FREEBIE FRIDAY: Soldier Craft

This week's FREEBIE is in honor of Veterans' Day 

which is coming up next week.

It's a soldier craft that makes a super cute display.

You could have your kids make them and line them up.

They are especially cute if students make 

them like self-portraits.

Let them add details,

change the hair, eyecolor, etc

to look like themselves.

The file comes with all the patterns you will need

as well as ideas for variations.

You can grab your copy by clicking on the cover below.

Thank you to all who have served!

FREEBIE FRIDAY: President's Day

February turns us to hearts and roses and sometimes President's Day sneaks up on us. If that happens to you, I have an easy writing/drawing printable that requires no prep work.

Just print and give them a prompt (or not LOL).

The pack comes with lined and unlined choices

so they can be used for writing or picture drawing.

Either way, they would make for a cute bulletin board.

Just click on the picture and pick up your FREE copy.

Ready to Enlist?

I might be telling my age....
but when I was a kid I LOVED the song,
I'm in The Lord's Army!

Did you learn that song?
Do your littles know it?
It's an oldie, but it's still good.

(Click the pic to listen - YouTube link.)

Several years ago I wanted to do something with the song,

& God took it & turned it into a whole military-themed unit.

Anyway....

since Memorial Day is coming up,

I thought you might like a craft/bulletin board activity.

It's part of my Lord's Army packet,

but you can get the pattern FREE right here.

(Click on any of the pictures to grab a pattern.)

I use the paper pattern to make a sturdy pattern on 

card stock so that it's easier to trace multiple copies

without the pattern going to shreds.

(A crafty parent told me to use empty cereal boxes.)

I also label the pattern pieces with the part name

and the suggested color.

(One year we found camo wrapping paper

and those were very cool.)

That helps students when they are tracing their own pieces.

Cut them out...

I never cut out pieces for my students unless

they are very tiny pieces.

My goal is not a perfect product that looks exactly like mine.

With them cutting, it usually means that

their final products have a LOT of character :) 

Assemble....

They could be assembled and glued onto 

construction paper (and then add a background)

or they could just assemble the character.

Details...

Finish up with whatever details they choose

(faces, scraps for camo, boot laces, etc.)

These make a great bulletin board.

If you're interested,

here is a preview of the entire unit.

Don't forget the click any of the pictures above

to grab your FREE craft pattern.

Yo Ho Ho!

"Yo ho ho, we're so cool.

We are pirates and we love school."

The last week of April is Pirate Week in our corner of the world and this post has been sitting in my computer since then. I was out sick the month of May and just never got around to finishing this. But it was too much fun to forget about.

Our town has a huge festival every year on the 1st weekend in May (Shrimp Festival)
 and the week leading up to it is "all things PIRATE."

Classes all over our school read pirate books, made pirates, walked and talked like pirates,
and even dressed like pirates on Thursday
(because that Friday is a day off for us:) How many of you have a Pirate Day holiday?!)

In our classroom we started the week with the book Pirates Go To School.

My kids all picked out which pirate they wanted to be.....
the one with no shoes, the one that smells of rotten fish, the peg legged one, and the girls all said they just wanted to be a girl pirate.

And what do pirates know ALL about? maps, of course.
So we spent most of our time that week reviewing our map skills.

We used this super cute packet from Primary Paradise.

It comes with a power point to show your students.
It features 2 characters (with really cute names that I'm not going to tell you)
and they tell you all about maps......

In order to keep my students focused, I divided the class and put boys on one side
and girls on the other.  I had my kids read the power point. The boys read with the boy pirate and the girls read with the girl pirate and of course I made them use their pirate voices (funny).

Next, we completed the practice maps that came with the packet.
There are basic maps and grid maps to check their understanding.
They were fun and the kids hardly felt like they were working:)

The end of the week was the best part for them.
We used the template that is included to have them draw their own maps.
They were free to draw whatever setting they wanted but they had to include
a title, map key, symbols and a compass rose.

Then we made the cute pirate craft that goes with it.
Here are a few of ours:)

It was a fun week with a shipful of learning!

Take It and Make It!

Welcome Back for Take It & Make It with the 2nd Grade Pad.

This week I am featuring a product that's in my TpT store.

It's a Biblical unit focused on the military and it's called

I'm in the Lord's Army.

It features the children's song "I'm in the Lord's Army."

It includes printable copies of the book and many other posters and activities. 

Here's the preview.

The take it and make it for this week is the soldier pattern that is included in the unit.

Even if you don't teach in a school where you are allowed to use Biblical materials,

you could still use the soldier pattern with your military or other patriotic units.

Here are the steps......

I use the included paper pattern to make a sturdy pattern on card stock 

so that it’s easier to trace multiple copies.

(A GREAT tip that I learned from a crafty parent is to use empty cereal boxes to make patterns on.)

I also label the pattern pieces with the part name and the suggested color. That way, if I am having the students trace their own pieces they have that information readily available. 

Students (or I) use the patterns to trace each piece on the desired colors.  The next step is to cut them out. I never cut out pieces for my students unless they are very tiny.

My goal is not a perfect product that looks exactly like mine.

Since I do not cut for them it usually means that their final products have a LOT of characterJ

Next is the assembly. 

They could be assembled and glued onto a piece of construction paper (and then they could add a background if they wanted). 

Or they could just assemble the character.

Once it has been assembled, they can start adding details. 

On this one we tried to make a little camo.  (One year we found some camo wrapping paper and traced the pieces on that and they were very cool).

Finish up with whatever details they desire.

You could make green, blue or tan camo, or any combinations of army green/brown.

The hair could also be changed to match your students’ hair.

They are very cute lined up “military style” on a bulletin board display.

Hope you like it and will take a look at my unit.
Be sure to head back over to see Cynthia at the 2nd Grade Pad for some other great ideas.

GROOVY tour of America

 In Social Studies we needed to cover some landmarks, so we spent the whole month of February on an AMERICAN TOUR with a groovy theme.

We traveled by "funky vans" to several points of interest in the US.

Our stops included the Appalachian Mountains, Niagara Falls, Route 66, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park to visit Old Faithful, the sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon and finally home to the Everglades.

Our routine for each stop was...
1) Read a non-fiction book to gather facts.
2) Map It Out!

3) Complete a page in our travel log.

Several of my kids had been to some of our stops and were thrilled to bring in pictures of their family vacations. It helped them contribute neat facts that we had not read about in our books.
We talked about the places we would really like to visit, what we would (and would not) do if we went. Many of them did not want to camp out with the wild animals. But most of them did have very creative ways for how they would like to go over Niagara Falls (including in a barrel).

At the end of the month we combined all of our pages so we would have a
Tour Book of our travels.

I also had them complete a writing assessment to see
what they had learned about our different stops.

 I thought they learned a lot and I know they had a groovy time!
Here are the files for our travel log, cover, and writing sheets in case you want them:)

Safe travels!