Green Eggs and Ham

Well we saved the best for last! Who doesn't love green eggs and ham?

This Dr. Seuss classic has become a literary favorite amongst young readers. The rhyming words and simple text instill confidence in those readers who are just starting off. So what better way to say happy birthday to a literary legend than with a little green eggs and ham?

If the thought of making green eggs grosses you out just a bit... no worries here is one of our favorite snacks that will go down a little easier than green eggs. Pretzels, a dab of melted white chocolate and a green m+m...what's not to love?

After reading Green Eggs and Ham with your class take a few minutes to review rhyming words with your students. Help them to think up a few that they could use to write their own Green eggs and ham book. Have them write in their words and draw a picture that illustrates their sentences.

We hope you enjoy the FREEBIES below and celebrate reading in your classroom throughout the year!

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Celebrate Reading With Horton Hears a Who

This is one of my favorite movies, my two little ones watch it all the time they just love Horton! They must get it from their mama because when I was little one of my favorite bedtime stories was Horton Hatches the Egg, a Dr. Seuss classic that is a must read if you have never read it before.

In the movie Horton happens across a clover that has a tiny little speck on it that calls out to him. On that speck lives a mayor and an entire town. Horton journeys to try to find a safe place for all of the Who's down in Whoville all while being chased and tormented by the nonbelievers.

The message from the movie is clear and the quotes drive that home.

A person is a person no matter how small..

I meant what I said and I said what I meant an elephant is faithful 100%..."Horton"

Here are some of our favorite ideas for the classroom, integrate them as a center, small group activity or large group lesson.

1. Clover with a speck using pipe cleaners and a pom pom

2. Paper plate elephant

3.Painted Paper plate elephant

4. Custom writing prompt from Simply Sprout

5. Dr. Seuss' original book Horton Hears a Who can be found at your local library or bookstore.

...another cute activity for a center

Set up a tray of colorful pom poms, include one that has a tiny speck glued to it. Give students a magnifying glass and some tweezers. Have them see if they can go through the pom poms one by one and find the speck.

For an extension to the book or movie have students use their imaginations to create their own speck on a clover, who lives there? What kind of world would it be?

Copy the FREEBIE below.

What would you say if you were on that speck?

Have students take the perspective of the Mayor in this cute writing craftivity.

 To make just copy the pictures below and have students cut, color and assemble.

 

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Celebrate Reading with The Cat in the Hat

As a primary teacher I definitely had my favorite books that I read aloud each year, without a doubt Dr. Seuss is at the top of that list! The rhyming, nonsense and whimsical worlds are the perfect recipe to spark a love for reading amongst my young readers. Many of which discover their love of reading after being able to read a Dr. Seuss book on their own. The rhyming and predictable text put reading within reach for most students. With Dr. Seuss' birthday right around the corner what better way to celebrate than to throw a little Dr. Seuss Party of your own. This week we will be highlighting some of our favorite Dr. Seuss stories and activities that would be easy to implement in the classroom...along with some FREEBIES of course! So be sure to check back each day!

To kick things off I am starting with The Cat in The Hat

 With the mischief loving Thing 1 and Thing 2 this book will be sure to be a hit amongst your class.

Here are a few of our favorite ideas for a Seusstastic day!

1. Cotton candy cupcakes

2. Cat in the Hat Paper Plate Craftivity

3. Cat in the Hat treats

4. Hand print Thing 1 and Thing 2

5. Cat in the Hat Hats

6. Bingo Game

7. Dr. Seuss Snack

8. Dr. Seuss Bulletin Board Display

Extend the story with a creative writing activity. Would you like for the Cat in the Hat to come over and play? Why? What would you do? Why wouldn't you want him to come by?

This is a great writing activity to introduce supportive details.

To get the FREEBIE right click on the image below save and print.

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Common Core Classrooms: Learning Goal Rubric

Learning goals for ourselves and our students are nothing new to us teachers, right?  We've used rubrics for years to asses our students' understanding.  However, it seems that when we are asked to create one standard learning goal rubric to apply during our instruction, we're at a loss.  Different accountability methods are entering classrooms throughout the country.  Some are big ol' headaches, and then some are helpful for you as an instructor and for your students as learners.  We hope that this freebie will be a great addition to your classroom instruction.  One that you can refer to seamlessly during your teaching, one that is user friendly for students, and one that allows you to assess your individual students quickly and easily.

This rubric can simply be enlarged at your school or a local copy shop to be made into a poster for the whole class to view.

For individual accountability, these smaller cards can be laminated and taped down to students' desks.  Students can simply reference it, or even place a clothespin that allows them to interact with their rubric dependent on the subject and/or concept.

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President's Day Ideas

President's Day is this Monday and schools here in Tallahassee are in session. As teachers ourselves we know how hard it can be to address holidays and still stay on track meeting common core standards and benchmarks, so we created a resource kit that will add a little President's Day fun to what you already have on your curriculum map.

Celebrate President's Day in your classroom with fun activities that support common core goals. This kit includes writing and social studies activities as well as graphic organizers and craftivities that will make your President's Day educational and fun! Visit the Simply Sprout Store to get yours today!

This kit includes

Page 1............ Facts about George Washington
Page 2 ............ Facts about George Washington (Answer Key)
Page 3 ............ Facts about Abraham Lincoln
Page 4 ............ Facts about Abraham Lincoln (Answer Key)
Page 5 ............ Abraham Lincoln Craftivity Mask
Page 6 ............ George Washington Craftivity Mask
Page 6 ............ President Graphics for display
Page 7 ............ President’s Venn Diagram
Page 8 ............ Journal Prompt: What Qualities make a good President?
Page 9 ............ Journal Prompt:What would it be like to live in the White House?
Page 10............ Journal Prompt: Celebrating President’s Day is important because
Page11 ............ Journal Prompt: Why do we think of Abraham Lincoln as Honest Abe?
Page 12 ............ Journal Prompt:What do you think of the story of George Washington and the cherry tree?
Page 13 ............ Journal Prompt: If you were the President what issues would you focus on?

Here is a little peek from our President's Day Pack

Right click the picture below  to get your free copy.

We have rounded up some great ideas and activities for you on our Pinterest boards, 

be sure to stop by and become a follower!

 

Click Here for a link to this craft

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Happy Valentine's Day From Simply Sprout

Happy Valentine's Day

We hope that you have a day filled with love and happiness. Take a minute to appreciate and find JOY in the ordinary today.

Here are a few ideas to help make memories with your children this Valentine's Day

1. Make a hand print Valentine, use a fingerprint for the stem, two red hands for the heart and two green hand prints for the leaves. Your little ones will never be this small again, cherish your time with them because it goes by way too fast.

2. Instead of date night....let's face it a Valentine's night is always crowded, overpriced and rushed so avoid the crowd and have a family date night, make a heart shaped pizza together. Play games and make valentines for each other...it doesn't take much just a pack of doilies, some glitter glue and some stickers and you will have hours of fun!

3. Make a heart garland, use cutout hearts and attach to baker's twine, add a picture from Valentine's Day (add one each year to see how much things change)

4. Have a picnic at the park, enjoy some outdoor fun. Pack a Heart themed lunch for an extra special treat!

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How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?

All week we have been talking about Valentine's Cards. We have shown many different options for both teachers and students. So I figured I would share my daughter's idea of the perfect Valentine. Kaitlyn is 4 and this is her first year at Pre-K so this is her first experience with the Valentine's Day Card exchange...and to put it mildly she is over the moon excited. 

Believe it or not Valentine's Cards are a great skill reinforcer and help with a  multitude of  basic skills your child should know before they enter school. Have your child be part of the process.

Have your child decide what type of Valentine they want for their classmates, We opted for no candy so once that was off the table my daughter settled on crayons pretty quickly, her second fave was paint....yikes! Crayons are a preschoolers favorite, they are just learning to color, they enjoy letting their imagination run wild on paper, and sometimes the walls.

Once we picked out the crayon colors we wanted, my little one sorted them by color (great beginning math concept)

Then I got to chopping, placed the little crayon pieces into a silicone heart shaped cupcake cake mold (found for $3 at Target)

Bake at 250 degrees for 10 minutes or so, once cool, just pop out and place in a plastic baggie.

I designed the Valentines (It's kinda my thing...you can see my stuff at magic by marcy) with Kaitlyn's help, she was like a kid in a candy store picking her favorite designs. 

Once printed I sat my daughter down to address them to her classmates.

Being able to transfer information (in this case letters that form a name) offers children valuable practice and should not be eliminated.

I can't tell you how many times in first grade I would have parents send in a bag of candy and a box of unopened, unaddressed Valentine's cards. As a teacher it  drives me nuts! Let your children take ownership by being a part of the process, even if it takes you a few extra minutes...I promise it is worth ten fold the amount of headache it may cause.

 To help little ones focus without getting overstimulated isolate the name they are working on, fold the paper or use index cards to hide extra information. Have them say each letter as they write it, they can even make the sound as they form the letter. This helps reinforce letter recognition and sounds. You can also watch how they are forming their letters and help with any "bad writing habits" they might be forming before they become habit....be careful not to be too critical.

Before you know it you are done your child has one of a kind cards that they helped to make, I just know how excited she is to pass out these to her classmates, after writing their names and hand picking each color for each little friend, I know this will be a day to remember for her.

Her class celebrates with a few small treats and each of the children take turns passing out Valentine cards to their classmates.

I have signed up to bring in the Strawberry cream cheese sandwiches...heart shaped of course. I am hoping I can channel my inner Pinterest guru and create the ones below....we shall see.
Hopefully it is not a pinstrocity!

 

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Love is Messy!

Love can be messy at times, and so can the little hands in our classrooms!  A cute and practical gift for a teacher, clinic nurse, or front office staff this Valentine's Day is a personalized bottle of hand sanitizer (with the help of a vinyl machine, stickers, or paint pen) tied up with the adorable and oh so germ free tag below!  Simply right click on the image, insert in a Word document, and print!

Looking to spread a little love for Teacher Appreciation week download the image below

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Valentines for teachers and students

This time of year is always so much fun, lots of great projects are planned, celebrations and of course sweet treats. Teachers If you are like me you try to throw some super cute, very challenging Pinterest project together to show your students how much you care. Forget all of the fuss and stick with simple. These "You are just WRITE Valentine" cutouts are as easy as they come. Just pick up some colorful pencils from the $1 section at Target and grab your hole puncher. Print out the Tags below, cut out and hole punch the top and bottom. Slide the pencil through and you are all set with a simple yet very useful Valentine for your students.

*If you would like to add your own signature you can do this in a word document. 

Just add a text box, right click on it and select no  line, no color. Add white or red text for your signature.

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Monster Valentine's Day Holder

Many of you are looking for ideas for your Valentine's card exchange, So I wanted to share one of my faves. I just love everything about these Monster Valentine's Card holders. They are perfect for a Valentine's Card exchange, and super fun to make. When I taught first grade I struggled to come up with a fun card holder year after year, they either fell off of the back of the chair or the students struggled to fill them and Valentine's ended up everywhere!

This Holder is made from the new Paper towel holders from Kleenex....

If you haven't tried them they are quite fabulous. We found ours at Target and emptied the box (saving them of course to use in our bathroom.)

They are tall and sturdy and the prefect size for a Valentine's Card holder. The opening is great for little hands to drop their Valentines Cards in and they sit perfectly on a desk without falling over or needing to be tied down.

To decorate the one below we used felt pieces from our local craft store.

 I cut the large hearts and my little one glued them down and added the stickers.

For the classroom the expense of felt might not be practical so substituting construction paper is just fine. In our Primary Valentine's Day Activity Pack you can get the templates and directions to make these with your class.

For any of you last minute planners out there (....like me) Take a look at our FREEBIE Candy Hearts Math activity. We hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day with your students!

Click HERE for the FREEBIE

 

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