Elephant and Piggie!

Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems!

I love the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems! These books are fun, creative, and maintain the kids attention. Here are just a few reasons why you should pick up these books today:
1. The characters are the same in each book so children will get to know Gerald and Piggie
2. The characters show their emotions clearly (excellent for kiddos with disabilities) 
3. There aren't any excessive words on a page, it is also written with thought talking bubbles above the characters heads
4. You can use the Gerald and Piggie stuffed animals to act out the book
5. The books teach about friendship, sharing, difference, and much more!



Elephant and Piggie Comic Strip

My students love the elephant and piggie books. When we have library time I see them trying to retell the story in their own words, acting it out with puppets, or stuffed animals, and requesting a read aloud. I used the graphics from Mo Willems to create a few simple story outlines for the kids to create their own story. The students loved this idea and came up with some extremely creative stories.  Comic Strip Printable



Sensory Painting with Sand

Glue and Blue Sand

My students were learning about the letter Ss. I decided to have them paint with sand. Using wax paper have them squeeze Elmer's Glue into a design on their paper. They can create shapes, letters, numbers, or just swirly lines. Make sure everything is connected with a thick amount of glue. Then I put decorator sand into small containers so the kids could sprinkle it over their design. I helped them move the sand around by shaking the sand across all the glue. Remove excess sand. Let dry. Once it is completely dry you can peel off the glue/sand design. The end result is tactile and fun. Some other uses for sand: I made letters, printed on card stock, laminated and then traced the letters with glue and sprinkled with sand so that the kids had textured letters. You can also make numbers, shapes, and words.  

Move Like Animals

Farm Theme - Move like Animals

When your kids are wiggly get them up and moving for just a few minutes with structured movement. This is a page I have made that I print on card stock, cut into apart, and laminate. For this activity I have all my kids line up against the wall and then I pull a card out and they move like the animal pictured on the card. This is an excellent way to get them up and moving. The kids think this is fun and they beg to do this everyday. The of cards below is for farm animals. I was able to find a set of insects cards on the following website: http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/2011/08/i-is-for-insects-mommy-school.html (there are also lots of other wonderful printables on this blog!)

By doing these activities you are also able to address gross motor skills like crawling, walking, jumping, galloping, and more.  

Move Like an Animal Printable

Shape Printables - Star




Shape Printable - Stars

I wanted to incorporate more skills into simple activities. This is a worksheet about the star shape. This worksheet is extremely simple to adjust to different skill levels. Your students who can read have them read and follow the directions. The kiddos that are learning to read monitor and help out as necessary. For non-readers read the directions to them. For kids that are working on matching colors you can outline the star with the color and have them finish coloring with the same color. The final 2 questions on the worksheet involve counting. I wanted to address multiple areas. Below you will find the star printable.
 
Star File 

For my full shape printable check out: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Shapes-Shapes-More-Shapes