Yeehaw - Fall is Here and Freebie

I just had to show off this variation on my Scarecrow Craftivity and Literacy Activities packet.  My grand daughter's 2nd grade teacher (who I just LOVE!) allowed my daughter to come in and help with this craftivity.

Her classroom is wild west and cowboy themed, so we decided to alter the scarecrows slightly and we added a cowboy hat, a bandana, and cowboy boots to these little guys.  Just take a peek at the outcome:

 

The 25 page  packet is on sale right now (for just $1.00)  in my TpT store.   The version in TpT comes with the standard scarecrow garb. 

Here is a scarecrow writing prompt.  Just click here to download.

Have a great weekend.

Granny (Cindy)

Guest Post from "Getting Messy with Miss Jessi"

I love Miss Jessi's blog. I am so impressed with the activities and explorations that she implements with her little ones (preschoolers). Everything she does is so developmentally appropriate. 

 Jessi kindly agreed to guest blog and I am so appreciative.  Enjoy her post and please don't forget to scroll down through the great pictures.  

Hi, there!  My name is Jessi, I blog over at Getting Messy With Ms. Jessi.  I was thrilled when Cindy asked me to guest blog.  She asked for a specific subject. One that I practice everyday with the 3-5 year olds I teach on a daily basis.  I've been teaching for close to 16 years and I've loved (almost) every moment of it.  I've learned a lot thru experience but also thru all the wonderful blogs I've read over the last few years.

Have you ever heard the expression, "It's the process, not the product"?  The process is the how, the product is the after.  What we need to remember it's the how that is most important.  When I first started teaching I hadn't really grasped that concept.  I figured what was important was the finished product the child was taking home to show his family.  After a few years of teaching I was noticing that art wasn't much fun for them. I wasn't allowing them to create, get messy, enjoy art as much as I do.   I love to create, so why wasn't I letting the children create on their own?  Experience is so much more important.  The how is what makes the project fun for the children.  Here are some examples of fun process art projects we've done in the last couple of months:

Painting with a mallet..super messy and super fun!!

Snap Painting

Batik Art: By far my most favorite thing we've ever done!

 If children can use at least 3 senses while they create imagine the experience they are getting!  Paint that has a scent, hearing the fly swatter swat the paint and paper, using bubble wrap to paint with, tasting the pudding paint and seeing the results of color mixing.  So, open your mind, relax and don't be afraid to get a little bit (or a lot!) messy.

Now that you've had a chance to preview some of Jessi's blog posts you can click below to head over to her site and enjoy all of her great ideas.

Thanks to all  ... and a special thanks to my blogging friend Jessi.
Cindy (Granny)

Veterans Day Craftivity and Freebie

I think Veterans Day is important.  I hope all of our students are given the opportunity to understand the significance of the day.

I know, it doesn't have the "charm" of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.    It's still a very important learning opportunity for our little ones.  Even our younger students can learn to appreciate that we enjoy the freedoms we do, because men and women throughout the years have made big sacrifices.


Here are some age-appropriate books that help explain Veterans Day in a way that our younger students can understand. 

Veterans Day by Jacqueline Cotton
Veterans Day by Rebecca Rissman
Veterans Day by Robin Nelson
The Wall by Eve Bunting

I have created a Veterans Day packet with fun activities and a craftivity to help students support the celebration of the day. 

The packet includes:

• Simple facts about Veterans Day
• Book suggestions
• Craftivity (male and female veterans)
• Prompt: "Veterans are... "
• Read It, Write It, Draw It- activity sheet
• Can, Have , Are - activity sheet
• Can, Have, Need - activity sheet
• What ________ Knows About Veterans Day - activity sheet 
• Write a letter to a Veteran- activity 
• A, B, C Order - activity sheet 
• Four in a Row reading game 
• Label it - activity sheet 
• Move and Make Words - activity sheet
• Craftivity directions and pattern pieces

Here's an activity from the packet. Click here to download this freebie.

Have a great week.

Cindy (Granny)

Pumpkin Art and a Math Freebie

Just had to share this great little project that my daughter and grand kids worked on last week.  The idea came from That Artist Woman.

The best part of this project is that it's so versatile.  All three of my grand kids made one (ages 9, 7, and 3) and all three turned out darling.  Age doesn't seem to matter with this project.

Step 1: They used white card stock and masking tape to fill the entire
paper.  Strips could be any length.  They tried to tear the tape jagged to
add more dimension.

Step 2: Each child painted the entire paper orange and let it dry.
They used acrylic paint (didn't know how washable tempera paint
would work on the tape).

 Step 3: Each child had a small separate piece of paper with a small dot
of green acrylic paint.  They used the "fork" technique to create fun
funky lines in the stem.

Step 4: The kids drew their own pumpkins on the BACKSIDE of the paper
and cut them out.  They did the same thing with the stem and glued it to
the pumpkin.

Step 5: They used a circle paper punch for the whites of the eyes, black
buttons as well as cut out a mouth and teeth to embellish the pumpkin.

Love how they all turned out quite unique. (Original source is That Artist Woman) 

Since we're doing pumpkins this week I created these fun "Pumpkin Line Up" math sheets.  The file contains pumpkin line up (and witch line up)  for counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's and 100's.  Great for differentiated learning opportunities in the classroom. Click here to down load the entire file (10 pages).

Pumpkin Line Up by 1's

Pumpkin Line Up by 5"s
(Graphics by Scrappin Doodles) 

Have a great rest of the week.
Granny (Cindy)

Word Choice: Student Word Rings

I am really excited to share this new tool that I created as a result of a great discussion with my daughter.  We were talking (actually joking) about the words we tell our students they can no longer use in their writing.  You know what I'm talking about... words like awesome.  Everything is awesome.  If you see that word in one more student story, you'll go running from the classroom!

We started talking about how great it would be if students had personal word choice cards easily at hand.  So we brainstormed 25 commonly used words in 2nd /3rd grade writing and came up with word choice cards.  Once you have copied the card sheets onto card stock and cut them into individual cards, they are ready for the students to put into A, B, C order and onto rings.

Then we got really carried away and decided to add classroom posters for each of the cards.  Twenty-five in all!  I also added blank cards and posters for any words specific to your class needs. 

The packet is available in my TpT store.      

TpT link to the packet- click here

Words on personal rings

Word cards

Classroom poster

 

The packet is 48 pages and contains:

•  Word sheets to equal 25 students words cards
•  25 synonym posters for classroom display
•  8 blank posters (for teachers to use with students in developing those synonym needs specific to each class)
• 10 blank student cards (for student individual needs) 
• A generic "working with words" activity sheet
  
• Teacher directions

I would LOVE to give away 2 of these packets in a random drawing of people who have left a comment by Friday evening. 

P.S.  If you have older students, my 4th- 6th grade packet will be available by the end of the week.

Have a great week-
Granny
(Cindy)

Rikki at The Hive: 200 Follower Give Away

Be sure to hop over to The Hive for Rikki's 200 follower give away.   She has some great prizes and LOTS of them too!  This is a don't miss event.

I've been BOO-ed and Skip Counting Freebie

I've been Boo-ed... sounds like fun, huh?  Well it's a really cute idea.  It's a Halloween Linky Party started by Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips.  I was BOO-ed by my friend Chrissy at First Grade Found Me!
This is a real hoot - thanks for thinking of me Chrissy.

Here are the rules:

Here's my "Halloween to Share" list:

1)  Here's a graph and Halloween sorting mat that were designed to be used with Target $1.00 erase packets.  Click here to download this freebie.

2) Here is another Halloween freebie to go along with one of my favorite Halloween books.  The file contains two graphing activities and one "label it" activity.

Click here to download this file

Little Green Witch by Barbara Barbieri McGrath

3)  I created a fun Halloween Skip Counting packet containing 8 skip counting games (by 2's, by'5, by 10's, by 100's) and number charts.  I really wanted to share one of the games with you for free.  If you want the whole pack - it's only $1.50 at my TpT store.  

Click here to download this pdf

I'm passing the BOO onto these other great bloggers, so be sure to stop by for their Halloween goodies and great ideas.  

Nicki at Mrs. Thigpen's Kindergarten

Teresa at Fun in K/1

Lisa at Growing Firsties
Sandi at Rubber Boots and Elf Shoes  
Rikki at The Hive
Ash at Pixy Stix and Teacher Tricks 

Winners of Give-away and Freebie Graph Activity

The results of the raffle are in!!

I'll be contacting you ASAP to arrange for your prizes. A VERY special thanks to EVERYONE who participated in my celebration!

Now here's some fun stuff for everyone. Been to Target lately to take advantage of their $1.00 specials? They've got packs of Halloween erasers and some adorable Halloween buckets.

The activity consists of having the students scoop erasers, sort them on the sorting mats, and then complete the graphing activity.  I found that scooping with a tablespoon is just about perfect.  

Target Halloween goodies

Erasers that have been scooped, sorted on mats, and are ready for graphing

Click on the graph to download both the graph and sorting mat.

Have a great week!
Granny (Cindy)

Another Follower Give Away

O.K.--- if you have already entered my give away and you're looking for another great one, head right over to Grade ONEderful.  My blogging friend Barbara is celebrating 500 followers with gift cards and TpT products.  I am so excited to have been include in her celebration.  Best of luck to everyone and of course, be sure to spread the word to your friends.

Click on the box below to be taken to the give away

Click on the box below to be taken to the give away.

If you haven't had a chance to check out this week's freebie be sure to click here for a couple of "witch-graphs" and a label it page.