Night Before School Wishing Star

Well, some of you are back at school, some of you are going back soon, and some of you have a month or so to go. No matter where you are in the going back process, most teachers' minds are on school as August begins. Mine sure is. I am really excited about a new Night Before School present I'm going to give to my incoming students. I happily share it for the first time through Monday Made It, because, well, it is Monday, and I did make it... well, actually I didn't make it, but my partner in crime life, otherwise known as my DH Jonathan did. The concept and poem came right out of my own little brain, though, and I think my new little kiddos are gonna love it!!! Whoot! I hope you do, too. This is what my students are going to get.

I will include a glow-in-the-dark star like this.

Glow-in-the-dark stars can be found inexpensively in most toy departments and they can also be found on Amazon, of course. I especially like this pack below because they really glow and they come with the poster putty to make them stick to ceilings and walls, so you can include a bit when you give a star to your students. Click on the picture to check them out.

I wrote a letter to my students that goes in the envelope with the star so parents can read about what to do. Here is my letter for you to use as an example if you choose.

I am going to seal it all up and write this little message on the envelope.

I'll send home the envelope in the packet of stuff that goes home to kindergarten parents before school starts. Won't the littles be surprised and happy when they get the envelope especially for them!

Now the best part– the poem and letter sample are freebies on my TPT store. I was so happy with Jonathan's star design on the little cards that I had to share it. The star poem comes in color and in black and white in case you want to save ink. You can download it by clicking on the picture.

Well, I am back to school today to work in my new classroom some more. I have been there all summer. I sure do have a lot of stuff! I am coming up with a few new storage ideas, though, which I'll share in later posts, so stop back, especially if you are interested in space saving ideas.

Scootch on over to Monday Made It now and see what teachers have been up to. I always find new ideas for both classroom and home when I peruse the blog posts. Thanks, Tara, for this great weekly linky.

Thanks for stopping by and do tell me what you think of the Wishing Star idea below in the comments. Also, please PIN!

Connect with Students through eCards

Whoa. I wrote this post last night, but am only posting now, having just come from the airport. We had to pick up my daughter whose plane SLID OFF the RUNWAY upon landing! All are fine, thank the good Lord above. You never know what is in store on any given day, do you! The roads were HORRIBLE as we crept down the highway at 25 mph. Michigan winter fall weather at it's finest! WHAT is headed our way when WINTER actually comes this year?? Yikes.

Anyway, I am very happy to find a new link-up today! Thanks to Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Spark Saturdays. I've been wanting to share a student connection idea. Research tells us that when kids feel connected to the teacher they do better in school. Luckily there are many ways to build rapport with students and families and I stumbled across one way with Blue Mountain eCards.

Each year at about this time I sign up for a couple months of membership. I use it to send eCards to families for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah, New Years Day, and if I'm lucky, a stay home snow day, too. A membership is just $3.95 a month, so for eight dollars I get all these cards, and more, too, as I share with family and friends, as well. My students and their parents are so surprised to find an email from Mrs. Wright in the Inbox on a holiday.

Blue Mountain has many cards to choose from, but my favorites are the animated eCards. Sometimes the little animations run all by themselves, sometimes the kids get to click on things. There are also a couple that come with some games to play. Great fun! One family told me their little one would have watched it a hundred times if they had let him. My class and I have special connections to fairies and there are some great ones at Blue Mountain.

To see what I mean, just click on the picture below. It will take you to my favorite Christmas card.

I'm signing up with Blue Mountain this weekend and setting it up to go out on Thanksgiving Eve. I'm debating on the one below or a talking Pilgrim Chipmunk who will deliver my own message in a squeaky little voice. Kids will be so happy to find it that night or when they wake up. The Thanksgiving Parade isn't the only fun thing on the screen this holiday! Click on it to see.

Hope you find this a fun way to connect with and spark your students' enthusiasm for school... though we K teachers are lucky because it's a rare kid who doesn't LOVE Kindergarten!

Now click on back to Head Over Heels to read some other Student Sparks! And have a great rest of the weekend!

Oh, and if you liked this post, cruise around a bit on my blog home here and consider following, please. I am very close to 200 hundred followers and am planning a little party... stay tuned :)

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