As We Hurdle Toward 2024......

 Happy New Year! Peace and Goodwill to All!

I hope you have a year full of good health and all good things. To mark the end of 2023, I am throwing a sale in my store. Please check it out. 

You'll find  20% off everything in my store through the end of this month.  And don't forget all the freebies you can immediately download. 

In the meantime, make the most of every day, hug those you love, and be KIND to our fellow humans.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen

GROWING SMART READERS STORE

Free Baby Animals Accordion Pocket Books (Origami)

Check out these adorable little "pocket books"-- super easy to assemble.  But older children may have fun doing the folding with your guidance. 

Great exposure for the littlest ones: Toddlers will have fun with these after an adult has folded them into little books.

 Free Accordion Readers

November: A Month of Friendship and Kindness

 When it comes to November, here in the U.S, we think of Thanksgiving and a big feast with family and friends.

But November can simply be a month for focusing on gratitude, friendship and kindness.  In fact, November 13th is World Kindness Day! World Kindness Day (originally launched in Tokyo as a movement in 1997) has been celebrated throughout the world since 1998. 

Lately, the world has been in crisis, and the children are the ones most helpless and affected. Of course, there are myriad ways we can help--and you may already have your charities, all of which are good.

Personally, I am always wondering what's the best way to show my gratitude. I have gone from one charity organization to another, but this year, I'm focusing on Save the Children. And what better time to do it. November's World Kindness Day is a start. 

Let's begin by rejecting war, politics, racism, hunger, socio-economic disparities ...and welcome peace, diversity, kindness, and sharing by celebrating World Kindness Day on November 13th. Of course, we can wish it all the negative away, but we can take part in World Kindness Day (and all year long, too). Let's go beyond the turkey and the fixings...and find ways to help others who need help.

Save the Children & World Kindness Day 2023

Click here for Ways to Help and Participate. 

These links are from Save the Children website.

When it comes to teaching, I have looked for activities that help encourage kindness in one way or another.  Not all schools include it in their curricula. As a reading teacher, I created a resource that I have used as a supplement to a reading or social skills lesson. It's a short readers theater that focuses on helping others in need. No politics, no religion...just a script for a classroom and a teacher who wants to read about friendship and human kindness. Perhaps it will give your third/fourth graders some ideas for volunteering during the holiday season. This resource is editable, so you can modify and adapt the text to suit your classroom needs. But you will have a complete script ready to go if you choose not to alter it. 

If you are interested, you'll find it here:

Readers Theater About Kindness: The Kindness Project

Thank you for stopping by! 

November Freebies! Reading and Writing Resources for Students K-3

Teachers, Parents and Caregivers,
Check out these free resources from Growing Smart Readers. Turkey Tales and The Fall Nature Trail Book may motivate your hesitant writers.

The Big Fat Turkey is a spin off from a familiar poem.  I have researched the author of the original, but have not been able to find it. Some have turned it into a song. You might say it has become a bit of child folklore. I have added simple actions to the lines--just to make it fun to recite. However, you may want to change all of that to suit your students' needs. They may also enjoy the coloring page included.

Simply click on the link for each cover. You can download any and all free digital educational resources once you sign up at Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT). No fee to sign up! If you find these work well with your children, please leave a review. Your input helps a great deal!

Turkey Tales (Narrative & Opinion Writing)

Nature Trail Book

A Big, Fat Turkey Action Poem

Halloween Sale!  HALLOWEEN SALE!  halloween sale!

20% Off for a limited time only

Catch the sale before it disappears.... OOOOOHHH!

         

 

Visit us at Growing Smart Readers Resources

Thanks for dropping in!

                                                                                                           Pumpkin by

 Happy October Howlin'

October is flying right before my eyes. Have you made some paper bats with your kids yet? Well, even if you don't have any kids....it's so much fun to cover your walls and ceilings--and windows with these critters. Below is an easy bat-making activity that I think you'll enjoy. I know my kids loved making these. You honestly can't make too many. Just be sure to stock up on black construction paper before you start! 

Here's how to make a simple bat...

Don't forget that bats are one of THE best topics for getting students (or your child) to write. Kids come up with the most awesome and imaginative stories when it comes to anything to do with Halloween. 

BUT even if you are not into Halloween (and not everyone is!), and you just want your kids to have fun learning about bats and their habitat, making paper bats is a fantastic springboard for fact-finding and both fiction or nonfiction writing.

If bats are your thing.... and you want to get kids jazzed up about these flying mammals, check out my TpT store and see if these batty resources interest you.  Lots of freebees are in store as well.  Don't miss my sale this week!  

Happy Howlin' to y'all!   And have fun!  

Karen :) By the way, yes---Halloween is almost here....but it's not too late to have some batty fun.

BAT WRITING & CRAFT

HALLOWEEN SHAPES ( a fun paper craft)

And here's some more spooktacular writing stuff:

HALLOWEEN SPOOKY TALE STARTERS