Sunday, July 19, 2015

Five Freebies Free for all and the Five More Free Contest


So I thought you might all like some free stuff? I started a Teacher pay Teacher store in March this year and I have been busily adding new things that I think would be useful to French Immersion, FSL and French teachers and some things that are good for teachers at all levels.

I have some freebies for you below and I also wanted to give you the chance to win  five paid products from my store for FREE!  Entering is easy, just follow me on Teacher pay Teacher or follow this blog.  You'll be first to know when I add new products and new freebies!

I will be drawing for a winner August 31st. Don't miss out on your chance!

Now for the freebies!

Here are a few freebies for you to check out:



French writing prompts- La FĂȘte

One sample writing prompt that includes 3 versions.
Two versions have a word bank included and one only includes the image. This document also includes two pages of lined writing paper for those students who want to write more.

Other Writing Prompts

Pirate Writing Prompts at La classe de Mme Hawtree

Spring Writing Prompts at La classe de Mme Hawtree







Roll and Cover Game - Snail

A great center or game for the beginning of the year. Students roll a dice and count the number of dots. They cover the number.

Includes - 3 games
Roll 1 dice.
Roll 1 dice add 1.
Roll 2 dice add 2.






3D Shapes - Cut, glue and color

3D shapes center activity or worksheets

Page 3—Students color in shapes as directed and count the number of each shape type.
Page 4– Students cut and glue shapes into one of the two columns following the rule. They can cut out shapes on the bottom of the page or shapes from magazines.
Page 5– Students create their own sorting rule and sort shapes into the two categories. Again students can cut out shapes at the bottom or find shapes in magazines.









Speech Bubbles


Free printable sheet of speech bubbles to print and cut out.


Use as thinking bubbles for predicting lessons or create comics. Use for writing activities too.









J'ai, qui a +1

Have students practice plus 1 addition facts while playing this game. Can be played whole class, in small groups or individually. Instructions are included.


Freebie includes 9 cards.


Click here for full version with 24 cards

Science maker project with the three little pigs.

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down."

The 3 little pigs has always been one of my favorite units to teach in grade 1.  The students have a lot of fun hearing and reading different versions of the story. They also love to rewrite this story. The last few years I have tried to do something different. I decided to see if we could use the three little pigs to teach a little science too.

On three little pigs day we sat down as a group and I introduced them to my little pig (a green piggy bank) and the big bad wolf (a hairdryer the first year, a large fan with wolf ears on it the second).  I explained that we would be building a house for our pig that would protect him from the wolf.

We brainstormed materials that we had available on the board.


I had brought in hay and wood for the occasion. Other materials were things the students found around the classroom.

Some materials that students suggested:

Paper, wood, straw, bricks, wiki sticks, pipe cleaners. books, pencils, paper cups and blocks.

I asked each student to choose 1 material they would like to try to build with.

I limited groups to no more than 4 students per material. If students first choice was gone they simply chose something else.


We made a prediction chart and all voted on if we thought the house made of each material would fall or stand.

When we had decided on our materials everyone student individually took out their "Thinking book" and they had 15 minutes to come up with a sketch or plan for their material.

They then showed their ideas to the rest of the group and explained why they thought it would work. Students then worked together to decide on the best plan.


I gave the groups 40 minutes to build.

After that time we all looked at each others designs and returned to the prediction chart. We checked to see if we wanted to change any of our predictions based on the designs we saw.

Finally it was time to huff and puff and blow the houses down. Very exciting stuff!

We reflected on our designs talked about possible improvements.

We looked at our prediction chart and spend a little time in our thinking books recording what we had learned.


I loved this project and so did the students. It was fun to watch them think through a problem and work together to create something. The learning was varied and students all felt successful, even the ones whose houses fell.

What did I learn at school today? The three little pigs made a great jumping point to science concepts like force and motion and predicting. It made me look for other literature connections with science topics. Do you have a favorite story that you use to teach science? Have you done this with your students before?









Friday, July 17, 2015

15 classroom activities for Earth Day

 Earth day is a great excuse to learn about all sorts of things. Conservation, recycling, reusing and reducing, humans effects on the natural environment and of course crafting and ingenuity.

15 Fun things to do for earth day:

1) Read - J'aime la terre by Todd Parr.  

2) Draw tiny drawings on tiny pieces of paper. Don't forget to use both sides!


3) Make junk statues out of materials that would normally be thrown out.

4) Visit the recycling plant.

5) Visit a local thrift store.

6) Plan a playground clean-up.

7) Try a Earth day Je lis et je dessine.


8) Watch  "Sid le Petit Scientist - Jour de la Terre" and do a soil exploration.

9) Plan a sharing/caring swap.  Have kids bring in items they no longer need from home. Students take turns choosing a new item that a friend has brought it. 

10) Plan a clothing drive and donate to a local charity.

11) Plant some seeds. Talk about the effects of plants on the environment.


12) Pretend you are the earth. What would you want people to know? Write a persuasive poster to ask people to help you! Template here.

13) Host a recycling relay race.  Have students bring recyclables from home. Have students sort recycling by type and ask a parent to drop it off at the recyclers for you.


14) Plan a maker day reuse it challenge. Have students try to come up with new uses for old junk. 

15) Create recycle scrap paper collages. Use old paper and scraps from the year to create new and exciting art pieces.





What are your favorite earth day activities?