Last Minute Ideas and Freebies for Read Across America

Read Across America is here.  Does your school do anything special?  Ours does.  We love having a chance to "officially" celebrate the love of books and reading.  

We always have a spirit week during Read Across America.  Dress up days, guest readers, special snacks, door decorating, you know the drill.  It's a fun week for students and I love coming up with new Seuss inspired activities for my young learners

If you are still making plans, here are a few ideas to add to your Read Across America stash of resource goodies.

First up is our handprint Things...

My students really love making their Things.  They are super simple to put together and feature student handprints for the crazy Thing hair.  If you like, you can also use them to go along with a writing prompt of your choice.

You can click here for a free copy of the pattern.

Another activity we'll be using this week is my Seussical Scoot.
For this activity, I place word cards around the room; some on the walls, some on my shelves, and some on the desks.  Students read the words and determined if they have a long vowel sound or not.  Then they write the words on their recording sheets.
My kids love scoot and write the room activities.  They think they are playing a game.  It's a great way to get the wiggles out.

For a free copy of Seussical Scoot, click on the picture below.

Although Put Me in the Zoo is not a Dr. Seuss book, I still read to my class during Read Across America.  As a kid, this book was one of my favorites, so I love sharing it.
If you click on the picture below, you can have a free copy of the my craftivity and writing prompt that goes along with Put Me in the Zoo.

One morning of Read Across America week our cafeteria usually serves a "delicious" breakfast of green eggs and ham.   Of course on that day I incorporate some Green Eggs and Ham themed activities in class as well.
One green eggs math activity we will use is my Nom Nom Numbers math center.  For it, I put together four sets of green plastic eggs that have numbers inside.  Students work in small groups to write the next three numbers, either counting by ones or counting by tens.  As a bonus, they colored the eggs on their recording sheets green if the number inside is even.

You can absolutely use this activity in your class with eggs that are colors other than green or no eggs at all.  For a free copy of Nom Nom Numbers, click on the picture below.

Another craftivity I've used over the years is my Birthday Cat.  Students make these cats and write their favorite book on the cupcake.  I've used these cats to decorate our door during Read Across America and they look adorable.

You can click on the picture for a free copy of this pattern.

Besides all these craftivities and activities, I've also started a little Read Across America t-shirt collection.  I've found some adorable ones at Teacher T-Shirts.
The site has several cute shirt options.  They not only have RAA shirts, they also have grade level specific tees, 100th Day tees, St. Patrick's Day teacher tees, and more.

       

I guess that's it for now.
I hope next week is a great one for you and your students.
Thanks so much for stopping by

Wrapping Up Read Across America (Ideas and FREEBIES to Celebrate Reading)

Be careful what you wish for . . .

Over the past couple of months I have been wishing for a snow day.  I live in an area that gets very little snow.  When it does come, we get out and take full advantage of it.  Plus a surprise day off from school is always welcome.

Snow-wise, this year was shaping up to be a total dud.  Then, about three weeks ago, everything changed.  We had ice and snow and then snow again.  Leaving us with more snow fun than anyone wanted.  Long story short, we haven't been in school for a full week since Valentine's Day.

Planning for these interruptions is a bit of a challenge, especially when special events are on the calendar.  

Our school celebrated Read Across America over the past week.  While everything I (and our school) planned for Read Across America didn't happen.  We still fit in some fun Seuss inspired learning activities to mark the week.

We started by reading The Cat in the Hat and making these writing craftivities to display in the classroom.  Students wrote about what would happen if the Cat in the Hat visited their homes.  I love how they turned out.

We also "played" a round of Seussical Scoot.  I placed word cards around the room; some on the walls, some on my shelves, and some on the desks.  Students read the words and determined if they had a long vowel sound or not.  Then they wrote the words on their recording sheets.
My kids love scoot and write the room activities.  They think they are playing a game.  I'm all for this format for many reasons.  It's a great way to get the wiggles out.

Of course we had a chance to read a some Dr. Seuss books.  We made this quick and simple graph on our white board of our favorite Dr. Seuss books.

Friday was Green Day.  We read Green Eggs and Ham.  We used this book as a jumping off point for a differentiated number order activity.
I put together four sets of green plastic eggs that had numbers inside.  Students worked in small groups to write the next three numbers, either counting by ones or counting by tens.  As a bonus, they colored the eggs on their recording sheets green if the number inside was even.
They kids really had a great time doing this activity.  It's definitely one I'll use again.

We had a green eggs and ham snack.  I saw this treat on pinterest.  I thought it looked simple enough to pull together on a weeknight and would store easily if we had yet another snow day.
To make them, I used pretzels, white chocolate chips, and M & M's.  I placed the pretzels on a cookie sheet with two chips on top of each one.  I melted the chips in the oven and them took them out.  While the chocolate was still hot, I placed an M & M on top.
I used mint M & M's.  The entire bag was green, which was perfect.

I found the perfect shirt to wear for Green Day at Teacher T-Shirts.  I ordered a couple of different ones for this year's Read Across America festivities.  But, because of the snow, this is the only one I got to wear.
The site has several cute shirt options.  They not only have RAA shirts, they also have grade level specific tees, 100th Day tees, St. Patrick's Day teacher tees, and more.

All and all, I feel like the interrupted week didn't dampen our celebration of Read Across America.  RAA is a great way to welcome March.  

If you would like a FREE copy of my green eggs math activity (you do not have to have a class set of plastic green eggs to make it work) or a FREE copy of my vowel discrimination scoot, click on the pictures below.

       

Well, that's it for now.  Thanks so much for stopping by.
Best.

Five for Friday: Read Across America Rewind (Plus a Free Writing Craftivity)

Hi all!  I've missed out on several Five for Fridays this school year.  I don't know about you, but by Friday I am super tired.  I just want to go out with my family for a nice dinner and come home to chill.  This Friday is no exception, especially with a week of Read Across America activities going on at my school.

We've had all sorts of special dress up days and special guests.  I was terrible about snapping pics of the kids in their outfits.  I think my favorite was on hat day, when one of my little blond girls showed up with a hat that had long, dark dreadlocks attached to it.  I cracked up every time I looked at her.

I did, however, manage to get some pictures from week.  So let's get started with Five for Friday:  Read Across America Rewind.

Number 1

Of course we did a slew of read alouds during Read Across America.  The kids love, love, love Dr. Seuss books.  I love finding ones that are new to them.  The read alouds were (and are always) the highlight of my week.

Number 2

Our school has a door decorating contest during Read Across America.  My firsties made Things for my door this year.  I'm sure you can tell from the picture, the hair on the Things is made from hand prints.  I think they turned out really cute.  The class was really proud of the door when it was finished.

Click here for a link to my Thing pattern.

Number 3

I found some adorable photo booth props on etsy.  I printed off some Lorax inspired mustaches and brows.  The kids had a ball with them.  One of my sweet boys managed to keeps his on for a couple of hours.  He just went about his day as if he did not have a huge construction paper mustache stuck to his face.  So funny!

Number 4

Also on esty, I found a fun apron to wear during Read Across America.   My husband just shakes his head when these packages arrive at the house.  For some reason he just doesn't get why someone might need a Cat in the Hat apron.  I guess he just has to take my word for it.

Number 5

One of the books we read this week was Put Me In the Zoo by Robert Lopshire.  I know, it's not a Seuss book.  But it certainly reminds me of one, so I usually read it during RAA.  Plus, I love the story.

After reading this book, the kids worked on a writing piece, "If I had magic spots . . . "  After they finished their writing, we made leopards to display along with their pieces.

You can have a FREE copy of this activity by clicking on the picture below.  If your students are anything like mine, they will enjoy this story and the activities to go with it.

Well, there are some of the highlights from this week in Room 8.  If you would like to check out the happenings in other classrooms, be sure to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday this week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and take care.

Three Fun Freebies for Read Across America

Happy last day of February!  Spring is just around the corner and I couldn't be happier.
National Read Across America Day, also know as Dr. Seuss Day is also just a few days away.  Like many of you, our school has some special events planned to promote reading and the love of books during that week: Crazy Socks Day, Hat Day, Dress Like Your Favorite Character Day, and so on.  We kicked off the festivities today with a green eggs & ham breakfast.

I'm still trying to narrow down my list of activities I want to share with my firsties.  There are just so many books and so many possibilities.  Maybe over the weekend I can get my thoughts in order and decide exactly what fun learning we are going to get into.
If you are still looking for some activities to use during Read Across America, I thought I'd share a few freebies that you might find useful.

First up is a free literacy center, Reading Buddies Verb Tense.  This center is from my Oh So Lucky {10 Literacy Centers for March} packet, at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
With this center, students will match present and past tense verbs together and then write their answers on a recording sheet.
Click on the picture to find out more info or to download your own copy.

Next up is a free math activity.  Ten Frame Apples Up On Top is a ten frame and equation matching center.  It is from my September Smarties {10 Math Centers} packet, also at my store.
I like to use Ten Frame Apples Up On Top in September, when we're knee deep in apples.  But it is perfect to use during RAA since it was inspired by Dr. Seuss's Ten Apples Up On Top (one of my favorites).
Again, click on the picture for more details or to download.

And last but not least, is an adorable Birthday Cat craftivity.  My class made Birthday Cats last year.  They turned out so cute, I knew we had to make them again this year.
If you would like to make these too, click on the picture below for your free pattern.

I hope one (or all) of these activities will help you as you plan for Read Across America.  Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy your weekend.

Best.

Getting Ready for Read Across America and a Fitting End to Dental Health Month

Next week our school (like many, many others) will be celebrating Read Across America.  Our wonderful librarian organizes fun school-wide events to promote reading and love of books.  So before everything gets started, I need to get my class door decorated.  This is the one time during the year that pretty much everyone in the school decorates their doors.  I really like my sweet students' art work to be on display.  This year we will be making birthday cats.

If you would like a FREE copy of this pattern click on the picture above.

After the students put their cat together they will write the titles of their favorite books on their cupcakes. 

The sign on the door simply says "Hooray! Hooray! for Dr. Seuss's Birthday"

The clip art for the cupcakes is from Creative Clips Digital Clip Art.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

If Read Across America is rolling in, that means Dental Health Month is heading out.  2013's Dental Health Month is one for the books in the Monroe house.  I had a big surprise when I picked  A  up after school today.

She has her first loose tooth!!!

As a first grade teacher I am totally prepared to deal with loose teeth, but as a mommy . . . no way.

I thought I had another year or two on this one.  I keep telling her to stop growing and she keeps telling me that I need to talk to God.  Believe me, with a comeback like that she ends and wins the conversation.

Oh well, next stop . . . Tooth Fairy Training.  Any suggestions?

Have a great rest of your week.