Pete the Cat

Earlier this year I won the book Pete the Cat from Mrs. Parker.  At that time, I had never heard of the then new children's book, but now it seems it is everywhere.  If you have ever listened to the song that goes along with the story, you would know why.  It is so cute and so catchy!
To begin, I think the most popular thing out there is this Pete the Cat unit from Deanna Jump. 

Can you see why?  You can purchase this entire 70 page download on Mrs. Jump's TpT for just $6.00!

After reading the story to your class, you will need to create a classbook to go along with it, so try this download from Finally in First.

Or from Made For 1st Grade, this classbook:

Mrs. Parker created these darling Pete the Cat puppets using blue paper sacks found at Target.

and her bulletin board idea using Pete the Cat...oh my!

Making Learning Fun has TONS of great printables for the book, including a dot to dot, coloring pages, reader book, math activities and more...

Kindergarten Crayons has SO MANY Pete the Cat printables/downloads, including this great little printable book...

This cut and glue in the right order sentence and draw your own picture page...wow and I call myself a  teacher?  {Nice sentence!  LOL}

(Kindergarten Crayons)

I love this idea of using shapes to create a Pete the Cat.

I also love this pocket chart center idea.  Click HERE to get your own for FREE!

The following ideas were found on Pinterest, so I am not sure where they originate from since the link takes you straight to Scribd.  If you know, please let me know so that I may give credit where it's due.  Anyway...this Pete the Cat school tour idea would be so fun if you used this at the beginning of the year to familiarize your students with the school.  Also, a great color book HERE...I can see it's from Kinderpond, but couldn't find the original post to link to.

Want to have a Pete the Cat classroom mascot?  Head over to Erika Bohrer's First Grade to see how.

From Cecelia Magro, here is a FREE 1st grade math journal download from TpT.

If you are a primary elementary teacher, or a mother of a young child, then this Pete the Cat idea is for you!  Peace, Love and Learning created this FREE unit which motivates your child to want to learn how to tie their shoes so they can join "Pete's Shoe Tying Club".  You have to check it out!

OK and finally, if you are into totally ridiculous birthday parties for your children, you have to read about this Pete the Cat birthday, where "Mr. Eric" (the author himself) was a guest!  You can read more about that at Made During Nap Time.

First Day of School Activities

This one is for the teachers out there...
I have found some really fun 1st of the school year ideas that I thought I would share.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you See? is one of those great early reader books that uses repetition to teach reading skills.  Melissa from F is for First Grade, created a free downloadable version of First Graders, First Graders, What do you see?  Such a super name/getting to know you activity!  Totally using it!

Mrs. Mac @ First Class with Mrs. Mac created the original version of this book adaptation and you can print hers too!  Love it!

If you aren't a 1st grade teacher, and reading this, you might be able to find a version that would work for your grade level.  If not, this gives you the idea to create your own!

Twisty Noodle has a variety of great coloring pages for the first day of school.  These are great to have on the students' desks as they come in to class that first day!

Need a printable alphabet chart?  No problem, Judy @ KinderTastic has you taken care of!

I LOVE this name recognition activity...again geared towards the younger kids.  Have your student write their name with a white crayon on a white sheet of construction paper.  Then have the kids watercolor over the "invisible" name and watch it appear!  This idea was seen at Dresses N Messes.

Babbling Abby has a fun name idea too!  Man!  I love her site...so fun to read!

For older grades, HERE is a great venn diagram the students can use to compare and contrast their summer to another student's summer vacation.

or HERE for a printable Back to School BINGO.

I could see the following form used to decorate a bulletin board.  Have the students fill out this Guess Who I Am form.  As the teacher, tape a piece of black construction paper to a wall and using an overhead projector, trace each student's profile.  Have them cut out what you have traced and mount the black profile picture onto a different color of construction paper to make it stand out.  Attach the form to the profile picture and walaa!

 Something that I did last year in my class (that I will continue to do) is with my pirate themed class, we go on a treasure hunt.  Really, this is my way of giving the students a tour of the school, but it adds a little spice.  First I read a pirate story (any will do).  During lunch is when I set things up because it gives me time to get things ready and by then the kids really aren't expecting anything.  When the students come back to class after lunch, I tell them I found an envelope on my desk addressed to the class.  Basically it is a typed up note from a pirate named Boris, who tells us he has left treasure in the school for us, but that we have to go find it.  I have notes/clues taped up around the school (that I pray an older grade student doesn't move during lunch!) and we walk around as a class following the clues until we find the treasure.  I have a treasure chest waiting at the end of the hunt filled with a treasure of some sort for each student. Last year the treasure was some pirate fruit snacks and pirate silly bands.  This year though I found these great little pirate zip lock bags in the dollar bins at Target.  I plan to fill enough bags with some kind of treasure.  I was thinking chocolate coins, plastic money, (gold foil wrapped) Rolos or something else piratey (yes, I just made up that word!)

What ideas do you have for the 1st day or week of school??

Taste the Rainbow

No...I am not talking about Skittles.  Fun Snacks 4 Kids has a fun idea for preschool aged kids.  Match the Fruit Loop color to the color on the rainbow.  What a great activity for kids just learning their colors!

Crayon Hearts

If you are wanting to make homemade Valentine's for your child this year and don't want to have to deal with MORE CANDY...why not try this cute idea of making your own rainbow crayons.  The idea comes from Frills Fluff and Trucks.

Olympic Activities

With only 5 days remaining of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, here are some last minute, fun Olympic activities with your kids before the Olympics end.
Alpha Mom has an idea for an Olympic torch and gold medal (cookie).

ABC & 123 also has several great ideas (also including the link to Alpha Mom)

9 different {Free} Olypmic Coloring pages to print from home thanks to Classroom Jr.  Also offered are several BINGO game cards.

A variety of games and activities for kids centered around the Olympics from first-school.  It could be a fun thing to center a child's birthday party around the Olympics!

Take a look at what Kaboose has to offer.  Plenty of ideas and activities for kids!

Oh and by the way, I reached 100 followers on my blog today.  Not that you care, but I can't believe how awesome that is!  Truly you guys have made my day.  Thanks for having faith in me.  LOVES to all!

The Letter "O" Activities

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I need to be doing more activities with my younger kids to get my 4 year old ready for preschool next year.  I have been looking for ideas on the internet to see what there is, and I have come up with some activities soon to come.  The activities will probably be random...ranging from letters of the alphabet to numbers to shapes and so on. 
Today I started with the letter "O".  I printed off this "O" worksheet from HERE.

I talked to my kids about the short o sound and talked about the 4 pictures from the bottom of the page.  The kids then colored the pictures, cut out the squares (with help from me) and glued them to a piece of paper.  Then they practiced writing the letter "O".

Next we made our snack.  We had octopus (using hotdogs and spaghetti noodles).  This is the before: 

I cut a couple hotdogs into 1/3 pieces and then broke a handful of uncooked spaghetti noodles in half.  First I talked to the kids about how many legs people have, then how many legs dogs have and then we talked about how octopuses have 8 legs.  I gave my kids the noodles and let them slide the noodles through the hotdog slices. 

Then they helped me drop the octopus into the water (just like where they live!)  After about 10 minutes, we had our snack of octopus and orange juice served in an orange cup.  I personally wasn't tempted to dive into today's snack, but my kids sure thought it was yummy.  If only I could make vegetables look as fun! 

(I saw the octopus idea at Plum Pudding.)
I ended our "O" day by reading the book The Great Swimming Race (By:  Ann Bryant and Peter Kavanagh)  I wanted to read a fun children's book about an octopus and this is what I could find at my local library.  It was an easy read, but after a busy afternoon my kids didn't seem to mind. 

The kids were really entertained and loved all the activities!  I can't wait to do more fun things like this with them!!

Some More O Ideas:
Art Project:
Make an octopus - Cover a small styrofoam ball with cloth and tie it with enough ribbons to make eight legs.

Sport/Game:
Build a simple obstacle course for your child to play on. Another game to play could be to help your child think of opposites. You say the word "off" and your child must reply with "on".

Math:
Octagon - point out the shape in everyday objects such as a stop sign. Draw and color one.

ABC & 123 also has some great finds for the letter "O".

100 Days of School

On Thursday, it marked the 100th day of school this year (at least for my kids' school), which got me thinking. I should post about the 100th Day of School. I must say that when I was teaching (3rd grade), I didn't do any activities for the 100th day of school, but the ideas are still out there.
When my daughter was in 1st grade, her teacher assigned the students to make a poster using 100 items. Since Valentine items were in the stores, we decided to use 100 red hot hearts and shape them into the number 100.

Some teachers have their students bring a collection of 100 things to share with the others. The items don't have to be edible, but the ones that are make for a fun snack.
Spelling - Have your students write (20) spelling words 5 times each, to cause them to have 100 words.
Apples 4 the Teacher has a list of some GREAT stories to share with your class on the 100th day of school.
Literacy - Make a class book: If I had $100.00 I would buy___________. Photocopy a $100.00 bill onto the class book page, and have each child write and draw what they would buy.
* See how many times can students write their name in 100 seconds - predict, then actually do it.
* Writing prompt - What happened 100 years ago? What will happen 100 from now?
Math - "Guess which jar has 100 pieces of candy". Have several jars filled with pieces of candy, but only one with 100 pieces. The students get to individually decide which jar has 100 pieces. The student(s) with the right guess, wins the jar (or divides it with the other winners).
* Clip 100 paper clips together. With a partner measure things in the room that are as long, shorter than, and longer than the paper clip chain We use third grade partners to work with the kindergarten students. They measure together. After each measurement the third grader writes the word for the item, the kindergarten student draws a simple picture of it.
* Have the students count to 100 using only tally marks. Have them circle each group of 5 and have them figure out how many groups of 5 it would take to reach 100.
Art - Students draw a picture of how they will look when they are 100 years old. (These are hysterical!) They also write about the picture.
* See the link at the bottom of this post for the printable 100. Have the students either color the number 100 or glue 100 items inside the 100.
Music - *Sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

Verse 1:
I can count up to 100,
It's so easy if you try.
I can't believe that since we started school
100 days have gone by.
Now let's all count up to 100
Come on try it once with me
We'll finish up with 99,
And last we'll say 100
Let's start out with 1, 2, 3.
(then count as a group to 100 by 1's)

Verse 2:
I can count up to 100,
It's so easy if you try.
But this time instead of using 1's,
I'll try to count it by 5's.
Counting this way is much faster
So it doesn't take as long.
First say 5 and then say 10,
And end up with 100,
Come on and join in my song.
(count as a group by 5's)

Verse 3:
I can count up to 100,
Now I'll try it once again.
But this time instead of 1's or 5's,
I'll try to count it by 10's.
Counting this way is the fastest,
It is also lots of fun.
First say 10 and then say 20,
End up with 100,
Our song is almost done!
(count to 100 by 10's)

Check out these links for more ideas and printables:
I Can Write 100 Words Form

100 Charts for counting (blank, by 5's, by 10's and filled in)

100 Coloring Page (can glue 100 items inside the 100)

Coloring Pages & Bingo

If you are being hit by the BIG winter storm right now, you might appreciate some of these FREE printable coloring pages. They are all Valentine related, to keep with the upcoming holiday. If would like other coloring pages, google it, and plenty of other options will pop up. I know my kids will enjoy some new indoor activities today!

Coloring Pages from Kaboose. More FREE coloring pages HERE and HERE.

Crayola offers FREE coloring pages and Bingo cards, perfect for any party! Kaboose also offers printable Bingo cards.

Thanksgiving Crafts & Centerpieces

Studio 5 had a guest, Kristine McKay, on the show the other day who featured several great Thanksgiving ideas.
The ideas are mainly craft and centerpiece ideas. I love the idea of using the same table cloth every year and having your guests sign their names each year. After each year, embroider over the signatures to preserve the names and watch the family and guest names grow over the years.

The other idea I really like was the crayon turkey the kids can make and use at the kids' table. Such fun and easy ideas for entertaining! Check out more of Kristine's ideas and FREE downloads on her site.

Coloring Pages for Thanksgiving

Need a way to entertain kids at the table this year while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner to be served? Here are some links to free, printable coloring pages and activities...

KABOOSE

FAMILY FUN

TONS of pages to chose from HERE

Hope this helps keep the little ones busy and happy!