July Writing Prompts Just In Case You're Teaching Summer School...

Or perhaps you simply LOVE to write like I do and would like some ideas for your journal. Hope these light a spark to the fireworks of your thoughts this month.

Monthly:

It’s Cell Phone Courtesy Month.  What do you think that means?  Do you have a cell phone?  What age do you think it’s appropriate for a young person to get a cell phone and why?

It’s National Ice Cream Month.  What’s your favorite flavor?  Why?  If you could have an ice cream named after you, what would it be called, what kind of ice cream would it be and why?

It’s National Make A Difference to Children Month.  How can young people like yourself make a difference to someone younger than they are?  Are you willing to do that?  OR… Who is making a difference in your life?

Weekly:

The 4^th through the 10^th is Freedom Week. Write about what it means to you to be free.  OR…you and some friends are hiking near the North Korean border.  You don’t think that you are anywhere near it, but suddenly you are captured by North Korean police and thrown into prison.  What do you do?  What happens?  Finish the story.

It’s Rabbit Week the 15^th-21^st.  Here’s the scenario.  A magician comes to town. When he says abracadabra YOU turn into a rabbit and none of your friends know it’s you.  You do, however, have the power to talk.  What’s your next move, I mean hop?  Finish the story.

The 17^th-23^rd is National Zoo Keeper Week.  You are able to change places with your uncle the head Zoo Keeper at the San Diego Zoo for an entire day.  The monkeys have broken out of their pen and let 4 other animals out.  They are running around the compound.  What animals have they let loose and what will you do about catching them? Finish the story.

It’s the World Lumberjack Championships the 29^th-31^st and you and your best friend are going to compete.  What competitions are you signed up for?  Do you win?

Single Working Women’s Week starts the 31^st and runs through August 6^th.  If you were a single working woman, what would you be doing and where would you be doing it?

Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days start July 3^rd and run through August 15^th. Do you have air conditioning in your home?  Write about how you feel when you’re really hot and uncomfortable.  OR… What’s the hottest day that you can remember.  What did you do on that day?

Daily:

Happy Canada Day July 1^st.  Find out some facts about Canada and then compare and contrast this country with America.

US Postage Stamp Day is the 1^st.  If you could design a postage stamp and the post office would print it, what would be on it, and why would you choose that?

Happy “I Forgot Day.” July 2^nd.  Write about one of the things you would like to forget forever and why you’d like to forget it.

Happy 4^th of July.  What plans do you have to celebrate this big holiday weekend?

This is also Invisible Day.  If you were a super hero with the power to turn invisible anytime you wanted, how would you use this power?

Happy Chocolate Day July 7^th.  Here’s the scenario.  You can have the ultimate chocolate party.  Tell me all the details.  The only catch is that EVERYTHING must have chocolate incorporated into it in some fashion.

July 7^th is also Global Forgiveness Day.  Is there anything or anyone you need to forgive?  Why?  OR Why do you think forgiveness is important? OR have you done something to someone that you wish they would forgive you for?

July 7^th is also Tell The Truth Day.  Have you ever lied?  Has it gotten you into trouble?  Is there ever a time when lying is OK?

It’s Teddy Bear's Picnic Day the 10^th.  Do or did you have a teddy bear when you were little?  What was your favorite lovie?  Does anything give you that kind of comfort/solace/peace now?  How?

It’s World Population Day on the 11^th.  Surf the net and see if you can find out how many people live in America, now find out how many people live in the world.  Do you think that’s too many people?  Do you think our planet can sustain that many people as we continue to grow?

Embrace Your Geekness Day is the 13^th.  Are you a geek?  Why or why not?

The 18^th is Global Hug Your Kid Day.  Who are you going to demand a hug from and why? OR are you a "huggy" type of person, meaning do you like giving and receiving hugs?  Why or why not?

The 24^th is Cousins Day.  Do you have any cousins? Who are your favorites and why?

Tell An Old Joke Day is on the 24^th.  So what are you waiting for?  Tell an old joke.  Why do you think it's funny? OR are you good at telling jokes?  Do you like telling jokes?  Why or why not?

The 24^th is also Parents Day.  Do something nice for them and then write about what you did and their reaction. OR write about the things you like about your parents and some of the things you think your parents need to improve on.  OR...write about how you will be when you become a parent and the things you will do differently.

The 29^th is Lasagna Day.  Can you make some?  Do you like it?  Well how about writing about it.  Not too exciting?  It’s also Talk in an Elevator Day.  So try this experiment and then write about the results.  Get on an elevator, and instead of facing the door and watching the numbers like everyone else, face the people, make eye contact and try to engage them in a conversation. Trust me, this will NOT be easy.  Now write about what happened and why you think it down the way it did. Were you uncomfortable or did you have fun?

That's it for July. 

Hope you have a simply sparkling time writing away!

Diane's Ooeey Gooey Cookie Bars

It's summer so go ahead and splurge! This is a very sweet treat. It’s a cross between a brownie and a cookie.

If you're packing up a picnic these are perfect, or if you're bringing desert to pass around the campfire, make a double batch because they will be gone in a jiffy!

Ingredients for a single batch:

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup any of the following: semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch morsels, M & M’s, or Reese’s Pieces

Friends have added the following because they are nutty over nuts. If you are too, you can add ½ cup any of the following: walnuts, pecans, almonds, or peanuts.

Hopefully you will enjoy this “Gotta have another one!” dessert!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

2. Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. (If you are going to put them in.) Mix well and set aside.

3. Melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and mix well. If shortening is used, add 1 tablespoon hot water. Cool slightly.

4. Add egg (beaten) and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.

5.  Mix the chocolate chips or whatever.

6.  Spray pan heavily so that these won’t stick.

7. Spread in 9x13 inch pan. (double recipe.) Smaller pan for single recipe.

8.  Bake for 35 minutes (for doubled recipe.) Will be crispy outside chewy inside. (25 minutes for a single recipe, but ovens vary so check doneness with a toothpick.)

9. Let cool and then cut into bars.

10. Can serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top as the perfect end for a super summer meal. 

Crunchy Firecrackers:

For a fun snack to make with your little ones try this sweet & salty treat.

Ingredients:

•  a bag of fat pretzel rods
• 1 cup of white chocolate morsels 
• 1tablespoon of Crisco
•  red sugar or red Jell-O

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate and Crisco in a double pot.
2. Dip pretzel rods half way into the chocolate and swirl them around so that they get covered.
3. Hold in the air so that they dry a bit.
4. Dip the tips into red sugar or red Jell-O
5. Lay on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
6. Allow to sit for 10 minutes then "Happy 4th of July!" Crunch-Munch-Crunch

FRIED ICE CREAM:

I was surfing the net to see if I could find something on the extraordinary side that I could post a link to, and this fit the bill. 

So if you're into doing something amazing to wow your children with, try making a weird recipe, like frying something that melts!

Click on the link to view the video to see how easy this Japanese restaurant makes Tempura Fried Ice Cream look, then see if you want to give it a whirl.  I haven't had time, but it's on my list of things to do before summer's over! Let me know if you had fun! diane@teachwithme.com

My final woo-hoo is a shark watermelon carving. Click on the link to see the National Watermelon Promotional carvings.  I thought they were pretty awesome!

I will be making the shark for my grandson's 6th birthday next week. (Next week's note: See photos of my grand accomplishment!)

I also loved the turtle and teapot, but he's a boy and I just thought a shark would be "way cool!" I'll let you know. 

There's some awesome "rosette" carved watermelons at this link.  Amazing what people can do with a watermelon.

If you want some tips on how to carve a watermelon shark or hedgehog,  Any Time Fun has a "how to" video. I sure hope I can make mine as quick as this guy does!

He sure makes it look easy! Click on the link to view it!

Later...

Well Nana did it.  She carved her 1st watermelon!  It's lucky I did this on Friday night as there would have been no time to whip this together on Saturday morning before the birthday party. 

Plan on an hour to do this project and buy TWO watermelons.  If your watermelon "guts" look anything like mine when you reach into the cavity of your shark and start "scooping" things out, you will NOT want to be serving those to guests!

I had to run out Saturday morning to get another melon and cut those pieces into nice square chunks.  If you are nuts about using a melon baller go for it.  I'm into quick and easy after carving a shark. 

Doing the teeth was my favorite part.  The insides of the first watermelon did not go to waste.  I plopped them into a bowl and my husband, puppy and I will be enjoying those. 

I arranged "Wild-Berry" blue Jell-O jiggler squares (the ocean) that I  sprinkled with red Sweedish fish on the front of the glass tray and then heaped on fresh cut strawberries sprinkled with blue berries on the back of the tray.  I even hung a Sweedish fish from "Sharkie's" tooth!  It looked adorable and was a huge hit at the party.

Jeremiah's guests loved the look AND the ingredients!  The shark also went with the pool party swim theme he had going on in their front yard. All that was missing was the Jaws music. 

Until next time...bon appetit!

Yay or Nay for the latest gadget that's come into the classroom?

Some of the mail rings I frequent have been all-a-buzz about iPods and iPads and asking what everyone's favorite Apps are. 

If you have them and are using them in your teaching...How are you using them in the classroom? 

Are you buying them with money you were allocated? 

Are you using your own personal ones? 

Do the students take care of this new piece of equipment? 

Have you set down specific rules and procedures?

Do students come in knowing how to use them, like they do a computer or do you have to train them? 

I'd be interested in hearing your answers.  I do not own either and feel that my Y5's are a bit young to be trusted with yet another gizmo in the classroom. 

Perhaps I'm wrong.  Some of my students are extremely computer savvy and I'm amazed at their skill levels. 

In the meantime, click on the link for some favorite aps.

So convince me! diane@teachwithme.com

Summer Reading Fun!

If you haven't checked out the main blog and heard about LiveBinders you might want to give it a "look see". 

I discovered it yesterday and had a nice time perusing other people's binders filled with wonderful suggestions of what they found were helpful websites.

One mom put together a lovely binder filled with summer reading tips.  (A Fabulous Find!) 

So if you're looking for some super suggestions for your little ones click on the link and check out her beautiful summer reading binder

My fondest memory of summer is time spent with my grandma Lydia up north at her cabin in Eagle River Wisconsin. 

One of the fun things we used to do was pick raspberries.  Grama said we had to sing songs loudly and stomp around so that we'd scare away any black bears that might be hungry. 

We never saw any, so we must have done a good job.  Even tho' we brought along pails, we rarely had anything left to tote home, as we had a hard time not eating the delicious red ripe berries that literally plopped into our hands when we touched the prickly branches. 

Thus, my book pick for this month is Up North at the Cabin, although, another cute book you could read that has to do with berries is Jamberry by Bruce Degen!

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The Gist:

 A young girl goes up to her grandparents cabin to spend some time with them during the summer. 

Why I LOVE It:

Chall conjures up special thoughts of my favorite childhood memories, and although she is writing about a lake in Minnesota it could be a cabin located just about anywhere and certainly "painted pictures" in my mind of special summers up north in Wisconsin. 

Her adept use of language brings to life the local flora and fauna as viewed through the eyes of a young city girl..."a moose stands like a house on stilts..." and "cabins are built with logs like pretzels."  There is no real story line, you just flow through this young vacationer's sweet summer as she baits her fishing pole with "peanut butter and worm sandwiches", canoes "through the wilderness" seeming to hear the drums of the long since silenced Indian drums or thrills at slicing through the "silver waves" while waterskiing. 

The textured oil paintings by Steve Johnson add to the lazy-hazy days of summer, suggesting past and shadowed memories, a recollection of quiet times and the mysteries deep within the cool woods that will warm her when "frosted windows cloud the sun."  All of this happily takes you into the book, especially if you too have enjoyed and savored these same special moments as I have. 

The other reason I love it, is my daughter Kelli bought me this book while she was on a class trip. 

Photo of Marsha Wilson Chall compliments of her website. Click on the link to check it out.

Storytelling Tips:

Before you begin the story,  tell the children to close their eyes and picture their favorite place to go for the summer.  Then have them open their eyes and toss a beach ball or some other summery object and whoever is holding it gets to share their favorite place to go.

Show a map of the United States and ask the students where their state is.  Now ask them if anyone knows where Minnesota is, then show them where the state is and tell them a little bit about it. 

Ask the children what they think "sunnies" are on the page that's across from the picture where the family is eating.  I thought the author was referring to eggs sunny side up, but she contacted me and told me that they are sunfish!

The paintings are just lovely in this book.  Choose 3 to 5 and ask the children which is their favorite and why they chose it.  My personal favorite is the one where the girl is on the dock in her bathing suit. She is looking out at the sparkling water.  I often did that as a little girl.  I love the way the sun shines like diamonds glittering on the water. 

Ask for a show of hands to see how many children have gone to a cabin or a lake. You can graph these results as well as several other things in the book.  Click on the link for the graphs.

Magic Tricks:

Using a change bag, I show the children that it is empty.  I pass out several worms.  I ask them what they think will come out of the bag.  We say the magic words: Happy summer vacation! or Up North at the Cabin and I produce a fish puppet that helps me do whatever I want him to do like introduce the story, or review parts of the book etc.

Minnesota is known for the loons that cry out with their haunting calls especially in the evening.  I bought one of the Audubon stuffed birds that make bird sounds.  I put it in my Red Box or you can also use a duck pan.

I show the children that the box/pan is empty, I sprinkle in some silver glitter, shut the box/put the lid on; we all call out like a loon and then I produce the stuffed bird who answers our call when I squeeze it.

Writing Extension:

Make an Our Summer Class Book where your students trace and complete the sentences: My favorite place to go for the summer is... and My favorite thing to do during the summer is... Click on the link to view/print a copy to make with your class/child.

Art Project: Run off a copy of my master of a log cabin.  Make a sample so that you can show your students how to cut the door so that it opens and shuts. 

To make it more of keepsake, take a photo of your students wearing summer attire, print them off and have them glue "themselves" inside the cabin, coming out of the door. 

Students should write "_____________'s cabin" on the line above the door.  If you want, you can have children glue skinny pretzel sticks to the lines on their cabin as the simile described cabins in the story.  

Click on the link to view/print the log cabin pattern.

Skill Sheets: I've designed 6 fun skill sheets that incorporate different standards and skill levels, themed around the story.  Click on the link to view/print them.

Bibliography: Sorry there is no bibliography for July.  I haven't taught summer school for a while now, but do check the awesome binder mentioned above for some great summer selections!

Whatever you're reading this summer I hope you have a relaxing time doing it!

Be sure and check out the FREE Easy Readers for July in the article that follows.

Just when I think I’ve reached my “wow” capacity about what the Internet can do, I’m blown away yet again by something some very creative person came up with!

The new “wow” in my life is Live Binders, and here are the top 4 reasons why:

1. It’s FREE
   
2. It’s EASY
   
3. The potential is MIND BLOWING, and finally...
4. they give you access to a huge number of other people’s wonderful binders!  A virtual library listing fabulous resources that we parents and teachers have wasted an entire day searching for.

I know I have.  I sit down early in the morning with great expectations of getting a zillion things done, start my research, and get lost in cyber space only to come up short at trying to find what I was looking for, with little accomplished except a feeling of frustration + a headache. 

Sound familiar?  And how many times have I heard this frantic complaint on one of my mail rings:   “Does anyone know this site… it’s one of my favorites but my computer has a virus/crashed, or the school deleted everyone’s files over the summer!”

LiveBinders solves it all.

You can keep it private and allow only a select few to view your binder,  (giving access via a password) or allow the public access.  Besides having a library listing of all your favorite sites this is a great tool to use for educating your students!

Your students can find homework assignments, complete research, review articles, view YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, or whatever else you can dream up within the scope of the tools of LiveBinder, as additional design features allow teachers to upload resources in the form of PDF’s, images, presentations, documents etc.

So what are the benefits?

• It’s free
• It’s easy
• They have a bookmark icon that sits on your toolbar to instantly add sites to your binder, and you can add your binder icon to your desktop.
• It’s fun
• It’s something different that your students will enjoy.
• 
   
• It makes you look wonderfully computer savvy and up-to-date.
• Material and resources are up loadable from any computer, anytime, and anywhere with Internet access.
• Use your own blog to provide students’ access to your binder.
• This is a "new" kind of library for you to use other people’s binders to gather more cool website info.
• Use a binder to create a library of resources for yourself, students, and fellow teachers.
• Use your Twitter and Facebook accounts to share your binders and enjoy the power of networking.
• Total storage per account is 100MB, so you can create multiple binders!

These are just a few of the reasons LiveBinders was selected as one of the Top 25 Websites for teaching and learning in 2010!  Click on the link to start one today.

Great Binders:

One of the featured binders for this blog is an awesome summer reading binder made by a mom.  She has reading lists, online reading, literacy activities, reading programs &  parent tips!  Click on the link to check it out.

Many teachers in my mail ring have been asking about "cool apps" for their i Pods and i Pads for the classroom.  I even found a binder for that! Click on the link and then click on the "Apps Review" tab.     iPod/iPad binder. 

User "Sparkley" has also made a binder for Apps. Sparkley has 60 (!) other interesting binders as well as several on  Best Blogs! Click on that link.

Finally, I know how many of you love bulletin board ideas. I found an education binder designed by "KB Konnected" who has 73 binders (!) that I think many teachers  would be interested in.  Click on the link to check out her awesome bulletin board one.

I know you will have a blast checking out the many fun binders on this site as well as making your own.

My binder is entitled Great Sites for Elementary Teachers.  It’s private right now, as I’m in the process of building it, for now you can check my LINKS above on the menu bar.

Happy Binder-Building!

Don't Forget!

These helpful "remember" items can be found in the 123-page Back-To-School Packet 

Click on the link to view/download it.

I had 4 timers at school.  I used them to REMIND me of a variety of things.  One of the most important was when I put a child in the Time Out Chair. 

Sometimes they were so good about thinking about a better behavior, they forgot how long they had been sitting there.

So that I wouldn't, because of the zillions of other things going on, a timer was a must-have for me! 

The timers were also very helpful to signal when it was time to clean up after centers, free play, etc.

I'd get busy working one-on-one with students, or assessing and you know how that time flies.  It's easy to forget about the time, and one does not want to be late for recess, lunch and specials.

I also had other things that I developed to help my parents and students remember things... from posters to magnets to assignment books and calendars. 

I think teaching organization to your students is an important life skill.  My parents have told me they appreciate the reminders and it makes for happier and smarter students; a win-win situation all around.

Here are some fun and easy things that you can do to help yourself, students and parents REMEMBER!

Time:

• Set timers to go off.

• Post times and clocks on the board.

Even tho’ my Y5’s can’t tell time, they can compare and match.

I have 3 times of the day that they are most interested in: When is recess; when is it lunch time and when do we get to go home?

I make 3 paper clocks and laminate them and post them on my white board.  Each one is labeled: Recess, Lunch, Done for the day! They can look at the hands of those clocks and can compare them to the hands of our class clock.

It's stopped children from asking me these same 3 questions all day long.  If they do; I tell them to look at the clocks and become a detective and see if they can figure it out.  I use it as a teachable moment to do some math.  i.e., How much longer is it before…

• • Notes:
   
• Send reminder notes home. Sometimes these are half notes or just a strip of paper the size of a bookmark; sometimes they are a slap bracelet.
• I put notes on children at the end of the day and pin them in the middle of their backs.  I find that some parents do not check backpacks.
• Sometimes I run off labels with things that I need to remind parents of on a monthly basis.
• I simply put the sticker on their child’s shirt at the end of the day.  Parents have given me wonderful feedback about this form of FYI-reminder. 
  
• Labels save me time and paper and the hassle of having to pin things on children or put things in cubbies, folders or backpacks. 
  
• Parents tell me they take the sticker off and put it on the mirror, door jamb or car window to help them remember.
  

• Send a monthly calendar home.
• Give students a weekly calendar for them to fill out.
• Send a weekly newsletter home.
• Make "to do" lists and encourage your students to do the same.

Assignment Booklet:

• Empower your students and teach them responsibility by having them keep track of their assignments. 
  
•  
• Write them on the board and then have students copy them down.  If they complete them, they check them off.  Train parents to ask to see this assignment booklet.
•  
• I’ve made one up for you to run off.  Have students glue the cover on a folded sheet of colored construction paper of their choice. 
  
•  
• Glue the cover on AFTER  you have stapled pages on the inside of both sides.  This way the staples won’t show.
• 
  
• Art Project:
• Tying a string on your finger has been a symbol of remembering. For a fun art project, run off my drawing on a variety of flesh-toned construction paper; laminate the paper and have students cut the hand out and tie a piece of yarn or ribbon on the finger. 
  
•  
• Staple the yarn/ribbon or tape it on the back.
•  
• Students can write themselves notes with a dry erase marker, or a permanent marker and use a Mr. Clean eraser to rub their note off, or they can add sticky notes to the back of the paper hand.
•  
• You can make these ahead of time and give them as a gift, or have students make their own.
•  

• Reminder Magnet:
• Make a “Don’t Forget” Happy Face magnet and hot glue it to a clothespin.  Students can help with these, or you can make them ahead of time and give them as a gift.  
  
• Send home the magnet letter with the magnet for parents to jot themselves notes to remember important things.

        Posters and Anchor Charts:

• Print the reminder posters and have a wall area where you post important things to REMEMBER, everything from rules like “i before e except after c .” “When 2 vowels go walking the first one does the talking.” or your class rules,  or spelling words. 
• In this “Remember” section I post who has the Secret Sack (my version of Show & Tell), who has the Snack Sack (Who is bringing in snack, My snack calendar) My “Where Am I?” poster for students who are pull outs and have to be somewhere on certain days.  
•  
• There is also a hook hung with two-way tape that holds a set of laminated rainbow cards. (You can pick any kind of die cut card at a teacher’s store and laminate and then number them. ) Above it a sign says: How Many Students Are Here Today? This helps me remember at a glance how many children are in my room at any given time should there be an emergency and my brain leaves my head when bells, sirens, and screaming is taking place.
•  
• I use this as a math extension every morning.  We count students together, find that number card, show the card and identify that number, compare it to yesterday’s number and see if it is lesser, greater or equal to? 
• If a child leaves with another teacher, the card is changed and then changed again when they come back.  If a child goes to the bathroom a bathroom tag is put on top of the number so I know at all times how many children I have and who is where.
• Click on the link to view/print all of these ideas and patterns that will help you remember!  Back To School Packet. 

I hope you REMEMBER  to RELAX for the rest of the summer and take time for yourself!

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can stop back tomorrow for more back to school ideas.  Feel free to PIN anything that you think others will find worthwhile.

"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand." -Unknown

I launch into a big measurement unit during October when we go on a fieldtrip to an apple orchard that happens to have a huge pumpkin patch.  We get a class pumpkin.

If my A group picks a short-fat pumpkin, I steer my B group into choosing a tall pumpkin so that we can have a great comparison contrast activity.

I know lots of teachers who introduce measurement, with non-measuring instruments, like how many teddy bears long is the Kleenex box?  I just jump right in with rulers, measuring tapes and scales.

The children catch on quickly. I have them choose a partner to measure and they have a blast running around measuring each other and everything in sight.

Click on the link to view/print an I Measured My Friend page.

Later in the year we review measurement again with a Bob The Builder Day.

One of the fun things you can have your students do is make an Isabella Inchworm. 

Run off the master on green construction paper.  Students can add wiggle eyes and color the face.

Send them off on a measuring adventure to find 3 things that are exactly as long as Isabella.

Have them tally things that they find that are shorter than Izzy and then fill in another tally box that is longer than she is.  You can graph your findings.

Another fun activity to do is to weigh and measure all of your students.  Find out who is the lightest, heaviest, tallest, shortest and what the average height and weight of all of your students are, as well as the total pounds and inches of the entire class.

You can also graph these results.  I keep these statistics so that when I do this activity again in June, we can do all sorts of fun math extensions.

Click on the link to view/print Isabella Click on the link to view/print some measurement Certificates of Praise.

Just like the article before, these will be free for the week (June 23-30) and then roll into a 123-page Back-to-school packet for only $1.79

I also have a cute September Daisy Yarn Keepsake activity that incorporates a child’s height.  It’s in the FREE September Stuff. Click on the link to check it out.

Two awesome booklets that make measurement fun are My Scale Booklet and My Measurement Booklet. Click on the links to check them out.

 As always, if you have a fun idea that you do, to learn how to measure things, I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com

Happy summer! It’s officially here and what are most of my mail rings talking about? This fall and working on things for the upcoming school year!  My husband thinks we’re all crazy.

I bet you never thought a teacher would dream up such an oxymoronic ditty!  I slapped it on a magnet for Russ Berrie for the sake of earning a few dollars back in the early 80’s, because I knew people who weren’t teachers would buy it.

Teachers of course knew vacations were “stay-cations” for cleaning, sorting, revamping, organizing, making stuff, and going to school to get SBCEU’s, our Masters or staying credentialed!

So I’ve decided to start making short little blogs about school stuff that might be of interest to the at-home “resting” teacher who is just dying to whip together a project or two.

This activity can be found in my Back-To-School Packet

The first little ditty for you to do is a big question mark with question words.  I don’t know about your students, but my Y5’s don’t know how to ask a question.

The librarian, after her introduction to the library, says: “Does anyone have a question?” and Corry “asks:” “My mommy reads to me.” Lanie “asks” “I have that book.” The librarian finally says: “We have time for one more question.” And Billie “asks:” “I wanna leave now.

The same thing happens in October when the fire department comes for Fire Safety Month and Aubrey “asks:” “I once saw a fire when…”

Now I teach my students HOW to ask a question and that those questions MUST begin with question words.  These question words make wonderful word-wall words too.

Header above question mark poster:  “Start a question with these words!”

Now…if you have questions, comments or suggestions; I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com

Make a cute end-of-the year bulletin board with summery flowers that will have your students using all sorts of skills and reinforcing lots of report card standards.  Here's how:

Look How I've Blossomed & Grown!

I weigh and measure my Y5's at the beginning and end of the year, so I can do all sorts of math extensions of how much they've grown. This information used to be on their report cards.

They subtract their beginning and ending height and weight, we add everyone's height and weight for grand totals, we graph who was the tallest and weighed the most, and we compare these to last year's totals.

Children go on a hunt to see if they can find things in the room that are as tall as they are, and we guess-timate a list of things that might weigh as much as they do.

If you have weighed and measured your students too, you can include it on their flower, if not simply have them write how else they have grown.  Discuss with your students what it means to "blossom".

Brainstorm with them ways they have grown since the beginning of the year.  For example, they have not just grown physically, but they are smarter.  What new things can they do now?  Jot these down on the white board.

This could also be a Venn Diagram of how they are the same and how they are different since the beginning of the year as well.

Run off the petal master on red, orange, yellow, pink, blue, and purple construction paper if you're using white paper plates, and on white construction or copy paper if you're using colored paper plates. 

You can have students cut these out, or have some of them pre-cut for younger children.

To add some color to white petals, students can write with a colored marker, or draw some colored lines on the petals. (See photo.)

Each student will need 8 petals, 1 stem, and 1 leaf. (If you want the leaves 3-dimensional then they need 2.)

Have students cut out the petals and write something on each one.  If you've kept track of their height and weight, students can incorporate this information on their petals.

The ruler master should be run off on lime or light green construction paper so that you can read the numbers.  I like to run off the leaves on an emerald green paper so that there is a contrast.

If you want your bulletin board to be 3-dimensional, have students glue their petals to the front of an 8" paper plate.

Write student's name under their photo, along with the date they started and ended school. I also write the grade they were in above their picture.  (See photo.)

Flip the plate over, the flower will then look rounded and the bulletin board will "pop" out at you.  If you are using sturdier, colored paper plates, leave them face up, as they are deeper and the edges pop up. 

Glue the leaves to the back of the ruler- stem.  You can make the leaves 3-D as well by gluing 2 together and folding one half up.

Glue the leaves to the back of the stem and the stem to the back of the plate.  Make sure that when they cut out their stem-ruler, they leave some blank space at the top so they can glue it to the plate and not cover their numbers.

You can leave the center of the flower white or you can add colored construction paper circles. 

To make the flowers even cuter and more of a keepsake, enlarge your students' school pictures on the copier and have them glue the photo to the center of their flower.

Cover the bulletin board with blue paper.  Snip green construction paper and use this as a grass border on the bottom.  Add a yellow circle for the sun in one corner. 

If you want to make it more 3-D, twist some yellow crepe paper and staple on some strands as rays.

Add your students' flowers to the grass and you're set.  Caption: Look how  ____________'s Preschool / Kindergarten / 1st grade students have blossomed and grown this year!

Click on the link to view/print the flower bulletin board patterns.

WRITE on!

Happy Father's Day Venn Diagram Comparison:

Brainstorm with your students how they are the same and different from their dads.  A fun way to do this is with a Venn Diagram. 

I like to use 2 brightly colored hula hoops to do this, and then write words on index cards. 

I then transfer this information to the white board so that students are seeing it again, and can copy what applies to them on their own Venn diagram. 

As an added writing extension students could also compare their grandpa's with their dads.  After they make their Venn Diagrams have them draw a picture of their dad and themselves/grandpa inside the diagram. 

You could also add their school photo.

This makes a cute card to give to their dad's on Father's Day by adding "We may be different, but we are also the same, and this you know is true: I LOVE you!" 

The Sweet Taste of Summer:

Brainstorm with your students of all the fun things they like to eat during the summer that are a bit different than the foods they eat during other months, such as Popsicles, ice cream, things cooked on the grill, stuff they take on a picnic, watermelon, strawberries, etc. 

Run off my master of a Popsicle.  Students cut them out and write their favorite things to eat during the summer.

When they are done, tape a large Popsicle stick to the back of their work. Buy a checkered tablecloth at The Dollar Store, cut it into a small rectangle to look like a picnic table and staple it to your b. board.

Arrange the Popsicle sticks around the table as a border in a crisscross fashion.  The caption: The Sweet Taste Of Summer  

Or... cover your b. board with blue paper.  Cut out two Peach lips. (One top and one bottom) Make these so that the mouth looks open. Cut out a long pink tongue. Place the Popsicles in and around the mouth.  

Wishing On A Summer Star:

Brainstorm with your students some of the places they'd like to go during the summer, if they could go anywhere in the world.  Write them on the white board. 

Run off my masters of the starfish on two different shades of light brown construction paper.  Each student will need one of each color. 

Children cut out their starfish.  On the larger, front view one, they complete the writing prompt: "If I could go any where in the world this summer I'd like to go to... and list all the places they'd like to visit. 

On the other smaller back of the starfish, they glue Cheerio's on the lines, for a nice 3-D touch.  Glue the two stars together in a kitty wampus way. 

Put light blue paper on your bulletin board. Buy a fish net from The Dollar store and staple it diagonally in the middle of the board. 

Sprinkle the starfish on the net.  Caption: Wishing On A Summer Star

Click on the link to view/download Summer Fun Writing Packet

I hope these ideas will excite your students and get them to WANT to write.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you can pop back tomorrow for more fun in the sun activities.

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

or feel free to post a comment here, especially if you use one of my ideas.

PIN away if you find something you think would be helpful or interesting to another teacher or parent that home schools!

Wishing you a super summer that simply sizzles with fun!