Parent Volunteer Ice Cream Gift

I have wonderful classroom volunteers and I wanted to make them something that they could enjoy with their family! I found this awesome Idea at Ice Cream Themed Parent Volunteer Gift By Primarily Speaking. I give her full credit for the idea and the printable she provided! 

This was an extremely easy basket to put together. I thought of all the yummy treats I like to enjoy on my ice cream and I included them all into one container! Put a bow and a flower on the top and you are done! 

Oh, the Places I'll Go

I found this wonderful activity on TPT and I loved it so much I just had to do it with my class. I bought the activity at Miss 5th TPT Page. 

As a class we read the story Oh, the Places You'll Go. Then we broke the questions up and the students had to  brainstorm, write a rough draft, edit their work, then they were able to write in a fancy black pen on their final copies. 

Once the students had their writing completed they were able to fold and glue their balloons together. They had to be careful to make sure everything lined up correctly. 

Once everything was glued we were able to add the basket on the bottom. I used regular ribbon and a whole punch to attach the basket to the balloon. 

This was an extremely fun activity for the students and I know I will definitely be doing it next year!  

Puppet Pals: An Electronic Puppet Show

Puppet Pals is a wonderful app that I purchased for my personal IPad! It is awesome! The students are able to write scripts with a group, then use the IPad to act out their story. The students have absolutely loved this app! They can even put themselves in the puppet show. We take their picture and they become part of the show! Once the students have recorded their electronic puppet show, I upload it to our classroom youtube account and we make sure we show the class and send the link to the parents! 

Here are some of the examples that my class has done. We have done many puppet shows, but many of them have students in them. I am only sharing links to the shows that do not have the students faces in them. 

Example 1
Example 2

Math Spirals

Today my kiddos used math to create these awesome looking spirals! 

Step 1: Give the students a circle numbered 1-18 with a star at the top. 

Step 2: Have the students pick what number they would like to count by. If they pick 2's then they start at the star and draw a line from the star to the 2. Then they will draw a line from the 2 to 4. You continue you around and around the circle until your straight line meets back up with the star. The students could pick any number to count by from 1-9. They need to do one number at a time. If they started with 2, once they get back to the star, they could then pick to count by a different number. It sounds complicated, but once the students and I completed one together, they were good to go! 

Step 3: Use a straight edge and start designing! 

Step 4: Cut and color your math creation! 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Unit

At the end of the school year I love doing our unit on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Everyday we read from the book and the students work on activities that follow along with the chapters. As I am reading I have my wax warmer on and our room smells like CHOCOLATE! Thank you to Yankee Candle for having a chocolate cake wax! The first day I had the warmer on the kiddos could not figure out why they could smell chocolate while I was reading. Once they figured out that I had the scent in our classroom on purpose one of the students said, " Did you want us to experience what Charlie experiences everyday? We can smell the chocolate, but we can't have any of it!" 
That is not what I was originally thinking, but it was an awesome thought! 

During this unit I put many of the activities into a packet and I allow the students to decorate the cover. This allows them to be creative and show me what they are picturing as I am reading. Some of the covers are well thought out and you can tell they are truly taking pride in making their cover their own. 

Fraction Flags

Today the kiddos had the opportunity to play with fractions and make a cool flag to represent their table group. 

The students were given the directions that they had to pick a fraction. They had to work together with their table group to cut and create their flag. They also had to create a "crest" that had their table number on it. This activity gave the students an opportunity to work on their group work skills. They had to plan, talk, and agree on what they were all going to do. I set them free and did not give any guidance. I wanted to see how they would problem solve and be able to get the activity completed. Some students chose to fold paper, some chose to measure with rulers. It was awesome to see how every group approached this project in a different way. The end results turned out very neat and they are beyond excited to have them hanging in front of their desks. 

Here are pictures of the students working on their flags:

Here are the finished projects:

Motivation Letters

My students will be taking their first SOL Tests this week and I know many of them are nervous. I wanted to try and calm their nerves and let them know they are going to get though this! I hand wrote each of them a letter that they took home with them today. In their individual letters I let them know how proud I am of them, to try their best, and that they are awesome and amazing no matter how well they do! 

Testing Treats

Bring on the testing! 

This week my students will start taking their standardized tests! This is the first time that these kiddos will have to sit and take these exams. It can be extremely stressful! Sometimes after working hard it is nice to have a treat. I am very excited to give these to my students and I know they will all do their best!