Hooray For Constitution Day!

Here are some easy and fun activities to do with your children/students.

Constitution Activities for younger citizens:

I kept things very simple for the Y5's. An easy definition of what the constitution is, followed up with everyone signing their name to our classroom constitution works well.

One of our standards is learning to write our name so this is a nice overlap of that standard.

I also made tea-stained paper and explained to the children that during that time period  people wrote on parchment paper with feather pens called quills.

I collect seagull and goose feathers all summer, from area beaches so I have enough for each child to write their name with a quill dipped in black paint. They can then take it home with their parchment-paper signature.

I was amazed at how excited they got over keeping a feather!

They really enjoyed this activity and wondered how in the world anyone wrote anything of any length with a feather! "Hands on!" definitely helped them understand that time period a bit more.

These ideas and templates can be found in the 10-page Activities For Constitution Day packet. Click on the link to zoom there and view/or print a copy.

More Writing:

I've also made a "Happy Constitution Day!" Trace & Write skill sheet.  To view/print it, click on the link. Constitution Day activity sheet.

The Constitution delegates responsibility. Even younger students can understand this, if you break it down for them and give specific real-world examples.

A perfect way to do this is by making a class book entitled We're Responsible.  A sample booklet is included in my Activities For Constitution Day.

Also included in this packet is a My Constitution Fact Booklet that students can easily read as they cut and glue a matching picture for the text. It's an easy way for young children to learn about the basic facts of the Constitution, while practicing the skills of cutting, matching, tracing, reading and writing.

Plus students have a nice booklet to take home at the end of Constitution Day, that they can share with their families, to once again review what they have learned.

The packet also includes Constitution picture cards as a fun way to review.  Print the cards twice and turn them into a Memory Match game that can be used as an independent center activity. Encourage students to say the names of the picture to increase their new "Constitutional vocabulary".

There's also a set for the original 13 states which helps students understand that things were different during the time the Constitution was written.

Click on the link to view/download this fun-filled 36-page Constitution Day activity packet.

Another helpful packet is Constitution Day Stuff. Click on the link to view/download that packet.

So that I could answer any questions my students might have,  I researched basic facts about the Constitution.  Click on the link to view/print my fact sheet for some great background information on the Constitution. Basic Facts About The Constitution

I show my students a poster I made of the 3 parts of our government. Click on the link to view/print a copy, perfect for helping explain the Constitution. Constitution Day poster

You can turn the poster into a labeling lesson for older students. Click on the link to view/print this Constitution Day activity.   

Gross Motor and Story Time:

To get the wiggles out we march around to some Sousa music and I settle them down by reading several America-themed books including We The Kids.  It’s the perfect book for explaining the constitution in kid-friendly language. {amazonWS:itemId=0142402761}

Show & Share:

I was fortunate to visit Washington D.C. and able to purchase a parchment copy of the Constitution.  It's a nice "Show & Share" item for my students.  "Fat Brain" sells nice reproductions for only $2.95.  Click on the link to check them out. Parchment Copy of the Constitution

Games:

Reinforcing learning by taking just 5-minutes to play a game, is a fun way to culminate your Constitution Day lessons.

To review the 3 parts of the Constitution as well as the 3 branches of our government play my 123 dice game.  Click on the link to view/print a copy.  Constitution Day Dice Game

I also made up a Constitution Day tic tac toe game.  To save paper, simply glue 4 large Popsicle sticks together to make permanent playing boards.

Use flag erasers, red, white and blue flat marbles, or my Constitution Day game pieces.  Print off the page, laminate and then cut out the individual pieces.  Store in Snack Baggies to use each year.

Click on the link to view/print a page. Constitution Day Tic Tac Toe

A math game for older students would be for them to find out how many years ago the Constitution was signed.  Write today's year on the board. To find the answer, subtract 1787 from it.   Give a flag sticker to the student who finds out the correct answer first.

Apples4Teachers offers 14 Constitution Day coloring pages.  I use these to make bingo-dot-a-pattern center sheets, toppers for mazes, dot-to-dots, and headers for my word finds. My students also enjoy practice writing their name and tracing Constitution Day themed words that I write under these pictures.

A nice culmination to the days activities is to graph your students feelings about the Constitution and Constitution Day. Click on the link to view/print some graphs. Constitution Day Graphs

Related Constitution Day Activities: Our Flag

Because this is such a patriotic day, I also review a few geography related things with my students, such as: the city where they go to school, the state they live in, the country they live in, as well as facts about our flag including The Pledge of Allegiance.

I have several free lessons centered on the flag, which would also make great centers for this day.  Click on the links to check them out.  Flag Activities Book, and My Pledge Definition Book. 

The easy reader booklet “My Flag” is a nice way to transition from story time to an independent writing activity.

Finish the day off by giving everyone a few pretzels during snack time,  to review the 3 branches of the government and the 3 things that the Constitution creates.  See how many students remember.  Take a bite out of each pretzel section as you say a word!

As always, if you have anything that you do on Constitution Day with your students, I’d enjoy hearing from you.  diane@teachwithme.com

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

"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour." -Unknown

Does anyone else besides me, feel there isn't enough time in the day for everything?  Then the government comes along and mandates a lesson on the Constitution...

Don't get me wrong, I'm a very proud citizen and love my country, but I'm often in a dilemma at how to explain this rather complicated document to my 4-year-old students.

Only a handful can tell me who the President is, and when I asked them, "Who is the president's wife?" I got the answer: "Mrs. America."

If some of you are feeling that same pressure, perhaps you'll find a few of these ideas at the following websites helpful, as well as my bibliography of interesting books you can read on Constitution Day. 

Books To Read:

I've compiled a list of my favorite books that are appropriate for Constitution Day.  Some of them I use as a teacher resource for information for myself, others I read and some I use as a picture source to share with my students. 

Click on the link to view/print a copy. Constitution Day Bibliography

Many of them can be purchased from Scholastic Books so you can get points.  They are also available on Amazon at reduced rates.

Interesting Constitution Websites:

Constitutionfacts.com will send you a FREE pocket guide to the constitution for the price of shipping and handling.  It’s a nice reference tool and also contains some interesting facts.  Click on the link to check it out. 

Congress For Kids is a great interactive site with lots of options including an entire section about the Constitution. Their Online Learning Module has a great tutorial about the 3 branches of the government.  Perfect for a Smart Board activity.

Click on the links to check out some fun ways to incorporate these things into your Constitution Day activities.

The National Constitution Center is a great interactive site.  You can search the constitution by keywords or phrases. Explore the Constitution by topic, or search the Constitution by court cases. Click on the link to check out this helpful site. 

One of the best things at this site is their webcast about Constitution Day.  It’s narrated by Sandra Day O’Connor, and is perfect for Smart Boards.  Click on the link to check it out and see an interesting tour of Signers’ Hall that will help your class celebrate and learn about Constitution Day.  (The 42 statues are life size! Awesome.) 

Junior Achievement offers a lesson on personal property and a person’s rights. This is easily understood by even a young child.  Click on the link to check out this Constitution Day activity.

Constitution Day: This site has a plethora of additional educational sites and an explanation of what each one offers. Click on the link if you’re searching for specific information and additional age-appropriate links for Constitution Day.

Ben’s Guide To The Government: Is a nice site with a variety of activities for various ages including K-2.

Thanks for visiting today! Be sure and check back tomorrow when I'll give you some more ideas and activities of how you can celebrate and learn about Constitution Day.

Feel free to PIN anything you think others will find helpful.

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great!" -Kenny Rogers

How To Make Writing Easier!

Every few years the core standards seem to get more difficult.  It’s hard to believe that our kindergartners are now required to write a simple sentence using a subject and action word with proper capitalization and punctuation.

Most of my Y5’s come to me not even knowing how to write their name, some of them can’t even hold a writing utensil properly, yet onward we must go…

Henry Ford said:  

“Nothing is particularly hard if you break it down into small jobs.”

I live by that philosophy when I teach, for it really does work.

One of the things I just developed, to help teachers “break down” writing this simple sentence standard, is a picture-driven writing prompt.  If “A picture is worth a 1,000 words!” then certainly we can muster a few of them to write a simple sentence and hopefully have a little fun doing it.

I’ve compiled over 50 in Picture-Driven Writing Prompts For Fall and give you a list of directions of how you can explain the concept to your students by modeling it at the white board.

Basically, students brainstorm with the teacher to make a list of what is going on in the picture.  The list is divided into subject and action words.

Students can then choose the two words they will use in their sentence and write them on their mini-dry erase boards or the lines provided on the picture-prompt paper.

They then go back to their desk and write a simple sentence using other word-wall words that the teacher has reviewed, along with appropriate capitalization and punctuation.

These writing prompts are great for your Literacy Center, Daily 5-writing block, or for practicing this report card standard in a whole-group writing activity.

Click on the link to zoom to the Fall Picture-Driven Writing Prompts so you can view or print them.

I’m in the process of making a set for winter and spring as well.

I’d enjoy hearing any feedback if you find this idea helpful, or if you have a writing tip that you use, to help teach this concept.  diane@teachwithme.com

Spacie The Space Alien

When writing a sentence, my Y5's have difficulty remembering to put an appropriate space between each word.  When I taught kindergarten and even first grade, this was still a problem for many of my students.

So that they would have enough space, I told students to simply put their pinkie finger after the word, and then begin the next word beside their finger.

This helped a few students, but it wasn't until I made "Spacie" that making a space between words with an object, became a "fun" thing to do, easy to remember and helped show them the correct space needed between words in an encouraging way.  

My students simply choose a "space alien" named Spacie when they are writing a sentence, and place it between their words.

You can make a class set to be used every year, or you can make each of your students one as a special "writing gift" when you begin teaching that lesson.

Here's How:

• Use 3  3/4 length wooden clothespins that are flat and pre-painted.
• Using a toothpick and Elmer's Wood Glue put 2 dots of glue where you want to place 2 tiny wiggle eyes.

•  Put the wiggle eyes on the drops of glue.
• Draw on a big smile with a black, fine-point Sharpie and you're done.

• If you want to give one to each of your students, write their name on the back with the Sharpie.
• Use a silver Sharpie for the purple clothespins.

•  If you can't find pre-painted clothespins, you may want to opt for your students to make and paint their own Spacie, as a fun center activity.
• Painting just the top-front of the clothespin will expedite things.
  
• Spacie looks OK as plain wood if you don't want to hassle with painting.
  

Remind your students not to pick at the eyes, as they will come off.

I think the wiggle eyes really make "Spacie" look like a goofy little alien space creature, but you can also expedite things by simply using a Sharpie and drawing on the eyes.

Kingbridge International is a large wholesale company in California.  They provide stores with "Dollar Day Deals".

I found the pack pictured at Staples Office Supply, (there's 12 in a pack), but Target,  JoAnn Fabrics, and Michaels Crafts all offer Dollar Deals from some company or another.

I've also found clothespins at The Dollar Store, Big Lots, and the Dollar & More stores.

Click on the link for a large clothespin site that lists a variety of companies you can buy the flat clothespins from; however, they are not painted. 

A down side to ordering Online is paying for shipping.

You could get together with other teachers if they want to make Spacies for their students too, and then split the cost of freight.

I hope you have enjoyed this series of back-to-school articles.  Here in Michigan, we start public school the Tuesday after Labor Day.  

I wish everyone a safe and relaxing weekend and a super new school year!

As always, if you have a tip you'd like to share with us, I'd enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com

Communicating With Parents:

Parental communication is very important, but with so many tasks for a teacher to accomplish in a day, especially with the demands of very young children, how does one find time to dash off notes?

How do you reinforce positive behavior? Do you send home a note to parents?

Do you give your students a certificate of praise?

Likewise, how do you communicate with parents when they want to know how their child is doing when their disruptive behavior is being modified?

To make these tasks quick and easy, I’ve designed a variety of forms.  My behavior modification techniques are checklists where a child is held accountable for their own behavior.

They decide which behavior they are going to work on for the day.  During various parts of the day they can color in a smilie face or put a sticker on their paper.

For students that are working on a multitude of things, I can simply check all the boxes that apply at the end of the day, in less than a minute, and send that note home to be signed by the parent and returned.

I’ve put all of these forms in a 66-page packet that includes happy-grams, certificates of praise, and posters.

I've also included positive-reinforcement games, like Pizza Reward, Bubble Gum Challenge, Apple Puzzle & Classroom Cash.

There is a student contract, progress report, posters, classroom expectations, a neat desk award, and a promise pledge as well.

The forms help empower students, build self-esteem, help motivate, help students accept responsibility and be accountable. 

They free the teacher up and make communicating with parents simple, easy and quick.

I hope that you will find something here that will help your days run smoothly. 

I’d enjoy hearing from you about the packet, or if you have something to share that works for you that would be wonderful too. diane@teachwithme.com

Click on the link to go to Behavior Charts, Notes, & Contracts so that you can view/print/download them.

I wish you a marvelous month filled with lots of beautiful back-to-school moments!

An Old Favorite...

The Gist: A boy takes a mouse to school.

Why I like it:

• It's another fun book in a collection of "If you..." books.
• This book has more episodes than the previous books: "If you give a pig a pancake, she'll want some syrup to go with it." 
• I, along with my students, enjoy this simple "cause and effect" story line.
• The illustrator, Felicia Bond, draws an adorable mouse, doing adorable humanistic things, like putting on tiny bib overhauls, drawing on the blackboard, sniffling, etc.
• The mouse and his auburn-haired boy sidekick are very endearing.

Story Telling Tips:

Make sequencing manipulatives for the story by printing off my master, laminating the sheets and then cutting them out. Pass them out to your students.

Make a blue jean cup to store the pieces in by running off a copy of the blue jeans on blue construction paper. 

Cut out the jeans and place them on the front of a clear plastic cup using several glue dots.  Cut out two 8 1/2 inch strips of blue construction paper and tape them to the back of the blue jeans. 

Loop the "jean straps" over the cup and fasten them to the back of the cup with glue dots. Put 2 white reinforcement holes on the front of the jeans to look like buttons.

If you wanted to make a cute treat as a surprise for your students, these would make darling cups for them.  Fill a snack Baggie with miniature chocolate chip cookies, or a medium baggie with one large cookie and then tuck it in the cup. 

Students can make their own blue jeans and then take this home at the end of the day with their mouse (art project) tucked in the cup as well. 

You could also read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie and compare both stories.  If you do read both stories, you may want to add a math extension and graph which book your students liked the best. 

When you pass the manipulatives out to your students and you come to that particular item in the story, where the mouse would want that "thing",  the child holding that piece puts the item on your white or flannel board. 

Magic Trick:

I put a pink pom pom, a scrap of brown paper, a wiggle eye and a piece of brown yarn into my change bag.  The children clap their hands 3 times and say: "If you take a mouse to school..."

I produce a paper mouse.  I ask my students if they would like to make one.  Of course they say "Yes!" They then transition to their desks and make a mouse.

Art Project:  Paper Pom Pom Mouse:

Run off the mouse on brown construction paper. Fold the paper in half.  Remind students to keep their paper FOLDED.  When they open it up their paper will be heart-shaped because they LOVE story time. 

There is a message inside for their parents to read.  Students sign the card and re-fold it, turning it into a mouse by adding a pom pom nose, wiggle eye, ears and yarn tail.

Have your students fill in the blanks and illustrate their page.  Collect the pages, collate your class book and then read it to your class. Set it in your class library so that students can read it whenever they wish.

The "Mice" activities will remain FREE for the month of September 2011. Click on the link to print them; after September they can be purchased for only .59 cents under Mice Activities.

 Etc.:

I teach around several themes for September:

Click on each link for a list of my favorite BACK-TO-SCHOOL themed books,  Bibliography for MORE Back-To-School books,  TRAIN books,  DINOSAUR books, APPLE books, and MONKEY books.

You can also click on the links to view/print our FREE Easy Readers this month:  My September Senses,  My Spatial Direction Bus Booklet, & The Students On the Bus. 

To get my parents involved in reading to their children, I have a RAH-RAH program. It stands for "Read At Home." Click on the link for directions, poster, bookmarks, certificate, reading logs and a letter home.

Each day we have a WOW Day. It stands for Wonderful Outstanding Word of the day.

It helps build my students' vocabulary. Click on the link for a mini-poster You can also get a mini-poster of  ZIPPY to remind your  students that it's time for reading and you need a Quiet Zone.

Whatever you're reading this month, I hope you and your students are able to "fall" into lots of good books!

READ on!

Back-To-School-Apple Glyph:  

I LOVE glyphs.  They are the perfect activity for "listening and following directions!"  Plus, a back-to-school glyph can really help teachers get to know their students.

No matter what the age group, students seem to really enjoy making a glyph.  Glyphs are also a nice way to decorate a hallway wall and get other students reading to see if they can discover whose glyph it is. 

Click on the link to view/print the back-to-school apple glyph.

Apple Tasting Mats & Graph:

The study of apples is one of our science units.  One of the facts I teach my students is that apples come in three colors: red, green and yellow.

It's fun for them to taste the 3 different kinds of apples and then have them decide which is their favorite and graph the results.

I'm not only teaching science, but incorporating math and including snack time!  What a great use of time as I cover a variety of report card standards and subjects!

One of the problems I had was that when I layed out the different chunks of apple, children couldn't tell which was the red, yellow or green one, so I designed a little mat for them to color.

This will reinforce listening and following directions, ordinal numbers, colors, that particular science fact and later, they can use it for snack time when you put their 3 different apple pieces on the mat for them to taste.

Click on the link for the apple tasting mat and graph.

Apple Pinch & Poke:

For those of you who use my themed-center activities, you know how important Pinch & Pokes are to me.  My Y5 students transition from table top to centers.

Pinch & Pokes are one of my consistent centers.  Students get a P&P, take it to the carpet along with a large tack or golf tee, and follow the pattern by poking a hole in each dot to make a picture.

If they hold their paper up to the ceiling and shine a flashlight on their picture they will see a "star print" on the ceiling at night.

P&P's are great for building upper body strength as well as increasing finger dexterity, finger and hand muscle strength and coordination and are a fun fine motor skill that students really enjoy.

Click on the link to view/print an apple pinch and poke. Run it off on red, yellow and lime green copy paper to reinforce the various colors of an apple.

Appealing Apples:

One of the vocabulary words that I teach my students is spiral.  Learning to cut on a spiral is a great fine motor skill.

Run these apple spirals off on red, yellow & lime green construction paper.  Have students glue the top end to their white apple and let them dangle down from the ceiling.

They double as an introduction to autumn poetry/rhyming words, cover science, review the a & e vowels, as well as help students who are learning how to write and identify their name, + they make a darling hallway display that's sure to help build your students' self-esteem when they see their photograph and work displayed for all to view. 

What a fun way to cover a lot of "stuff!"

Click on the link to see/print the Appealing Apple patterns.

Whatever arts, crafts and activities you're planning to do during the month of September,  I hope they are simply apple-icious!

These activites will be FREE through the month of September and then they will be for sale in an Apple Activity Booklet for only .59 cents.

As always, if you have a creative idea that you do, I'd enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com

Welcome Back To School!

I know some of you have already started, but here in MI we start the Tuesday after Labor Day! 

A big theme for many teachers is APPLES so I want to center my "kids in the kitchen & classroom" around that delicious and healthy fruit this month.  Apples are also really big in this part of MI.

One of my favorite books to introduce the alphabet is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  Story time is in the afternoon and is often followed by our snack, so sometimes it's fun if our snack also relates to what we are reading and/or studying.

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Sometimes I'll ask several parents to supply the ingredients to a snack-activity so that my Y5's can make or create their snack.  Click on the link to view/print the Chicka Boom snack letters home.

Making a Chicka Boom alphabet tree is a fun fine motor skill for your students.  I was hoping that all the letters of the alphabet were in a box of Alpha-Bits cereal, but to my dismay when I dumped out the box, I did not find a good enough representation of the alphabet to make it a worthwhile activity for my students to try and find the letters in their name. 

In fact, the letters G, J, M, S, U, & W were entirely missing from my box! 

Instead, give a cup of cereal to each child and have them pick out 8 letters.

Later, if you want, you can give your students a graphing sheet and have them sort and then count the letters in their cup and graph them, then make a class graph of the entire box.  Did you find any letters that were missing too?

Click on the link to print an Alpha-Bit letter graphing sheet.

You can also compare your results to mine if you want to do some more math extensions. Click on the link to view/print my results. TeachWithMe.com's Alpha-Bit graphing results

My husband came into the kitchen and wondered what on earth I was doing, as I had cereal spilled out all over the counter.  (Our puppy Chloe was anxious hoping for a mishap.) 

When I told him I was sorting cereal, he then wondered if anyone besides me even cared?  I thought sorting, counting and then graphing letters in a box of Alpha-Bits was a great math extension; besides I really wanted to know if every letter of the alphabet was in the box.  (The answer could not be found online.)

As you can see by my photo the ratio of letters in the box is way off, and the largest plate is the one with broken letters.  Perhaps that's where the missing letters ended up. 

Could the Alpha-Bit missing letter mystery be because those letters are fragile and simply break up in the package?  This could make for a great discussion or writing prompt!  Anyway, my husband thinks I'm crazy.  Are there any other creatively crazy teachers with me?  I'd enjoy a comment or two for back up.

I made two different kinds of Chicka Boom trees.  One with chocolate wafer cookies (palm trunk) and raisins (coconuts) and one with pretzel rods and red grapes.

You can have both sets of ingredients available, and let your students decide which kind of tree to make, or simply pick just a few ingredients.  I find with my Y5's, that usually 1/2 of them do not like raisins. 

If you do opt for raisins, you may want to soak them in water the night before. It was my grandma's "secret" for making the best oatmeal raisin cookies, as the raisins turned out really moist, plump and juicy instead of dried out.

Ingredients & Directions:

• Granny Smith apples. (Cut apple in 1/2 and then in 1/4ths.  One apple will be enough for 2 children's palm leaves. Each child needs 4 apple slices. 4 palm leaves.)
• Large bunch of washed red grapes.  Each child will need 3 grapes for their coconuts.
• Large box or bag of raisins.  Each child will need 9 plump raisins, 3 for each bunch of coconuts.
  

• 1-2 bags of long pretzel rods (Chicka boom coconut tree trunk) depending on class size. (I use 2 for each student because they LOVE them, but you could cut it down to 1.)
• 1-2 packages of chocolate wafer cookies depending on class size.  Each child will need 2 cookies for their Chicka boom coconut tree trunk. 
  
•  
• You could get a package of wafer cookies that has 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla and give your students a choice of flavors.  I find that my students will usually pick chocolate 3 to 1. 
• I try to include giving a choice in as many activities as I can, because I believe it is a wonderful life-skill my little ones need to learn; however, I almost always limit it to only 2, at most 3 choices, otherwise things get overwhelming for them and they can't make a decision, or waste too much time.

• 1 large box of Alpha-Bits cereal. Give each child a cup full so they can choose 8 letters to climb up the trunk.  This is a nice counting activity for them. They can simply eat the rest, or do the sort, count and graph activity above with them.
  
• large paper plates
• Children arrange their Chicka Boom edible alphabet tree on their plate and then eat it.

Munch and crunch away at your Chicka Boom alphabet tree today!

Remember to take some pictures so you can post them in your newsletter.

Grapple Juice: If you've never mixed grapefruit juice and apple juice, give it a whirl for a yummy and healthy fall drink.

• 2 large apples (My personal favorite is Honeycrisp, but Gala is a close second, and then of course Granny Smith for it's sweet sourness.)
  
• 1 grapefruit

1. Wash the fruit.
2. Core and slice the apples to fit your juicer.
3. Peel and slice the grapefruit.
4. Juice and Enjoy.

Grama Lydia's Apple Crisp and Ice Cream

My sister and I were allergic to so many things that my grama was constantly trying to dream up things my twin and I could have as a dessert. 

Here's a delicious one that tastes wonderful hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Drizzle some caramel on the top for an extra special treat.  The cinnamon baking in the oven makes the entire kitchen smell yummy, and is one of my favorite fall fragrances to this day!

Ingredients:

• 2 large Honeycrisp or Gala apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 Cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 Cup butter or margarine
• 1/3 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Vanilla ice cream
• Caramel sauce
  

• Prepare apples by peeling, coring and slicing.
• Place in bottom of a small casserole dish.
• Add oats, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter in a medium-size mixing bowl


• Mix together until crumbly. Break up any clumps.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Serve hot out of the oven in small bowls with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
• Drizzle with caramel sauce. MMM MMM delicious!

Apple Smiles With Marshmallow Teeth:

Ingredients:

• White mini marshmallows
• Cream cheese
• Peanut butter
• Caramel sauce
  
• Red apples
• Plastic knives
• Small paper plates
  

Directions:

• Cut a red apple in half, then in 1/4th's then into 1/8th's.
  
• Each child needs 2 pieces. (1 apple will make enough slices for 8 children.)
  
• These become the 2 lips.
• Give each child a small paper plate, a plastic knife, and a dollop of "glue" (either peanut butter, cream cheese or caramel sauce.)
• I used caramel sauce in the photo.

• Children could also have one side where they use one of the spreads, and the other half where they use the other kind of spread.
• Spread "glue" with a plastic knife.
  
• Place mini white marshmallows on top of the "glue" on the bottom slice so they look like teeth.
  


• Spread "glue" on the remaining slice.
  
• Gently press this top slice on the top of the bottom "tooth" slice so the "mouth" is now shut.
• Carefully eat.  Mmmm Mmmm delicious!
  

Cinnamon Apple Rings:

For a yummy cinnamon apple recipe and adorable smile poem to go with it, click on the link. She made these for Valentine's Day, but I think her heart border still works for anytime.

I hope you enjoy these activities with your children/students.  Remember... "An apple a day keeps the doctor away!"

because they are such a healthy snack,

so eat up, and welcome back! 

Final Winner Of Our Back-To-School Button Bracelet Blog Contest

Drum Roll Please...

Congratulations to the winner of this week's Back-To-School-Bracelet BLOG contest: pre-school teacher Bridgett, from the state of Texas.

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, bought something, commented, registered, or told a friend.

For complete details about the CONTEST, click on the link.

Can you believe how fast August went?

 Fun First-Day-Of-School Treat Bags

 If you have the time, and want to whip together something special, I designed a really easy, brown lunch bag-owl, which takes just a few minutes to put together.

If you own circle punches things will go even faster.  Even if you don’t want to make these as a treat bag, they make a fun and easy art project for your students.

Have them stuff their lunch bag with tissue.  Children could write: Whooo is wise? on the owl’s tummy.  When they flip up the bag it can say: __________ (child’s name) that’s whoooo!

If you want to skip filling a bag with treats, but would still like to do something, you can buy some M&M’s, Reese's Pieces, or Skittles in bulk at Sam’s Club, fill the tiny Baggies they sell at Hobby Lobby etc. and staple the Baggie to my owl card.

I also found teachers that simply put an apple on their students' desks with an apple die-cut note attached that said: “WELCOME! You are the apple of my eye.” How about a golden delicious apple with a note that says:  “Wishing you a golden year filled with delicious learning!”

OR… how about cutting out construction paper apples, punch a hole in the side, make a slit to the hole and slide a candy bracelet through so it looks a bit like a worm.  Write your students’ names on the apples + “A sweet treat for a neat student!”

OR… how about an orange or a small snack Baggie with 3 candy orange slices, with a note that says: “Orange you glad you’re in _____________________ grade! Wishing you a sweet year!”

OR… a bag of peanuts (making sure no one has allergies) that says: “ I hope you’ll go simply nuts over all of the exciting lessons we’ll be studying this year!”

OR…a bag of microwave popcorn (They sell individual treat-bag size packages) attach a note that says:  “Poppin’ by with a friendly first-day Hi, to wish you a terrific school year!” You could list that month’s popcorn words on the back.

One Florida teacher gives her students water bottles with flip up caps. They decorate their bottles with markers & stickers, and re-fill them for the entire month. They keep them in their desk so they stay hydrated all day.

Because my first science unit was dinosaurs, I had a basket filled with multi-colored dinosaurs sitting on the table.

My students got to choose one when they completed their tabletop lesson.   That’s a big thrill for them, as well as an incentive to stay focused and finish their first day’s lesson.

Click on the link to view/download Owl Treat Bags

I also revamped a Lucky Charms note that was posted a zillion ways on the Internet. Simply buy a box of Lucky Charms for your kiddo's to munch & crunch and include this sweet note.

Click on the link to view/download Lucky Charm Treat Bag Note.

I also have a cute treat bag note that I made up for some easy and inexpensive treat bags.

Click on the link to view/download Treat Bag Note.

For other treat bag ideas, including bags for reading and writing, click on the link to download the Treat Bag Idea packet.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope your year is as sweet as the treats you give your students!

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

Hope you can stop in tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand." -Chinese Proverb