the books I love to use when teaching about George Washington.

The packet has three forms of informational text...a fold and read, mini book, and single page.

There are two graphic organizers for recording information from the text.
Have students highlight key concepts in the text as they read.
I think the timeline is ideal for formative assessment.
There are writing pages for students to showcase their writing.

There are three delightful word work pages.
One focuses on George Washington and the word BRAVE.
Next is the Let's Make Words.  I love dividing the class into groups to complete this.
The ABC order is ideal for the word work center.

This poem also contains information about George and the activity that follows is perfect for students to recall facts presented in the poem.

These activities will be great fun.
There is a Quarter flip and a Room for one more!

This packet is filled with activities to celebrate Presidents' Day with your class.
There are informative as well as activities that fit in with your curriculum.

Informational text comes in the form of a page filled with facts or a mini book.
They are ideal for reading groups or guided reading.
Have highlighters ready to highlight key facts in the text.

These easy fold and read booklets are simple and fun for students to read, highlight and color.

These graphic organizers are ideal for having students record key facts and gather their ideas for writing.  The third activity asks students to write about what they would do if they were president.

There is plenty of word work for your literacy centers.
Contractions, ABC Order, and a Word Search.
Not shown is a Let's Make Words using the letters in President.

I have also included favorite literacy and activities to go with the read aloud.
My Teacher For President students compare their teacher's responsibilities to the president's responsibilities.

Another favorite is Duck for President which lends making connections to elections.

Finally Presidents' Day!
This focuses on Mt. Rushmore and the four presidents on the monument.

I also included research activities.
I like to use it as a home/school connection project BUT everything could be completed during the school day.

There are activities for students to record their information as well as activities that focus on what types of resources were used to gather information.
Not shown are all the final write pages for students to finalize their reports.




And to compliment your red, white and blue unit try this.


These famous symbols stand for America...the land that we LOVE!
 Liberty Bell   Statue of Liberty   Bald Eagle   Lincoln Memorial   Washington Monument   
American Flag    White House   Mount Rushmore

Crafts for bulletin boards or posting...Liberty Bell, Eagle.
Maybe white tail feathers for the eagle.

Colorful vocabulary for posting or putting in a center for ABC order, syllables.
Activities for centers, small groups, or whole group.
Syllables, Word Search, Making Words
I love putting students in small groups and challenge them to make as many words as they can together with the making words.

These three activities are used following the introduction of all the symbols.
Students pick their favorite symbol and report on it.

For a creative project have students create their own family symbol.
There is a page for the creation to be drawn or pasted not shown here.

Each of the 8 symbols has a fact sheet that can be made into a mini booklet.


There is also a mini lesson for each symbol.
Anchor chart with facts, activity sheet with facts and a creative activity.
Statue of Liberty...Create a modern statue
Liberty Bell... How many student make up the weight
Lincoln Memorial...Penny Rub
Washington Monument...70 seconds Time
White House...Favorite room 
Mount Rushmore...What president add
Flag...Pledge and Flag Facts
Bald Eagle...Choose new bird (Opinion)


There are class book covers and differentiated writing pages for the Family Symbol and Favorite American Symbol.


Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Groundhog Day and Shadows...Making predictions!

What do you predict?  Will that pesky groundhog see his shadow or not?
This is a favorite unit of mine to teach because it really is a springboard to meeting so many of our curriculum goals.

Have fun with vocabulary.
Post the colorful cards or place them in one of your literacy centers.
Word work contains two word sorts on syllables and parts of speech as well as a word search and a making words.  Each activity focuses on vocabulary relevant to the topic.

I just love this cute craft.  It can be used to top a writing activity or to use for graphing predictions.
Where will you place your groundhog?

This tradition can be used for making predictions or writing about opinion.
There are differentiated final write pages included in the packet not shown.
The one above is a level 1 but there are more difficult pages as well.


Your class will love this Reader's Theater.
You can use it with your reading groups or divide your class up.
There are cards for punching and putting on a string to identify characters.


For those of you that love poetry in your classroom there is a delightful poem for posting and an activity for class activity.

The first mini book is about Groundhog Day.  It is followed by a graphic organizer for students to record key text.  Not show are writing pages for students to write. 
I use this mini book when talking about PREDICTIONS with the class.

The second mini book is used for informational text about groundhogs and their life cycle.
There are three levels of text for students.

This is followed by a sequencing page for the life cycle, a statement or question sheet using key facts from the text and a reading for detail.

I love the math games included as well as a data collection sheet.
These are ideal for the math center or when you want to partner students up for cooperation.

Also included are three literature suggestions.
Each book has two to three activities to follow the reading of the story.
If you do not own these they are worth purchasing.


But Groundhog Day can also lead to some exciting science explorations.
Let's look at shadows.

This packet contains a mini book, fact sheet, and single page filled with informational text.

These are followed by two graphic organizers for gather key facts.
To accompany this are differentiated writing pages for final writes.

There are three science experiments for your class and a mini puppet.  Your students will just need a flashlight.  Following each experiment are reflection sheets.


This literature selection is perfect!
Your class will love following along and then making their own shadow puppet.
Comprehension pages consist of cause and effect, sequencing and recall.
See the shadow puppet below.



Sunday, January 6, 2019

Time to Refresh!


Are you tired of the long winter days of January?
Looking to REFRESH your curriculum with some new and exciting activities that are FUN yet filled with CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES?
These packets are just for you!
The Jacket I Wear in the Snow is a terrific read aloud and with it repetitious pattern students are encouraged to order and sequence.  It is also great for descriptive words.  There are comprehension, word work and writing activities that accompany it as well as colorful vocabulary AND a cute craft.



This Snowman Literacy Packet contains activities for these favorite snowman stories: Snowmen at Night/at Work/all Year Long, There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow, Snowball, All You Need for a Snowman, Pip and Squeak, and Sadie and the Snowman.  There are comprehension activities that encourage critical thinking as well as colorful vocabulary and a cute little craft.  I love using these for read alouds and then bringing the curricular activities into our literacy portion of the day!  


Our Flakey Friend is all about snowmen!  Yes FLAKEy because, you know, SNOWFLAKES!
This packet is filled with activities related to snowmen that your class will enjoy.  It also has a wide variety of literature suggestions to go with the snowmen activities.



These Winter Activities are worth $2 purchase.  There are 38 pages of math and literacy games and activities.  I love using them in my literacy and math centers.
They are also ideal for small group skill practice, whole group, or I'm done...now what!  They are just print and go!!!!  Print them up ahead of time and have them ready to pull and use OR leave for a substitute!


Finally another MUST in my line up for winter.
This is so important to me because in the curriculum now reading and researching  INFORMATIONAL TEXT is so important!
Why not discover all there is to learn about snowflakes.

So see you CAN have fun during those long dark winter January days and still keep kids engaged in important curriculum goals.

Time to refresh?
YOU GOT THIS!!

Friday, January 4, 2019

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose

Such a cute story for repetition and sequencing lessons.
This packet is designed just for that.
Above are activities to place in a center for retelling the story or put magnetic tape on the back and use it for story time.


There are also colorful vocabulary cards for posting.
Perfect for ABC order or syllables.

And here are two other cute sequencing and retelling activities.
One is a cut and paste.  The other is a slide for retelling with partners.
Encourage expression.

These graphic organizers also help gather students thoughts for writing later or in the writing center.

Finally there are two math games for partners to play.


Froggy First Kiss!

This is one of my favorite stories to read during February.
And the packet I have designed to accompany is perfect for a full day of curricular activities.
The two little crafts above are ideal for decorating the room.


The students always have so much fun talking about things that they love.
One is a mini flip book they love sharing with others.

After reading the story there are so three comprehension activities to choose from...sequence, cause and effect, sensory.

Word work is plentiful and there are bright vocabulary words for posting.
They are ideal for posting in a small pocket chart near the story.

 There are graphic organizers to use to help students gather ideas for writing and not shown are final writing pages for showcasing student work.
I have also included three math games and a data collection activity for math.


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