1-2-3 Come Make A Class Family Tree With Me!

Going to school can sometimes cause separation anxiety in young children; this doesn’t just happen to “first timers” who have never been to school.  No matter what the grade, students often miss their families at some point during the day. Sometimes all it takes to comfort a lonely child, is to look at a photograph of their loved ones.

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to decorate a class family tree, where children could go to catch a glimpse of mom, dad, siblings and even pets.

You can include the instructions and leaf in your summer letter, or open house packet, or you can wait, and allow students a color choice and then send the leaf and note home on their first day of school.

Run off the maple leaf template, on a large variety of colors of construction paper.  Make only 2 of every color, to avoid a mostly pink and purple tree, due to the fact that little girls are very likely to choose only those 2 colors.  By offering weird color choices for leaves, you will get a whimsical and very colorful tree, that won't look out of place when fall is over.

Run off copies of the instruction letter asking parents to please take a picture of their family, including pets. They will also glue the photo to their leaf and cut it out.  Children fill in the blank with their name.  i.e. Kelli's family.

Write in a due date for the leaves, as students will be showing and sharing them with their classmates, and then putting their leaf on your big family tree. A good place to put your tree is on a wall in the hallway.

Use brown bulletin board paper, or butcher block paper to make your tree.  I liked to make my trees flat, but I've also seen teachers make trees by twisting paper, for a 3D effect.  Cut out a large red paper heart and glue the "Our Class Family Tree" sign on it.  You could also diecut letters to spell: "Come and see, our class family tree!"

I hope you and your students enjoy this back to school activity and that it helps alleviate those first-day blues. Click on the link to view/download the Class Family Tree packet.

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Sign on a high school bulletin board in Dallas: "FREE knowlege every Monday through Friday; bring your own container."

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Print off and use as flashcards, for games, a bulletin board boarder, or anchor chart.

1-2-3 Come Play Some Interesting and Fun Math Games With Me!

Are you looking for some quick and easy ideas to do for the 1st day of school? Then I think you'll enjoy these simple bubble activities.

Start things off, by leaving the "I'm bubbling with excitement that you are in my class." bookmarks, as a cute surprise left on your students' desks.  I found this sweet saying on Pinterest as valentine cards with heart bubbles. Click on the link to check out this creative teacher's original post. 

Adding a small bottle of bubbles is an inexpensive way to help make children feel especially welcome.  (The Dollar Store sells 3 to 6 in a pack.  You can also buy a box of 20 mini wedding bubbles at most craft stores.)

Let students know that they will be allowed to blow bubbles at recess or at the end of the day.  Have them count how many bubbles they blew in 1 breath and then graph the results. (Template included.) What a simple icebreaker sure to get your kiddos excited about being in school.

To incorporate more math, print off the bubble picture cards, laminate and trim. 

I've included cards from 1 to 20.

To help strengthen upper body muscles, students lie on they tummies and sequence the cards in the proper order.  Using opalescent flat-backed glass "marbles" as manipulatives, (they look like "real" bubbles) they make a group/set above the number card to show "how many".  

So things don't get cluttered, use the larger glass "bubbles" for numbers less than 10 and the smaller ones for numbers 11-20. The "marbles" provide hands-on fun, and make counting more interesting. They are an inexpensive manipulative. 

Where did I get this idea? While in Hobby Lobby, I overheard a little girl ask her mom if she could buy a bag of them. 

When her mom asked her why she wanted them, "Kara" replied: "Because they are flat bubbles that won't pop!" I thought, "Wow! What can I make with 'flat bubbles'?" and the rest is history...

I've also included a set of number-word bubbles.  Run the templates off on blue construction paper, laminate & trim. Older students can match the number word bubble, to the picture cards.

For more fun, run off the "bubble wand" on a variety of colors of construction paper, cut out the centers and laminate so they can double as a "magnifying glass" for students to "spy" and cover numbers or whatever.  

For a "get the wiggles" out game, have students use their paper bubble wands, to find hidden bubbles around the room, or use them as an assessment tool for a whole group identification activity.  i.e. you display a bubble card and students raise their wand if they know the answer, providing a quick way to whole group assess comprehension.  Play "Swish."  After the number is correctly identified, have students swish their wand that many times. (Swish left-right-left for a number 3 bubble card.)

Click on the link to view/download the Back To School Bubble Math Activity Packet.

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"Imagination is more important than knowledge.  Knowledge is limited.  Imagination encircles the world." -Einstein

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Nice activities for the 1st day of school. The "I'm bubbling with excitement that you are in my class." bookmarks, are a cute surprise left on students' desks.  Add a small bottle of bubbles as a gift, and you've made children feel especially welcome.  Allow children to blow bubbles at recess or take them out at the end of the day.  They can count how many bubbles they blew in 1 breath. Graph the results on the enclosed template.

1-2-3 Come Celebrate Birthdays With Me

Since I just turned the big 60, I experienced first hand, how even the smallest acts of kindness, can make one feel special, and are wonderfully appreciated.

Birthdays truly are a "big deal" to a child. I enjoyed thinking up new ways to help make my Y5's feel extra special. One of their favorites, was simply getting to sit in the birthday chair (old piano stool that I decorated), while everyone sang to them.  When we got to the part: "Are ya 1 are ya 2 etc." I'd spin them around once, when we stopped at their new age.  They absolutely LOVED this and it didn't cost a dime.

I like designing student-made bulletin boards, and thought it would be fun to make one centered around birthdays.  It's a wonderful way to get to know your new students and review or introduce the months of the year.

Having a little "craftivity" the 1st day of school is nice, because a teacher has so much mandatory office trivia to get accomplished for each child.  If they can independently work on something, you have a few moments of sanity to figure out who's getting what for lunch, and how everyone is getting home etc.

Getting to color and decorate a paper cupcake is perfect for little ones.  Older students can complete their cupcake via glyph questions.  I LOVE glyphs.  They are terrific for assessing listening and following directions, and completed glyphs make adorable bulletin boards.  In this case, your birthday one. To make the cupcakes even cuter, take a group shot of your students and cut their faces into a circle that they can glue to the middle of their cherry.

Print off the Birthday Graph Glyph header, laminate and put it at the top of your board.  Choose whatever monthly cards are appropriate for your classroom (There are 27 to choose from.) and then hang them up, starting with the beginning of your school year (August or September).

Children complete their cupcake, and wait their turn for their month to be called.  Students show and share their creation, or if you did the glyph, the teacher asks: "What's Kelli's favorite color?"  "Does she have a brother?"  etc. This works as a nice icebreaker and fun way to get to know your students.

The completed bulletin board will be a graph, and provides a perfect teachable moment to explain or review what graphing is all about.

Click on the link to view/download the Birthday Graph Glyph packet. 

If you're looking for more birthday ideas, click on the link to zip on over to that section of my site.  I have quite a few more birthday ideas coming up, so be sure and check back.  I also try to blog daily, writing about my newest FREEBIES.  Be sure and stop by tomorrow for some more back to school ideas.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find worthwhile. My "Pin it" button is at the top.  If you'd like to see the awesome educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the "Follow me" heart on the right.

"Sometimes you never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory." -Dr. Seuss

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A fun alternative to the same old birthday board.  Students decorate their cupcake via glyph directions and then place it in the appropriate spot, next to their birthday month.

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"Paper love." Leave it somewhere as a pleasant surprise.

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A nice reminder to students of the true value of real friends.  This poster makes a great writing prompt: What does the poster mean? Do you agree with the poster? Why or why not? Is this good advice?

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A "makes your think" poster that can be used as a writing prompt. "Is this advice true? Good? Why or why not? How can changing places with someone help you understand them better?" This is a great poster if you're doing the "Fill A Bucket" program.

1-2-3 Come Decorate And Hang Up Some Posters With Me!

Has anyone else out there lost an entire morning on Pinterest?  I swear their new pop up windows with suggestions of other boards is rather addicting.  I kept saying: "You are only going to PIN and putz around here for an hour!" Well it's 3 hours later, and the "just one more peek" has certainly gotten me away from my "to do" list, that I now have no desire to do.

The good news is that I stumbled upon some wonderful quote boards.  I LOVE a quote that makes you laugh, nod in agreement, or come away with a wonderful bit of advice to reflect upon.

I chose a few favorites and turned them into posters, suitable for the classroom.  Hang 1 in your closet that will make you smile, when you go in there to sniffle, to remind you of why you became a teacher, as we've all had one of those days.  Print off some extra's and tuck them in the mailboxes of your teacher friends, as a sweet surprise on the 1st day of school.

The "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day!" poster is a great one for all of the above. My Girl, by the Temptations, is a personal favorite.  I thought I'd give the poster a unique twist by adding: "I teach!" after the lyrics.  I believe that all great teachers truly LOVE kids.  Children have a way of stealing your heart and leaving footprints there. Their empathy, sense of adventure, and wide-eyed wonder, can't help but bring sunshine to your life.  Their boundless energy, and enthusiasm can be contageous if let it. 

Click on the above link to view/download this "hope it makes you smile" poster.

I also like to use posters as little life-lessons; pearls of wisdom that can become writing prompts.  The poster "Remember you don't need a certain number of friends..." is a great springboard.  Do you agree with the poster? Why or why not?  How is this good advice?  The "Put yourself in their place" poster, is a nice "make you think" poster.  What does this quote mean?  Would putting yourself in another's place help you understand them better?

Click on the above links to view/download these posters.  If you missed the latest new ones I posted, click on this link to zip to the Anchor Charts & Posters section.  I have over 100!  I hope you find just the right one to add some sunshine to your day.

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find useful.  My "Pin it" button is at the top.  If you'd like to see all the wonderful educational things I PIN, simply click on the "Follow me" heart to the right.  Be sure and set a timer so your morning doesn't fly by!

"So many PINS, so little time!" and "Thank you Pinterest for helping me feel so creative, even though I've just been sitting at my computer for hours!"