Search results matching tags 'holidays' and 'freebies'

Valentine's Day....Again

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 02:50:00 GMT

With February fast approaching, that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I know that many people are gearing up for parties and celebrations but, eh, that just isn't me. I shared with you last year that I really don't make too big a deal out of this day of love, but I do like to do two little things that the kids really enjoy. These are the same activities I shared with you last year, but I know that there are many more people joining me along on this journey and I wanted to share them again :)

Of course, the students will pass out valentines to their classmates. I am not into spending a ton, so I made these Valentine's Day Homework passes. I know my kids will love them, and they didn't cost me a dime :) Win-win! Feel free to print out a copy for yourself. The download includes a "Love, Your Teacher" AND a blank one for you to sign, or just keep as is!

But, since you are a follower on my blog....if you leave a comment below (or email me at TeachinginRoom6@yahoo.com), I will customize the passes for you. Same deal as last year...You MUST be a follower of mine here on the blog. Just leave the name you would like me to write on there (Love, Mrs. Jones or whatnot) and your email address, and I will get them to you as soon as possible. :)

Another thing we will be doing is in math. You see, just like last year,
we are beginning our study of solid shapes, including surface area. I am going to have the students do an introduction concept lesson on this skill, using Valentine's Day as my hook. The students will have to figure out how much wrapping paper will be needed to cover their valentine box.

The basic idea of the concept lesson is to allow the students to explore this big concept of surface area without a formal lesson. It is to give them a chance to discover for themselves what the big idea of the skill is before I simply tell them. So for this lesson, the students will be given a box, and some construction paper (the wrapping paper), as well as a ruler, scissors, pencil and paper. The will be asked to figure out EXACTLY how much paper is needed to cover the box with no overlap.

If last year is any indication, this is a HARD lesson, but doable. The students will struggle, but there are some ways they can figure it all out. They will be frustrated, but if they use some of the problem solving skills they have, they should be able to tackle this. It is "backwards" from the normal teaching, but that is the idea. I want them to see what they can do before I simply tell them. It helps them to internalize the idea before I just give them an algorithm. This is what I did with the fraction concept lesson and the students are all the better for it.

Though, as a teacher, it is really, really tough to see the kids get frustrated. It makes me frustrated. However, the end result is worth it. I will report back and let you know how it goes!

And for more February Freebies, visit Laura Candler's awesome link up! There are lots and lots of ideas for you to use in your classroom during not just Valentine's Day, but all of the other February happenings.

Christmas Tree Forests...and protractors

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:04:00 GMT

A few days ago I shared with you what I was *going* to do at school in math in this post. Well, I finally did it and it came out too cute not to share with you!

My students are learning about triangles, their characteristics, using a protractor to measure the angles, and how to find missing angle measurements when two are known. So, combining ALL of that, we made these pretty pine tree scenes inspired by this blog post from this lovely blogger.

You can see how the tissue is glued down

To make this was a two step process. First, the students used a large piece of white paper (we used 17" x 11") and glued tissue paper squares down. Using regular Elmer's glue and paint brushes, I first had them put a heavy painting of glue in the center of the paper. They then put a square down and painted over that with glue. The key to this is a lot of glue. Every square inch of tissue paper MUST be covered or else when it all finally dries, there will be pieces of tissue flapping around and, well, it looks blah.

They then set that out to dry and using watercolors and crayons, created a nice snowy outdoors scene that will eventually house between 3-6 trees (I let them decide how many to make.)

The next day, the students cut out their trees. I encouraged them to cut out triangles of all sizes. They then went to work measuring the angles and describing them. I asked them to not only measure each angle and record it on the sheet, but also to write down if it was acute-scalene, or any other combination (which meant that they needed to use the ruler on the protractor to measure the sides of the triangle) Click here to get the recording sheet we used.

Using the protractor to measure the angles. They did this BEFORE they glued the trees onto the background.

Here is one final product. You can see the scene drawn at the top as a sort of diagram to identify which tree belongs with which measurement.

Here is another one that is *almost* complete. Just need to color the diagram.

Here is a close up of one of the recording sheets.

You can see this isn't straight

Some of the students had a really rough time measuring the angles. I, mean, it is one thing measuring computer printed triangles. It is quite another measuring triangles you cut out yourself with school sized scissors. Getting the lines perfectly straight was very tricky, which lead to some wonky readings on the protractor. Knowing this, the students adjusted and actually were really clever in their problem solving. I was really impressed with them taking this variable into account and not panicking.

Some students also realized that they didn't actually have to measure all three angles. Knowing two, they could figure out the third. (I did have them go back and just double check it with the protractor for practice, but I was happy they were making the connection.)

Now, all of this will become a little bulletin board until right before we go on break. Then, I am planning on taking it down and the scene will become the cover of the holiday card the students take home to their parents. Win-win.

What fun, standards based projects do you have in store for the next few weeks?

Holiday Ideas Galore!

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:10:00 GMT

Over the course of my Thanksgiving Break, I was busy looking for things to do that would enhance my already preset lessons (we have 3 weeks before winter break and I basically know what content will be covered because of the pacing plans). So where did I turn for inspiration?? Pinterest of course.

Since the holidays are coming up, specifically our holiday show...which is going to take up quite some time to finalize and put together, I started there. We will be doing two things: a song with the entire 5th grade and a poem with one other 5th grade class. The song is set (and I am STOKED about it) but the poem is still left to be decided. So I scoured and scoured and finally decided upon The Night Before Christmas (Little Golden Book) . Tried and true. During the two weeks leading up to the performance though, I thought I would do a little lesson study on the poem. I found this pin here, which lead me to a lap book template for lots and lots of activities to do with the poem. I have more to do with it, but this is a great place to start...and I am excited!

Then, in math, our geometry unit is in full swing. I am sure you have seen these two pins around the web.

Source

Well, I am taking these art projects and making them more mathy. Following the directions on the websites (linked above in the caption of the picture) of the original pins, the students will create the art. Then, for each, different geometric processes will be put into action.

This one will be slightly different than the kinder example above, in that I am going to have the students cut their own branches. They have to be varying widths and lengths to fully create the tree. After the students construct this tree, I will have them measure the "branches" using a centimeter ruler. They will then find the area and perimeter of each branch. Simple, to the point, and right within our standards. Perfect! Click here to get the recording sheet.

Then, once the students have created the pretty tissue paper trees, I will have them cut them out into varying types of triangles. They must have at least one example of each type of triangle we are studying (scalene, isosceles, obtuse, and acute...will spare them the right triangle as it will look weird I think!) They will then name them, and measure the angles...being sure it all equals 180 degrees. Not only are they going to have fun with the art, but they will get to name triangles and practice using a protractor (plus realize that all angles lead up to 180). Win-win. Click here to get the recording sheet.

And finally, in our on-going unit on poetry, we are firmly in the middle of the figurative language and poetic devices that are used within poetry. So I created this little project I am calling a "Christmas Poet-Tree"! They will learn all about the different poetic devices, create their own samples (in a Christmas or winter theme) and then put it all together to make these cute little 3-D trees. I know my kids will love this one! Just imagine the tree to the side with actual poetry on each face, and colored to look like a Christmas tree....or winter tree if the child chooses. (this one is in my store. You can get it here if you would like)

Ok...so that is the planning I have done (on top of the stuff for exploration and the periodic table/chemistry unit stuff I also did!)

Need more ideas? Laura Candler is having a Holiday Learning Link Up! Head on over for even more holiday ideas.

What do you have planned for the upcoming holidays? Anything NOT related to Christmas (which I also need to find stuff on!)

Disguise that Turkey....and a Persuasive Piece

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:32:00 GMT

Here is an oldie, but a goodie that the kid really love to do. A few years ago I was on my favorite teacher website in the whole world, ProTeacher, and I came across the idea of doing a "Disguise that Turkey" project. The idea of it is simple....the students are given a turkey picture which they then have to take home and "turn into" something else. What fun!

So I decided to go with it....and there were such FABULOUS turkeys that came back! Here is the thread from ProTeacher that I got all of the templates from. These are simple, to the point and perfect.

Now, admittedly, this was more of a project for the primary grades. BUT I made it a bit more upper grade by having the students then write a persuasive essay convincing me exactly WHY the turkey was indeed not a turkey but the thing it was disguised as. I WISH I took pictures of the writing because the excuses and arguments were OUTSTANDING! The kids really thought about the traits that the new persona would have and went with them full force. My EL students got to use such wonderful language while describing the new persona and it really was a great, standards based project all started in fun!

Here are a few persuasive writing Thinking Maps that you can use to help organize your students' writing. When using these, have them think of the two arguments as the two traits that are special to the new persona the turkey is adopting. They can then use them to write their persuasive essays. Enjoy!

Montessori-Inspired Friendly Ghost Activities

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 08:52:00 GMT

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now

I LOVE a non-scary Halloween! When Halloween isn't frightening, it's a great way to add excitement to learning. Today, I'm sharing ideas using some fabulous free ghost printables. I used the printables to create hands-on activities for preschoolers through first graders.

Of course, ghosts aren't a typical part of the Montessori curriculum, but many progressive Montessorians like me enjoy using friendly ghost activities before Halloween to make the holiday less scary for preschoolers ... and because they add interest and fun to learning activities in October.

The printables I'm using are from Three Ghost Friends, Learning Ideas - Grades K-8, and 3 Dinosaurs. All three sites specialize in hands-on learning fun, and I'm just sharing ideas from very few of their printables.

Ghost Color and Shape Scavenger Hunt Mini Sensory Tub

Eric at Three Ghost Friends has LOTS of fun ghost activities ... and who could be frightened by these friendly ghosts?! I had fun creating a "Boo! I Found You! Homemade Look-and-Find Game." In the original post, the printable is used to create an I-Spy bottle, which is a great idea. I decided to create a sensory tub using the printables.

Montessorians use "ellipse" as the term for what most people call an "oval" and "oval" for a 2-dimensional egg shape. Eric was kind enough to add a special printable for Montessorians with an "Ellipse Ghost" instead of an "Oval Ghost." He also created a larger version of the printables for a sensory tub.

Instead of making a regular-size sensory tub, I found a shoebox-size tub at Dollar Tree to make a mini sensory tub. I used sunflower seeds so preschoolers could have a snack at the end of the activity. I included various types of tongs, a scoop, and a nutcracker (for preschoolers who couldn't open the sunflower seeds with fingers alone). I also added 4 LED tealight candles from Dollar Tree. Turning the candles on during the activity and off when the activity is put away adds another practical life activity to the sensory tub.

If you use the smallest printables, it's quite challenging to find the color and shape ghosts. So even older preschoolers could have fun with the activity. Note: This obviously isn't intended for toddlers. Not only are the sunflower seeds dangerous for them, but the shapes are too small as well. For toddlers, it would be better to make the I-Spy bottle with the shapes. If you'd like another activity for toddlers, check out the "Feed the Ghosts: Color Craft Stick Sort," using 2 32-ounce containers and colored craft sticks.

Three Ghost Friends also has some great printables for "Spell Your Color Words with the Three Ghost Friends" and "Spell Your Shape Words with the Three Ghost Friends" (including special lower-case versions for Montessorians).

Ghost Counting Wheels Tray

Three Ghost Friends has a "Ghost Counting Wheels" printable with counting wheels for 1-6 and 5-10. This tray was very simple to prepare. I just printed out the counting wheels, laminated them, and cut them out. If your activity will have heavy use, be sure to cut out your wheels before laminating and leave a laminate edge.

I added numbers to the clothespins (with the exact number of clothespins for the counting wheels) with a permanent marker. The tray is an inexpensive wooden tray from a hobby store.

For many more hands-on activities from 3 Ghost Friends, check out the "Activity Ideas" page.

Ghost Numbers and Counters

Learning Ideas - Grades K-8 has "Friendly Ghost Odd and Even Sort and a Linky Party" with super-cute, friendly ghosts. The linky party even has more friendly-ghost printables. I loved these printables for creating a DIY numbers and counters activity. To make 55 ghost counters, I added eyes and mouths to lima beans with a permanent marker ... easy peasy! The tray is a black Economy Tray from Montessori Services.

When showing how to do the layout, I recommend placing the lima-bean ghosts in rows of two with a leftover ghost centered below the last row. It's a standard Montessori layout for cards and counters and gives a visual representation of odd and even. If you have exactly 55 "ghosts" for the numerals 1-10, that will serve as a control of error. You could even add more numerals (the printable has 1-99) and the cute "odd" and "even" ghosts if you'd like to add an odd-and-even activity as an extension for children who can easily count and identify 1-10.

Montessori-Inspired Ghost Addition, Subtraction, and Counting Activities

The Halloween Pack from 3 Dinosaurs is HUGE! The pack is designed for ages 2-7 and includes literature-based activities. This pack has all sorts of very-cute Halloween images, including very-cute and friendly ghosts. Some of my favorite printables are the ghost addition, subtraction, and counting pages.

These are amazingly simple to prepare. Many of the 3 Dinosaurs printable packs have counting, addition, subtraction, greater than/less than, and/or word problem printables with numbers that are interchangeable. I just used the numbers from the "Montessori-Inspired Ocean Math Activities" I prepared in June. I would probably put both the addition and subtraction pages on a tray for children who are ready for them.

For presentation ideas, check out the Montessori-Inspired One Fish, Two Fish Addition Tray in my February post here. You should be able to easily adapt the presentation for this activity.

For younger children, I would make a separate "Count the Ghosts" tray. For each tray, be sure to have the exact number of ghosts needed for the highest sum or difference or to go to the highest counted number you're using in the activity. I like to use 3-dimensional objects whenever possible, so I used the lima-bean ghosts for the activity. 3 Dinosaurs has very cute ghosts that can be printed out and used if you prefer.

Ghost Writing Tray

In the Halloween Pack, Cassie from 3 Dinosaurs also has a fun creative-writing activity for children who are starting to write stories. Just print out as many pages as you need for your homeschool or classroom and store them on a tray. If you don't have a separate place for pencils, you could add a Halloween pencil for extra interest. Younger children could always dictate a sentence or story to you if they'd like to create their own ghost story.

More Montessori-Inspired Halloween Activities

You'll find lots of Montessori-inspired Halloween activities and ideas in these posts at Living Montessori Now: Montessori-Inspired Pumpkin Activities, Homeschool Halloween, Montessori-Inspired Pumpkin Unit, Montessori-Inspired Halloween Activities, and Halloween Grace and Courtesy. I also have a Kids' Halloween Activities Pinterest Board with Halloween activities of all kinds.

Have a fun Halloween! :)

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in Colorado Springs with her husband of 37 years and their cat of 11 years. She blogs at Living Montessori Now. Linked to Tuesday Tots, The Mommy Club Resources and Solutions at Milk and Cuddles and Crystal & Co. , Enchanted Thursdays Blog Hop, The Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Living Life Intentionally Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Saturday Show & Tell, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Link & Learn, and Afterschool Express.

Halloween HW Passes

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 23:52:00 GMT

I don't know about you, but the thought of giving my students candy on Halloween is NOT appealing. Don't get me wrong. I am all for celebrating and having a good day (I really do love Halloween), but I mean, the day is already filled with so much candy, why do I want to add more??

So something I tend to do with my students is give them homework passes. I love these little things. Seriously, they are better than candy for the kids...and they are FREE for me!! :) So I just print these babies out, hand them to the students on Halloween day. They have no homework, and I don't have to go out and buy candy to be in a "festive" mood.

Now, if you have been reading my blog for a while, you know this is a trend for me. I do the same thing at Valentine's Day. I find that my kids just love the passes so much...and who am I to deny them that little piece of happiness ;)

Here are some Halloween Homework passes for you. (and if you are a Facebook follower of mine, there might possibly a fun little perk in it for you...hint, hint) And, yes I am aware that this is a bit early...but I am TRYING to get ahead of the game in any area I can. School really has been SO busy this year for me.

What do you do to celebrate Halloween in your room?

Simply Primary Memory Book Freebie

Anonymous — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:52:00 GMT

So excited to share this freebie with all my reader joining us from Empowering Little Learners and all of our new readers to Simply Primary!

Included in this exclusive freebie is four different themes: school children, monkeys, dinosaurs, and owls! Each book contains these pages as well as several others. About 40 pages total!

So head on over and start reading along with me at Simply Primary and get this great freebie!

Earth Day Freebie

Anonymous — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:39:00 GMT

Just posted my Earth Day Freebie!

I have done this project in previous years those fun stickers that you get with helium tanks. In the spirit of sharing I went ahead and found / created the face pieces! The kids will love being able to pick out eyes and a mouth. I also provided several writing prompts but you could easily pair it up with a more in depth writing project for older learners! Enjoy!

R is for Rabbit Freebie!

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 02:29:00 GMT

I love to make hats out of sentence strips.. so here is a freebie I just threw together! Start by writing the letter Rr or Rr words on a sentence strip. Then color and cut the pieces. Glue the face and tail on the front and back. The ears are probably most easily stapled to the sides and flopped down or to the back standing up, facing forward! Super cute!

If you love this hat, you may also like this... an Alphabet Hat for each letter! Stop by to see!

Save Those Heart Candy Boxes & Freebie

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:43:00 GMT

Save those heart candy boxes! They make great boxes for your centers for the month of February! Watch students fight over playing an old, boring game just because it's in a beautiful Valentine box! Here's a letter I send home to get my families to donate their old boxes!

Click the image above to get this flyer for free!