Skellies, Cranks, Bats, and Carving

A couple weeks ago, to get into the fall spirit, my class and I wrote some pumpkin concrete poems.  It was a great way to talk about the fun you can have with poetry.  I love concrete poetry and the various shapes it can take.  When I taught third grade, I was always amazed during our poetry unit at what interesting drawings and insightful writing students would write.  Then again...I love any poetry!

Here's how our poetry turned out.

(Although there were various shapes to choose from, this one won out for most firsties.)

In third grade, I would have students draw their own pumpkins.  I always have students do a "sloppy copy" first.  Then my third graders would have to remake their pumpkin only much lighter.  For firsties, I give them a pre-traced pumpkin template (one sloppy copy and one final copy).  Before writing the final copy, I check over the sloppy copy to look for good sentence structure/ideas, conventions, good spelling, etc.  Then students write their final copy and trace the words with orange marker.  All pencil lines are erased at the end.

I'm sure I didn't create this activity but I have no idea who to give credit to since I have been doing it since my first year of teaching.  So thank you to whomever!  

I believe good teaching is modifying and tweaking activities to meet your students needs...each year, each week, each activity.  Therefore, I know that whomever I got this activity from, I have modified it over the years to fit my teaching needs.

Speaking of modifying...

We started this week thinking all about bones!

Here's another activity that I've been doing since time began...or at least a while.  ;)  Each year I do it though I have changed the activity somehow and someway.  This year I had students create their skellies on large black horizontal paper.  I added a new writing component this time around.  It was a mad libs of sorts for students to complete their own stories about their skeletons.

Students loved naming their skellies and were even more inspired to do some great writing when they all received one of these little treasures.  I think I found them at Target in the Halloween section but I could be mistaken.  #toomuchhalloweenshoppinghere

We created our own skeleton parade (picture coming soon) and did some bony writing.  We also read several skeleton picture books to keep with our quick theme for the day.

In Math we have been learning about equations.  I happened to find some skeleton bone candies at the Dollar Tree and knew I definitely needed those.  We used them to write (and glue on) our own Bony Equations.  

The kiddos wanted to eat the treats but I convinced them to glue them on their equations instead.  #toomanyfoodallergies  #eek

And...to be sure our day ended on a fun theme-related note, we danced to this video before heading home.

Check out Super Simple Songs on You Tube...the Skeleton Dance.  

On Tuesday, we were on to Frankensteins (errr...Crankensteins).  

We read this book...which is one of my faves!!  It's actually NOT Halloween related but rather about a boy who appears as a Crankenstein when he is unhappy.  Just so happened my little Crankenstein showed up at my house that morning and gave me lots of connections while I was reading this story to my students.  #grrrr

Definitely a must read.

Since we have been focused on stomping out bullying and friendships this month, this was a great way to tie in moods and behaviors to how we react to others...even when we are Crankenstein.

We completed a Venn Diagram about Crankenstein and the boy (small packet in progress).  Then we wrote a new kind of poetry...a Crankenstein Acrostic.  The kids had great fun trying to come up with words to describe Cranken.  Beware of the K...we went with "unKind."  ;)

This really all started not only because I love this book but because we made these adorable Frankensteins last year.  They are inspired from A Cupcake for the Teacher.  You can get her whole activity here.  

(I tweaked ours a little with the mouths and the head but otherwise, they are a match.  My students are responsible for cutting their own hair, making and cutting shoes, and designing whatever kind of mouth they want.  I love doing projects where they all have their own touch on them!)

After making the art, we glued our smart writing (acrostic poems) to the back.  Now they are hanging in our class and I so love them!

We were asked to put together a scarecrow outside our classroom this year.  Since normally I don't do scarecrows until November, I had a difficult time skipping through Halloween to do a scarecrow just for decor.  I decided to add some sort of writing to it to make it a little more purposeful.  

(Excuse the sad attempt at making an actual scarecrow!!)

I had my students make (color one, write on the other) crows.  We talked about what it means to "crow" about something.  I let students tell everyone things they wanted to "crow about first grade."  They had lots of things to share!

I then hung the sign next to the scarecrow (as seen above) and the crows hanging from the ceiling.  I love how they turned out!

I plan to keep them there for next month...when I actually read about scarecrows and have my kiddos color theirs and write their own scarecrow stories.  For now, it's a simple but cute display.

But the best part of my day was this...

We actually found a night with no chasing or meetings or homefun to be able to carve our pumpkins.

Love that surprised face every year!

He was so excited to clean out this pumpkin but had ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in getting his hands messy!!  Hilarious!

And this girl and her visions......she had an idea and made it happen!

I'll have to share the final products later since the troops vacated the mess immediately and bedtime was calling.  I will say that each pumpkin is a true design of each personality!  

Since today we were a little BATTY with more of our Halloween themed activities, bedtime is calling this girl's name, too.  Tomorrow we are wrapping up bats and digging into some pumpkin fun!!  More pics on their way.

Stay tuned!

Smiling Sunday Snapshots

No time to do a lengthy blog tonight.  Busy weekend filled with prepping for Halloween (costumes), pumpkin farm fun, and an unplanned but perfectly welcomed day of working on the outside of the house.  (Sadly, the inside was nearly forgotten...)

I love the fall and relish in the gorgeous and vivid colors of the trees everywhere I go this time of year.  I'm not a huge Halloween fan but am a huge fan of autumn.  Mostly because I love taking pictures in the fall.  Such amazing props (think pumpkins, dirt, and wagons) and perfect backdrops (think trees of all colors and rows upon rows of pumpkins!).  

Since I need to finish some school projects tonight still, I thought I'd simply share some fun Sunday snapshots that keep making me smile.  The joys of October!

Got a little tp'ed a couple weeks ago.
One excited cheerleader + Beautiful tree = Happiness

Lovin' the tp in the yard.  What a nut!  ;)

He'll pick out the best pumpkin...and pull it!

My faves!

All ready for competition!

Look at that height!

Could they be any more precious reading a pumpkin farm map?!?!  Love!

My favorite pumpkins

A sad prisoner

All smiles!

In honor of Halloween week, (and having about 50 Halloween books to share and always running out of time) I'm doing a "theme" a day this week.  We will be working on reviewing some old reading comprehension skills such as making connections, building on our schema, and asking and answering questions to name a few.  Then we will add in a couple new strategies to think about.  Since I have a plethora of craftivities I've used over the years, I want to continue to use them but not only incorporate the writing portion but more the comprehension strategies as well.

Here's a sneak peek of my week (just a brief basic outline!!!)...

Monday-skeletons

Tuesday-Frankens

Wednesday-bats

Thursday-pumpkins

Friday-Halloween

Since we're also still focused on "Stomping out Bullying" all of my stories related to the characters above also touch on friendship and being true to yourself.  I love when everything links together!

Throughout this week I will post some pictures and the activities I will be doing.  I will also share the fun workstations we have been using the last couple weeks.  Found some fabulous treasures at the dollar store and in the $1 sections at any store I can find. 

For now, back to my real work.  

Good night!

For the love of teaching

This blog has been on a hiatus this past week.  I would love to use the excuse that I've been busy relaxing and taking a break from it all just to rejuvenate but that could not be further from the truth.  In fact, this month has been pure insanity for me and if my eyeballs are just over that proverbial water line and I'm able to see and not completely drown...success.

So tonight I have no pictures (really, I have tons but I'll save them for next time).  No amazing or funny stories.  No big a-ha moments.  Just some basic thoughts that have kept me grounded and sane this month.

When the hype surrounding Common Core, State Standards, testing, interventions, RTI, teacher evaluations, student assessments, and much much more is pushed aside and you can allow yourself a moment to really reflect on good teaching, I think those are the moments when you can shine as a valuable teacher.  We are constantly asking questions, answering questions, digging deeper, promoting higher order thinking, eliciting great conversations, tweaking lessons in mid-lesson, being teacher, doctor, nurse, professional shoe tie-er (is that a word?!), therapist, social worker, OT, glue bottle surgeons, (shall I go on??), ....and this is all by 9:00am.  When I reflect on some of my best/favorite lessons, I know at the core they were academically strong...but how I got there may not have been conventional.  It's what we do and the connections you make with the lesson and the child that makes it valuable and more importantly, makes it stick.

I live by some simple rules when teaching my lessons.

1.  Review CONSTANTLY.

Turn to your neighbor and share a fact you just learned.

Tell me one fact you heard.

You have one minute to discuss ...... at your tables.

Any way you review, verbal, written, and/or kinesthetically (show me) helps the new info stick in to long term memory.  That is the ultimate goal.

2.  Experience before label.

Not every lesson needs to be explained.  Some actually need no explanation.  Have them do it.  Then discuss the what did you do and why?  

This can look like passing out tangrams or shape blocks and letting students have 2 minutes of "play/building" time.  This could be your intro to shapes or geometry.

My real mom (as opposed to all my school moms...teachers, you know what I mean) likes to harass me that everything I do with my own kiddos is a "surprise."  Yes, sometimes, that's true.  But sometimes I just want them to experience something before we add a name to it.  

Like broccoli, most kids have heard from their friends that broccoli may not be a yummy as chocolate.  So the first time you give your kid broccoli, are you going to fight the battle and try to convince them to like it before they even try it OR have them try it and when they say they like it, tell them the name of it?  Seems like option 2 is a better choice to me.  This also dissolves all their preconceived notions about what broccoli is in one bite.  Literally.  Experience it first.

3.  Go for the shock.

I like to sing obnoxiously in my class when I feel it's getting chatty or I know I'm losing kids to my soft, calm voice (YEAH RIGHT!).  I do this for the shock.  Yes, I could raise my voice and get frustrated and the kids have a bad day.  OR I could sing really, really badly.  Get their attention.  Refocus them.  And complete the task at hand.  

I don't sing for everything.  Trust me...then my gorgeous, purposefully awful voice would not be effective.  But I do use various voices.  Make loud or even super soft noises or voices.  Do something they don't expect...like stand on a desk to point to a poster up high (not very safe, but boy, do you get their attention).  Do something big or something subtle to change up the ordinary and shock them into remembering that moment and that lesson.

4.  Make lessons meaningful.

If you don't know the "why" of what you are teaching, let's be honest, they will see right through it.  We've all been there.  We've all said, "I don't know why we have to do this.  Someone somewhere told me you guys need to know this."  

I found that (and still do) to be more true when I taught third grade and was trying to justify to 8 year olds why they were taking state tests.  As I have grown old (er...I mean experienced), I can justify anything that is in my classroom because I know the materials hung and the lessons being taught are all meaningful and purposeful.

(And to those 8 year olds still questioning testing, I would say it's no different than giving a pre- and post- test.  There have to be some sort of standardized testing to show growth, understanding, and ability to apply what you know.  Now how you go about doing that and what you do with those results need a whole other post for that discussion.  Which you won't find here anytime soon.)

The point is, if you are doing what is right, meaningful, purposeful, and you believe in it, you will have success.  Your students will be engaged and your lessons will be remembered.

5.  Be clear and expect it.

Sometimes I find myself giving multiple step directions and wondering...yikes!  Can they do this?  The answer is yes!  With clear directions and expectations, there is no reason why they cannot.

I do a lot of training at the beginning of the year on basic procedural things such as walking through the "drive-thru" to go to our mailboxes, what to do when they hear certain songs, and what my signals are for getting their attention back to name a few.  Once these skills are in tact and become innate, they are like brushing your teeth.  You don't need step-by-step instructions to brush your teeth.  You can do that while thinking of the next NEW thing you will be completing.  When I give multi-step directions, I know that my firsties can follow them because the first part is all routines they can do without thinking...like brushing their teeth.  The second part are the new directions they need to be focused on doing.  Using those basic foundational skills and building on them throughout the year, is what helps my students when I give them 7 step directions some days (yes, I do.  Terrible.  I know.)  I am clear with my directions and then I expect it.  If it doesn't occur, we revisit the directions and try again.

I'm a huge talker!  Huge!  But when giving directions or starting a new activity (depending on the lesson of course), I try to use the fewest amount of words I can.  Direct verbs such as Go, Walk, Get out, Sit, Tag, Think, Share, Move, Talk, Open, Line up, are examples of how my directions are started.  The less words they have to remember in the directions, the better the results.



(I was planning to stop at five, but I couldn't resist this last one.)

6.  Trust your gut.
Sometimes good teaching doesn't show itself on an assessment or appear in your lesson plan book.  Sometimes you need to take those moments, those teachable moments, and use them to guide your instruction.  I'm a firm believer in reading the signs of what your students need (and when I say need, again I'm not meaning what the results of benchmark testing and formal assessments show you).  You will use the assessments to guide your academic lessons...absolutely!

I think that sometimes you need to remember that if it doesn't look right or feel right or sound right, chances are it's not right.  It may be a kiddo who is struggling but you really have no idea why or where the root of the concerns are.  Don't ignore the signs.  Ask for help.  Advocate for your kiddos.  Don't be afraid to use those moments in class to teach them how to hold scissors or use a glue bottle or talk with them about feelings just because those may not be part of the standards.  They need those teachable moments just as much as they need to know about text-to-self connections.

You also need those moments to reassure yourself, you know what you are doing.  I am NOT the expert in teaching nor am I a perfect teacher, but when people come to me all frazzled about the CCSS or evaluations or specific students, I encourage them to trust themselves.  If you are able to trust in yourself and trust your gut instincts regarding both your lessons and your students, I think you can find peace in what you do.


It's not rocket science.  Just the simple ways I remind myself daily what good teaching is and then push myself to achieve it.

Love what you do.  Do what you love.

Bits of everything

You know that stomach-dropping, nail-biting, cringe-worthy moment when you plug in your phone to back up/restore/update and suddenly it says there's an "error" and your phone is in RECOVERY?!

WHAT?!?!?

If you don't know what I'm talking about...consider yourself incredibly lucky.  

For some of us not so lucky ones, it's happened multiple times.  No matter how many times you see this...

it never feels good.  

Needless to say, what I thought would be a night spent prepping for the week, putting kiddos to bed, and making a few new workstations, has turned out to be a much. much. longer. venture.  ugh.

Fortunately, being the unlucky one with the phones and having a little experience with this loss, I was able to restore and recover everything and besides a few mysteries still lingering on my phone, I think it's back in action.

OH.  THANK. GOODNESS!!!

Whoever said Mondays off was a bad idea was clearly not a teacher.  I love a full week for academic and educational reasons for sure, but every once in a while it's great to get that time to spend with family, rejuvenate, and catch up on some things.  

(And spend the weekend doing report cards!!!  Bleck!)

(One of us in this picture is sporting an extra wrinkly forehead and no make-up!!  Yikes!!)

We started the weekend off with a little playdough...which then became a weekend of playdough. ;)

Then, of course, there was some cheerleading where this beauty got to show off her new back walkover.  Still working on the form but so proud of her.   She was determined to get it!

Proud sister and cousin!

We spent the weekend with this little love.  Definitely keeps us on our toes and always alert!

Is it just a boy thing?  Or just him?

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was working on report cards (not the favorite part) and listening to my Kinder teaching our two-year-old some math.  

First, they worked on some patterning and one-to-one correspondence.  Then they did some counting and finished it off with color naming.  It was the calmest, most peaceful awake moments of the weekend...for about 15 minutes.

...until he was done and decided to throw those pom poms all over my office.  Grrrrr.

During times when little mister was not around, the girls and I had fun decoupaging these little Franken jars.  We were inspired by Crafts by Amanda at craftsbyamanda.com.

Frankens created by E and Z

Since my husband goes through so much coconut oil, after years of recycling jars, I finally got smart this summer and started stock piling them.  I have several, several ideas for their use but this one seemed like a good activity for the weekend with my girls.  

(I'll post tomorrow what they are for.  Shhh...)

We changed ours a bit from the ones we pinned.  We used tissue paper and mod podge (LOVE that stuff!!!) and black acrylic paint.  And of course, no Franken would be complete without glitter!  The ties and tags I'll share next time.  The girls were so proud of their little Frankens!

As for this week, I have a few new great ideas I'm adding to my workstations.  We are no longer allowed to supplement our math curriculum with any extra activities since we have launched a new program this year.  That being said, last year I was inspired when I read about this activity from one of my favorite bloggers Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade.

I tweaked the activity using the eyeballs, pumpkin trays, and bowl to create a math activity that worked for my firsties.  However, this year, due to the NO MATH SUPPLEMENTING rule...I now have all these fun supplies and no math to use them for...

until now.

As I was in report card mode yesterday the pumpkin trays were just sitting there taunting me...

I knew I wanted to use them for my literacy workstations but there were so many ideas spinning in my head.  Suddenly it hit me and one thing lead to another and I had several new activities in the works.  This week I will use it for sentence unscrambling and I can't wait to see how my firsties love it.  I will snap a few pics of my workstations and share throughout the week.

Since today is/was Columbus Day, we took some time on Thursday (no school Friday for students) to learn about Christopher Columbus and add to our existing schema.

We started with an empty anchor chart.

Next we found an informational video about the holiday on Learn 360.  As it played we paused throughout to check their understanding.  I had students turn and share during our pause breaks to be able to repeat what they were learning.

Then we added to our chart above.  Students then received their own webs/organizers and chose six facts they thought were the most interesting.  On each of their webs, they added their facts.

We then used these ideas to write complete sentences.  Since we are learning the importance of a main idea, we wrote ours altogether.  Then students were responsible for writing their own sentences.

(Missing...three more pictures of the writing and both sides of the finished product.  Darn phone!)

Tomorrow we will be completing our Columbus ships in bottles.  I will be sure to take some new photos to share what the finished product looks like.  (The bottle was a free-handed drawing and then enlarged so please don't judge.  #notanartist)

the view from the front of the bottle

And now it's on to more prepping for the week.  Going to be a long night.  

Where did this weekend go?!?!  ;)

Halloween Freebie

I'll be back tomorrow to post some Columbus Day activities and more about my upcoming week but for tonight...

I'm keeping it short and sweet! (shocking, for me...I know!)

I ran some quick errands this morning and found myself at Michael's (which ended up not being as quick as I hoped).  Needless to say, I was looking to put together a few more simple Halloween diy decorations for my house.  As I scoured the clearance section for anything I could possibly need I found two 8"x10" glitter frames for $6 each.  (one black and one silver)  Perfect!

What I had hoped to make wasn't quite turning out so instead I made a little fun subway art to insert into the black glitter frame.  I'm sharing mine with you...

Here is my framed art.

Get your FREEBIE Halloween Subway Art here!

Also, remember to STOMP OUT BULLYING this October!  If you are looking for some great character ed type activities to support antibullying and boosting self-esteem, check out my newest packet....

It's All About You...the character-building, antibullying go to packet of activities and stories to read at home or at school.

And since I promised to keep it short tonight...that's it! 

Enjoy!

It's All About Building Character!

Several years ago I was teaching third grade.  We were developing a new recess/study hall system to put into place for our school.  The team that was creating this system had some of the very best teachers  I have ever had the privilege of working with.  I say that to help set the tone that these were respected, honest, fair, and incredible teachers.  Somehow I managed to sneak onto the team.

As with anything new and different in education it is often met with resistance.  As we shared with the staff what our school would be implementing that fall, there were some nay-sayers.  One person went as far as to say that I should not be maintaining the study hall because I had the "feel good" room.  For years, I took this as a personal attack on my professional abilities to consequence students when necessary.  Why?  I don't know.  I think much like all teachers our skin grows thicker through the years and with experience.  Obviously, my skin was pretty thin still.

That was many years ago...

Now when I think back to that time, I think of it more as a compliment or my own personal badge of honor.  I know that I can handle students who challenge me or the expectations.  I realize now that by letting that teacher's words (which were to intentionally hurt) get in my head, I skewed my vision of what discipline looked like in my classroom instead of letting it go and moving on.  I've now since moved on and am extremely proud that I have a feel good classroom.  That means I'm doing something right!

October is here and with that bring National Bullying Prevention Month.  I'm here to stomp it out with everyone else who is joining forces.

Sad drawing but effective for firsties

We need to remember that other's unkind words and thoughtlessness does not reduce our value or talents.  I'm a strong advocate of building self-esteem and empowering students to know that their possibilities are limitless.

All year long I do team-building, character-boosting activities to remind them of their value and worth.  We celebrate individuality and how each of us are so different and yet we come together as one to make our little classroom family.  (First graders always respond to that with, "What?!  We're not family?!!")  To which I explain that a family is a group of people who love, help, and care about one another. So yes, we absolutely are a family.
(Cue the song, "We Are Family!")

Many times our stories lend themselves to fabulous conversations.  I find it happening with my own children as we read stories together.  We talk about what the characters are feeling.  Why they feel a certain way.  How do we know that's what they are feeling?  How does the author portray that?

We also use those starters to talk about great problem solving strategies.  What do you do when someone says unkind words to you?  How do you react?  How do you solve this problem for yourself? When is it time to NOT solve it by yourself but to get help from an adult?

At this age, most children (like my own) are terrified that its going to be them that gets in trouble.  I think it's important to reassure them that as long as they make good choices, use kind words and tone of voice, that the person being unkind will be the one to get in trouble.  They need to know that it is okay to stand up for themselves and that standing up for themselves does not mean hitting or talking meanly in retaliation.  I teach my kiddos (both school and my own) simple ways they can respond to friends.

Words such as, "Okay."
"Thank you."
"Sure."
"I like my _______."

If said with a calm, indifferent tone, eventually the other person is not getting the satisfaction of upsetting them.  In return, that person will give up and move on.  They will also know that that student or child will not back down or stoop to their level of poor choices.

Of course, there is a time and point when an adult is needed and we talk about that as well.
(Clearly, I'm a big talker!)  ;)

Tomorrow our district is going blue to Stomp Out Bullying.

In honor of this I have compiled some of my favorite picture books (47 books!!) and activities to use throughout this month for Bullying Prevention or throughout the year.  Included are literacy organizers and webs, suggested literature, templates, and more!

Get yours here.

It's All About You and your efforts to build a strong character.  You have the power to build yourself up or let others break you down.  Up...is the better choice!!

You'll find more about these great stories included in my mini unit.

(I already have a companion activity for Chrysanthemum.  Snag yours here.)

G O   B L U E!!