Friday Freebie #7 - New Year Goals

Well would you look at that, I'm actually on time with my freebie this week!! :) And it's almost Christmas so I'd have the perfect excuse if I was late. This week's post is all about time aptly enough.

First up I want to share a Telling Time activity I've been working on. The pack includes activities and worksheets to teach telling time to the hour and half hour. The main activity is a wristwatch scavenger hunt.

            

Each child gets their own watch which they colour and cut out. You can choose only time to the hour or half hour or a mixture of both. I've also included blank watches so you can add in some tricky ones to challenge your more able students. 

               

Then they put their giant watches on and use some sticky tape to close them. If you plan on using the watches to complete all the checklists or for reviewing time later in the year it might be worth covering them with clear contact to protect them or print them on light card.

They are each given a scavenger hunt checklist and must walk quietly around the room reading the time on their friends watches and recording the answers. There are different checklists so you can decide how long the activity will last or how difficult or easy it will be for each child. Once they have completed the activity they sit down and use the included worksheets to put their time telling skills to work once again

. Click here to find out more! 

And still on the theme of time - - > this week's freebie!

The beginning of a new year is a great opportunity to teach reflection and goal setting skills. This little craft is a great follow up to discussion on what your class have achieved this year and what their hopes are for 2013.

      

I've included a few different versions with differing amounts of writing and drawing requirements so you can pick the ones that suit your students. But the basic idea is that they write about their memories of 2012 and goals for 2013 on these stars. Then cut them out, stick the two sides together and hang them in your classroom as a visual reminder of all they have achieved and their dreams for the new year.

Click here to download for free!

(If you find this useful I'd really appreciate some feedback!)

And if you'd like some more freebies - - > click here!

Things I've Learnt:

- Friday Freebie is much better when it's actually posted on a Friday! :)

Linked up to: Teaching Blog Addict

Friday Freebie #6 - Rice Krispie Coal

Umm so it appears I'm late for Friday Freebie again this week... Sorry!! I may have to make Friday Freebie a once a month thing, we'll see. I promise it won't vanish completely though! 

Firstly, there's still a few hours until my 100 Follower Giveaway ends!! You can win two cute sock monkeys and a whole bunch of awesome teaching resources so click here if you want in! :)

And secondly your Freebie! :) When I was small I remember being told that if I wasn't good that Santa would bring me nothing but coal on Christmas Eve! So when I saw these cute Lump of Coal Rice Krispie Treats on pinterest I knew I had to give them a try. I know a few people who've been a little bit naughty this year! :)

They're easy and fun to make and taste pretty delicious so I though they'd make cute little presents to give to your class! But seeing as little kids tend not to like being told they're naughty I came up with this cute little poem to let them know these lumps of coal are pretty special!

The coal is really easy to make:

- Just use your normal Rice Krispie Treat recipe (I use this one) and add black food colouring! I found some at a kitchen supply store but you can buy some on amazon too. I used liquid food colouring and had no problems so go for that over gel/paste if you can. Once you've melted your marshmallows and butter just add in enough drops to turn the mixture black.

- Then mix in your Rice Krispies until they're fully covered.

- The next part is the messy bit. Lay out some baking paper on your counter and spoon little odd shaped dollops of the mixture onto the paper. You could also put butter on your hands and use them but be warned it's very sticky!!

- Then once they've set a little you can put a few into a clear plastic bag and tie it with ribbon.

- Print out these little poems onto card and tie them to the ribbon or onto sticker paper and stick them to the bags.

- And that's it! :)

                                                      

Click here to download the poems.

Things I've Learnt:
- Don't worry about the size or shape of these little guys, the odder they are the better!
- Remember to take pictures of yours once they're all bagged up! I forgot! So all you get is the few crap pictures I took on my phone. :(

*Update: I made some more and tried using disposable plastic gloves spread with butter to make the - much easier!

      

 

Linked up to: Teaching Blog Addict, Classroom Freebies, Addicted to Recipes, DIY Dreamer, Earning my Cape, Michelle's Tasty Creations, Semi Homemade Mom, Diana Rambles, Foodie Friends Friday

Friday Freebie #5 - Classroom Posters

** Check out my 100 Follower Giveaway ** 

I know, I know it's Saturday, my bad! But I've still got a freebie for you! :) This poor little blog is feeling a bit neglected lately but Christmas is taking over a little here! I promise I will have some more crafty and sewing posts soon but a lot of my current projects are presents for people so you'll have to wait until after Christmas  to see them! And I'm working on something special for all you lovely people who read my blog! :)

My CVC Word Jigsaw center is by far my most popular product in my store so I thought a follow up pack would be a good idea. So I made a Jigsaw Sentences pack!

This is great for building reading skills and for teaching the basics of sentence structure. There are 9 sentences, each made of 6 words on jigsaw pieces. Each sentence is a different color so the child just has to focus on reading each word and putting it in the correct order. There's also 3 sheets of extra words so they can mix and match and create their own sentences!

And it comes with worksheets to reinforce what they have learnt. There are pages to practice writing the sentences, illustrating them and fill in the blanks worksheets. Each comes in color and b&w so you can print and laminate and use with a whiteboard marker in a literacy center or photocopy them to use for whole class work. There is also an answer sheet so you can quickly assess their progress or allow them to self assess and check their work. Click here if you'd like to find out more.

Now on to this week's freebie! I created a few posters with cute reminders for your classroom. I had the "listen has the same letters as silent" one up for free already so I just added in 3 new ones! :)

"Wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it. Right is right even if nobody is doing it."

"It's okay to not know but it's not okay to not try!"

"Hands at your side. All Eyes Forward. Lips Zipped. Low Speed."

Click here to download your set for free! :)

Want some more freebies? Click here to see the past 4 Friday Freebies.

Oh and I'm getting very near to 100 followers on this little blog!! So watch this space for a special celebration giveaway in the next few days!! :)

Things I've Learned:

- Spammers seem to love my blog! Getting lots of random comments that link to equally random sites. I really don't want to turn on any verification tools but does anyone have any tips on cutting down on spam??

- I've found this little tip a while ago but keep forgetting to share in case you don't know it. You can check what's been pinned from your blog by typing in "http://pinterest.com/source/YOUR WEBSITE/". So for mine it's "http://pinterest.com/source/beinginspired-blog.blogspot.ie/". It's kinda fun to see what's being pinned!

- Oh and don't forget to check the other versions of your site (.com, .ie, .co.uk, .com.au etc.).

Linked up to: Teaching Blog Addict, No Time for Flashcards, 3 Boys and a Dog, Classroom Freebies

Hungry Caterpillar Resources

I know this is a very un-Christmassy post but I came across these props in my resource box today and wanted to share. I love Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". It's probably my favourite kids book ever! It's great for teaching the life cycle of the butterfly, the days of the week, counting, healthy eating and so much more! I used it in India to teach food vocabulary too. And the kids just love the cute little caterpillar, especially when he eats too much and throws up! :) 

What makes a great book even better? Having some props for the kids to play with while they read it! :) I found these ones over @ Kizclub.com and they are a huge hit! I took the time to cut, laminate and then cut again and they've held up really well over the last few years and lots of hands on play!

                

The best part about them is that the caterpillar can go through the center of each piece of food as he eats it. Kids love using them to retell the story!

Here's two cute little poems that goes great with this book too. Unfortunately I don't know who wrote them so if anyone knows do tell me! Hate not being able to give credit where it's due.

The Fuzzy Caterpillar

(tune: The Incy Wincy Spider)

The fuzzy caterpillar

Curled upon a leaf.

Spun her little chrysalis

And then fell asleep.

While she was sleeping,

She dreamed that she could fly.

And later when she woke up,

She was a butterfly!

~ Author Unknown

Butterfly

Up and down the air you float,

Like a little fairy boat.

I should like to sail that sky,

Gliding like a butterfly.

~ Author Unknown

There are so many great activities you can do that link in to this book. Here's a few that I found on pinterest:

                            

Caterpillar lunch from Canadian Family              Caterpillar classroom door decoration from eHow 

Hand print Butterfly from Jellyfish Jelly

Check out my Picture Book Resources board on Pinterest for more ideas! :)

Things I've Learnt:

- Sometimes in the middle of winter you need some bright colourful butterflies to remind you that it'll be warm and sunny again soon! :)

- Laminators really are a teacher's best friend! Do take the time to laminate these. 

Linked up to: No Time for Flashcards

Friday Freebie #4 - Christmas Letter Mazes and Santa's Secret Codes

Friday Freebie time again!! :) This week I have some super cute Christmas themed letter mazes for you! But first here's a little update on some of the other new stuff I've been working on for my TPT store:

I spent way too long on this one but I think it was worth it! It's called "Santa's Secret Code" and it's a really cute little activity for excited kids this Christmas! They'll love trying to crack Santa's code and work on some problem solving skills as they do it. 

It includes a coded letter from Santa, 16 word puzzles, an A to Z pictoral code of Holiday pictures,  worksheets to create their own word puzzles and their own secret code and it comes with both colour and b&w copies. And you can also create little code cards to easily create new word puzzles for your class! Click here to find out more!

Remember the nativity hand puppets I made? Well I had a lot of people asking me for patterns to make them or it I sold them anywhere. Unfortunately I made them last year so I don't have the patterns anymore and I'm way to slow at sewing for it to be profitable to sell them. But I decided I could still do something with them - I turned them into nativity flashcards and a word wall! 

These are great to reinforce reading and spelling words associated with the nativity and can also be used to retell the story of the first Christmas. :) 

Click here if you'd like to find out more.

And now this week's freebie! Sticking with the Christmas theme, this one's for the little kids - Christmas letter mazes! They can practice letter identification skills while they trace a path through the maze and help Santa and the penguin to get to the end. 

It'll make a cute addition to your literacy centers this winter, just print and laminate and it's ready to go. :) There are 6 mazes, focusing on the letters S and P and using upper and lower case letters. And did I mention it's free? :) 

Click here to download your Friday Freebie now.

Want some more freebies? Check out the previous Friday Freebies - - > here.

Linked up to: Teaching Blog Addict, 2 Brainy Apples, 3 Boys and a Dog, Reading Confetti, One Artsy Mama, Cheerios and Lattes, Crafty Moms Share, Connect a Blog, Teaching my 3, Teaching in Blue Jeans, Classroom Freebies, 4th Grade Frolics, Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers, Thinking of Teaching

Fabric Tangrams

I know I promised this post on making fabric tangrams on Saturday but I ran into a little problem! I had it all set to go and was just uploading the photos when Blogger informed me that I'd run out of photo space!!! It seems that my plan of lazily uploading giant pictures without re-sizing them had finally caught up on me. Newbie bloggers take note - re-size!!

But after a bit of searching I've discovered a few work arounds. Firstly I connected my blog email address to the blog and set it as a contributor which means if I log in through it I can still upload photos. Basically that email address has its own photo storage allowance. But it's a bit of a pain so the other thing I discovered is that as long as you keep your pictures smaller than 1026 pixels you can upload to your hearts content. So for now I'm okay again! And I suppose I'll start re-sizing some old pictures and replacing them and stop uploading giant pictures! Well after today. :)

Now back to the task at hand. On Friday I gave you my Friday Freebie - a tangram booklet and template. I'm a huge fan of tangrams but I started thinking how I could make them even more fun. The answer - make them out of fabric instead of card! :) I originally saw this pin of a "tangram-esque fabric puzzle" on pinterest from Beauty All Around. It's amazing, she made 42 little coloured fabric squares! There's no way I'd have the patience for that but I figured I could give a normal 7 piece tangram set a go.

Click here to download the templates I used. I made mine yellow on one side and red on the other but you could do them all  in different colours or just use one. I cut out the bigger template and traced around each piece twice, once on red fabric and once on yellow. I used the smaller template to cut out the wadding to stuff them.

Then pin the pieces right sides together and sew around the sides. Make sure to leave a gap so you can turn and stuff them. The trickiest part for me was sewing the corners on the triangular ones. 

Then turn the pieces the right way out and stuff them with your little pieces of wadding. Use a ladder stitch to neatly sew up the gaps and then you're all done!

                                         

                           

Then have some fun and see what pictures you can make! There's loads of ideas for puzzles on the internet but start with trying to recreate the square. :)

And of course do download my little booklet. It has 12 shadow puzzles in it with the solutions at the end. And it's free! I made a little bag to keep the pieces in and the booklet fits in perfectly too if you print multiple pages on one piece of paper.

I found this cute book that would go well with the tangrams too. It's kinda a take on the three little pigs with some tangram puzzles thrown in. :)

                                                                 

Things I've learnt:
- This really should be a thing I have not learnt, I still left too tiny a gap and had zero fun turning and stuffing some of my tangrams. Will I ever learn?
- But I did learn lots about re-sizing pictures and avoiding paying Google any money. ha ha Love you really Google.
- And I learnt that fabric tangrams are so much more fun to play with than card ones. I made these as a gift but might have to keep them and make another set!

Linked to: Sew Can Do, Sewing Barefoot, Be Colourful, Making the World Cuter, Creative Itch, Sugar Bee Crafts, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Homework, The DIY Dreamer, DIY Crafty Projects, Hey Mommy Chocolate Milk, Earning my Cape, Lil Luna, Sugar and Dots, Semi Homemade Mom, Michelle's Tasty Creations, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Create Craft Love, Diana Rambles, Its a HodgePodge Life, Cheerios and Lattes