Classroom Jr.

Mother’s Day Kids Poems

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 08 May 2013 18:55:43 +0000

I can’t believe that it’s almost MAY. Really?! Because I’m still afraid we’re going to get that one last snowfall here in Chicago (well, we still might, actually…. blech). I ask for the same thing every year for Mother’s Day – just a clean house! Somehow I never get it! Since we do so many crafts around here, my kids are usually really great at coming up with awesome homemade presents – last year they made these tissue paper flower topiaries with me for their grandma. I’m going to be hard pressed to outdo that one this year!

These printable Mother’s Day poems for kids would make great reading practice, and also double as Mother’s Day coloring pages.

Mother's Day Kids Poem - Mother's Day Game

Mother's Day Kids Poem - Mom Always Knows

For younger children, check out these zoo babies and mamas coloring pages!

Cinco de Mayo Kids Poems

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:45:45 +0000

Cinco de Mayo’s history is based on the celebration of the Mexican army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. Today it is still celebrated in the State of Puebla in Mexico, but has become a more significant holiday in the United States as a way to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride.

Related Pages: Cinco de Mayo Coloring Pages, Kids Mexican Crafts

Come to the Puebla Cinco de Mayo Poem

A Dress for Cinco de Mayo Kids Poem

More Cinco de Mayo Kids Activities

Make Tissue Paper Dasies

Cinco de Mayo Coloring Page

Eat Mexican “Dia de los Muertos” Sugar Skull (Calavera) Sandwiches

Earth Day Kids Poems

Wendy Piersall — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:50:44 +0000

I’m slowly coming back to work after a long and awesome spring break. We didn’t go anywhere, but I got caught up on so many things! It’s so hard to get back into the swing of things, though.

Besides spring break and Easter, the other great thing about April is Earth Day, and we have a ton of great material for your classroom for this very special day! Earth Day was started in 1970 by Wisconsin U.S. senator Gaylord Nelson, inspired mostly by his first hand experience with the environmental devastation of a 1969 oil spill in California. Supposedly the holiday was first celebrated mostly by schools of all grade levels, including colleges and universities. But I honestly don’t remember hearing about Earth Day until the late 1980′s, which is such a shame. And I’m honestly not surprised that someone from Wisconsin started Earth Day, because that state is really one of my most favorite places to visit. They like to call us in Illinois ‘flat-landers’, and they are right! The rolling hills of Wisconsin are just plain beautiful!

The mission of Earth Day is to teach our children about how humans affect the environment in detrimental ways. Topics to discuss with your students could include how power generation causes pollution, environmental disasters, the use of pesticides and harmful chemicals, animal habitat loss of wilderness, or the importance of recycling, reducing consumption and using renewable resources. It is celebrated every year on April 22, and you can always get a ton more information at the official Earth Day Network website.

Be sure to check out our page of activities from Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and Craft Jr.’s recycled kids crafts.

Printable Earth Day Poems

Earth Day Kids Poem - What You Can Do

Earth Day Kids Poem - Earth Day Mixup

Here are all of the Woo! Jr. Earth Day kids activities in one place!

Printable Worksheets for The Cricket in Times Square Children’s Book

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:21:17 +0000

The Cricket in Times Square is a wonderfully classic children’s book written in 1960 by George Selden, winning the Newberry Honor award in 1960. It tells the story of Chester the cricket, who comes to New York City from Connecticut by accidentally hitching a ride in a picnic basket. He makes a few new friends, including a cat, a mouse, and a boy named Mario, whose parents own a troubled newsstand. He also discovers a natural talent for creating beautiful cricket music, enchanting most of New York City along the way.

I’m pleased to present a brand new set of reading worksheets to accompany this favorite book of many parents and kids. Included is a vocabulary word list based on the book, a vocabulary definitions worksheet, a word search using these words, plus two 10 question reading comprehension quizzes (multiple choice and true/false). The twenty vocabulary words are:

Abrupt
Accused
Amateur
Anxiously
Concluded
Disbelief
Eavesdropping
Forlorn
Genius
Glum
Jinx
Keen
Knickknacks
Leery
Liverwurst
Looming
Loot
Niche
Scornfully
Subway

Printable vocabulary word list with definitions for The Cricket in Times Square	Vocabulary word definitions quiz from The Cricket in Times Square	Answer Key for the vocabulary word definitions quiz from The Cricket in Times Square
The Cricket in Times Square Vocabulary Word Search	10 Question Reading Comprehension Quiz Part I	10 Question Reading Comprehension Quiz Part II
The Cricket in Times Square Vocabulary Word Search Answer Key	Answer Key for the 10 Question Reading Comprehension Quiz Part I	Answer Key for the 10 Question Reading Comprehension Quiz Part II

Some example questions from the reading comprehension quizzes include:

What does Mario do to help his family?
How does Mama feel about Chester?
What does Chester like to eat?
How did Chester get to New York?
What does Chester eat from the cash register?
How does Mama feel about money?
Who puts out the fire at the newsstand?

Four New Easter Worksheets to Print

Wendy Piersall — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:22:43 +0000

Easter is coming up so soon – I can’t believe how quickly winter flew by this year! Here are three brand-new Easter worksheets, suitable for kids in grades 2-5. First up is an Easter word search, which is a fun filler activity for any time of the day. Next is a one page summary of the secular history of Easter , including when the holiday is celebrated, the origins of the Easter Bunny tradition. It also has some fun trivia facts about how many marshmallow Peeps and chocolate eggs we consume every year! This page can be handed out to your students or read aloud in class. Thirdly, there is a short 6 question multiple choice quiz about the content of the Easter history reading page to test your students reading comprehension. And lastly, there is another page with four subjective, short answer questions to use Easter themes in short math activities you can complete in student pairs or groups.

Printable Easter Word Search for Kids	Easter History Reading One-Page	Easter History Worksheet Reading Comprehension Quiz
Fun Easter Word Search Answer Key	Short Answer Essay Questions about Easter	Easter Reading Comprehension Quiz Answer Key

Be sure to also print out the answer keys!

Spring Math Worksheets: Addition Color by Number

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:50:57 +0000

We like to make classrooms more fun by making holiday and seasonal worksheets for your students! These printable spring math worksheets are for first grade, second grade or third grade students. The butterfly worksheet features math sums up to 19, the caterpillar worksheet features simple double digit addition up to 36.

You may also want to check out these farm animal color by number or the rest of our color by number worksheets.

Spring Math Worksheet - Easy Addition	Spring Math Worksheet - Easy Addition Answer Key	Spring Math Worksheet - Easy Addition Color Key
Spring Math Worksheet - Double Digit Addition	Spring Math Worksheet - Double Digit Answer Key	Spring Math Worksheet - Double Digit Color Key

Charlotte’s Web Activities and Lesson Plan

Wendy Piersall — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:38:38 +0000

Published in 1952, Charlotte’s Web is the beloved tale of the unlikely friendship between a pig and a spider. Though written for children, it contains some challenging vocabulary (like “idiosyncrasy” and “salutations”), and it even deals gently with the topic of death.

Below are some ideas to explore and a list of resources, a vocabulary worksheet, and a comprehension quiz all centered around Charlotte’s Web.

Ideas to Explore the Messages & Meanings of Charlotte’s Web

Language Arts -

Vocabulary – Charlotte’s Web contains many challenging vocabulary words. Here are two vocabulary worksheets using some of the more memorable words in the book: commotion, conspiracy, exertions, gullible, lair, masterpiece, rodent, runt, salutations, & specimen

Vocabulary Sentences Worksheet for Charlotte's Web	Word Search - Vocabulary Words for Charlotte's Web
Answer Key - Vocabulary Sentences Worksheet for Charlotte's Web	Word Search Answer Key- Vocabulary Words for Charlotte's Web

Adjectives – Charlotte had to come up with adjectives to put in her web to describe Wilbur. Teach the students what an adjective is, and have them come up with adjectives to describe the other animals.

Letter writing – In the story, Charlotte’s daughter, Aranea went out into the world so that she could return and tell Wilbur what she had seen. Have your students write letters and send them to people in different parts of the world to see what kind of response they will get. You might want to do this electronically to get a faster response.

Art -

: We have plenty of great spider and pig crafts on Craft Jr.!

Printable masks are great for role playing or other activities. We have both a pig mask and a spider mask on Fantasy Jr. They both come in a full color version and a coloring page version.
For younger children, here are two easy ‘hats’: a pig ears headband and a construction paper spider hat.
And here are instructions to make a pipe cleaner spider finger puppet or pencil topper – and a glitter glue spider web window cling.

Science -

Spiders – Charlotte is a member of the arachnid family. During the course of the book, she teaches Wilbur many things about spiders – what they eat, how they spin their webs, how they lay eggs, and how they die. Talk about how spiders differ from insects and how spiders benefit mankind by eating insects.

Barnyard Animals – Discuss the reasons why farmers raise geese, cows, pigs, etc. and how they care for them.

Social Studies -

State & County Fairs – If you can possibly take a field trip to a local fair, it would be a great tie-in with this book. If you can’t, talk about how animals win prizes at the fair. Have your students design their own unique medals or ribbon awards for the animals in this story.

Have your own “fair” – Have students bring in their pets, or pictures of their pets. Help the students fill out information forms on breed, care, etc. Let other classes come in to view the pets and ask questions. Allow those students without pets to be judges, and let them award ribbons for special categories like “most furry” etc.

Friendships - Charlotte’s Web tells of two unlikely friendships –Fern and Wilbur and Charlotte and Wilbur. In both cases, Wilbur’s life was saved by the actions of his friend. Discuss the qualities of a good friend. You can also discuss unconventional friendships in pop culture, such as Shrek and Donkey in Dreamwork’s Shrek animated movies.

Make Way for Ducklings Printable Classroom Activities

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:08:37 +0000

These wonderful worksheets have been sitting on my dusty to do list for TOO LONG! Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey is a classic children’s lit book, winning awards and all sorts of praise since it was written in 1941. It has never gone out of print in the entire 70+ years it has been around – wow! It has been a book on the curriculum list of almost every educator – mostly for younger kids age 4-7 (the publisher recommends age 3-8). In fact, it was a good friend and homeschooling mom who requested these from us a little too long ago.

These worksheets are appropriate for any age level that the book targets. There are vocabulary words and a comprehension quiz for older students, and coloring pages and two printable duckling masks for younger students. During a Make Way for Ducklings unit, I’d also recommend a few rounds of the Duck, Duck, Goose game!

Cute Yellow and Orange Duckling Mask Printable	Make Way for Ducklings Vocabulary Worksheet	Make Way for Ducklings Reading Comprehension Multiple Choice Quiz
Make Way for Ducklings Printable Role Play Mask Coloring Page	Vocabulary Worksheet Answer Key	Reading Comprehension Quiz Answer Key
Make Way for Ducklings Vocabulary Word List	Make way for Ducklings Coloring Pages	The Ducklings Family Eating Peanuts in Boston Public Garden
"Scary" Turtle and Fox Coloring Page	"Frightening" Boy on a Bicycle Coloring Page	Michael the Helpful Police Man Coloring Page

Valentine’s Day Word Worksheets

Wendy Piersall — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:45:09 +0000

Woo – hoo! Valentine’s Day is less than 2 weeks away! Here are three Valentine themed word puzzles: a word search, word scramble, and letter cryptogram. The word search and scramble use the same vocabulary word list, too!

Related Pages: Valentine’s Day Mad Libs, Valentine’s Day Math Worksheets, Valentine’s Day Kids Poems

Valentine Word Search	Valentine Secret Code	Valentine Word Scramble
Valentine Word Search Answer Key	Valentine Secret Code Answer Key	Valentine Word Scramble Answer Key

Check out all of our Valentine’s Day kids activities, too!

Assigning Apps and Educational Games as Homework

lornadoone — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:26:35 +0000

Ah, homework. It has been complained about by students, parents, and teachers alike since…well, probably since the beginning of homework. There’s no doubt that there are times when homework is simply appropriate. Students need opportunities to master new skills and to review old ones, not to mention studying for exams.

But, what if you could make homework less traumatic (and dramatic)? We’re living in an age where that just might be possible. I do understand that not every student has access to a computer or a smart phone, so assigning games and apps as homework is something that would need to be tailored to each classroom. That said, if you can make it work, why not?

5 Great Links to Find Educational Apps to Use in the Classroom

It seems like the internet is full of “best of” lists, so it’s not too hard to find games and apps that are actually recommended by parents and other teachers. The thing about them is that they’re entertainment as well as education, which means students don’t just learn, they also enjoy the act of learning. This, of course, helps create a pattern where children look forward to and enjoy the learning experience, rather than resenting and fighting it.

Kid’s Activities Blog: “Cool Math Games for Kids”
Scholastic: “6 Great Reading Apps for Kids”
Knowledge Adventure has tons of games in all different subjects and breaks them down by grade level.
School Time Games has some cool social studies and geography games.
Best Apps for Kids reviews and rates a bunch of science apps.

So, would it make you the “cool teacher” if you were to assign your students apps or online games to play? Of course, it might make grading a little harder, but with some creativity, you could likely come up with a screen capture method for “turning in” and validating that the kids did the work. Perhaps you could even develop some sort of contest with the highest scores receiving a special privilege or other reward.