Maker Space Snowmen

I wanted my kids to make snowmen this year, but I wanted to change it up a little bit.  So, we used our Maker Space to create them.  It was a GREAT project.  The kids loved it and we were proud of our results.

This is the little maker space in my classroom...

You can read lots more about how I set it up and get other project ideas here:  Maker Space in Kindergarten 

I truly believe that the use of materials and problem solving involved during art projects make them sooooo valuable in the young child's classroom.  Having all the materials from our Maker Space available for these snowmen made them each as unique as the little learners who made them.

Here are some of the materials we used for this project...

Yes, my aide and I both collected little twigs for this project.  Although in my inspiration examples that I made for the kiddos, I didn't use twig arms.  I wanted to give them other ideas in case the twigs ran out.  Of course, only two kids ended up using the twigs.  Ha ha!

We also used, foam, felt, paper, beads, pom poms buttons, little hardware pieces, bottle caps, pipe cleaners, yarn, cardboard, and plastic recyclables.  I gave them very thick white card stock for the snowmen bodies.  I was available at the space to help with cutting through thick cardboard or craft sticks, and I was also in charge of the low heat hot glue gun.  Kids were working independently and were the design directors.  They told me where they wanted things, I was just gluing.  I try to keep my suggestions to a minimum so that the kids are in total creative control.

Here are a few more adorable snow people...

And I just LOVE this adorable snow girl...

We were just finishing up a measurement unit in math, so we also measured how many cubes tall our snow people are...

The kids had a little recording sheet to write how many cubes tall their snow person was.   After that, we all worked collaboratively to get in order from shortest to tallest .  The kids needed support getting in order, so I called out the measurement numbers and kids sat down on our big rug in order.  When two students had the same number, they had to compare to see which one was slightly taller or shorter.  It was fun!

When we had them all in order, we put them on a big table so they were ready to go up on a bulletin board.  It looked great!

We were all so proud of our project!  Measuring snowman art with cubes is nothing new.   Getting into order by height was a nice addition to the activity.  It was a perfect culminating activity to end our measurement unit.  It went well with our studies on winter too.

If you would like to do this activity with your class, you can use my little recording sheet if you like it.  It's FREE!  You can download it right here:  Snowman Measurement Recording Sheet

This is what the page looks like.  It has three recording sheets to a page.  Place for students' names and the space for recording the number is big enough for little learners.  Hope this helps make winter in your classroom a little bit more fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by...
Happy teaching!

Holidays around the World with #kinderfriends

I am so happy to be joining my #kinderfriends for another blog hop!  We are giving away a $25 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers.  We are giving away some fun freebies.  We are also sharing lots of great ideas for the holidays in your classroom.  Did I mention we are having a sale?  Yay!

I always want my classroom to be festive this time of year.  It is a magical time for little kiddos and at times they are bursting with excitement.  So it's helpful to keep them active and busy with FUN learning activities!

In December, I usually do a folktales and fairy tales unit that includes The Gingerbread Man and all the versions that go along with it.  Gingerbread originated in Germany so it definitely could be included in a Holidays Around the World theme.  Here are a few fun ideas to get your gingerbread on in the classroom:

Mix it and fix it sentences are a great addition to our sparkly gingerbread art.  Loving this bulletin board right now!

This pocket chart poem can be sung to Pop Goes the Weasel.  It makes a fun shared reading activity that the kiddos like to do independently after it has been taught.

These little guys above were made with oven bake clay.  It's a great fine motor activity and I just glue a magnet on the back and send them home as a holiday gift for the family.  Too cute!  Even though we don't study holiday traditions, we do some gift and card making in our classroom.  Projects with a purpose are great this time of year.

 

This craft is an oldie but goodie!  Who doesn't want a hand print Rudolph reindeer from their little darling?  These are easy and inexpensive, but they are treasured by parents for years to come!  Just do a brown hand print on card stock, trim and laminate, then glue on eyes and nose, put on a ribbon and done!  Another adorable holiday gift for sweet little students to give to their families.

My class really enjoyed this writing activity from my time saving Print and Go! Gingerbread pack.  Print and Go! packs can be a lifesaver this time of year.   There are fun pages in here for homework, morning work, or independent centers in the classroom when you are up to your elbows in arts and crafts projects. This product is on sale through Thursday December 15th.  Just search #kinderfriends on Teachers pay Teachers to find all my special sale items. 

Now, it's time for a little gift giving from me to YOU!  I am sooooo grateful for the TpT classroom community and awesome teachers like YOU.  So, this year I have two special holiday FREEBIES for you.  Here is freebie number one:

It's a design page for kiddos to design and create the perfect cookie.  I did this as a homework project last year.  You could do this project in the classroom too.  It would be a nice activity during the last week before your winter break.

It's included in that Print and Go! Gingerbread product above.  This is a Mrs. Byrd's Learning Tree blog freebie.  Just click this link to download that cookie design page:  My gingerbread cookie design

And here is freebie number 2:

It's from my December Pretty Papers & Prompts .  That's another time saving product with sweet engaging writing papers for excited little people in your classroom.  You will find this on sale through Thursday the 15th.  Just search #kinderfriends on TpT to find special sale items.  This freebie is a letter to Santa with an old world St. Nick.

Like my letter to Santa this year?  It's actually what I want from my husband... haha!
You can grab this printable in my TpT store right here: FREEBIE - Writing Activities ~ December Pretty Papers & Prompts

Giveaway time!!!  Best of luck!  You can enter to win a $25 TpT gift card right here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep hoping along to my friend Elaine over at Kitty Kitty Kindergarten for more Holidays Around the World fun! 

Thanks for stopping by.
Happy holidays!

Snowball CVC Picture cards FREEBIE!

Hey there!  I have had several requests for a little set of CVC picture cards to go with a recording sheet that is in my Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PPREP).  So here it is!  The recording sheet is super sweet.  Kids love anything to do with snowballs, even if they are really cotton balls and paper, or crumpled up paper.  I did a blog post last year with lots of fun winter learning activities from my classroom.  You can check it out here: Snow much Fun! 

This is what the recording sheet loos like:

So,  for those of you who don't already have a set of CVC picture cards in your classroom to use with this sheet, you can use the small set of paper balls shown in the photo at the top of the post.  It has 20 cards, four for each vowel.  Just to be clear, you will have some prep involved to make these cards.  They need to be cut out and then I recommend that you laminate them for durability.  (That is the main reason I didn't add them into the Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PPREP)  product.  I didn't want to turn it into a prep required product.)

If you are interested in a big set of cards that can be crumpled up into paper snowballs like the photo above, you can find them right here: BIG Black & White CVC Cards.   I use those because it is a huge set (94 cards) so it can be used over and over again without students becoming "bored" or memorizing all the words.  It also comes with the words as well so the set can be used for much more than just this recording sheet for a single center.  However, this is a big set, and a completely separate product, so it is NOT part of the Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PPREP).

OK, here is the FREEBIE you came here for, just click on the link below to go grab it:

 

 Snowball CVC Picture Cards FREEBIE

Thanks for stopping by today.
Happy teaching!

Smile! It's a Teachers Pay Teachers SALE!

Just wanted to get the word out... there is a big sale happening at Teachers Pay Teachers this Monday Nov. 30th and Tuesday Dec. 1st.  You can save 28% on everything in my store.  Make sure you use the promo code: smile at checkout to get your extra 10% discount.

I am going to stock up on some wonderful things on my wish list!

I also wanted to let you know that I just finished two new products you might want to check out since they will be 28% off.

This is a great set of activities and printable practice pages to go with your gingerbread unit this December.  It has all the things I want for my own classroom along with a few others I thought might be helpful to you.  It's a really sweet set.  (No pun intended ;)  You can grab it by clicking on the image below or this link right here: Print and Go! Gingerbread

You may also want to see this helpful pack as well.  It is great counting and numeral writing review for throughout the year.  I love this activity because it is open ended and kids can challenge themselves.  It incorporates doing a detailed drawing, counting and numeral writing, and labeling parts of the picture.  I am going to keep these handy this year when I think we need some review or I need something quick in an emergency or for a sub.

This one is from earlier in the year before we learned how to label things in our drawings.

This one is from a lesson where students learned how to label.
Both activities went really well and I think this helps my students remember to include lots of details in their drawings.  You can take a closer look at this product by clicking here; Draw, Count, Write!  or clicking on the image below:

I hope you get some good deals on CYBER Monday!
Happy shopping!
Happy teaching!

New Blog Design ~ Celebration and Giveaway!

Woo hoo!  What do you think?  I have a new look thanks to Kassie Garlock at Designs by Kassie.  She is wonderful!  Kassie is great to work with and very creative.  If you ever get your blog re-designed, put her at the top of your list.  I hope you like the look as much as I do.

So, in order to celebrate, I am having a 20% off SALE all week in my TpT store (through Friday) and you can enter to win some great prize packs from my store as well.

If you go visit my Facebook page to enter the contest,  consider clicking the LIKE button and following my page.  I post daily with free ideas, inspiration, flash freebies, and more.  If you are a fb person, you will want Mrs.Byrd's Learning Tree in your feed.

Here are the goodies you could win:

Prize pack #1:  Print and Go! packs for the entire school year.  You can win all three of my Print and Go! bundles: Fall, Winter, and Spring.  Woo hoo!  Enter to win below.  This giveaway will last until Friday Sept. 25th at 6:00pm Eastern Time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Prize pack #2: Some great products to help you tackle foundational skills in your classroom this year.  You can win my Print and Go! CVC Bundle, my new Number Cards 1-20 pack, and Color, Cut, Sort Numbers 1-10.  Enter to win below.  This giveaway will last until Friday Sept. 25th at 6:00pm Eastern Time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Prize pack #3:  Get ready for fall with these fun packs for Halloween and fall themes.  You can enter to win Print and Go! Halloween, Print and Go! Apples, Pumpkins, and Leaves, and What can I be for Halloween Emergent reader and Literacy Center.  Enter to win below.  This giveaway will last until Friday Sept. 25th at 6:00pm Eastern Time.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will announce the winners on Saturday Sept. 26th.  Good luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by and helping me celebrate!  Hope you have a great week.
Happy teaching!

Snow Much Fun!

We are having so much fun with SNOW in our little California classroom!  I grew up in San Francisco and I remember being fascinated with snow as a child.  My sweet class is too!  I suppose if we had to deal with the realities of severe winter weather it might not seem so special, but it is a fun topic to come back to after our winter break.  We are reading great stories, and enjoying our winter snow theme as we work on teen numbers, cvc words, and color words among other things.

Yes, that's right, those are paper snowballs!  We are using paper snow balls for reading and writing cvc words and matching teen numbers with ten frames and base ten blocks.  My kiddos are LOVING it!  The pictures above are from a center activity where students had to choose a snowball,  say the picture word, and write the word on the snowball recording sheet.  The recording sheets came from my Print and Go! Winter Math and Literacy (NO PREP).  You can get that in my TpT store.  This is what the recording sheet looks like:

My Print and Go! Winter pack includes sheets just like this for sight words and numbers too!  We will be using them all winter long.  I am so glad the kids had fun with this activity.  These are the two products I made for our snowballs.  Just print and crumple up the papers into "snowballs".  Then you are ready for lots of winter classroom fun. 

The other  super fun thing we do with the paper snowballs is have snow ball fights!  Yes, that's right, and they are lots of fun.  A snowball fight takes about ten minutes and it is a fun learning game for your whole class.  You need to start with an even number of kiddos and the same number of matching snowballs.  You could use cvc picture and matching words or numeral and matching ten frames, etc.  I split my class into two even groups sitting across from each other on our big rug.  I pass out the snowballs so each student has one.  These are the rules I give for snowball fights in my classroom:

1. When we have a snowball fight are we really having a fight?  No, it is really a fun game.
2. Wait to throw your snowball until I say GO.
3. You may not throw your snowball hard.  Do a gentle toss.
4. You may not throw your snowball directly at a person.  Just toss it in the air.
5. You can only throw the snowball one time.
6. Once everyone has tossed the snowballs, calmly and carefully pick one up.
7. Unfold your snowball and try to find a classmate that matches your number, word, etc.
8. Once you find your match, sit down in a circle so we can all see your number, word etc.

When everyone is sitting, we quickly go around the circle and partners share the word, number, or other concept they had.  My kiddos are begging me to do this activity every day!  You can easily make your own snow balls for your class with sight words, addition or subtraction problems with an answer, or other concepts.  There are lots of possibilities.  These activities do use some white copy paper, but I would easily trade a ream of  paper for all the fun my kiddos are having.  I hope you will give it a try with your class.

We also did sweet snow art for our January calendars.  We just used sponge stamps with white paint and white glitter.  White glitter is the perfect addition to make any white painting look like sparkly snow.  You can get the monthly Calendars for Number Writing in my TpT store.  We do one every month for number writing and pattern practice.

Yesterday we read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert and my kids made lists of all the "good stuff" they would use to make a snowman.  You can get this snowman list paper for FREE in my TpT store.  Just click on the link or the photo above and it will take you to get it.

We have also been working on color words and my sweeties have been making an emergent reader to go into their book boxes.  I will try to add some photos when they are all done.  You can get the cute mitten book here: Colorful Mittens Emergent Reader.

I hope you have some winter fun in your classroom this year!  Stay warm.
Happy teaching!

George, Abe, and the Tooth Fairy

Happy President's day weekend!  With Valentines Day on Friday, and my 100th day the week before, I couldn't squeeze in the presidents before the holiday this year.  So I just HAD to do a cute craft while studying the presidents a little bit this week.  And....

I was just talking to a dear teacher friend on Friday about using a die cut machine.  Her school doesn't have one!  Can you believe it?  And I told her about this really great computerized one called the Cricut machine.  One was given to me as a classroom gift years ago.  (Thank you, Rachel!!!) And boy, has it been handy!  I feel so lucky to have both an Ellison machine for my school and this baby below in my classroom.

When I told her about the Cricut machine, she said "Now, there's a blog post!"  (Thanks Samira!)  She had never heard about them.  Boy, they are great for a K-1 classroom!  And, it just so happened that I needed one to pull together George and Abe super quick!  So here's the way it works...

You put one of these cartridge things  into the machine.

Then, you put a piece of 6"x9" paper on this thing.  It's sticky.

Then you follow the directions and tell the machine what to cut and...

Taa daa!  It will cut whatever size little shape it is programed for automatically on your paper.  Super easy and very cool.   Check out the cute leprechaun ladders we made with it.  Today I needed a little star for George...

He is actually pretty small.  His face is a 4" diameter circle from the Ellison die cut machine.  I had to get everything ready for my little sweeties to make him tomorrow.  I drew out the hat the correct size and then copied the template onto the construction paper.  The kids will cut it out, add the star, and the other details.  We will put this together with Abe on a bigger paper and write about each of them.   The little star makes the whole thing! 

OK, I know you are asking..... What does the Tooth Fairy have to do with any of this?  She doesn't really.  But I also made a cute certificate to give to kiddos who lose a tooth.  Just wanted to share the love!  Click on the image below to go get it!

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Teaching!