Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays from this little Santa reindeer!

Enjoy this special time of the year with the people you love.

That's all! :)

Try your hand at BOOK RAFFLES today!

Just an example at how you can get kids EXCITED FOR READING!

Whenever my class gets new Scholastic book orders, I get a bunch of freebies. I also spend a few bucks on those dollar books. When they come in, we hold a BOOK RAFFLE!

Now, for me, this is a week-long process. I leave the books out on my counter with the buckets to hold raffle tickets. I introduce the books to the class. The books are there for kids to look at, read the summary, etc.

Throughout the week, my behavior management system switches over to TICKETS. Kids get tickets for EVERYTHING. Correct answers, doing their best, following directions, you name it. EVERYTHING. Each day during indoor recess or at the end of the day when they have packed up, they can write their classroom number or name on each of their tickets and add them to the bucket of the book or books they are interested in reading first. These books are being added to our classroom library, but kids are entering the raffle to win a chance to read the book FIRST.

At the end of the week, I pull names! Now, you can only win ONE book, so if you put your tickets into several buckets and win multiple times, I toss your name back in and choose another student.

Of course, you can totally have this be for KEEPS, but I enjoy continuing to add to my ever-growing classroom library, and the kids like finishing a book and knowing that others are waiting for it!

You could even do this with books from your classroom library that kids have not read yet, just to generate some excitement and interest!

Try a book raffle today!

A science experiment to remember: Make your own LAVA LAMP!

MAKE YOUR OWN LAVA LAMP!

This is a really easy experiment - it's likely that you have all of the necessary materials right in your own home. Now, if you're letting every student in your class do it on their own, you MIGHT need to run out for some materials!

I just love a good, quick, and EASY experiment to hook those kiddos and get them writing up a lab report! This one is exciting, low prep, and engaging. Kids are given some background on chemical and physical reactions. (Check out some cool Brainpop, Generation Genius, or Flocabulary videos for extra background knowledge) Your class will then create their own lava lamps using a mini plastic water bottle, vegetable oil, water, food coloring, and alka-seltzer tablets.

I've done this at home with my three-year (The expression on her face when we dropped those alka-seltzer tablets in!) and in the classroom with 20 students. When teaching fourth grade, I used mini pint-sized water bottles and let each student do their own. In second grade, I used regular-sized water bottles and pairs kids up. Either way, it was super cool, and really fun!

Try it today!

A Christmas Tradition for Your Kids!

Yep! That's my Christmas tree skirt!

I saw this on Instagram (I don't remember who!) and thought I would give it a go!

My kids are 3 and 1, so we are starting a bit late, but better late than never.

Each child chose a paint color. We put their handprint on the underside of the Christmas tree skirt, along with their first initial and the year. We will add to it every Christmas season as they grow older and be able to see those sweet little handprints get bigger. 

It took me less than 5 minutes to get the handprints, and it will last a lifetime.

Magic Milk...or Magic GLUE! Another science experiment we revisit...A LOT!

Violet and I have reused this science experiment from my fourth grade classroom A LOT recently. She loves it. It's magical. AND...it's SO EASY to set up. I literally have all of the materials in my house at a moment's notice! 

This quick and easy science experiment can be set up in a matter of minutes!

Everything you need to launch experiment writing in your classroom/home and hook your kids immediately! Get kids engaged and WRITING!

THIS IS AN AWESOME ACTIVITY!

You will need:

-Milk (whole is preferable, or 2%)

-Food coloring

-Shallow dish or bowl

-Dish soap

-Toothpick or q-tip

Pour milk into the shallow dish or bowl so that the bottom is completely covered. Next, add a few drops of food coloring, about 2-4 drops of each color.

You can add the dish soap right to the center of the milk, or you can dab a toothpick/q-tip in soap and then gently touch the middle of the milk with it.

Watch as the colors DANCE and move quickly across the surface of the milk. Continue to swirl the colors. Eventually, it will no longer work.

Want to try a TWIST???

SUBSTITUTE TO MILK WITH WHITE GLUE. WOW!!! Blow your kids' minds! They will be amazed and request to try this one again and again. Science will be their new favorite subject.

Click here for this experiment!

A Reading Rainbow!

Two bulletin boards...because it's the first year I don't have a gigantic bulletin board, of course. And all I wanted was to make this reading rainbow!

So, it is spanning two bulletin boards, side by side. And I love it.

I love the texts I chose. I love the look. I love that I don't have to change it ever again. 

It's the little things in life.

And how is your Christmas wrapping going?

I am a type A person with zero skill when it comes to wrapping gifts.

Well, maybe I could be better at it but I really don't make an effort. The challenge is that I want to wrap gifts the second they get delivered and then put them in a box ready to go to relatives and kiddos. So, although my husband would certainly wrap the presents like a store clerk, I cannot wait, and I wrap them like a fool.

It doesn't help that the gift above is a crockpot and I had major issues getting the paper to fit around it. And then I ran out of paper. And then...I gave up.

Hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

By the way, the gift above is a crockpot from Target, through the Hearth and Home line. It is so pretty, black and cream colored. And it is a "dip pot" as I call it - we have a smaller one for mostly dips but not as pretty as this. I totally recommend it!

Classroom Theme Posters

Theme posters are one of my MUST HAVES!

I printed the theme posters below from Beth Newingham. But there are TONS of free theme posters floating around on TeachersPayTeachers!

In the past, I always had theme posters hanging on my wall. I had them blank in the beginning of the year, and as we read books as a class, we added pictures of the book covers to the theme we thought it matched up with. I would print the book cover and when we finished the book, we would talk about the evidence to support various themes, always understanding that a book really can fit many themes, but that we were going to choose the one we felt it fit in with BEST.

Now that our school is using a new program, Collaborative Classroom, for all things ELA (Seriously, everything. If you are looking for new curriculum, this is it.) I still wanted to do theme posters but make it work for that program. So, since I work with grades 2-4, I printed some freebie theme posters for each of them. Then I printed and laminated the book covers that the teachers will be reading to their students for the comprehension piece of the curriculum. Now, as teachers read a book aloud, they can connect it to the common themes. And anyone who teaches at a state testing grade knows, theme will be tested. Oh yes, theme will be tested.

Bonus? Talking about theme is a great conversation. It teaches kids how to provide evidence to support their opinion and to respect the opinions of others!

Gallery Walks!

One of the easiest ways to incorporate MOVEMENT into your day! A GALLERY WALK!

In the example above, I pulled photographs and pictures from our current ELA unit. I had kids walk along and write what they notice and wonder on sticky notes. It was a type of formative assessment because these were familiar pictures from texts we already read. Just me checking in to see what the kiddos were retaining/still thinking about.

Another option? A a pre-assessment! I could have used these same pictures BEFORE starting the unit to see what my students already know about the topic. It would guide my instruction for that unit.

How about yet another option? A super engaging culminating activity where kids can show what they know!

Any way you use a gallery walk, the kids will be MOVING, COLLABORATING, and ENGAGED!

By the way, I always have a number associated with each student in my class. They just put their number on the sticky note so I know for sure who wrote what. :)

NAKED EGG EXPERIMENTS: Make your own rubber eggs with materials you probably have handy

How many times will my daughter ask me to make naked eggs? She literally can't get enough! Science experiments have consumed our lives as my three-year old engages in every single experiment I used my in second, third, and fourth grade classrooms over the years!

This quick and easy science experiment can be set up in a matter of minutes! The actual process is a few days, but it gives kids plenty of time for observation and to see the scientific method play out.

Everything you need to launch experiment writing in your classroom/home and hook your kids immediately! Get kids engaged and WRITING!

THIS IS AN AWESOME ACTIVITY!

First, place a raw egg in a cup filled with vinegar. Leave it for at least 3 days. After 3 days, take the egg out. Run it under warm water and rub the shell off. You will be left with a RUBBERY egg. It will also be enlarged. Simply writing this experiment and keeping an observation journal is a great activity.

To go even further, after the naked egg experiment writing and observation journal, have the kids write their own experiments to conduct on their individual naked eggs. Some ideas include putting their naked eggs in salt water, regular water, food coloring, Mountain Dew, Cola, vinegar and baking soda, and more.

BE CAREFUL when rubbing the shell off the egg. Sometimes the eggs do POP. Have a few back up eggs, just in case. :)

Click here for the experiment!

Holiday Gifts for Families: Handprint Calendars!

If you are looking for a great holiday gift, not completely focused on Christmas, look no further. I have used this Handprint Calendar from Teaching with Mel D for YEARS! (She updates it each year) I used it with my second graders, third graders, and fourth graders....and now I use it with my toddlers as grandparent gifts!

There are a few options for some of the months (ie: You CAN do a Santa for December, if you want!). There is also an Australia spelling version, which is a cool little bonus.

In the classroom, I would sort the calendar by color. So, if I needed a light blue for the snowman pages and the snowflake pages, I would have a little assembly line - call over 5 kids, paint everyone's hands, handprint one kid at a time for both of the pages that need that color, and send them to the sink right after to wash up. The trickiest pages are when you need multiple colors, so I saved those for last!

I never lost instructional time to get this project done - I always did it during recess or when I let the kids eat lunch in the classroom as a treat. Which is why I started this project EARLY. Like Thanksgiving time early.

I also made sure to get some Sharpies for drawing faces and some googly eyes. Not for every page, but the googly eyes really do add something special to the pages with little critters!

Oh and the actual calendar pages with dates come color or black and white. I typically printed color because I let my students color in as much as I could, but they never had time to finish the entire calendar, so it made sense to print those pages in color so the coloring part would focus on the pictures near the handprints.

So, check out some of our examples from this year. These are my kids (ages 3 and 1), which is why there are two handprints on some pages. Instead of alternating, I just squeezed two handprints on the pages where I could fit them. It actually looks very cute! I'm impressed with our work! :)

Writing portfolios - pizza style!

We have a new ELA curriculum this year - Collaborative Classroom. I love that it totally matches my educational teaching philosophy. 

One thing I can continue with this program is a writing portfolio for each student. Throughout the year, kids keep their favorite pieces in file folders. At the end of the year, each student goes through their collection of writing. They make a pizza menu divided by writing genres with their writing pieces listed. Then we take this perfect picture to print and glue to the pizza box that now holds all of the writing from this year. Voila!

I’ve had MANY parents go on and on years later about how much they love this project. It’s cute, easy, and cheap ( I get local pizza places to donate boxes - they love helping a poor teacher. :)