Memorial Day: Free Resources and Activities

Memorial Day has special meaning for me as I am the wife of a retired soldier. During my husband's 30 year career he lost several soldiers to the war called "Desert Storm". There have been so many who have sacrificed so much to defend our country and so many who continue to do so. I thought about writing a unit about Memorial Day and what I would like children to know. I thought it would be important for them to know the history behind this holiday and the traditions. I have also put together some great resources for you to access to supplement your lessons in your classrooms.

At Education World I found some wonderful lessons including making a memory book and this Peace Windsock which you can download by clicking on the picture below. There are lots of lesson ideas and links to other websites where you can access more free materials.

You can find a great list of Memorial Day Books at Amazon by clicking on the book below.

I was very impressed with the resources I found at the Holiday Zone which you can check out by clicking on the picture below. You will find lessons, poems, arts and craft projects, classroom activities and so much more.

There are also lots of free activities which you can access by clicking on the picture below. Here you will find lots of facts and activities for all grade levels.

Most of these resources are for Grades 2 and up but there are some cute craft ideas for younger children at DLTK 

You may also like my Memorial Day Unit for Grade 2-3. Here is a preview of what is included in the packet. You can check it out by clicking on the picture below and also get a free activity.

I put together a free writing activity packet for my wonderful followers and views which you can download by clicking on the picture below. You will find a Compare and Contrast Activity and Interview. I hope you enjoy using it with your students.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend.

Let's Go to the Zoo: Free Resources, Free Craft Ideas, and Free Activities

Time for a Trip to the Zoo!!! Going to the zoo is my favorite field trip to take with primary grade students. When I taught Kindergarten in Seoul, Korea we took a field trip to the Seoul National Zoo. Believe it or not we saw a baby buffalo being born!!!! Whether you have a zoo near by or not, young children love learning about zoo animals! I have found some awesome resources to share with all of you!

Let's start with some great books for Shared Reading Time. Amazon has a huge list which you can access by clicking on this wonderful book below.

If you are looking for facts about each zoo animal, I found this great website called Science Kids which you can access by clicking on the picture below. I found lots of interesting facts about many zoo animals. Did you know that lions who live in the wild rest for 20 hours a day? Sounds just like my 2 cats.

How about some free zoo animal poems? I found 5 cute ones at this site which you can access by clicking on the picture below.

How about some adorable zoo animal puppets like the ones below? How fun to make and let your students interact with them! Makes me wish I was teaching in K or 1st.

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I found so many free crafts and printables at Busy Bees Kids Krafts.com -They even have mini picture books you can download!

At No Time for Flash Cards you can find 35 Animal Crafts to make and more craft ideas and printables at
DLTK

Finally I found a super website that has all the templates and directions to make folding zoo animals that you see in the picture below. They look adorable!

Wow! That was a lot of wonderful free resources!

You might also like my newest product, "At the Zoo" for K-1. It includes my own Shared Reading Book, 3 different leveled Guided Reading Books, Word Wall .......and lots of Writing Activities which you see in the picture below.

If you would like to check it out just click on the picture below.

I have been thinking about creating some Make and Take books for my store and wrote this fun one called, "Zookeeper, Zookeeper, What do you see?". You can download this freebie by clicking on the picture below. Hope you like it. This one just has the book but will definitely add more activities if I create some for my store. What do you think?

Thank you all for making a difference for your students. I truly appreciate each and everyone one of you.

Fabulous Feedback Linky

As a TpT seller I love creating products for teachers. Having been a classroom teacher for more than 33 years in the regular elementary classroom, special ed and ESL classrooms. I try to create products to help meet the needs of all the students in the classroom. I love to write thematic units with reading and writing activities as well as poetry units for the K-3 teachers. I create my own shared reading books and write original poems..A lot of my fabulous feedback was about how teachers loved the different level texts and guided reading books to meet the needs of all the students in their classrooms.  I'd like to share fabulous feedback that I've received on 3 products. Every time I read them they make me smile.

First is my best seller Hooray for Constitution Day: Grades 2-3  You can check out all the feedback by clicking on the link or picture below. Here are 2 fabulous ones!!! They always make me smile.

Next was one of my favorites: Fall Leaves, Fall Leaves for K-1   Fall is my favorite season of the year and I included 2 Fall plays which teachers loved so much. How cool that one teacher had her students perform one at a school assembly. You can read all the feedback by clicking on the link or the picture below.

It was really hard to pick a 3rd item as I wanted to pick a Poetry unit. I have 6 Poetry units that span the whole school year and my most popular one is "Snow Poetry for Grades 1-2"  I was excited to help teachers add more poetry to their reading activities as well as help them learn about different poetry forms and how to write different forms of poetry. You can read all the feedback by clicking on the image below.

I have something special for these wonderful people who left such fabulous feedback on my products. If any of you should happen to read this blog post please leave your e-mail so I can send you a free product from my TpT store. Since I create materials for different grades just browse my products and let me know which one you would like to have. It's my way of letting you know how much I appreciated your kind and thoughtful words. For me, feedback is so special and truly motivates me to keep improving to create the very best products for teachers.

Thank you all for making a difference for your students. I know that all of the teachers who have left feedback have truly made a difference for me. Please go back up to the top and click on the button and visit some great teacher authors who have fabulous feedback to share with you.

I hope each and everyone of you has a very special Teachers Appreciation Week and know how very special you are!

TpT Teachers Appreciation Sale!!!!

I'm so excited about TpT's Teachers Appreciation Sale from May 7-8th. Everything in my TpT Store will be 20% off . Just add the promo code: TAD13 at checkout and your total savings will be 28%. I am so happy to have an opportunity to say "Thank you" and tell you how much I appreciate all you do each and every day to make a difference in your students' lives.

I have recently added some Spring products and revised some old ones. Here are a few of the new and revised products. Just click on the image and download the Preview to see all the materials as well as get a free activity! Busy Bees and Frogs and Toads are for Grades 2-3

Here's my favorite revised unit: On the Farm: For K-1

I have 2 new Mother's Day Product: The left one is for Grades 2-3 and the right one is for Grades K-1

I also have 2 new Spring products for Grades 1-2:

Don't forget to checkout all the freebies in my shop and don't forget my famous "Don't Get Skunked" games.

Thanks so much for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope you find some great bargains and have a special week. I truly appreciate each and every one of you.