August Pick 3 Pins!

I used to love Pinterest. For some dumb reason it appears they have changed the dimensions of the board covers. I spent a good deal of time creating board covers, and now you only see half of the image. And when you click on the board, you don't see the board cover at all. The whole layout has become too white and sterile. I want them to change. it. back. UGH. I was so bummed out I almost didn't do the Pick 3 Pin Linky. I guess I'll just get on with it. sigh.

I always find August a bit frantic and sad as I delve into school prep and get ready to say goodbye to summer. sniff. It is exciting, too, to anticipate the kids, but that comes later in the month for me. How about you? The best thing for me to do is to find some fun student projects that both I and the kids will be excited about when school begins.

I think we don't give enough credit to the learning power of hands-on creating of "stuff." There are many simple techniques that even kindergartners can learn to do. It helps differentiate instruction and helps us teach to all the different smarts that kids have so the brain grows in all sorts of ways. And what kids can't use some fine motor practice as they cut, glue, paint, draw. It seems for most teachers there is a bit of leeway with time at the start of the year as we ease kids into routines, and that can allow for some extra fun crafting. I have been pinning ideas that kids can do with minimal instruction and prep, but maximal learning. Many you've seen before– this is just a reminder. Here we go!

 

 

This is an oldie but goodie. Ask your friends to donate a few of their magazine- I pull out whole pages of faces so kids don't bump into any unacceptable ads or articles in adult rags. I get out the scissors, glue sponges and mirrors and let them go at it. Mirrors? Sure. Help kids focus on their own face while they cut and paste facial features to make their self-portraits. What can be better at the beginning of the school year than that. This pin is part of a big list of 29 crafts so you'll find lots there.

      

I love this idea with part of the picture being hidden in the fold and I think kids will, too, It can be applied to other things than arms and teeth.. though these sure are cute. I will do the folding ahead of time before I give the kiddos the paper.

 

How fun is this? Gather lids for the rest of the summer. Then all it takes is glue, food coloring and toothpicks. When completely dry it makes a great suncatcher to catch the last rays of summer. Directions are on the site.  

4.  Bonus...

Okay, can't get simpler.  Just remember to add pipe cleaners and google eyes to the playdough... in fact, just scatter google eyes all around the classroom... the kiddos will find ways to use them. You remember that ad when that adorable second grade teacher said you can't have too much glitter? Well, in my classroom we can't have too many google eyes.

5. And one. last. idea. For this one YOU need to be crafty, but I think it will make the cutest display.

Won't student work look great out in the hall? It will be a bit of teacher effort to make, but if it is up all year I think it will be worth it. I think I'll prep the bodies before school starts then add photos of student heads to my list of first day photos to take during recess. 

And one. more. thing. Did you see my Night Before School Wishing Star teacher gift for students? I think you'll like it, and the wish and card are free! Just add the star. Click here.

For more ideas for all SORTS of things, follow me on Pinterest... gotta LOVE Pinterest... well, like Pinterest... maybe I'll go back to love when they undo the board view issue!

Special thanks to Marissa at Inspired Owl's Corner, Lisa at Pawsitively Learning, and Ashley at Just Reed. They host this very popular linky party where you can find so many terrific ideas!

Now back to school planning!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Pick 3 Pins for JUNE!

Hey! It's the third of the month and that means Pick 3 Pins... er, maybe four.... and a giveaway! Thanks to my bloggy buddies over at Pawsitively Learning, Just Reed, and Inspired Owl's Corner for their idea generating monthly linky party. Love this one.

With Father's Day right around the corner I've been looking for a cute gift idea for my kiddos to do. I like this one because the kids will have a neat experience drawing on the golf ball surface. And I'll come up with a sports themed card idea to go with it... you're a good sport, Dad. Or, you're better than a hole in one! Even Dad's who aren't golfers will enjoy their one of a kind art piece, I think. (Sorry, this PIN only went to advertising for t-shirts, but I still pinned to remember the idea. You just give the kids Sharpies to draw on the balls with. Easy-peasy!)

Whether you're still at school for a few more weeks, or already home with the kids, here's an easy fun outdoor activity. Found these little shooters that take basic materials. I think I'll knot and cut the balloons, then let the kids stretch them over the cut cups. I'll give each kid a marshmallow (chepaer than pompooms) and head outside. I might bring out some empty cups, too, so some kids can be the catchers, as well.  Find it on my outside board where more outdoor ideas for kids can be found.

I don't know about you, but I do a lot of online reading. I am always finding articles that I want to have at my fingertips for reference– to either put into practice or share with a colleague later. The easiest way to remember and find it again, is to PIN it. So I started a "Pin Now to Find Again Later Board." Click to see what I think will be handy to have and reread again.

And last but not least, for those of you who haven't stopped by in a while, my kiddos and I put together two animated movies with the help of my HUE Animation Studio. YOU can win a HUE Animation Studio, that comes with the camera, too. I blogged all about it, and even put together a free downloadable tip sheet. Check it all out!

This was our first video

And this was our second:

I blogged about them here!

Get the free downloadable tip sheet by clicking on the image below.

And ta-da! The giveaway! Hurry and enter as there's only a couple days left!! Sorry it's only available to readers in the US. 

OUR GIVEAWAY IS OVER :(  CAROL D. IS THE WINNER :)

Big thanks to HUE for the cameras and opportunities to learn new technology!

NOW, go find more stuff to PIN by clicking below on those wonderful pins! 

An InLinkz Link-up

And thanks for stopping by! See you next time!

Pin 3 and MORE

Hi again. I tell you when it comes to me and blogging it's either hot or cold, feast or famine, flood or draught. At the moment it's a hot feast flood– I think this is my third post in a row with more coming in the not too distant future. Today I have several things to share that are MOSTLY about my top favorite Pins for May. However, there are a couple other things ya gotta know about.

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Zayda from Magically in First for winning my giveaway of Secrets of the Vegetable Garden. She loves teaching science and is going to use this neat shine-through book to introduce her plants unit. Her firsties are gonna love it. Way to go Zayda. Read about the book here.

Second, I am participating in another big ol' giveaway with some fellow bloggers. You can win one of two fifty dollar TPT gift certificates. Wouldn't you have a great little shopping spree with that!

Just sign up here. You can have twenty three chances!

Teacher Appreciation Week
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Here's who's in the giveaway with me. Check out their blogs by clicking below.





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Kovescence of the Mind

123 teach - Brittany Kiser

Michele Luck's Social Studies

Momma with a Teaching Mission

Mrs. Beattie's Classroom

Stephanie Rye - Forever in Fifth Grade

Embellished Education

Classroom Action with Ms.Jackson

The Education Diva

Patty Rutenbar at 2nd in Line

Miss Johnston's Journey

Believe to Achieve by Anne Rozell

Cait's Cool School

Smart Teaching

KidpeopleClassroom.com

Adventures in the Mitten

Inspired Owl's Corner

Teaching Superkids

Pawsitively Teaching

Second Grade Estrellas

​And NOW check out these three pins!

Okay, so I couldn't make up my mind which KooKoo I liked the most, so I'm posting three of Koo Koo Kangaroo's movement videos as my first pin. These are our newest discovered vids– they have many– and our current favorites. Do you know KooKoo? If you don't, you should.

I mean come on... grown men who sing about their fanny packs! Hilarious. The kids like them, too. Their facial expressions are great and the music is very well done with a variety of styles. These goofballs really know kids.

I don't do Go Noodle, but I do collect movement videos on my Brain Break Pinterest Board. When we need to move, I just open this board and we choose the dance of the day. Love. We don't use this collection as much as we did in the mean winter months, but sometimes you only have five minutes to move and my Pinterest board is super handy for this. Click to see these guys and more faves. You might consider following just so you can get the variety of choices immediately.

My next Pin comes from Two Writing Teachers. I guess my mind is drifting toward next year. THIS year I had a good handful of kiddos for whom writing was very difficult. Both the physical aspect of putting pen to paper, and the recording of stories. I am doing early research for next year, looking for ways to scaffold better for my challenged kids. I LOVE teaching writing and I strive to be the best I can be. Check out this article, and while there, you'll see other posts in similar veins pop up. All kindergarten teachers have low kids and these ideas are valuable in helping us reach all our kiddos.

Consider following Two Writing Teachers, too. This group of blogger authors, considerably more than two now, share cutting edge thoughts on the teaching of writing, and they are pretty good writers themselves. I always find the posts worth my while.

Hmmm.... and three should be.... 

I've been using this super simple idea for my lowest reading group. Before they come over I write the sight words we're working on on slates with Expo marker. I hand them the slate and a Q-tip to "Trace-Erase" the words as a warm up. The novelty makes it fun to practice writing their words. Just one more teaching strategy in my ever growing collection. Next year I'll do some letter writing practice with Q-tips, too, as it's needed.

And because I JUST found this and want to do it THIS week for Mother's Day, I share it here.

I think this is the cutest dang Mother's Day card I've ever seen. Tips to make the photo come out right are included on Bren's blog.

Can you believe I have today off! It is voting day and our schools are polling places. So in an effort to stay away from potential gun toting voters, our district decided a month ago to close and label today as a "snow day." I am THRILLED with the day off, even as I am not thrilled with the reason.

My To-Do List:
Get tire fixed
Work on animation project I'm doing with the kiddos
Get ready for an all day field trip on Wednesday
Write lesson plans for three days I'm out next week
Meet some new students I'll have next year
Help my daughter who's home on semester break with a painting project
Have my mom up for dinner
And...
And...

Okay, so I have a week's worth to work into one day... I can do it... I'm a superhero-teacher-type...

Thanks so much for stopping by. Go check out some more Pin love by clicking below on the blog buttons. Heaps of thanks to Lisa and Marissa for their monthly Pick 3 Pin Linky. I love to party... linky party, that is!

If you'd like to post into this linky sponsored by Pawsitively Teaching, Just Reed, and Inspired Owl's Corner, you can! Just click on their buttons below for the guidelines and buttons.

See you next time!

An InLinkz Link-up

Hats, Hats, Tree Pins and a WINNER!

Everyone looking forward to April? I am. We start the month with a break, and then Spring comes breezing in with all it's blooming splendor. Yippee! Here are three pins I'm going to use this month and thanks to the pin pals Marissa at the Inspired Owl's Corner and Lisa at Pawsitively Teaching for the linky party– one of my favs!

Aren't these hats adorable? I love making hats with the kids and we do it quite a few times during the year. This one comes from a recycled paper bag and the directions are in the video. Doing it!

Such a cute learning idea. I'm saving this one for the week of Earth Day when we read The Lorax. The kiddos will get good cutting practice creating the tree tops and it ties right into our word family practice.  

Yes, another hat. I told you I like them. And you know, testing season is right around the corner... what do hats have to do with testing? After we do a testing session we run back to the run to counterbalance the badness by doing something really fun and creative, and oftentimes that is hat making. (No, I don't tell the kids the "computer activities" are bad. They just like doing fun stuff anytime.) What could be sillier than this monster hat where you just add google eyes and anything goes?? I love little monsters and we have fun with all sorts of monster stuff in the classroom. And if you want to give it a spring theme, just make those 3D bouncing doodads on top flowers! Check out my monster board while you're there though, cause there are lots of neat ideas!

And now...

dum dada dum!  (That's some big drum bangs....) the winner of the blog giveaway of the book Hammer and Nails is Michelle M.  Michelle should look for her copy of the book, courtesy of Flashlight Press, in her mailbox soon.

Adn don't forget, more giveaways coming up in the next few weeks- a Hue camera/animation kit and a great "see thru" book from Usborne. Follow so you're in the know!

Click away to find more great Pins. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by and see you next time!

Pick 3 Pins and Freebies

Happy New Year! It's not only a new year, but a new month and that means it's time for the Pick 3 Pins linky. YAY! Thanks to Pawsitively Teaching and Inspired Owl's Corner.

With FREEBIES this time- whoot

To be very honest, I really have a love-hate relationship with this linky. I LOVE posting to it because I love Pinterest and use it all the time, and I LOVE going to this linky as a teacher and finding new great stuff. HOWEVER, I HATE only being able to share THREE! Three?? I mean, com'on, I could share three hundred! sigh.

So, in the end I share two snow themed pins, because my class is all about snow in January, and one little diddy that I just have to share. AND I give you a freebie I made to go with the song. Actually, one of the snow pins leads to a freebie, too, so click away.

Do you know the short Lily and the Snowman video? I haven't seen it come across any pin boards yet, but it is so lovely. I can hardly wait to share it with my kiddos... it has similar themes to Puff the Magic Dragon, which we love and sing all the time, and it will lead to good discussion about growing up, like Puff did. But spoiler alert– it might make some of you cry! My own daughters just tease me and tease me... one day they'll know!

Okay, so there isn't too much new about sparkly playdough or making clay snowmen... but would you look at how it is set up!  SO cute. SO inviting with wonderful choices. And see that little snowman factory sign?? Well, its a FREEBIE when you click through to the blog. I think after we've spent a day with playdough, I'm going to break out the air dry dough and let them create permanent snow friends. Love.

This is the CUTEST song. Found on YouTube, complete with sign language, you and your kids will have fun learning the song. My kids and I usually sing a goodbye song at the end of the day, so I typed up the words to put up in my classroom for the kiddos to read along. YOU can download my little poster by clicking on the pic below.

Well, that is all for today. I do encourage you to check out my Pinterest boards and the snow themed one in particular because there are so many great ideas on there and I am adding to it all the time.

Click to go to my Pinterest page!

I've been using my own student break count down on my fridge and it was a sad mark I made this morning. If you'd like to share it with students next year, you can download it by clicking on the picture. Now make sure you're ready for tomorrow's return to school because ready or not, here they come charging into 2016!

To find more great pins just continue down the page and you'll find tons. It is your lucky day! Thanks for stopping by.

An InLinkz Link-up

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