Gingerbread Man Emergent Readers, Scented Play Dough Gifts, Crafts, & more!

The Gingerbread Man is one of my favorite units of the year! I'm going to give you a handful of gingerbread ideas today, including: three Gingerbread Man emergent readers that you can use with your kiddos, a recipe for some Gingerbread scented play dough, a video from my favorite YouTube channel for kids, & a couple of simple crafts.

**This post may contain affiliate links.**

Let's start with the emergent readers first. One of them covers the fairy tale story itself, one uses manipulative printouts to practice positional words, and one teaches students the directions left and right.

1) The Story of The Gingerbread Man

2) The Gingerbread Man Positional Words Practice

 Students won't even realize that you've snuck some positional word practice into the lesson as they work on building their reading skills with this interactive emergent reader! 

A printable Gingerbread Man manipulative moves around on the pages of the book.

Activity mats are also included to use at your centers. Glue corresponding mats back to back and laminate them so that on one side students will have a guide, and on the other, they will be able to practice on their own with the manipulatives. They are a great way for students to self check what they know!

 3) The Gingerbread Man: Left or Right?

This fun Gingerbread Man reader will take students visually through the story while practicing right and left directions. It also focuses on the sight words "my" "little" "is" "to" "the" "of" and repeats them on every page of the book.

Have your kiddos trace the dotted arrows on each page so they are focusing on which way each direction goes. 

The last page lets them draw a picture of themselves, as the Gingerbread Man stands to the left of them.

All of these readers can also be found in a large Gingerbread Man Bundle of 21 math and literacy activities that includes 230 Gingerbread Man related pages to print for your kiddos. Wow!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the other activities included.

There's over 230 pages total to print!! 

Cool School is one of my favorite YouTube channels for Kindergarten. Here is Cool School's version of the story of the gingerbread man!

Also, here is a recipe for making gingerbread smelling play dough. I especially like the Christmas gift idea! Check it out:

Here are some cute Gingerbread Man crafts that are easy to set up and simple to do. 

I like the tray idea for this first craft. It's way less messier than putting the items into individual bowls or cups!

I love this next one... A gingerbread man ornament craft. Simple enough to do individually at a center!

Thanks for letting me share these with you. I hope your littles love and enjoy them. I also hope they make your teaching life just a tad bit easier! 

PIN ME FOR LATER!... 

-Til next time

       

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Bek

Nursery Rhymes Poetry Books for Kids Plus a FREE Download

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.


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

  

    

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Bek

Word Family Accordion Friends

Today I'd like to introduce my Word Family Accordion Friends with you.
They are super easy for students to make on their own and have proven to increase engagement as students can't seem to take their hands off of them once they are made!

Your littles are going to LOVE practicing word families with these stretchy friends, I promise! 

So let me show you how they work, how they are made, and how you can differentiate with them to best meet the needs of your littles. (18 different friends are included, not just the boy seen in the highlighted pictures. They do repeat...92 pages to print total.)

So we all know that not Kindergarteners are great cutters yet. With the Word Family Accordion Friends, THAT IS OK!

Your more advanced cutters can go ahead and manuver around all the grooves of the body and those who struggle with cutting can simply cut one straight line down the paper.

Each Word Family includes two different friends...one that has words pre-written on it and one that doesn't. This is so that you can offer a challenge to those who are ready for it. 

Let advanced students think up words on their own and write them in. Students who struggle with writing or who need more help understand word families can simply focus on the families and not have to worry about the writing part. And once they get it, offer them the same challenge as well! 

To turn these friends into accordions, you'll want to grab a handful of rulers.

 --Tell students to leave the line between the first two words unfolded. --
For the rest of the lines, show them how to make a 'perfect fold' by placing the ruler right at the line and bending the paper forward over it. (Some of your students won't need a ruler to fold.)
Flip the friend backward every other time you fold.

There are 38 Word Families to choose from.
Blank friends are included so that you can add your own.

A corresponding recording chart is also included so that you can keep track of the families your littles have mastered. A great way to show student progress and growth!

Once they are made, your students will not be able to put them down! There is just something about accordions that make you want to keep stretching them out and closing them over and over again. 

Students can 'quiz' each other by keeping the friend closed, seeing if they can say words from the family without looking, and then opening them to see how they did. 

You can find the Accordion Friends HERE. 

Have fun!

-Til next time

              

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Bek

Football Themed Activities Pack and A FREEBIE

Are you ready for some football??!! 

To be honest, I'm really not a football fan (Ah! Did I really just admit that out loud?!), but I know a lot of littles that are.

Let me show you some of the things that are in my Football Activities pack and then I'll give you a link for a Football Freebie!

First I want to show you this Subtracting Footballs Emergent Reader.

Each page asks students to figure out how many footballs are left after a specific number of them are 'kicked' away. You can have your students cross out the kicked-away number of footballs, or you can have them use the included football manipulative pieces to figure out each book page's answer. 

Besides the reader, the Activity Pack also includes practice in beginning and end sounds, short vowels, color word recognition, measurement (shortest, tallest), syllables, number recognition, & rhyming words. 

Here are some more of the included printouts...

This Football Color-By-Number FREEBIE is also included in the pack. 

 Your littles are going to absolutely love this activity! 

You can download this Football Color-By-Number absolutely FREE!

Have fun!!!

-Til next time

      

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Bek

November Holidays Activities and Resources

I always feel like November is a shorter month than it is. I don't know why, but I've heard other teachers agree. So I wanted to give you access to some of my November themed resources in one quick and easy download. Plus, I wanted to share some additional activities, videos and crafts that you can do with your kids as well this month. 

Here it is...My November Holidays MEGA Pack. 

You're going to love having so many activities to choose from for your students.

This MEGA bundle includes four bundles, all of which are available separately as well. Over 300 pages to print! Here's what you'll get:

 -November Common Curriculum Everyday for Kinders

-November Quick Prints Pack

-Veterans Day Math & ELA Bundle of Activities

-Thanksgiving Math & ELA Bundle of Activities
-Thankful Turkey Craft & Writing Activity

You'll find activities like emergent readers, pocket chart pieces, high frequency word practice, pattern & number practice, tally marks, fun sheets, color-by activities, Common Core aligned morning work, vowel reinforcement, a variety of K-1st math concepts, & so much more!

Print out some extras to throw in a sub tub, just in case. Send some home for fun review work over the Thanksgiving holiday break. Or even use a few for fast finishers!

If you're looking for even more...

This 'I Am Thankful' flip book gives kids a chance to practice writing (and cutting & gluing) skills while thinking about what they are most thankful for in life. 

There are nine covers for the book to choose from. If you're going to use this with your students, the books make a wonderful hallway display outside your classroom that they can take home for Thanksgiving break. 

Besides the cover, there are six additional pages to the book. Each one has kids focusing on a specific area to be grateful in. From family, to food, to friends, and more! 

One page throws a little word making fun into the book and asks students to think of all the smaller words they can make from the letters used in the bigger word 'thankful.' 

The 'My Family' page asks kids to draw and label members of their family.  When they are done, they can cut them out and glue them together at the top (don't worry, the tabs show where to glue on each page).  You can get the I Am Thankful Flip Book HERE!

Another great activity are these differentiated 'I Am a Turkey' emergent readers that sneak in some writing practice at the end of each book.

These I Am a Turkey emergent readers not only tell all kinds of facts about the life cycle of a turkey, but are differentiated as well. Meet your students right where they're at with their reading abilities. 
Each level of the reader takes students through the basic development of a turkey from inside of an egg, to hatching, to young poult life, to adult life. 
Here are a few more pages that are included:
    
My favorite part of this informational emergent reader set is that the last page that sneaks in some writing practice! It asks students to write down some of the favorite facts they learned about turkeys. Get these 'I Am a Turkey' readers HERE.

As I was browsing on Pinterest to look for new Thanksgiving craft ideas, I stumbled up this awesome FREEBIE by The Creative Classroom (see link below)...

 Each page of this little mini book has a place for them to write and draw what they are thankful for. Plus, it's just absolutely adorable! I'm so glad I ran across this!
The download includes detailed instructions on how to build this book, along with picture examples.

Get this FREEBIE from The Creative Classroom to use with your kids too!

I just started a NEW Pinterest Thanksgiving board to keep the newest Thanksgiving craft & activities ideas all in one place. If you have some good Thanksgiving ideas and would like to be a contributing pinned on the board, just shoot me a message and I'll add you. 

It includes all kinds of ideas for Thanksgiving related songs, games, crafts, snacks, and learning activities. I'm glad to finally have it all in one place so that I don't have to keep scrolling through my other boards looking for the Thanksgiving themed items.

For clean up or transition times, use this silly Turkey Song as a time limit for students to complete cleaning. 

Another one that you'll find yourself singing long after it's finished is this fun one:

If you're kids like to watch videos of books being read, this next video reads Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving. Sometimes my kids like to watch it read on video after I've read it to them in person. 

Speaking of books, there are so many to available for Thanksgiving, but here are some of my favorite. Maybe you'll find one or two new ones that you haven't used before. 

On a non-classroom related topic...

Do you have a favorite food you make every year for Thanksgiving? 

This year, I'm making something new (to me) that I found from Spend With Pennies on Facebook - Cranberry Millionaire Salad! 

It looks delicious and I can't wait to try it! I'm not much of a cook myself, so I try to keep to simple...and this definitely looks that!

If you have something you love to make, I'd love to make for Thanksgiving, I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. 

From my family to yours, have the most wonderful Thanksgiving ever!

-Til next time

            

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Bek

Earth Day Activities for Kids Plus a FREEBIE

(Not familiar with the NGSS standards? Then take some time to read "Getting to Know the Next Generation Science Standards: Kindergarten" first.)

Today, we're going to take a look at resources that will help you meet the "Earth & Human Activity" standard....which I just simply call the "We Love Earth" unit. I'll show you all the different parts to my We Love Earth Interactive Notebook and a few other resources too.

Just like the other interactive notebooks we've already covered, this one too comes with a set of corresponding classroom posters to hang in your room. But for this We Love Earth unit, there are only 4 simple posters included:

The We Love Earth unit also comes with its own interactive notebook cover.

The cover pages for each core idea will help your students keep their notebook well organized.

And just like all of the other core ideas covered, here is the vocabulary reinforcer for We Love Earth:

The Pocket full of Vocab matches the poster set (shown above), and also has additional words such as  love, care, and celebrate.  Have students pull the cards out of the pocket and review the meanings of the terms or how they apply to the topic of loving our Earth. They can quiz themselves, quiz a neighbor, and even write short definitions on the back to help them remember.

The Worm Challenge for this unit challenge students to consider what can be done with food that is waste. Rotten vegetables, scraps, uneaten leftovers...how can they help our Earth?

If you're up to it, a classroom compost would be an awesome addition to your discussions. 

Not sure where to get started? 

A Few Short Cuts will take you step by step to get you going. It's easier than you think...

...and the kids will LOVE digging up some worms! If you don't have an area at school that they can worm-search, then have them look around at home for some. They can put them in a clean 20 oz. bottle, or some other container with a secure lid, and bring them in. 

The next two pages of the interactive notebook encourage your littles to get up close and personal with caring for the Earth.

What can THEY do to make a difference? Have them come up with some ideas, and then write & draw them out. Then challenge them to keep track of ways that they put the 3 R's into practice.

Humans aren't the only living things that impact the Earth...animals and plants do too. In fact, they impact us as well! 'Living on Earth' gives you an opportunity to talk about how animals change their environment. The example given, is the groundhog, who digs holes in the ground to make his home. An example of how the Earth impacts us is when tree roots break the sidewalks we've created.

The next three pages shown in the above picture give students a chance to brainstorm and illustrate different objects in their day to day lives that they can reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

As I've mentioned in each of the different interactive notebook post, I've noticed that kids LOVE to prove how smart they are. So I created this page that not only reinforces your class discussions during this unit, but also give the kids a chance to feel smart, review with their friends, and practice what they've learned.

Students simply pull out one of the many questions and either answer the questions or do what it says.

If your looking for a great 3R's song for your students to listen to or learn, Chelsea Woolhouse has put together a great video with Jack Johnson's 3Rs song:

If you're looking for additional activities to use during your Earth unit, I have a few more to show you, that are not part of the interactive notebook.

 Here is a Non-Fiction Reading Comprehension resource that includes various reading passages with corresponding comprehension question sheets.

You can help your little sweethearts develop a confidence in their reading skills while having fun at the same time! The kid-friendly font that is used in these passages makes reading the text even easier. 

It's a perfect pack to send home for parents who are asking what they can do at home to help their little readers. All of the passages included have between a .1-1.0 reading comprehension level based on the Flesch-Kincaid reading comprehension level formula.

These FREE Earth-Themed Pathway Mazes are fun for early finishers or indoor recess.

These block-free mazes ensure that all students are able to successfully complete them! For more advanced mazers, have them draw in their own blocks...maybe some litter to clutter the path.

Learn about different types of biomes with this Our Earth Biomes Emergent Reader.

This "Our Earth" reader practices reading the sight word "our" while teaching your littles about the various types of biomes in our wonderful world. Each page has the repetitive pattern: "Our Earth has..." and covers deserts, oceans, forests, prairies, mountains, ponds, and more! 

Well, that's it for Earth & Human Activity. Next, we'll cover some helpful resources that will help you cover the Engineering Design standards.

-Til next time

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Bek