Put a Little Jig in Your St. Pat's Day

Classroom activities for St. Patrick's Day are easy to find, but don't forget to put something genuinely Irish into your day, too. Being Irish, I love many things Irish, but top of the list is Irish dancing. Here's a selection of short videos that I use myself. My students love them every year and I bet yours will, too. I give the length of each video so you can plan your day accordingly.

I'm linking up with Show and Tell Tuesday from Forever in 5th Grade so more of you can find this.

This one took place as a Flashmob in Dublin. It's 4 minutes and 19 seconds long and great fun. You can have good discussion with your kids as to how this might have come about.

This is an opening number from a Riverdance performance. It is four minutes and 43 seconds long. In case you don't know, Riverdance pretty much put Irish dancing on the map, and people the world over discovered Irish dancing through them. I show several different types of Irish dancing in the next couple of videos.

This is a closing number from Riverdance. It is 11 minutes and 58 seconds long.

And lastly, here are some kids who are learning to dance. I don't know the kids or where they are dancing but this particular video brings back memories of my own daughter learning to Irish dance. I always show my kids this video so they can see that kids can learn to dance, too.

So there you have some examples of Irish dancing to pick and choose from. I, myself, will be showing them all as I could watch all day long! My kids love them each St. Patrick's Day. Hope you and yours enjoy them, too. Erin go Bragh! Ireland forever!

Thanks to Stephanie for the linky. Click on back and find more good stuff!

Five for Happy Friday

Today finds me contemplating happiness, both in the classroom and at home.  Thanks, Kacey, for Five for Friday so I can link up to share.

1.  Did you catch the New York Times article about some new testing? The latest thing that "the powers that be" want tested in the classroom are social skills, including grit and joy.... can you hear me moan, wail, and gnash my teeth right through your computer screen, because that is what this news makes me do! And I'm not the only one. The person who coined the term "grit" in current educational settings, and wrote the book of the same name, Angela Duckworth, was on the board overseeing the project and she RESIGNED over the testing issue! She said, "I do not think we should be doing this; it is a bad idea."  One more way to put pressure on kids and blame them, and teachers, if they are found not to have "social awareness" and "growth mindset.." whatever that means... and however they think they are going to test for it!

Okay, so you're thinking, this post was supposed to be "happy" and that first paragraph was anything but! To counterbalance the horrible testing news, I'll share another article, also from the NYT. In this one, Emma Seppala, author of The Happiness Track, talks about the importance of happiness in life, and how to help kids be happy. The article suggests concrete ways to help kids in the classroom. (What a world we live in that so much press is spent on stressed out elementary students.) I've been contemplating the list for the last several days, and on some ideas make notes:

Live in the moment  Help kids focus on what's at hand and not the ever present to-do list.

Model Resilience   Help kids overcome challenges and find respite from pressures.

Manage your energy  Are we as teachers sometimes so full of happy, frenetic energy that we forget to recognize and strive for joy in calm moments, too? In looking at my own classroom I can find calmer happy moments with some read alouds, or in choosing and sharing my own small moment stories in writing workshop. A fellow teacher builds yoga into her classroom routine which she says brings calm happiness.

Do nothing  Kids cannot always be on task (and yet that is our expectation... hmmm.) So build in time for kids to be "off task" and following their own thoughts and impulses. Recess? Free choice? I happened on yet another great article on this topic here.

Be kind to yourself   Kids think of mistakes as good things when we teach and model that. When my kiddos make public mistakes, I sometimes say, "Yippie and wow, what a good way to learn. Thanks for helping us learn with you." A positive spin helps kids realize we all make mistakes and we can all learn from them.

Be kind to others   Thankfully, kids are naturally kind... though on bad days we can forget that. We need to value and protect their trait of compassion.

Here are links to both articles so you can read them yourself... pin now, read later.

Testing for Joy and Grit?... 

Letting Happiness Flourish in the Classroom 

Now I share some things that make me happy, and maybe you, too...
2.  Happy with our house– Last week I posted on the new built-in bookshelves in our entry hall. We needed more book storage and an easy place to throw our coats when we came in the door. Well, the hooks came in and we put them up. Some before, during, and after pics are  here.

I wasn't sure if bookshelves lent themselves to coat storage, but it really works. These are bulky coats, so as warmer weather comes the bulk will diminish and be gone. (Don't mind the little fur ball in the corner– she's always up for a photo op.) It is very nice to have the "coat chair" in the family room back to just a comfy seating option... well, that will be the case when I break the habit of walking right past the new hooks to throw my coat on the chair... ugh.

3.  Happy with some good food– This winter I fell in love with Overnight Crockpot Pumpkin Oatmeal and even with the weather warming I still enjoy it. I've tried peach, applesauce, and several other varieties, but pumpkin is the winner, especially with that good-for-you-orange-vegetable bonus. If you google you'll find lots of versions, several of which I've tried. Tweaking it here and there for personal taste, this is the recipe we've finally landed on.

The oatmeal really is under all that stuff– snort.

Several things to note that I've changed from the typical recipe–
• I use half the amount of pumpkin pie spice that many recipes call for and then add in that much more cinnamon. We love cinnamon more than cloves and nutmeg.
• The vanilla is a must– if I forget to put it in the night before I add it in the morning and it's okay.
• I don't put any brown sugar into the pot, but let each family member sweeten it to their own taste when served. I found if I added it in, some members still added their "usual amount" and it became too much sugar to be healthy. This way I think they use a little less.
• We always add walnuts, raisins and more cinnamon– nice additions to the pumpkin flavor.
• Some recipes call for water, some milk. I do half and half. We still add more at eating time for consistency's sake, and to cool it off.
• I only use the "Keep warm" setting when cooking overnight. I use a big crockpot that has three settings- keep warm, low, and high, and I found if I used the recommended "low" setting it was cooked too much, leaving the oatmeal too thick and the crockpot a heck of a mess to clean with oatmeal cemented to the sides.

Overnight Crockpot Pumpkin Oatmeal

Before going to bed put the following in the crockpot:

2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cup steel cut Irish oatmeal
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 can pumpkin puree

Turn the crockpot to "Keep warm" and go to bed. Wake in the morning to the aroma of pumpkin pie :)

4.  Happy with new classroom activities– Lookee, lookee what I found! Monkeys and bananas!

Monkey eggs!

Banana dominos!

I'll put the bananas in the monkeys for an addition game... or something. The bananas were already in my Amazon cart when I saw the monkeys at Kroger in the Easter section... can't resist checking out the new plastic egg styles they invent each year– so handy in the classroom. The monkeys came in a package of three.

Jonathan came around the grocery store aisle and saw me rifling through the eggs, "I thought you were going to get the canned pumpkin?"

What could I say? Monkeys go with bananas and bananas go with monkeys. It's destiny.

Into the cart. *eye roll*

You can see the bananas here.

5.  Happy with upcoming leprechaun mischief– I am half Irish so St. Patrick's day is a day not to be missed. I always have a little leprechaun magic up my sleeve for the kidpeople, too. We do lots of activities, but here is a new one I thought up for this year.

St. Pat's day this year falls on a day when we have our library special right in the middle of the afternoon. Perfect. Just before we go I'm going to set out our party fare: cute shamrock napkins, Rolos, and Oreos (We're also having leprechaun pudding but I'm going to get the fixins ready for that while they are at special.) I want to be sure the kids see the regular old Oreos on their napkins. They'll be excited because treats are treats no matter if they are regular old Oreos. I'll tell them we'll have our party when we get back, and march them out the door. Mean old Mrs. Wright, making them wait... but there is method to my madness.

While they are gone, I'm going to switch out the plain Oreos for Mint Oreos which just happen to be green. When the kiddos come back, och aye, the leprechauns used their magic again to turn the Oreos green... what are we gonna do with those tricksy wee folk?? Easy but effective, I think.

From this...

...to this!  Magic.

6.  Happy trying something new– happy bonus number six... I might very well be on the road as you read this. I'm headed to French Lick, Indiana (don't you just love the name of that town...) for a blogger retreat this weekend. This is my first time going to any blogger event and I'm sorta nervous. It's one thing to know people in virtual reality and another to spend a real weekend with them. I'm not usually shy– stop laughing those of you who actually know me. They ARE teachers, after all. The resort looks gorgeous. I need a little change of scene. This will be fun...  I'll let you know all about it.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a happy weekend!

Click to find more Friday posts. 

Best Random Five for Fraterday

Sometimes the best stuff is random, and today, random it is. Thanks Kacey for Five for Friday!

1.  I start with one I'm really excited about doing- I'm going to call it the Bouncing Dice Game.

I call it the Bouncing Dice Game!

I just found this new math game on Pinterest. All it takes is one of these trays from the dollar store and some foam dice. There are several variations for kids from preschool to third grade. The kidpeople are gonna love it. Kathy even has a video on all the ways to play. Brilliant! Click to see.


2.  I combined literacy, art, and technology– specifically QR codes and Chatterpix– to make a neat display in our hallway at school. Parents and visitors can scan the code and see my student's artwork talk to them with the voice of each of the kidpeople. I posted about how I used ChatterPix and this guided drawing project on this previous post HERE. I put the display up just in time for our Kindergarten Round-up to get maximum viewing. Our fifth grade students went down with iPads to scan and listen, too. They will be using Chatterpix for some of their own future projects- it's not often kindergarten gets to teach fifth graders in the use of technology! Gotta love ChatterPix.

An interactive display using QR Codes

3.  We made clay snowmen, the kind of clay that is made of earth that dries hard without firing. (Google Crayola– one tub of it did twenty little snowmen.) We rolled them in glitter before they dried, though it's hard to see in the photos. The arms are real twigs- gathered before the snow covered the ground. We added tiny buttons and pony beads. Colored toothpicks made the noses. The scarves are fat yarn- easier to work with than ribbon. And the best feature is the headgear, I think. The kids could choose from earmuffs– chenille stems and pompoms– or caps– the fingers cut off of dollar store gloves! I had to use the hot glue gun to get them to stay. This is our display in a place of honor in our library. The kids were tickled with them!

Whee! I love the arms coming out of the head.

Lean to the left. Lean to the right.

Adorable and full of personality, each one.

My DH Jonathan, helped me set up the display on crinkled pink roll paper with tissue shreds on top, as they wouldn't have been as easy to see against white paper. (Okay, okay, I know snow can be blue sometimes, but we didn't have any blue... and pink was better than yellow.) He caught the spirit of these snowmen perfectly when he said, "Kindergarten art is always so sincere."


4.  Michigan at it's finest. Yesterday was just at freezing, brilliant sun, and no wind- rarely is it as wonderful as this. I grabbed several items as we headed out the door to extend the fun and learning outside. We were outside for almost an hour and terrifically happy the entire time. We hadn't done a good long recess in a looong while. I wear my phone and used it to snap lots of pics. It was SO sunny I was like a mole using the camera, unable to see much of anything. I managed to get some good faceless shots I can share, though.

Bilibos make good sleds

And good buckets

Which can be combined with real buckets

If you don't know about Bilibos click here to read about them.

It's difficult to see here, but bingo markers were a huge hit

When it's hard to climb in snowsuits you find other ways
to hang upside down

5.  And on a personal note, we took on one of those way-bigger-than-we-thought projects in the last month. (Jonathan chuckles at that line. It was a way-bigger-than-I-thought project. He knew exactly what he was getting into when he bowed to my request of an inside construction project in the winter.) We are a complete book fanatical family. We have books in every room of our house, and we were still in need of more storage space. I reorganized the bookshelves in my study this summer leaving in only teaching books to cover the full wall of bookshelves in there, but that meant that I needed to take out my storytelling books. They've been in boxes since then in my workroom. And I had multiple stacks of books all along the foot of our bed– books we've read but don't want to get rid of. (Remember, I have a little free library that is a regular source for my give-away books.)

We also were in need of quick and handy spots to hang coats. We have a coat closet, full of coats, but being the lazy and rushing family we are, we rarely actually get out a coat hanger and hang up our everyday coats. They stack up on a chair in the family room which looks messy and takes up seating. So we decided to maximize the space in our front hall with built in bookcases and added coat hooks.

Before

During

Let your imagination fill in with ladders, lumber, paint cans, dry wall supplies, air compressors, tools and toolboxes, dozens of electrical cords, and dust, dust, dust.... right in the house. Ugh.

Almost ready

It still needed major dusting and cleaning at this stage. You can actually see piles under the shelves.

Ta-Da

Well, almost ta-da... we are still waiting for the coat hooks we ordered to come in. There will be three sets of two on each of the vertical supports where coats can hang. I don't know if I've ever seen bookcases combined with coat storage, and you won't be able to see the books as well in the winter, but that is what we need so we are going to give it a try. We also built in a long horizontal support on which we can mount a ladder rail. I've always wanted one of those library ladders... we'll see. 

We had various little issues to solve- We wanted to keep the wardrobe, but still have a built-in look. We needed an outlet up high so we could install the lighting on the top shelf that shines up the pitched ceiling. And we have hot water heat– our house is now over 120 years old– which in this new addition of the house means baseboard heat, and we couldn't block that. In the previous picture you'll see that the bottom shelf is up rather high to allow for the heat to come out. The trunk under the window is only temporary until we build in a bench seat with storage. I simply could not stand the idea of even one more day of indoor sawdust, so the window seat is going to have to wait until the spring weather allows outside construction. 

I'll post better pictures that show the coat hook idea later. We are very happy with it and love the look in the hall.  We are also happy that it is finally operational and the construction is gone... though the dust remains and is a major item on this weekend's to-do list, right after report cards. We have loads more books, but we too pooped this week to sort and move any more. What do you think? I might get the credit for the idea that prompted all this, but Jonathan did the design and construction almost single handidly. I was sick with a humongous cold for weeks of this project and did hardly more than raise a paintbrush a couple of times. Thank the Lord above for this sweet, accommodating and "handy" man. Love. 

Click on back to find more! See you next time!

Cat Hat Treats and Photo Op Freebie

Photo Op. Find wigs and shirts. Grab signs for free.

Click on Image to download free Thing signs

Build your own Cat Hat Treats–
bananas, strawberries and Oreo Thins

Yum!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss. Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Happy Fox in Socks Day!

For some people this is an ordinary Monday...

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!