5th Graders did such a fantastic job creating these op art paper cone drawings!!! I’m super proud of their hard work!!! Students LOVED it too and couldn’t believe it could be created using j…
Another project that I did two years ago, this dovetails with the 5th-6th study of ancient Greece. The kids viewed some examples of the...
Product Description Accent your classroom theme, encourage good behavior, create award, and so much more with these colorful cut-outs!
By Alison McKown of Just Add ConfettiGo! Go! It’s a party in Bumperton Hills! If your little ones love watching the popular children’s show Go! Go! Cory Carson on Netflix, then this is the party theme for you. Featuring Cory Carson and his pals, this celebration is full of easy and creative car-themed food and décor ideas that you will be able to recreate in a breeze.My sons love watching the show and following their favorite little orangecar, Cory Carson. Cory navigates the ups and downs of chi
I love learning about arrays because they are so visual which allows for a lot of really fun rectangular arrays activities and practice! I l...
We revisited character traits and combined it with a lesson on inferring this past week. Our class novel, Tuck Everlasting , is filled with vivid descriptions of the various characters that lend themselves to deep inferences. So I asked the students to think about a character that they connected with, and list 10 character traits that could be used to describe the character. (They used this chart that we had previously glued into our journals from Read, Write, Think) Once they had the list of character traits, the students had to list text evidence from the novel that supported their character trait inference, AND their own schema that led them to the inference. After the list was complete, the students did two things. First, they wrote a paragraph describing the character from the story using the character traits and the inferences. I had them use this form (which is from my Character Traits in 5 Days pack, but you can download for free here) to help them really keep organized. They also had to work to reference the text, direct quote, and list the schema to create a cohesive paragraph that adequately described the character. Then, each student was given a little man cut out. On it, they had to write the character trait in big letters. Under that, the direct quote and the background knowledge schema was written. This formed a visual representation of the paragraph.....that the kids really enjoyed making! The final product was pretty neat looking, and made a nice, standards-based bulletin board! How have you taught/reviewed character traits and inferring?
LEGO® party planning mamas, look no further! I’ve put together a handy-dandy (and dare I say ultimate) list of LEGO party games! There are so many fun ways to keep ...
Carson Dellosa Education Let's Explore Passports Cut-Outs, 36 Per Pack, 3 Packs | Add the perfect finishing touches to any room or display with Carson Dellosa's Let's Explore Passports Cut-Outs! Cut-outs are ideal for just about anything. Each passport measures 4 inches x 6 inches. Printed on durable card stock, these versatile, ready-to-use cut-outs are die-cut and reusable if laminated. With plenty of writing room, cut-outs can be used as desk or cubby tags, as invitations, postcards, or flash cards, for craft projects, games, and more. Check out other Let's Explore products to create a cohesive classroom theme. Education happens everywhere, and Carson Dellosa strives to provide the tools needed to inspire learning everywhere it happens. Each 36-piece set features an assortment of passport cut-outs in a variety of colors including navy, brown, tan, orange, teal, and olive green (6 per color). Sold as 3 packs for a total of 108 cut-outs.
10 LEGO PARTY FAVORS
It's always a pleasure to work with a super creative parent on any party. This past Saturday, we helped style a cute rock star themed birthday party for a little girl who was turning five. The mom had been planning on this party theme for a year. She had picked up the fun banners on clearance that coordinated with the whole theme of the event. Thrift stores also became excellent sources to pick up more party items. Like the fun cassette background to the cupcake table. Which was actually a duvet cover. The pillowcase was used as part of the centerpiece for the kid table. The pink polka dot table cover that the mom used for the cupcake table was another sheet. Cardboard paper amps were also thrift store finds. Vinyl records were placed on our glass cake stands and glittery purple ribbon created the perfect serving trays. Tying coordinating purple ribbon around the popcorn scoop dressed it up. The mom made a fun birthday sign which she placed in a black frame, as well as a coordinating number 5 which she placed above the cupcake table. We supplied the drum set, amp, mic and mic stand, guitar, and tambourines to help set the stage for this rocking fifth birthday party. The mom hung twinkle lights behind two black sheets and a silver tablecloth which she was able to pick up on clearance from Christmas! Feather boas, sparkly microphones, and fun glasses not only were great party favors, but also served as great photo props for when the kids sang up on the "stage". The birthday girl's mom made the cupcake wrappers and picked up cute colorful cupcakes from Sam's Club. We made star sugar cookies and iced them with edible glitter that the mom had also made. Tutorials can be found on the internet for making edible glitter. A simple recipe that consists of sugar, food coloring, and baking. A fun activity for the kids that attended was decorating their own guitar using magic markers and glitter glue. Yes, our creative mom painstakingly cut out twenty of those cardboard guitars herself. We provided the black glitter stars for the guitars.
STEM Bins for Elementary Students “I’m finished! What do I do now?” How many times during our teaching day do we hear these words from our students? Oftentimes, it is much too often, and students are provided a handful of the same options to keep them busy until our next transition. Sometimes students are instructed...
Égayez l'anniversaire de votre enfant avec ces 10 activités LEGO amusantes ! D'un BINGO LEGO à un défi de construction, ces idées ne manqueront pas de divertir les enfants. Préparez-vous pour une fête d'anniversaire que tout le monde aimera!
Alright folks, I don't know how I managed to let this epic super hero party post slip by the way side- but here it is! Fiiiiiinally- ...
Last year while I was perusing through the wonderful teaching blogs, I came across Teaching in Room 6's blog. She has SO many great ideas and resources for 5th grade. I was in need of an engaging Native American activity and she had one! I bought her Native American Tribe Research Report Project at her TPT store. Last year and this year, my students seemed to be a little overwhelmed when given the research report project packet. However, this year my students have it a little easier because I put together a Power Point with photos and video footage of last year's student projects and the Native American Museum. So they have a better idea of what the final product looks like. I must say that both last year and this year the kids were BEYOND excited to participate in this project. I like how the packet includes a calendar. I use the calendar to break up the project for my students. We set different due dates for the different components. I give my students one month to complete the project. The packet also lists the different Native American Tribes within the different regions. There are more than enough tribe listed and I don't allow students to research the same tribe. This ensures that everyone will be engaged and learn about many different tribes during our Native American Museum. They all get to choose their top 3 tribes. I haven't had to many issues with students not getting any of their top 3 choices. But we do have a discussion beforehand about the possibility that they may not get any of their choices. The packet includes extra credit options, such as, dressing up the day of the museum, making crafts in relation to their tribe, making dolls, etc. The majority of my students did make the extra credit activities. My 5th graders never cease to amaze me! Yesterday, we had our Native American Museum and it was a BIG success! They have been so excited all week to debut their exhibits. The students have worked hard for the past month researching, building a home, and making crafts, etc. for their project. I was overjoyed by how many parents and family members came to our museum to celebrate the wealth of knowledge my students gained! We also invited the administrators, 4th, and 5th grade classes to come and learn about all the different Native American Tribes across the U.S. It was great to see the parents not only heading over to their son or daughter's exhibit, but they made sure to visit every exhibit which made my students so happy! The 4th graders were adorable! They asked some great questions and commented on how "amazing" the projects were. The project was completed at home and I told my students that they didn't need to spend a lot of money to create their projects. I told them to think outside of the box and be creative. I know that some of the students received help from their parents and back in my earlier years of teaching that would've bothered me. However, I now feel that having their parents help them is a great bonding experience for them. They both learn about the tribe together and if they child isn't used to working on projects like this, they need someone to model and show them how to do things. Last year, I had a parent tell me how much she enjoyed working on the project with her son and how nice it was to spend quality time with him albeit learning something new. It put a huge smile on my face! If you have any social studies ideas make sure you link them up with Fifth in The Middles Social Studies Linky. It is great to see all the social studies projects being linked up! Now for some photos of this year and last years projects (I apologize for the amount of photos! It was just so hard to pick a few). I smudged out any names and faces to protect people's identities. This student used an old shirt to make her teepee. I love the doll she created! Another great home! This year I had quite a few students dress up! She put so much time into her project. I love her headdress and her crafts/dolls! This student brought in her tablet in which she had images on a slideshow?!?! Amazing...right?!?! Another headdress and a bow Love the totem pole in the front of this home. This home looked exactly like the photo she brought in! Again, very creative...no need to spend a ton of money. Super cute A doll made out of play dough! This teepee was made out of canvas and even had a canvas door cover! This house was made from an old basket! Another great example of a Native American home I like how this student made a scene and had two homes I loved how all the headdresses were so different! So much detail! Another student dressed in her attire. He did such a wonderful job with discussing his tribe! Made me one PROUD teacher! Love the colors! Getting creative with the letters. Lots of information and photos...even a replica purse Such great drawings! We decorated the hallways with totem poles they created. A poster one of my students made. Last Years Projects Love how she backed her information with construction paper. He made so many craft items! Very creative and it looks EXACTLY like the photograph. Full house! These 3rd graders were so intrigued! She made the headdress and her display board is beautiful! She made mortar and pestle out of construction paper! Love it! Another scene (definitely adds to the project) Lots of pop with the colors She made her teepee out of a paper towel and twigs. It looked great! It was a full house! Wow! She even constructed a basket out of the same material used for the home!!! A couple of long houses I know this was a long post! I'm just a proud teacher, what can I say!
With Finn's fascination of all things super hero...we knew it was time to gather all the super heros for one big day of action packed fun! Finn and his daddy delivered invitations in manilla envelopes marked "TOP SECRET" and addressed to each of the kids superhero name. Some of those in attendance were: The unsinkable Carson Brown The Incrdible Hulk "Hoggan" Boys The Kent "Clark" kids Wonder Boy "Boles" The high flying daredevil (this was for Finn's uncle Blake, who is a pilot and may be his #1 hero) Cat Girl and Wolverine (as to elude to Finn's cat loving aunt Tracy and very hairy uncle Micah) oh...and my personal favorite...Fat Man and Robin (for Finn's Grandpa and Nanny) among many others. We had a good laugh putting these together. To set the scene we took some of the many cardboard boxes from our garage and painted them gray. We then took black and yellow paint samples we had gathered from Home Depot and attached them to the boxes to create lights on our buildings. It was a simple and cheap way to create a cartoon city! Grandpa then ran his custom made slip n' slide under the tower of buildings. Some Super Heroes came flying in with their capes, but for those that didn't we had a super solution.... Upon arrival each each of the kids grabbed a bag and decorated their own superhero mask made from felt. We also took standard kitchen trash bags and cinched them to create capes in which the kids could decorate (many thanks to Aunt Tracy for coming up with that one!). It was so fun to watch the kids running around the yard all dressed up. Luckily Finn's Aunt Kindsday got a hold of him that day to play dress up. They gathered everything that they could from his room...and then Kindsay fashioned a SUPER "S" from our left over felt. I think he looked SUPER cute. Undies over the p.j.'s always a good look. My little Milla had fun getting into costume too. She is always all about the accessories. Each place setting held a water gun and that day each SUPER Hero got to be "Faster than a speeding bullet".... and.... This led to knocking over buildings in sheer delight... and a serious SUPER Hero stand off in a battle of tug-o-war on the slip in slide. Their strength amazed us all! :) They were also able to leap tall buildings in a single bound but decided it was more fun to knock them down. Like every Super Hero they also had to conquer their weaknesses. We had a kryptonite hunt where the kids gathered all the sparkly green rocks we had spray painted days earlier and hid. They had to be carefully contained in the kryptonite case but the kids did it with the greatest of ease. They also had to survive the rope swing and the custom made slide into the pool that grandpa built. as well as THE VOLCANO! Finn is currently AS equally obsessed with Volcanoes as Super Heros... so we knew that if we could find a way to incorporate one into the party we would make his day. Finn and his daddy spent time constructing the project and painting the volcano in the garage and by party time it was ready to explode. The kids all gathered around and waited for the diet coke and mento erruption. It was big smiles, squeels and excitement from them! ...followed by a "let's do that again" daddy! The day finished up with presents and Finn's very own capes! He actually got two which he puts to very good use. He is always wearing one of them wherever he goes. Lastly, what is a birthday without a cake? The Sweet Cheeks girls delivered big time for me on this one. I was so excited to see what they would come up with and they took the inspiration and ran with it! They made all of finn's cake dreams come true!! ...He could not stop talking about his cake or nibbling on it prior to candle time. :) Many thanks to everyone over there for being so awesome!! Many more wishes to come until next year!
It’s no secret that there are some little (& big) Star Wars fans in our house. And, with our two oldest Padawan turning 5 & 8 (with birthdays just 1 day apart), we decided they were finally ready for an “out of this galaxy” Star Wars birthday party! They were SO excited to share the […]
A full set of party printables for Lego Ninjago!
The ultimate collection of pirate party ideas! From ideas you can DIY to ideas you can buy, if you're planning a pirate party, these ideas are for you!
April is National Poetry Month, and what better time is there to teach and explore poetry with your students?!?! I love to spend the month of April having students read, write, and share poetry in our classroom. At the beginning of my poetry units each year, I find that my students are often intimidated by poetry, especially when it comes to writing it. Over the years I have tried to find the perfect activities to ease them into writing their own poems. One of my favorite activities is taking my students on a Haiku Hike!! Several years ago I found this book, Haiku Hike from Scholastic. The story and poems in this book were written by a class of 4th grade students. The idea behind the book is that the students in this class went on a nature walk, and instead of taking pictures of the different things they saw, they used the form of haiku to capture different moments and scenes in nature. I loved this idea so much that I decided to implement it in my own classroom. Here’s how it works... What is Haiku? Before you take students on a Haiku Hike, you will need to make sure that they are familiar with this poetic form. Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that is often used to describe nature or the seasons. Haiku is a three line poem that follows a specific pattern based on syllables: Line #1: 5 syllables Line #2: 7 syllables Line #3: 5 syllables I would suggest creating an anchor chart to discuss and display the elements of Haiku. Take a Hike! Once your students are familiar with Haiku, they are ready for their Haiku Hike. You could schedule a hike or nature walk as a mini field trip, but I simply take my students on a walk around the grounds of our school. Students take “field notes” throughout the hike. I ask them to take notes about what they see, hear, and feel, and encourage them to be as descriptive as possible. I also ask them to try to capture a moment in time or a scene in nature. Below is a page you can provide for students to record their field notes. Click HERE to download this FREEBIE!! Time to Write Once you return from your hike, it is time for students to turn their field notes into haiku. Ask them to write two to three poems based on their experiences and observations. They can write these drafts in a writer’s notebook or journal. Have students share their poems with you and their classmates for feedback. Then have them choose a final haiku to publish. Since students are using haiku to “capture” a scene or moment in time, you can have them use the Polaroid page below to record and illustrate their haiku. This page is also included in the free download!! These “snapshots” make a beautiful bulletin board for students to display their haiku!! This activity is the perfect way to ease students into writing their own haiku. It gets them outside to observe their environment. What better way to inspire nature themed poems, than going outdoors to explore?!?! If you are looking for more poetry activities, check out this blog post on my blog, Create Teach Share. You can also check out my Poetry Toolbox in my Teacher Shop!!
Did you know NERF stands for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam, as in what the bullets are made of. Did you know that Hasbro has a Nerf testing facility where it has recreated the most popular “Nerf …
Familiarize your elementary students to key areas in the school using this interactive and free first day of school scavenger hunt!