Linky Party Link Ups and Teacher Tips!

WRITING

 I always love for my kids to publish their writing piece on fancy paper.  It's makes them feel like they are putting their best work on display and I always feel they put a little more effort into making it look great!

Check it out! I'm So Fancy Writing Paper (yes, if you have the song in your head in right now.. I'm Sorry!) You can grab the I'm So Fancy Writing Paper here and this FREEBIE PAGE too!

Here's the preview of just some of the 200 pages that can be used throughout the year!

If you are looking for themed writing paper, check out the following:

Writing Paper Themed for the Whole Year.

It also comes with Handwriting Without Tears Lines!

These include 82 pages and 10 Journal Covers!

(PLEASE NOTE - ALL OF THESE HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE  A  LOT MORE CHOICES!

UPDATE: I've had several requests for creating paper for the older students, so I made I'm So Fancy for Older Students.  Enjoy!

Linking up with Kelsea from

  Teacher Gems to share tips and tricks!

Stikki-Clips are amazing!  I punch a small hole with a hole puncher in posters, projects, etc. and then keep the stikki-clip on the wall attached UPSIDE DOWN. Therefore, I can change out posters in a quick and easy way.  They also keep the project hanging much longer and takes less clips to hold a project!

I LABEL EVERYTHING! 

From guided reading books, book bins, and math manipulatives, to toys, games, and supplies. It helps the children (and me) remember where everything goes. For  younger children,  I color code everything or include a picture so they can easily find where to put the items back.  

It helps to keep  everything organized.   

You can grab these math labels here.

Update: I've included more labels for you! 

Here are just some of the labels I made this year from my

EDITABLE label collection- 

Update: I've been adding to the ultimate collection and it has over 180 labels with 20 different styles!

The MAGIC CIRCLE TRICK on the smartboard.

  

Want to erase everything super fast on the smart board? 

Take your eraser on the smartboard and create a big circle around everything you want to erase (don't lift the eraser up while doing so). 

Most importantly, the ending point has to touch the beginning point. Then, tap the center (or anywhere in the circle with the eraser) and poof! everything inside the circle will erase. If it doesn't work, it means you didn't connect the starting and ending point of the circle.

Find some other amazing  fall math ideas from other great teachers below at Math Madness Wednesdays! 

Kindergarten Emergent Readers & Activities for Fall

As many of you already know, there's a huge push for reading in kindergarten. When I taught kindergarten, I tried to incorporate art as much as I could into my program.  The children loved the combination of art and reading.  Here are a few you might enjoy!  

Check out below for some creative art ideas for fall.  Each of these could be used with a writing piece or small book as well. 

At The Farm consists of 10 easy to read pages with repetitive text focusing on the sight words- I, see, a, and color word recognition. It also includes follow-up printables and a bonus color by code printable.

You can find it here.

PATTERNS

Why are patterns so important? Since patterns are everywhere, it's important that students start to recognize how things fit together and work. Students will see patterns in math, in art, and patterns in words such as word families.  Here are some easy to set up centers and printables you can use in your room to work on patterns. 

Apples! also includes several printables to work on beginning and ending sounds.  Since each page concentrates on a few letters at a time, it's a great assessment tool after teaching several letters.  

You can grab APPLES!  here.

Here's another set of fall and winter themed activities which utilize patterns as well. You can grab it here!

GRAB THIS FREEBIE FROM PATTERNS HERE!

Below is one of the easy set up centers to practice patterns.

Check out Cater-Pattern!

Sammy the Spider is an interactive emergent reader book which focuses on positional words.  Children read the book to find out where to glue Sammy. This book is part of Octoberfest for Kids! which includes 4 emergent readers (2 non-fiction and 2 fiction texts) in addition to letter-matching activities, syllable sorts, science activities, common core math activities, and more! A total of over 100 pages of activities in all. You can grab it here. 

Grab 2 free color by numbers as well. Here’s one of them- so cute!

Grab this little treat here for free!

SORTING

Sorting and classifying objects helps children learn about attributes and relationships. Practicing sorting promotes logical thinking and applying rules.
Children will be able to make real-life connection by organizing things in the real world such as putting away the utensils in the utensil drawer and sorting laundry.

Here's a fun sorting center activity you can do with your class. I'd suggest laminating the paper for extra durability.

Grab this FREEBIE SAMPLER HERE  and if you like it grab the WHOLE SET here at Josie's Place.

Below are some of the items to sort.

I got a bit into sorting and created the FULL product, SORTING.  The images I used can lead to a multitude of  ways to sort- not just by size and shape. I created work mats and pictures for each season, so children can sort all year round.  I also created FREE pattern task cards which utilize the pictures from the sorting center and children can practice patterns as well!  

The question, How did you sort this basket?  is on every work mat to remind children that they should be able to verbalize how they sorted the objects.

Here's a preview:

If you're looking for a more advanced, out of the box sorting activity, check out Sorting, Learning to Think Out of the Box! It was created for a teacher who wanted her kids to think outside the box and create their own categories to group objects based on the pictures.  My students played it and even I was amazed of the amount/ type of categories they came up with.

LABELING PICTURES!

Labeling is such an important beginning reading and writing skill. The children love to label pictures and it's a great way to introduce them to a non-fiction text feature.

Label It! includes 28 printables (themed for use for throughout the year) and a writing sheet for children to use to practice the skill of labeling. There is also a culminating writing sheet which you can use for all of the printables. You can grab a FREEBIE in the preview here. Label It! Second Edition is now available as well!

Here are some fun and creative fall art ideas that could be used in conjunction with a writing piece or small book.  

Enjoy!

 The season of fall

In second grade, we drew our tree first with pencil, then colored the tree, grass and sky in with colored pencil. Then, we outlined it with a Sharpie marker which seems to give it a little POP! After that, we used Q-tips and made the leaves.  We also did a fall writing on my I'm So Fancy Writing Paper... you can grab this apple one for FREE here!

Here's a super simple way to draw a tree for young kids..sorry for the bad photography =):

Below, is one of my talented artists at work!

As a writing idea, children can create a list of what they see in the fall.

Bus Safety

Children can write or explain a good bus safety rule.

Grab this BUS SAFETY FREEBIE here..

Fire Safety

Children can write a fire safety rule.

Grab the FIRE SAFETY FREEBIE here.

(Kindergarten)

(second grade)

Halloween

It's not too complicated... kids cut out the template below, I trace the boots and have them cut those out. I also cut a thin black strip and children glue it on the top of the triangle and it creates the hat (see above). Then, use cut up egg cartons for the eyes and add hair and broom if desired.

Grab this HALLOWEEN FREEBIE here!

So... all of these Halloween items got me in the mood to post some of my favorite Halloween party snacks from the past.

Ghosts in the graveyard

Pillsbury dough 'bones'

Mini-caramel apples

Pumpkin cupcakes with pretzel stems