12 Days of Christmas - A Freebie Extravaganza

December is such a crazy, fun, and busy time of year! I wanted to do something fun for you guys that would be a blessing - so I came up with the 12 Days of Christmas - A Freebie Extravangza!



Each day, from December 1-12, I will post a new freebie in my TpT store. A gift for you to download and "unwrap". These will be activities that are from products I'm currently working on and will post at a later date in my store as a paid item. All the freebies will be in my store until December 16. After that, they will no longer be available.

So, be sure you are following Mrs. Thompson's Treasures on TpT and you will be notified each day when the new freebie is posted!

Click HERE to get started with Day 1.

Please share about the Extravaganza with anyone who would be interested! All I ask is that they also follow my store and download the freebies from there.

The Treasure Trove

**12/1/2014 Update - The first issue was mailed out this morning. You can still sign up in the bar at the top of this page, and in the next newsletter email there will be a link to the archives and you will be able to access the Snowman Math Freebies.

Have you all noticed how hard it is to keep up with ever changing social media?

New sites are popping up and others are fading away! There's too many to keep track of, and people miss a lot because many sites don't show all updates to everyone who follows. It's becoming harder and harder to have a consistent way to communicate with you all!

So, I've decided to begin sending out an email newsletter twice a month, that will include tips, ideas, updates, freebies, and other fun info! I am really excited about this, and I hope you will join me!

The first issue of The Treasure Trove will be sent out next week (the first of December). In this issue, I will include this exclusive Snowman Math: K-5 Freebies pack that you will not find free anywhere else! It includes 4 different activities - Hundreds Chart Mystery Picture, 120 Chart Mystery Picture, Multiplication Mystery Picture, and Mystery Picture Coordinate Graph.

Turkey Time - Thanksgiving Activities & Freebies

We had so much fun last week learning about turkeys! It's amazing how excited kids can be about non-fiction stuff. My 1st grader loves doing research and learning facts! I love that I can start teaching my kids the process of  how to ask questions and find the information themselves.

He was so proud of his finished research project!

We read books and answered questions, completed a KWL chart and Can-Have-Are chart, compared turkeys and owls using a venn diagram, sorted turkey facts and opinions, labeled a turkey, wrote a turkey poem, and even learned how to draw a turkey.

 

You can get this non-fiction pack in my TpT store HERE.

 

Here is also a list of a few great Thanksgiving activities that are FREE!

 

 



 Pilgrim Hat Hundreds Chart Mystery Picture

 

 

Thanksgiving Color By Number & Color By Sight Words

 

 

Thanksgiving Informational Texts By: GreatMinds123

 

 

 

Roll a Turkey By: Cori Bloom

 

 

Gobblin Up Multiple Meaning Words By: Big Hair Speech Therapy

 

 

Thanksgiving Reader By: Erin Palleschi

 

 

Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions By: Rachel Lynette

 

*Disclaimer - All of these products are listed as free at the time of this post. Sometimes authors change the price of products. I apologize if any are no longer free or available.

6 Ways to Use Dot Markers (Bingo Daubers) in the Classroom

Do you use dot markers (also known as bingo daubers) in your classroom? They are such a great invention! They are easy enough to use for preschoolers, but still fun for older kids. Here are some ways you can incorporate them in your classroom or at home with your kids to have fun while learning!

1) Practice the Alphabet - Have students write capital and lowercase letters using dot markers. You can write the letters yourself and have students trace the lines with dots, or you can get these Dot the Alphabet sheets that have circles as a guide, as well as pictures to go along with each letter to reinforce the sound.

 

 

 



 2. Addition Practice - Have students do simple addition problems using the dot markers instead of counters.

3. More Math Practice - Use the markers to indicate the correct answer instead of writing or circling it. Sometimes just adding the element of the dot markers can make a seemingly boring lesson more fun! I've made a fun and free multiplication practice page called, "Roll, Multiply, and Color" that you can grab from my "Freebies" page.

4. Sight Word Fun - Have students use the dot markers to find and dot sight words to help build reading skills and practice fluency. You can type up some sentences yourself, or to save you time, I've created a few resources that you can get in my TpT store!



Find & Dot Sight Word Fun

 

Dot Marker Sight Word Mystery Pictures

 

5. Art projects - We love using the dot markers instead of real paint and brushes sometimes. It's much easier and less messy! Of course there's a time for letting kids make a mess and experiment with real paint, but sometimes you just need a quick and easy art project! One thing we like to do is tape a cutout shape onto paper, dot all over, then gently lift the taped shape off.

 

 

6. Pattern Practice - Start a pattern of colored dots and let your kids finish! Or give them a pattern type (AB, ABB) and have them choose the colors and show a pattern.

 

There are different brands of dot markers, but our favorite are Do-a-Dot Art Markers. They are sturdy, and one pack lasted our family a whole year! There are several different color packs you can get. Here are some links to different packs on Amazon if you'd like to try some of these activities out!

 

 



10 Books About Turkeys

 

I'm not sure what it is about turkeys, but something about them makes them perfect for starring in funny stories! Here are a list of some of our favorite turkey books!

1. Turkey Trouble
2. 10 Fat Turkeys
3. Run, Turkey, Run!
4. A Plump And Perky Turkey
5. Turkey Claus
6. Too Many Turkeys
7. 10 Turkeys in the Road
8. Turkey Surprise
9.Over the River
10. I'm A Turkey!

Here are also some cute craft ideas you could use along with some of the books:

Tissue Paper Stained Glass Turkey 

 

Paper Plate Turkey

 

Turkey Yourself

 

Let's Make a Turkey

Penguins Research Pack

I've just finished my newest research pack - I Know About Penguins! I love using these packs to introduce research to little ones and organize our information!

 

This pack includes:
-KWL Chart
-Can - Have - Are Chart
-Penguins vs. Seals Venn Diagram
-Label a Penguins (2 versions - write or cut & paste)
-Non-fiction passage and questions
-Fact or Opinion - cut, sort, and paste activity
-Penguin Poem (using describing words)
-Penguin Writing Paper
-How to Draw a Penguin

*This pack is designed to help you jump start and organize research. It is not intended to include all the information you need to complete all the graphic organizers. Students will need to read books or do online research to get more information!

 

I can't wait until January when I will do this pack with my kids!

Five for Friday!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday to share with you 5 random things we did this week!

 

1. We made a visit to the children's museum this week with some friends! This is the best picture we could get with 8 kids ages 6 and under :-)

 

2. I'm always looking for fun ways to practice sight words with my daughter - so I printed out some words she knows and let her paint them!

3. We started learning about action verbs, so we looked through magazines to find words or pictures that showed verbs.

4. We finished up our ocean life unit this week. One fun experiment we did was to put some sand and water in a bowl and then added a little bit of oil. My son's job was to "clean up" the ocean - and we found out how hard it can be!

5. I put up a new Thanksgiving freebie in my TpT store! Color by number and color by sight word pages. Grab them here!

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!