Blossoms of Blue

My twin girls started preschool this year, and they have absolutely been loving it! The school sent home a note last week that they need a new music teacher, so I decided to go for it! I have only taught second graders, so it is a bit of a change for me, but I am excited to get involved with teaching again. It's only once a week for a couple hours, and today was my first day! Here's an outline of what we did: (click on the pictures to go to the link for the song)

Materials needed:
Two egg shakers, each with a different sound. I used one filled with popcorn kernels and one with oats.
Egg shakers for each student
Play microphone
Fall leaves (real leaves, or cut out of construction paper)
Vivaldi's Four Seasons, "Autumn"

Ok, so I am not a teacher anymore, but I used to be, and oh boy, did I love summer break. But I found that some summers it just seemed to fly by, and I hadn't done anything I said I was going to! Has that ever happened to you? I have thought about it, and I have some ideas to help you have the best summer ever.

1. Keep a calendar
Does it ever seem like the school year sneaks up on you suddenly, without warning? If you keep a calendar, you can avoid this problem. It is a visual countdown of how much summer you have left. I always had so many fun activities I wanted to do, but then the school year grew closer, and I found myself trying to fit them all in. Write down the things you want to do, and make a tentative plan on your calendar. That way you won't run out of time.

2. Don't completely forget about school.
When that final bell rings for summer break, I know it is tempting to want to forget about school until the end of August. But if you do that, then you will spend your last few weeks of vacation in your classroom, trying to get everything ready. When you are planning out your fun activities for the summer, be sure to plan in some school time too. I always thought it would be great (although I never did it!) to schedule in two days a week at the school. Those would be my working days (or half days), so I would be sure to get things done over the summer too.

3. Spend time with your kids and family during the day.
During the school year, you don't get to spend family time together during the day, because you are working. Use the summer to do fun things with your kids and really enjoy them and get to know them. Also, if you have family members (sisters, parents, etc) who live close and don't work, use this time to go out to lunch or have picnics with them too.

4. Get Outside.
If you love being outdoors like me, summer is the perfect time! Unless you live in Arizona. ; ) But otherwise, take advantage of the time you have during the day, and the extra time in the evening when you don't have to be planning lessons. Get a hammock and relax, go on a hike, go swimming. This is why I love summer.

5. Sleep in. (or don't!)
It seems like when you are talking about summer break, people always tell you to enjoy it and sleep in. When I was growing up, I was notorious for sleeping in LATE. Like, I remember sleeping in till 11 or 12 sometimes. I loved to stay up late and sleep in late. So when I started teaching and got summers off, I was so excited to be able to sleep in! Hallelujah! My first summer teaching, I did just that. (although, by then, 9:00 was late to me).  I slept in and loved it. If that is what you like to do, do it.

But then I started to feel like I was wasting my day, and I felt like I was more sluggish when I slept in. So the next summer I decided to just sleep in a little bit. I still got up fairly early, but not as early as when school was in session. This worked great for me. I would wake up with the sun shining, feeling happy and able to get a head start on the day. So if you don't feel like sleeping in, don't. Do what suits you. That is what's great about summer break! (Until you have kids. Then you probably have to get up early.)


Whatever you end up doing, I hope you have an AMAZING summer break! What tips do you have for enjoying summer break? Leave a comment below!

St. Patrick's Day is quickly approaching! Do you have fun plans for your class or kids? I love St. Patrick's Day, and there are so many great activities you could do with your students. Here is a quick roundup of a bunch of activities that you might want to try out:

St. Patrick's Day Mosaic Shamrock. I think these are super cute. You could use scrapbook paper or paint chips. You could read your class about the origins of St. Patrick's Day, or read a fun book while they work on these.


 Shamrock Number Line. Write numbers on shamrocks, and hide them around the classroom. Students then find them and put them in order on the number line. You could even do skip counting numbers.
Sight Word Matching.This is a super simple activity your students could do as part of a center, or a fast finisher activity. They just look for matching sight words and get some extra practice!


Shamrock Family. Send a shamrock home for your students to decorate with their families. They decorate the shamrock about why they are lucky to be a family. So sweet!


Prefix Rainbows. Add some color to your classroom with this rainbow activity, and help your students practice their prefixes!


Well, I hope you can use some of these fun ideas in your classroom. If you are looking for a cute little gift for your students, here are some pencil toppers you can download. Just get some cute St. Patrick's Day pencils like these or these, print and cut the toppers, and pass them out to your students.

Click Here to download

You can also download and print these cute bookmarks for your students to color.

Click Here to download

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I love, love, love children's books! This love started in college with my children's literature class and my amazing teacher, Dr. Elaine Byrd. She had a love for books, and shared that love with her students. She spent time during each class reading aloud to us. Through this I was introduced to so many fun children's books. Today I am linking up with Busy Bee's Activities to share some of my favorites that I used in my second grade classroom.

 STEPHANIE'S PONYTAIL
When Stephanie's classmates start copying her hairstyles, she starts wearing her hair in crazy ways and finally outsmarts the copycats. What a hilarious book. I love Robert Munsch.

CHRYSANTHEMUM
This is a great book for the beginning of the year and talking about students' names. Chrysanthemum goes to school and gets embarrassed about her unique, long, name. In the end she realizes to be proud of who she is.

THE EMPTY POT
This is such an amazing, touching story about the importance of telling the truth. Ping is a young Chinese boy who tells the truth in a difficult situation and is rewarded for his honesty. One of my favorites!

ISH
There are so many kids who feel like they have to be perfect in everything they do. In this story by Peter Reynolds, Ramon learns a valuable lesson that his artwork does not have to be perfect. It is such a cute story. I also love The Dot, also by Peter Reynolds.

I WANNA IGUANA
Alex really wants an iguana, so he writes a letter to his mom. They negotiate back and forth, until a decision is made. This makes a great intro to persuasive writing.


Some of my other favorites you should check out:
A Bad Case of Stripes
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon

I am so excited to be linking up with Focused on Fifth to bring you some great ideas for December. Each day for the first 12 days of December, there will be a different linkup with lots of ideas. I will be sharing today and again on the 10th. Here's the topic for today:

I have put together a round-up of some great activities to use in your class throughout December, and hopefully they will help spread a little holiday cheer.

1. GIVE THE GRINCH A HEART
This display from Create My Event would be fun to have up during the month of December. She used it as part of a Dr. Seuss party, but it would be great to use in December. Every time an act of service is done, you add a heart to the grinch. A great way to get kids in the spirit of the season.

Photo Source: www.createmyevent.com

2. SNOW SHOOTERS
These cool snow shooters come from Growing a Jeweled Rose and I think this could be fun for any age. You use a styrofoam cup and balloon to make your shooter, and then use cotton balls, pom poms, or crumpled paper to make it snow with your shooter. This could be a just-for-fun activity, or you could write something on the crumpled paper and do a getting-to-know-you activity, math problems, etc. This could be a great time!
3. SNOWBALL TOSS
To play this game, hang a wreath and put a large bowl on the other side. The goal is to get your snowflakes (marshmallows) through the wreath and into the bowl. Whoever gets the most is the winner.

Photo Courtesy of http://zachandcallie.blogspot.com.au/

4. SNOWMAN WRAP RACE
In this game, students race to wrap their classmate in toilet paper and put on a hat and scarf. The fastest team wins.

Found on Dixie Delights

5. DRAW A SNOWMAN
This is a fun activity for when you have a few extra minutes, or for a party. You just need white paper plates and pencils/markers/pens. Each person holds a paper plate on their head. When the caller gives the instructions, the players draw on their plate while it is on their head. At the end, everyone looks at their drawing. You could even vote to see whose is the best. Here are the instructions for the caller:

-Draw a line for the ground.
-Draw a large snowball for the base.
-Draw a medium snowball on top of the base.
-Draw a small snowball for the head.
-Draw a carrot nose.
-Draw two eyes and a mouth of dots.
-Draw a scarf at the neck.
-Draw two stick arms.
-Draw a top hat on the head.

The idea came from Cul-de-sac Cool

Welcome back! This month's theme for Books and Beyond is SNOW!! I am in the middle of getting ready to move across the country, so I didn't do a book study to go with this theme. I just thought I would give you ideas for books about snow to read to your students and snow-related classroom activities.

Here are five books that would be fun to read on a snowy day (or a day you wish was snowy).

1. THE SNOW GLOBE FAMILY
Oh, when will it snow again? wonders the little family who lives in the snow globe. They long for a swirling snowstorm—if only someone in the big family would pick up the snow globe and give it a great big shake.


2. THE STORY OF SNOW
How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Are no two snow crystals alike? These questions and more are answered in this visually stunning exploration of the science of snow. Perfect for reading on winter days, the book features photos of real snow crystals in their beautiful diversity. Snowflake-catching instructions are also included.


Find on Amazon



3. BUILDING AN IGLOO
A fascinating book about an Inuit father and son building an igloo. Building an Igloo explains that while the Inuit no longer live in igloos, the father and son in this book build igloos when they go hunting. 

Summary from Delightful Children's Books


4. TOO MANY MITTENS
This tale is about twin boys in the very cold state of Michigan. When one of them loses a red mitten, the whole town begins to bring them the ones they find, despite the real one’s quick reappearance. Dismayed by the amount of so many lost red mittens, the boys concoct a plan to help the mittens find their owners. 


Summary from Three Books a Night

5. SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY
From the time he was a small boy in Vermont, Wilson Bentley saw snowflakes as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystal. Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths: no two snowflakes are alike; and each one is startlingly beautiful. His story is gracefully told and brought to life in lovely woodcuts, giving children insight into a soul who had not only a scientist's vision and perseverance but a clear passion for the wonders of nature.

Found on Amazon

Now for the round-up of snow activities for the classroom:

1. SNOWFLAKE SYMMETRY
I found this idea on Simply Second Grade. She started by showing her class pictures of real snowflakes and discussing how they have six sides and are symmetrical. They searched for other symmetrical items around the classroom, and practiced drawing lines of symmetry on the real snowflake pictures.

To make the symmetrical snowflakes, cut out strips of blue paper and staple or glue together to form the snowflake shape. Then cut out pattern block shapes (a lot of schools have these as die-cuts). Students can put the shapes on their snowflakes in any pattern they want, but they must be symmetrical. I thought this was a really cute idea.



2. SNOWMAN EXPERIMENT
I have seen this on Pinterest, and I think it is a great activity to demonstrate matter. Make an ice snowman by filling balloons with water and then freezing. Then put it in your classroom and watch it melt. Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas has lots of details and pictures of what she did with her daughters.








3. SNOW GLOBE WRITING
This activity could be used in a variety of ways. You could use it as an activity to go along with the book Snow Globe Family, and have kids put their family inside the snow globe. Or they could put themselves inside the snow globe (you could even use pictures of them), and write about fun things they like to do in the snow. There are a few different options for how to do your snow globe, too. I like this one from Lessons With Laughter.

This is also a cute idea from First Grade Wow:



4. LIVE PENGUIN CAM
Ok, this is more of a penguin activity, but they are just too darn cute, I had to include them in this list! If you click on the link below, you can watch what the penguins are doing on the live webcam. You could read some penguin books before or while the kids are watching the penguins. You could also use this to go along with a penguin unit and learn all about penguins. Either way, I think your students would love it.

California Academy of Sciences Penguin Cam

5. SNOWMAN ORNAMENT
I love to make ornaments with my students that they can hang on their Christmas tree at home. I found this idea from Ideas by Jivey and I just think it is so cute. You would need clear ornaments, fake snow, pipe cleaners, pom poms, sticky googly eyes, and markers. This activity might be a little tricky to do with a large class, but you might want to just have the students put on the googly eyes, draw the nose and mouth, and pick out their pom poms. Then you can use a glue gun to glue the pom poms and pipe cleaner together.










What other books or activities do you like to use in the winter months? Leave a comment below!

I will be taking a few months off from Books and Beyond while I move and get settled in Illinois, but keep your eye out for future book club link-ups.

Time for my second installment of Books and Beyond. This month I thought it would be appropriate to look at a Thanksgiving book. The book I chose is Turkey Trouble, and this is such a fun story about a turkey who is trying to avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinner. He comes up with an idea to dress up like another animal so he won't get eaten. After many hilarious attempts, he finally comes up with a perfect disguise.

Enter below to win a copy of the book and a copy of my book study.


FINGER PUPPETS

These are cute finger puppets that you can cut out and make to retell the story. Black and white and color versions are included. Your students will love using these to tell Turkey's story.


FAVORITE PART
This is a quick worksheet for your students to draw their favorite part of the story and then write about it. It's pretty self explanatory, but with the way the turkey dresses up in the story, I think the drawings could get pretty entertaining.
MAKE UP A DISGUISE
On the page, your students can come up with their own disguise for Turkey. They then decorate the turkey. You can either have them color the turkey, or you could provide them with arts and crafts supplies to use.


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