Who Wants Free Stuff?

Don't you just love 3 day weekends?

Question: Do you view today as 2nd Saturday or 1st Sunday?

For the first time in weeks, I ventured into Target. I always make a budget in January and I know that I am not capable of walking under that illuminated bulls-eye without exiting with a minimum of $60.00 worth of randomness in a big red cart.

I was happy to see the bathing suits were out.

Because regardless of what the calendar or that crazy little groundhog says, the arrival of bathing suits and patio furniture means spring-is-a-comin'!

I was also excited to see the beauty that is the seasonal display. While not as thrilling to me as when the new crayons and notebooks grace those very shelves in August, I did get a bit giddy at the plethora of hearts and the abundance of chocolate.

Some people find inspiration in sophisticated ways.

I find it in the Target Dollar Spot and in a bag of red, white and pink M & Ms.

And I turned that inspiration into a new thematic kit that I just uploaded to TpT.

Oh, and I'm going to give five away. Read on...

It's fun and educational and contains enough pink to make your little boys puke. I modified the activities so that they would work for grades K-3 easily and to make it easy for you to differentiate within your classroom.

Below is the complete table of contents and the 4-1-1 on what's included.

As for how to get one of the 5 freebies...

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, simply spread the love. Blog about my blog (good, bad or ugly) and post a link to it. Leave a comment here letting me know where to find your post. If you are one of the first five people to do so I will email the entire kit to you and post a link to your blog to spread the love back at you.

If more than 5 people want to play along, I'll do a random drawing for a 6th set for anyone else who spreads the love.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE KIT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Graphing Hearts...................................................................................page 1

Use a box of conversation hearts to complete the graph. Younger learners could do this as a center activity with adult guidance. Older learners may complete it independently and then record observations in a math journal.

Making Words......................................................................................page 2

Cut the letters at the bottom apart and use them as manipulatives to construct words. You could have younger learners create word families and brainstorm other words using those word families.

Poetry Craft...........................................................................................page 3

Print a copy for each student. Either attach a photo of the student or have each child draw a self-portrait in the box. Decorate the image using a collage technique and pieces of string, ribbon, paper, etc. As a challenge, you could have the students underline the verbs and circle the nouns.

Opposites Attract Antonym Game.............................................page 4

Print one copy of the cards and laminate for durability (optional). Cut each card in half in a variety of patterns so that the cards become self-correcting. Print a copy of the worksheet (page 5) for each student. The children match a word with it’s antonym and record it onto the worksheet. They may then record their own list of antonyms.

Hugs and Kisses Sight Word Activity..................................page 6

Hugs and Kisses are represented with Xs and Os so what better way to practice sight words than with a tic-tac-toe game. Print as many copies as you would like for your students to play with. Another option is to slide a copy into a clear page protector and use dry erase markers. You could also project this page onto a Smart board. One student is Xs and the other is Os. Before marking the box, the child needs to read the sight word.

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates Computation Game.....page 7

Included are two versions of this game. One reinforces basic addition facts and the other focuses on the 3’s table in multiplication. You will need to add 2 dice to this game. Each game comes with a game board and recording sheet (print one per player) as well as a printable sign to place at the center.

Hogs and Kisses Writing Activity........................................page 13

After completing this writing activity you will have an adorable bulletin board to display. The students will be using their senses to complete a descriptive writing project about Hershey’s Kisses. Included are: a graphic organizer to guide the brainstorming/webbing process and three levels of writing paper making it applicable for grades Pre-K through 5th. I have the students make paper pigs using craft supplies to display with the writing. I have included a bulletin board sign to print and add as your title.

What is Love? Class Book............................................................page 18

After completing this writing activity you will have an adorable class book. Included are: a graphic organizer to guide the brainstorming/webbing process and three levels of writing paper making it applicable for grades Pre-K through 5th. I do this every year and it is always hysterical. I even displayed copies of this class book at my wedding. I’ve included a cover for you to use with your book.

Valentine’s Math Activities.........................................................page 22

Included are two levels of math activities that focus on estimating, number sense and computation. You’ll need to add Conversation Hearts to this activity.