The Barefoot Teacher: Featured

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With Halloween right around the corner, now is a perfect time for your Preschool, Kindergarten, or First grade kids to be learning about nocturnal animals! If you're looking for fall activities for kids, these Bats, Owls, & Spiders differentiated readers are a perfect additional to the other activities, crafts, and ideas you have planned for your class this fall. Help your students develop confidence in their reading abilities while learning about bats at the same time. In addition, the last page of each reader incorporates writing practice as students recall facts that they learned in the reader.

With fall upon us and Halloween right around the corner, I'd like to show you some differentiated 'I Am a Bat' emergent readers. And then I have a FREE DOWNLOAD you can try out if you haven't already!

**This post may contain affiliate links.**

While you really can use these readers at any time of year, I tend to do them around our Halloween and Nocturnal Animals units. I have many animal readers in this series, but I'm only going to highlight the bat readers today!

So this is what the cover looks like. It's the same for all three levels of the reader.

Here's what it looks like full size. Each page of the book comes two-to-a-page so that you can easily print the books using the collate and staple options on your copy machine. Then use a paper cutter to quickly slice between the books and just like magic, they're already assembled for you!

Meet your students right where they're at with three differentiated levels to choose from. Your kiddos can highlight any sight words, chunks, or blends that you are currently working on.

Learn some unique facts about bats that many people don't know!

Learn what they eat and how they sleep.

The last page is one of my favorites. It's included in all of the readers of this series. Students write down a list of the favorite things they learned while reading the book! It's a great way to incorporate writing practice. This picture is from a set of rabbit readers, and I just happened to have it handy to show you. This is how the bat books end as well.

Let me show you two ways you can get this bats reader set.

You can get this differentiated reader by itself here:

I Am a Bat Emergent Readers

Or you can get it in a bundle with other readers:

Nocturnal Animals Emergent Readers

Six readers, all about nocturnal animals, are included in this bundle.

Remember reading that book when you were a kid, about the old lady who swallowed a fly? Well, guess what? She swallows a lot more things now, including bats! My students LOVE when I pull this book out. I made some activities and centers to go along with this book.

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat Activities

Now, let me show you a FREE DOWNLOAD you can get right now that will give you an opportunity to try those differentiated readers out!

This is the I Am an Alligator set.

It's set up exactly like the bat readers, only your students will be learning about alligators instead! Oh my!

Try this series FREE right here:

I Am an Alligator Differentiated Readers

Don't forget to leave a rating. I enjoy reading your feedback and hearing what you think!

-Til next time

These FREE non-fiction, differentiated readers will go right along with the other activities, crafts, and ideas you have planned for your class this spring. Help your Kindergarten or First Grade students develop confidence in their reading abilities while learning about alligators at the same time. In addition, the last page of each reader incorporates writing practice as students recall facts that they learned in the reader.

Bek

These Tortoise and the Hare fable crafts and activities are a perfect literacy match for your fables unit with your Kindergarten or First Grade kids. #fables #tortoiseandthehare #emergentreaders #kindergarten #firstgrade #literacy #elementary #reading #thebarefootteacher

Hello friends! I've got quite a handful of activities to share with you.

Get ready to feel excited about fables with The Story of the Tortoise and the Hare emergent reader! Your littles will LOVE having their very own kid-friendly version of this story to read on their own.

Bek

Grandparents Day is just a few weeks away (September 10th) so I thought I'd share some activities that you can use with your kiddos in celebration of their loved ones.

This day is a really hard one for me to blog about, as it brings to mind memories of many dear grandparents who are no longer with us. At the time that these activities were made, a very special Great-Grandma had just passed. These resources were made in special honor of her.

Alright, let's brush those tears aside and dive into some things that will give your littles a chance to appreciate and celebrate the grandparents in their lives!

You never know what activity or craft their grandparents will hold dear to their hearts. Earlier this year, Great-Grandpa also passed. Amongst some of his belongings was one of the Love Notes (I'll show you them below) that one of my kids had written him from this resource pack! So I encourage you to encourage your students to pass on their completed cards, coloring pages, and notes to their grandparents. It will be a very special to them if it was saved and they receive it back some day.

So the "We Love Grandparents" pack includes 22 pages that you can print and use. It was made with Kindergarten in mind, but can be used for Preschool and even First Grade.

Grandparents Day math and literacy activities for kindergarten first grade preschool

It has both Upper and Lower case Alphabet letter tracing practice. Number tracing too. Multiple mazes with no blocks give all learners a chance to succeed. Students can make it harder if they'd like by drawing in their own blocks! Phonics beginning, middle vowel (CVC), and end sounds practice has adorable grandparent pictures on them.

And here are the Love Notes I mentioned above. There are a bunch to choose from, including a foldable card! A color-by-number and also coloring sheet are included for some color word fun.

Some simple syllable and measurement activities will give students the extra practice they may need. And some simple cut-out puzzles in both black/white and full color are also available. *Note that not all of the pages included in the pack are shown here in the blog.*

Does your school host a Grandparents Day event?
If so, you may want to pull some of these activities for your littles to do with their special person(s)! This next activity is perfect for that...

Grandparents Day BINGO!
(High Frequency Word style!)

If Grandparents are coming (and even if they're not) this is an excellent way for students to show off the sight words they've learned so far. It's also an easy opportunity for their grandparents to take part in helping them if needed!

There are THIRTY Bingo cards to choose from.

And the following 48 words are scrambled amongst the various boards:

The calling cards are LARGE so that all students (and grandparents) can easily see them from the front of the room.

Enjoy preparing for Grandparents Day for your littles! I know that their loved ones will appreciate the time and effort you spend making their special day memorable!

-Til next time

Grandparents Day activities for kids kindergarten

Grandparents Day activities for Kindergarten and First Grade

Bek

Back to School is coming up faster than we realize, so I wanted to give you a few ideas (including a FREE DOWNLOAD) that you can set aside NOW so that you're not scrambling at the last minute looking for something new and fun to do with your students!

This All About Me Flip Book Craftivity is fun, easy, and will go right along with the other activities, ideas, and crafts that you have planned for your kids to do this fall for Back to School.

This All About Me Back to School Flip Book is fun, easy, and will go along with the other activities, ideas, and crafts that you have planned for your kids to do this fall. 6 tabs provide information for Kindergarten or First Grade students to fill out so that they can share all about themselves, while incorporating beginning writing practice at the same time. Simple cutting and easy assembly allows all students to happily succeed! #backtoschool #allaboutme #flipbook #kindergarten #firstgrade

Six tabs provide information for your Preschool, Kindergarten, or First Grade littles to share about themselves while incorporating beginning writing practice at the same time.

Let me show you a closer look!

There are actually six different covers that you can choose from for this activity. There are ten different characters for your kiddos to pick from. 5 girls and 5 boys. Encourage them to find the one that most resembles them. They can improvise if needed (add glasses, or whatnot).

I had my five year old (who will be entering Kindergarten this fall) make a sample so that you can see the steps students need to take to complete this project.

Start by having them pick a cover and color it.

Then they can grab a pencil and fill out the beginner writing portions of all the pages included. The first page has the "All About" and "Favorites" tabs. Her favorite food is (believe it or not) "Robin Noodles".... Ramen Noodles (bleh!).

The next page encourages students to write about something they dislikes. My daughter is a sensitive soul and greatly dislikes when people are mean or use a harsh tone with her.

Next, students will draw a self portrait.

Then they will write out what dreams they have. I like this Big Dream! That's a big green dinosaur she drew.

Finally, they write 5 reasons why they are unique.

Time to cut it all out! Simple cutting and easy assembly allows for all students to happily succeed.
Throw some math in there, and have your students practice measuring by laying out the tabs from shortest to tallest!

Then glue the tabs together to make a flip book!

Now your students can take turns reading their flip books to their peers before taking hanging them up in the hallway!

You can get this activity here: All About Me Back to School Flip Book

Before I give you a FREE DOWNLOAD, let me show you some other All About Me ideas I found on Pinterest that I loved:

With the new school year quickly approaching, I know that many teachers are already starting to get things organized and ready for this Back to School this fall.
Here's a FREE DOWNLOAD for you to print out now that will be a perfect way for you to keep track of information about your students:

FREE STUDENT INFORMATION SHEETS DOWNLOAD

-Til next time

This All About Me Back to School Flip Book Craftivity is fun, easy, and will go right along with the other activities, ideas, and crafts that you have planned for your kids to do this fall. Six tabs provide information for Preschool, Kindergarten, or First Grade littles to fill out so that they can share all about themselves, while incorporating beginning writing practice at the same time. Simple cutting and easy assembly allows for all students to happily succeed!

Bek

Nursery Rhymes poetry activities for kids

Today I want to show you how to reinforce high frequency words during your Nursery Rhymes unit by using Poetry Books. Nursery Rhymes are one of my favorite things to teach Preschool & Kindergarten littles.

**This post contains affiliate links.**

For each Nursery Rhyme I teach, I put up a poster that matches the poetry book page we're using (which I'm going to show you in just a bit). Before you know it, our wall is lined with all kinds of fun Nursery Rhymes that we've learned. I print them on card stock and use your Scotch laminator (aren't they the best?!) to laminate them so that they stay in good shape throughout the year. Need more laminating pouches? Great deal HERE.

We also like to watch Cool School's Nursery Rhyme videos on YouTube. If you've never seen these before, then you just have to check them out! Seriously, stop everything you are doing and watch one right now! I promise you'll be entertained. The kids are usually giggling like crazy over these "silly videos."

Ok, let's get to those Poetry Books now. After I show you what they're all about, I'm going to give you a link to a FREE DOWNLOAD!

Each time I teach a Nursery Rhyme, I focus on a specific high frequency word. And we collect all of the rhymes together in Poetry Books. We use spiral bound notebooks (but you can use composition books too!) and glue each of the pages in. You could also simply staple all the pages together prior to using them all, or you could even use the 3-prong folders (get the high gloss & laminated finish ones) & a 3-hole punch to add them into a folder Poetry Book.

Every time we learn a rhyme, I give each student a black/white version of the poster. But the one I give them is slightly different in that it has blank lines for writing in whatever high frequency word belongs with the rhyme that we are working on.

This FREE Nursery Rhymes poetry book printable will fit right in with the other activities and songs you are singing with your Preschool and Kindergarten students. Plus, it reinforces high frequency words as well!

Students write the word in every blank. Then we "butter" all of the words we wrote with our super fun Crayola Twistables. (If you want to make it scent-a-licious, use the Mr. Sketch twistable crayons! The kids' favorite is always "Stinky Cheese," haha!

We also "butter" the word at the top right of the page. Then we practice reading it together a few times.

Next, it's time to put our page into our Poetry Books! First we cut the solid line around the poem. Then we glue it in the next page of our notebook.

After that, it's practice time! Students read to themselves, to their friends, to a plant or class pet, and every so often they take the notebook home and read to their parents!

There are 27 Nursery Rhymes total included in this Nursery Rhymes Poetry Book resource. And in just a second I'm going to give you that FREE DOWNLOAD I mentioned earlier which will give you an opportunity to print out some of the nursery rhymes poetry book pages and try them out. Let me show you the various versions of each rhyme that are included.

For each Nursery Rhyme, there are four printouts. Two are black/white student versions and two are colorful. Of those, one has lines to fill-in high frequency words and the other does not.

Two sets of labels (2x4 layout) are also included for the outside of your notebook. And a cover/title page is included in case you'd rather have that to use.

There are 27 Nursery Rhymes that you can print.

Here is a list of them:

Ok, now that you know how to use it, and you've seen how it's set up and what all is included, let's get you that FREE DOWNLOAD so that you can try it out!

FREE Little Miss Muffet Poetry Book Pages

or get the

FULL VERSION Nursery Rhymes Poetry Book Pages right now!

I'd love to hear what you think.

Feel free to leave a comment below!

-Til next time

Bek

I LOVE teaching Fairy Tales! Today I want to share my absolute all-time favorite resources with you, as well as give you some activity ideas, some YouTube videos your kids will be sure to fall in love with, and a Little Red Hen FREEBIE (which will be at the end of the post)!

**This post contains affiliate links.**

Fairy tales are my favorite books to read to students. I especially like to read different versions of them that allow us to compare/contrast. Have you seen the ones that are told by an unexpected character from each story. These are just some of them from the collection. But there are a lot more available too.

Here are links to my top 5 favorites, but you can browse through all of them here.

-Seriously, Cinderella is SO Annoying:

The Story of Cinderella as Told by the Wicked Stepmother

-Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten:

The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as Told by the Wolf

-Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks:

The Story of the Three Bears as Told by Baby Bear

-Trust Me, Jack's Beanstalk Stinks:

The Story of Jack and the Beanstalk as Told by the Giant

-No Lie, Pigs (and Their Houses) Can Fly:

The Story of the Three Little Pigs as Told by the Wolf

-THERE ARE TONS MORE!

If you really want to have your kiddos rolled up in giggles, try this one:

GOATilocks and the Three Bears

(Ok, I laugh just reading the title!)

My students like to create their own fairy tales and also reenact their interpretations of the well known ones. I happily noticed that they were falling in love with them just as much as I was.

However, when they would go to the reading carpet to look at the variety of fairy books I had laid out, they were only skimming the pictures.

I needed fairy tale books that were more at their level.

So I ordered some from online. All kinds of them at a variety of levels. I was so excited when they arrived, but to my disappointment, for most of my students, the words were still too hard and the sentences still too long.

I decided to create my own miniature versions of classic fairy tales (& fables & folk tales-but those are for a different time!) that are at simple levels...levels that even beginner readers could handle.

I bundled them together (there are 16 fairy tale readers total) so that if you're interested and want them for your classroom, you can access them all in one simple download - Fairy Tales Emergent Readers Bundle.

They are also available individually as well! They include the following stories:

-The 3 Billy Goats Gruff

-Little Red Riding Hood

-Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs

-Cinderella & Friends

-Sleeping Beauty

-Jack & the Beanstalk

-Goldilocks & the 3 Bears

-Rapunzel & Friends

-Hansel & Gretel

-The Princess & the Pea

-Rumpelstiltskin

-The Elves & the Shoemaker

(This last one is perfect to read during your Christmas week of activities!)

When your students read these little books, have them use gel highlighters to highlight sight words that you have or are currently working on. Or blends, or whatever you want them to focus on.

Whenever I read a Fairy Tale to my students, I like to also show them the matching YouTube channel CoolSchool's videos! They are fun, silly, and perfect for comparing and contrasting. Plus, they'll have your littles rolling on the ground in giggles!

There are many types of videos on the CoolSchool channel, but we focus most on the FairyTale (& Nursery Rhymes...but those are for a different post!) ones with Ms. Booksy, who not only narrates the story, but jumps right into the story herself...literally!

Here are a couple of our favorite...although they all are really good:

Jack & the Beanstalk:

Little Red Riding Hood:

If you're looking for math and literacy activities to go with your Fairy Tale units, I have a few that will go with the more common ones used in classrooms. Most of the activities were made with the Common Core standards in mind.

This Goldilocks & the 3 Bears Math & Literacy Bundle includes over 100 pages of emergent readers, vocab reinforcement, labeling activities, fact/fiction practice, counting & pattern practice, and so much more!

Here is a Rapunzel Math & Literacy Bundle of Activities. It includes 75 pages. There is even a Spanish emergent reader included!

I also have a Cinderella Math & Literacy Bundle and a Three Little Pigs Math & Literacy Bundle, too!

Don't forget to also introduce your kiddos to Fables & Folk Tales!

I've created fable and folk tale emergents readers, which I'll talk about some other time.

Remember that FREE DOWNLOAD I have for you? Well, it's a The Little Red Hen emergent reader! Before I send you off to download it, here are some ideas that you can use along with it.

These craft ideas are simple and involve supplies you most likely already have! (I hate having to go out and purchase a bunch of stuff I only wind up using once a year.)

From GluedToMyCraftsBlog.com:

From A Spoonful of Learning:

From IHeartCraftyThings.com:

From GluedToMyCraftsBlog.com:

From HomeMadeSpeech.com:

Ready for a FREEBIE?!

You've found them! The perfect Fairy Tales Emergent Readers for your Preschool, Kindergarten, or First Grade kids. These easy to read books will go right along with the other activities and crafts you have planned for your fairy tales unit. Plus, they are a perfect way to practice high frequency words! Plus, you can download one for FREE! #fairytale #littleredhen #fairytales #kindergarten #firstgrade #emergentreaders #fairytalesforkids #freedownload

This Little Red Hen Reader has easy to read text and includes 20 pages. Many of the pages are repetitive so that littles can experience even more success when reading! Take a peek at some of the pages...you can download it absolutely FREE using the link below!