1-2-3 Come Do Some End Of The Year Writing Prompts and Craftivities With Me

Since yesterday's article on having current students make something for your next year's kiddos was so popular, I decided to make one with an owl-theme, as owls continue to be really popular.  I know I love them. 

This one is entitled "___________ (fill in your grade) was a hoot.  I've included templates for preschool through 3rd grade, plus a blank one to fill in with whatever.  Here's how to make one:

Run off the templates on a variety of colors of construction paper. Students choose and trim.

Print the facial pattern, trim and trace on an old file folder.  Trace once and cut 3 to 6 eye pieces out at a time.  If you want your beak to be 3D, cut on a fold.

Place and position wings, poke a hole with a protractor at the top and insert a brass brad so they “fly” open. Choose your grade-level heart template and run off on a variety of colors of construction paper. 

Explain to students that what they will be making will be given to your new kiddos in the fall.  They write why their current grade was a hoot.  What a nice surprise for your incoming class to find on or in their desk.  These could also be put up on a bulletin board.
To make it even more personal, have students glue their school photo somewhere.

If you don't want to putz with a craft, I've included just the writing prompt as a template. As with the above craft, I've included templates for preschool through third grade, plus a blank one to fill in with something else.

There's also 2 different bookmark options to give your current students.  Click on the link to view/download the "___________ Grade Was A Hoot" packet.

As with the "tree-mendous" packet yesterday, (scroll down to the next blog article to take a look), I also made a keepsake craft for your students to make for themselves.  This packet is called "School Was A Hoot."

I used 3 file folders to make my sample, but you could also use 2 large sheets of construction paper.  Here's how to make them:
Open up 2 file folders. Glue the right side of one to the left side of the other.  You will now have a left flap, middle section and right flap.  Use the pattern to trace the wings and then trim.

I used a third file folder for the head, but you could also use a sheet of construction paper.
Students can draw their own face, or you can use my pattern.  You could also cut these pieces out of construction paper and have students glue them on.

Choose your grade-level flag and run them off on a variety of colors of construction paper.  Students trim and glue only the left portion of the pennant to the left wing.  Add a school photo to make it extra special.

Brainstorm with students about all of the things they did that year that were a hoot.  You may want to jot these on the board to help with spelling.

After students have written a rough draft, they rewrite their final thoughts on the writing prompt page that will be glued to the middle of their owl.

Students can draw a full-sized body picture of themselves in the oval, or just their face.  Have students really think about what they'll write in the "favorites" and "memories" sections, which will be glued to the wings. 

The autograph page goes on the back.  Students color it and can collect their own signatures or to expedite things, you can have everybody sign a master sheet and then run it off for everyone.

Make a sample of your own to share with your students.  I’m sure they’ll enjoy hearing about their teacher’s favorite things and why (s)he thought this year was a hoot. 

“A picture is truly worth a 1,000 words” and will help you explain what you want your kiddos to do.  Click on the link to view/download the file folder School Was A Hoot packet. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  

"No matter how much you think you hate school, you'll find that you'll miss it when you leave." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Sail Away Into Summer With Me!

Are you in the home stretch and dying to scream: "Woo hoo! School is out for summer!"?  I always liked to give a little something to my kiddos on the last day.  

If you'd like to do something that won't break the budget, I think you'll enjoy the Sailing Into Summer pencil fan-boat.  I've been making little fan boats since I was a child (some 50 years ago-oh my!)

In those days, I’d use a Popsicle stick for the mast, but I thought it would be sweet to include a pencil, marker or candy pixie stick, as the pole, to add that little something extra.

I doubt many little ones will catch the play on words with "fantastic" but I just had to include it.

I've also made a template for the beginning of the year, (Sailing into a new school year...) if you'd like to make these treats for your open house or the first day of school.  You could also have your current students make these for your next year's kiddos.

Here's How:

    Run off the boat template on assorted colors of construction paper.

Cut them out; write your students’ name on the front and then sign them.   Run off the “Have fun sailing into summer. I hope it’s fantastic!” sail, on white card stock and cut them out.      

    I colored the mast brown, but you can skip that step and use a glue dot to fasten a wooden pencil, marker, or candy on top.

    If you don’t have glue dots, simply cut 2 slits and insert your treat.  For a bit more pizzazz, I colored the sunshine with a yellow marker.

Fold a sheet of white copy paper 6 or 7 times. I made my width a little less than an inch.  Cut off the excess leaving a 1 inch margin. 

Glue the “sun” sail to the top of this tab. Pinch the top of the folds and staple them together so that they come to a point at the top of the mast.

Place on your students’ desks or tuck in their backpacks on the last day of school. 

Click on the link to view/download the Sailing Into Summer (or a new school year) "craftivity."  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.  My "Pin it" button is at the top.

"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can." -Michael Korda

1-2-3 Come Write About Summer With Me!

If you visit often, you know I enjoy dreaming up things with an interesting "play on words."  "Orange you glad it's almost summer?" "I am because..." seemed a perfect fit for a fun writing prompt that I think your students will enjoy.

Make your own sample, so that you can share it with your students.  Mine always enjoyed hearing a bit about me and my life, and the example was a quick and easy way to explain what I wanted them to do. 

Afterwards, brainstorm with them about all of the things that they are looking forward to doing during summer vacation. 

During our brainstorming sessions, I jotted their ideas on the board to help my kiddos with spelling.

Here's What To Do:

Run off the orange slices on orange construction paper. Rough cut them so that each student gets a "topper" to trim.

To add a bit more pizzazz, students can color the outside edges with a dark orange crayon, or add some sparkle with orange glitter glue.

Students glue the oranges to the top of their writing prompt paper and write about what special things they can do during the summer.  Completed projects make a nice end-of-the-year bulletin board, especially if you add a school picture. 

They also look nice hung back-to-back from the ceiling. Click on the link to view/download the "Orange you glad?" summer writing prompt.

Looking for more summer writing prompts and summer bulletin boards? Click on the link to view/download a very popular packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.  My "Pin it" button is at the top of the page.

While diddling with the "orange you glad" idea, I thought it would also make an easy and rather inexpensive end of the year gift for your students.  To see what I did, scroll down to the next blog article. 

"The purpose of life, is a life of purpose." -Robert Byrne

1-2-3 Come Make A Father’s Day Card With Me!

Since Father’s Day is in June, daddies often get jipped out of a homemade card that their child made in school, so I always made time to do this as a center during the last week of school.

I set up a table with all of the “ingredients” and while I was working on assessments or all of those other end-of-the-year jobs teachers need to get done, my little ones enjoyed making something special for their papa.

Now a days you need to be sensitive to children who don’t have a dad. 

Even though their father might not live with them, they still might have contact, so you don’t want to leave them out. 

Children who didn’t, I asked if they wanted to make a card for their grandfather or someone else special in their life.

I’ve included 2 different blank puzzle piece templates for this purpose. 

You can write in the word, or the person’s name for them, so they can glue their torn paper pieces on top of the letters.

You could also use the blank template for Mother’s Day, Secretary’s Day, or to thank a special volunteer  as well.

To make the cards, run off the puzzle piece template on a variety of colored construction paper.
Students choose one and cut it out.

To make this more of a keepsake, print your class composite and cut students’ pictures into ovals, so they can glue them somewhere on their card.

Cut 1/8th inch wide strips of a variety of colors of construction paper.

Students choose a color, and rip and tear their strips into a pile.

I chose rip and tear, not only because the mosaic effect looks cool, but because it is an outstanding fine motor activity for strengthening finger muscles.

Have children "trace" one letter at a time, with a glue stick, and then place the torn pieces of paper on it, one piece at a time.

Children sign “I love you” along with their name.  

I told my students to save the card for Father’s Day, but I doubt they did.  Little ones are always so excited to share whatever they’ve made as soon as they get home.

Click on the link to view/download the "I Love My Dad To Pieces" Father's Day Card.

Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything you think is helpful. My "Pin it" button is at the top of the page.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats

1-2-3 Come Make A Graduation Memory Book With Me

If you teach preschool or kindergarten and your kiddos are graduating, you might enjoy making this adorable Graduation Memory book, that's sure to become a cherished keepsake.

Here's How: Run off the mortarboard (graduation cap) pieces on a variety of colors, or give just 2 school color choices to your students.

They cut and glue together to make the back cover. Another cap makes the front cover.

Students could choose both of your school colors to make their cover.  One color for the back and the other one for the front.

To add a bit of 3D pizzazz, poke a hole in the center, insert a brass brad and tie with a yarn tassel.

If you have the budget, there are many companies that you can buy real tassels from that include a year charm.

Choose which master pages you want to include in your booklets; run off the pages on white copy paper and distribute one at a time to them.

Students complete their pages, cut them out, collate in whatever order you want them to, and then add their cover. 

Make sure you make a sample and then display each page on the board in the order you want them to assemble them.

Staple the pages together at the top point, so the booklet flips up.

To expedite things, for the "classmate" autograph page, have each student sign one page the day before, and then run it off. 

Do the same thing with the "special" autograph page, by having the principal, secretary, librarian etc. sign one page.

For the "High five's!" page, you can paint your students' hand and then press it on their page, or have a room helper trace their hand on a sheet of construction paper and cut them out, so students can glue it to their page or have students choose a partner and have them trace each other's hand.  When they are done, they can color their print.

I think the self-portrait page, as well as including a graduation photograph, will make this booklet even more special.

The last page is a short graduation poem, that was inspired by over a dozen others, that I found while Pinning away.

I hope you enjoy my version, and have as much fun making these memory books, as I did designing them.  I wish you a wonderful graduation day.

Click on the link to view/download the Kindergarten/Preschool Graduation Memory Booklet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  There's a "Pin it" button at the top.

"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.  Anyone who keeps learning stays young." -Henry Ford

1-2-3 Come Make Some Treat Bags With Me!

If you're looking for a quick and easy treat bag to make to hold some end-of-the year goodies, then I think you'll like these simple and inexpensive owl lunch bags.

If you've already got that covered, they are sweet for the beginning of the school year as well.  Simply change the saying to: "Owl" bet we have the best year yet or We're going to gain lots of knOWLedge in kindergarten or whatever grade you're teaching.

If you're looking for an owl puppet, simply glue everything on the bag upside down.  Students insert their hand inside the bag.

Here’s How To Make The Owl Treat Bags

Make templates of the pieces using an old file folder.

Trace the template onto one sheet of construction paper and then cut as many as you can.

I used daisy and circle paper punches. A flower petal punch also looks cool for the center of the eyes.

Glue the 2 triangles together.

Glue the 3 piece eyes together.

I added a bit of pizzazz to the black pupil using a dot of white out. It is quick drying and adds “life” to eyes.

Glue the set of triangles to the top-front of a brown paper lunch bag.

Glue the eyes a tad under the base of the triangle.

Fold the beak and glue it to the base of the triangle on top of a section of the eyes. (See photo.)

You can leave the bag plain and dispense with the “Owl miss you” breast piece. Simply write your students’ names on the bag or the saying: “Owl miss you! I hope your summer’s a real hoot.”

If you want to add that bit of flair, run off the breast note and glue it on the middle of the bag.

Open up the bags, line them up and tuck in candy, a book, bookmarks etc. in an assembly line fashion.

If you don’t want students peeking, staple the top shut.

Click on the link to view/download the Owl Treat Bag patterns.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find useful.

"A new idea is delicate.  It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man's brow." -Charles Brower

1-2-3 Come Make Student Gifts With Me

Are you looking for something quick and easy to make your students, for the last week of school, that won't break the bank? You've stopped at the right blog.

I always sent my students home with a little something as a good-bye gift, but when you have 2 classes of Y5's with 20 in each class, that often got a bit expensive.

The "Wishing a "kool" kid a very kool summer" treat, is a breeze to put together. A box of 48 Kool-Aide packages sells for around $13 Dollars. 

If you don't have that many students, perhaps another teacher will split the cost with you.

I bought the Curly Straws at The Dollar Store. (6 in a package.)

Here’s how to make them:

Cut toilet paper rolls in half.

Run off the owl template on a variety of colors of construction paper, or simply light brown to look more realistic.

If you want to add a bit more pizzazz, color in the beak and feet and add wiggle eyes with a glue dot.

Staple or tape the owl to the toilet paper tube.

Run off the teacher and student notes + bookmark(s).

I’ve included black and white bookmarks for students to color, or colored bookmarks if you want. You can tuck in one of each if you choose.

On the teacher paper, write a note to each one of your students telling them why they are a “Kool” kid and then sign them.

Roll them up and insert into the toilet paper tube. They will unwind and fit snug.

Bend a package of Kool-Aid so that it fits and tuck that in along with the bookmark(s) and a Curly straw.

Give directions and model the lesson. Pass out the student “You rule” papers to each student.

I included this writing extension because it is a real self-esteem builder for kids and puts the icing on the cake.

Have them write their name on the top and then pass it to another student close by.

Students complete the thought: “I think you’re a really “Kool” kid because…”

When they are done writing their sentence they sign their name at the end and pass it to another child.

Continue passing papers ‘til everyone has written a compliment on all of the papers.

Children will be really excited to read their classmates comments, but tell your students they will get to read them later, and quickly collect the papers.

Roll them and insert them into your note.

Make sure you can see the students’ names, so that you can put the correct one on their desk the last week of school.

I don’t save things ‘til the last day, as some students might be absent.

Click on the link to view/download the Kool Kid Owl Miss You packet.

I hope your students enjoy this activity. I wish you a wonderful last week of school.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find useful.

"Life is a great big canvas. You should throw all the paint you can on it." -Danny Kaye