Thanksgiving Reading Bingo: A Freebie to Keep Reading Going Through the Break

Looking for a fun way to keep your students motivated to keep reading over the Thanksgiving break?  This FREEBIE is available in English and Spanish.  Click on the image above to get a copy for use in your class.  

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A Pawsitive Planner for Fire Safety

Fire Prevention Week is observed the first full week of October.  According to the United States Fire Administration, children set more than 100,000 fires each year.  It is even more disturbing that about 40 percent of fires that kill children under the age of 5 are set by children playing around with fire.  

Fire Prevention Week is the perfect time to review basic fire safety tips with your students.  I have put together a collection of activities that I use in my classroom that will hopefully help you as you plan to engage students in fire safety activities that may one day save their lives.

I always begin planning a unit with quality literature.  

I just love the level of engagement that can come from reading a picture book aloud.

Here is a look at the books I will make available to my students as we are talking about Fire Safety.

Integration is a life saver in my classroom because it is the only way I have found to expose my kids to all the topics that I need to cover.  

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the basal reader in my class.  I want the reading we focus on during the week to be meaningful  for the students and guide them to becoming thinkers as they read.  During fire safety week, we use a nonfiction passage to answer comprehension questions with text evidence.  We also work on summarizing the main idea of paragraphs using the same passage.  The student also have a chance to document their learning in a variety of different forms.

These fun videos are a great way to help children learn how to stay safe around fire.

In this video, Sparky the Fire Dog shares with kids how to use their senses to stay fire safe!

This video takes kids inside a fire station to learn important fire safety tips.  There is also a very catchy fire safety song that the kids will be singing all day!

This Chip and Dale Fire Safety Video is a bit dated, but the information is presented in a very kid friendly way and my class loved it!

Here are some of the sites that I let my kids explore during our fire safety unit.

This website is hosted by Smoky the Bear and has games and other interactive activities. 

This website hosted by Fire Safe Kids is full of helpful information for students and teachers.  

This is definitely a kid favorite.  There are a ton of engaging activities on this website hosted by Sparky.

Looking for a fun FREEBIE to use with your class during Fire Prevention Week?

Check out this FREEBIE Word Search.

I would love to hear from you.....how do you integrate fire safety in your classroom?

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Back to School with A MLK Freebie

It's the first day back at school for me today and I have mixed feelings about it.  I have missed my lil' pups but I am sure going to miss the carefree days at home with my family.  I was up early this morning so I wanted to post a little FREEBIE before heading off to school.

This FREEBIE is part of the Martin Luther King Literacy Unit.  Hope you are able to put it to use in your classroom over the next few weeks.

You can check out the full unit by clicking on the image above.

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New Year's Traditions Around the World

Raise your hand if you will be spending a lot of time this week trying to get ahead on you planning for January!  I know I certainly will be!!!  I wanted to share a quick FREEBIE for you from one of my favorite units to teach this month.  This FREEBIE focuses on the New Year's traditions in Switzerland and includes a reading comprehension passage, text based comprehension questions, graphic organizer, and a word search.  This FREEBIE is part of the full New Year's Traditions Around the World pack that takes kids on an 8 country journey around the world.  You can download this FREEBIE sampler pack for use in your classroom by clicking on the image to the left.

Take a look at this unit for the resources to take your students on the full eight country journey.  

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New Year's Celebrations Around the World: Word Search Freebie

Just finished up a fun FREEBIE to go along with a study of New Year's traditions around the world.

Click on the image above to download a copy of this New Year's Eve word search.

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Thanksgiving on Thursday: Collaborative Project & Freebie

I am excited to be using this book in my class this week.  It is one of my favorite Magic Tree House books because the kids love the story and learn so much in the process!  Here is a little peek at our learning from this unit last year....

One of my favorite November class projects is also included in this unit.  My lil' pups record their learning about the first Thanksgiving on the back of a pennant made from seasonal scrapbook paper.  Each child's pennant is combined to create a festive classroom display. 

Here is a peek at everything we will be working on this week as part of the novel study.

I also created a FREEBIE from this unit that can be used even if you aren't going to read the book.  You can download the Thanksgiving ABC Order for FREE by clicking on the link below.  

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Telling Time Task Card Freebie

I am looking forward to introducing the SCOOT game to my lil' pups this week.  I will be using this set of task cards to teach the SCOOT game and to review a tough concept for my little second graders.  I use SCOOT games a lot in my classroom because it is a quick and easy way to get the kids up and moving and to increase their focus, motivation, and learning.

These cards are available for FREE to use in your classroom by clicking on the image above.

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