1-2-3 Come Make An Ice Cream Cone With Me!
The end of the year is super-charged with energy. You can literally feel it in the air and it's obvious in your students' excited behavior. Many kiddos are already sharing about vacations that their family is going to take and what they want to do for the summer, so I thought it would be fun to have them write about that, and make a craft as well.
When I think of summer, I think of ice cream cones. It seemed the perfect "craftivity" for an end of the year writing prompt, and led to the "Here's The Scoop" packet.
Run off the cone pattern on brown construction paper, run the ice cream scoop template on a variety of pastel colors of construction paper that would be the shades of real ice cream flavors. Scrapbook paper really looks awesome; I used it for several of my samples.
Students cut out their cone and scoop. They also trim and glue a plain scoop of "vanilla" to the top of their cone. This is where they will complete the writing prompt. Remind students not to write beyond the indentations, as you can see by the photo, the white scalloped section will peek out to give the illusion of another scoop.
Using a tiny piece of Scotch tape, students "hinge" the top scoop to the right hand side of the bottom scoop, so that it flips open to reveal the writing portion. For that finishing touch, add a cherry with a school photo to the top.
There's a template for "Here's the scoop ! These are some of the cool things I'd like to do this summer..." as well as one you can use at the beginning of the year: "Here's the scoop! These are some of the cool things that I did this summer..."
After students have shared their creation, give them a "Wishing you a sweet summer" bookmark. Write students' names at the top, and sign yours under the greeting.
Completed cones make a cute bulletin board too. Make the background out of a plastic picnic table cloth and scatter the cones on it. Your caption could be "Cool writing by some sweet 1st graders." or "Looking foward to a sweet summer!"
For another writing prompt, have students color the "I hope you have a cool year!" bookmark and write a note to a new student, who will be in your class in the fall. What a fun surprise for them to find this on/in their desk on the first day of school.
Also included in the packet is the "Secret Sweetie" game. Have students fill out the cone portion, write a clue on the scoop and then glue their photo on the inside.
Collect them and read several a day. Call on students to guess who they think the "secret sweetie" might be, then flip open the top scoop to reveal the photo.
This can be used at the beginning of the school year to help children get to know their new classmates, or at the end of the year to see how well they know their friends.
Click on the link to view/download the Here's The Scoop packet. Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away.
"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent
1-2-3 Come Fill A Pail Of Fun With Me
Double-Duty! Writing Prompts and Bulletin Boards
I love this time of year. Standards have been taught, assessments are pretty much done, and I'm looking for some fun pre-summer things to plug in.
Students are anxiously waiting for summer vacation so why not cash in on that enthusiasm and use it as a writing prompt?
I like to incorporate writing with a bit of art to turn these lessons into "craftivities".
Students seem to enjoy them more, creating awesome results and I have an instant bulletin board or hallway decoration when things are starting to look a little sparce.
Make A Bucket List!
I'm happy to report I've achieved just about everything I've wanted to accomplish in a college notebook "bucket list" and that's a wonderful feeling. I now have mini-bucket "to-do" lists on a daily basis which triggered this idea.
These colorful sand pail buckets make an adorable bulletin board or hallway display, or can simply be sent home with your students. If you're homeschooling they are perfect for a summer scrapbook page.
Run off my masters on a variety of brightly colored construction paper and give students a choice of colors. Make sure children choose a DIFFERENT color for their pail and shovel as it makes a nicer contrast and more colorful bulletin board.
Students CUT out their pails and write their name on the back of them. Children also cut out their shovel and write their name on that as well. If you want to make this even more of a keepsake, add their school picture to the shovel as well. Cut two, 2-inch strips of complimentary-colored construction paper, and glue them together. Mine are 22 inches long.
Glue the ends to the back of the pail on either side, for a 3-D handle. I looped mine down so that it crossed over the written paper, and then I folded the right end down.
Have children brush on Elmer's school glue to the oval section of their pail and then sprinkle on play sand. Set the pails aside to dry. You could also simply cut oval shapes using sandpaper.
While the pails are drying, students write their "bucket list" of all the things they want to do during the summer and then glue the list to the bottom of their sand pail.
Mount the pails on the bulletin board or wall with the shovels leaning against them. Use light brown paper as a background so that it looks like a beach or big sandbox.
Two or three paper seagulls suspended from fish line, flying overhead, complete the picture. The caption: Our Summer Bucket List! You could expand this idea and have a "not fun" bucket list for another day of writing.
This would be a list of things students have to get done over the summer that they don't really want to do, like clean their rooms, do yard work, etc. For these buckets and shovels they would pick colors they don't like.
Click on the link to view/download Summer Fun Writing Prompts Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away.
"People don't notice when it's winter or summer when they are happy." -Anton Checkov
1-2-3 Come Have A Blast With Me!
Now that Mother's Day is over, it seems that attention has turned to looking for end-of the-year activities, as school begins to wind down for many. With that in mind, I designed the "I Had A Blast In School" packet.
I've included writing prompt-templates for preschool through 8th grade, plus a blank one to fill in with whatever.
Students can simply fill in the page, or they can wrap a toilet paper tube with scrapbook or wrapping paper to make a "firecracker" and add some 3D pizzazz. I mounted everything on a sheet of scrapbook paper to make it more colorful as well.
I've included a fireworks pattern that students can sprinkle glitter on and then glue to the top of their firecracker, or tuck in a wad of tinsel for a sparkling effect. Add a school photo for that finishing touch.
Completed projects make an awesome end-of-the-year bulletin board and are a nice alternative to a school memory book.
After your students share their creation with their classmates, give them a choice of the four bookmarks. "I hope you have an absolute blast this summer." Teachers write a student's name at the top and then sign the bottom.
You could also ask students if you can keep their "blast" craftivity to give to your next year's kiddos.
Have them fill in the "I hope you have a blast too." note and glue it to the back of their work.
What a nice surprise for your new class to find in/on their desks in the fall.
If they want to take their work home, but would still like to make something for next year's class, have them color and complete the writing prompt bookmark: "You're going to have a blast in _________ because..."
As with the above prompt, I've included templates for preschool through 8th grade, with a blank one (pictured) to fill in with whatever. Encourage students to write more on the back.
Click on the link to view/download the I Had A Blast In School packet.
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. My "Pin it" button is at the top.
"Sometimes you never know the true value of a moment, until it becomes a memory." -Unknown
1-2-3 Come Write With Me!
If your students are like mine, they'll enjoy sharing things about themselves and giving their opinion, so making a bio-writing prompt "craftivity" will be interesting and fun for them.
I've included a mortarboard (graduation cap) template, so if you teach kindergarten or preschool and your kiddo's have a graduation ceremony, this makes a wonderful keepsake.
You can give students a variety of color choices or run the template off on just your school colors.
If you don't need the mortarboard, simply give students skin-tone colored construction paper and have them draw a large self portrait of just their head and neck.
Showing them a sample you made, will help them follow the directions of drawing just their head and making sure that they use the entire paper.
My Y5's had a tendency to draw stick figures or too small of a circle for their face. Children color and cut their portrait out and glue the bio writing prompt template at the bottom.
To make this "craftivity" even more of a keepsake, as well as add some 3D pizzazz, students pick a partner and trace their hand on a folded sheet of skin-tone colored construction paper.
This way they can cut once, and have 2 hands. You may want this step done by a room helper to expedite things for preschoolers.
Show them your sample and explain that they glue the base of each hand to either side of their bio page, and then gently fold their fingers forward, gluing the tip of one finger to the front.
Completed projects make an adorable end-of-the-year bulletin board. For that extra finishing touch, use wiggle eyes and fasten them with glue dots.
Adding a tassel to the center of the graduation cap also adds pow. I made mine out of yarn, but you can also buy "real" tassels from a party store. Some even have a little year charm on them. 
If you have time, have students share their work with their classmates.
If you've already got enough end of the year activities, these bios are wonderful for a "getting to know you" icebreaker for the beginning of the school year as well.
To expedite things, include the writing portion in your "welcome to school" letter or open house packet. Parents can then help little ones fill in the information; children bring this to school the first day, where they'll make the head and hands and attach the bio paper.
For teachers who want to skip the "craftivity" portion, I've also included a bio-writing prompt sheet that has a small space for students to simply draw a mini self-portrait.
Another idea is to have students fill this out at the beginning of the year, and then do it again the last week of school to see how things have changed. In the past, I've seen a ton of growth in their self-portraits!
This page could also be included in whatever memory book you are making for your students' last day, or collect and collate the pages to make a class book during the first week of school.
Click on the link to view/download the Bio-Writing Prompt Craftivity.
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. My "pin it" button is at the top of the page.
"If the heavens were all parchment, and the trees of the forest all pens, and every human being were a scribe, it would [still] be impossible to record all that I have learned from my teachers." -Jack Zakkai
- writing prompts for the end of the year,
- writing prompts for the beginning of the year,
- bio writing prompts,
- kindergarten graduation writing prompts,
- preschool graduation ideas,
- kindergarten graduation ideas,
- bulletin boards for the beginning of the school year,
- bulletin board ideas for back to school,
- getting to know your students activities,
1-2-3 Come Make A Cupcake With Me
Since the end-of-the-year writing prompts have been such popular downloads, I decided to make a few more. I hope you enjoy these new FREEBIES.
"
Sweet!" has come to mean wonderful, awesome, great, as well as a sugary taste, so I thought I'd create the prompt: "_____________ (fill in your grade level) was really sweet because..."
It didn't take long to decide that a cupcake would be the perfect "craftivity"for this June writing prompt.
Your students can make the cupcake for themselves or for one of your new students who will be coming in the fall. What a nice surprise for them to find this cute card in/on their desk the first day of school, with a note from a former student.
I've included templates for preschool through 3rd grade, plus a blank one to fill in with whatever.
If you don't want to do the cupcake craft, I've also included a simpler option.
Run off the black and white cupcake bookmark that says: "Wishing you a sweet year!" Students color the cupcake and write something underneath the greeting.
If you'd like to give your students more practice, have them write why they thought this grade was sweet, on the back. To make this even more personal, print off your class composite, cut the students' heads into ovals, and have them glue their photo somewhere on the bookmark next to their name.
The packet also includes 4 different, full color, cupcake bookmarks from the teacher, that say: "Wishing you a sweet summer."
Write your students' names at the top, and sign yours under the note. You may want to include the bookmark with a mini muffin as a special treat.
Click on the link to view/download the It Was A Sweet Year writing prompt, craftivity and cupcake bookmarks.
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. Do you have an end-of-the-year activity that you could share with us? You can e-mail me at diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment below.
"Striving to be a beautiful and sweet cupcake, in a world full of muffins." -Unknown
