A Valentine's Day Gift Idea for Your Students

Happy (almost) February to all of you! The Weekend Warriors and I are back this month to tell you what we HEART for February to help you get a head start with your Valentine's Day planning! I am here to share a little something I came up with for a special made with love gift for students! It's something educational and definitely unique!


It's a Valentine bookmark with Scholastic books in a heart!
  :) 


 Why a Scholastic book order form?   
I wanted to decorate my bookmarks in a hearts, books and reading theme to go with the saying! 

 I had lots of fun painting! This was all done using only red and orange watered-down tempera paint. The background ink on the order form came through to reveal other beautiful colors. Once the papers had dried, I created a tracer and cut out some small hearts.
I made sure to trace in areas where a book cover could be seen.


I tried the designs out on various colors of cardstock, but ended up selecting white because the heart really pops! 
 Once laminated, the images get really vivid! 

 I think my kiddos will LOVE comparing their bookmarks with their classmates and looking for books they enjoy inside the hearts.

If you think you might want to try this idea out, all of the patterns, including the bookmarks and tracer heart, can be downloaded {here}. 

In the file, I also included some freebie bookmarks that can be printed on colored cardstock if you are out of time for painting this year. You can always color them if you like too!



I hope you can use them for your class or even use them with your own children to make a special valentine for their classmates! 

 I HEART how adorable the book order bookmarks turned out. 
 It is a one-of-a-kind gift that my students will use and hopefully keep! 

To celebrate Valentine's Day, we have fun-filled learning activities planned for the children too. It's not an official party day in our district so we have to keep it educational until it's time to pass out valentine cards. 

If you are looking for some fun academic activities for the special day, you might like this center for reading or word work! 



Check back soon for more February ideas and projects! In the meantime, you can find lots of ideas on my Valentine's Day Pinterest board.


Classroom Organization Tips for Teachers!

 Welcome to Creative Lesson Cafe Friends! I'm really excited to be part of this blog hop with my friends at Primary Powers. We are here to save the day with some SUPER ideas for organization! I'm here to share ideas for organizing your teaching resources and important papers.


My classroom appears very organized. I try to manage the great paper shuffle as best I can with plenty of storage containers, plastic drawers, files, labels and bins.

 But...what is inside some closed drawers is a problem. One disastrous area is my file cabinet. My cabinet is completely stuffed with unit files and favorite teaching resources that I want to save, but that I don't use on a regular basis. It's REALLY frustrating to file new things away or browse through files when they are so packed in together. My cabinet is in good condition, but still it's an eyesore I want to eventually hide away in my storage closet.

If you are looking for a great way to easily organize your favorite and most-used masters and resources, you may want to invest in a few hanging file tubs. I did!

 I am getting ORGANIZED one subject at a time! 


Each subject area will eventually have its own file tub. 
 One is going to be my assessment bin.

Target carries these fantastic clear containers with lids.
{Room Essentials Box File} I ordered six of them.


Because they are see-through boxes, I wanted some pretty hanging folders. The Container Store sells bright folders in a rainbow of colors and I ordered a set of each to coordinate with the tub signs. Inside, I have decided to organize by skills and units.



I made some square signs that fit perfectly on the front of the box! If you want to get organized with some tubs too, you can download a set of the signs {here}! They should look great on any size file box you happen to have or purchase. 



 Just imagine how cute these new handy tubs- set up in a rainbow of organization- will look in my teacher corner! I can't wait to get them all done and finally put an END to the file cabinet frustrations!

Hopefully this post has given you some cute inspiration to continue to work at being as organized as possible with the great paper shuffle too! 
:)




Get Ready for Groundhog! Groundhog Day Projects, Close Reading and Teaching Resources

Have you started prepping for Groundhog Day yet?  Some years, the day just sneaks up on me and Phil never even crosses my mind until February 1st! If you are looking for some more resources to add to your groundhog fun, you may like these items!

Remember my post about the informational text passages for MLK Day? Well, my class rocked out the reading and annotating and they loved it! Because the written portion was a new skill, they needed quite a bit of support to organize their thoughts for the constructed response, so we will keep at it with our next unit! 


An Underground Home is a reading passage meant to be read and reread independently. This time, the students are also going to create their own diagram of a burrow (like a cutaway). They will have to look back at the text to label their drawing to show rooms and tunnels. I think they will LOVE this! 

This will also give them a focus for purposeful annotation in the margins. Setting the purpose by discussing the end product of the culminating drawing and writing activities will give the class a heads-up about what to look for in the text as they read alone.


The pages follow the same format as the MLK set, only with different text-based tasks of course!


To read the full and detailed description, you can view this item {here}. It's a mini-pack right now, so it's only $1.50!

In addition to some great read-alouds and educational videos, I use the activities in this unit. There's a little bit of something for all subjects so it's a very nice way to theme the day or week.



I was on a computer marathon to also finish an expansion to this unit. It now includes more nonfiction passages, some vocabulary work and some printables with real photographs.




If you are interested in any of these fun activities and projects, you can read more {here}. If you have this packet, be sure to download your update.

We are going to have a blast with the...How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?... tongue twister too! That's a favorite brain break and always good for a laugh!

What do you have in the works for Groundhog fun? 

Winter Math Center Activity for First and Second Grade FREEBIE!


Hello Everyone! Today I am guest blogging over at Primary Powers! I have a cute little penguin-themed math center to share with you! 

Head on over to read more about it! 
Your class will LOVE it!
:)

Wacky, Tacky the Penguin Fun!


We've been have a wacky, very tacky, time of it with Tacky the Penguin this past week! You may remember our fun from last year...Well, we're back at it again not just because it's such an awesomely funny story, but because each year, grades 2+ in our district have several genre units we are required to teach. Our second grade units are about teaching tolerance through fantasy stories and then a nonfiction unit follows on that same topic too. In the fall, we use Stellaluna and then do a nonfiction unit on bats. It works out beautifully and the students love the variety of activities during our units that we throw in as "extras"!  The story is OFF LIMITS as a read-aloud in any other grade as a district policy so unless the students have the book at home, it is exciting and new to them which is great! What is NOT in the genre unit on Tacky is everything I have to share with you here! 

One important thing we do is to work on vocabulary for the story. This year, I posted vocabulary cards as an around the room activity and then hung them on the whiteboard on display for the week. 



We also made these cute Tacky friends and hung them up. Each shirt and bow tie pattern was copied on scrapbook paper. 

Each child in the grade has a copy of the book, so we can do repeated readings and work on fluency. We had great fun with character voices for the songs and chants! 


We did a lot of comprehension work in a packet that I created for the children. Here we sequenced the events and wrote about character traits.


The class completed a variety of graphic organizers similar to Venn Diagrams and Thinking (tree) Maps because that is a school improvement goal. The other pages have story questions similar to those asked on the DRA test.


Then there were plenty of things we did just for fun! We invented a new companion for Tacky and also wrote about some other tricks that Tacky might be good at! The students loved sharing their tricks with the others at their table group.


When it was time for a brain break, we picked from these cards. The class favorites were the penguin march through the hall and singing some really DREADFUL songs together with a strong country twang. The class thought this was just the best!


On Friday, we had a Wacky Tacky Day. The students dressed in their worst mismatched attire and accessories!


I wasn't quite as tacky as the kiddos who really got into it... but I wore some totally crazy floral leggings and borrowed a tuxedo shirt and bow tie from my son's closet. I pretended to be Perfect who is starting to appreciate the benefit of letting loose every now and then! 

The kiddos were also allowed to bring their companions to school!


A few hunters joined us too.

In the afternoon, the students watched the documentary/movie,  March of the Penguins, which they absolutely loved! It is a great intro to the nonfiction unit on penguins as the second half of the genre unit begins.

Our Tacky week and wacky day were such a blast! If you are interested in the penguin crafts, worksheets or activities, you can find them in my Tacky the Penguin Unit .

It would be so tacky for me to show how much fun we've been having without inviting you all! 
You can have a Wacky Tacky Day in your room too!
 Just send home this little note!
 Click on the picture to download a copy!


:)




MLK Close Reading Passage and TDQs


Whew! Who would ever take a week to create one lesson for Dr. King Day? That would be me! I wanted this new close reading mini-unit to be just perfect for my class because I plan to make many more for our themes and major units of study. I am working to increase the rigor within our current reading program by supplementing with lots of close reading lessons and activities. I am very happy with how this brand new pack turned out! It took many revisions to perfectly adjust the wording to reach my lexile target for text complexity so it is just the right amount of challenge for my kiddos but not overwhelming or frustrating for them.


Do you like his speech bubble? Hehe!

We have been doing these types of activities with informational text all year but this one is a little different in its layout and expectations. We will start by doing it whole-group so I can model for the class. Once the students know a predictable format that should be followed, they will be able to read, annotate and respond more independently for future close reading activities like this.

I also created a rubric/checklist based on a 2 point scale for the culminating constructed response item. It helps to have a quick and easy way to communicate progress to parents.  


Here's a little peek at the item:


It's a hot bargain at just $1.20 right now! It will make for a great reading/writing lesson to integrate with social studies for MLK Day or Black History Month. To read more, you can see the full description {here}. I hope you like it! 

Did you enjoy your day off? If every day was a Saturday, I could be so productive! I'm beat, so I'm calling it quits for now. I'll be back tomorrow to share some fun highlights from last week and a little freebie too.
 Try to stop by!
:)


Math Fact Fluency Scoot Activities for First and Second Grade

We all know that kiddos learn best when they get to move around more during the day. They really need it!

If your kiddos are stuck inside or are getting a little wiggly, you may like a scoot activity. Here are my littles playing the superhero subtraction activity I shared at Primary Powers a few months ago.


I used this as an around the room activity. Notice the blank boxes where she skipped around...The students have to hunt for the task cards a bit. They are placed around the room on tables, desks and taped up here and there. 

You can grab that freebie {here} if you missed it!

These are our new math fact fluency scoots.
 More for other skills are in the works!




This one is not new, but it is available too!


Don't they look fun? I think my class will love them! Each one has 30 cards, a recording sheet and a self-checking answer key to keep in the tub. After the scoot activity, they can be used as any task cards for a center or for those speedy finishers!

Hope you like them! If you do, just click on the pictures to see them at my store.


Happy teaching!




Reindeer Help Wanted Writing and Holiday Bulletin Board Project!

It's tough keeping students engaged in learning activities through the holiday season. If you are looking for a fun way to get your students excited about writing this December, look no further! This picture shows what might just be my favorite December bulletin board project of all time! 

Holiday Reindeer Writing Project for Second Grade


The reindeer help project was inspired by a funny poem by Timothy Tocher called Help Wanted. It's about Santa's reindeer moving on, growing old and having some trouble getting along. In summary, Santa needs a new team!

After reading, we brainstormed ideas for how we would write a help wanted ad for a search for new reindeer candidates. We extended it to include possibilities for other positions that may be needed at the North Pole. 

We used this sheet to do the writing:


 The students came up with some really funny and clever ideas. 
My favorites were the job of reindeer therapist and the poop scooper!


The reindeer toppers you see were created using some adorable clipart from Teaching in the Tongass. I enlarged it to create the project pieces and copied them on tan cardstock. The students colored the antlers and hooves, then we glittered up the noses and bows. 


The class loved it, I loved it and I hope you will love it too! 

You can grab the writing paper and the directions with links {here}.

Maybe file it away or Pin these images for safekeeping until next December! 

By the way, does anyone know of a job position for me that is somewhere warm and sunny
I might even work for carrots at this point!
:)

Holiday Thank You Note Ideas from the Spoiled Teacher


We had such a great December with so many cute activities, so I want to rewind a little here before going forward with more January stuff! First... let's talk about presents! Let me tell you friends, this teacher is spoiled rotten. I received so many beautiful gifts this year and the best class gift EVER which I will show you too! Wait until you see the surprise my room parents planned! 


This year, I found some spectacular stationery at Office Max and I typed my thank you notes.

I know it's not as personal to type them, but each one was individualized and I think they turned out so pretty! It saved quite a bit of time and it cost about half of what I would spend on thank you notes that look half way decent.

Want to know why I had so many to write? Look at what my dear room parents made for me! 



It's a gorgeous wreath FULL of gift cards to all of my favorite places! I just thought that was the sweetest idea!  Of course, I also got lots of darling things that the kiddos picked out for me by themselves and I really cherish those! 

So if ever you have to organize a gift for someone from a group of people, that was a super idea. If you want to save your hand from cramping while writing out thank you notes, maybe you'll want to give the stationery idea a try too! 

:)


January Writing Center Activities for Second Grade

Do you have a writing center in your classroom? I love using these winter writing prompts for independent practice during our ELA center rotations. The kiddos love it too. 

January Writing Prompts and Papers for Second Grade


 Kids NEVER seem to mind the snow or the cold. They can't wait for that first BIG snow! There are tons of fun ideas for writing prompts around themes this month for all things chilly... snowmen, hot chocolate, playing in the snow, penguins... and MORE! 

I know my class will be super excited about the prompt cards I made for them! 
There's a little bit of all of those COLD themes in here. 



There is also a big selection of cute writing papers with primary lines for neat handwriting!


If you like fun and easy to prep writing activities, you might like this kit too! 
You can read more about it or get it from my TPT store {here}.

A writing center might just be the perfect thing to get your class off on the WRITE foot for the New Year!

;)



New Year Goals in the Classroom: A Flap Book Bulletin Board Project for First and Second Grade


Happy New Year my friends! I hope that you all have had a very exciting and restful break from school! It's always really hard to get going the morning of that first day back isn't it? The kiddos will also be tired on Monday so I am gathering up some easy and fun activities to work on that day. This will give me a chance to regroup and take a look at my lessons and materials that I know I had left all organized but now seem like a DISTANT memory!


My class loves to make flip flap books, so I made this New Year version to help them set some goals for both home and school. This is a no prep printable and so you can have it copied and ready to color and assemble in a flash! 






It will look great printed on colored cardstock or Astrobright paper if you don't have time in your day for students to color the cover.

Under the flap is a place to write some great goals!



 If you might like this project for your class too, you can find this teaching resource here.

Last year, we did something similar and used it as our January bulletin board. We sparkled up our foldables with some sequence and it looked really festive! Just thought I'd share that with you again in case you missed it! You can use the writing templates in the flap book freebie on the inside. There is a version of the cover without clipart, so you can adapt the project to add some peeker kids like I did!


You can download a free New Year word search {here}. It will make for some great morning work to help make your transition back a little easier! 


Wow! It's a great new year and a great time to set new goals for ourselves too! 






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