Back to School!

It is time for our Back To School!

 Great first day activity to get children talking and interacting!

 

School Compound Word Puzzle Match Set using All School Words 

Here are 30 self-checking puzzle matches of compound words that can be used with the whole class, small groups or in centers. These are words that are used in the classroom!

The instruction page has several games to play using these pieces. For example, give each child a puzzle piece, making sure that another child has the matching piece. The students then scramble to find their match.

 

It can easily be adapted for the littlest learner by only using the simplest word concepts introduced. Plus little ones will use the pictures, while the

older student will read the words.
 Print, laminate, cut apart, and use year after year!

 

 A new product that I have added to my

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store

 

Apples and Baskets Number and Ten Frames Matching

What a great way to practice number matching with a fall theme of apples and baskets!
There is a set in color and a set in black and white for less ink use. Plus the black and white lined set can be run on colored paper to add more creativity to the activity!

Introduce or review the concepts of number matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few number concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned.

Glue and scissors are required if using them for worksheets! Great center or group activity too!
 Download Preview in my store to see the complete activity.

 

 

 

As a way to promote, share my educational activities and get my products in the hands of people that need them, I have been marketing with several other educators in exhibits at educational and homeschool conferences!

I am always delighted when I see and hear that something I created,

made a difference for a child!
We need your help! As back to school begins, help us get the word out about TeacherspayTeachers, so educators are able to work smarter and not harder! Teaching is stressful enough, without having to reinvent the wheel for every learning skill!

 

Best Year Ever

If you teach in a classroom, homeschool, preschool, daycare, afterschool, roadschool, worldschool or are a parent, grandparent or sitter and need fun educational activities and products for children. you need TeachersPayTeachers!

Visit my

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store.

I have a wide variety of activities for all subject areas,

plus decor for your educational settings!

Click on the drop down menu and go to "Most Recent" to see the new products I've added.

 

This makes me smile!

I realize this poster doesn't include the homeschoolers or roadschoolers,

but it is very real for

PreK, first grade, second grade, third........ 

 

I just uploaded a new

Tiny Book of Numbers

which is becoming a popular line of activities in my store!

Click on Tiny Books in my CUSTOM CATEGORIES to find others, 

plus I will be adding many more!

This is a quick and easy way to introduce or review numbers. Plus each child will have a great take home and review booklet to keep! Included in this activity are the numbers 1-10.

 Directions: Run the three booklet pages, printing on the front side only. The ten little number examples can be run colored or blackline.

Activity: Pass the three pages out to each student. They are to fold each sheet in half on the short dotted line and again in half on the long dotted line. Place the three folded pages together with the title on the front and The End page last. The booklet then gets stapled or glued together on the left side.

The booklet numbers and ten frames can be traced or colored during introduction or review. Pass the set of ten little pictures to each student. They cut the ten pictures apart and glue them in the box on the correct number page.

Other ways this can be used is to laminate, cut the pages apart, put Velcro on the number boxes and the little picture cards so that children can match the number of objects to the correct pictures or set it up on a magnetic board.

 

Tip: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases by leaving feedback on Paid products!

 To do this, go to your My Purchases page, you may need to login to TpT. Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product.

I truly appreciate your feedback!  



Free! 1-10 Booklet Of Number Forms for Review or Introduction!

This is the most popular free activity in my  

TeacherspayTeachers Store!

Free! 1-10 Booklet Of Number Forms

It includes these various number forms;

Dice, Fingers, Tally Marks, Ten Frame, Ordinals, Counting Kids, Number Line, Coins, Number Formation, Formation Poem, Number Word, and Counting Cubes.

Run the booklet, printing on the front side only. The cover pages can be run on heavier paper to make the project sturdier.

Pass the six pages out to each child. They cut them apart on the dotted middle line, then put the pages in the correct sequence with front cover, pages 1 thru 10 and back cover.

The pictures can be traced or colored during introduction or review. Many other forms of the number can be added by the students on the blank left page across for the number page.

There are links in the description to other number sense products and activities in my store!

b and d Reversals Posters Visual Cues

Sometimes lowercase b and d can be confusing for children and some adults, knowing the direction of each letter, especially when doing reading and writing activities! I have created an activity to help give a memory trigger for the letters.

 

This cute new product is a set of visual cue posters to help with letters

b and d Reversals Posters Visual Cues.

Visual cues can be helpful with remembering the correct ways the letters are formed.

Lowercase b has a baby patting his belly. This is to help remind students that lowercase b has a belly. The circle for the letter is on the right side of the stick and belly starts with the letter b. 

Lowercase d has a baby with a diaper. This is to help remind students that lowercase d has a diaper. The circle for the letter is on the left side of the stick and diaper starts with the letter d.

 

Enjoy these two freebie posters in color or black and white!

 

To find other parts of this product or to purchase the smaller student sizes for individual reference, click on the link above!

 Click on the Preview to see the complete activity!

Planning For Next Year.....Already!

Is it too early to start thinking about educating little learners for next year?

No!     Yes!    No!    Yes!    No!    Depends.....

It is never too early to start thinking about getting ready for the next group of littles, 

but I may not be ready to act on it yet. It varies from year to year. 

Sometimes I just need a break. 

Other times I am ready to jump right in creating new activities and products! 

Jumping in now!

I have created a fun product to welcome each student.

Hello and Welcome Animal Rhyme Cards & Posters, Farm, Zoo, Jungle & Wild Animals

 What an exciting and fun way to have the children enter or lineup each day!

There are 3 poster pages, 22 card pages with two animal welcomes on each sheet for 44 sentences, 4 welcome sentences without animals, the title page and a page of directions.

Assembly: Print the pages out on the front side only. The thicker the paper, the more durable they will be. Laminate if desired.

Poster: The poster has three parts, simply line them up together. The page with the top line is at the top and the page with the bottom line goes at the bottom. Notice the middle section does not have a top or bottom line. They can be stapled or taped together. You can also not use the middle section and just put the top and bottom together. 

You will need to trim a little off the posters to have the border match exactly right.

Cards: There are 44 welcoming animal cards with words and pictures. There are two animal card sentences to each sheet. These can be cut apart into two separate cards or simply keep them together.

The name of the animal is on each card with a rhyming word of welcome or movement. I have also used the color words red, yellow, green, blue, purple, orange, black, brown, gray, tan and white in some sentences.

Activity: When introducing the activity at the beginning of the year show the children the cards and explain what each animal is. Read the sentences and discuss the meanings of the different words.

 

You decide or decide together what movement or motion is to go with each card. For example, “You rock, peacock.” could be a fist bump as they come in the door. “High ten, brown wren.” could be two high fives with both hands. Part of the fun is making up and creating an action that goes with each animal!

As the little learners practice the different cards and sayings they will be able to read them, plus they become a learned memory. They will also be able to pick and choose which animal they might decide to be as they enter each day or lineup and doing their own movement or motion! 

What animal do they feel like today! 

See other jungle or zoo activities and products here:
Zoo, Jungle and Wild Animals Calendar Pieces Make Monthly Patterns
Math Zoo, Jungle or Wild Animal Theme Skip Counting Color or Blackline
Zoo or Jungle Picture Attachments For First Day, 100 Day, & Last Day Of School
10 Little Zoo or Jungle Friends Songs, Number Flashcards and 10 Puppets
Back To School Jungle or Zoo Welcome Banner
Zoo or Jungle Position Word Posters Left, Right, Front and Back
Zoo or Jungle Song And Posters For T-I-G-E-R Was His Name-O
Zoo or Jungle Alligator Bite The Bigger Number Greater and Less
Zoo or Jungle Geometric Elephant 2D Shapes

 

Are you ready to jump in?

Back To School Stress

Feeling overwhelmed with back to school, especially as a first year teacher or a new homeschool educator. Reach out to another staff member or homeschooler for help!
A good peer is always willing to come to the rescue and
help you keep your head above water!

 If you see a teacher or new homeschooling teacher "drowning" in the classroom, maybe you can throw them a few lifeline tips to help them tread the educational water.

Free Sample Pack of Puzzles!

To introduce some of my activities, I use free samples of the product!

Puzzles are a quick fun way to introduce, practice or even evaluate learning skills.

 

Today, I am sharing my

Puzzle Match Sample Pack.

This free product has 42 puzzles that include the concepts of solid shapes (cone, cube, sphere, and cylinder), hour time (12:00-5:00), antonyms or opposites, rhyming, homonyms, time sequence, size sequence, and things that go together.

There is one whole page for each concept. It has six puzzles each for solids, time, opposites, rhyming, things that go together and homonyms, plus three puzzles each for size and time sequence.

They can be used for introducing, reviewing, or evaluating these concepts one to one, in small groups or centers. They are also fun to use in game activities, like ©Concentration.

Print, laminate, cut apart, and use year after year!

 

Download Preview to see the complete activity.

I have many other puzzle activities in my store and I am always making more!

Enjoy!



Summer Practice Activities!

These two activities are recent additions to my store and would make great summer practice!

 Bees and Hives Letter and Sound Matching for Spring and Summer

What a fun way to practice letter matching and beginning sounds with adorable bees and bee hives! They look really cute completely cut out separately, but if you don't have time they can be cut on the box straight and curved lines. 

  

 

There is a set in color and a set in blackline for less ink use.
Introduce or review the concepts of letter matching first and then add beginning sounds.

 

The other activity is

 Summer Baseball and Mitt Letter Matching Color or Black and White

 What another great way to practice letter matching with a baseball theme of mitts and baseballs! Just laminate and use over and over every year!

There is a set in color and a set in black and white for less ink use. Plus the black and white lined set can be run on colored paper to add more creativity to the activity!

Introduce or review the concepts of letter matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few letter concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned. 

 

Enjoy!

Picture Frame Attachments for the First Day, 100th Day, & Last Day Of School!

A popular way to create special memento pictures of each child during the year is to use picture frame attachments! I have a wide variety of themes in my store and I am always making more!

This one is called

School Picture Frame Attachments

There are pieces for the First Day of School (shown), 100th Day of School, and Last Day of School. The quickest way to use this activity to put Velcro on the empty picture frame corners and on the back of the picture attachments. Then just add or change them as needed. There are extra pictures for added decoration. You can use the extra pieces to write your name or grade level to add to the frame! 

 

Decide what size empty picture frame you are going to use. The 8” by 10”, 11” by 14” or 16” by 20” are great sizes for these attachments. The example frame shown is 11” by 14.”

Picture Frame Themes 

Have the child hold the empty frame with the pictures attached, centered in front of their face and smile! You take their picture and they will have a wonderful remembrance keepsake! 

This activity is fun for teachers, parents, homeschools, daycares, preschools, and even roadschoolers!

ABCs End Of The Year Review or Summer Practice

It is the time of year when many schools, homeschools, daycares, preschools and childcares are winding down for summer break. Plus many parents are looking for activities and products for practice and review over the summertime to keep their children's academic skills from regressing! 

Aa to Zz Letter and Sound Banners

This activity is a fun way to review the letters and sounds from Aa to Zz! It includes simple vocabulary words for the beginning reader, plus cut and paste activities for fine motor skill practice. The whole project creates a wonderful banner of ABCs or can be made into an ABC Book!

I have a wide variety of products and activities in my store for summer practice and review!

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart

Free Bingo Game!

Fall my most favorite season of the year!

 

My freebie is called

My First Number Bingo Game for Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving.

 

This colorful, fun math product will help to introduce students to the concept of playing Bingo, or provide practice for proficient players. It uses the concepts of left/right, top/middle/bottom, corners and even diagonal, if your students are able to understand that concept. Differentiated instruction allows for a variety of levels of abilities to play this activity, making it more difficult as needed.

 

This game includes 3 pumpkin board templates, a nine grid, a twelve grid and a sixteen grid. Also included are little pumpkin calling cards 0-15, plus directions and suggestions for playing. I've added little leaves, jacks and turkey pumpkins cards as an extra surprise to create some excitement. I used candy corn as my counters to mark the numbers and when a picture card is shown each student gets a piece of candy to eat!

You will need to write the numbers on the pumpkin boards. I had a parent volunteer (Gotta love them!) do that, and laminated them.

 

Another way to use this activity is to give each student a pumpkin and have them write the numbers in the various squares. For example, you assign the numbers 0-10 on the 9 space grid pumpkin. They use a pencil to write the numbers first in any spaces, to make sure they have written them correctly, and then trace over them with crayon or marker. Then play the game. Students can trade cards for each game because each board is different.

This product can also be printed in grayscale to save colored ink.

The children look forward to practicing their numbers and you get a good visual evaluation of their progress. Great to play during fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving.

 

Another number pumpkin product is

 Fall Pumpkins and Leaves Number Matching Color or Black & White.

What a great way to practice number matching with a fall theme of pumpkins and leaves! Just laminate and use over and over every year! 

Introduce or review the concepts of number matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few number concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned.

Great center or group activity too! Download Preview to see the complete activity.

 

Plus follow my blog to find out about giveaways, freebies, linkys, educational tips and my newest activities!

Enjoy!

Play Is The Work Of Children!

I love this poster! Thank you Dr. Jean!

 

End of School Goodbye Notes!

I am excited to share a fun summer product!

The activity that I am sharing is my 

End of The Year Summer Goodbye Notes,

What an adorable looking little crab! This product has notes or postcards for the end of the year with a beach theme. You can create a personal handwritten note or use as a thank you card.

Show someone you care! Great for teachers to give to students, principals to staff or just from one person to another. 

There are three versions. No fold single quarter sheet, side fold half sheet and top fold half sheet. There is color and gray scale, which can be colored. The clipart is appropriate for a wide range of groups and age levels.

After printing the notes out, just write a heartfelt message and give it to that special someone! It looks so cute and is a wonderful keepsake!

My Fun Shines of Summer

Getting children to write during the summer can sometimes be a challenge!

So the goal is to make it simple, fun and creative!

Need an activity to promote creative writing over the summer and exciting enough for your students or children to want to do it? This project can be used to write down those moments that truly shined for them over vacation. Those special times that put a smile on their face because they enjoyed it so much!

My Fun Shines of Summer Creative Writing and Art Activity!

The black and white blackline set can be run on yellow papers or for more fun, print on designed papers. See example above! This is the cheapest way as it uses less ink. The yellow colored set has rays in two shades of yellow or mixed colors.

Print the pages out on the front side only. The thicker the paper, the more durable they will be. The sun is big enough that it can have two pages of rays shining around it! The rays can also be flipped the opposite direction so the skinny side is shining out.

The littlest learners can dictate their ideas for someone to write them down. Older children can write a more detailed small paragraph.

This is an activity in my

TeacherpayTeachers Store.

As a special treat for only my blog Followers, I am posting two pages of this activity for your personal use only.

Here are two blacklines for this activity! I have posted the sun and a set of rays!

 When you go to my store if you look under My Products, you will see a Sort Menu and if you click "Most Recent" all of my latest activities and products are listed.

 It makes a great bucket list activity too!

Warm Fuzzies!

I love Warm Fuzzies!

 

Urban Dictionary Definition: notes of praise that gives one a "warm fuzzy" feeling upon reception! As when someone you love or close to you says or does something that gives you a tingling sensation, melted or warmed heart, sends your heart racing to the heavens or even gives that "good" kind of goosebumps!

 

I truly love all the creative drawn pictures and adorable inventive written cards from the children, plus the special handwritten letters and notes from the parents!

It means so much when someone takes the time and effort to show they care!

So as the year ends, two things......

 

As a parent, take a moment to share a warm fuzzy with your child's educator or teacher.

As a teacher or educator, take the time to start a special Warm Fuzzy File for all your
one-of-a-kind treasured keepsakes.

 

I am so glad I did!

 I am so excited to have this post featured on the TpT blog!



Celebrate The End of The Year!

The end of the year is getting closer with each passing day!

So much to do and so little time to do it!

 

To encourage summer reading, I've created an end of the year bookmark that hopefully will be a placemarker in several reading books during vacation!

Free! End of the Year Beach Theme Bookmarks

This has 4 pages of bookmarks for the end of the year with a beach theme. Show someone you care! Great for educators to give to students or staff.

They can be used to motivate reading with the words "Have a super summer! I will miss you!" The clipart is appropriate for a wide range of groups and age levels. There is color and grayscale, which can be colored. I would love feedback if you download this, please!

 

 I also have a wide variety of certificates and diplomas in many colors and designs!
This is my newest one!

End of Year Certificates or Diplomas of Completion For Any Activity.
Plus I have a variety of others!

 These can be found in my

TeacherspayTeachers Store

look under CUSTOM CATEGORIES for

Back to & End School.

There are spaces to be handwritten in for the name, the date, and the signing person.

After printing the certificate out, just fill in the blanks and present to the student. So much more personal when handwritten! They look gorgeous framed and are a wonderful memento!
 

 I also have Picture Frame Attachments.

 

Print the activity out on one side only. The heavier the paper, the more durable it will be. Laminate and cut the pieces out.

Decide what size empty picture frame you are going to use. The 8” by 10”, 11” by 14” or 16” by 20” are great sizes for these attachments. The example frame shown is 11” by 14.”

Have the student hold the empty frame with the pictures attached, centered in front of their face and smile! You take their picture and they will have a wonderful

remembrance keepsake!
I have other Frame Attachments in my store and will be creating more!

Don't forget to Follow Me, you never know when I will post another freebie!



Father's Day Fun and Spelling Activity!

D-A-D-D-Y Was His Name-O

 What a fun activity for giving Fathers special attention for Father's Day!
It is a great way to learn some letters of the alphabet!

There is a song poster, the Love poster and the letter posters that spell DADDY. Included is a cover sheet and directions. Each poster is 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Sing to the tune "Bingo."

Introduce the song using the song poster. Pass the letter cards out and have the students participate with the singing.

To make the activity harder, sing the song with flipping a letter to Love for each verse and do a motion and/or sound instead. For example, sing D A D D Y for the first verse. Then turn the first letter D over for the second verse and have the children hug themselves and sing Love for the letter D. They would hug, then sing Love A D D Y. The third verse would be Love, Love, and sing D D Y. Do this until all the letters are turned over and the last verse is Love, Love, Love, Love, Love.

Lots of love for Father's Day!

So Lucky To Be A Teacher

Teachers are so lucky because they get to experience the joy of watching children learn!

Teachers come in many forms!

 

Teachers in a school classroom, a homeschool, a preschool, a daycare, a roadschool, worldschool, an afterschool program or other educational program will totally understand this!

 

If you are a parent, grandparent or relative that helps with the learning of a child you are also a teacher and will also understand this concept too!

 

I am sharing information about this activity!

Math Number Sense Interchangeable Mix and Match Puzzles 1-10 

 

This is a very exciting concept to use to teach number sense! It is a set of 130 puzzles in 26 different forms for the numbers 1-10. There are two different forms on each puzzle. All puzzles with the same number are interchangeable to mix and match!

Number Forms Included: Numbers 1-10, Counting Fingers, Kid Print Numbers, Number Formations, Number Formation Poems, Dice, Number Words, 10 Frames, Number Lines, Tally Marks, Coins, Roman Numerals, Counting Cubes, Money Sentences, Clock Time, Digital Time, Expanded Form, Before and After Boxes, Ones and Tens Frames, Counting Spots 1-9, Ordinals and Line Placement, Odd or Even, plus 100 Charts, Plus and Minus Sentences.

 

You just decide what parts you want to use. It can be all forms of one number or a certain form for all numbers, or all numbers all forms. These can also be used for sorting activities!

This activity can be started with even the littlest learners using only the numbers they know!

Print, laminate, cut apart, and use year after year!

 

Enjoy!
 

Tiny Books!

Do you need some activities to make your teaching year successful or have items in your TpT wishlist, that have been sitting there? 

 

Try this new educational activity, Tiny Books!

 

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart

 

Well, I have added a new search label in my CUSTOM CATEGORIES!

Tiny Books

I have several different topics of booklets listed and I plan on adding many more!

 

Tiny Book of 2D Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

This is a quick and easy way to introduce or review shapes. The six shapes included are circle, square, triangle, rectangle, rhombus and hexagon. Simply print, fold, cut and glue.

Directions: Run the two booklet pages, printing on the front side only. The six colored shape examples can be run colored or grayscale. There are three sets to each sheet, but each child only gets one set of six pictures for their booklet.

Activity: Pass the two pages out to each student. They are to fold each sheet in half on the dotted line and again in half on the dotted line. Place the two pages together with the title on the front and The End page last. The booklet then gets stapled or glued together on the left side.

The booklet shapes maybe traced or colored during introduction or review. Pass out the set of six pictures strip to each student. They cut the six pictures apart and glue them in the box on the correct shape page.

 

Tiny Book of Solid Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

Another easy way to introduce or review solid shapes. The six shapes included are sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, pyramid, and rectangle prism. Again simply print, fold, cut and glue.

 

These two booklets can also be found in a money-saving bundle too!

 2 Tiny Books of 2D and 3D Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

 

There is a money tiny book called

Tiny Book of Money.

 

Here is a simple intro or review of money. The six money pages included are penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. Plus there is a money poem for each one, to help them remember the amount it is worth!

 

The tiny book of colors which I have talked about in a previous blog post called

Tiny Book of Colors.

In this activity are the colors; red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, brown, black, white, and pink.

 

The newest tiny book is  

Tiny Book of Numbers, Counting, Writing and Ten Frames.

 

The quick and easy way to introduce or review numbers. Plus each child will have a great take home and review booklet to keep! Included in this activity are the numbers 1-10.

 

Each of these books can also be cut apart and used in centers, magnetic boards or with Velcro! 

As shown in this picture!

 

 I always like to give my Followers something extra for following my blog and social media! All my media links are included in the blue strip line under the Blog header picture too!

 

So be sure and Follow, you never know when I might post a new freebie to enjoy!