The Very Hungry Caterpillar Interactive Re-telling Book Is Finally Here!

After 2 Years, I FINALLY Created My Most Requested Product!

Click the image. 

Teachers have been asking me for over two years where they can buy the interactive Very Hungry Caterpillar book they have seen at my presentation. Well, I finally created it in both color and in black & white!

                                                                           

If you copy the color version, it is perfect for the teacher to use to re-create the story of the The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. It will also make a wonderful addition to your classroom library.

(Be sure to cut out the white circles so your puppet or stuffed caterpillar can pass through the opening.)

But it is the black & white copy that will have the most value. 

Here is how it works:

-Introduce the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle and discuss the various parts of the book as well as the life cycle of butterflies.

-Create a caterpillar sock puppet (or use a stuffed caterpillar or a commercially sold caterpillar puppet) and re-tell the story using the color version of my interactive Hungry Caterpillar book. Make sure to cut out the holes on pages 3-9. Allow your caterpillar puppet to slip through the holes on the pages as you re-tell the story.

-Use the link included in the directions, and have your students make caterpillar sock puppets. 

I had students bring in socks from The Dollar Store. Only half of the students needed to bring in socks for the entire class to have one. 

-Using the butterfly template in the set, have your students use crayons and watercolor paints to create a crayon resist design on the butterfly. Allow the butterflies to dry and have your students cut along the square surrounding the butterfly. Have them fold their butterfly several times and place it inside their caterpillar sock puppet. 

-Copy the black & white version of the interactive re-telling book on white cardstock or white construction paper for each student and have them color the illustrations.

-Students should partner read (or buddy up with a partner class) to share their interactive re-telling books along, with their sock puppets, with a partner. They should allow their sock puppets to slide through the holes on pages 3-9 and they should remove the hidden butterfly from their sock puppet at the end of the story to reveal its beautiful colors. 

Science Link:  You can also have your students cut out the images of the butterfly's life cycle and glue them onto the correct spaces on the worksheet provided in the set. 

Your students will LOVE re-telling this familiar story, they will develop oral language skills, reinforce skills such as sequence of events, speaking in complete sentences, and re-telling familiar stories.And they will look forward to taking home their interactive re-telling book and sock puppets to share the story with their families. 

Don't you LOVE the graphics? They are all from DJ Inkers and Creative Clips. 

Click the image above to see more graphics from DJ Inkers.

Click the image to see more graphics from DJ Inkers.

You can get 15% off at DJ Inkers by using my code: KFUN. The code is good through March 2018. Here is my affiliate link:

 http://www.djinkers.com/200.html

You can grab your copy of The Hungry Caterpillar Re-telling Book by CLICKING HERE. 

The Stars At Night, Are Big & Bright - - - - Deep in the Heart of...

Texas!  Well, Austin to be exact!

And the Texas teachers were the stars!

I absolutely LOVED working with the teachers in Texas at SDE's Pre-K and Kindergarten conferences! What an enthusiastic bunch of dedicated educators! 

I had the opportunity to share eight sessions with some awesome educators! 

My favorite session was the hands-on Make & Take called "It's A Great Day For Science!" That is something that the great Mr. Hayes, science teacher extraordinaire, would say as he greeted his 8th grade science class each day back in the 1960s & 70s in SoCal. Each time I present this session, I dedicate it to him. 

We had FUN creating bubbles inside of bubbles:

And re-creating the life cycle of a butterfly with pasta:

Made with pastina (eggs), rotini (caterpillar), mini shells (chrysalis), & bow-tie (butterfly).

And they got the link to my FREE Scientific Method Signs. You can grab this FREEBIE too by clicking on the image:

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE.

I set up the night before and filled the room with samples from my classroom. Teachers were able to take photos and handle the samples.

Best of all, they got to hear three stories from some of my favorite authors:

Blue On Blue, by Dianne White is filled with rich vocabulary and beautiful illustrations. We were able to interact with the story by tapping, clapping, and slapping out the sounds of the rain. You can find out more about Dianne and her lovely book on her web site Dianne White.

Harriet Can Carry It, by Kirk Jay Mueller is a delightful story about a Kangaroo and her little Joey who just want to spend a day at the beach. I shared how to read this story while filling up a beach bag much like we do when we read The Mitten, except this story takes place in the summer. You can find more info about Kirk and his beautiful book at his web site Kirk Jay Mueller.

You're Wonderful, by Debbie Clement comes with the song on a CD. This is the perfect song to use at your Pre-K or Kindergarten graduation or any time you want children to feel "wonderful" about themselves! Visit her blog: Rainbows Within Reach.

And I was able to give away a "Show & Tell" apron!

Click the image to see the website. 

This sweet teacher was so excited to win that she did the Happy Dance!

You can see all of the amazing Show & Tell Aprons by CLICKING HERE.

We all had such a GREAT time at SDE's Pre-K Conference and their Kindergarten Conference!

And in the evenings, the presenters got to enjoy some delicious Austin food and some great company! Here we are with the ladies from ESGI. That is the website that saved me hours upon hours of time and caused my students to BEG TO BE TESTED! If you haven't checked out their amazing online testing website, you owe it to yourself (and your students) to give it a try with their 60-day FREE trial. Remember to enter the promotional code KFUN when you sign up for your FREE trial and they will be happy to apply a $40 discount to your first year.  CLICK HERE go grab your FREE trial and find out what all the buzz is about! 

And when it was time to fly back to California, the full moon was shining over my Southwest plane.

"Good-bye, Austin!" I hope to return again next year! 

1, 2, 3, Classroom Set-up: Year-round Bulletin Boards That Will Change Your Life

The Same Board That Keeps Changing:

If you are tired of putting up new bulletin boards every month, but you want your classroom to stay fresh, new, and updated then read on!

These boards can be set up at the beginning of the year and, with very little effort, they can be quickly and easily updated so your classroom always looks seasonal, fresh, and new.

Board #1:  (The secret to this board is in the binder clips.)

Each child has their own writing board.  Their name plate is below their writing samples.

This board goes up before school begins and stays up.  You just laminate construction paper (12"X12") and add a binder clip to each one.  You can find these at office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot.  

Click the image to grab the Instant Writing pack.

Each time your students complete a writing page, just double hole punch it & add it to the top of their writing stack.  The current theme is always displayed &, at the end of the year, all you have to do is pull the pages off of the binder, staple them together with a cute cover sheet, & you have a progressive sample of their writing & a great take-home book.  

I created an Instant Writing Pack similar to the one pictured here.

You can grab it by clicking HERE.

You can also add additional art projects around each child's writing board.

Board #2:  (The secret to this board is to just "let it go" for the entire season.)

We made our little trees with
toilet paper tubes and sticky-backed Fun Foam letter.

I have one tree trunk and 4 tree tops (1 for summer, fall, winter, and spring) that I put up each year. 

We start with the palm tree and the students make "Chick-a-chick-a-boom-boom" trees that we pin up under my big palm tree.

We also made flat trees which fit nicely
 in their memory books.

When fall rolls around, we take down the palms and put up the brown branches which stay up the rest of the year.  The students make fall leaves (that have a fall poem on them with a dotted font so they can trace the letters) that are quickly pinned up to the tree.

Our fall leaves were copied on red, orange, yellow, and brown.
Then, we added them to our memory books with their fall photo.

When winter arrives, we put their fall leaved into their memory books and I pin a little bit of snow made from cotton balls that I stretched across the branches.  The students make little snowmen after "buying" the parts during a small group math lesson and we pin them up below the winter tree.

You can find cute receipts for this project and more shopping activities by clicking HERE.

Each student was given 20 cents and they got to "buy" hats, scarves, eyes,
a carrot nose,coal for the mouth, snowflakes, arms, and even a bell.
This guy lost his eye!  Oh, no!

You can find out how to make the butterfly life cycle
out of pasta by clicking on the image above. 

Fast forward to spring.  The cotton snow comes down and I pin little pink squares (2"X2") of tissue paper pinched to look like cherry blossoms.  The students place their butterfly life cycle (made out of pasta) leaves on and around the tree.

You can always change out the seasonal are during each season, but I just leave the projects mentioned above up for the entire season.  

Click the image to find out how to create this life cycle out of pasta. 

Board(s) #3:  (The Secret to these boards is to use it as a tool all year long.)

Your alphabet and word wall stay up all year, but consider numbering your alphabet either with small calendar numbers or, like I did this year, match the numbered ten frame to each letter.  This not only helps to teach letter order, but often students recognize the numbers 1-10 before they learn the names of the letters.  This is especially true for most of our English Language Learners.  Then, all I have to do is say, "Look at the letter below (or above) the number 3."  

I just used calendar numbers here.

As for your word wall, jazz it up with t-shirts.  I have a letter on each t-shirt, its Zoo-Phonics animal, and any sight words we need to master hanging from each t-shirt.  The word wall stays up all year, but we can add any words we might be using during the year to any of the t-shirts.

Last year I hung the t-shirts from a clothes line by the window.
The fire marshal did NOT like that so....

This year, I hung the t-shirts below my front board.  

I liked them better hanging from a clothes line.  

I hope these bulletin board ideas help to make your life easier.

Check out my:
FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. (Tons of FREE ideas.)
PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  (Oh, the ideas on these boards!)
TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store (Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

See you all tomorrow with more 1, 2, 3 Classroom Set-up tips.

Palma :)

I Told You I Can Teach ANYTHING With Pasta! And A Give-Away.

Already Bought My Pasta:

Here is a cool project I do every year.  This year, I bought colored pasta so I only have to paint the butterflies:

This is a page from our kindergarten memory book.

This year, I got smart & bought colored pasta:

One sale for $1.00 each, used a $1 off of 3 coupon = 67 cents per box!

I use pastina (you can find it at an Italian deli) for the butterfly eggs.  

I use the curly pasta for the caterpillar.  I usually paint it green, but this year I'm using the spinach pasta that comes in the box with 3 different types of pasta.

There is enough of each type of pasta in the bag for a class of 32.

I use the small shell pasta for the chrysalis.  I usually paint it brown, but this year I'm using the whole wheat pasta.

And I use the bow tie pasta for the butterfly.  I'll paint them orange and use White Out for the dots.

And there you have it:  The Lifecycle of the butterfly!

Don't they look cute on the bulletin board?

These are the pasta colors I have left.  

Do YOU have any ideas for me about how to use them?  Maybe for my plant or animal unit???  

The Give-Away:

Leave your ideas in the comments and I'll pick a winner by Saturday who will win my FIVE LITTLE FROGS subtraction book pack.  CLICK HERE to see it!

Click the image to see the subtraction book.

See you all tomorrow!

Palma :)