Capitalization and Punctuation Practice Pages

My Capitalization and Punctuation Practice Page packet has become one of my top sellers lately. I am so encouraged by this because I think that providing students with basic foundational writing skills (capitalization and punctuation) is so important. 

In the primary grades, we don't necessarily want to bog students down with the mechanics, we want them writing, but at the same time, we can't ignore them. This is why we often have students go back and edit their drafts. The problem in the primary grades is that students don't necessarily have the foundational skills to do this. This is why I think that providing them practice in isolation is so important. It allows them to build skills that I hope will carry over to their writing. 

Anyways, I just wanted to share this packet with you. It is an 8 page packet that can be purchased from my TpT Store if you are interested. 

Capitalization and Punctuation Practice Pages

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Capitalization-and-Punctuation-Practice-Pages-2230603

Here are some sample pages: 

Please feel free to visit my TpT Store to view my other products. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Anna-Navarre

Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Have you ever made coffee filter snowflakes in the classroom, or even at home? So fun! Yes, it is a bit messy with all the paper pieces, but it is worth it. I love to see the creative display as my students, and even my grandkids, work to make their beautiful and unique snowflakes. 

Coffee filters are really not expensive at all, especially if you buy them at the Dollar Store, or 99 Cent Store. You get about 100 - 150 in a pack. This is good because students can make as many as they want without it costing a fortune. Also, if they don't like the one they made, it doesn't matter because they can make another one.

Coffee filter snowflakes are easy to make. It is really just about folding and cutting them. Each fold and cut produces a completely different looking snowflake.

Here is a video that shows how to make the coffee filter snowflakes. 

Making snowflakes is a great addition as you teach about winter. I like to display them around the classroom for everyone to enjoy. As you teach about winter you might be interested in a couple of other resources. You can click on the links to learn more. 

Winter Work Packet

Winter PowerPoint

Also, please feel free to visit Mrs. Navarre's TpT Store for 

other teaching resources. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Anna-Navarre

Educational Videos on My YouTube Channel

I have been keeping very busy lately. Along with creating products for my teachers store I have also been busy creating videos for my YouTube Channel. Many of my videos mirror a product that can be purchased from my Teachers Pay Teachers store, but they can also stand alone. Sometimes my videos are just videos that I have created for my grandson and the kids in my daughters daycare. They like watching learning videos on YouTube, so this is a fun way for me to help them learn.

Creating videos is a hobby that I am enjoying and working to get better at. I admire people who have this natural gift. I like to teach, and this is an avenue that I have found in doing this. 

Here is a sample of some of my videos. Please feel free to check them out. You can also visit my YouTube Channel. I have a variety of videos for both kids and adults. 

Click the link to view my YouTube Channel

Anna Navarre's YouTube Channel

The Little Red Hen 

Shape Attributes

Defining and Non-Defining Attributes

Life of King Tut

Addition with Regrouping

Can You Name the Vehicles?

You can also click the link if you would like to visit my 

Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Anna Navarre's TpT Store

Flower Design Art

I was going through my files and found a picture of this art project that I did with my class. I believe we did it last Mother's Day. This project makes for a beautiful gift idea. 

The art project might look a little bit complicated, but I did it with first graders and they were able to do it, so it isn't that difficult. 

I provided each student with an 7 1/2 x 9 1/2" piece of cardstock and a black sharpie. For my first graders, we did this first part as a directed drawing, but older students could do this part on their own. I showed students how to draw the flowers and then made a line to divide the grass and the sky. Then I broke those sections up into smaller sections. 

For the next step, I had students set their black sharpies aside and use colored markers. I modeled different designs that they could choose from and encouraged them to use their imagination to come up with new designs. Then I let students complete their work on their own. The only thing I did discourage was simply coloring in the whole section rather than using a design. 

After the art work was complete I mounted it on a separate 8 x 10" piece of construction paper and then framed it. 


*Note: The size of cardstock doesn't really matter. You just want to think about the size of frame that you are going to use and then cut the cardstock down enough to have the construction paper as a border.

   Anna Navarre’s TpT Store

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Anna-Navarre

Having Fun with Science Experiments

I love doing science experiments. They are so fun and so engaging. I don't think that I have ever had a class of students that didn't feel the same way. I like to have a Science Experiment Day where I spend the whole day doing different experiments in the classroom. It is a bit crazy, but super fun. Anyways, because of my love for this I decided to start sharing science experiments on my YouTube channel. I thought this would be a good way to show how to do the experiments. I also thought it could be a tool for teachers to use in the classroom in case they would rather show how to do the experiment rather than actually do it in the classroom. 

I've attached a few of my video to this post, but another way to access the videos is by visiting my YouTube Channel. I actually have 6 Mad Science Videos at the time of this posting with more on the way. You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel to be notified when I have new videos available. 

Click to View: Volcano Experiment

Click to View: Lava Lamp Experiment

Click to View: Oil and Water Experiment

Visit my YouTube Channel to see more

Anna Navarre's YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/Sylaina1

My Western Banded Gecko Lizard Experience

It was kind of funny to enter our garage the other day and find this little lizard just sitting there. That is the one thing about having a home in the desert, you never know what you are going to encounter. Apparently this little guy thought he had a good camouflage going on, but it didn't work, and as cute as he was, he had to go back outside to his natural habitat. 

My husband scooped him up with a dust pan and took him outside. Our curiosity got the best of us, so we tried to look online to see if we could figure out what kind of lizard this was. It had a rather strange look, at least one that we had never seen, so we were determined to figure it out. The best that we could come up with is the Western Banded Gecko Lizard. The description and the area in which these lizards are found seemed to fit, so that is what we are going with. 

I thought our "Lizard Experience" was over, but the next day we found this cute little guy right back in the same spot. Obviously, he found our garage to be the perfect home, but we had a better plan. We decided to take him back outside, a little further this time, to a spot better suited for him. He hasn't been back yet, so hopefully that is the end of it, but some how I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up again. 

Please feel free to visit my TpT Store for K-3 teaching resources. 

Mrs. Navarre's TpT Store
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Anna-Navarre

Desert Themed Activities
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Desert-Themed-Activities-1622748

St. Patrick's Day Fun

St. Patrick's Day is one of those holidays that I really like to have fun with in the classroom. I don't like to spend just one day on this holiday, but rather a full week. It is always a fun time of the year and usually a great way to get ready for Spring.

I don't go super crazy and have my students look for a leprechaun all day, but I do like to sprinkle glitter on the floor to make believe that one has been in the classroom. 

I know some of my fellow teachers have always liked having students make leprechaun traps at home and then bring them into the classroom (great STEM idea), but remembering to do this has not been something I have ever managed to accomplish. 

On St. Patrick's Day, I like to arrange my students' desks in the shape of a shamrock and lay green construction paper on the desks. I also like to have a little something special (stickers, bracelets, necklaces, bubbles, etc) on their desks so that when they walk into the classroom they get a big surprise, which of course they love. To add to the fun everyone is in green. It is a low-key festive day, if that makes sense.

As I mentioned, I like spending a full week on this holiday, which means having activities and printables for students to work on. Our writing is usually a leprechaun writing. We write about meeting a leprechaun and tell where we met him; what he looks like; how we caught him; etc. It is a fun writing idea that takes us a few days.

I read lots of St. Patrick's Day stories to my class and I make sure that one of them is a simple version of the history and symbols of St. Patrick's Day. One book I like for this is St. Patrick's Day, by Gail Gibbons. I love to have fun with other books too. Students always enjoy a good read-aloud, but they also like to listen to an audiobook on CD. We listen to some fun YouTube songs as well.

While I actually do quite a bit centered around the St. Patrick's Day theme, most of it is geared toward math. I use packets that I have created. Two of my old-time favorites are my St. Patrick's Day Word Problems and my St. Patrick's Day Roll and Cover packets.

St. Patrick's Day Word Problems

St. Patrick's Day Roll and Cover

Recently I have created a couple more packets. These are the St. Patrick's Day Adding Tens and Ones and the St. Patrick's Day Math Practice Pages packets.

St. Patrick's Day Adding Tens and Ones

St. Patrick's Day Math Practice Pages







I hope that you and your class will have a fun St. Patrick's Day and please feel free to check out any resources that you might be interested in.

The Gingerbread Man Activity Pack

The Gingerbread Man is one of those books that students have fun with. The repetitive pattern and pictures allow students to successfully read the story, especially the easier versions. Rather than just rushing through this book and only reading it once, I really like to spend time with it. This includes reading different versions of the story. It might also include the reader's theater, listening to the story on CD, and watching the story on YouTube.

I also like to provide students with different activities that work well and/or correspond to the theme of the book. I do this by using story resource packets that I have available at my TpT Store.

My Gingerbread Man Activity Pack includes a student version of the Gingerbread Man story in both color and black and white. This is used after students have heard the story a few times. After reading the student version of the story students cut the strips apart and put the story back together again. Using the familiar story is a fun way for students to practice reading.
The set also includes a comprehension page, a word search, and cards to make retell puppet sticks.

My Gingerbread Man Math Practice Pages includes 25 pages of math
practice that is geared towards kindergarten and first grade students, but may serve as a review for other grades. It includes pages for missing numbers, patterns, graphing, shapes, addition, subtraction, word problems, place value, less than/greater than, and time.



I have included the links to these resources below in case you are interested. I have also included my Gingerbread Man video and the link if you want to actually view it on YouTube.

The Gingerbread Man Activity Pack

The Gingerbread Man Math Practice Pages

The Gingerbread Man (YouTube Video)

This video is available as a PowerPoint as well. 

The Gingerbread Man Story PP

The Little Red Hen Activity Packet

I have some favorite books that I like to use in the classroom. They are fun, the students enjoy them, and the repetitive pattern helps students to be more successful in reading them. I like often like to read these books several different times in various formats(i.e. various book versions, student reader, readers theater, CD, and YouTube). I also like to bring these books to life, I guess you could say, by having students do different things with the book. One way I like to do this is by using story resource packets that I have on my TpT Store. 

The Little Red Hen is one of the books that I like using. I have created a couple different packets with various activities. I also created a YouTube video to go with it. I thought I would provide the links in case you are interested in checking them out.

The Little Red Hen Activity Packet

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Little-Red-Hen-Activity-Pack-2970686

The Little Red Hen  Math Practice Pages

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Little-Red-Hen-Math-Practice-Pages-2970700

The Little Red Hen (YouTube Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsD9WjHv5e8&t=1s