More Than Five Funny, Useful Things

You know me. No posts in over five weeks, then three posts in five days... and you're in for a treat today, because in addition to being Doodle Bugs Teaching Five for Friday it is also Funny Kid Friday. I've been chuckling for a week every time I think of this story.

As I write this, we are having an ice day. The sleet is pouring down at just barely 32 degrees, making for one heck of a dangerous mess outside. The dog wouldn't even go down the porch steps until I scraped them! The ONLY good thing that can happen on an ice day is for school to be cancelled... and it was! Now you know why I am posting three times in five days. I even had time for a nice breakfast... well, actually the same breakfast I would have had if I were on my way to school.



I suppose that photo is not especially appetizing... a food blogger I'll never be... I think they take photos of their food before they eat it. snort. It should tell you something, that we are down to the last bit in just a couple days. This new recipe from a friend shot to the top of our favorites list. It is an oatmeal bake. It takes about ten minutes to put together, and 25ish minutes to bake. I put in bananas, dried blueberries, and walnuts, basically because that is what we had. I think I'll try it with raisins, or even canned peaches next time, but it will work with most any fruit. The fruit gets lovely and smushy in the warm oatmeal.

Click on the picture to download the recipe. I added vanilla to the recipe and dropped the brown sugar from half a cup to a third. Hope you like it as much as we do!
Here we go then with Five for Friday... the recipe was a yummy bonus  


1.  Check out the bumper sticker I saw in a parking lot. It made me chuckle, though some days I want to scream this to the world...



like "used to" counts. ha.

2.  Everybody young and old knows THIS book

But not everybody knows that Amazon made an animated VIDEO of the book. A WONDERFUL video!  It stays pretty true to Ezra Jack Keats style and storyline, but fills in the details with some wonderful snowy city scenes and new diverse characters. Here are some of them, both new...

And old. That little snowman is so Snowy Dayish, isn't it?

The story involves Peter and his neighborhood getting ready for the holidays, but even so, I'm going to show it to my kiddos now in January. It's just delightful and worth checking out. I am so glad I found it. You can see a preview of The Snowy Day and Amazon's other holiday special, If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie, by clicking on the gif below... isn't he just as you pictured Peter to be?




3.  Speaking of snowy days, there are sooooo many snow and ice activities to do with kids. Even if you live in Florida, there are plenty. I collect them all on my Pinterest Board dedicated to all things SNOW. Find the latest crafts, science activities, books and videos by clicking below.

Here's one of the ideas I mentioned a couple weeks ago, but with pics. You take old plastic containers, fill them with water, drop in stuff, freeze, then let the kids get the stuff out. It would be really cute to drop a handful of penguins in there. Unfortunately, I readied this activity while at home over break and there were no penguins in sight.. plastic, or otherwise. There were lots of miscellaneous do-dads however. I stash most of these things in my pockets as I find them out of place in the classroom, intending to put them away, but they often make their way home until laundry day, and beyond. If I want a random do-dad, I look on the top of the dryer.

Here are the found items in water placed out on our deck to freeze.



We did a lesson on states of matter with water. If water becomes ice at 32 degrees, then a glass of water must be warmer than 32 degrees. And when warm water drips on cold ice, what happens? Well, the ice melts and releases the item... at least releases it enough for you to pry it out with your little kid fingers.

Here is the iceberg activity after the littles were at if for a while with the eyedroppers. They got a lot of things out.

4.  I posted about these two ideas earlier this week. I thought they were so worthwhile I gave them each their own post. If you don't know about pokey pin pages, or you stay away from them because you don't want to give the kids push pins, have I got the tool for you! Click to read about the pokey pens, some sources for pokey pin sheets, and some new paper you might not know about.

And this one is a FREEBIE. Kids love to cut snowflakes, but the little guys just can't... or can they? Check out this free downloadable template that my DH made for me and let your kinders cut to their heart's delight. Click to see post.

5.        

A former student stopped by my room the other morning just as the bell rang. His cousin is in my class this year. 

Student:  Hi, Mrs. Wright. Could you give this hat to Grant? He left it at my house.

Me:  Sure thing. I'll give it to him now.

As student turns to walk away...

Me: Hey, bud, you sure are getting tall!

Student: Thanks, Mrs. Wright, so are you!

If only I were growing in the vertical direction...

There you have it. Now see what everybody else is up to this Five for Friday on Doodle Bugs Teaching. Thanks, Kacey, for the linky.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time!

Five and Some Funnies

Oh, I have five goodies to share today so thanks to Doodle BugsTeaching for the weekly link-up... though at this time of year I find it hard to get to weekly!

I'm also linking up with Small Victories Link-up. I think readers will especially enjoy numbers 1 and 5 below. Everyone needs a chuckle here and there. If this is the first you've heard of Small Victories you might want to check it out– you'll find recipes, DIY, kids activities, healthy living... a whole bunch of neat information.

1.  Click to get a chuckle. It's in German but you only need to know that the daughter is asking her father how he likes the new iPad she bought for him.

I found this on Diane Ravitch's blog and I thank her for it. I just cracked up. I was surprised by the number of comments that said the video was putting older folks down, though. I didn't see it that way at all. I think the technology we use is the technology we need. It doesn't depend on a person's age. As a teacher I hear about all sorts of apps and devices and techno short cuts for doing all sorts of things. If they don't have any real use in my life, I let them go and think, maybe later.

My sweet daughter shared this quote with me a while back. I had fun turning it into a meme using a very old photo of my youngest.

2. I found a new resource! Our district is putting extra emphasis this year on the teaching of vocabulary. I found a great site with good resources.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Literacy page has some very useful downloadable free teacher plans. The vocabulary lessons help you set purpose, contextualize the word, give a student-friendly definition, show other contexts, and engage students with a variety of quick activities.

Here is a sample so you get the idea

I find  the format easy to use, so I printed the single sheet for some of my favorite books and then just stuck it in the book so it is ready to go the next time I read that title. There are many different texts to choose from. Now that I've used a couple of the plans, I find myself transferring the format into my own thinking about vocabulary as I read other books to the kiddos. Very useful to have my own thinking expanded. Check out the site by clicking on their icon above.


3. Michigan Bloggers! Check out the button change!

Over there on the right sidebar you'll see this Michigan button that links my blog to the list of Michigan bloggers kept by at Fifth in the Middle. It's a handy spot to go to when looking for a blogger in a specific state.

Well, a reader contacted me about the old button, which only had the lower peninsula on it. As iconic as the mitten is, it is only half our state. So I contacted Fifth in the Middle and it was changed to a more complete button in short order. If you are a Michigan blogger you might want to change your button, too. Your spot on the state list won't change if you just swap out the button. Let's hear it for Michigan... all of it.

4. There are oodles and oodles of 100th Day activities to do, aren't there? It's hard to pick and choose which ones are best for your students– there are a finite number of minutes to the day after all. The kidpeople and I had a blast with our 100th day, and I managed to cook up a new little activity, too. I hesitate saying it is original... I think it is... but the longer I'm in the world the more I think there isn't any original thought. As we all strive to teach the same concepts in new and interesting ways, and share on the internet, it's only a matter of time before you see the same idea in completely different places.

My kids were greeted on our 100th day with this sign, "Can you Limbo under 100 centimeters?"

Limbo under 100 cm on the 100th day of school

I put a meter stick in the door frame, marking 100 centimeters, and stretched the sign across the doorway. My Littles had to limbo... duck... creep... slither.... under the doorway to get through. It was just one more way to demonstrate 100 of something. I left it all up all day... yep, I had to limbo crawl through the door each time, too. Even parents got in on the act.

How low can she go on the 100th day?

I put together a little freebie sign for you to download to save you some time. Print up as many pages as you need to span your doorway, taping them together. (My original sign was made from a roll of paper, but I realize not everyone has that handy. The freebie sign marks the 100 cm level, too, so I'll use it next year.) I put transparent tape all along the bottom of the sign so it was less likely to rip. It did indeed stay up all day with twenty kids going in and out numerous times. Hope you have fun with it, even if it is for next year. Click here to download.

Another thing we did was take a fun "100" photo in our goofy 100 hats. (The kids stamped ten bingo dots on ten strips of paper that they then put on the headband hat.) We put ourselves into a "100" and then I took a photo from above (yes, I was standing on a table... a low table... the kids promised not to tell on me.) To get us all into the picture I had to use the panorama feature on my iPhone– those kids were v-e-r-y patient as I figured this out!

Do YOU see the 100? The kiddos were happy with how it came out in the end... one shouted, "I CAN see the 100!" in amazement... that's when I realized some of them had NO idea why I was climbing around on a table trying to take a picture... just another day in wacky life with Mrs. Wright...

See how we made 100?

5.  And here's a little 100th Day Funny Kid Story

I used the Aging Booth app to age the kids. (The app is free to download and easy to use.) The kids got a huge kick out of seeing themselves "old." We then discussed what it would be like to be 100 years old, with me acting as scribe for the list. It started out like this.

When you are 100 years old...
• you have to use a walker
• you have to sit a lot
• you can't drive a car any more
• you have to have lots of help...

"Hey, wait a minute! This sounds horrible. Maybe you guys don't want to live to be 100 years old, eh?" I interjected with mock shock.

Hmmmm.... some silent, big eyed reflection.

The list making continuted.

When you are 100 years old...
• you can reach things
• you can eat what you want
• you get to have a candy stick to walk with (new use for candy canes ??)
• you are not afraid of the dark
• you don't have nightmares
• you don't worry about wild animals coming into your house (??)
• people will do stuff for you
• you can play lots of games because you know lots of rules
• you don't have to fold clothes (??)
• you have grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren
• people love you and there are lots of people who love you!

Whew! Now that sounds more like it!

Happy 100-something days of school! Here's to the 80-ish more!

Click on back to the either link-up to find more good stuff and leave a little love below.

Five for Friday and a Funny

Happy chilly Friday in February. Here are five random things going on in this Five for Friday... including a Funny Kid Story. Haven't had one in a while.

1.

Gotta have this up near my library book bin. It is going to mean LOVE for some of my short fellows. And who knows, maybe they'll remember their books more often. Comes from Imgur.

2.  We learned about symmetry in the past weeks. I tie it each year to our trip to the art museum because we'll sure see it there. As we were talking about how symmetry is everywhere, even right there on our faces, an art project occurred to me. I'm sure I've seen it somewhere over the years, but who knows where.

Here's how I did it. I took headshots of the kiddos and then printed on a regular black and white printer on regular paper. I cut the photo straight down the middle of the face. I then cut out the head and shoulder and glued it to another plain piece of paper. I demo'd with my own photo which the kids loved. I decided to give them only drawing pencils to keep with the black and white mode and to allow them the opportunity to shade. Our drawing pencils are fat number two pencils without erasers. (I use black vis-a-vis pens and black flairs for a lot of drawing projects, as well, but I thought those would be too harsh a line. My illustrator husband sees good value in kids not being able to erase, and over the years for a variety of reasons, I've have found it to be true.)

Boy, did they put in effort. The room had barely a murmur as they worked, totally engrossed in reproducing their own face. They had to really pay attention to detail and they LOVED it. The adults who have come into our room where they are on display have not failed to comment. They are pretty impressive and "Picasso-like" as one dad said when they are all seen together in the collection. It really is a worthwhile project and I highly recommend it, whether for a symmetry lesson or an All About project.

3. Our latest FAVORITE math video.

It is a favorite for the kids because the timing is just right to sing along to. It counts all the way up to 100 with a pause before each ten number. I say "Tell me" in that pause, and they say the next ten number, which is the tricky part in counting to 100 and you see some of them putting in extra thinking effort. There is a bonus for the math wizzes, too, because it counts past 100 going through the thousands, millions, billions, to one trillion. I tell you, one trillion is a very exciting number. In addition to great counting practice, I love it for it's sound. It is a more melodic tune than the raps, yet isn't babyish, and the singer articulates the numbers very well. Try it. Listen and you'll see why the kids love Big Numbers. KidsTV123 has other videos up on YouTube as well, and there are more goodies to be found. It is nice that most classrooms these days have the ability for just a few minutes of engaging number counting in the form of videos to keep kids on their toes and engaged. Ah, technology... and to think when I was in Ed School I had to learn how to load a film projector...

4. Have you tried a new trend– Small Worlds? I have to chuckle as I type "new trend" because imaginative play in this way has been around for a long time. I particularly like, though, how this is "packaged," and it's given me new ways to group items for play centers.

In a nutshell, you gather small items- toys, blocks, items from nature, scraps– and put them together in collections which lead kids to play in smaller, quieter ways around a theme. As I thought about it I could come up with several themes just with the stuff I already had. Here are some photos of one collection over a few days.

Small World play is fun!

I pulled Jenga blocks, popsicle sticks, micro cars, small signs, trees, figures and animals. The astro turf squares come from Menards– they are free samples– put you could just as easily use felt squares. The kiddos were totally engrossed. They worked individually and in groups to form roads, fences, buildings, cities, zoos, farms, forests with all sorts of things going on. They LOVED it.

I also put together a beach themed collection, and have stuff ready to go if we ever get snow again to do a winter themed one. Bringing snow into the classroom is always a hit, but now with the small world theme, it will have yet another purpose. I'm even working on an alien planet– the sky's the limit... er, rather NOT the limit. You can't imagine all the doodads I'm finding around the house and classroom to put to use this way. Have fun.

5. 

Do you ever wonder just HOW much your kids keep track of you? I was coming down with a cold the other day and to combat it I was drinking plenty of fluids, with the usual result. I was in the bathroom, which is in our own classroom, when I heard through the vent in the door:

Child A:  Where's Mrs. Wright?
Child B:  She's in the bathroom.
Child A: No...

I emerge at this moment.

Child B: See, she was in there.
Me: Teachers have to go to the bathroom, too, you know.
Child A: But you only go once a day, and you've already been today.

Hope you have a great weekend with no little eyes watching you. Thanks for stopping by.

Click on back for more posts. Thanks, Kacey.

P.S Anybody going to this retreat? I am planning on it, but am looking for buddies. Let me know. Midwest events don't come too often.

Self Portrait Symmetry- Great Project

Just goofing around with PicMonkey and making things Pinnable. Hope you'll Pin away!

This Week's Five

Hello Saturday! Thanks Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday linky. Here's five things from my teacher life this week.

1.   Here's an idea and a request. This year I have more than the usual number of students who struggle with fine motor movement. There are a slew of strategies to help kids develop fine muscles, but this week we did some of our centers UNDER the table... as in, writing on the table as if it were the ceiling. I had the kids put reading cushions down on the floor first to make it more comfortable and to give a boost to those with shorter arms. (No, I don't have T-Rex students... you know what I mean...)

Writing Under the Table– they LOVED it, especially the boys!

Writing this way gives kids great fine motor practice, but perhaps more important than that, it is fun. The joy of doing it gets even the most struggling writer excited about writing and drawing. As this was the first time I did it this year, I just gave them blank paper and markers.

I would like to do this more regularly with different kinds of writing and drawing activities, and this leads to my question- what is the easiest way to set it up, or let the kids set it up? I put masking tape loops on every corner of every sheet for the kids ahead of time. It worked, in that they could get it up there and it stayed, but it was such a long prep on my part. I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head but I want your tips before I begin. Anyone have ideas on how to streamline this process? Please share!

2. Another favorite activity this week was Twenty Clues. The kids arranged a few chairs as pairs, back-to-back– I love when the kiddos do the set-up, good for them and good for me. I put out picture cards upside down on a tray. Kids partnered up and then one chose a card. After peeking at the picture (they keep the card pressed to their belly to cut down on cheating) they came up with clues so their partner could guess.

Twenty Clues

Listening to the clues was hysterical very insightful. We have played this whole group several times, with me giving the clues, so they know the general idea. You see the complexity of giving good clues as you listen, though. Here are the clues one little guy gave for a picture of a semi-truck: It is black, it is big, it is round, it is fast... needless to say it was taking a while for his partner to guess. They both happily stayed at it, though. (I intervened with some prompts to give clues for what it is used for which is one of the most valuable sorts of clues.) The language practice is fantastic and even my ELL kids who have to work harder than the rest want to play it again and again. And they have to cooperate in order for it to work at all.

You can change this game to Twenty Questions, too, where the partner without the card asks the questions, but in my experience that is a harder version.  I have various picture cards with photos of all sorts of objects. I figure I'll print up small copies of pictures off the internet if we run out. Give it a try- bet your kids love it. And it's good for kids of all ages.

3.   My new business cards just arrived. Whoot! I have a couple conferences coming up and they'll be especially handy to have. I was very selective in the info I shared as I wanted them to be broad enough to cover my various roles in life. I wanted people to be able to contact me, of course, but I ended up limiting that to just my email and blog address. I considered printing front and back, but decided a blank back was handy for writing any notes I wanted to give a specific person. I didn't include my district as I would prefer people to contact me directly and not through work, and they can jot it on the card or email me if it is pertinent to them.

What do you think? It helps to have a husband who is also my designer. I love how it ties to the blog. And although Jonathan says that QR codes haven't caught on as well as they could, I decided to use QR code link to the blog as it allows anyone using a phone to just click instead of typing out the address. Do you have a business card? What do you include?

4.  I HOPE you all read this week's guest blog post done by none other than that same husband of mine. Between business cards and posts I've kept Jonathan pretty busy. This quick read will give you a grin and a chuckle!! Click on pic!

5.  And last but not least, I HOPE you'll read my review of a delightful new book, When a Dragon Moves In Again. It comes with a little freebie so you'll want to check it out by clicking.

All for now. Check out everybody else's favorite linky party to see what's up with them.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time!