Snow Day!

Snow Day!

Jessica from Literacy Spark posted this topic on her blog and I thought it sounded fun, even for someone who doesn't live in the snow anymore.  I have lots and lots of wonderful memories of staying home from school because of the snow piled up outside. 

Here in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona we don't ever have a snow day.  I kind of miss them from growing up in Missouri. What a treat to get up and find out you don't have to go to school that day.  I don't know if the kids or teachers liked it more.  What was funny, we usually drove out to visit our cousins who lived just outside of town to play in the snow with them!  So much for hazardous driving conditions.

Since we don't have school canceled for any reason out here one of my colleagues came up with a really fun idea to give her students a snow day.  She usually has this day the week before winter break when the kids can't focus very well anyway.  The kids come to school in their pjs because they get to "sleep in" on a snow day.  Other activities through out the day include building forts with blankets, pillows, desks and chairs and snowball fights with soft fuzzy balls or crumpled up paper.  The kids get to eat icicles which are otter pops hanging from a rope strung between two posts in the outside hallway.  The kids always have a great day with their snow activities.

This idea inspired me to put together a packet of activities for a snow day.  You can have the activities ready to go on days when the students are stuck inside with the bitter cold and snow outside.  Or, kids in the warmer climates will enjoy using them on pretend cold and snowy days.

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My Truth Monday

 My Truth Monday . . .

 

I recently saw this idea on the blog Sunny Days in Second and thought I'd start sharing a little about myself.  This idea was posted back in December, but it really got me thinking about the year ahead. 

 

 

The first word I chose was perspective because sometimes I need to step back and look at the bigger picture.  Working from home I get so caught up in my little world that I forget all there is to do out there.

   

Then I thought of the word persevere because sometimes I jump from one project to the next without really accomplishing anything.  House cleaning is the worst!  For instance, my Christmas tree is still standing in my living room.  A little embarrassed to admit that on January 27, but it's the truth.  It's coming down today!

 

But I finally chose the word Learn because it sets the tone for what I want to accomplish this year.  I started this blog just a few months ago and the learning curve was so much larger than I expected.  I was beyond frustrated the first week trying to get it set up.  Several days I just had to walk away. Tasks on the computer usually don't affect me that way.  But I always returned and finally have my blog up and running. 

 

I know there is still so much more I need to learn about being a blogger.  There are hundreds of useful and fun blogs out there and I really want to make mine a place that will offer ideas teachers will enjoy and want to use in their classrooms.

 

I'm also still learning how to better market my products on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Being successful in this market takes more than just creating quality products, although that is definitely the first step.  Now that I have a store stocked with quality products, how do you get the word out to potential customers???  That's what I need to learn.

 

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnwooden106379.html#9vIHwCKCWuSqPoUu.99

 

 

What's the One Little Word you would choose for 2014?

 

 

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Football Fun!

The big day of football is almost here! You can bring the excitement 
 of the big day into your classroom and still stay focused on academics. 

Here are some ideas for a Super Football Week:

New York Times Student Super Bowl Crossword-

Football Crossword Puzzle for Kids

This page has a link to a printable crossword and the answers.

It might be a good idea to let students work in teams.  Let the teams choose a name for themselves.  I suggest you make the teams a fair mix of football knowledgeable students.   Some of the clues look a little challenging. (Of course I'm speaking as a pretty weak football fan.)  The crossword might make a good research tool.  Students can use reference sources to find the answers.

Learn about Roman Numerals

Since the years for the big games are numbered with Roman Numerals this is a great time to introduce them to your students.

Click here or on this picture to download a chart of the numerals from 1 to 100. See if your students can fill in the blank chart on the second page.

The Teacher Hub has lots of great ideas for lessons that tie into the Super Bowl.

 http://www.teachhub.com/super-bowl-activities-classroom

Game Predictions:  Here's a fun activity to do with your class early in the week.  After students make their predictions you can graph some of the results.  Then on the Monday after the game check the statistics online and see which student has the most correct predictions.  You can give out fun coupons for the winners.

Click on the picture to download the pdf file.  The file is editable so you can make changes for your class.



How do you bring big events into your classroom?

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Valentine's Day

Are you ready for Valentine's Day?   To kids, this is the most exciting day of the new year.  My students enjoyed delivering every card to their classmates and then reading every single message.  

And of course, the candy the kids included with the the card was enjoyed even more.

Why not get the kids involved in making the treat for the class party.  Here's a recipe for a super easy chocolate treat you can make in the morning and it will be ready for an afternoon class party.

You’ll need:

10 clear plastic cups (6 or 7 oz.)

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 cups cold milk

1 (8 oz.) tub whipped topping

15 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed

Candy bugs and chocolate drop flowers.

1.  Pour the pudding mix and milk into a large bowl.  beat with a whisk for 2 minutes.

2.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.

3.  Stir in the whipped topping and 1/2 cup of cookie crumbs.

4.  Spoon into plastic cups and top with remaining cookie crumbs.

5.  Put in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

6.  Top with candy bugs or worms and chocolate drop flowers.

While the dirt cups are in the refrigerator students can make the candy drop flowers.  Mini cupcake papers, small individually wrapped chocolates, wooden stick, green paper and glue are all you need to create these flowers to plant in your garden.

Any chocolate lovers out there?  You'll fall in love with my unit- Three Cheers for Chocolate!  It's packed with so many great learning activities your students will love.

• Students read a 2 page informational text about the history of chocolate.  There's also a short quiz.
• Teams of students work together to create a new product for the Crockett's Chocolate Creations Company.  The teams have to create a product, design the packaging and draw a magazine ad. A scoring guide is included to guide students through every step of the process.
• Just for fun you can have students bring in several different types of chocolate candy and then have a tasting.  Students will conduct a survey to see which chocolate is the class favorite.  Great way to incorporate data collecting and graphing skills.
• Share the picture book Cocoa Ice.  It's a delightful and informative book about chocolate. Students will learn how chocolate goes from the tree to delicious hot chocolate.  The second half of the book explains how ice was harvested from frozen rivers in Maine and shipped to far away tropical islands. A discussion guide is included along with a little Note Keeper for students.  Then there's a sequencing activity for students for both parts of the book.
• The unit also has three writing prompts/graphic organizers. 
• Finally, the directions for the chocolate pudding cups and chocolate drop flowers in included.



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