“Write On” With This Back to School Activity

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Where does the time go? I admit that I've been missing in action for a bit of time now, but I have a great excuse... KIDS! 

This has been a whirlwind of a year and I'm actually really excited and looking forward to returning to the classroom but it wouldn't be a fun and exciting "Back-to-School" time if I didn't get to share my new Back-to-School activities with you! 

Here are some ideas and tips to help you dive back into your classroom routine. This activity will serve as not only a fun activity, but also provide an opportunity for your students to work on literacy skills and even some social skills. In addition, this activity works to help break the ice. After all, it’s so hard to come back to school after being out all summer, right?!

Providing fun activities that include practicing literacy skills is so important for our students. As a teacher, I feel super successful when I am able to incorporate literacy into other activities and centers in my classroom. I am also always thinking about creative and constructive ways to do this, especially with a classroom of diverse students. This Back-to-School Bus activity meets all of these teaching goals for me! It is designed to not only help students acclimate back into the classroom setting in a fun and easy way, but it provides an avenue for them to reflect and express fond memories about the summer. 

The Back-to-School Bus activity comes with several writing prompts for different age and grade levels. While students are practicing their critical thinking, sentence organization and writing skills, they are actually participating in what feels like a fun art activity. Students are able to creatively express themselves in writing. I know my students love thinking and talking about themselves and their precious experiences so this activity provides that fun opportunity while also engaging students in other ways. It barely feels like schoolwork! 

As a teacher, I will also model how to do this assignment by telling my students about my own wildly fun, and somewhat quick, summer vacation. This ensures engagement and provides a starting point for students. In addition, as an extension to this activity, teachers can have children get into small groups or pairs and discuss their projects in more detail. This extension helps them practice budding social skills and helps me to model appropriate social skills as I flow through the classroom and informally assess them, even though it’s cleverly disguised as fun conversation! This activity provides teachers with a beginning assessment to really see where students are at and what their interests are which is so important at the beginning of the school year, especially. This helps me become a better teacher as I get to know my students in a way that helps me teach them more effectively. 

For this teacher, that is a well-played win =)

Science in the Classroom

Since this is a favorite, I had to once again write about my science-themed, super adorable, lap book that you can use for an assortment of science topics, making it versatile and adaptable for any classroom. I worked to make the foldables as generic as possible. The templates I designed are indicative of how I incorporate these into the classroom. I have also designed templates that are blank so you can be as creative in your own lessons as you want to be. 

The sky’s the limit here!

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 As educators, we all know how important science is and how incorporating engaging science lessons and experiences into our curriculum is essential. Often science is one of those subjects that is taught in a straightforward and formal way. I like to think that it doesn’t need to be so systematic and rigid My teaching style exemplifies that and I am sure that other educators feel the same about their teaching styles. STEM is something we are hearing about even more in our schools as it addresses the need for all students to have a broader and more holistic education in the important areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. It is my goal to help my students fall in love with science. I want them to create meaningful learning opportunities for them and help them think like a scientist. 

As a passionate educator, I make it my mission to provide quality lessons and learning experiences to incorporate these important subjects into my teaching as often as possible. I work to creatively intertwine science into other subjects for cross-curriculum learning experiences, too. In addition, teachers have a unique understanding of our students’ need for hands-on and interactive class materials and opportunities. My students like to explore, uncover, unearth, and come to their own fun conclusions. I am honored to help facilitate that! They thrive on lessons that allow them hands-on experimentation.

Using the materials that I have created, they can reflect on their own work, creating a personalized project. This makes it fun and exciting for them as they record their own scientific experiences in a way that is meaningful to them. I am then able to assess their work in a way that meets each student where he or she is at.  As a teacher, one challenge that I am faced with is creating lesson materials that reach all of my students while still relating to the state standards. Plus, I need to make sure my students are always having fun! I strive to create a diverse learning experience for each student while still maintaining the integrity of the lesson. Science is no exception and this lap science-themed lap book meets this goal.

Another great aspect of creating science materials for my classroom is that I am able to incorporate other subject matter into my science lessons in a subtle way. The science-themed lap books I have created incorporate other subjects in a way that accommodates the unique needs of a diverse classroom of students. For example, many of my students are more successful with hands-on and visual components. The lapbook not only provides this, but allows them to explore the world and subject matter in a way that helps them think like an actual scientist. Scientists conduct research to learn. With this creative lapbook, students can act like a mini-scientist, by asking questions and organizing their thoughts. This science activity not only helps keep my children engaged, but it also allows them to personalize their scientific process and provides an interactive, scientific learning experience.

               

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Six Awesome Valentine’s Day Activities for your Class

Valentine’s Day is an excellent opportunity to teach your students values that will stay with them for life. Valentine’s Day encourages kindness between classmates. By making a kind gesture for their classmates, they learn to be selfless. Compassion is a quality that will serve them throughout their lifetime.

Valentine’s Day is a day of love! You get your class to learn about expressing love and the way love shapes their world.

The day also promotes friendship. Students can strengthen the bonds between their friends by sharing how much they love and care for them. You can also share stories with your class of the power of friendship.

Best of all Valentine’s Day allows you to be creative. With some simple items, your class can learn all these qualities while growing their creative, artistic, and design abilities.  Here are six excellent activities, you can try with your class to celebrate the day of love!

1. Design Your Cards

Valentine’s Day is a great time to exchange cards expressing appreciation. Let your class create cards for each other, and also their parents and siblings. In the cards, they can write a poem or thoughtful phrase that they make up, encouraging their creativity.

2. Create Valentine’s Day Boxes

With some cardboard, markers, and glitter, your class can create fun boxes where they can keep their Valentine’s Day cards, notes, and gifts each year. You can even have this as a homework assignment. Let your students create them at home and bring them in to be entered in a class contest.

3. Decorate the Door

Have your class come up with a fun theme for the classroom door. Then, with some construction paper, glue (or tape) you can create a special message of love and kindness for others to see. If you want to get the other classes in your school involved, turn it into a fun competition.

4. Friendship Bracelets

Nothing says love more than a friendship bracelet. With some string and beaded letters, your class can create and swap bracelets with their friends. You can also have them discuss the best things about having friends, and share some examples of great friendships. Celebrating friendship also is handy if your school does not encourage celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Two Awesome Valentine’s Day Resources

Straight from the TpT store, a friend of mine from Learn and Beans put together these fun resources to make Valentine’s Day a fun, learning experience. I was so excited to use these. They were so effective in my class!

5.Valentines Day Writing Craft

These Writing Crafts come with four face options that your students can color and add to cards. These can be paired with one of the nine writing templates than encourages the kids to write about Love, Friends, Kindness, or whatever comes to mind. These crafts can be added to cards or exchanged as Valentine’s in the classroom.

6.Valentine’s Day Math Puzzles

Who knew math and love go hand in hand? There’s a secret message in this printable activity.
To solve Valentine’s day message, students must use math to decode the message. With one
addition and one subtraction puzzle,  kids can team up or take it on their own. Make it competitive!
First to solve the puzzle gets a prize!

These activities can be used at almost any stage from Pre-K to 6th Grade. Find ways to make them
more appealing and challenging to your students. Valentine’s Day is a great time to bring your class
together. Use the momentum of love, kindness, and cooperation to fuel your teaching for the rest of
the school term!