Dr. Seuss Day is March 2nd!

March 2nd is a day to celebrate an amazing author’s birthday-Dr. Seuss! I have found so many great ideas online, some of which I may try in my classroom. First, I will be taking my kids on a virtual field trip to www.Seussville.com There are great printables and games at this site!

“Green Eggs and Ham”

Cover via Amazon

from: kinderpond.blogspot.com

Printable! Green Eggs and Ham Activities – 3 pages

Here is a video of the book “Green Eggs and Ham,” being read by Tim Tebow:

Rap of “Green Eggs and Ham” This song is very addictive. Beware-you may be singing it in your sleep!

“Hop on Pop”

Free Printable! This sight word activity uses the sight words “yes” and “no.” It encourages higher order thinking as the children read the sight word sentences to answer the questions correctly- with a sight word.Click this link to print it for free: http://www.seussville.com/activities/HOP_PupsInHouse_1.pdf

 ”There’s A Wocket in My Pocket”

“One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”

Sight Word Printable! One Fish Two Fish Book for color and number words

“The Cat in The Hat”

Image via Wikipedia

I really want to copy this class below. They are so smart to make paper blue hair. I love how inexpensive an idea it is! My plan is to ask parents to send their child to school in a red shirt, on Friday. Instead of “Thing 1″ and “Thing 2,” I plan to let them choose a number that counts by either 5′s or 2′s (I haven’t decided yet). Then, I will have them line up in number sequence order.

Printable!  Thing 1 and 2 body pattern

Printable Dr. Suess Character Poem! Dr. Seuss Kindergarten Poem

Printable Reading Passport! This is way for your kiddos to keep track of the Dr. Seuss books that they have read or that you have read together as a class! http://www.seussville.com/activities/RAA_EK10_Passport_WEB_0.pdf Passport Stickers http://www.seussville.com/activities/RAA_EK10_Stickers_WEB_1.pdf

Addition Printable! Simple Addition with the Cat in the Hat http://www.seussville.com/activities/CAT_ICanAddInRed_0.pdf

Hat Printable! http://www.321coloringpages.com/images/cat-in-the-hat-coloring-pages/cat-in-the-hat-coloring-pages-2.gif

Justin Bieber reads “The Cat in The Hat”

I found these images on Pinterest!

A Week’s Worth of Dr. Seuss Lesson Plans

Monday – Listen to Justin Bieber read “The Cat In The Hat.” Discuss rhyming words in the story. As a class, make a list of sentences about the cat and his hat, that contain color words, like: “The black cat has a red and white hat.” “His hat is red and white.” Student’s will then make a cat’s hat and on each stripe, write their own sentences.

Tuesday - Listen to Tim Tebow read “Green Eggs and Ham.” Listen to the green eggs and ham rap and sing along. Discuss the beginning, middle and end of the story and how the main character changed his mind. Make a concept web or graph about different ways to make eggs (scrambled, poached, over-easy, boiled). Students vote thier favorite type of eggs. Make pretend “green eggs” with shaving cream and food coloring -or- trace the white part of an egg and paint a green circle center. Students will then write a sentence about green eggs and ham: “I do not like green eggs and ham,” or “I like green eggs and ham.”

Wednesday - Read “Hop on Pop” and answer yes/no questions about several illustrations in the book….Is the pup up? Is the pup in? Can you hop? Next, the students will independently complete the “yes” and “no” sight word question sheet from the seussville website.

Thursday – Read “Horton Hears a Who” and learn about how everyone is important, no matter their size.

Friday - 1. View “The Lorax” movie trailer and then read the story. Discuss the purpose of the story (conservation-trees) and make a concept web about what we learned. Make a Lorax face with orange construction paper cut-outs of the moustache and eyebrows. Write a summary about the story using complete sentences. 2. Create “Thing 1 and Thing 2″ shirts but with numbers counting by 2′s or 5′s. Create blue hair by gluing blue construction paper pieces to a sentence strip.

Word Family Sorting Printable! Dr. Seuss Word family sorting

“The Lorax”

http://www.theloraxmovie.com/pumpkin/lorax_pumpkin.jpg

Printable!  Scan – Lorax face pieces

Printable! Scan – Truffala trees pattern (The Lorax) – also hair pattern for Thing 1 and 2

Presidents Day in Kindergarten

Sight Words Writing Activity – I plan to use this acrostic poem format (also from enchanted learning) and have students use the word wall to record as many words as they can using the letters in the name “Washington” for inspiration.

The President’s Song PowerPoint Video-This cute rap song list important facts about Lincoln and Washington

The Money Song Video-What a great way to reiterate money value….when talking about President’s Day!

Money Poem (adapted) from the song above:

Image via Wikipedia

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A penny is one,
A nickel is five,
A dime is ten and
a quarter twenty-five!

The Money Poem- Printable, Click here!

Reading Comprehension Venn Diagram – After reading “So You Want to be President” the students recalled what they learned. I wrote it down on chart paper to record their thoughts.

Student Venn Diagram – This is the independent work I had the students complete, after we did the above activity, whole group.

Social Studies- We made log cabins to commemorate Abraham Lincoln. I got the idea from enchantedlearning.com where the complete instructions can be found. We previously learned about different types of homes in Social Studies and now we have one more to add to our list!

Here are the Log cabins that we made. First, the students colored small popsicle sticks with marker or crayons. I gave them small pieces of poster board for them to glue the sticks onto. Next, they colored simple clothing drawings, added a clip art image of Lincoln and glued a little hat drawing on top. Doesn’t it look like a bobble head?!?

Lincoln heads click here to print out the clipart of his head for the above activity.

Abraham Lincoln Portraits - Step 1: Glue on the pre-cut black jacket then the white triangle shirt. Step 2: Draw a head and neck. Step 3: Use flesh colored paint to paint his face-let dry. Step 4: Draw eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows. Step 5: Glue on a pre-cut rectangle hat and hat rim. Step 6: Finger paint (with your finger) his hair, beard and eyebrows.

President Writing Prompt – “If I could be President, I would……”

Presidents Day Comprehension pictures

Presidents Day Comprehension story and pictures

George Washington Portraits- The students drew a face on manila paper then cut it out and drew the face. I gave them pre-cut blue hats and jackets with a yellow square shirt. We learned that he was a general and we found a google image of him in his uniform. I cotton ball was used for the hair “wig.” The red paper is a half of a regular sized construction paper.

We wrote a letter to the president! Each word was written by a student and each one had a turn. This was a great lesson about “question” sentences!

Do you think our envelope is big enough? We wanted to make sure that
Mr. President notices it!

Parent Communication Notes from the Child…not the teacher!

I love this….As I was wasting time on the internet, when I should have been putting the kids to bed, I found this sweet little communication note from a smart lady named Amy. I just love being able to search the internet for what I need. I am in the process of ridding myself of files and files of worksheets. Instead, I am putting all of the things I love onto this website/blog of mine.

Click on the link here to print the full size version: http://www.livinglocurto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/School-Notes-©LivingLocurto.jpg

Angry Birds Activities in the Classroom

Seriously- we can learn alot from angry birds. I call it “meet the children where they are at”! Those angry birds are cute, daring, imagninative and angry….just like some of our children. My four year old absolutely loves these birds, so I decided to search for inspiration and bring these fluffy balls into my classroom too! As Easter is fast approaching, I am sure to find a way to bring these birds and their eggs into the holiday theme somehow!

Art Activity – Painting plates (idea found at squidoo) After painting these plates, have the children match the bird to the color word.

Writing Activity with Stickers

Printables! An amazing and smart lady at 1+1+1 created these!

Math- Pig and bird sorting- Click below to print for free (yeah-I love free!)

http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_fkRctcvEtE/Tps0nwSYZsI/AAAAAAAAhjI/H8K7Z_tpCvU/s1600-h/Slide9%25255B2%25255D.jpg

The printables above were found at: http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2011/10/angry-birds-kindergarten-printables.html

Angry Sight Words Sentence Mix-up and Re-build it Activity!

Follow this link to print it for FREE! http://lh3.ggpht.com/-HaofO48k7z8/Tps0o3EwMgI/AAAAAAAAhjY/6MOWYsR80XY/s1600-h/Slide10%25255B2%25255D.jpg

Click to print: http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sSxAUXUj6XY/Tps0suqivnI/AAAAAAAAhko/6jJHlVSWjSQ/s1600-h/Slide15%25255B2%25255D.jpg

Emergent Reader Sight Word Book

Click to print page 1: http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SRUGWWAT0ME/Tps0qdvv_1I/AAAAAAAAhj4/RRhGI2gEdwI/s1600-h/Slide12%25255B2%25255D.jpg Click here to print page 2: http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rkf9k8F5OHQ/Tps0rPxWcAI/AAAAAAAAhkI/M0JhDKa6fUM/s1600-h/Slide13%25255B2%25255D.jpg

Block Center Idea! (from Digital Kindergarten)

Counting Angry Birds (created by: http://yhwhleads.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/angry-birds-printables/)

I found this link where you can print out faces for each angry bird. It is a balloon template, but I plan on using it to make party favor bags for my sons 4th birthday party. Here’s the link: http://www.thepartyanimal-blog.org/Downloads/Angry_Birds_Balloon_Templates.pdf

Take Home Sight Word Book-Here the kids color the birds according to the color sight word on each page.

Click here to print: Take Home Reader Book – I Like Angry Birds

Real Birds vs. Angry Birds Sorting Activity

Printable! Click here: Angry Birds – Sort Real and Not Real Animals and birds

Comparing an Angry Bird to a Cardinal – Whole Group Activity: My class really enjoyed thinking about these birds and comparing them to each other.

I have also created a Birds! Birds! Birds! WebQuest. Just click over to the WebQuest tab, to find it along with more information about WebQuests!

Other Articles on Angry Birds in the Classroom: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/01/07/3768358/education-and-video-games-are.html

Anger Managament Lessons and Printables: http://thehometeacher.wikispaces.com/Angry+Birds

 

Valentines Day Crafts, Games and Activities

Oh my goodness- Valentines Day is next week and I haven’t even planned the party yet! So, what’s a teacher to do after deciding to not just do the same thing that I did last year? Me-I searched the internet and found some amazing inspirations for crafts, games and activities! Here they are! Enjoy all the free stuff! Just click and print. If you like it, share with another parent or teacher or leave me a comment-it would just make my day!

[Update] It is the day before Valentine’s Day. Honestly, I have enjoyed this holiday more than Christmas! We made our card baggies, I made the heart puzzles and hershey kiss game. I printed out the Conversation Heart Bingo and had it laminated. I plan to add the final touch to my classroom by adding pink and red butcher paper table coverings with heart die-cuts sprinkled on top. My “plan” is to do this before school, so that the students can write Valentine messages on their tables to show off their writing skills to each other and to any visitors that my come by. Send me some good vibes that I can get this done….and Happy Valentines Day!

Valentine Card Bags (from: mrsleeskinderkids) This is my inspiration.

These are the party bags my class made on Friday. I showed my students how to fold small pieces of paper and draw a half a heart, so they could cut out their own hearts. They had so much fun making these card holder bags. Aren’t they cute?!! I think they look just as cute on brown lunch bags (this kept me from having to buy the white ones, which are very hard to find at stores, days before the big V-day). I like saving money!

Parent Letter to ask for Learning Station materials and Party items Parent Valentine letter

Color by Letter-Free Printable! The cupid printable below can be printed by clicking here: http://www.reading-with-kids.com/images/valentine-cupid-color-by-letter-coloring-page.jpg

Color by Sight Word! Free Printable! Just click here: http://teachersnotebook.com/product/MoffattGirls/valentine-color-by-sight-word# follow this link then click the BLUE download button. You do have to enter your e-mail address.

Teacher Valentine Gift to my Students

Ok, this is my idea-now I have to make it come to pass. My plan is to cut out heart puzzles from red and pink poster board. Then I will cut the heart into a puzzle, put into a ziploc bag and then label it: “I love you to pieces! Love, your teacher!” This will be special, fun, inexpensive and memorable. Now, I have to do it. I will post a picture when I do….I have less than 5 days to go…. Here is a picture of this puzzle made on construction paper (http://www.makeandtakes.com/valentines-day-classroom-party-ideas) Keep scrolling down to see the one I made after all this inspiration!

I just found a link online, where you can print out a heart-shaped puzzle that says, “I love you.” You can also customize it for free to say what you want it to say. Here is the link: Printable Heart-Shaped Puzzles

Here are the Puzzles that I actually made…. I bought 3 hot pink poster boards at Wal-Mart @ .77 each. I was able to draw 6 hearts on each one. Then I randomly cut each heart into a puzzle then placed it in a ziploc bag. Next, I printed out the label. You just fold it lengthwise and staple. I think this is the inexpensive way to go!

Ziploc Bag label-I LOVE YOU TO PIECES

Hand-made Valentine Heart cards for Parents - I bought a 24 pack of 8″ doilies at Dollar Tree for $1. I showed my students how to cut out a folded paper to make a heart. Then I gave them a white doilie and tissue paper squares along with glitter. The rule was: write a Valentine message to get your glitter. Kindergarteners love glitter, I must say!

Conversation Heart Writing Station- I cut these hearts out of pastel tag-board paper and wrote simple sentences that contained our sight words. Under the document camera/projector, we looked at real conversation heart candies and noticed how they had words on them and not sentences. I then gave the students pink die-cut hearts (a whole basket full) so they could write their own Valentines for anyone that they wanted to. It was so cute to see several boys race to write as many as they could. They made some for me and for their friends in our class and other Kindergarten classes. Love and friendship is in the air!

Heart Concept Web – After reading several books and viewing short movie clips on Discovery Education video’s, the students took turns telling me what they learned about Valentines Day. I use a large piece of butcher paper for this. This is a great way to see if they remember what was just taught. Any time I have students dictate their words to me, I write down their words and then put their name in parenthesis. Then, later the students are able to write what they said.

Love Poem for Mom: Poetry Station – This is a little poem I wrote because I would rather think of a short and simple poem instead of searching the internet for half an hour to find a short, Kindergarten friendly poem. As a class, we took turns using a highlighter to color the sight words. In the Poetry station, the students grab a mini-poem and do the same thing, then paste it in their poetry notebook journal. Next, they decorate it with hearts. Love Poem Printable- Free Click here Here is a poem I wrote, entitled “Cupid.” Click to print: Cupid Poem

Sight Word Matching Game: Word Work Station – I bought these cute little plastic heart-shaped boxes from Dollar Tree (10-12 to a pack). I write one sight word in the inside of the box and the same word on the top of the matching lid. Before placing these into the Word Work Station, I introduced the activity whole group by passing out two to each student. They had to find their matching word partner and then sit down. They loved it!

Paper Clip Measurement Art- Have pre-drawn hearts prepared and have students link the clips (without connecting them) and then write the number inside of each heart. This would be a great learning station/center.

Counting with Love Craft (from: mrsleeskinderkids)

Flower Vases- I am not sure what kind of tubes are used here (perhaps Pringles cans and paper plates on the bottom), but this image inspired me to re-use toilet paper tubes and turn them into flower vases. The students will enjoy painting the tubes too! This will be a great present for mom!

Heart Addition with Erasers for Counters (from: mrsleeskinderkids) By using manipulatives, students are able to visualize their answer. It is also more fun using cute erasers as counters! It makes math more fun!

Iphone/Ipod Valentines – (from: livinglocurto.com)

These are so cute and smart looking. They are made with a free printable from: http://www.livinglocurto.com/2011/01/iphone-valentine-free-printable/ and it is then wrapped around a mini-box of conversation hearts. It is a larger file and takes some loading time.

Heart Subtraction/Addition – Here is my inspiration….The students roll a dice and count the dots, then they roll another dice that has + and – on it. By rolling +3 they add three blocks to the heart. By rolling -2 they subtract 2. The first one to fill up their heart, wins!

Hershey Kiss Addition and Subtraction Game - This is what I made. Look at the cute Hershey kiss flag! I drew a hershey kiss on gray construction paper then drew 10 circles and added the flag label. I used a foam block to make the dice and used a snap cube and a Sharpie to add the + and – sign to each side.

Cupids Arrow Party Game

“Basically what you do is you set {heart-shaped if you have them} bowls across the room and place some tape on the floor so the kids will know where to stand. The kids then load their “arrows” (straws) with a Q-tip one at a time and blow them out, aiming for the bowl across the room. The team or person with the most Q-tips in the bowl at the end of the time is the winner!” This super idea from: http://room-mom101.blogspot.com/

Valentine Party Stations - My school gave us an hour time frame for our party. I got this great idea of rotating students through these activities from a former room mom, Mrs. Hollyday. Although I was skeptical at first, she showed me how to pre-plan and assign a parent to each station. It worked so well and I got so many compliments from visiting parents. I think it just makes the party more exciting, compared to doing everything whole group. So, my stations were: 1. Cupid’s Arrow 2. Hershey Kiss Subtraction/Addition 3. Conversation Heart BINGO 4. Picture Frame Craft 5. Craft #2 (I had a parent bring in a surprise craft-butterfly hearts).

Here are the direction signs for each station: Valentine Party Station Games

I added large butcher paper-cut hearts to each table. The morning of the party, the students wrote their own messages on them!

This is the Cupid Game that I created. My students played this game at the Valentines party (with a parent to help assist-whew!). The liked it so much that I made it be a Math learning station for the remainder of the week. So, I decided not to use the straw and q-tip idea from above (germs!). The kids loved this so much! I used pipe cleaner arrows and the students had 5 turns in a row to aim and fire and then they recorded their score and compared to see who had the largest number.

Conversation Heart BINGO - I like this blank template because each year the conversation heart candies have new messages. I think I saw one that says “text me.” That didn’t exist when I was a kid! I plan to dump out my bag of parent donated hearts, read the messages and then write them into the BINGO boards. (Update: I have these printed…yeah! I am making progress!)

Print this for free from this site: http://tinyurl.com/4c3ww5o

Here is the Conversation Heart BINGO game. I printed and laminated them.

This is the Hershey Kiss Game.

These ladybugs and flamingo’s (made from heart shapes) turned out so cute! I found the free printable at enchanted learning.

We made picture frames during the Valentine’s party by putting foam stickers onto little red framing mats.