Father's Day Coupon Book

Every year I have the students make something for their dads for Father's Day.  I usually have the students paint flower pots for their dads. You can check them out on one of my past blog posts. This year I decided to make the dads coupon books.  The kids LOVED doing these.  All they have to do is pick out the tie that they want.  Then they choose which coupons they want to add to the tie.  Then they staple them to the tie with a title on the front.  I also included To Someone Special in case they do not have a dad at home. This gift is quick, easy, and FREE.  If you want a FREE copy of the template, click HERE.

Mother's Day Bookmarks

I saw some really cute bookmarks on pinterest and decided to create my own.  The kids use their fingerprints to make a flower for mom.  Then you just glue the paper to card stock to make it sturdy.  I then had mine laminated so they will last for many years.  They turned out really cute!  If you want a copy for FREE go to my TPT store or click HERE.

Spelling/Phonics Books

I decided to create a spelling booklet to go along with all the word work packets I have created.  I do not like giving a spelling test over words the kids have all week to study because I have found they learn the words for the test, but they do not actually learn how to spell them to use later on.  This spelling booklet has words we work on all week in word work.  I then select random words from the lesson to test the kids on and to check and make sure they have learned the phonics skill.  Another thing I added to the booklet, that I love, is a place for multiple people to check, sign, or initial.  The kids have to read the words and sentences with an adult, buddy, and parent.  This is to make sure they read them at least 3 times a week.  If you want to check out the booklet click HERE.

Leprechaun Writing

I posted 2 years ago about a writing activity that I do with my 2nd graders for St. Patrick's Day.  You can read about it HERE

I have made it into a PDF file on TPT if you would like to download it.  It is FREE.

Get your FREE leprechaun writing HERE.

Here are some examples of the writings I did a few years ago.

Conversation Heart Stories

I like to do writing activities to go with each holiday.  For Valentine's Day, I have the kids create stories using conversation hearts.  This year I had them pick out 5 conversation hearts that they wanted to use in their story.  Then I had them write away and glue the hearts where they go.  This is fun way to incorporate writing.  They also love it because they get to eat the left over candy.  :)  For some reason, conversation hearts were harder to find this year.  I found some in individual packets, but thought it would be nice to have a printable version just in case I can't find them in the future.  HERE is my printable packet!  It is FREE!!!  If you don't want to use the printable hearts, you can use the stationary with the candy hearts. :)

 Here is an example with the printable hearts and stationary from my packet.

Compare and Contrast

Last year I did an activity to help teach my kids how to compare and contrast using a venn diagram  HERE is the activity.  I did the same thing this year, but I switched up the theme on them each day.  Here are some examples of comparing and contrasting Halloween and Thanksgiving.  We also did summer and spring and turned the circles into a sun and a flower, and we did a cat and a dog.  They all turned out really cute and the kids had a blast doing it!

Mooseltoe

It is that time of year when the students (and teachers) are getting restless and ready for break!  I wanted to do some fun activities with children's books to keep the kids interested.  I wanted to start with Mooseltoe, but I couldn't find anything age appropriate and that was free. So, I decided to create one and share with everyone.  It has a sequencing activity, writing pages, and a graphic organizer to review character, setting, problem, and solution.  If you want a copy for FREE, click HERE.