"Cat in the Hat" inspired activities

This week our class will be celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday and "Read Across America."  Reading is such an important part of first grade.  All of your life, you will read to learn, but in the primary grades, you learn to read.  Seeing those "light bulb" moments in a child's eyes - that is my favorite part of teaching first grade!

This Cat in the Hat inspired project has one design, three suggestions for classroom use, but many more possibilities.

I created a simple hat by welding together two re-sized rectangles on the Gypsy.  

 The first idea celebrates your child's favorite books.  Each child can write the title and author of his favorite books on each stripe.  This will be a great decoration for a bulletin board or classroom display.

 

 The second idea is an interactive learning center.  Laminate these hats so students can use dry-erase markers on them.  The children can browse Dr. Seuss books to find rhyming words to write on each hat.  The stripes provide room for up to five rhyming words.  Wipe the words off, and they are ready for the next poet!

The third idea is a reading activity to reinforce rhyming words, spelling patterns, or word families.  Use your favorite Seuss titles for inspiration.  

I'll end this post with a wonderful quote by Dr. Seuss, himself - 


“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

Join us back here, Tuesday, for a Blog Hop to celebrate "Read Across America."

 
Blessings!
Becky

Picture Schedule

I must admit that I am not very good at adhering to a schedule.  But, I know how important predictability and consistency are in a classroom.  I made these picture cards not only for my students, but also for myself.  They are laminated (sorry about the glare) and have magnetic strips on the back.  I can rearrange them as necessary, change our activity each day, and add any special events on the magnetic white board. 

The images are from the Cricut Cartridges "Locker Talk" and "My Community." I think these two cartridges are a "must-have" for any elementary teacher. The cards are about 5 inches square with the images sized to fit the square.

 I am also pleased to announce I will be on the line-up for my first ever Blog Hop.  It is Tuesday, March 2nd.  I hope you will join us for the Create A Book Blog Hop to celebrate Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday!

Blessings!
Becky

Caterpillar Birthday Invitations

 

     These invitations are for a friend's daughter.  They are celebrating her first birthday soon.  They are having a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" party.  Eric Carle is one of my favorite authors of children's books, so I was excited to help her out.  I found several ideas online.  One was on a "What to Expect" forum.  I used the idea and made it my own with my Cricut.  The caterpillar and butterfly images are both from the "Word Builders - Garden of Words" Cricut cartridge.    

  
To make the printed portion of the invitations, I printed the text on Microsoft Word, using two columns, centering the text.  With a little measuring, and the help of the Gypsy, I lined up the images with the text, and cut. 

 The parts of the caterpillars are assembled using mini-brads from JoAnn's craft store.  Each section folds up behind the other.  They all fit neatly into an A2 envelope decorated with a precious butterfly.

Thank you all for stopping by.  I am new to the blog world, and would appreciate you becoming a follower.  

Blessings!

Becky