Name Practice- The Three Little Pigs

My oldest son will turn 4 in July.  This fall he will attend half day Preschool.  We have been working on basic skills at home, but we have not done much practice with the letters in his name.  Everett loves the story of The Three Little Pigs, so I made this Name Practice Center with the 3 pig theme.

There are 3 pig mats included plus straw, sticks and bricks for building his name.  The letters are editable so that any name can be practiced.  I printed the pig mats and then edited the straw, sticks and bricks to have Everett, Ethan and Ella: his name plus his brother and sister's names.  

This name practice activity makes a great center!  Simply print the 3 pig mats, and then edit the straw, sticks and bricks to have the letters in your students' names.  The pigs and letter cards can be laminated for durability. 

If students already know how to spell their names, they can grab the letters and then start putting their name in order.

If students do not know the letters in their names, I have included 2 different types of name cards that can be used as a visual reference.  These cards are editable too.  The first style has just the student's name.

The second style has a blank box on the left.  The box has been kept empty so that you can add a picture of the student or you can have the student color the box their favorite color or anything that helps them remember that this card belongs to them.

Everett has loved building his name as well as his brother and sister's names!  I hope your little learners enjoy this center as much as he has!

Mother's Day Craft and Writing Activities

Are you looking for activities for Mother's Day?  I have several craft and writing ideas I wanted to share with you.

First up, is an "I Love You From My Head To-Ma-Toes" bulletin board display.  This lesson comes with letters that you simply print, cut and hang and an easy to prep tomato writing craft.

Students color the tomato and then write about why they love their moms.  

Next, is a mason jar with flowers that reads You're A"mason".

If your school hosts a Muffins With Mom, you might enjoy this cute muffin craft.

And lastly, this koala bear and tea kettle craft has students letting moms know why she is top quality "koala tea".

Thank you so much for reading!  I hope you found an idea you can use for this Mother's Day.  I'll leave the links here to all of the crafts:

I Love You From My Head To-Ma-Toes

You're A"mason"

Muffin Craft

You're Top "Koala Tea"

Earth Day Craft and Writing

I want to share my newest Earth Day craft and writing activity with you!

Are you a fan of sloths?  I think they are so cute!  So cute, that I decided to make this, I Love the Earth a S"lot"h craft just for Earth Day!

The craft is super easy to prep!  It is a print and go craft, which means you simply print and then have students color the pieces.  There are 2 different options for the craft.  The first is a craft and writing activity.  Students can respond to the writing by recording reasons he or she loves the Earth.

Or there is a name practice activity.  For this, students color the sloth and the earths and then write 1 letter of his/her name onto each earth to create the following:

Bulletin board letters that read I Love the Earth a S"lot"h are also included.  Simply print the letters, cut and hang.

To see this lesson in my store, just click here.

2D Shapes Notebook

My 3 year old loves finding different shapes in the environment.  Anytime he sees something that looks like a triangle, square, etc., he is sure to point it out.  I made this 2D Shapes Notebook just for him.  I thought it would be a fun learning opportunity, and I love that it is interactive and age appropriate.

I wanted to share this resource with you because I have uploaded it into my TPT shop here.  This notebook is perfect for Homeschool, Preschool, Kindergarten or First Grade.  This notebook can be used for Morning Work, Centers, Stations, Rotations, Sub Tubs, Fast Finishers, Indoor Recess, Small Groups, etc.

I suggest the following materials for setting up this notebook:

*1/2 inch binder

*Laminator

*Laminating sheets

*Cardstock

*Velcro dots

*Sheet protectors

Now I'm going to walk you through how I set up the notebook.  The first step is to download the packet and then print the pages that go inside the notebook.  There are 26 pages.  I used cardstock for more durability.  There are 2 different notebook covers.  I inserted 1 into the very front cover of the notebook.

The next cover, I inserted into the front of the notebook (as you open it up).

There are 8 sets of color coordinated Shape Mats.  Place them into the notebook behind sheet protectors in the following manner: Shapes on the left, blank mat on the right.  Do this for all 8 sets.

Next, laminate all of the 2D Shapes in the Environment cards.

Put the same kind of Velcro dots on each Shape Mat and blank mat.  

Cut out all of the laminated 2D Shapes in the Environment cards.  Add the opposite facing Velcro dots.  Then place all of the laminated 2D Shapes in the Environment cards on top of the empty mats, making sure the colors correspond.  Once your notebook is assembled, students will have 96 Shapes in the Environment to match!  Students simply pull off the Shapes in the Environment cards and match them to the 2D Shapes Mats.

You can find this activity in my store here.

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Gingerbread Craft

One of the reasons I love TeachersPayTeachers is because the website makes it so easy to collaborate with teachers from all over the world!  I live in South Carolina, but I had 2 teachers tag me on Instagram to share with me that they had used my Gingerbread Craft in their classrooms.  I wanted to share the pictures with you as well because they turned out so cute!

First up, is Cassie @thepoppinpineappleteacher from Oklahoma.  She used my Gingerbread Craft with her PreK class.

These are from Kelly @seoulkindy.  She teaches Kindergarten in Seoul, South Korea.

This craft can be used as a way to practice names, or the activity comes with 5 different picture/writing pages so that students can respond to their favorite gingerbread story.  If you want to see the entire product, visit my store by clicking here.

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Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal

At this point in the school year, I am sure you are in survival mode by now... Just trying to make it to Christmas break!  I wanted to share one of my favorite lessons with you that is perfect for using at the start of a school year or anytime throughout when students need a lesson on the difference between tattling and reporting.  This lesson can come in handy when the classroom becomes more chaotic in anticipation for a break as well.

Have you read the story Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal by Jeanie Franz Ranson?  This is an adorable story that helps children understand when they need to talk to each other to work out a problem and when they need to call for a grown-up to help.  I love this story so much that I created a Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal Unit in my shop that can be used after reading the story.

First up, is a scenario sort.  Students will sort different situations based on whether they are a "squeal" or a "big deal".  

After discussing "Squeals" and "Big Deals" as a whole group.  I have students respond through a craft and writing activity.  Students cut and paste a simple pig craft and then draw and/or write an example of a Squeal and a Big Deal.  There are 4 different levels of writing pages included.  

After your students finish the craft and writing activity, I am sure you will want to display their work!  So I included letters for your bulletin board that read, Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal!

If you want to see more about what is included in this resource, click here.