Let's Talk Turkey...and Pie!

This year I have started incorporating morning explore tubs into my classroom.

It gives my students the extra practice they need- hands on practice- that we unfortunately don't have enough time to do during the day.

I have been trying to keep some of them 'seasonally' based because the kids really enjoy the added holiday/seasonal fun!

Here are two we started using this week!

This first one was inspired by a pin I saw where someone used a paint chip to make a slice of pumpkin pie.  I thought it was so cute- but wanted a way to make it more 'educational!'

So I headed to the hardware store and grabbed some paint chips

The pin I saw had you add burlap as the 'crust' but I opted for some of the brown chips!

Making the pie was- well- as easy as pie!

I cut/taped the brown chips to the orange ones.

I found the middle of the chip and drew a line from each side to the middle point and then cut:

I used a sharpie to add words we have been working on.

I also numbered each slice so that I could have different pies out the on table.  The number on the pie matched the number I put on the spinner!

You can grab the spinners for FREE HERE!

(I even included a blank spinner so you can write in the words you are working on- just don't forget a number in the 'dollop' if making different sets of pies/spinners!)

I found some real cute white pom-poms in the Target Dollar Spot (I originally bought them for a fun winter station I have yet to make, but realized they would work great for this too!)

If you don't have white pom-poms, cotton balls will work the same!

Here is how they will play:

They continue to spin, read, cover...

They then clear the pie and can play again, try another slice/spinner and/or record the words on a white board and/or use one of the words in a sentence!

But that wasn't the end of the paint chip fun!

I also found these color chip 'mini books'

I chose the 'pumpkin' colors

And then used a sharpie to write the numbers 0-5 on the squares (we are in our 0-5 unit)

I made these 'count' cards to go with them:

Print/laminate/cut the cards and then place them face down on the table (I like to print on patterned scrap book paper for things like this- you can read about it HERE).

Students draw a card, count the number of objects and then take a dollop of 'whipped cream' and cover that number on the board.

Continue until all the numbers are covered.

You can also use dice in place of the cards.

Give students 2 dice for addition practice!

You can program them with any numbers you are working on!

Grab the Counting Cards FREE HERE!

The next one was inspired by this pin:

I had purchased 'build a turkey' clip art and was itching to use it, so I made these:

Students roll the dice, count out that many beads and drop it into the bottle! 

If you're visual like me, this might help:

I originally thought the tweezers would be great to use for extra fine motor practice BUT they wound up being too hard so I just had the kids use their fingers (thumb/pointer so we were practicing that 'pinch' grip!) to put the beads in.

You could have a whiteboard there for them to practice writing the number and or use for addition and have them write the number sentence for what they added to the turkey!

The kids had SO much fun with this one!

They said to me 'Mrs. Drake can we use these even after Thanksgiving is over?!'

Now my wheels are turning....feed Santa maybe?! 

Must save more bottles!

You can find the turkey bodies/feathers to tape onto your water bottles for FREE HERE!

Here are a few of the other fine motor stations we worked with this week:

Ordering numbers 0-10

Although we have only covered 0-5, I left 6-10 in there and told them to reference the number line if they needed help.  This one was super popular (and quiet)...a lot of concentration to get those links on!

You can download the number cards HERE for FREE!

Number Ordering Puzzles from Melony White:

They really liked these!  You can find them HERE.  She has a fun Thanksgiving set too!

Build and Record A Turkey's Feathers:

I saw a cute FREE idea like this from Mrs. Plemons Kindergarten but I wanted something that had both the building and recording all on one paper, so I made these.

You can grab them for FREE HERE.

'Clothe' the Turkey:

This was super simple...just printed 'naked' turkeys on cardstock and laminated.

Put out a bucket of feathers and they had to 'read' the number, count out that many feathers and put them on the turkey.

They really liked that these were 'real' feathers!

You can grab that mat for FREE HERE!

Build A Turkey Tower:

This is from my Thanksgiving Super Centers Pack

Students look at the number and build a tower with that many blocks.

Then place the tower on the turkey.

Count and Slide Cards:

These are 2-sided...one side has the pumpkin with seeds and the other scarecrow with the number.  

If students can't recognize numbers yet, the pumpkin side supports them so they can count to ID the number of beads needed.

I simply printed both, glued them together, laminated and then put a hold punch in the side to attach a pipe cleaner.

You can grab the cards FREE HERE.

We will bring out this guy next week:

You can read all about him HERE!

I don't have any pictures of us using this fun pasta yet, but I made a few things to go with it for counting, sorting, same/more/less and number ID that I hope to post soon!

And while I was at The Christmas Tree Shoppe I grabbed the Hanukkah and Christmas versions of the pasta too!

Hope some of these ideas help you make your classroom exciting and fun over the next few weeks too!

You can grab each FREEBIE from the links above or find them all HERE!

If you need additional Thanksgiving Resources, be sure to check out what I have in my TpT Store:

Here are a few of my favorite things to do in my classroom this time of year:

Thankful Crown/Hat

We wear these at our Thanksgiving 'feast' on the day before Thanksgiving.

Pilgrim & Native American Readers

A lot of books about Pilgrims and Native Americans are WAY above my students' reading levels, so we make/read these and keep them in our book baggies all month.

Thankful Mat

We make these, I mount them to construction paper, add a handprint turkey to the back and then laminate.  We use them as our placemats for our class party and then they take them home to use as placemats for Thanksgiving dinner.  Parents LOVE them!

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Turkey 

The newest book in the series...I am so excited!  We have already read There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat and There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves, so I know they are SURE to love this one!  I have always done There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie for Thanksgiving, but now get to add this one in too!

And FOLLOW THIS LINK to all my Thanksgiving themed posts on my blog:

There is a Thanksgiving Retelling bracelet 

that the kids LOVE to make for FREE 

and a

Stained glass turkey project that makes windows and doors festive to name a few!

Until next post,

Thanksgiving Fine Motor and Math Fun!

My students LOVE play dough!

I love giving them the chance to work on some fine motor skills, so next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, we are going to review identifying, counting and ordering numbers 0-5 using play dough!

Are you ready to make a play dough turkey?

It's super easy!

First either purchase or make brown play dough.

If you are choosing to make it, it adds another element to fine motor work!

Mix equal parts red and brown play dough by kneading them together until they are fully mixed:

The amount of red you use will alter your shade of brown.  The one on the left had more red than green.  The one on the right had more green!

Now it's time to build a turkey!

I had some beads around my classroom, but you can use scraps of paper too!

Roll 2 balls of play dough and stack them:

Then add eyes, a beak, waddle and feet! 

Cut pipe cleaners in half (thirds would work too!) and stick them into the bottom ball of the turkey: 

Here is the turkey ready for some math fun:

Decide on what you'd like your students to practice!

Maybe ordering numbers from 0-5:

Maybe roll a number, ID the number, count that many beads and show it on a 'feather':

Maybe you are working on addition!

I have these neat dice within a dice (from Lakeshore) but you could use 2 dice. 

They add the two numbers and show the sum on a feather:

(They can even use 2 different color beads to show what parts were added and/or use a dry erase board to record the number sentences!)

Or maybe you just want them to practice some fine motor work!  Have students flip a sand timer (I found mine at Dollar Tree 'teacher section') and put beads on the pipe cleaner until the time runs out:

No matter what skill you choose to practice, your students are sure to LOVE it!

They will even forget they are 'learning!'

Be sure to check out my post that has this FREE Thanksgiving retelling bracelet/story:

as well as my Thanksgiving resources (both paid and free):

Wishing you, your students and family a very happy Thanksgiving!

Until next post,

Hair Gel Writing Practice Bags

Over the summer I attended a sight words workshop at the National I Teach K conference in Las Vegas presented by Mary from Sharing Kindergarten.

She shared her sight word stations and at one station she has the kids practice writing their sight words on hair gel bags!

GENIUS!

No mess- but all the 'tactile fun' of finger paint and/or shaving cream!

She used gallon size bags- since I was making a class set, I opted for quart size!

Fast forward to now where I watch my kinders struggle each day with fine motor issues!

So it was time to make some hair gel bags to practice our letters and numbers!

Now we are all ready for some fine motor

So how did I make these bags?!

I bought 5 bottles of CHEAP hair gel (I wound up only needing 3.5, but will keep the remaining gel to make new bags for those that find too much 'TLC' in their existence!)

I had a box of food coloring I use for playdough making in the cabinet so I was all set to make bags in all colors!

I purchased sandwich and quart size bags. 

I made a writing line 'template' to slide in the bags.

First I squeezed some gel into the sandwich size bag.  I didn't measure it- just eyed it!

Then I added a few drops of food coloring to the gel 

I closed the bag- getting out as much air as I could- and started squeezing and squishing the bag to mix the colors 

This is what it looked like once it was all 'mixed' (it doesn't take long or much effort!) 

I printed the writing line onto cardstock, cut it out and taped the bag to the cardstock template in 3 places across the top

This is what it looked like once it was all affixed to the template 

I slipped the gel bag/writing template combo into the quart size bag and got as much air out as possible before sealing the bag 

Now they are ready to practice writing letters and/or numbers!

'Erasing' is easy!  Simply rub the space back and forth! 

All set to practice the next letter/number! 

Keep them stored flat!

They are also great to have at your guided reading/small group instruction table!  There is no way to break out finger paint or shaving cream during a small group lesson, but these bags serve the same purpose without the mess- or crazy clean up!

They can be used for writing words too!

If a bag happens to 'pop' it is housed inside a second bag so it will be easy to spot a 'leak' before it is too late!

You can make your bags seasonally tinted or go for a rainbow of colors like I did!

Until next post,