Free Printable Lesson Plans

Free printable animal alphabet recipes and animal themed snacks from A-Z

Hello my friends of the Omschool! Teacher Omi here with a fresh batch of kids cooking lesson plans. And just in time for , I've added lots of children's literature connections. Here's a to make with kids. Eat your way through the alphabet from aardvark to zebra with these healthy school snacks recipes.

First some general tips for animal alphabet recipes. Use Alpha-Bits cereal, letter pretzels, cookies for letter shapes. Make animal character sandwiches using any spread and leave open face. Use pretzels or matchstick carrots for whiskers. For eyes, use Cheerios, spray cheese, raisins, olives, banana or kiwi slices. Make ears, nose and mouth from apple bits, pimentos, pepper pieces, triangle chips or crackers. Use pretzel sticks for legs. For animal cookie recipes, frost cookies with vanilla yogurt (healthier than frosting) and use candy or fruit to make faces. Here are animals to make.

A animal alphabet preschool snacks -- (read Awkward Aardvark and I Can't Said the Ant)

--aardvark apples and almond butter. Cut apple wedges and frost with almond butter. Add mini chocolate chip eyes and tiny lettuce leaf ears. Pretzels bits make the legs.

--ants on a log (celery spread with cream cheese or nut butter and raisins)

B animal alphabet school snacks (read Noah's Ark by Peter Spier)

--banana animal boat: Peel banana. Cut a slit; add animal crackers.

--bunny bites (baby carrots, broccoli)

--blue tongued skink blaster (blueberry or blackberry yogurt)

C animal alphabet school snacks (read, of course The Very Hungry Caterpillar)

--camel cheese and crackers (saltines with spray cheese faces)

--Caribou crudités (celery, cauliflower, cucumber carrots with cream cheeses)

--Cheery cherry cat cookies (frosted cookies with maraschino cherry eyes and nose)

--caterpillar (line up colored melon balls or cubes. Or make a pattern of cheese, cherry tomato, cucumber slices and baby carrots. Add raisin eyes to the first one.

D animal alphabet school snacks

--donkey chips (tortilla chips)

--dingo dill pickles (just dill pickles with fancy name or make cheese face on dill pickle chips).

--dolphin crackers (like the goldfish kind)

--dog chow (square and round breakfast cereals--Life, Cheerios, Kix)

--duck duck goose (marshmallow Peeps, animal crackers)

E animal alphabet school snacks

--elephant eggs (deviled eggs)

--eggplant echidna (place cheese cubes on pretzels and poke into eggplant base and Spanish olive slice eyes)

F school snacks to learn ABCs

--monkey finger foods (fresh fruits)

--fish crackers

--fiddler crab or field mouse figs (for crabs, poke 8 curly chow mien noodles into sides)

G healthy snack recipes to learn ABCs

--gorilla cookies (big cookies with banana slices)

-- goofy giraffe: Poke raisin eye in Swiss cheese cube head. Place cheese cube on pretzel rod, celery or carrot stick neck. Poke in apple body. Add pretzel legs.

H healthy snack recipes to learn ABCs

--healthy hot dogs (cheese stick on whole grain bun with sliced veggies) --ham witches (ham sandwiches, blue corn tortilla witch hat, olive eyes, pumpkin seed teeth)

--horse haystacks: Mix melted butterscotch chips, chow mein noodles and coconut.

--hedgehog. Bake a potato and stick carrot slices or pretzels into it to look like quills. Top with cheese or pineapple cubes. Add olive eyes.

I healthy snack recipes to learn ABCs

--ice cream iguana clowns: (scoop of ice cream for head, ice cream cone hat, candy eyes and mouth). --I

--Impala cupcakes. Make cupcakes and top with M&M eyes and Mini Waffle Cone or Muddy Bites cookies for horns.

J healthy snack recipes to learn ABCs

--Jackal Jamberry Jam-witches (PBJ sandwiches) (read Jamberry Jam)

--Jaguars: (cat face sandwiches)

K healthy snack recipes for kids

--King Kong cookies (like gorilla cookies)

--Kangaroo pockets (pita pocket bread with favorite fillings)

L preschool snacks

--lambkins (hard boiled eggs, pretzel legs, eyes)

--llama lemonade with lime slices (read Llama, Llama, Red Pajamas)

--Lemur lettuce pinwheels (tortilla spread with cream cheese, ham slices, lettuce, rolled up, sliced)

--Lynx or leopard lunchmeat sandwiches. Make cat face from matchstick carrots, green grape eyes and red pepper nose.

--Lion. Fill a bowl with hummus, add sliced black olive eyes and radish stick fangs and then arrange multicolored pepper strips around it.

M snack recipes for kids

-- mushroom mice. (whole mushrooms with spray cheese eyes and matchstick carrot tail)

--meow munch mix (like Dog Chow)

--Moose tracks ice cream

N snack recipes for kids

--narwal nectarines or navel oranges (with peppermint stick or striped straw for horn)

--nightcrawler noodles (chow men or cooked spaghetti or elbow mac and cheese)

--Nutria rat nutty nibbles (peanut butter cookies or sandwiches)

O alphabet animal snack recipes for kids ( read book Odder)

--otter pops: (decorated frosted sugar cookie face)

--ostrich or owl omelets (favorite omelet recipe with olives)

P snack recipes for kids (read Come Again, Pelican and Tacky the Penguin)

--pink piggies (pink frosted animal crackers)

--Panda Bears (gummybears)

--Porpoise's pretzels, popcorn and peanut butter

--Peacock pizza with pepperoni, peppers and pineapple pizza

--Penguin snacks (sushi with tuna)

--Pelican pouches (like kangaroo pouch snack)

Q alphabet preschool snacks

--Quail's favorite quiche tarts: Place pie crust circles in muffin tin. Mix eggs, milk, cheese, pepper, garlic, salt and favorite add-ins. Bake.

--Nestle Quick bunny (tell students to drink it “quietly.”)

R animal alphabet preschool snacks

--Rat's ratatouille: (vegetable soup) Read Wind in the Willows

--Rabbit-wiches (oval carrot slices for ears)

S alphabet preschool snacks (read Squirrel Nutkin and The Very Busy Spider)

--summer squash or succotash slices (read story of Gopher from Winnie-the-Pooh)

--squirrely sunflower sandwiches: Cut bread round. Frost with cream cheese. Arrange yellow apple slices in flower. Make a squirrel face in center.

--sloth's silly soup: Warm fruit juice; add fruit pieces.

--snakes and salamanders. Various colors of rope licorice.

--spider cookies. (like haystacks recipe, mix melted chocolate chips and chow mien noodles)

T alphabet snacks (read Zoo Animals or Baby Zoo Animals)

--scarlet tanager tangerine T (iced tea with tangerine slices or orange juice))

--tapir's tiny tacos (round tortilla chips with meat, cheese, tomatoes)

-- turkey taters: Poke carrot, celery sticks in baked potato for feathers. Add spray cheese eyes, pimento wattle.

U animal alphabet snacks (read The Umbrella by Jan Brett or Umbrella by Taro Yashimo)

--umbrella bird cookies: Poke candy cane or pretzel stick into marshmallow pinwheel cookie.

V letter snacks

--Viper's very vanilla valentines (frosted cookies decorated with V shaped snacks) Read Crictor the Boa Constrictor)

--vampire bat's veggies and dip Read Mystery in the Night Woods and Stellaluna

W animal alphabet letter snacks (read The Big Bad Pig and the Three Little Wolves)

--wolfwiches (enormous submarine sandwiches)

--Walrus wands (tusks) (pretzels rods dipped in frosting and sprinkles)

--wallaby weather vanes: Poke pretzel sticks in cheese chunk to make X. Attach letters N, W, S, E to appropriate points on X.

--wasp-wiches. Almond butter and honey sandwiches.

X animal themed letter snacks

--xerus (small squirrel) cut a small cooked sweet potato or banana flat on one end. Make ears from small folded bits of cheese slices. Add raisin eyes and fringed carrot tail. (to fringe carrot, use narrow slicer to make slices that end just short of bottom of carrot).

Y animal themed snacks (read Dr. Seuss One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish)

--yak milk (plain milk)

-- Dr. Seuss Pink Yink Ink Drink (milk colored pink with blueberry juice or strawberries)

--yellowjacket lemon yogurt

--yellowfin tuna cut fish shapes from yellow cheese slices

Z animal alphabet themed letter snacks (read On Beyond Zebra and Put Me in the Zoo)

--zoo mobile (animals crackers lined up like a train) --

--Zebra zippers (Fruit by the Foot)

--zebra cookies (horse shaped cookies frosted with white frosting and black stripes of licorice or decorator icing).

Kid's cooking lesson plans with literature connections, recipes and free printables

Hello my friends of the Omschool! Today in the fine month of January, I'm going to dish up some tasty kids' cooking lessons plans to warm this snow day. I'll include free printable kids' cooking lesson plans, kid friendly recipes, games, cross-curricular activities and literature connections. Use these lesson plans in the classroom or homeschool.

Book-based cooking lesson plans. Many children's book includes some mention of food and we'll use those as springboards for literature-based recipes. Some examples include my grandson Emmett's favorite character "Pete the Cat." (Emmett is the cutie with the spaghetti smile <-----) Pete makes a sandwich in one so a simple tie-in would be to make a sandwich, like Pete's. And my grandson Lucian likes the Blueberries for Sal cookbook. So of course, we'd use that to whip up some blueberry-themed treats.

Kids' cooking challenges. I wrote some lesson plans for my down south grandchildren and every unit involves some cooking. Our favorites are the cooking challenges. Over the summer they were challenged to come up with new recipes using their garden produce. In another, they had to create a recipe using five ingredients hidden in a box. In yet another, they had to invent a "not boring" soup after reading "Mystery in the Night Woods" which featured some animals who were tired of soup. Granddaugher Lola's personal favorite is the mystery ingredient challenge in which a regular recipe is tweaked with a secret ingredient and everyone else has to figure out what it is. Here are free printable kids' cooking challenges and activities.

Reluctant reader, reluctant eater lesson plans. These lesson plans are designed to make both reading and eating, more palatable, and to encourage picky eaters to try new foods. Of course "Gregory the Terrible Eater" is a great resource to use. And to follow up, have children create a new food buffet. Vegetables are the place to start since they are usually the least favorite. And what child can resist a beautifully arranged veggie tray, that he himself helped to prepare? You can ask the to taste a bite of each and then rate them on a chart. And to boost reading skills, go on a...

Library book scavenger hunt. As part of my food lesson plans, I have students work from an alphabetized list to find books on different foods. Some are easy, like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." He ate all kinds of foods! But artichoke might be trickier. Older children can use Google Books or Bookfinder to locate their books. They don't have to necessarily physically find the book. Just locating online counts. Make a chart for them to fill in which book they found for each type of food. I found A is for Artichoke there.

Design recipe cards or a cookbook. Here is a free printable recipe binder kit from I Scream for Buttercream. Google Docs has free printable recipe cards and cookbook templates. This builds STEAM and STEM skills, as well as reading and writing.

Make a Youtube video showing yourself cooking. My grandson Moses wants to be a chef. So I'm encouraging him to make demonstration videos to share his recipes, skills and techniques. If you don't want to show your face, just show hands demonstrating the process.

Have a potluck. Ask children to bring in their favorite dishes they have made at home. These might be related to their culture of origin. Or assign children to prepare regional dishes and host an "around the world" feast. Wisconsin DPI has free printable recipes from around the world in 80 Trays. Here are more world foods recipes for kids from Baketivity.

Make a fancy dinner. Assign children to make a fancy dinner for their families and set the table. Use nice dishes, silverware and table linens as available. Dress up. Take pictures. My grandkids Milo and Juno love to have children's wine (sparkling water, NA wine) with their fancy meals. Here are some table setting coloring pages.

Create an alphabet foods coloring book. Or make a graph of foods of different colors.
Here's a way to involve the youngest learners in the cooking lesson plans. Use these free printable food group coloring pages. And still more assorted food coloring pages to print free.

For more great food lesson plans visit my blog Great Food 4U here.

Free Kids Cooking Lesson Plans from the Omschool with literature connections and family fun

Hey my friends, guess what? has another grand baby! Brand new to the family, is ! Welcome, dear little man! So while you grow with mama, Omi is going to share some cooking lesson plans inspired by your siblings and cousins. The little gentleman in the picture is Cassius's big brother, . See how he is carefully stirring the pot? Omi is so proud.

So with that in mind, here are some thoughts on kids cooking. Nowhere does learning happen so well as in the kitchen. You can involve many ages, work on many subjects and build wonderful memories creating food folks will love. In today's lesson plans, I'm focusing more on cooking safety procedures than recipes per se. Let's begin with environment.

1) Mind the hanging stuff. So in the picture you see a fruit basket, well away from the instant pot. But Ezra is extra careful. In the video this still is taken from, he asks whether it is safe and will anything fall in. Now this is an excellent question and he is wise to double check. When you cook, be on the lookout for things that could fall in.

2) Roll up your sleeves and avoid drapey clothing. It's really sad but important to note that many burns are caused by loose sleeves or dangling things like strings from hoodies. Tuck them all in or wear a short sleeved shirt. You could even put a rubber band over your sleeves so they don't fall down.

3) Take it easy, sweetie. Ezra's nickname is Easy E and as you'll note, he is carefully and slowly stirring the pot. He's not in a rush. Another cause of burns is splashing liquid. Teacher Omi once got burned when the donut I was lowering in the oil, slipped and splashed hot grease. Which brings me to the next point.

4) Use the correct utensil for the job. Make sure to have a heat resistant spoon with a handle that stays cool. I prefer silicone or bamboo because they can go from grill to griddle to stove top and oven. Your best friend for lifting large pieces of food, like eggs or potatoes, in or out is a called a spider. Yikes, mom says a SPIDER in my kitchen?? But you can assure her that this is a ladle, not an arachnid. It's a handled metal basket and very useful for chunky foods. Mine looks a little different than most. In the picture, it's the thing behind the tongs and the...

5) Spatu-flipper-la. (Lol)It's the thing hanging in front of the tongs and spider. And it sounds like something from Dr. Seuss, doesn't it? That's what I call my flipper tongs. You might have to search a bit to find them. But if you do, they pay for themselves with a few uses. I love them for frying fish. I do have the fish lifter thingy but my Spatu-Flipper-La works best because I can grasp and flip all it one. So feesh don't go flyin all over (to quote my favorite Half Husky Brothers Youtube channel).

6) Cooking with books. So while we're on Dr. Seuss, here's a great time to plug for weaving children's literature into everything you do, including cooking with kids. I do learning centers in my early classrooms and every center has a book basket. Why, in fact, Teacher Omi and Opi have book baskets in everyone room of the house! In the image, below, Moishe is showing you Opi's book baskets that we have in the office/library. They are just some of a few. We even have an entire collection of kids books about cats. Because Teacher Omi collected them when she was young. And you know what good cooks say: you can never have too many cookbooks! And what's wonderful about Dr. Seuss is that he has recipes for things that aren't food like Oobleck and Pink Yink Ink Drink that is! (see link here)

7) Plan meals around stories and vice versa. So earlier this year, Teacher Omi was lucky enough to be invited to guest teach in the Wee Prees homeschool (those are our 8 grandkids who live in Louisiana). And so I started the year with the youngers reading "Blueberries for Sal." Now, brother Lucian (one up from Ezra) has always been our Lu Bear. And he loved the story AND found a BFS cookbook! (I love cookbooks based on kids' books!) He loved it so much that it was hard to return it to the library, so he got it for Christmas (yay! no more overdue fees, heehee). I had assigned the kids to create recipes with blueberries and his choice was Blue Beary Lemonade!

8) Make Kindergluhwein. And make some fun. Also called Children's Punch (in the Prees household) or Breakfast wine.(in the Sachteleben household in Cleveland, where our baby grands Milo and Juno live). This just made my heart sing when Uncle Albert showed pictures of the kiddos having kids wine (lemonade I believe) and then Auntie Molly shared how hers also had their kids wine. For some reason, I had completely forgot that when our children (who are now the mommies and daddies) were young, we made Kindergluhwein, a kind of mulled berry juice (Juicy Juice, I believe) with spices. There are a thousand varieties and no right or wrong way to do it. Just serving in fancy adult glasses is enough (The Sachteleben children had theirs in martini glasses! #LOVE!) This is served in Germany for Christmas, but you can do it for Epiphany or Russian New Year or whenever!

9) Have children invent their own recipes. So part of the lesson plans I wrote for the Wee Prees was to have them do food challenges like on the kids' cooking shows. While the youngers were reading Blueberries for Sal, the olders were reading a book I had loved as a child, called "Mystery in the Night Woods." Sharing books from my childhood with my kids and grandkids might be one of my favorite things to pass on. And I'm so grateful they have enjoyed them so much. And that they share their beloved books with me! So the night woods book has a bit where the animals have to eat "boring soup." I assigned the children to write exciting soup recipes. And second oldest Moses quipped "Well, MY tomato soup is anything but BORING!" 😅 That's my boy!

So I've strayed from safety and am kind of riffing here. But that's the joy of teaching children: your own, your grandkids or someone else's. There's just so much fun to be had you can't contain it all in one article. I have so many stories to tell you about my family and I'm sure you have wonderful ones about yours that I would love to hear. Please feel free to leave me a comment or three about fun your family has in the kitchen. I'd love to hear about special dishes you share. Like how in Italy they have the Feast of the Fishes at Christmas. . And in Poland, it's Wigilia with their 12 vegetarian dishes on Christmas Eve. I just learned about last year. Imagine, a lady as old as Omi (61) learning new things! That's how it's supposed to. We never stop!

Next up: cousin Flora's Maksheesh (mac and cheese) recipe. And Emmett's dancing fruit follies. And Milo's cupcake train. And Juno's Owl burgers.

Love you all!

Free printable Thanksgiving Lesson Plans, Countdown Calendar and holiday crafts

It's hard for kids to await a holiday. Got little ones anticipating ? Why not make a ? What's that? It's an activity calendar kids use to track the days till something special. Making calendars does quadruple duty--it's a craft, child-minder, teaches cutting skills and in one! Here's a countdown to Thanksgiving calendar craft.

First print a blank calendar. Choose from among DL-TK's massive assortment of free printable Thanksgiving activities and crafts. Free Printable has a gazillion calendar designs to print, color and personalize. Choose a fall or Thanksgiving theme or any one you like. Print it large enough to write in. Spaces should be 2x2 inches.

Now print holiday stencils about 2x2 inches each. First Palette has many free printable templates, stencils and patterns. I recommend leaves, acorns, corn, cornucopia, Native American feather, turkeys, pilgrim hats, apples or pumpkins. Make them simple and easy to cut out. Check out Free Kids Crafts too. Plain white computer papers works fine. Or make a reusable countdown calendar printed on cardstock or tag board. You can also cover the Thanksgiving calendar in contact paper or laminate to make it recyclable from year to year. Print calendars and stencils in black and white. Have kids color and cut them out.

Now have them think of fun activities to do each day till Thanksgiving. Write one on the back of each cutout. Here are suggestions.

--rake the leaves

--decorate your house

--bake pie

--buy groceries

--make Thanksgiving crafts. DL-TK and First Palette provide tons to choose from. The Toymaker has lovely hand-drawn free printable Thanksgiving cards and crafts, too. I'm lining you to The Toymaker home page because you'll want to explore the many beautiful free printable crafts available. The image on this post was created by Marilyn the Toymaker.

--make Thanksgiving cards. You can use free printable Thanksgiving coloring pages to make cards.

--visit a shut-in or nursing home. Deliver your cards.

--call Omi and Opi (Grandma and Grampa 😍)

--read a Thanksgiving story

--watch a Thanksgiving cartoon

Attach pictures on each blank day of calendar with putty.

Print another calendar for your list of things you're thankful for. Have children write one thing they're grateful for each day of the calendar. Or print extra Thanksgiving patterns to cut out and write on thankful for on each. Attach with paperclip to yarn and hang in a window like a garland. Invite Thanksgiving dinner guest to write what they are thankful for and add them to the chain

Free printable fall leaf patterns for tree identification lesson plans

Hello my friends of the Omschool! I'm Teacher Omi and I love sharing fun, hands-on lesson plans with you! Whether you are a teacher in a traditional school, a homeschool parent or a kid, these activities offer something for everyone! Today, November 1, with Halloween and Trick-or-Treat done, I turn my focus to fall, harvest and changing of the seasons.

A popular autumn lesson plan is to make a leaf identification booklet. Here are free printable tree identification charts to print and use to make your leaf booklets. There are also free printable seed, nut and berry guides, twig identification charts and flowers and catkin (the little dangly bits that contain seeds) identification charts. Thank you goes to Woodland Trust. You'll need to click the link to download and then open and print. Here are more leaf and tree identification printables from the University of Wisconsin.

I remember in 4th grade, we made a book of leaf rubbings which we labeled. To make leaf rubbings, collect an assortment of leaves from your neighborhood. Place a piece of paper over fresh leaves and gently color the page. Leaf images will magically appear! You can put two or three on each page and label them with the correct name. Bonus points if you can find their Latin name (Latin is the language of the sciences).

Create a cover for your booklet with recycled brown paper bags. Cut so that it wraps the book with a little left over. Collate the book by aligning pages and using a three-hole punch. Then tie them with twine or yarn to give a rustic look.

For the youngers, let's print fall leaf patterns from First Palette. This is a superb site for free printable lesson plans. It's been around as long as this blog which is going into the 17th year! First Palette has provided countless quality lesson plans which I've been pleased to share.

Treehugger has free printable leaf patterns for tree and leaf identification from common trees around the US, Canada and Mexico. These are textbook-quality, beautifully detailed leaf coloring pages taken from naturalist Charles Sprague Sargent's leaf plate illustrations. Each page features a different leaf with its corresponding tree, berry, nut and foliage. These printable illustrations include cut-away drawings and other helpful identification data, plus the Latin classification for genus and species of the tree. Gutenberg provides the full size images from Sargent's book Manual of Trees of North America.

The website gives the leaf and tree names in their American variation. Use these public domain free printables for taxonomy lessons. Explore KPCOFGS (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family Genus and Species) as developed by zoologist Carolus Linnaeus.

ArborDay offers comprehensive lesson plans on trees. with several printable nature science resources and online tree and leaf identification activities. Follow the links for different information about conifers, deciduous trees, hardwoods, and other assorted trees from different biomes and habitats. Don't miss these free printable forest map activities showing location and region of different types of trees. Scroll down to find the region and tree type you are looking for. Here's a free printable tree and leaf matching game. Print as coloring pages of leaves. Here are websites with free printable fall leaf patterns for autumn crafts. Here are free printable leaf stencils for decorations and children's activities

. And then, in 5th grade, my best friend Heather and I pressed leaves in waxed paper to preserve them.

Parents, homeschoolers and teachers, make flashcards with these tree and leaf patterns. Use in hands-on Montessori style games for nature science study. Make tree and leaf books. Assign students to collect leaves, press them or make leaf rubbings. Students should label leaves and trees using identification diagrams.

Free printable Apple math and science lesson plans

Hello my friends of the ! here with some amazing and fun Apple themed lesson plans for fall. These free printable cover math, science, writing, art and more. They're adaptable to many ages and so are perfect for or .

, and .

Spelling words might be names of apples: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Gather an assortment of . and . Collect different basket or bag sizes. Discuss weight and volume terms related to produce: , and . Estimate how many apples will fit in each container. Estimate the number of seeds in each apple.

Cut apples across the middle to show the star shape and how each has its own little pocket. Discuss and how apples are a fruit but also the fruit of the tree.

Make with . Create patterns using different colors and shapes of apples.

Cut apples up into a beautiful rainbow fruit salad, adding green and purple grapes, blueberries, orange slices, mango or cantaloupe and yellow pineapple.

Make apple growing maps to show where apples grow best and which kinds grow where.

Host to taste testing party. Discuss color, texture and taste. Graph apple varieties according to tart, sweet tart and sweet.

Print off outlines of apples. Color each according to the different types.

Here are free printable Apple themed lesson plans from enchanted learning. free printable Apple lessons

DLTK has literally a gazillion--that's a word :-) free printable crafts, activities, word games, party printables on a spectrum of subjects. I linked you to the homepage because I want you to see the variety but then you can search out the Apple themed printables. free printable lesson plans galore

Printable Halloween candy and pumpkin lesson plans for trick or treat

Hello my dear friends of the ! Today

is going to share about pumpkins and candy for ! Please lesson plans cover math, science, reading, writing and social studies. They are geared toward ages 2 to 12 and are perfect for or classroom.

and and science lesson plans using pumpkins:

-- (how big around it is) in and

-- estimate the weight of the pumpkin in kilograms and pounds.

-- measure with and

-- read and use the method outlined to figure out the

-- convert to metric kilograms and grams

-- estimate how much your Halloween candy cost

-- estimate how many pieces are in your trick or treat bag

using

-- Fill different size containers with uniform size candy to see what looks like

-- estimate which type of candy you have the most of

-- make a

--- make a using colors to show which kind you have the most of

-- make a for your friend to follow.

-- do a . List different kinds that players must find.

-- make a live . Participants address as characters from the game. Create . Use that players must follow.

50+ cheap Halloween candy alternatives and non-food Trick-or-Treat giveaways

Hi friends! Teacher Omi here with some non-traditional Halloween alternatives. Now don't get me wrong. I like Halloween well enough. Some of it is over the top. And too much money is spent on it. And the spooky stuff is concerning. But for the most part, it's tame enough, I guess. And yes, I can juxtapose that with my Catholic Christian faith by avoiding the parts that don't fit (not just the ghoulishness but also the overspending.) I see nothing wrong with kids making cute little costumes, that make the neighbors smile.

Having said that, Halloween is an ironic holiday. All year long, parents teach kids to eat healthy. They tell them not to take candy from strangers. Then on Trick or Treat, parents dress kids in costumes and tell them to beg for candy door to door! Then all that candy has to be sorted and half gets thrown away. Then kids eat too much sugar and get wild or sick. So, how about we mix it up a bit with some Halloween candy alternatives? Here are 50 cheap non-candy Trick or Treat giveaways kids will love.

Non-candy giveaways work for kids with ADHD, allergies, special needs, juvenile diabetes, or other health conditions. Use these Halloween candy alternatives for the classroom, scouting activities and Halloween party planning. These non-food Halloween giveaways will work for Trick or Treat handouts at libraries, banks, businesses, restaurants and any other places. These treats will be less messy and cost effective as well.

All non-food Halloween candy alternatives can be found for around $1.25 per dozen or less. (Remember it's not Dollar Tree anymore, lol it's the five quarters store as my husband calls it) Check the Oriental Trading catalog, too. Target has a cheap toy section as well. Plus most stores have a bulk section, cheap holiday giveaway and clearance shelves stores. Look for birthday party prizes too. Online sites are offering free shipping around the Halloween season.

Here's my list of suggestions for Halloween candy alternatives.

Give school supplies for Halloween candy alternatives. Pass out pencils, rulers, mini marker sets, crayon sets (look for glow-in-the-dark Halloween crayon packs), colored pencils, mini stampers, pens, tablets, note pads, stickers, scissors, glue sticks (from back to school sales). Little coloring books and reading books are always well-received in Trick or Treat bags.

Give pocket toys and birthday prizes as Halloween candy alternatives. Pass out adjustable rings, tops, bubbles, glow bracelets, squirt guns, friendship bracelets and rings, key chains, compasses, slide flutes, sticky hands, little yo-yos, tiny decks of cards, whistles, puzzle games, Chinese handcuffs and parachute toys. Give Halloween themed toys like fake fangs, spider rings, skeleton rings,glow-in-the dark bugs, fake fingers and squishy eyeballs.

Give books! Check Amazon for job lots of kids' books.

Give little game sets: ball and jacks, ring toss, finger puppets. Noisemakers are popular, Give science gadgets (Teacher Omi's personal fave) like magnifying glasses, geodes, prisms, putty, play dough in little cans and kaleidoscopes. Kids love the "growing"creatures in capsules (sponges in pill capsules that expand when put in water). Give out toy animals, soldiers or figures for Trick or Treat.

Cheapest Halloween candy alternatives are balloons, Band-Aids (seriously, kids love these!) sticker sheets, temporary tattoos, rubber band bracelets, mini notepads, plastic rings, bouncy balls and play spiders. These sell for about $6 a gross from Oriental Trading.

Some Halloween candy alternative foods include mini muffin packs, popcorn, pretzels, fish crackers, healthier gummy bears, cheese sticks, jerky, juice boxes and other snack treats. Kids might like Trick or Treat candy alternatives better than Halloween candy! Though when writing this my husband did gasp that I was advising not to give candy! He said "they'll mutiny!" Traditionalist that he is. But teacher Omi doesn't believe you would do that, would you children? I think you'd love these ideas! 😘

Cross-curricular Lesson Plans for puzzles and kids' mystery stories with Halloween activities

Hello friends of the Omschool! As Halloween nears, it's the perfect time for some mysteries. Teacher Omi here with free printable cross-curricular multi-disciplinary lesson plans based on kids' mystery stories. I'm using Ghost Town Treasure for third and fourth graders and Mystery at the Docks, Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner, A Bargain for Francis and Something Queer is Going on Here for younger students. But these lesson plans could fit a variety of children's mystery books.

Besides the reading, writing, STEM and social studies, these lesson plans address higher order thinking skills of synthesis, evaluation, analysis, process and outcome-based thinking, problem-solving, lateral thinking, deductive and inductive reasoning. I've also included other literature connections and Halloween themed activities.

1) Create a treasure hunt game board game. First, establish the setting: rooms in a house, a farm or forest, your backyard, a city. Next, create a map to attach to the a folded piece of cardboard or to the inside of large flat box. You can also draw directly on the cardboard. Make a path of footprints or squares to mark the path around the board game. Here are some free printable board game templates.

Next, collect ten 3D found or recycled items that can be opened or lifted so that the treasure can be hidden under or inside. Examples: paper cup, clean food container (not clear), plastic bag, box, clean aluminum can, envelope, toilet paper tube, jar. Students should decorate items to look like things you would find in the real setting chosen (barn, silo, chicken coop, pig pen, hayloft for barn scene or tree, river, rock, bush, cave for forest scene. Don't attach them to the board. That way they can be rearranged each time you play. You will also need a very small representational treasure (coin, rock, small bag or treasure chest).A non-player hides the treasure in or under one of the places before play.

Students will need to write a list of rules and make 20 or so cards with directions on them telling where to move the player's playing piece. To look in or under each place a player must land directly on the space. Directions to write on card include things like:

go forward two spaces

go backward one space

skip two spaces

move to (name hiding place)

move to the next red space

2) Play Mystery Ingredients food box challenge. You can give each student the same or different ingredients. I prefer to do different with children to avoid frustration of feeling someone else's idea was better. This is to boost creativity not competition. Winning the challenge involves using all ingredients not beating someone. Write your recipe and add it to the family recipe book. Have a tasting party. You can do Halloween or fall themed foods.

3) Play charades having children act out different animals, occupations or characters from the book.

4) Make an obstacle course or maze in the yard. For an obstacle course, set out different obstacles for people to find creative ways around. Make a map of the obstacle course and a list of directions: hop over the puddle, swim across the pool, scoot under the fence, swing for minutes, walk backwards up the ramp, skip down the path, step on every crack of the sidewalk, crawl through the tunnel in the treehouse.

For a maze, arrange cardboard boxes, pillows, bales of hay, pieces of furniture, tubes to crawl through, or whatever your imagination can come up with. Make a list of directions.

5) Play Clue or Memory.

6) Makes your own masks or Halloween costumes. Here's my blog post of 25+ easy, homemade, no-sew Halloween costumes to make cheap or free. These are so super simple that the youngest learners can help make them. Then everyone dresses up and have a costume parade. Collect an assortment of fabric, old towels, old clothing, hats, fake flowers, buttons, ribbon, yarn, sheets, anything you can think of. The recycle bin will have lots of stuff you can use. Paper plates or paper bags work well for masks. Just cut eye holes and decorate however you want. Here are free printable mask patterns to cut and color.

7) Play The Price is Right grocery cost guessing game. Assemble different groceries or use the ones in your mystery ingredient box. You can simply have kids estimate or arrange the groceries on the table with cards listing various amounts that they match. Put stickers with answers on the bottom. The students should organize this game. This will teach them estimation math skills plus awareness of how much food really does cost.

8) Sensory exploration identification game. There are several ways to play this, from easy to more complicated. The easiest way it to put an object in a bag. Kids may use all senses but sight to figure out what it is: touch, taste, smell, feel, sound. You can do this with any objects but it's especially fun to play using new and unfamiliar foods: eggplant, daikon radish, fennel bulb, broccolini for example. You don't have to hide it then, just have them explore it.

Another way to play is the Creepy Halloween Foods game. This can be kind of gross and may trigger kids on the spectrum and or frighten others You put out the foods and have them touch, taste, feel and smell them then give them the spooky explanation of what they are (for example: popcorn is mummy brains). Spooky-tastic Halloween foods. Have kids write the labels and prepare the treats.

9) Write a mystery story, cartoon or graphic novel. It can be true or invented. Illustrate and "publish" by making a cardboard cover. To make a cartoon, just fold a piece of paper in half long way and then in half again and then in half one more time. You will have 8 frames.

10) Science Chem-ysteries. Perform some magic with my article on Harry Potter Magic tricks and Science mysteries. Kids should assemble all materials and practice ahead of time. The only one an adult needs to do is the Magic Fire Shield of Invincibility.

11) Kids can watch Blues Clues, Odd Squad, Scooby-Doo or Busytown Mysteries while they are drawing illustrations for their mystery story. Youtube has Scooby-Doo episodes here.

13) Spelling words: mystery, puzzle, clue, detective, Halloween, problem, solve, solution, explore, investigate

Harry Potter Wizard Magic Tricks, Chem-ysteries and science Experiments with literature connections

Hello friends of the Omschool! Halloween is the perfect time for some magic tricks, spells and potions, chem-ysteries (chemistry mysteries) science experiments. And the perfect person to introduce these is Harry Potter! He can't do magic outside Hogwarts but you can with these chemistry magic tricks and wizard science experiments any time you want. Hocus pocus up some Harry Potter fun with kitchen science experiments. Teachers and homeschool parents, impress, educate and engage apprentice wizards with these chemistry magic tricks! Use these these weird science experiments for a Harry Potter Halloween party! Children's literature selections are given for follow up. Be sure to test experiments. My magic fire shield failed and I incinerated a perfectly good bandana.

Eerie ectoplasm. Ectoplasm is really the outer surface of cytoplasm, but in paranormal speak, it's the stuff that comes out of someone's mouth to show a spectral presence. Gross, right? Well you can make play ectoplasm with these super simple kitchen science experiments. Mix equal parts Elmer's school glue and liquid laundry starch. Work together with fingers until it forms a rubbery putty. This is also called "farting" putty (or more politely, noise putty) because air bubbles pop burps when you fold it. Like a balloon, air is trapped inside and has no where to go. Teach students that this is how you prove that air takes up space and has pressure. Read Dr. Seuss "Bartholomew and the Ooblek" or "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back."

Alchemist Magic. Turn copper pennies silver and then gold by first cleaning them with vinegar and salt and then dipping them in zinc dust dissolved in hydrogen peroxide. They will turn to silver and then by heating them with a spirit burner you make an alloy called brass which looks like gold. This one requires adult presence. Read Rumpelstiltskin.

Disappearing rust experiment. Clean pennies in Coke beforehand so they are shiny clean. Then posit what you used to clean them. Try lemon juice, different kinds of soda, vinegar, water, etc. You'll find that Cola words the best. Next have kids explore what ingredient none of the others have. (phosphoric acid).

Liquid Dynamite: This is the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. But instead of just blowing up the bottle, have students experiment with others sodas or candy to see if it works with anything else. And then explore ingredients in both that react together. Kids will learn that this is a physical not chemical reaction. The tiny holes in the surface of the candy speeds up nucleation and Diet Coke has aspartame that helps too. A narrow neck plastic bottle makes the effect more dramatic.

Spooky Spirit Writing or Invisible Ink. Use these chemistry magic tricks to make ghostly writing appear from nowhere. Lemon juice makes the perfect invisible ink. Use a cotton swab or toothpick to write a message in invisible ink. To solve this chem-ystery and read the invisible ink, you must hold it over a warm light bulb, candle or flame. The writing will magically appear.

Rubber Bones. Prestidigitate any ordinary chicken or turkey bone into a bendable rubber bone with simple kitchen science experiments. Scrub a chicken bone clean and soak in white vinegar for 24 hours. When you take the bone out of the vinegar, it will bend and not break. Tell students that you have cast a spell upon the bone to make it bend. The chemistry behind the mystery is that the vinegar breaks down and dissolves the hardened calcium and mineral deposits it the bone. Read William Steig "The Magic Bone."

Magic Unbreakable plastic. Tell students that you have special magic bags that will not leak even if you poke them. Fill a Ziploc bag with colored water. Seal it and then gently push a sharpened pencil through the bag and remove it. The magic is that plastic is a polymer that stretches and seals the hole so no liquid spill. Plastic actually means anything moldable. Teach kids the cute song "There's a Hole in the Bucket" or read "Basil Brush Gets a Medal."

Wizard Magic Fire Shield. Tell students that you have a magic handkerchief that can walk through fire. Show them how you coat an old bandanna with the wizard fire shield solution. Dip it in rubbing alcohol, squeeze it out but don't let it dry. While it's still damp, hold a match to the tip of the bandanna. Flames will engulf the bandanna but it will not burn up. After a moment, the flames will burn out and the bandanna will be untouched. These magic tricks are obviously dangerous and adults-only science experiments. The chemistry principle that makes this work is that alcohol burns quickly and at a very low heat. It's combustible but not hot enough to burn the bandanna. This is how an alcohol burner or canned heat (Sterno) works. Restaurants use these flaming drinks and desserts (Cherries Jubilee, Bananas Foster, Greek Saganaki cheese). For a good children's literature connections, read the classic ballet story "The Firebird" or the Aztec legend of the Quetzel-coatal or Phoenix (the bird who rises from the ashes of a fire and is clothed with all the colors of the fire).

Haunted beans. These are actually called Mexican Jumping Beans and are little beans with a live worm dwelling inside. When you hold the beans in your hand, the worm moves the beans jump and wiggle. You can pretend to talk to the beans, ask them questions, etc. The beans will seem to move in answer to your questions. Order Jumping Beans from Amazon.

Fairy popcorn. Perform a similar trick with popcorn. Tell kids that an wild little sprite lives inside and wants to get out. As you heat popcorn, he escapes. Children's literature tie-ins are the fairytale "Jack and the Beanstalk" or the Greek myth "Pandora's Box" and "The Popcorn Book" (Tome DePaola).

Magic exploding rainbow. This is really chromatography or spectrum splitting science experiments. Gather an assortment of black markers of different brands and styles (water color or washable only, will not work with permanent or dry-erase). Dampen one piece of paper towel for each marker. Touch marker tips to the wet paper. Watch each ink blob diffuse and separate into an array of colors. The chemistry principle behind this is that black isn't a color but a combination of all other colors. So the ink is made up of many colors. Wetting breaks down the spectrum. Read "A Color of His Own" by Leo Lioni.

Fleeing magic fleas: Fill a pie tin with water. Add black pepper and then red pepper. The different pepper types will repel each other like magnets. What's really happening is that the pepper is disturbing the meniscus--or molecular force that holds water inside a glass. You can show the meniscus principle by slowly over-filling a bottle. The water will actually rise above the level but stay in place by the meniscus "skin" till too much is added and it breaks. Read "The Flea's Sneeze" by Carla Firehammer. Or read Anansi the Spider African folk tales.

Genie in a bottle. Rinse a glass bottle and freeze it. Place a dime atop the bottle and then call the genie out. Slowly the dime will lift to let trapped air escape. Then the dime will clink back in place. It will repeat this several times. What's happening is that as the frost inside the bottle melts, it expands and forces air out of the bottle. Read Arabian Nights "Aladdin's Lamp" or any of the wonderful Persian "One Thousand and One Nights" stories of Scheherazade.

To round out these literature based kitchen science experiments unit, read the Norman Juster classic "The Phantom Tollbooth" along with this experiment. In the story, Milo is Bored (a word coined in the early1960's to reflect teen response to post-war complacency). Through a series metaphorical allusions, Milo, Tock (a Watch Dog), and the Spelling Bee learn to look at things differently, to really look at things and enjoy them.

Easy, homemade no-sew cheap or free animal Halloween costumes

Hello my friends of the Omschool? Need inexpensive Halloween costumes fast? Here are 25+ cheap, quick, easy, homemade, no-sew

kids' animal costumes for trick or treat. Use these fast, simple improvisations for great Halloween

costumes. You can make them from recycled household items so they will cost next to nothing. These costumes are also warm and roomy enough to wear extra underneath--for chilly October trick or-treating or outdoor Halloween parties.

Body for homemade no-sew animal costumes: Use recycled plain color leggings and long-sleeved T-shirt, sweat shirt and sweat pants, blanket sleeper with feet cut out in the color of the animal the child is going as.

Wear grey for a donkey, whale, dolphin or elephant. Choose brown for a turkey, bunny, bear, dog or horse. Yellow works for a duck, lion, leopard, tiger, bird or Pooh Bear. Pick red for a ladybug, centipede or caterpillar. Use purple for a dinosaur or butterfly. Black works a bat, cat or dog costume. Blue can be a fish, bird, dinosaur, butterfly or caterpillar. Green is a frog, turtle, toad or snake. White works for a rabbit, cat, dog, horse, whale, turkey or tiger. And of course, tie-dye is great for a unicorn or mermaid.

Draw stripes, spots or other body markings on animal costumes with permanent marker, paint pen or fabric paint. To make no-sew paws, draw or paint black pads on the palms of knit gloves. For lion, leopard, tiger or cat claws: Cut bits of recycled felt or other stiff fabric then cut small holes in gloves. Insert part of felt piece and tie off or glue inside the glove. The part poking out will look like claws.

You can also glue on bits of plastic cut from recycled tubs or use a set of artificial nails from a dollar store. For hooves, webbed feet or flippers, stuff old mittens; stuff them if you wish. These homemade paws will keep kids warm for Halloween too.

For homemade no-sew head of animal costumes, use a cheap single-color knit hat to match costume. Cut holes for ears. For long animal ears, stuff old pair of socks with paper. Poke open ends through holes in knit hat. Cut slits in sock ends and tie in knots to hold in place. For stand up antennae or ears, insert loops of wire or coat hangers into stuffed socks and bend to shape for rabbit, donkey, elephant, mouse or others. For cat ears, cut paper or felt triangles, poke through holes and staple in place.

For homemade no-sew fur, hair or mane for animal costumes, cut pieces of yarn twine 2x the desired length of hair. Tie the pieces together in the middle with one piece of yarn. (this will be the part in the hair). Attach to top of head with bobby pins. Arrange hair around head. Cut bangs or braid if desired.

Make tails as you did standup ears. Stuff a long sock. Insert coat hanger bent to desired shape of tail. Pin to back of pants. Then pants can be recycled and reused after Halloween.

Paint face with animal whiskers, nose, mouth, eyes and markings. Use Halloween face paint or your own cosmetics.

These homemade animals costumes are so simple to make that children can create their own. Save them for the dress up box when trick-or-treat is over.

Spooky-tastic Halloween party foods and ghoulish-cious gruesome goodies for Trick-or-Treat

Hi there! Are you hosting a Halloween party? Want to scare up some spookytastic fun Halloween snacks and ghouliliciously gruesome goodies for your little hob-goblins? These spooky snack recipes will guaranteed will gross out the bravest guest. We'll organize them by Halloween creature. Use these to play a blindfold touch and feel game. Have guests guess what foods are. Set out labels so guests know what creepy confections they ate. Note: make sure guests know what you will be doing in case they may be opposed to this kind of activity. Also know that kids on the spectrum and even some that aren't may find this frightening. They can play along by just tasting the foods. I'd save the Halloween imagery for older kids.

Ghosts--flesh: marshmallows--guts: marshmallow fluff or vanilla frosting--ghost guts cookies: pinwheel cookies--ghost blood: milk--brains dipped in ghost blood: raw cauliflower dipped in ranch dressing

Vampires--teeth: red apple wedges dipped in Hershey's Strawberry Syrup (blood)--bloody fingers : hot dogs with ketchup

Haunted Jack-o-Lantern--pumpkin blood: orange juice

Bats--teeth: black and orange candy corn--wings: fruit leather or prunes

Mummies--brains: popcorn (being dried out, mummy brains are shrively and crumbled.--people mummies brains: make popcorn balls with marshmallows and red M&Ms.--cat mummy brains: popcorn and red M&Ms (Egyptians loved their cats and mummified them).--zombie Barbie brains: whole walnuts--wrappings: cotton candy--guts: assorted dried fruit--hearts and ears: pretzels

Skeletons--fingers: mozzarella cheese sticks or pretzel rods--faces: yogurt-covered pretzels

Witches--brains: broccoli--blood: milk and green food coloring, limeade--guts: pistachio pudding or guacamole (serve with tortilla chips called dragon scales)--eyes: green grapes or sliced kiwi--Witches' brew: mulled spiced apple cider. Have children watch as you describe and prepare. Heat

monster blood (apple cider) with eye of newt (whole cloves), dragon claws (cinnamon bark),

Slenderman eyes (lemon slices), toad eyes (raisins), dash of skeleton paste (butter) and ground scorpion (nutmeg).--Witch blood slushies: frozen honey dew melon or kiwi, blended with Greek yogurt and lemonade.

Miscellaneous--Frankenstein --Nuts and Bolts: Chex Mix or Cheerios Trail Mix--zombie sandwiches (as in for, not made of): Sliced lunchmeat (brain cross-section) sandwiches with

guts and blood (mustard and ketchup).--eye slices: sliced kiwi or cucumber--werewolf gut and blood sandwiches: PBJ sandwiches--toasted spider legs: chow mien noodles

Serve these monstrously healthy snacks before trick-or-treat, to prevent tummy crummies from candy

overload.

Free printable color coding chart for phonics, spelling and syllabication

Hello my omschool friends. Here's my revised and updated Color Coding chart for spelling, phonics and syllabication.

CONSONANTS AND CONSONANT-ONLY PATTERNS

DARK BLUE:

· Color individual consonants blue if they only make one sound within the word (if they’re not part of a digraph or blend): B, D, F, J, K,L, M, N, P, R, S ,T,V, W, Z.

· Also color C and G blue when they make their hard sound (when they are followed by A,U,or O)

o c as in cake

o g as in gun

· Also color H and Y blue when they begin a word.

o H as in happy

o Y as in yellow

· Note: -g as in -ing and other digraphs or diphthongs will have a different color

PURPLE: “Soft” consonants followed by I, E, Y

· C as is cider, cyst and cent

· G as in gem, gym and ginger

LIGHT BLUE: Beginning and ending blends. Although the consonant sounds do not change, I do note the blends slightly differently to help students learn to connect the sounds.

· Beginning: bl-, br-, cl-, cr-, dr-, fl-, fr-, gl-, gr-, pl-, pr-, sc-, scr, -sk-, sm-, sn-, sp-,spl-,spr-, st-, str-, sw-, tr-, tw- vr

· Ending: -ft, -lb, -ld, -lf, -lk, -lm, -ln, -lp, -lt, -nd, -mp, -pt, -sp, -st

GREEN: Digraphs: two consonants that make a single, different sound.

· -ch-, -sh-, -ph- , -th- (can come at the beginning, middle or end of a word)

· -tch (comes only at the end of a word)

· Special rule about -th- TH can be voiced or whispered when it comes at the beginning or middle of a word. “Think” or “though”. It’ s only voiced in the middle “father” and only whispered at the end like “moth.”

DARK BLUE and YELLOW: Digraphs that make the sound of one of the letters only or are double consonant digraphs. Color the spoken consonant letter blue and the silent partner yellow.

· -ck -(only at the end)

· wh- (only at the beginning)

· -ff-, -gg-, -ll-, -ss- (only found in the middle or end of a word. In the middle, they indicate a syllable division, like or muffin, yellow, toboggan, fluffy and at the end like staff, egg, small, mess.

· -bb-, -dd, -mm, -nn-, -tt-(only found in the middle of words as syllable dividers; are generally only doubled when adding a word ending or in consonant -le patterns as in rubber, rudder, common, winner, waddle, matter, drummer.

VOWELS

ORANGE: regular short vowel sounds (found in the middle of words after consonants).

· A as is cat, paddle

· E as in bed, setter

· I as in lit, hidden

· O as in hot, bother,

· U as in cup, butter

RED: long vowels, or as we sometimes call it “vowels that say their name.”

YELLOW: silent letters and vowels. Some letters are randomly silent such as W in wrong. All long vowel sounds require a silent vowel to make them long. Y and W are silent vowels when the follow another long vowel, with some exceptions.

· Silent E at the end of the word or syllable with the CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant, silent E pattern) lake, tide, duke, rode. There aren’t many CVC-silent E words with long E.

· silent vowel partners. The first vowel usually says it’s name and the second is silent. But the silent vowel must be present so the first can say its name. Remember the poem “when two vowels go walking the first does the talking and second says nothing.” In this case, the vowel which says its name is colored red and the silent partner is yellow, reminding students that it makes no sound.

o Long E silent vowel partners. This vowel is tricky. Sometimes she’s the second vowel who is normally silent. And sometimes, she can be shy about saying her name and needs two silent vowels to help. There are a few CVC-silent E words with long E but not many. (Eve, recede, replete) There are more with these patterns.

§ EA in the middle sometimes needs that second silent partner as in peace, ease, weasel. Sometimes it doesn’t like in meal and bean.

§ EA at the end doesn’t a second silent vowel, like sea, flea, plea

§ EE may or may not need the second silent vowel. See, keen and feel are fine with just one. But sneeze and cheese need the second.

§ IE may or may not need help BUT it’s the first I that’s the silent partner that makes E say her name (believe, achieve, chief, thief) IE is also pronounced as Long I which we’ll get into later.

§ EY--Y is a vowel, and the silent partner, when it follows another vowel like in key. This pattern is most usually found at the end of a word like donkey.

§ EI is really tricky. She says long A most of the time on only long E after C. Remember this: “ I before E except after C.” like in Receive or receipt) Most of the time. There are some exceptions.

· Long A

§ CVC-silent is the most common way to spell the Long A sound. Cake, make, male, lame, lace, made, safe, gate, rare

§ AI – this is a crazy one because it can say long A as in paid or tail short E as in said, short A as in plaid.

§ AY- In syllables, the long A sound is spelled AI when followed by a consonant (claim) and AY when it ends the syllable or word. Play, played.

· Long I

§ CVC-silent E in words such as like, spice, mile, lime, tide, mite, white

§ IE as in tie and lied. It’s not as commonly spelled that way.

· Long O this one can be tricky too.

§ CVC-silent E in rode, hove, hole, poke, tote

§ OA as in float, load coal, roast

§ OE as in toe

§ OU as in dough (see the special OU rules in the diphthongs section)

§ OW as in blow and row (W is a silent partner).

§ Long O is usually spelled OA when followed by a consonant and OE when it ends a word or syllable.

§ OMB, OST There are some blends and digraphs in which no silent vowel to make the O long, such as most, ghost or comb. But OST can also say -aw like in cost or Long U as in tomb.

§ OLD This pattern requires no silent E to make the O long, and is the most common pronunciation of OLD words, like gold, old, cold, hold, bold.

· Long U (pronounced -ew or -oo)

§ CVC-silent E in ukelele, mule, cute (said -ew)

§ UI as in suit (not a common way to pronounce it and usually only found before T. UI is long I in guise for example.

§ UE as in glue, flue

§ OMB is an exception in words like tomb where the O with no silent partner says OO. The B however, is silent in tomb and comb.

PEACH and GRAY are for diphthongs or vowel slides in which the vowel combination makes both vowel sounds or a different sound altogether. If the same combination makes different sounds, use peach for one and gray for the other.

· AW as in claw, flaw

· EU which says Long E and Long U.

· OO can be long U in hoot, food, school, pool, room, noon, soon and groom (peach). Color it gray for OO as in hood, good, look

· EW can be Long U in flew and new.

· OW as in how and owl

· OY as in boy and ploy (usually spelled this way at the end of syllable or word)

· OI as in coin and foil (usually spelled this way when followed by a consonant)

CONSONANT/ VOWEL COMBOS

PINK: irregular vowel/consonant blends

· EIGH as in sleigh, and sleigh

· AUGH as in caught

· ING (ring), ANG, UNG, ONG and UNG

TURQUOISE: - R- controlled vowel sounds

· AR as in car

· ER as in her

· IR as in bird,

· OR as in cord

· UR as in hurdle

· Write OR as in word and AR as is war, in turquoise outlined in black to show it’s a rule-breaker that sort of follows the rule and sort of doesn’t.

RED/BLUE/YELLOW: IGH and IGHT Because the I says its long sound, it is red, GH is silent and therefore yellow, and the T is blue because it makes its usual sound.

BROWN SHADES: For OU and OUGH since there are several pronunciations for these, indicate by using different shades of brown.

· CREAM--ough (ow as in bough)

· TAN--ough (aw as in bought)

· BURNT ORANGE--ough (awff as in trough)

· BRICK/ RED BROWN--ough (uf as in rough)

· CHOCOLATE--ou (oo as in should)

· OLIVE--ou (oo as in you)

· BLACK–ou as in dough

WORD ENDINGS/SUFFIXES

SILVER -tion, -ion, -ous, -cian, -y, -ily, -est, -er –est

PREFIXES:

GOLD pre-, un-, re-, a-, mis-