Conferences are coming up soon,

so I thought I'd share some things that I do, that might be helpful to you.

•  I keep all of my conference things in a box labeled “Conference Stuff” so I’m not searching for things.
• I type up “conference signs” and laminate them and use them each year.  They go in the box.
• To make things a bit more festive, I put a table cloth on a long table that I set up in the hallway.
• I tie a medium size basket with fall-colored curling ribbon and crumble up some yellow tissue paper and put it in the bottom of the basket. Sam’s Club sells bulk dinner mints for $5 and I fill the basket with those. I put a sign on a Popsicle stick that says: “My Y5 Family’s are worth a mint! Enjoy one while you wait!” and stick it in the basket.
• I display the laminated class books that the children have made as a group.
• I display our class photo album that includes pictures of our daily activities as well as our fall fieldtrip to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch.
• I have a poster that tells them to check the 2 hallways for their child’s artwork and our science, geography and computer wall displays.
• If you are computer savvy this is a great time to set up a power point slide show and have it playing.
• I set up 4 chairs for people to sit on if they want.
• I have a sign that says: “Thank you for coming. Please sign in.” This is on a clip board with a pen TIED to it.  I also squish a pumpkin ornament on the pen and glue it on. People are less likely to take your pens.
• I send a letter home that tells parents to CALL the office for an appointment. Our school does it this way. At the end of conference appointment calling, if a child’s parents haven’t called, I assign them an appointment with a note that says if this doesn’t work for them to please call and arrange another time.  I send reminder notes home the night before of their date and time. The note also says to jot down questions they might have, and to remind them to arrive promptly as conferences are booked back-to-back and are only 15 minutes long. If they are late their conference will be shortened.
• I send a "Head's Up" note home to parents letting them know that I wll be assessing their child on report card standards and tips of how they can help their child review concepts at home. Click on the link for a copy of that letter which includes three helpful attachments: An "I love you gram" that helps their child practice writing their name in a fun way, a shape practice template, and a discipline tip sheet that I give to parents at conferences who have a child that's having problems.
  
• I have a Form for my parents to fill out of how their child likes school thus far and any concerns they may have. Click on the link for a copy.
• I also have an “I love you, and am proud of you.”  Happy Gram that they fill out for their child and take home. Click on the link for a copy.
• I make the easy pre-made dough sugar cookies that you just slice off.  Sometimes they have a seasonal pattern in them like a pumpkin or leaf.   I put two in a baggie and tie them with orange and yellow curling ribbon.  I punch a hole in my poem, fold it and attach it to the baggie.  I put these in another fall basket and give these to parents as a thank you for coming and working with me as a team.  I have a poster in my room that uses team as an acronym: Together Everyone Achieves More.  Click on the link for a copy of the Poem.
• I have a laundry basket of toys on my Circle of Friends carpet as well as a basket of books that it is OK to play with if parents bring their child or younger siblings.
• I also put up a tee pee tent in the fall and a princess tent in the spring. This keeps children occupied and contained.  I tell my student to keep an eye on younger siblings as they know the rules, and that these are the ONLY options to play with.  It’s amazing how some parents will let their children run amuck in your classroom and you’ll be left with either a very chaotic conference or a destroyed classroom that you’ll have to clean up later when you’re exhausted. Having these areas and things has really helped.
• I keep a pleasant sounding timer at my table. As soon as a parent walks in I start it. It goes off one minute before they are due to leave so that I can tie things up.  I explain to them the necessity of the timer and that if they still have questions after the conference I will be glad to discuss things further on the phone or after or before school. I do this because it’s easy for me to lose track of time with some parents and 15 minutes goes so fast.
• If you have a difficult child that you know you might need more time with, schedule a double conference for them, or schedule someone after or before them that you know will be a much shorter conference time.
• I’m always prepared with a high school translator for my Hispanic parents.
• I keep a week’s worth of papers that the children have done in class the week of conference time so I have examples of children’s in-class work.
• I put papers, assessments, art work  and report card etc. in a file folder for each child and have the folder on my conference table.
• My conference table also has a table cloth on it. I want my parents to feel comfortable so I don't sit at my desk, and we all sit in adult chairs.
  
• Make sure that you figure in at least a 15 minute snack/supper/bathroom break into your conference time.
• I see parents from 2:45-7:30 for 2 days.
• I keep a bottle of water under the table along with those cheese and cracker snacks for a quick pick-me-up.
• I keep another sign in sheet at my table in case they forgot to sign in on the outside table.
• I make sure that I do the same format for each child so that I don’t forget what I have said, or miss something.  I have this set up in their folder so that I start and end in the same place. I have this in a check list that I keep next to me so that I don’t forget anything. This also keeps me within the 15 minute time frame.
• Carefully think how you will relay negative comments; do so in a constructive, not critical manner. Give the parents tips of what they can do to help, and don't relate information to them in "teacher jargon."
  
• I always end with the positive. Find at least 3 positive things to say about their child no matter how difficult they are. All children have strengths and abilities; parents need these encouraging words. Many of them seek your approval and worry that you might feel that they are bad parents or have poor parenting skills so reassure them.
  
• I end with “Do you have any questions or concerns?” and thank them for coming.
• I make little turkeys for my students that say: “My teacher thinks I’m Turkey-riffic!”  I give these to the parents for them to give to their child. This is for fall conferences. I make kites for spring: “I’m flying high with great work!”  “If parents don’t bring their child, most children ask them when they get home:  “What did my teacher say about me?”   This is another opportunity for me to build their self esteem. 
• I make the turkeys on an Ellison die cut machine and attach a label.  Click on the link for the Turkey Labels.  I’ve also made a little Turkey Note for you in case you don’t have an Ellison. Here's a turkey certicate too.
  
• Make sure you get a good night’s sleep the day before your conferences.
• I try to plan the day time activities with my students to be filled with lessons that are less hectic for me.  I’m not introducing new concepts and standards that require a lot of work; and I try to have a room helper with me so that I’m not quite as exhausted at the end of the day as I am when I’m working alone. 
• I tell my students that the work that they are doing that week is extra special in that I will be keeping it and showing it to their parents.  As always I want them to give me their “best effort”.  I think when I tell them this they do try a little bit harder. 
• I notice that they are neater and that their coloring and writing samples are not as “scribbly.”
• I also ask my students to pitch in and tidy our room up doing some extra cleaning and straightening at the end of the day, ensuring that everything looks extra nice for conferences.
• I bring a change of clothes that are a bit dressier for conferences than my regular, more comfortable teaching outfit. Putting on a “fresh” more feminine outfit makes me feel better and more energized too.  My grandmother always said to splash on some perfume to give yourself a burst of energy.  It helps me; perhaps it will help you too.
• Whatever you do, relax, smile, and realize that you have done your best.
• If you have any conference tips I’d love to hear from you.
• For another article with some great tips check out this link How To Ace Parent Teacher Conferences.
  
• If you have ESL students that speak Spanish and parents that read Spanish better than English, they will appreciate important notes home written in Spanish. Click on the link for a site that offers 12 templates of important notes home. You fill out your information and click translate.  You can also print out an English version as well.  Included in the templates are a Parent-Teacher conference note, Homework note and a Progress Report. Casa Notes.
  

Hi Ho it’s pumpkin time don’t ya know! At least that’s what my Y5’s tell me when I ask them what month it is.  They come up with the cutest things! 

NURSERY RHYME TIME: 

I like to teach several Nursery Rhymes each month so I do Little Miss Muffet, Jack Be Nimble, and Peter-Peter Pumpkin Eater  this month..  Did you know there really was a Miss Muffet?  Her dad was a doctor and he supposedly crushed up spiders and made a medicinal concoction to give his patients that was high in protein.  Maybe she was afraid of spiders because of that. Yuk!  I choose a student to play Miss Muffet and we act out the rhyme with a black spider puppet named “Inky”.  For Jack Be Nimble I make a pretend candle out of a paper towel tube, stuff it with some red, yellow and orange tissue paper “flames” and we take turns jumping over the candle stick.  I also make my students promise to NEVER ever play with candles, matches, lighters or fire!  It’s a nice lead-in to our fire safety week.  Finally we have fun with the Pumpkin shell skill sheet. Click on the link to print a copy.  I’ve also included answer keys to save you time.

PUMPKIN CRAFTS:

 If you’re looking for Pumpkin Crafts to do with your students check out my Arts/Crafts and Activities part of the blog for some great pumpkin fun. I’ve also got an entire book devoted to Pumpkin crafts,  and an entire unit on Pumpkins.  Click on the links.   A few of my favorites are “Peekin’ in a Pumpkin” and a  “Keepsake Pumpkin Bowl”.  They are really simple and the pumpkin bowls make a dynamite bulletin board. 

                  To make a “Peekin’ Pumpkin”,

• Paint two paper plates orange.
• Before hand cut a circle out of the center of one of the paper plates. 
• This is a great project to do when you carve your class pumpkin. 
• Wash and save the seeds and give some to each child. 
• Have them swirl some paint mixed with Elmer’s glue on the non cut plate with a piece of yarn.
• Arrange the yarn  and pumpkin seeds on the plate to look like “pumpkin guts”.
• When the plates are dry staple them together. Staple the cut out “window” plate on top of the “pumpkin gut” plate so that it is inverted and 3-dimensional.
• Insert a green rectangular strip of construction paper, punch a hole in it and tie a piece of yarn from it. 
• Students can make a Jack-O-Lantern face on the back of their pumpkin with a black marker, or glue various shapes of black construction paper to make the face.  You could also leave the pumpkin plain. 
• Suspend your pumpkins from the ceiling and watch them twirl in the breeze.

                   To make a "Keepsake Pumpkin Bowl"

• Have students paint a bowl orange.
• Trace and cut out a construction paper circle and glue it to the back of the bowl.  Children can make a Jack-O-Lantern face on the back or leave it plain.
• Paint each student’s hand green and press it on a lighter shade of green construction paper, trim around the edges. 
• Punch a hole in the leaf and the bowl and attach with a green pipe cleaner.  Twirl the pipe cleaner around a pencil to look like the vine on a pipe cleaner.  A bit of curling ribbon adds pizzazz.
• You can mount your pumpkins on a pumpkin patch bulletin board or suspend them from the ceiling. 
• If you put them on a b. board, twist pieces of green tissue paper to make a vine and attach them to that.  Make a field out of brown crumpled up paper or grocery bags. Burlap also looks nice as a different background. Blue paper for the sky on top finishes off the background.  Title:

Mr./Mrs. _____________’s Pumpkin Patch.

We Keep Growing In Knowledge Everyday!

Need more? Fall Fun also has some great arts and crafts activities in it.

                                                                                     COSTUMES:

I don’t know about your students, but mine are “all about the costumes!” and what they will be wearing to the party!  I designed a homework assignment around that topic where they DRAW a picture of what they will be for Halloween.  They bring it back and share it with the class.  This is a great substitute for regular Show and Tell that day and gives everyone a chance to practice their verbal skills.  This page also goes in their Keepsake Memory Book.  Click on the link to print a copy to do with your class.  What Will You Be For Halloween?

 I’ve even made up a song that we sing “Will You Wear A Costume?” along with several other fun October songs my students enjoy singing. . Click on the link to print them. 

October Songs Two of their favorites are The Farmer In October.  and Let's Go Trick or Treating. They both go to the tune of The Farmer in The Dell. This farmer picks a pumpkin, who picks some apples.  The trick or treaters see a cat, rat, ghost, monster, etc. you get the idea. Of course it's Halloween! 

I just finished a great activity booklet with a teacher's edition that matches the song Let's Go Trick or Treating. It's 28 pages long. Click on the link to check it out. It's perfect for Halloween Party Day! And if your school doesn't celebrate Halloween and you do a Harvest Time thing, the matching booklet The Farmer in October is for you!

On Halloween Party Day I take a picture of each one of my students just before our parade when they are all decked out.  I make a class book with their photographs in a spin off of Brown Bear What Do You See?  It’s one of my students’ favorite “Look At” Books. I keep every year’s books in a basket during October.  To make one, use any Halloween Clip Art for the cover with your name in the title: Mr./Mrs. _________________’s Class What Do You See On Halloween?  The inside verse reads: “Kitty Cat Kelli what do you see?” “ I see Princess Marah that’s what I see.”  “Princess Marah what do you see?”  “I see Police Man Jeffrey looking at me.” Continue ‘til you’ve gone through all of the children wearing their costumes.  The last page is: “Costumed children what’s all the fuss?”  “We see our teacher ________________ looking at us!” “ Teacher _____________________ what do you see that’s really keen”  “I see my students yelling Happy Halloween!” 

TELLING JOKES: 

My students are less shy now.  I thought a great way to encourage verbal expression, as well as reinforce listening and recall, would be to tell them a daily knock-knock joke. I bought a spooky Halloween prop that looks like a door with a knocker on it.  When I tell a joke I let a child clank the knocker and a creepy voice spookily laughs.  It’s great fun.  They also get to press the doorbell which is also rather eerie.  Then I say the knock-knock joke and they repeat it twice so they’ve got it so they can tell it at home.  I send a copy of the jokes home so that parents can help prompt.    If you want to join in the howling Halloween humor, click on the link for a copy of the  Knock-Knocks.

MAGIC PLAY-DOUGH FUN!

 I’m now teaching secondary colors and read the cute book Mouse Paint.  A fun thing I do is give my Y5’s some “Magic Play-dough”.  They know that Yellow and Red makes Orange.  I do it as a math equation Yellow + Red = Orange.   I give them a little “lumpin” of yellow, they squeeze it to make a pumpkin!  I simply make up a batch of yellow Play-Dough, roll it into a small ball for each of my students,  make a hole with my finger, insert 2 drops of red food coloring,  cover the hole back up, and then put a ball in an individual snack baggie for each child along with the “magic poem”  On the bag I put a sticker that says” Squeeze your “lumpkin” to make a pumpkin!” click on the links for the “Magic Poem” and “Stickers”.  To make them into stickers, put a sheet of Avery mailing labels in your printer (30 labels on a sheet) and click print.)

FALL FUN FREEBIES: 

Finally, “TRY IT! YOU’LL LIKE IT!” here’s your chance to try a few “pumpkin pages” from some of my brand new books. I just finished some more ABC activities and want to give you a chance to give them a try so click on the links and have some pumpkin fun. 

All of my units have a slider included. They are a wonderful way to add a bit of art in your day or include as a center. Depending on what you want to review, you can make a letter, shape or number slider. Pictured here is an uppercase letter slider. “P” is for Pumpkin of course!   Free Pumpkin Slider

Free Pumpkin Upper and Lowercase Trace and Match comes from two alphabet collections. Each book has 31 pages. Students TRACE the uppercase/lowercase letter then CIRCLE the matching lower/uppercase letter underneath. For an additional activity and cutting practice, children can CUT the cards apart and sequence them. These are great for a substitute to plug in, something to do when students are done early, a great review, nice to send home as a practice skill sheet for parents to work one-on-one with their child when you need a homework lesson, or use them as an assessment tool. Uppercase Trace and Match Book,  Lowercase Trace and Match Book.

The Upper and Lowercase Alphabet Helper Strip Book has strips for September – June. +  a collection of “What’s Missing?” skill sheets. Here’s what I do with them:

• Cut one into strips, glue together and laminate. Display on the board as a sample for your students.
• Keep a sheet whole and laminate it to use as a seasonal poster.
• Students can look at their strips when they are doing ABC skill sheets.
• Children can refer to their strip and point to the letters when they spell their name, word wall words, spelling words etc.
• Use them to point to letters as you sing the ABC song.
• Use the strips to play "I Spy a Letter." Give them a paper clip. Call out a letter and have them put the paper clip on the letter and raise their hand. That child gets to pick a letter to spy.
• When you’re done using the strip, or after your students have made their strip,  have them use their fine motor skills to twirl it around their pencil so that they can easily transport and save their monthly strips.  When they need to look at them, they simply unscroll them to review their alphabet.  My students have nick-named their strips "ABC Twirlies"    Free Pumpkin Alphabet Strip Helpers

Finally, Monthly Skill Sheets TRACE, SNIP, & GLUE Matching Upper and Lowercase Letters,  is a great book that has your students exercising fine motor cutting skills by snipping “stems” and adding them to a themed object like a pumpkin! I suggest running them off on two different shades of colored copy paper, snipping off the bottom and giving ½ your students orange tops and green bottoms and ½ green tops and orange bottoms so that the “stems” stand out. Free Pumpkin Trace Snip & Glue Skill Sheets.

Whatever activities you decide to do, I hope these help you have a pumpkin-licious good time with your own little punkins! 

                   Happy

             Pumpkin

                 Month!

How Do You Manage A Classroom When You Have Too Many Kids?

I’m on several Mail Rings and there seems to be a lot of buzz about too many students in the classroom.  I know there have been huge budget cuts across the board, but come on administrators 30 children in a kindergarten class and 32 in first grade?  How on earth do you expect a teacher to survive let alone teach? Thousands of studies have been done to PROVE that smaller class sizes are BETTER for students.  So why is this happening and how are teachers coping?  I’d like to know.
 

One of the things I decided to do when we topped 20 was to handle the class as two single classes.

• I divided them into 2 groups. I have two teams.
• Children love competition so that works well.
• My students are young; and one thing they all understand at this level is colors, so I have the red team and the blue team.
• Flags are easy to see so when we travel in the hall and line up the leader carries a red/blue flag.
• We have two lines; the lines are shorter, and one team lines up before the other.  This is less chaotic.
• The quieter group or the group that has cleaned up the quickest etc. gets to line up first.
• Life and the real world is highly competitive, so I see no reason why a little competition in the classroom, in moderation, isn’t healthy.
• When we go to the bathroom, lunch, or other transition we sit/stand/line up on opposite walls; a red/blue colored sheet of construction paper on the wall designates who goes where.
• Our tables are color coded as well.  I color coded their name cards on their lockers too. The 1^st 12 lockers are the blue lockers; the next 12 are the red lockers.
• Even their folders and name tags are red and blue. This was especially helpful the first few days of school; they simply had to glance down and check their tag to remember what group they were in.
• I might even have a “Wear a red or blue shirt to school to support your team Day!” This concept provides endless possibilities and keeps me and my students organized and manageable.

It’s great for behavior modification too.  If I see most of the red team working or sitting quietly, I might walk around and say: “I love how the red team is working quietly; I’m going to give them a red Skittle.” Watch how fast the blue team settles down!  I know there is controversy about giving candy to children, but Skittles are tiny, melt in your mouth and such a wonderful “super-duper-shutter-upper” behavior modifier! I buy a huge bag from Sam’s Club and do all sorts of math and color activities with them because of the wonderful rainbow assortment!

The other thing I do is send out an SOS to parents and grandparents.  I need VOLUNTEERS, not just IN the classroom, but At-Home Helpers too.  I have 4 At-Home Helper Bags that I wrote that title on along with my name.  I put all the supplies needed,  a sheet of directions, the number of things I need,  the date I need the things by,  along with a completed sample and send the bag home with a child.  At Open House I explained the concept and had parents sign up.  I also sent a newsletter home about it and asked parents to ask grandparents.  They could sign the bottom and return it.  This really helps me so I’m not bringing home work to do each night.  This is anything from simple correcting, assembling, cutting, trimming laminated things,  putting together memory/keepsake books, to putting art projects together that my little ones will complete.

Volunteers don’t just have to be adults either.  There are certain times in the day when older students have blocks of time and can pop down and be “reading and craft buddies” for my kids.  Ask a 5^th or 6^th grade and up teacher if there’s a time in their day that they can send students down that have finished their work.  It’s a win-win situation for them too.  They get a few kids out of their class, you get some big kids helping little kids, the big kids get out of their class,  their self-esteem gets helped,  the little kids get helped,  you have an extra set of eyes watching and hands helping and life is good.  Maybe this can’t be an every day thing,  so plan ahead and see if you can have older students help on assessment days or days when you’re doing things like pumpkin carving,  or an art project.

Well that’s just a bit of how I’m coping with “the population explosion!”  I’d enjoy hearing from the rest of the overwhelmed – underpaid – and overflowing ….so please comment if you have some energy left at the end of your day.  I’m sure we’d all appreciate it!

     I’m not sure where you are from, but here in Michigan the leaves have started to change color and it’s the time of year that I love taking my students on a nature walk for a variety of reasons. #1 As you might have guessed, is as a science exploration, #2 is to see our world in a mathematical way and finally #3 is to use our collections in art projects.

     We collect leaves, then we sort and classify them.  Which have pointy ends?  Which have round ones?  We have a tree book and we identify what trees the leaves came from.

     I like to teach my children the vocabulary word chlorophyll at this time.  I do this with my change bag magic trick.  A change bag is simply that. Something goes in and something else comes out; it changes.  We put a green leaf in.  It’s filled with chlorophyll.  We clap our hands and say: “It’s autumn. The leaves are no longer drinking chlorophyll.” And out comes a red, orange, yellow and brown leaf.  Check out the link for my Magic Videos and see how you too can easily bring a touch of magic into your class room! You’ll grab your students’ attention and teach all sorts of science and math vocabulary via the “magic words”. I use it to introduce and teach a variety of subjects!

     I do a simple “wow!” science experiment to show them how a plant “drinks” chlorophyll by purchasing a white carnation.  Cut off a bit of the stem and place it in a clear glass cup filled with water that has been filled with 10 drops of green food coloring. The carnation will “drink” the water and actually turn green!  My students are amazed.

     Besides SCIENCE, I also collect the leaves to do ART. One is a lovely leaf rubbing.  As you know I like to do at least one recycling project per month with my students.  Reusing broken crayons is one for October.  Peeling off the labels is a great fine motor skill and my students actually enjoy doing this!  We do it through out the year, so I have a terrific supply for the following season.  Send some home in a small baggie with a note as a “homework” assignment, or have children peel crayons when they’re in the Time Out Chair or as an activity when they’ve “Nothing else to do…”

    Here’s how to make a crayon cake:

• Pre-heat an oven to 250º
• Break peeled crayons into smaller pieces.
• Spray inside of regular or mini muffin tin with vegetable spray. I use Pam.
• Put them in a regular or mini muffin tin.
• Fill tin to the top, but not overflowing.
• I mix the colors and have them all different colors except white.
• I do make an all-white crayon cake to use on black or navy paper for winter “snow” rubbings or black and purple “ghostly” rubbings.
• As oven temps vary, keep checking to see how long the crayons will fully melt. This usually takes 15-20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let stand ‘til cool, and solid.
• Flip pan upside down and let gravity take over. They should plop out.
• If they don’t, put in freezer for a few minutes and then try, or run the bottom under hot water, but not too long or the crayons will melt again.
• I make a mini one for each of my students to take home, and a class set of large ones.

     Oriental Trading   sells  great templates for leaves, or simply collect a supply of leaves.  I tape the leaves and templates to a long table. Children lay a sheet of white copy paper over the leaf/template and rub the crayon cake over it. The raised lines will appear in the rubbing.  I demonstrate how to move their paper and select another leaf/template and rub some more so they have a collage affect.  They enjoy seeing their leaves appear.

     Another thing you can do is make a Nature Face. Do this as an in-class project, or better yet as a home-school connection and send a plate home with a small bottle of glue and  give this as a memory-making homework assignment.  Click on the link for my direction letter home and my two sample photographs!  I blow up my students' school picture and glue that to the back of the paper plate with the caption: Kelli's (student's name) nature face, then hang them from the ceiling in the hallway!  They make an awesome decoration as they twirl and spin. Each one is so unique and adorable!

    Making a leaf animal is also fun. Children select several leaves and glue them on a sheet of construction paper.  I read the book: Look What I Did With A Leaf by Morteza Sohi before I do this activity so they can get ideas.  My students love this book.  I have them guess what the leaf creatures are.  Because little ones are rough on the leaves with glue sticks and have torn them in the past, and they have not stuck, I have them use a Q-tip dipped in Elmer’s glue. I put the glue on small 8” paper plates.  I let them add details like eyes and a mouth with a black flair marker. They really turn out quite cute.  Some of them are "monsters" or "aliens" and that's OK too.

     I've also purchased rubber and foam leaf stamps from various craft stores through out the years. I recently checked and they are harder to find, but Oriental Trading has them. Click on the link:  Foam Stamps.  I teach my students how to “Paint Stamp” which is also a great fine motor skill.  I ask wallpaper and paint stores if I can have their old wallpaper books and most of the time they give them to me free.  On some occasions they say they will cost $1 to $3 which is inexpensive since it’s a gold mine of huge paper that makes a cool background for a variety of art projects!  I especially like the kind that is textured and not printed.  It’s perfect for my “Leaf Banners”.  Most of these types of “Decorator Stores” also sell draperies and have fabric swatch booklets too!  They are also perfect to paint stamp on.  Because they are cut with pinking shears they look great as a mini banner!

    The best way to make sure you have enough paint on a rubber stamp is to PAT it on, not brush it on.  Children then PRESS the stamp down and lift it straight up.  My Y5’s are so good at this; they don’t even have to wear a paint shirt to work at the center, and rarely have to wash their hands!  I do try to have an adult present to simply watch the table so children don’t get carried away stamping too many as they enjoy it so much, or mix stampers in the wrong color. Seeing how they place their stamps on the paper is interesting and many of them make a very unique design.  Sometimes I’ll let them sprinkle on a bit of glitter on the wet paint for a shimmering affect.

    If you don’t have foam stamps, you can do the same thing with the leaves that you’ve collected.  Simply let the children brush paint on the leaf and then lay a sheet of paper on the leaf and have them gently rub over it with their hand, being careful not to move the leaf.  They can paint more than one leaf, but they need to be careful when placing the paper so that they don’t place it on top of the leaf they already made.  I suggest only painting two at the most.  They will need to wear a shirt for this, as they will get paint on their hands.

    Another thing you can do with the fall leaves is to cut out an elm leaf shape and have each child choose 2 leaves and glue them to the leaf.  I then put a sheet of contact paper over the leaf. The children press down on all of their leaves under the contact paper, then they trim around their leaf cutting off the excess contact paper.  A bit of raffia tied on the end of the stem makes for a great finishing touch!  On the back of this leaf you can have them rip and tear  strips of red, yellow, brown, or orange paper to represent the colors of fall leaves and then glue them down, or you can have them use a crayon sharpener and sprinkle crayon shavings on their leaf.  Cover with a piece of wax paper and then press an iron set on low for a few seconds.  Peel the wax paper away and you have a cool affect. 

     Ripping and tearing paper is a super fine motor skill that I have my students do once a month. A great fall keepsake is to trace their arm and hand to look like a tree.  Have them rip, tear and glue fall "leaves" to their tree. For more leaf activities click on the link for my Leaf Unit. and to view a selection of other photographs.

     Finally, I take my students on a nature walk for MATH! We go on a Color Hunt, and identify colors that we see in English and Spanish and collect the colored leaves so that we can sort and count them when we get back.  How many yellow, brown, red and orange ones did you find?  We graph the results of our data. We also graph the results of which is your favorite colored leaf?  Click on the link for a Leaf Graph.

    While we are color hunting, we are also SHAPE hunting. There are lots of shapes in nature and we call out the geometrics whenever we see them.  I have a clipboard and I keep a tally list as we go so that we can refer to it when we get back to the room.  We count the sides to the shapes we see, we compare and contrast as we “spy”!  How is the stop sign different than the traffic light? Etc. Click here for 6 Tally Time Shape Sheets

    PATTERNS are another one of our report card standards so we’re checking for those as well. “I spy a flower pattern with that lady’s mums! She planted yellow, brown, yellow, brown ones!”  When you get back children can make leaf patterns with stamps, or they can stamp a group or set of leaves. I cut out huge black oak, maple and elm leaves and let my students stamp a set with gold stamp pads.  I put an equation on the board 5 stamps + 5 stamps again,  5 stamps + 5 stamps ='s 10 and then they stamp 10 leaf stamps and write the equation on the back.   I have patterns and a poem for this activity in my Leaf Unit.

    SYMMETRY is another vocabulary word I’ve taught my Y5’s.  I include a “finish the picture” in each one of my units so that you can teach bilateral symmetry even at this young age.  I simply draw a picture, cut it in half and show you only half of that picture. Children fill in the other half.

     Leaves, people’s faces, are symmetrical.  Cutting a leaf down the middle and then drawing the other half is a fun thing to do.  Does anyone spy an animal?  Most of them are bilateral!  Click on the link to print some great “Keep-it-folded-and-CUT” Symmetrical Shapes.

     If you want to do more patterning with your students click on the link for my Patterning Book, or if it's graphing you need, clink on the link for my Graphing Book.

     How many parallels to math do you think you can find in the real world today? How can you bring science and art into your classroom and make it hands-on, more interesting and fun?  I hope you’ve gained a few ideas from me, and if you have some to share, we’d love to hear from you!

 No matter what, no matter where... go on a nature walk and just get out there!

I love GLYPHS. I really was only familiar with them as an architectural vocabulary word from Mayan history, or an icon for today’s symbolic road signs. I just learned a few years ago that teachers were using them to create adorable characters and unique art work!  I think it’s a wonderful way to learn about your class, use as a math extension and create graphs, and really incorporate the science technique of compiling and analyzing data. It works wonderfully well with literature as a great comparison- contrast tool and makes for distinctive art projects! What a super cross curricular tool! 

I designed a Pumpkin Glyph for you to use for October. Click on the link for a short and tall pumpkin, the glyph directions, 3 pages of Tally Time adding fun, and 5 graphs!  I do all of these activities in a short amount of time. My students learn so much and have a great time doing it!

Besides math, include reading by choosing any two pumpkin stories; read them to your class; then compare and contrast them.  (Check out my side bar blog "Books Of The Month" and click on the October Bibliography for lots of great pumpkin books! )
How were they the same, different? I always like to use a Venn diagram and introduce that math concept to my kids too. A fun way to do a Venn diagram is with two hoola hoops!  Lay them on the floor and then write out student answers on sentence strips, snip them into pieces and lay them in the appropriate sections. After your discussion, graph which story they liked best. (I've included that in one of the graphing options.)   After story time have your students transition to their seats to make an adorable pumpkin glyph!  What a fun way to whole-group assess listening and following directions as well as be able to toss in a fun art project that reinforces all sorts of report card standards!  Then you can decorate your hallway or classroom with the finished product!

Pumpkin Glyph: You can cut out a supply of black rectangles, squares and black/purple triangles or you can have your students draw them for the pumpkin face. Do the same for the yellow, green, and purple nose circles, and the green, brown, and white stems. (Because circles are harder to cut, I use colored stickers for the nose that people buy for their garage sales.)

Prep:

• Pre-cut pumpkins or run them off on orange construction paper and have the children cut them out.
• Pre-cut the construction paper circles, triangles, rectangles and squares. (I opt to pre-cut the shapes, and have them cut their pumpkin.  It takes less time for them to glue rather than draw; + most of my Y5’s can’t draw shapes at this point in time. Triangles are virtually impossible and their squares and rectangles look the same.)
  
• Graph the results for great math extensions and discussions.
• When the glyphs are done, post them in the hall along with the glyph directions and your graphing results.
• Prior to making their glyph, to help your students decide if they are tall or short have them line up according to height; tallest to shortest, then let them decide which group they want to be in. I tell them that I am considered a “short” person since I’m only 5.2” and I stress that we are all different and special and that it is great being short or tall. If you’re worried a parent will get a complex over this, just let your students  pick out whatever pumpkin size they want.
• The same thing with the “feelings” smiles part of the glyph. I like to know how my students are feeling so I can address those issues,  but you might not want to post that graph in the hallway. One way you can handle this is to simply let the children decide how their PUMPKIN feels.
• I write my students names in tiny print on the bottom of their pumpkin so that people can see who made them. I’ve learned from past experience that having them write their name on the back of their artwork is the best, because they write so big.
• I have samples of each kind of mouth posted on the board.
  
• I like to do tally’s because it’s a fun way to count as well as a math concept we do all year.
• Since graphing is one of my report card standards, I do it every day in a variety of ways. Glyphs gives me another chance to graph with my students and they LOVE giving their opinion and having their turn to write their name on the graph and color in a box.
• It's also another great opportunity to compare, contrast and count.
  
• I designed this type of graph so that parents can see how their child voted and children can easily see a color-type bar graph.
• You can have children write in their own names; or to speed things up I often use a sticker name label or their photo.
• I simply type my students names in the Windows Word Mailing Labels list and print off a bunch of labels each month for when I want things to look sharp on folders, files, artwork or do quick graphs.
• As soon as school pictures come back I make a bunch of copies on the copier on the photo setting and cut each child’s pix into an oval shape. I have a room mom helper do this for me and she puts them in little envelopes that I put in a picture file folder. They are perfect for all sorts of “keepsake” art projects and these kinds of graphs.   I often use them in my little reading booklets as a surprise ending. I find that parents are more apt to read and keep them if their child's picture is in the booklet.  My students also love being the "star" character in the books as well.
  
• For the square box they can color it in, put an X in it or put a sticker in it.  I’ve included a blank template of each #-columned graph if you need more spaces. 
• After the month is over, keep the pumpkins and make these tally’s and graph papers into a class book. Laminate it and lay it out for conference time. Do an example of your own for the cover and title it: Our Pumpkin Glyphs: A Cross Curricular Activity of Reading, Math, Science and Art! They’ll enjoy seeing how their child voted as well as look at their child's personal pumpkin glyph. At the end of the year you can send them home.
  

I'm thinking of making an entire book of helpful glyphs; one or two for each month, with the same format as the pumpkin one. I'd like  your feedback. Is this something you'd like to have for your classroom? Any suggestions of topics/themes?

             A reader just asked if I had a spider glyph, no, but I'd be glad to whip one together so here it is. Click on the link. Spider   Glyph. 

                   If you're looking for more graphing activities for your students I have a 140 page Graph Book with 55 graphs + full color answer keys so that you don't have to make them all for only $1.99. Click on the link to check it out.

I hope you have fun making these pumpkin glyphs with your little "punkin(s)"!

     Welcome to the October Writing Prompts. I've got some great ideas to ignite those creative juices and fall is just brimming with fun topics, so let's get started!

Happy Columbus Day!

•  Would you have sailed with Columbus?  Why or why not?
• Pretend you are a stowaway on board the Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria.  Write a descriptive paragraph of what it's like to sail the ocean blue in 1492.
  

It's Fire Safety Month here’s the scenario:

• You wake up to an annoying sound. After your brain clears you realize it’s the smoke alarm. One look around and you realize your house is on fire. What do you do next?
• You’re babysitting when you hear a scream from the 10 year old’s bedroom. You run upstairs to find that he and a friend have been playing with matches and the bedding’s on fire! So you…
• Your teacher has assigned a Fire Safety Project. The Big Kids have to teach a class of little kids about fire safety. What’s your project going to be? Details please.
• You’ve finally grown up and become what you’ve always wanted to be, a fire fighter! Tell me what it’s like.

It’s National Clock Month Choose One:

• Your alarm doesn’t go off and you’re late for a very important interview. Tell me how you handle it so you still impress them and land the job.
• Are you a person that’s on time or are you always running late? Is it important to be prompt? Why or why not?
• Are you a “morning person” or a “night time person” meaning you do your best or feel your best at those times.
• Tell me what some of your favorite things are that you like to do with your time.
• Tell me some of the things that you think are the biggest waste of your time.
• If you could change the school schedule how would you change it and why?
  

It's National Bat Appreciation Month: 

• Do you like bats?  Why or why not?
• What kinds of things in life drive you batty?  Make a list.
• If you could turn into a bat like in the famous vampire movies, would you want to?  What do you think it would be like to be a bat?
• Do you like the Twilight movies?  Why or why not.  Do you have a favorite character?  Which one?  Why?
  

I’m In A Spin…

• International Top Spinning Day is October 13^th.
• I have my students spin tops as a great fine motor skill. You can also talk about planet earth being like a top because it too spins!
• What puts you in a spin, gets you in a real tizzy and makes you so upset you can barely think? Tell me about it. What do you think you can do to calm yourself?

Let's Go!      

•  It's National Go On A Fieldtrip Month.  If you could plan a fieldtrip for your class and you could go ANYWHERE, where would you go, when would you go, and what would you do?

Make Mine Pepperoni:

•  National Pizza Month falls in October. What is your favorite kind of pizza?  Do you have pizza often?  If you could plan the ultimate pizza party with friends what would it be like?
  

Sweetest Day:

•  Is October 15th.  Who is the sweetest person you know?  Why?
• What can you personally do to be a sweeter person?
  

October 21st is Reptile Awareness Day:

•  Hands down, my favorite reptiles are turtles; my least favorite are snakes.  What is your favorite and least favorite reptile?  Explain why.
  

Oh don’t be such a GROUCH!

• National Grouch Day is October 15^th. (Who thinks up these things?)
• What makes you grouchy or causes you to get angry and blow your fuse? Do you have a temper or are you a “go with the flow” person. Tell me about yourself.
• Who in your life is a real grouch? Why do you think they act that way? What do you do or can you do, to make them less grouchy?

Frankenstein Friday: is October 28th.  Here's the scenario: You too, are a "mad scientist" like Dr. Frankenstein.  You have just created a monster as well!  What does he/she look like?  Have you named your monster?  Describe your monster and then draw a picture of it. 

Have some fun with the DICTIONARY

• Noah Webster wrote the American Dictionary. He was born on October 16, 1758. It took him nearly 50 years to complete it! Tell me what your passion is. Is this something that you could spend your whole life doing?
• Look up 5 new words in the dictionary. Use them in a sentence. See if your classmates know what they mean. Can they guess?

I Dare - double dare you to do something crazy!

• On October 24, 1901 Anna Taylor went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Why do you think people do crazy things like that?  Have you, or someone you know, ever done anything crazy? Tell me about it. If not, if someone dared you, or paid you $1,000 would you? What amount of money would make you do something crazy?

       And The Light Goes On…

• Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb finally worked in October!
• Congratulations! You’ve just invented something terrific! You’re world-famous now. What did you invent and how has it helped mankind?

      Happy Bosses Day!

• You’re CEO of a high-clas company. What do you make/market? What’s your job description? Tell me about a day in your jet-set life!
• You’re principal for the month of October. What changes will you make and why?
• You’re a journalist for the school newspaper. Interview your principal. Is this an easy job? What things did you find out that he he/she had to do that you weren’t aware of?
• If you could be principal for a day would you want to be? Why or why not?  What kinds of things would you do?

       National Pet Peeve Week is in October:

• I wonder if there’s a committee who thinks up these crazy things? Anyway a pet peeve is not a pet, it’s a thing that someone does that drives you crazy, gets your goat, & makes you go bananas. In other words you CAN’T stand it!
• Do you have a pet peeve? What is it? Why does it drive you nuts? Tell me about it. Maybe you’ll feel better just venting!

 Spider-iffic Spiders-NOT! Ugh!

• I’m anathema to arachnids; which means I don’t like them. I LOVE teaching my students about them tho’, but when I was little a big ole’ pine spider dropped off the ceiling and plopped onto my shoulder while I was lying on my cot. (Arrg!) I’ve never quite gotten over it. Do you like spiders?
• Tell me something that you’re afraid of or that gives you the creeps and why.

October 31st is National Knock-Knock Joke Day: What's your favorite knock-knock joke?  Do you like telling jokes?  Do you think "laughter is the best medicine?"

It’s Halloween:

• You’ve been asked to plan the Harvest Masquerade Ball. Tell me the details from invitations and food to decorations, entertainment and what you’ll wear plus where you’ll hold the festivities.
• Someone’s pounding on the door. You go to answer it and no one’s there, just 3 drops of blood on the front step. Tell me what happens next.
• The phone rings. It’s your best friend. She says that someone is following her as she is out trick or treating. Suddenly there is a scream and the line goes dead. What do you do?
• The boys dare the girls to go for a walk in the graveyard at midnight. Do you take the dare? Tell me the details.
• You’re out trick or treating. No one wants to go to the spooky house on the hill. You’re not afraid so you say you’ll go. You knock on the door. The door slowly creaks open; a hand reaches for yours and….. (Finish the rest.)

Put a little MAGIC in your life! 

October 31^st is National Magic Day. If you had magical powers what would you do to make your school a better place to be? How would having these powers change your life? What kind of powers would you have?

• If you want to spice up your lessons check out my videos and put a little magic in your classroom today!
• For more writing prompts, click on the link.  I've made a booklet that contains some for each month on a variety of topics!
• I also have a FREE Picture-Driven Writing Prompts Packet for FALL! Click on the link to check it out. 
  
• Click on the link for Dates In History October Writing Prompts.
  
• I hope you have a simply "Spooktacular" time writing this month!
  

Our main themes this month are

SPIDERS and PUMPKINS!

     Welcome to our Arts-Crafts & Activities section of the Blog. 

     I simply LOVE fall and hope you will enjoy these activities with your children as much as I enjoyed doing them with mine. I designed some "Quick Crafts" along with a few that take a bit more time. All of them are easy and fun tho'; and If you're looking for more autumn art projects to fine tune report card skills and standards then check out my Pumpkin Art and Activity Book. My Fall Fun as well as my Leaf Unit have some great fall activities in them as well.

                              Newsprint Pumpkin

     I’m big on recycling so I have at least one project for my students each month using recycled materials. This one involves newspapers.  Some of my little ones were actually unfamiliar with them!  They are a great way to review concepts of print, talk about news, and advertising, plus have them hunt for letters, and shapes, then spell their name in the smile of a Jack-O-Lantern.  The orange colored pumpkin on newsprint makes for a very interesting background.  Click on the link to print directions and see a bigger picture. Newsprint Pumpkin.

      Pumpkin Patch Mobile

    , p I try to incorporate science into my art activities as well, so this Pumpkin Patch Mobile made from a coat hanger is perfect.  It also helps reinforce sequencing and cutting skills.  Click on the link above for complete directions and patterns. 

                          Dryer Hose Pumpkin    

While visiting Hobby Lobby I ran into a wonderful gal who asked my opinion about what color to paint her dryer hose pumpkin.   She was making them as center pieces for her church and said the idea was almost 2 decades old!   I asked her if I could put it on my website and she said “Yes!”  Then I went to the hardware store and bought enough dryer hose to make the pumpkins with my Y5’s!  Their mommies loved their pumpkins!  You can use a fall-colored leaf or, to make it more of a keepsake, do what I did, and paint your students' hand print a lighter shade of green than the construction paper you press it on.  Trim around the edges, add a green pipe cleaner that they wrap around a pencil and you have the finishing touch.  I had the dryer hose sections all stapled before hand.  Decide how big you want to make your pumpkins.  I kept mine small (18 inches) and used a stapler to fasten the ends together. I stuck a toilet paper tube in the center.  Because the hole in the center of the pumpkin is smaller than the tube, there was no need to fasten it.   The children hung on to the tube to paint the bottom of the pumpkin, when the time came.  You can have them paint the  t.p. tube stems green, but I had my students simply leave them brown.  They looked more realistic and was one less painting step.  Make sure you buy white plastic dryer hose. Most places only sell silver because it is flame retardant.  True Value Hardware still sells white and so does Menards.  Menards has a 20 foot bag for $7.99; this will make 11 pumpkins. True Value sells it by the foot as well as a 9 foot bag.  This project will cost you a little over a dollar to make for each pumpkin, so you might want to collect some money for it, or do it only if you have a small class.  Make sure you give the children big foam brushes so they brush on a lot of paint.  Remind them that they need to get into the cracks so that no white shows.   I covered my tables with brown butcher paper and had them wear paint shirts.  As you can see buy the photo they really look like those miniature pumpkin gourds!  When other teachers saw them they couldn't believe how realistic they looked and that my 4-year-old's had made them!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Dryer Hose Pumpkin

      Another recycling project that I do, is with water bottles.  They make an adorable web-walking dancing spider sure to scare Miss Muffet away! When you press the "head" down she "bounces" up and down! Click on the link for directions.

  Water Bottle Spider

To go along with your Web Walking Water Bottle Spider why not learn a bit of trivia about spiders and make this cool Spider Fact Flip Book out of a black paper plate. Click on the link for directions and pattern pages.

 Spider Fact Flip Book.

                Paper Plate Puppet Theater

October’s just not complete if you’re not singing a few pumpkin songs.  I especially like “Five Little Pumpkins Sitting On A Gate” but with all the hoopla over Halloween and witches etc. I thought it best to change a few verses a bit.  Here’s a Paper Plate Puppet Theater I designed that you can make for yourself, or it’s easy enough for all of your students to make and take home.  Click on the link above to print out directions and pattern pieces.

             Cup Cake Cuties

I was in Michael's Craft store and saw the Wilton paper cupcake holders. They come in a variety of seasonal prints and are too cute!  As you know my "mantra" is: "What can I do with this?" So I dreamed up "Cup Cake Cuties" Since we got our school pix back, I simply enlarged them on the copy machine and cut an oval head for each child.  Cut some orange strips on a paper cutter and let your students have some much-needed fine-motor skill practice by folding the strips into an accordion fold for the legs and arms and then have them glue to the cup cake holder.  You too can have adorable "little pumpkin people" dangling from your ceiling! Mommies are sure to enjoy these cupcake cutie keepsakes!  Have them make the flower card also made out of cupcake holders for Sweetest Day, or save for a Mother's Day or spring flower activity.  Click on the link to see that pix.  FLOWER

Whatever arts and crafts or activities you're doing with your little "punkins" I hope it will be brimming with lots of fall fun. As always if you have an original idea you'd like to share with us, we'd enjoy hearing from you!

Here's a pix of the Pirate Booty Bag that I made for my grandson to take trick or treating. Michael's Crafts sells the bags for only $1.99.  I used puffy paint for the lettering and white glow-in-the dark paint for the pirate skull and cross bones. He loved it! 

As a "sneak peak" into next month's topic: Scarecrows click here to see my favorite scarecrow project I do with my students. I call it "Personal Scarecrows". Enlarge a student's photo on the copier machine. At this size it will become pixelated and give their face a true scarecrow look! We're studying shapes so I have examples of rectangles, squares, and triangles throughout the project. You can print my scarecrow head and design your own shape project or check out my Scarecrow Art & Activity Book for all kinds of patterns, poems and fun! There will be more freebies in November!

        Until then "Keep On Craftin'" and making those wonderful memories that make you smile and your little ones smile!

Craft Recipe’s For Kids

Pumpkin Pie Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 ½ cups of flour
• 8 teaspoons cream of tartar
• ¾ cups of oil
• 4 cups of water
• 1 ½ ounces of canned pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups of salt
• orange food coloring

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan.
• Cook over medium heat ‘til the mixture separates from the sides of the pan and is the consistency of dough.

Kool Aid Play-dough

This recipe is 100% edible and can be eaten + it really smells good. Whatever the color of of the Kool Aid that you use, is the color of the Play-dough. I like to make this kind when I’m working with really little ones, as they often put the clay in their mouths, this way I don’t have to worry!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
3 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar
1 cup of flour
1 package of Kool-Aid Mix (any flavor of unsweetened)
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
1/2 cup of salt

Directions: Mix dry ingredients in a large/medium pan. Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat until it looks ligh dough. This takes about 8 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of boiling water
• 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
• a half cup of salt
• 1 tablespoon of oil

Directions:

• Mix all the ingredients together.  It’s quite hot so use caution.

 Self-Hardening Clay

Ingredients:

• 1 ½  cups salt
• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon alum (as a preservative)
• 1 ½ cups water

Directions:

• Mix dry ingredients in a bowl then add water.
• When dough forms a ball, knead the dough, add a bit more water if it is too crumbly.
• The clay can also be baked.
• Set oven to 300º and bake for 30-40 minutes or until hard.

 Finger Paint:

• Mix 2 parts of liquid laundry starch with 1 part powdered tempera paint or a few drops of food coloring as you paint on the paper.
• Or you can mix flour and cold water into a paste.
• Add food coloring or powdered tempera paint on the paper as you paint.
• Add a pinch of powdered soap flakes (I like Ivory) to help paint glide over the paper.
• Clean up is a lot easier too.

     I’ve added something NEW to the column this month “Tips For The Table” .  Besides a few recipes, I thought I’d throw in some helpful tips that I did with my own children when they were little. Things that preserved my sanity when my “kids were in the kitchen”.  I Hope you find them useful!

 Tips For the Table:

Mystery Dinner:  

Are you tired of dreaming up dinner every night? Are you sick of hearing: “What’s for dinner?” the minute the children walk in the door? Do you need to teach some responsibility to your children? Why not let each child take a day of the week to plan dinner. It can be their “secret”.

The rules: The dinner must be nutritious, The dinner must be within X amount of money for the budget, etc. Design your rules around your family’s likes and dislikes, allergies etc. Haul out the cookbooks or hit the Internet for ideas. This is a great way for them to expand their reading skills as well as develop a new hobby “cooking!” Who knows you may have a budding chef in the family! Then it’s off to the grocery store. Choose one day when you all do the shopping for that week’s meals. No one knows who is making what. Now isn’t that fun instead of boring? 

Having a budget will make them conscious of how difficult the real world is and planning and making dinner will give them an appreciation of all that you do!

A big bonus is that cooking provides an abundance of math skills for your child + mom gets a night or two off depending on how many children you have! If your children are young, they can still get in on the action with your help. It’s still a win-win proposition!

I’ll take mine in a cup to go…  When I’m serving fishy crackers, pretzels, animal crackers etc at school for snack time I put them on an opened napkin. As a mom I put them in a Dixie cup so that my children didn’t spill things; they worked far better than bowls. They could also tote them outside. I’d write their name on the cup with a marker so I knew whose was whose when they’d leave them here and there to go play. This was great for car rides as well.

Pass the Popsicle stick please:  I use tongue depressor - size Popsicle sticks in my classroom for my students to use instead of plastic knives for Play-doh play. You may think that those plastic knives aren’t sharp, but they are, especially in the hands of an excited 4-year-old. They also work great in the kitchen when a young child wants to butter their bread or spread peanut butter or jelly on a sandwich by themselves. If they want to cut up their own vegetables a pumpkin carving knife works great, but I still supervise. I also use a kitchen scissors to cut steak, pizza, French toast etc. because it’s so much faster when you have 3 kids than using a knife!

 Washcloths to the rescue:  I kept soft baby washcloths in my kitchen drawer along with my dishrags for dirty faces and hands. Each of my children had their own color.

 Special cupboard and drawer:  Instead of keeping all of the cleaning stuff that was dangerous under the kitchen sink, I kept the Tupperware there. I showed my children where the “Kid’s off limits stuff” was so that it would not be a tempting mystery cupboard that was up high and out of reach, and they helped me paste a “Mr. Yuk” and poison control sticker on that cupboard. I also gave them their own kitchen drawer with their plastic plates, sippie cups, special folks, spoons, washcloths, place mats, the baby’s bibs etc. in it. They could all reach that and it made them feel helpful when we set the table.

RECIPES

Pumpkin Pancake Cookies:  My grandson Joshua is teething so he will love a tiny pumpkin pancake cookie just the right size for his little hands, and I hope you will too.

Ingredients:

• Pancake Mix + any ingredients they require.
• Cookie sheet
• Cooking Spray
• Orange Food Coloring

Directions:

• Make a batch of pancake batter according to the box directions.
• Add drops of orange food coloring til the batter is orange.
• Drop tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray, I use Pam™.
• The amount of batter depends on how big you want your cookie. I like to make mine small, about 3”
• Bake at 250º for 15 minutes.
• Flip pancake cookie over and bake another 15 minutes.
• Set aside on paper towel to cool.
• They can be frozen too. Simply put them in a Ziploc baggy.
• If they are too moist when you thaw them out, put them back in the oven at 250º for about 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Cake:

Ingredients:

• Chocolate cake mix + any ingredients they require.
• Orange frosting
• Round cake pan
• Green decorator icing in a tube.
• Black decorator icing in a tube. (optional)

Directions:

• Follow directions on cake mix box to make a single layer round chocolate cake.
• Frost with orange frosting
• Add green decorator icing to make pumpkin leaves
• Add black decorator icing to make a Jack-O-Lantern face

Painted Sugar Cookies

     I enjoy making special cookies by painting them! Your children will have fun making an extra special cookie for someone they love too without a whole lot of fuss!  Here’s how:

Ingredients:

• Pre-made sugar cookie dough
• 1 egg
• Paint brushes
• Food coloring
• Water

Directions:

• Mix paint out of 1 egg yolk and 1/4 teaspoon water + several drops of food coloring (the egg-yolk and water mixture can be divided before adding the food coloring to make lesser amounts of several colors.)
• Paint with a watercolor brush.
• The paint darkens when you bake the cookies. It also turns shiny! It’s fun to add a person’s name if you want.
• For October I add orange food coloring to the dough and then paint faces on my “Jack-o-lanterns”! You can also make green dough and make rectangular shaped cookies and paint on monster faces!

Mud Ball Crunchies:

Ingredients:

• Cheerio’s
• Smooth peanut butter

Directions:

• Spoon 2 cups of peanut butter into a large bowl.
• Pour 2 cups of Cheerios into the bowl.
• Gently fold the Cheerios into the peanut butter being careful not to break the Cheerios.
• Spoon a large dollop of the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. They should look like a ball of mud.
• Refrigerate. MMMM MMMM good.

 Pumpkin Chex Bread: One of my student’s mommies turned this in for our Classroom Cookbook. In her “About the recipe” section she wrote: “Grama’s fall favorite.”

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 1 ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup finely chopped raisins
• 1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ½ cup Wheat Chex cereal

Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon.

• In another medium sized bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, milk, sugar and oil; whisk until smooth.
  
• Add to flour mixture and stir. Mix well.  Gently stir in cereal and raisins. Be careful not to break cereal.
• Lightly grease a bread pan and transfer mixture.
• Bake 60 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• Remove from oven, cool 15 minutes, and remove from pan to cool completely.

     Now that you’ve got some yummy treats, wash them down with these fragrant smelling ciders!

Apple Cranberry Cider:

Ingredients:

• 1 quart apple cider or apple juice
• 2 cups cranberry juice
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks (3 inches)

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the cider, cranberry juice and brown sugar. Place cloves and cinnamon sticks on a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of cloth and tie with kitchen string to form a bag. Add to pan.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes. Discard spice bag before serving.

Apple Cider Wassail

Ingredients

• 2 quarts apple cider
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 3/4 cup pineapple juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 cinnamon sticks (3 inches)
• 1 dash ground cloves
• 1 dash ground cinnamon

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine all of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Toss out cinnamon sticks. Serve hot in mugs.

     Does Pumpkin Custard with Peppery Pecans sound yummy? Click here for that recipe.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pudding/pumpkin-custards-with-peppery-pecans/

     And if you’d like to whip up a batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins then click here.

http://www.pastrywiz.com/dailyrecipes/recipes/382.htm

     Finally, I thought what fall dinner would be complete for any child without a meal of Chunky Cat Barf. If you’d like to try this delectable delight click here! Too funny!

http://www.pastrywiz.com/archive/chunky.htm

     Whatever you’re cookin’ up in the kitchen I hope you have a fall-fun-tastic time with your little punkin(s)!

October’s New Book Recommendation: I have 2 for this month!

J is for Jack-O-Lantern-A Halloween Alphabet

 By Denise Brennan-Nelson

 Illustrated by Donald Wu

 Sleeping Bear Press $14.95

 The Gist: It’s an ABC book with extra’s. 

 Why I love it:

• I LOVE ABC books. I collect them. Now I have to be careful what I add as my collection is enormous! This was a must-have tho’.
• It’s also a rhyme book that my students can easily fill in the word when I pause in the reading.
• It has both upper and lowercase letters.
• Mr. Wu’s illustrations are cute not creepy or scary and they are very colorful.
• The addition of a side bar is cram packed with interesting information, trivia and historical tidbits. It's a great read for older students and nice for teachers. I like to add this kind of thing to my newsletters and am always interested in these sorts of “how come?” facts.
• It’s a nice BIG size hardcover and still less than $15.

 Storytelling Tips:

• I pass out the plastic magnetic letters to my students.
• You can buy them at the Dollar Store or at a Teacher’s store.  I have a set of upper and lowercase.
• When I come to that letter, the child holding the uppercase letter puts it on our white board.
• We make a line. After the story I choose a child to hold our light laser and point to the letters as we sing the ABC song.
• Since this is a Halloween ABC book I have the child holding the lowercase letter feed it to Frankie, our Frankenstein monster. I painted an oatmeal box green with black hair and added some wiggle eyes and facial details with a black marker.
• Click on the link for a Frankie to simply glue on a container and feed his "head", or you could make a hole for a mouth large enough for your students to slip the letters through and have them fall into a baggie, box or other container.  I named our monster Frankie, not Frankenstein, as the scientist's name was Dr. Frankenstein, not his monster.  Mary Shelly's monster, if you remember, never had a name. 

 Magic Tricks:

• I use my change bag and have already concealed the lowercase letters a b c d e.
• In goes the uppercase letters A B C D E out comes the lowercase. The trick introduces the story that we will be reviewing our letters in a fun Halloween alphabet story. “Wait! I see something else!”
• I peak in the bottom of the bag and there’s a little note on a pumpkin that says: “More!” I ask the children if they think that means that we need to see more letters because some were missing. They agree of course!
• I put the pumpkin paper back in the change bag and pull out a string of 26 pumpkins each with the upper & lowercase letters on them.
• Click here to make your own string of pumpkins.

#2 Spooky Spooky Spooky!

By Cathy MacLennan

Boxer Books $16.95

The Gist: “The moon is high in the sky…” and all sorts of cute little creatures are out and about which is spooky spooky spooky. They can stay and play ‘til the equally adorable trick or treaters scare THEM away!

 Why I love it:

• The illustrations literally GRABBED me at 1^st opening the book. Ms. MacLennan is also the illustrator and definitely has a gift. Upon reading the jacket I discovered that she is inspired by African art and culture.
• The bold colorful pictures filled with lots of movement in the book have that sort of African flair! They captivated me and are mesmerizing to look at!
• She painted her 1^st picture at the age of six on a wall and has been painting murals ever since. I instantly felt a kindred spirit with her as I too have painted murals. One was a big train for Pennock Hospital’s children’s ward in Hastings, complete with all sorts of storybook favorites.
• The bluish purple background she chose for every page makes the pages not only pop out at you, but gives it that spooky spooky look that ties in with the entire story.
• Her creatures are adorable and not scary or creepy, but filled with wonder and a sort of Halloween excitement; just like my students. I liked that they were all SMILING! (This is such a happy time for little ones filled with lots of giggling!)
• The text was done in a “spooky” bold black fun font. Short, sweet, alliterative and it rhymed.
• Some of her creatures included pumpkins, cats, spiders, bats and owls—all of which are October themes for me!
• I loved the ending! I know you will too! Hooray!

 Storytelling Tips:

• Have your students repeat the phrase: spooky spooky spooky.
• To help remind them of this, I hold up a little ghost finger puppet that peeks up over the back of the book.
• You can make one by snipping off the finger of a white glove and adding wiggle eyes or two dots of puffy paint.
• Dim the lights. Sometimes I read with a flashlight or lantern. I let a child shine it on the book. It makes things extra spooky spooky spooky. J

October’s Book Of The Month: An Old Favorite…

  Ten Timid Ghosts

 By Jennifer O’Connell

Scholastic $3.25

 The Gist: 10 timid ghosts live in a haunted house. A witch moves in; she wants them out, so 1-by-1 she scares them away. Now the ghosts want her out so they devise a plan to get rid of her!

 Why I love it:

• It’s a rhyme book that my students can easily follow along and fill in the missing word when I pause.
• The illustrations are cute not creepy or scary.
• The phrase “A witch moved in and wanted them out.” repeats so it’s perfect for my students to help me tell the story.
• The ghosts are eliminated 1-by-1 counting from 10 to 0 so it helps reinforce that report card standard and my students can count backwards with me while I read the story.
• It has a fun surprise ending that I have my students help me yell!

 Storytelling Tips:

• I bought a tombstone that’s a doorbell. You press it and it bongs and says welcome with a creepy laugh. It’s how I start this story. After all we’re going to visit a haunted house!
• Tell your students that you want them to help you tell the story.
• Each time you come to the repetitive phrase: “A witch moved in and wanted them out!” Hold up the ghost paddle and have the children yell “Out!” Click on the link to make a ghost paddle.
• Halloween Novelty stores that spring up at this time, as well as the Halloween section in most department stores carry little “scream” boxes for a few dollars. I own several. After the witch scares a ghost I press my scream machine to add that special affect. This always gets a few giggles and adds that special touch to my story telling.
• I wave my magic wand and give everyone 10 timid ghosts. They wiggle all of their little ghosts (fingers) and I tell them I want them to help me count them as they run away.
• After the story we sing 10 Little Ghosts to the tune of 10 Little Indians. We also do the Ghost Pokey with our booklet. 
• If I’m reading this to my class, I pause before saying the rhyming word to see if they can fill it in. I give out smartie coins after the reading, to children who had the correct answers. No need for me to keep track. My students won’t let me forget.
• If you want to go over some word wall words that you have that coincide with the story, try using one of those stick on creepy fingers that you can buy at this time.  They always have monster, withch and skeleton ones with wonderful long pointed-painted nails.   They usually come i a pack of 10 so 2 packs give you a class set.
• I sometimes pass them out to my students to wear to follow along when reading their everyday stories. You could also pass one out to each child to put on when reading this story to make counting with you a bit more fun.

• To make the story a bit more fun to listen to, and because my haunted house is in England, I tell the story in an English accent. The children LOVE it! Before you say “Oh I can’t do that.” just say  “appy alloween.” Great! You passed with enough of an English accent to sound different and fun. Now just go underline all of the OUT’s so you remember to lift up the ghost paddle and cross out all of the H’s and you’ll do just fine.
• After everyone yells BOO! I end the story by saying: “And the ghosts lived ‘appily eva ‘afta in their ‘aunted ‘ouse~”
• Of course if you don’t feel this is your bag, just read it in your own spooky voice and that will be just great too. If you use expression and have fun, your students will too!

 Magic Tricks:

• I read this story at our Halloween Party, and once again as with all of my Halloween stories we review “real” & “pretend” and that there is no such thing as monsters, ghosts and witches and that there is nothing to be afraid of.
• Despite what your personal beliefs are, they should NOT be shared or debated with young children. Our school keeps Halloween fun and not creepy or gory. Some schools have done away with Halloween altogether and opted for a Harvest Festival which is wonderful; I’m personally glad that we’re still able to dress up and enjoy being little kids once more.
• I bought an adorable stuffed witch and took out her stuffing to turn her into a puppet. I put her in the dove pan.
• I have an orange envelope with a note inside that reads: “Sniffle-Sniffle” I’m sorry; may I please come to your party? I promise to be good. ” The writing is all splattered as if someone had been crying. I ask the children who they think it might be from as the signature has been washed out and only an H is showing. They try and guess.
• I put the lid on and produce Hazel. She shares with us that she used to be a bad witch but went to Young Fives and learned about rules and how to be good so she now behaves herself and wants to stay.
• The children vote to let her stay. It’s always quite heart-warming to hear them invite her and even funny listening to them explain about the Time Out chair if she misbehaves. She asks us if we’d like to meet her 10 ghost friends. We say yes.
• I show the children my change bag. There’s nothing in it. Are the ghosts invisible? I guess we must count to 10 to produce them. We do it in Spanish. I then pull out a string of 10 ghosts that we count in English. Click on the link to make your own string of ghosts.
• I say Shhhhh! They are asking me something. They want to know if you want to meet George the big ghost.
• I then put a paper ghost in my dog pan and produce another puppet, the big ghost named George. He introduces the book, telling us the author and illustrator and explains how he wants the children to help tell the story showing us his ghost paddle. They are all excited to help out and we settle in…

 Art Project-Math Extension:

Make a Ghost Counting Booklet.

Click on the link for directions & pattern.

Do some Ghostly Skill Sheets.

Click on the link  to view & print.

 My Bibliographies for the month:

  Fire Safety Books. Click on the link to view the list. 

Spider Books  Click on the link to view the list.

 October & Halloween Books.  

 Leaf Fall/Autumn Books

Click on the link to view the list.

So curl up with a book and have fun reading!

   READ!