It’s In The Bag!

There are pro’s and con’s about giving students a treat bag on the first day of school.

I LOVE making up little surprises for my students.

They are 4 or 5 and I think if I have a little something waiting for them on their desk it makes school especially fun for them.

When I taught other grades I did treat bags.  My students could read the note, so they understood the symbolism behind some of the things I tucked in their bags.

The adorable treat bag pictured above was designed by Amanda.  Her back-to-school snack consists of: Captain Crunch Treasures, Vanilla Yogurt Dipped Raisins and M&M's.  Click on the link to visit her blog.

I used to make up a Reading Survival Kit as well as a Writing First Aid Kit and tucked the Baggies in my 1st , 2^nd & 3^rd grader’s desks at different times during the beginning of the year.  They were thrilled. I ordered some of the things in the reading kit from Fun Express.

Click on the links to view/print them.

I also made a very simple treat bag, with just a few things in it and tucked a brief message in the Baggie for them to read on their first day of school.

Click on the link to view/print my first day of school treat bag.

I also found a cute Lucky Charms treat bag online that many teachers were doing.  There were several different notes so I revamped one and made it my own. 

For a sweet and easy treat, simply fill a small Baggie with the cereal, fold my note and attach it to the outside of the bag.

Click on the link to view/print the Lucky Charms treat bag.

When I started teaching Y5’s I opted to do a treasure box for open house instead,  because the first day is rather hectic when I’m all by myself with as many as 19 four-year-olds, who may want to rip open a treat bag, even when I instruct them to take it to their locker to open at home.

I’ve had inquiries about treat bags, so I wanted to write a blog article and give you some ideas. I did a little research and found a plethora of Google listings for treat bags.

I compiled an alphabetical list of goodies teachers have tucked in their bags, as well as the symbolism behind them.

Click on the link to view/print the treat bag list and then pick and choose what you’d like to include and design your own treat bag.

Some teachers fill a large cup with goodies, some tuck their treats in Ziploc Baggies, and others use colored lunch bags.

Then there are those crafty teachers who design extra special bags.

One creative person made cute busses and hot-glued white buttons on the black wheels. (Adorable!)

So if you've got the time to be crafty... Click on the link to check out her bus treat bag YouTube video.

Because I like to tuck notes and special treats into several of my teacher friend's mailboxes, I made up a little treat bag for them as well. 

Click on the link to view/print the teacher treat bag note.

Be sure and check back tomorrow for my quick and easy owl treat bags made from a lunch bag, as well as some other quick and easy ideas to make that first day special!

If you have one to share, I’d enjoy hearing from you.  diane@teachwithme.com

Blasting Off To The First Day Of School

As I stated in the last article, counting down the last 10 days 'til school starts is a wonderful way to get children excited about going to school.

It also provides an opportunity to talk about this special time in their lives and dispel any fears or anxieties first timers may have.

Being able to actually SEE time going by helps a child.  Unlike adults, children don't really have a concept of time yet.

This is why the paper chain that I hung up in my classroom is such a successful learning tool for children, as well as a terrific patterned decoration.

You may want to make a two-color, 10-link paper chain and hang it up in your child's room.

When they go to bed at night, let them tear off a link.  When the last link is gone, they will be going to school the next day.

You can write a little note on that link and tuck it in their pocket or lunch box.  "I love U" using a drawn heart for the word love is a great note, or simply a smilie face will recall the paper chain memories and time with you.

From my 1st class of Y5's, I always included a countdown page in my summer welcome letter.

Counting from 10 - 0 is one of our report card standards so I thought this would be a fun way to introduce that concept and get my students excited for their first day.

I designed 8 additional ones, so that you would have a selection to choose from.  I tried to think of the various themes teachers cover in August-September that are popular with children.

There's an apple, baseball/bat, butterfly, caterpillar, crayons, dinosaur, frog and ladybug.

Click on the link to view/download 20 pages of  Fun Countdowns.

If you have others you would like to see, please drop me a line and I will add them to my design list.  I really enjoy hearing from my readers.  diane@teachwithme.com

Thanks for visiting. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

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

"Keep your eyes open and your feet moving and ou'll find what you need." -Unknown

A Simple Trick To Get Kids Excited For The First Day Of School

I think that if students count down the days til school starts, they have an opportunity to get excited.

It's also a "teachable moment" for parents to work on numbers, counting, and introducing a calendar or how to keep track of time.

A fun and inexpensive gift that helps you do that, that you can quickly make and pass out at your Open House is something that I just dreamed up. 

Our Open House is the week before school starts, which is wonderful, because it gave me a chance to meet my students and help dispel any fears they might have.

Whip these kits together and toss the Baggies in a basket.

Set them on a table with A Special Gift For My Students Take One sign.

Click on the link to view/print one.

Making these "count down necklaces" help students count, use their fine motor skills, review all of the basic colors, follow a color pattern, + get excited about coming to school as they count down the days!

My Y5’s also had to learn to count backwards from 10-0 as a report card standard. (I call this blasting off.) This is simply another fun way of doing that. 

What a nice keepsake for them to have of this special time in their life!

Here's how to make the necklace kits:

• In a snack Baggie include 10 pony beads (one of each of the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, brown and black) and an 18-inch length of white yarn. 
• Tape the end into a point, with a piece of Scotch tape, so that it is easy for young ones to string their beads.
• Include the following poem:

Click on the link to print the back-to-school necklace poem.

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

Be sure and check back tomorrow for another easy countdown idea that not only nails report card standards, but helps get your students excited about school, as it chases away any anxiety first-timers may be feeling!

Do you have a back-to-school tip that you'd be willing to share with us?  I'd enjoy hearing from you: diane@teachwithme.com

"A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn, is hammering on a cold iron." -Horace Mann

Drum Roll Please...

Congratulations to the winner of this week's Back-To-School-Bracelet BLOG contest: second grade teacher Patti, from the state of New Hampshire.

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, bought something, commented, registered, or told a friend.  Your name still remains in our drawing.

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

I will choose our last winner this coming Friday the 26th.

Happy "Getting Ready To Go Back To School!" and for all of you who have already started, I hope your students are terrific and that this will be your best year ever!

Drum Roll Please...

Congratulations to the winner of this week's Back-To-School-Bracelet BLOG contest first grade teacher Debbie, from the state of Arizona.

Because we had a record-breaking almost 4,000 hits for the month of July (!!!) and so much new activity I decided to pick two winners this week.

So kindergarten teacher Elaina from the state of California is also a winner!

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, bought something, commented, registered, or told a friend.  Your name still remains in our drawing.

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

I will choose another winner this coming Friday the 18th. 

Happy "Getting Ready To Go Back To School!"

Drum Roll Please...

Congratulations to the winner of this past week's Back-To-School-Bracelet BLOG contest first grade teacher Nancy,  from the state of Washington. 

Thanks to everyone who subscribed, bought something, commented, registered, or told a friend.  Your name still remains in our drawing.

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

I will choose another winner this coming Friday the 12th.  Things were a little late this week as I was on vacation visiting my mom in the beautiful north woods of Wisconsin! No internet or cell service but lots of eagles and loons!

Happy "Getting Ready To Go Back To School!"

Drum Roll Please...

Yes you read the title correctly.  There is more than one winner this week!

 I decided since it's our first contest, and I love giving stuff away, that I'd pick a winner from several different categories. 

I tossed all the new subscribers into a bowl and chose a name, all of the people who purchased something this week went into the bowl next, and finally all the people who commented or shared a tip this week were in the final drawing.

If you were counting, you discovered that I am sending out 3 bracelets. 

Here are the winners names:

Doreen a New York 1st grade teacher, is our "Subscription" winner, Dana, a New Jersey kindergarten teacher, is our "Purchased a Product" winner, and Donna is our "Posted a Comment" winner. 

I thought it was pretty interesting that all the winners' names started with the initial D like mine! 

Congratulations to all of you!

If you didn't win this week, your name is still in my pile and will remain there for the remainder of the contest, but continue to enter as many times as you want. 

Click on the link for complete CONTEST details. 

I will run the contest through the last week of August.  Next week's winner will be announced Monday the 8th instead of Friday the 5th.  

Thanks to everyone who participated.

An Old Favorite:

I chose Mary Wore A Red Dress for this month’s book pick, because young children enjoy it.

It’s one of those “Read it again; read it again!” stories.

Learning colors is one of my report card standards and having color words as part of the word wall and doing a variety of things with colors, is a big part of most teacher’s back-to-school activities, so I thought this was a good choice to dream up some activities for you to do with your students.

The Gist: Why I Love it:

Mary Wore A Red Dress is an old Texas folk song. I love it because it provides the perfect Segway to the introduction of colors.

In this particular version, animals are on their way to a birthday party.  I also like that the author includes the music at the end of the story.

Story Telling Tips:

• Use the colored clothing pieces that I have made to match the story and pass them out to students.  This is the perfect “sequencing” story.
• When the “orange” shirt is read, the child who has the orange shirt piece adds it to the flannel or white board.

• After reading the story, mix up the pieces and see if the children can remember the order they came in.
• Substitute students’ names for character names.  Watch little ones’ eyes light up when you say their name.  “Am I really in the book?” They’ll ask. It gets them to really pay attention.

•  I say the colors in English as well as Spanish and have the children repeat them back to me.
• Another thing you can have students do is to stand up if they are wearing the color that is being talked about in the story. i.e., Mary is wearing a red dress.

•  If you’re also wearing red, stand up.
• Children can wiggle their fingers, touch their nose, take a bow or do something silly, point to that color and then sit down.

Magic Tricks: I use my change bag to produce different colored scarves to teach secondary colors.  “What color was Mary wearing?” Yes, red.  Did you know that red and yellow make orange?”

I put a red scarf and a yellow scarf in the change bag and have children exclaim:

“ _______________ wore an orange shirt!” Then I pop out an orange scarf.  I do the same thing when I produce a green scarf (blue + yellow) and a purple scarf (red + blue).

 If I have time, I let students smear what ever primary color combination they want together, to turn a white paper tee-shirt into a secondary color.  I then hang these on a clothesline with mini clothespins.

Math: 5 graphing extensions, connect the dots, & count how many and write the number skill sheet.

Writing Extensions: 2 Class books: We Wore __________ To School! and On the First Day Of School Who Did You See?

Art Activity: (T-shirt idea above.) Click on the link for a copy of a t-shirt to paint.

Language Arts: Trace to pre-write skill sheet, matching colors, alphabetical order, rhyming words.

Click on the link to view/print the She Wore A Red Dress Packet. This packet will be FREE til September 16th and then can be purchased for only .99 cents. 

 Bibliography for Back-To-School: Click on the link to view my favorites.

Be sure and check out our FREEBIE reader of the month: Where Are The Coconuts?  This is a great booklet to go along with any of your Chicka Chicka Boom Boom activities.

  If you’re a big fan of Chicka Chicka  Boom Boom, be sure and check out the Arts-Crafts and Activities section.  That is my major theme this month. 

Our free "Easy Reader" this month is The Students On the Bus, a great math extension booklet and a real keepsake when you add a few photographs.

Whatever you're reading this month, I hope it's simply T-riffic!  Happy August.

Chomper, the Alligator Alligobbler To The Rescue!

Less than and greater than can be confusing symbols to a young child.  Make it fun and easy to understand with Chomper my alligator-alligobbler.

Here’s how:

• Buy a pack of self-seal long green envelopes.
• Children peel and stick the envelope shut.
• Make a V-template.

• Using the V-template, students trace the V and then cut it out.
• To expedite things, this can be pre-done for young children
• Run off the “jaws” of Chomper on several sheets of white cardstock.

• Students carefully cut the upper and lower jaws out.
• Using a glue stick, children run a stripe along the top V of the envelope-mouth of the alligator and then press on the top row of teeth.
• They do the same thing for the bottom row.

• Students cut out the half circle of Chomper’s eye and glue it to the top of the “head”.
• Give students a large wiggle eye and a thick glue dot.
• Students glue the wiggle eye on top of the green ½-circle “orb”.

• Run off a set of “Alligobbler” labels and give each student a sticker to place on the back of their Chomper.
• Students write their name above the label in plural-possessive form.

• Run off a set of number tiles in different colors.
• Each student needs two sets so that they can play at home.
• Children cut out their tiles.

 How to play the game.

• When children face a partner and they look at the opposite alligator, it will be a “less than” alligator.  They will have a “more than” alligator.
• Children stack one set of colored cards making sure that it is not the same color as their opponent.

•  Students place the cards face down.
• Decide who goes first.

•  Both children flip over a number card.
• If it is child A’s turn, she looks at the two numbers and decides which is more than and takes that number, saying the equation: “5 is more than 3.”

• The other child takes the 3.
• Now it is child B’s turn.
• Both children flip a number.

• Child B is looking at her alligobbler which is also “more than” to her,  so she will take the greatest number.
• If she’d like to take a smaller number, she can flip her alligobbler over so she is looking at a “less than” symbol “mouth and say that equation and take that number.

• Play ends when all of the numbers are gone.
• Children spill the number tiles Chomper has eaten, back onto the table and sort them by color, giving each other their own cards back.

Do you have a math tip you'd like to share?  I'd enjoy hearing from you.  diane@teachwithme.com

Remember leaving a comment or sharing an idea are two easy ways to register for our back-to-school CONTEST!  Click on the link to check out the details. Thanks for participating.

There is quite a bit of chatter on several of my mail rings about Smart Boards. 

Unfortunately, I am not one of the lucky ones to have one. 

I think they are an awesome addition to the classroom that would be very valuable in helping students stay current with the latest technology. 

If you do have a Smart Board, I'd be interested in hearing the pro's and con's of it and how you use it in your classroom with your students.

Remember, commenting anywhere on any of the blog sections, automatically puts you in our CONTEST! Click on the link for details.

In the meantime, I've found some awesome smart board sites for you. Simply click on the links to zoom there.

A kindergarten teacher's favorite sites.

It seems "THE" place for "anything" smart board is the SMART exchange. Lots of info here.

A plethora of lessons at Longwood School's site.

Smart Board has a variety of all sorts of different things from lessons and tips to links.

Summit MO school district's wonderful list sorted by subject.

Rockingham VA also shares a long list sorted by subject.

Smart Board Resources + links.

I hope these helped you in your endeavors of staying current with all that's out there!  Enjoy surfin' smart!