Writing Santa a Letter

 

WRITE SANTA A LETTER

Do your students know how to write a letter? Maybe they don’t know what a letter is? It would be great if K-1 students learned how to write a letter to Santa.

Santa Letter Activities

I created a teaching resource that takes your student step-by-step leading up to writing Santa a letter. Teachers, this packet has lots of choices that will allow you to differentiate and have your students write the letter and put it into a Christmas envelope.

I have made this resource available on Amped Up Learning and Teachers Pay Teachers.

 

Standards-Based

This is a standards-based resource that is divided into 6 sections. Teachers, you will have lots of choices of what activities to assign to your students. Your students will be writing a list, writing sequence, tracing, drawing, and labeling. Lesson instructions have been included. 

CC-W.K.1-3, CC-W.1.2-3

 

Letter Materials

In the Letter-Writing Materials Section Students will learn what materials are needed to create a letter. Students can begin by tracing a list of letter supplies or can write a list of letter supplies. The next step could be drawing and labeling the letter materials or writing what materials are needed to write Santa a Letter. Students could end this section by telling the sequence steps for writing Santa a letter.

It includes a Santa Vocabulary list that students can trace and color.

Make a Toy Wish List

I call the next section Toy Choices. These activities will prepare them to make a toy wish list. You will have the choices to assign the trace and color or the write and color a set of toys. You know your students and what they need. Then they can get the graphic organizer and draw and label their toy choices. To end this section, students will draw-label-write about their toy choices and create the Toy Wish List.

Santa Face Activities 

The fourth section is the Santa Face Activities. They will get to trace and color or label and color Santa’s face. At the end of this section, students can either make a list of Santa’s Face Features or write about them.

All About Santa

The next part is the All About Santa where they will fill an info chart, Santa Buzz, telling what Santa is like. Then they get to make a Mini Santa Book (print front and back on the short edge) telling the sequence of Santa coming to visit.

Santa Letter

The final section is writing the actual letter. A model letter is provided that you can review with your students. Then they can either trace and fill a sentence frame or write their own letter. Then they can color a Santa topper and add it to their letter (great for decorating a bulletin board). Or they can color and fold the Christmas Envelope and place their letter in the envelope. Teachers, I would have the students do both Santa letters and one can go into the envelope and you can use the other to decorate your bulletin board.

This resource was made with love and care for beginning writers.

Froggy About Teaching

My friend Christy with Happy Hive Homeschooling tells about her December Holiday-themed teaching resources. She makes first-rate teaching resources! Go take a look at Holidays for December to check them out!

Take a look at the wonderful December-Winter Themed Resources that have been created by Teacher Contributors on Amped Up Learning, Winter Holiday Themed Resources.

#kindergarten #1stgrade #writingresources #writesantaletter #christmasactivities #christmasresource 

Thanksgiving Activities Your Classroom

 

The Spirit of Thanksgiving in the Classroom

Ways to Include Thanksgiving Into Your Classroom

Thanksgiving is coming and here are some of the fun and thoughtful ways to bring in holidays into your classroom that your students will enjoy.

One of the most engaging ways to learn at school, for both teachers and students, is celebrating holidays in the classroom. The month of November is short due to the holidays coming up, which also creates a busy time at school and home. Yet you want to make this time fun and academic for your students.

This is a great time to teach gratitude, kindness, friendship, and community. I have attached an activity you can do with your students. Click on this link if you are wanting Thanksgiving Classroom Activities.

Do this side whole group. Have students discuss in groups what each of these words means. Then discuss ways they can and do show each of these qualities. Write some of these on the board. Then give them time to fill out the graphic organizer.

You can print the pages front to back or on separate pages. You have 2 choices for printing on the backside. Your students can draw and label or draw and write. Allow them time to do this.

If you are wanting to study some of the histories behind Thanksgiving you can do a webquest. Scholastic has several good activities to choose from. Click on the link.

Host a canned/boxed food drive and donate the food items to the neighborhood Food Bank.

Do an acrostic poem using the letters in the word Turkey.

Brainstorm words that begin with the sound of each letter in Thanksgiving.

Have some Kindergarten Math fun with this packet!

Froggy-AUL, Froggy-Tpt

What about FAll themed Picture Prompts for those 1st and 2nd graders??

Froggy-AUL, Froggy-TPT

There is so much more you can do with your students. Thank you for following me and reading my newsletters.

May you have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!

Froggy About Teaching

October Seasonal Products and Sale

 

I just love the Fall season, the changes in nature, and the holidays it brings with it! This is also a time I like bringing into the classroom the same love and appreciation for this season. 

I want to share with you the seasonal products that I have in my Amped Up Learning store because we will be having a Halloween Sale, October 4-6. Everything will be 20% percent off, and you can take an additional 5% off by using the code: Spooky when you check out.

Click on the pictures to check them out!

If you are needing anything, everything in my store is on sale at a 20% discount. You can get an extra 5% off simply by using the code: Spooky. October 4-6. 

Happy Shopping

Froggy About Teaching

#Halloweenresources #Halloweenactivities #Halloweenfun #Halloweensale #AmpedUpLearningHalloween

Young Learners Becoming Fluent Readers

Early Childhood Literacy

There are so many different factors that influence a young child's ability to learn to read. Educators want to build a firm foundation with these young children so that later they become fluent readers.

The New England Primer was the first textbook that was used to teach children to read in the American Colonies. The reading instruction included teaching the alphabet, consonants, and vowels.

Now let’s skip ahead and look at more recent times. In 2002, The National Early Literacy Panel was created to look at the scientific research conducted on the early literacy skills in children ages 0-5. 

    A key finding was made that strong “reading and writing skills that are developed in the years from birth to age 5 have a clear and consistently strong relationship with later conventional literacy skills.”

Factors That Strengthen Later Literacy

The NELP concluded that there are 7 factors that strengthen later literacy regardless of certain conditions such as IQ or SES.

• alphabet knowledge

• phonological awareness

• rapid automatic naming (RAN) of letters or digits

 • RAN of objects or colors

• writing or writing name

If you are interested in reading the results of this study go to: 

DEVELOPING EARLY LITERACY: REPORT OF THE NATIONAL EARLY LITERACY PANEL

·     I’ll begin by addressing alphabet knowledge.

Alphabet Knowledge

Alphabet Knowledge is the knowledge of individual letters, sounds, and letter shapes. It is:

·       Knowing each letter in conventional print has an uppercase and lowercase.

     Letter recognition and discrimination

·       knowing letter names

·       knowing letter shapes

·       knowing letter sounds

·       knowing that letters and sounds form written words

We can definitely see how essential these skills are to the early part of learning to read.

These are skills that are taught in PreKinder and in Kindergarten. PreKinder is not a required grade level so not every child attends. Kindergarten is not a full day in every district so some children have limited exposure to these skills.

 So, when these little ones come to us in PreK, in Kindergarten, and even in first grade we don't know how much of this they have had.  This creates an urgent need to provide direct instruction and to give many varied opportunities to master these literacy skills.

This packet is a way you can help your students become masters of letter formation, letter recognition of uppercase and lowercase letters, and make the connections between letters and sounds. They will get to practice letter formation by tracing letters. They will match the beginning sound of a picture to either lowercase letters or uppercase letters. This resource uses an approach that is appealing to students of building ice cream cones with scoops of letters and pictures.

     

                                                                                                     

This is a fun literacy center that will give your students hands-on practice with the recognition of letters and sounds! What better fun can they get than these ice cream-themed activities. This is a phonological resource that will help students to make connections between letter recognition and letter sounds.

This packet contains 3 sets of activities. This will allow you to differentiate for your students with these activities. 

Letter Trace for each uppercase and lowercase letter.

Uppercase Mat    

        Print on cardstock and laminate.  

        Velcro on the scoop.                                                                

                                                      Print on cardstock and

                                                      laminte. Cut out scoops

                                                      and velcro on the back.

 Letter Match for lowercase-uppercase letters; lowercase-picture, uppercase-picture; lowercase-uppercase-picture match.

The Choices Mats are for your more advanced students who are ready for independent work. There are letter strips that can be used if your students need some structure.

        These activities were made with the research in mind. To help our students gain mastery of the alphabet knowledge skills.

Teacher friends, I retired from the classroom a couple of years ago. But I continue my career by making you my focus in creating resources that will help you meet the needs of your students.

Debbie - Froggy About Teaching on Amped Up Learning

Froggy About Teaching on Teachers Pay Teachers

                      

Why Use Boom Cards?

Boom Cards can be used on any digital device.

What Are Boom Cards?

Boom Cards are interactive, digital, academic games that can be found on Boom Learning. Teachers create the games and sell them on BoomLearning, Amped Up Learning, or Teachers Pay Teachers. A set of cards is called a “Boom Deck.” A deck can have audio clips, drag and drop activities, clickable answers, multiple choices questions, etc.

Why a Teacher Will Love Boom Cards

There is very little prep involved, other than providing a digital device for students to access the boom cards and giving students time on the device to become familiar with how to play with the Boom Cards. Teachers, you do need to create an account with Boom Learning. Instant feedback is provided to students. The Boom Cards can be used for distance learning or can be used in the class.

Why Use Boom Cards?

You will be able to find just about any skill or subject with Boom Cards. You can differentiate by assigning different decks for students depending on individual needs. If you have a paid account, you can track student progress and completion of each deck. You can assign them for homework, use them for centers, small groups, and independent practice.

I have made several sets of Boom Cards that address several skills. A good way to reinforce the sight words your students are learning is to assign some Sight Word Boom Cards for independent practice. Then you can assign a set of holiday-themed passages with missing sight words, Valentine Missing Sight Words.  

Ways to Use Boom Card Decks

Once the students know how to use the digital devices, you can assign a deck of cards to:

• all your students
• enrichment activities to individual students
• reinforcing skills 
• group assignments
• interventions
• choice activities
• recess fun

If you want to learn how to create a free or paid account with Boom Learning, watch this video, Boom 101, which will walk you through this. 

This is another way that I continue to create teaching resources that will help you meet the needs of your students!

Debbie - Froggy About Teaching

Phonological Awareness vs. Phonics

Are you new to working with young children? Maybe you are needing a refresher on phonological awareness. Read on . . .

Phonemic Awareness

What is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic Awareness is a group of skills in identifying sounds and using sounds to blend or break the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Early childhood educators spend a substantial amount of time building these oral skills.

Phonics 

What is Phonics? According to readnaturally.com,  phonics is “the teaching of correspondences between letters or groups of letters and their pronunciations. Decoding is the process of converting printed words to spoken words. Readers use phonics skills, beginning with letter/sound correspondences, to pronounce words and then attach meaning to them.” Reading, spelling, and writing are phonic skills, all related to the written word.

How is phonics different from phonemic awareness? Phonics is the connection between sounds and written symbols. Whereas, young learners begin with phonemic awareness by noticing sounds, making them, and noticing sounds. They manipulate sounds to form words.

Phonological Awareness

Phonological Awareness is the overall umbrella that includes phonemic awareness skills. It is the set of skills that are essential for children to become successful readers. Educators spend a great deal of time helping children to build these skills in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1^st grade.

Knowledge of Letter Names

Knowing letter names is strongly related to children's ability to remember the forms of written words and their ability to treat words as a sequence of letters that belong together.

Have you heard of the alphabetic principle?

Most children begin to learn letters between the ages of 3-4. 

So, it becomes key to begin to expose them to the world of letters. The Alphabetic Principle is the understanding that there are relationships between letters and spoken sounds.

In the book, Know Better, Do Better, Dave and Meredith Liben say, “It is not an option to skip or shortchange phonemic awareness! Children without mastery of it will inevitably struggle.” So, when we observe our students having difficulty, we tend to put them into interventions focusing on phonics and we leave out the phonemic awareness. A solid phonemic awareness instruction needs to be provided for our young learners.

They learn letter shapes as they play with blocks, playdough, plastic letters, and alphabetic books. This is a developmentally appropriate approach in which children have many hands-on and engaging opportunities to see, play with, and compare letters. This leads to letter learning. 

Children appear to acquire alphabetic knowledge in a sequence that begins with letter names, then letter shapes, and finally letter sounds. Children learn letter names by singing songs such as the Alphabet Song, letter chants, reciting rhymes, and letter poems.

This is where phonological awareness begins to take place with planned instruction that includes activities in which children learn to isolate sounds (beginning, middle, end), segmenting sounds, onset-rime, blending sounds, substituting, and deleting sounds. 

                                       

I have created resources to help students with these skills. Short Vowel Onset and Rimes Worksheets give students the opportunity to practice matching and sorting.  They can also play with the Onset and Rime Boom Cards and Google Slides.

      Then we take these skills and connect the oral part with phonics to reading and writing through writing letters, words, and passages. 

• Teach letter-sound relationships explicitly and in isolation.
• Provide opportunities for children to practice letter-sound relationships in daily lessons and in playtime.
• Give children a variety of activities to see, hear, touch, write letters and sounds.

As educators, we need to help young learners recognize and discriminate letters. Give your students as much exposure to letters as possible. As they begin to master letter recognition, we bring in letter sounds and teach that these can be beginning, middle, and ending sounds.

To help with this, I have created some products that will give your students practice with letter recognition and matching to beginning sound pictures and ending sounds as well!  Letter Sound Recognition Activities and Letter Sound Recognition Center Activities.

Kindergarten has been where a big part of my heart has been in my years of teaching kids. I continue to work at creating more teaching resources that will help you meet the needs of your students. My goal is to make your job just a little bit easier!

Debbie - Froggy About Teaching

How to Blog Like a Boss? You will get great ideas on how to write an effective blog!

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