Down by the Bay

Rhyming is one of the most difficult skill to teach English learners. To help with this process we read the story/ song Down by the Bay and made super easy watermelons. Next each child dictated a rhyme from the story or a self invented rhyme and I wrote the rhyme on their watermelon.
To make the super easy watermelons give each student a piece of green construction paper. Have the students cut the corners off the paper until the water melon is the desired size. Each child can then paint green lines on their watermelons.

80th Day pie pan Frisbee

This was the easiest Zero the Hero project I have ever done!

I acquired a number of pie tins from my mom. I wrote 80 in the bottom of each with a permanent marker. The kids traced the 80 with white glue and added some glue embellishments.
Then we poured glitter into the bottom of the pie tin and gently shook it to cover all the glue.
I poured the excess glitter off.
We allowed them to dry and then practice throwing our new Frisbee 80 times.

Zero the Hero egg carton game

Try this fun and easy to make game next any time Zero the Hero visits! All you need are egg cartons (1 per student and enough to cut one egg cup per student), markers and cards.
Each student receives and egg carton and writes a unit of 10 on each cup. A sticker can be stuck on the extra cups to mark the beginning and ending spots of the game. Each child also receives 1 separate egg cup to decorate like Zero the Hero. (I glued water bottle caps to the tops of mine for easy grabbing.) Then each child makes a set of cards with the units of 10 written on each card. We used Shari Sloane's Zero the Hero cards .
To play each child needs to mix up the cards and place them face down. Then the top card is drawn and Zero the Hero is placed on the matching unit cup. This process continues until all the cards are drawn. When there are no cards left the student wins!

Tube Nativity

This was a fun and easy way to make a 3-D nativity scene. All you need is a black line master of your favorite nativity scene and enough tubes or parts of tubes for each piece. To make the stable use a lunch sized paper bag. Cut along the corners of the bag until 3-4 inches are left uncut on the bottom of the bag. Fold 3 sides into the bottom of the bag and leave one side flat for the base of the stable. The bag also doubles as a box to store each of the nativity pieces.

feely boxes

I use feely boxes for science and math activities. I got this idea from Terri, a fabulous Kindergarten teacher who made her version of a feely box when she was in college. After closely examining her design I am sharing it with you. First you need a cylindrical shaped cardboard or plastic container. It should be large enough to accommodate a hand and the objects you want your students to feel. I like the size of oatmeal containers.

Reinforce and decorate the container with contact paper.

Find a fun, stretchy sock and cut off the toe. I used a pinking sheers to prevent unraveling.

Finally, hot glue (or use E6000 glue available at fabric and craft stores) to attach the sock around the lip of the container. (Terri stapled her sock on but I couldn't figure out how to make that work.) The students put their hand in the sock to feel the objects inside. I made several so that I can use them with pairs of students. Simple, elegant and earth friendly.

Tube Owls

I am trying to incorporate more non-fiction/ expository text into our literacy time. I found a fabulous book Incredible Owls by Justin McCory Martin (available through Scholastic book companies). The book has great photographs of different types of owls and lots of facts without being too long. After reading and writing about owls, we created our own using 2 toilet paper tubes glued together (I hot glue them in advance), feathers, a cut out of owl features (which I made, traced and copied) and fun wiggle eyes (available through classroom direct catalogues) I like how the wiggles eyes have lashes and eyelids. They make the owl look nocturnal.

Patterning stations

I made this patterning activity with foam stickers and clothespins. I hot glued to stickers to the clothespins. The children use a ruler to clip a pattern.
These giant shape stamps are perfect for little hands. Students use paper strips and shape stamps to create shape patterns.
These linking family members were a "gift" from the Highlights Magazines. These are great for patterning by size.
This patterning mat set was available through Scholastic Firefly and Seesaw book clubs. I was able to use bonus points to order the set. The shapes a foam and the patterning mats help guide students.