Free Holiday Writing Prompts

Today I am delivering 3 FREE writing prompts to use during the holiday season. Two of the prompts are for personal narratives or paragraph writing. The 3rd prompt is a "How To" writing. Plus, a final draft writing page is included. 

These prompts will be perfect for you to see where you need to go with your writing lessons when you start the new year in January. Do students need to add more details in their writing? Do they need to work on their conventions? Do they need more work on forming paragraphs? Not only are these writing prompts helpful to you, they will get your students motivated to write. The prompts are kid friendly and will get them thinking. The 3 prompts include: The Best Gift I Ever Received, The Gift For Someone Special, and How To Make A Gift that Doesn't Cost Money.

These FREE writing prompts can be used for your writing lessons, sent home for homework, for early finishers, or at your writing centers. Just click and print. Click the example pictures below to download these freebies. 

Here are more writing ideas to use in your classroom:

Here are older blog posts about writing:
10 Ways to Improve Writing Skills
Build Better Sentences
Transition Words

Here are some Holiday Writing Paper you may like:
Holiday Paper
Holiday Note Pads
Lined Writing Paper
Magnetic Handwriting Paper
Skip a Line Paper

Happy Holidays!
See you soon,

Classroom Christmas Craft

I have the cutest Christmas craft to make as a gift for your students' parents or to hang on their Christmas tree. It's a tiny chalkboard with their picture on it and a message like Merry Christmas. You don't need many supplies to make this and you probably have all the supplies in your classroom. Each child will need:

• 4 popsicle sticks
• their class picture
• 9x12 black construction paper (cut into fourths)
• 8 in. string
• 7 in ribbon
• Q-tip
• Glue
• White colored pencil or chalk 

Students need 1/4 of the black construction paper and the rest of the supplies. I cut the Q-tip piece in the middle of the stick to form the little piece of chalk that sits on the tiny chalkboard shelf. You could cut at least 3 little chalk pieces from one q-tip to save on supplies. In the past, I have also used the end of the stick of a sucker or lollipop to use as the tiny chalk. 

Students assemble their tiny chalkboard as above. Glue the 4 popsicle sticks around the black construction paper to form a tiny chalkboard. They will need to cut the extra black construction paper that will hang over so that it fits perfectly around the craft sticks. Everything is glued on. The string that hangs should be glued between the construction paper and the popsicle sticks. Students write a message on their tiny chalkboard like Merry Christmas or anything they want.

Here are all the supplies you will need: 

I had the students wrap their tiny chalkboards and give as a gift to their parents. You do not need to wrap these, that is only optional. Students can just bring these home unwrapped to hang on their tree or around their house. 

I have this fun holiday game with Santa as the theme. Students add 2 dice, they add 10 more, and subtract 1. These math games are great to play if your students need a boost in number sense or for early finishers. There are 10 game boards that have different adding methods on each one. These games are perfect for 1st-3rd grades. Click the pictures below to read more about it. 

I also have this Winter Activities Pack. It has over 30 ideas to use for math, reading, and writing. You can use all the ideas all winter long. It has a winter theme with penguins. It includes task cards and worksheets. This Winter pack is perfect for 2nd-3rd graders. Click the picture to see all the activities in this pack. 

Have fun making this craft!
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Cause and Effect Relationships and Some Freebies

Do you need some new ideas for your cause and effect lessons? Scroll below to read more.

I have a few ideas to use when teaching Cause and Effect. The first thing you will need is a poster to show how cause and effect relationships work. You can create one yourself or use this FREE poster on the left. Just click on the picture to download this FREE cause and effect poster. The poster can help reinforce the concept of cause and effect relationships for students to understand better. Students can refer back to the poster when reviewing or applying their own concepts of cause and effect. 

Here are some ideas to use that don't cost anything or take time to make. Turn on and off the lights in the classroom.  What's the cause of the darkness (flipping the switch) and the effect (the room got darker)? Blow up a balloon and pop it with a needle, roll a ball to knock over dominos, or put an ice cube outside to melt. There are many ways to show students cause and effect relationships that you can find around the classroom. You can use other examples they may understand, like "If I do my homework, I'll learn new things."

Here is a sentence example I give students: The girl fell off her bike when she hit a rock. I ask students which is the cause and which is the effect of this sentence? The cause always answers why. So I ask the students, "Why did the girl fall off her bike?" Because she hit a rock. But if I ask, "Why did she hit a rock?", the answer cannot be because she fell off her bike. The cause will always answer why and the effect will always show what happened. 

If it was cold outside, how would you know it? Maybe by putting on a jacket or hat. Why would you need a jacket or a hat? Because it's cold outside. The desire to stay warm is the cause and wearing warm clothes is the effect. When something happens because something else makes it happen, it's cause and effect. 

When students recognize cause and effect relationships, it can help them understand how and why events happen in a story. It can also help them understand a character's feelings, actions, or motivations. When we learn about events that happen which cause other events to happen we are learning about cause and effect relationships. 

Here is a FREE graphic organizer to show different ways what could happen because of a cause. Use the middle of the flower to list a cause like, "Thunderstorms". Use the petals on the flower to show the effects because of the cause, like "broken branches, flooding, lightning.  

You will need some examples of cause and effect sentences and ideas to show students. This pack is loaded with teaching material or ideas to use as part of your lessons or at centers. Here are some examples in the pack:

I also have a small version of cause and effect in a winter theme. This pack offers a poster to display cause and effect relationships, task cards to match cause with the effect, a story about Penny the penguin, and 4 worksheets with a winter theme. Click the picture on the left to read more about what's included in the pack and to check out the preview.  

You will find plenty to do in both packs that show examples of cause and effect relationships. All ideas are great for your reading centers or for your cause and effect lessons.  

Here is a list of literature books I've used that have a lot of Cause/Effect relationships in them:

• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
• Tacky the Penguin
• Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Hopefully you've picked up a few ideas to use with your cause and effect unit. Cause and effect is an important critical thinking skill that will lead to a deeper understanding of the events in a book or even in their own lives.

Thanks for stopping by today!
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Pumpkin Themed Resources for the K-5th Grade Classrooms

I have a few fun pumpkin ideas for you to use this fall season. Scroll down below to see all my pumpkin resources. Some are FREE and some are paid products. Click on the pictures below to read more about them. 

FREE Pumpkin Glyph is a fun project to do with students during the fall or holiday season. This glyph uses a legend that students have to follow to make a pumpkin that describes them. Once all the pumpkins are made, see if the students will be able to tell which pumpkin belongs to which student. Click the picture on the left to download it from TPT.

Here are 3 PLACE VALUE blocks that students match the blocks with the number. These packs have 10s, 100s, amd 1000s place. Click on the pictures below to read more about them. 

Here is a FUN and FREE game to help learn addition facts. Cut apart all the addition task cards and place them in a coffee can. Students take turns drawing task cards and stating the sum on each one. If the student says the correct sum, they get to keep the card. If the students says the wrong sum, they have to the card back in the coffee can. If a student picks a Poison Pumpkin card, they have to put ALL their cards back in the can. Beware! This game gets a little loud. But the students are learning and having fun too! Click on the picture to download this freebie and start playing it today. 

Do your students need some help distinguishing from antonyms and synonyms? This pack has 50 task cards using a pumpkin theme. Students decide if the 2 words on the task cards are antonyms or synonyms. This comes in a cute pumpkin theme. These task cards may brighten up your reading centers this fall season.

Pumpkin "_ed" Sounds has 40 task cards. Students try to find the matching word that makes the same ending sound. Another cute pumpkin theme to use for your reading centers. These are perfect for 1st and 2nd graders. 

I'm also trying my hand at clipart. Here are the pumpkins I made. Click on the picture below to read more about it. 

Thanks for stopping by today. When I make more pumpkin resources, I'll post them here. Check back later for updates. 

See you soon,

Click the picture on the left to see Halloween, Fall, or Apple themed resources. 
 

Click the picture on the left to find Free and Paid resources for Fall. All resources are for K-5th grade classrooms.

3 Digit Place Value Unit and Free Worksheets

I am delivering today 3-digit resources for 1st-3rd grade classrooms. Are you working on 3-digit place value? Scroll below to find some useful math centers to spice up your 3-digit place value unit. 

I have some fun FREE and paid resources using 3-digit numbers. I created 4 packs of place value task cards and worksheets using 3-digit numbers. This bundle contains all 4 products or as individual pack. Each pack has a set of task cards and a set of worksheets. 

If you ONLY want the worksheets from each pack, click the picture to the left. I took ALL the worksheets from each pack and put them in a pack all their own. There are 42 worksheets all about place value and 3-digit numbers.  I am offering a FREE worksheet from the Add and Subtract 1s, 10s, and 100s pack.  
Click the picture below to download this free worksheet. This worksheet has students adding or subtracting 1s, 10s, and 100s of a 3-digit number.
 

I also have a FREE Place Value Mat to help add and subtract by 1s, 10s, and 100s. This FREE pack also has other place value mats and an idea to help read and write numbers. Click the picture on the left to download this freebie too. 


Here are the 4 packs in the bundle mentioned above. Click each resource to read more about it. Remember each resource has its own set of worksheets. You can choose the pack that fit's your classroom needs or grab them all.   

 

I also have a mini-workbook using 3-digit numbers. These mini pages are perfect for reviewing place value. You can use these during your morning work, as a warm-up exercise before you start math, as an exit ticket for a closing review, for early finishers to keep them busy, or as a fun pack of homework to send home for review. I also have a FREEBIE from this resource too! Click the picture below to try 2 mini worksheets from this pack.

I also made the clipart in these packs. I made a set of 100 blocks and dressed them up with a tie or a bow and called them Mr. and Mrs. Hundreds. Click the picture on the left to read more about them. These are great if you want to make your own place value set of worksheets or task cards for hundreds place.

Numbers are great for using 3-digit numbers! This pack makes a great math center. Students add or subtract 1s, 10s, and 100s to a 3-digit number and move up the ladder. They must be at a certain number when they reach the top of the ladder. These are great for number sense. 


Here are some items to help you teach place value using 3-digits:
Counting Caddie Pocket Chart
Base Ten Pocket Chart
Place Value Game
Base Ten Blocks
Magnet Chart

Hopefully you found some good resources for 3-digit place value.
Thanks for stopping by today!
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