Portable Clothesline

I had forgotten about this great make & take center activity until I ran across mine while looking for something in my school stuff. Potable Clotheslines!! They are so easy to make and can be used for multiple activities.

Directions 

• 2 Yogurt containers or empty cans (make sure there are no sharp edges)
• Dowel rods (12" - 18")
• String
• Plaster of Paris (a little goes a long way)
• Clothespins

Mix plaster as directed. Pour into containers (at least 3/4 full). Place dowel rods in plaster. Let dry. Cut string into desired length, depending on your activity. Tie the end pieces of the string to each of the rods a couple of inches from the top. Separate the containers so the string stretches across like a clothesline.

Activities

1. Names - Students spell their names (and their friends' names) by clipping letter cards to the clothesline

2. Making words - Students clip letter cards to make words. You can use this activity to practice sight words, spelling words, vocabulary words, content words, etc.

3. Alphabetical order - Students places letter cards or word cards in alphabetical order

4. Making sentences - Students clip words cards to make sentences. Make sure to add punctuation mark cards!

5. Matching Games - Students match upper and lower case letters and clip on the clothesline. You can have students match synonyms/antonyms, colors/color words, beginning sounds/pictures, rhyming words, etc.

6. Math Games - Addition/Subtraction problems, Ordinal poistions, Numerical order (1's, 2's, 5's, 10's), counting, etc.

The activities are ENDLESS!!!

Teaching Stones

Stones are a great concrete manipulative that are a must for some learners and a nice novelty for others. They are a great sensory material, as they are smooth to the touch. Stones can be purchased at the dollar store or craft store.

You can create many learning activities using stones. You can match upper and lower case letters, count, make words, etc. Today I am going to share a Spelling Activity.

Materials
stones ( dollar store or craft store)
multi-surface paint
a fine paint brush
clear sealer (optional)
basket or container for holding stones
clipboard, paper, and pencil (if recording)


Directions for Making Teaching Stones
1. Paint your stones if you wish. Let dry for at least an hour.
2. Then paint your letters, numbers, etc. on each stone. Let dry another 45 minutes - 1 hour.
3. Spray or paint with clear sealer if desired.
4. Place stones in basket.

Taken from No Time for Flashcards

Thanksgiving Spelling Stones

Lay out the stones to spell the word Thanksgiving. Explain the challenge. How many words can be made with the letters in this word. Take the stones and make a word. After making a word with the stones, write the word on the recording sheet. Put those stones back and make another word using the stones. Continue until all words have been exhausted.

Dollar Tree Orange Loofah Activities

Ideas taken from kathygriffinteach@blogspot.com

Orange Loofahs make perfect learning activities for students.  Keep several different colors on hand to teach letters, sounds, phonics, and math skills. You can cover the orange loop at the top with green masking tape to make it look like the stem on a pumpkin. Or you can color regular masking tape green with a marker.

PASS THE PUMPKIN - LEARNING GAMES

These games can be played whole group, small group, or individually.  If playing individually, the child can toss, catch, and say instead of passing around the circle.  If playing with your partner, the child can pass it back and forth between you.

For whole group and small group, begin with passing the pumpkin.  When they have learned this procedure, you can teach the children how to gently toss the pumpkin to the next person to help work on gross motor skills while playing the games too.  The bath loofah is easy to catch because the children can grip it more easily.

1.  Pass the Pumpkin Letter Sounds - Pass around during circle time. Children say a word that begins with the letter p.

2.  Pass the Pumpkin Rhyming - Pass around during circle time.  Say a word.  First child says a word that rhymes with it and then passes the pumpkin to the next child.  Game continues until you run out of rhymes or you can choose a new word and keep going.  Words given can be nonsense or pretend words too as long as they rhyme.

3.  Pass the Pumpkin Phonemic Awareness Segmenting - Pass around during circle time.  Say a word.  Children segment the word that was said.  For example, the teacher or adult says cat.  The child would toss and catch the sounds "c" "a" "t".

4.  Pass the Pumpkin Phonemic Awareness Segmenting - Pass around during circle time.  Say a word.  Children will segment the word using the pumpkin as a prop.  Pumpkin on head for first sound, pumpkin on shoulder for middle sound, pumpkin on knee for last sound.  For example, the teacher or adult says cat:  Child puts pumpkin on head and makes the sound of "c." Child puts pumpkin on shoulder and says "a." Child puts pumpkin on knee and says "t."  Child puts the pumpkin in both hands and says the word - cat,  then passes the pumpkin to the next child. Each child can segment the same word all around the circle (practice, practice, repeat) or you can give each child a different word.  I usually give the same word as we are learning to segment.  This helps reinforce the skill.  Children can retain the word in their head if they see the picture of the word.  Use CVC words with picture clues to help children that are struggling with this activity.  CVC words are consonant-vowel-consonant words such as hat, cat, bat, pig, dog, top, mop, etc.

First This: CVC words - cat, bat, sat, hop, top, mop, pig, wig, dig, lip, dip, bug, rug, sun

Then This:  CCVC words (working on letter blends) - stop, clap, frog, flag, crab

And Then This:  CVCC words (HARDER to hear the CVCC) - bump, jump, tent, band, hand, camp, lamp

5.  Pass the Pumpkin Vocabulary - Pass around during circle time. Children say a word that is associated with fall.

6.  Pass the Pumpkin Nonfiction Learning - Children name a fact or something they've learned about pumpkins.

7.  Toss the Pumpkin Counting - Have one pumpkin for every two players.  Have the children toss the pumpkin back and forth and count how many times they can keep it going (toss and catch).  You can set a predetermined amount of times they can start over again, give them a sand timer, or play music.

8.  Toss the Pumpkin Counting On - Students toss back and forth counting as above.  When they drop the pumpkin, they start off where they left off (counting on).  For example, they toss and catch to 9.  The next time they start with 10 and count up.

9. Toss the Pumpkin Skip Counting - Students toss back and forth counting as above except they count by 5's, 10's, or 2's.

10.  Toss the Pumpkin Greater Than, Less Than, Equal  - Students toss back and forth counting as above. Children can record each count on a piece of paper.  When the game is over, have them circle the largest number and underline the smallest number. If they write the numbers in a horizontal line, they can go back and put greater than, less than, and equal signs between the numbers.

DIY Halloween Math Manipulatives

Spray paint lima beans and draw on faces to make ghosts, jack-o-lanterns or goblins to use for patterning, counting or adding/subtracting. What a festive way to reinforce math concepts.

Save the Sensory Tables!!

Halloween Sensory Fun

Please do not neglect your sensory tables. This is a serious plea.  Hear me out, before you abandon those lovely tables full of gloriously colorful, squishy, scratchy, soft, hard, pointy, smooth, bumpy and smelly materials.  

Sensory tables allow you to differentiate for your class. Sensory work is not only academic, but it also addresses a student's learning modalities  and their interests!
( . . . and when you're really good . . . you can meet their level of readiness too.) Kinesthetic learners need the movement and feel of the sensory table. Linguistic learners enjoy the dialogue associated with working with other students at the sensory table.  The interpersonal learner loves working with other students.  The spatial learner develops stories and scenarios for play based on the contents of the table. The logical/mathematical learner loves the sorting and classifying of materials. Depending on the materials, the naturalist can even be engaged by a shell collection or different types of rocks added to a sensory table. I think there has been this misguided notion that sensory work is 'fluff.' Sensory table work is not only academic, but it can be aligned to Common Core Standards, address learning modalities, interests and readiness levels of students.  

Now that I have you convinced, check this out!

Materials: 
Colored Pasta
Clothespins
Spider Rings or some other Halloween object
Skills Cards (beginning sounds, upper/lower case letters, word families, etc.)

Directions:
1. Color pasta by placing the noodles in a ziploc baggie with a 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol.  Add a good portion of dye (neon dyes give a bright color) and mix it up.  Let the dye sit in the bag with the noodles for a good 30 minutes to hour.  Dump the pasta on aluminum foil to dry.

2. Hot glue spider rings to clothespins. You can use orange/black pom poms or any Halloween fun object.

3. Gather or make skills cards. This is a matching game so it can be matching upper case letter to lower case letter, beginning sounds, or rhyming pictures. For a more challenging game, make words using word families, e.g. a single letter or blend on one card and the word family on the other card. They clip the two cards together to make a word and then record their word on a paper.

4. Students simply search the tub for two cards.  When they find a pair that matches,  pin them together with the festive little clothes pin (Fine motor practice)and clip it to the side of my tub.  

You could even use this activity with math. Number recognition, counting, 10's and 1's, addition facts, etc. 

Pumpkin Pointers

Want to make some fun pumpkin pointers. Follow these simple directions. 

Materials:

• Hot glue gun
• Dowel rods (3/8 x 12) or craft sticks (for smaller pointers)
• Cute toppers (wood pieces from local craft store, erasers, pencil toppers, foam pieces, etc.)

Directions: (These are very complicated!)

• Hot glue the topper to the dowel rod or craft stick and voila'! Pumpkin Pointers

You can create a multitude of seasonal pointers. Just add spiders, skeletons, bats, ghosts, etc. to your dowel rods or craft sticks. Students will love "reading the room" using these pointers. 

Brain Sprinkles

Cover a small Pringle's can or similar container with shiny paper. Put a tablespoon of rice in the bottom of the can and glue on the lid. Make a label that says "Brain Sprinkles". When you have something special you want the students to remember, pretend to shake the "brain sprinkles" on their heads. The students will LOVE this!!

Taken from Dr. Jean

Creative Book Displays

Today's feature is an inexpensive way to display books for your classroom..
You will need the following materials:

• Plastic rain gutters from the home improvement store
• Special scissors to cut your gutters to the correct length, or a very helpful home improvement store employee who will do it for you
• End caps for the rain gutters
• Screws
• Electric screw driver or drill for attaching the gutters to the wall
• Measuring tape
• Books and stuffed characters to display

First, measure the area you will be using to display your books. Next, purchase and cut your rain gutters to size. Now, attach the end caps to the rain gutters. Finally, attach the rain gutters to the wall using your electric drill or screwdriver.

A great idea if you don’t have a lot of storage space – but have plenty of wall space.

Taken from Pre-K Pages

DIY Floor Mats

Materials:

• Felt-backed tablecloth or shower curtain liner (rectangle shape)
• Permanent Marker
• Yardstick (optional) 

Directions:
1) Lay the tablecloth on the floor. Smooth out all of the wrinkles.

2) Decide how many squares you want and plan where you are going to draw your lines.

3) Trace your lines on the fold lines or use a yardstick to help keep lines straight.

4) Write the alphabet, one letter per square (in alphabetical order or mixed up).

5) If you have extra squares you could write numbers or other target skills.

6) Play!!

Variations for play:

• Beanbag Toss--toss a beanbag and say the letter name or sounds
• Look & Find--find letters and stand on them
• Move & Spell--spell three-letter words or names (great way to review spelling words)
• ABC Match-Up--Match foam letters or other letter manipulative to the correct letter square
• Simon Says--"Simon says...jump on letter B two times."
• "Whack-A-Letter"--use a clean fly swatter to"whack" letters you call out

 
 Variations for Tablecloth Mats:

• Numbers
• Shapes
• Sight Words
• Counting Routines (count by 2's, 5's, 10's)
• Computer Keyboard
• Anything!