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Grandparents Day in the Primary Classroom

September 7, 2019

Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa Book

Grandparents Day can be celebrated in the kindergarten, preschool, or first grade classroom with keepsake crafts, writing prompts, informative books, interviews, and so much more!

Today I’m sharing how we honor Grandparents each year using pieces from my Grandparents resource! I don’t think anyone has impacted my life more than my grandparents. They are absolutely my heroes! This makes Grandparents Day especially meaningful to me.

Berenstain Bears Week at Grandma's Book

Grandparents Day Introduction

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase I make a small commission at no additional cost to you!

Do you remember the Berenstain books? They can seem so long now but I love that they are building our students’ listening stamina!

I have a dream of being a children’s picture book author one day and in my research discovered that most picture book companies will not accept manuscripts with over 500 words. Most Berenstain Bear books have well over 1,000!

This book is such a cute way to introduce your unit about Grandparents Day. I also like to play the video of this episode which you can usually find on youtube.

Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa Book

This is another favorite of mine! I LOVE Llama Llama books and I was completely devastated when I heard Anna Dewdney passed away. Her gift for rhyme and rhythm is unmatched in my opinion.

The picture in the book when they look at the stars? Simply magical!

Grandparents Day Book by Pencils to Pigtails

Nonfiction Book

Have you ever asked students what the name of their Grandma or Grandpa is? Some shrug their shoulders and say they don’t have one. While it may be the case that a few haven’t met their grandparents, for the most part, it is simply that they call them by a different name.

Grandparents Day Book by Pencils to Pigtails

I made sure to make this clear in the book. I also like to discuss how my Hispanic children may call their grandma “abuela” or their grandpa “abuelo”. This is usually met with nods of excitement!

Grandparents Day Book by Pencils to Pigtails

This is just a sample of some of the pages in the book. I also explain when Grandparents Day takes place and how to celebrate with homemade gifts and quality time together!

Nonfiction Grandparents Book by Pencils to Pigtails

Grandparents Day Interviews

We all need quick & easy, especially at the beginning of the school year! I love to send these interviews home for the kids to complete with help from their parents.

Grandparents Day Interviews

A parent letter is included so all you have to do is print the pages and add the parent explanation. They are so proud of these when they bring them back in.

Grandparents Day Interview by Pencils to Pigtails

I helped Aniston fill these out as she interviewed my mom and dad over the phone. She was really fascinated by their answers and loved explaining them in more detail to the class.

After each student has shared the interviews they conducted, I add a piece of yardstick paper to the back to really make them a nice keepsake for the students and grandparents to cherish.

Grandparents Day Photo Frames

Grandparents Day Keepsake Craft

This is just one of the frames included. How hilarious is it that I asked the custodian to leave the lawn mower out at school so I could have each of my students pose with it? I think these turned out SO CUTE!

All About My Grandparents

I absolutely LOVE seeing what my students know about their grandparents. It’s always so cute to see how old they think their grandparent are.

All About My Grandparents Page by Pencils to Pigtails

I’ve included these for grandmas, grandpas, and with alternate wording to use as needed. With kindergarten, I like to ask them the questions and then write their answers for them. Later in the year, they could write their own.

Add a piece of construction paper or cardstock to the back and you will cherish this forever!

Handprint Keepsakes

Grandparents Day Craft

Pair your “All About Grandparents” page with these adorable handprint crafts for the perfect gifts!

Grandparents Day Handprint Crafts

How cute are these? I lay out all of the handprint crafts I want to use and do them all at once. My assistant is alway so helpful with them. I get lots of questions about the help I receive in the classroom. In my school district, kindergarten teachers receive an assistant for an hour per day.

This would also be the perfect craft if you have parent volunteers to help!

What else is included?

I’ve just started to touch on everything included in the resource. One of my favorite things about this unit is that so much is included, I can pick and choose what I want to use each year. For example, last year we made the large grandparents for a hallway display craft but this year we ran out of time for that!

Let me share the product covers in case you would like to use this with your kids!

Grandparents Day Resource by Pencils to Pigtails
Grandparents Day Unit by Pencils to Pigtails
Grandparents Day Resource by Pencils to Pigtails
Grandparents Day Unit by Pencils to Pigtails

I want to hear from you!

Do you do much for Grandparents Day with your students? At my school, we typically invite the grandparents in for breakfast or lunch. It is so special and I want my students to always cherish these relationships!

Let me know your plans!

Did you try this easy 2 ingredient homemade play dough? It’s perfect for practicing letter formation!

You will love these adorable graham cracker pencil snacks too!

Pin this post to save it!

Grandparents Day Resource by Pencils to Pigtails

Happy Teaching & Mommy-ing this week friends!

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Pencils to Pigtails

18 hours ago

Pencils to Pigtails

Huge Julia Donaldson fan over here! 📚Since finding Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo, I’ve grabbed every book of hers I can.

This one is perfect for this time of year and the animated version is beautifully done and goes along with it word for word. It’s free on Amazon Prime!🙌🏽🎄🎁
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Pencils to Pigtails

2 days ago

Pencils to Pigtails

I highly recommend this magical mailbox 🎅🏽 from Target to up the engagement in your classroom this season!

The kids put a letter in, raise the flag, and whisper “Go to the North Pole!”. A little music plays and when they open the door, the letter has magically disappeared!

My girls were completely in awe. I’ll add a video in a bit for you to see their reactions.

I’m going to pair this with some 🎅🏽 letter writing practice pages from my resource on TPT and can’t wait to see the looks on my kindergarteners faces!
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Pencils to Pigtails

3 days ago

Pencils to Pigtails

Have you read The Animals’ Santa yet? We LOVE this book.

The kids really enjoy the mystery of it. We pause and ring chimes to really help understand the 🐇’s idea better and we use the clues to try and guess who the Animals’ Santa is.

Some of Jan Brett’s books get a little long for k students but this one is a pretty quick read. On a side note, I do still love the longer picture books like Jan Brett’s others & the Berenstain Bear books. We read them to build their listening stamina. Did you know picture book authors are encouraged to keep their books under 500 words now? Attention spans are not what they used to be thanks to all of this technology and our fast-paced world!
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Pencils to Pigtails

4 days ago

Pencils to Pigtails

Those 🌈 boxes from Michaels are perfect for task cards and mini erasers. Grab over 75 cards for less than $2 with the code CYBER19 through tonight!

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Task-Cards-for-Mini-Erasers-5073361
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5 days ago

Pencils to Pigtails

Poor 🎅🏽’s clothes got soaked with hot chocolate right before he was headed to board the 🛷! The kids love this STEM project and I have to say it’s one of my favorites too.

This resource has an adorable book to introduce the challenge, tons of writing practice, activities, crafts, and more. You’ll save 25% through tomorrow on TPT on all of my resources with the code CYBER19! You can follow the link in my profile to grab this one or grab it as part of a bundle.

Happy shopping! I have my cart loaded already!❤️
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Instagram post 2193267762741596659_4376240345 I’m a HUGE Julia Donaldson fan. 📚 Room on the Broom, The Gruffalo, and The Gruffalo’s Child have been some of my favorite books for years.

Since I found those, I’ve grabbed every book of hers I could find. Stick Man is definitely perfect for this time of year!

The book is adorable with a great message to it. There is an animated version that is so well done that goes along with it word for word. It’s included with Prime Membership! 🙌🏽🎄🎁
Instagram post 2192545939372515397_4376240345 I highly recommend this magical mailbox 🎅🏽 to up the engagement in your classroom this season! Swipe to see a little video demonstration.

The kids put a letter in, raise the flag, and whisper “Go to the North Pole!”. A little music plays and when they open the door, the letter has magically disappeared!

My girls were completely in awe. I’ll add a video to my stories for you to see their reactions.

I’m going to pair this with some letter writing practice pages from my resource and can’t wait to see the looks on my kindergarteners faces!
Instagram post 2191835885094661333_4376240345 Have you read The Animals’ Santa yet? We LOVE this book.

The kids really enjoy the mystery of it. We pause and ring chimes to really help understand the 🐇’s idea better and we use the clues to try and guess who the Animals’ Santa is.

Some of Jan Brett’s books get a little long for k students but this one is a pretty quick read. On a side note, I do still love the longer picture books like Jan Brett’s others & the Berenstain Bear books. We read them to build their listening stamina. Did you know picture book authors are encouraged to keep their books under 500 words now? Attention spans are not what they used to be thanks to all of this technology and our fast-paced world!
Instagram post 2191083080843151668_4376240345 Y’all! These boxes from @michaelsstores are perfect for storing seasonal task cards and mini erasers. We got them out today and the kids had so much fun working on these skills during small group time.

I’ve just added these to my TPT store. Since all products are 1/2 off the first 24 hours they are posted, you can snag over 75 task cards for less than $2 with the code CYBER19 through tonight. Follow the link in my profile to find them.

I just love the 🎅🏽 in these sets. Can you guess which one is my favorite? What do you use these boxes for? Let me know!
Instagram post 2190364853242621436_4376240345 Poor 🎅🏽’s clothes got soaked with hot chocolate right before he was headed to board the 🛷! The kids love this STEM project and I have to say it’s one of my favorites too.

This resource has an adorable book to introduce the challenge, tons of writing practice, activities, crafts, and more. You’ll save 25% through tomorrow with the code CYBER19! You can follow the link in my profile to grab this one or grab it as part of a bundle.

Happy shopping! I have my cart loaded already!❤️
Instagram post 2188001928204867938_4376240345 My annual Black Friday score! This is my 9th year of snagging these poinsettias for $1 a piece @homedepot .

When we return from Thanksgiving break, I read a book about how it is so much better to give than to receive. We have a discussion about this and the kids are told to think of someone who has impacted them this school year.

They write a card to the person and we all go marching down the hall with these poinsettias bigger than they are to personally deliver their gifts.

Hugs, tears, & laughing all ensue. The kids are always telling me how warm they feel and how it made their insides feel good.❤️ I love seeing the looks on the recipients faces too. The greeting cards we use are free downloads in my TPT store.

This is my favorite tradition with my students! I talked more about it in my stories today and added a swipe up link to the cards and a blog post I wrote a few years back. Have you tried this with your class yet? Let me know!
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I hope you’ve had the BEST day with your family & friends! Happy Thanksgiving! 🍽🦃🍁
Instagram post 2185268223178757371_4376240345 🎯 Dollar Spot for the win! The girls & I had a lot of fun setting up a wintry scene for our kids when they return after thanksgiving! I know my students will be so excited.

So I’m curious... do you use sensory tables in your classroom? I teach kindergarten and they definitely aren’t used as much in K as they are in PreK.

I’m planning to make some resources for my kids to work on letter recognition, word building skills, reading comprehension, counting, etc to go with my sensory bins. Let me know if you need these resources to pair with the bins/tables too. It’s an easy way to ensure students are working on ELA or math standards and they are so engaged with things like this!

You can find out all the details about this bin and others I have planned for December in my stories today.
Instagram post 2182412462505350208_4376240345 You know what I love about STEM? It gives different kids a chance to shine. It also challenges some of your kids who usually get everything so easily.

My student teacher used the STEM idea from my Thanksgiving resource on TPT to have the kids make their dinner tables for an observation this week and I was so proud of the kids.

This is so easy to set up and the perfect ENGAGING activity for this crazy week before Thanksgiving! I’ll add a swipe up link in my stories. There are a couple of fun STEM challenges in there and lots more!

One more day for us! What about you?
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