Don't Laugh at Me

Seriously.
Kindness Counts! Especially since it is the beginning of a new school year and we are working so hard to establish a positive and welcoming classroom climate that accepts all personalities and learning styles.

Do you...
*Have any students who wear braces?
*Have any students who wear glasses?
*Have students who wear hand-me down clothes?
*Have students who are embarrassed about their looks?
*Have students who are chosen last on the playground or at gym?
*Have any girls who are already commenting on their weight?
*Have any students who you think will be teased or bullied for something???
*Have any students with an I.E.P.?
*Have any students who have freckles or look just plain "different"?
(Check for all of the above for my sweet kiddos this year!)

Then, RUN! (don't walk) to your nearest book store or library for this book: Don't Laugh At Me by Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin. IT COMES WITH A CD!!!!

Not sure if it is worth the $19.95? Just listen to the video below.


Now that you have goosebumps and maybe even a tear (please tell us that we are not the only softies out there!!) you are ready to get the book and teach the lesson!

Here is how I used this book in my classroom:

First, I taught a mini-lesson about how good readers have vivid visualizations when they are reading.
If you teach younger students, I would read the lyrics aloud. Reread them. As you are reading them, have the students draw their visualizations. If you teach older students, pass out the lyrics and have them read independently or as a shared reading activity.

Let your kiddos use their crayons or markers and go to town!!!! Encourage them to go COLOR CRAZY to really illustrate their visualizations!

After we discussed THEIR visualizations, I introduced the book to them. As I read the story, I encouraged them pay attention to the words and their meaning. After reading "Dont Laugh at Me," we had a brief class discussion about the message of the book.
Some questions to ask:
-Why are the people in the story feeling pain?
-How do the words in the story relate to you?
-Have you ever felt the way the people mentioned in the song feel?


For the icing on the cake, I then played the video for them! They just loved it! :)

First Test of the School Year!

Ready to play a fun and cute prank on your new students?

Begin by putting the assessment on their desk.

When my students were at art today, I passed out these tests on their desks.

When they returned from art, they found "the test" on their desk.
I told my students that I was very sorry, but unfortunately I had to give them their first test, even though it was only their second day of school! I explained that it would be a true and false test. I would read one sentence at a time, repeat the sentence, and then the student would have to write "true" or "false."

By this time, I was getting lots of questions: "Is this for a grade?" and complaints "But you didn't tell us about this test!" and worries "What if I don't know anything?"

I reassured my students and told them although it is important that they do well, it is not for a grade. I encouraged them to try their best.

I then began! I read the first "test" question aloud.

1. Your teacher has two children.

After reading this sentence, I have some pretty confused looks. I reread the sentence, "Your teacher has two children." By now, the students are saying, "What? Huh? Hmmm???"

Still in all seriousness, I reminded the students to do their best, after all this is a test! I told them to write true or false on the line by number one. Now, completely confused, they wrote something down. I moved on.

2. Your teacher has a dog named Nugget, who is spoiled rotten.

By this time, they know. There are giggles, whispers, laughs and of course, I join them! By this time, I let the students in on my little joke.

They are taking a very official:

THEY LOVE IT!
So, we continue, in a playful manner this time, to take the test! I say several other sentences that are about me and either true or completely made up!
3. Your teacher is still friends with someone that she has known since kindgarten. (Marie- I know you are reading, thanks for this idea!!!)
4. Your teacher's favorite store to shop at is Target. (That would be true- Target you make a small fortune from me.)
5. Your teacher runs in the mornings before coming to school. (Glutton for punishment? Nope, I actually love working out in the morning.)
6. Your teacher does not like math. (False, I love math!!! I love making it FUN!)
7. Your teacher has a sister who is a teacher at this school. (Nicole, these kids truely think that we are sisters- is it the blond hair? Anyways, that is a FALSE!)
8. Your teacher's favorite TV show is American Idol. (Nope, never watched an episode. LOVE Amazing Race. Auditioned countless times. Literally. Still waiting for the phone call.)
9. Your teacher is a vegetarian and loves Chipotle. (I am an animal lover- True!)
AND so on...you get the jist :)

The students LOVE this activity because it is sneaky! They really feel like you *got them!* They also love learning about their teacher! (Why is it so exciting for them to learn our first names? Or our favorite TV show???)

When you are done reading your sentences have students switch papers. Reread each sentence and explain the correct answer, letting your students learn more about you. They will also have a blast grading each others papers! :) Something about using red teacher pens and making those check marks and smiley faces.

You can have the student then make their OWN true/false statements! Have each student write 5 sentences, including facts about themselves and also things that are made up. Then, each student can read their sentences to the class and the class can decide if they are true of false.

Download the file from Google Docs here: Teacher Test
(Freebie offered under Scrappin Doodle license #35364)

Happy test taking!

Wild About Learning!

Why do I make things so difficult sometimes? I spent so much time thinking about a theme to use this year in my classroom and finally decided with Dr. Seuss- mainly because I love quotes and I was going to incorporate those famous Seuss quotes into my classroom. However, after spending many hours looking and how all you other bloggers are doing an animal print/jungle theme....I couldn't resist!

I literally returned over a hundred dollars worth of Seuss supplies that I bought when I thought I was using that theme. It is not fun waiting in the return lines of Dollar Tree, Michael's, Joanne's, and Target. However, I am happy to say that I am GOING WILD with the animal print theme! I love it- especially being able to use my favorite colors- purple and pink!- in a fun way.

So for all you wild things who are doing an animal print theme this year, this post is geared for you!

Yesterday I made a cheap sign to hang up in my classroom.


Here's how!

I printed the phrase I wanted in one of my favorite fonts- much cheaper than the letters that you buy at the teacher store! And since the black color of the font goes with the theme, I did not have to worry about using color ink to print!

Wild About Learning Poster (download through Google Docs)

I found this awesome animal print wrapping paper for $3.99 at Party City! I had a ton of paper left over after I finished this banner.

I measured how big I wanted the paper and spaced the letters out before I taped them down.

 After realizing that my school was out of white butcher paper, I used the BACK of the wrapping paper for the white background.

 I then took a little bit of pink tempura paint (you can buy at any craft store for about $2.00) and used a foam brush to outline the border.

This entire project only took 35 minutes!!!

The longest part of the project was cutting the letters out! To save some time on this part, you don't even need to carefully cut out the letters and go in between the white space of the letter "A," for example. I found that the white paper of the letters and the white background blended together.

You can use this idea for ANY theme or colors that you have going on in your classroom. Just go look for some wrapping paper and inspiration will strike! :)

I hope you are inspired to make a cheap and easy banner for your classroom!!

Back to School Teacher Gift

Are you gearing up for the beginning of the new school year? Are you searching high and low for all of those last minute school supplies? Or, are you welcoming a new staff member or a student teacher? If so, I came across the cutest teacher gift over at eighteen25 and decided to make one of my own for my child's new teacher. All you need is an inexpensive bead organizer from your local craft store, some colorful desk items (all of which came from the Dollar Tree and Walmart), mini hand sanitizer, and any other cutesy additions you can think of! I used leftover pieces of scrapbook paper, ribbon, and felt flowers to decorate the top of the container:

Next came the fun part...stuffing all the little compartments!

What a wonderful way to bring a smile to someone's face!



Cutesy Classroom Signs

Melissa and I have been going crazy with re-decorating our classrooms! The fabric, the paint, the bins...oh my! All of these changes have made me want to change everything! So, I have been going crazy with my recent purchase on Scrap Delicious! I just had to make some cute new signs for my classroom! 

First change…a new poster for our home/school connection frames! As mentioned in an earlier post, I ask each family to send in a photo the first week of school. We frame the pictures and keep them on display as a reminder that home and school are connected!

Here’s a cute printable if you decide to do the idea, too (my original is soooo not cute!!). This would also make a nice sign to have outside your door during parent teacher conferences. Click here to download the sign!
I have also been making some of my old posters into new mini versions (to save space and add some cuteness!!). Click here to download the signs below. You can also head to Oh' Boy 4th Grade to see her super cute classroom signs like the ones below plus a whole lot more!
             
To organize my weekly lesson activities, I put all of the supplies I need into bins according to the day of the week. Here are some labels if you do the same! Click here to download them.

Lastly, here are some labels for your spelling or vocabulary words! Click here to download them.
                

TpT Sale Extended

All of our TpT products will continue to be 20% off through August 6th. 

Be sure to to enter the coupon code B1T1S before checking out to get an

additional 10% off your total!!

Classroom Promise

How do you establish a safe and welcoming classroom climate at the same time you teach your rules, procedures, and daily routines for your students? The beginning of the year is such a stressful time (I feel like I talk nonstop ALL DAY that first week) because we are modeling the behaviors we want students to follow for the entire year and also trying to reinforce the positive behaviors we are observing. Here is one of my favorite ways to engage students in creating a welcoming classroom climate at the beginning of the year:  we write a promise to each other!


In the past years I have called this a pledge, a mission statement, classroom rules, our motto...I am going with promise this year! All kids have schema about a promise! We begin by having a serious :) discussion about why we are at school and the responsibilities of the students and the teachers. While working in cooperative groups, I give students the opportunity to talk about what will make our classroom a fun place for all students to feel safe, smart, and special. Yes, I use the three "S" words when explaining it to them! What does a special group of students look like when they are walking in the hallway? What does a smart group of readers look like when it is independent reading time? How can each student feel safe every day as they come to school to learn and have fun? Each group shares their ideas about what a welcoming classroom climate looks and sounds like by role playing, presenting an illustration, or just talking about what they came up with as a group. 


I then read several short stories with the same theme-demonstrate good character and follow through on your promises! One of my favorites, especially since I love Dr. Seuss, is Horton Hatches the Egg. In this heart-warming book, an elephant named Horton is tricked by Mayzie, a lazy bird, into sitting on her nest while she is resting on a sunny beach. But because Horton gave his word to Mayzie he faithfully sits on the precious egg through a thunderstorm, sleet, and snow! He remains faithful even when he is ridiculed by friends and when hunters aim their rifles at his heart. Horton faithfully repeats the mantra, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful one hundred percent!”

This story encourages children to always give 100 percent, follow through on their promises and aspirations, and face their fears (great for adults, too, huh?). We also discuss the importance of keeping promises and demonstrating good character even when the teacher is not watching, when there is a substitute, or when we are in another classroom. This book, along with so many other Dr. Seuss books, addresses so many “life lessons!” I love it!

After reading, discussing, and working together, I finally introduce the promise posters. As you can see, I made them much cuter over the summer! I would describe these as our "rules" to families at Curriculum Night.

We promise to:

Have positive attitudes

Listen when others are talking and raise our hands when we have something to say

Love learning

Show respect

Make smart choices

((((((((((I had to take a picture of these in my kitchen because I could not get into my classroom yet!)))))))

We hold a very special ceremony for the signing of our promise to each other. When I mean special, I am referring to music playing in the background and some cookies to munch on. :) Sugar and tunes make it pretty special for little ones- that is why we love 'em! We may or may not hold an official pinky promise as well.

One idea is to hang the promise posters with jazzed up clothespins (see below!). I got the idea to display them like so through a pinterest picture on this website: Children Inspired. I also noticed that Mrs. Lamb has her own version (and some printables!) with manners- check out her awesome post!

You can also place pictures of your students FOLLOWING THE PROMISE!! next to the promise posters. Talk about some positive reinforcement! Do you see a student smiling, happy, so excited to be reading a book or doing a math activity? CLICK! TAKE A PIC! POST IT!!! They will love it! You will love it!

You can change the student pictures throughout the school year to give each child a turn to be featured. :)

So, on to the cute clothespin idea!

I just found another way to display pictures and student work- using cute clothespins! Check out our inspiration:  Welcome to Room 36! Such a cute teaching blog! We love it!

All you need is Mod Podge, clothespins, glitter, and a brush!

Glue and glitter, it's that easy!

Nugget looks pretty cute if you ask me! Yes, it is Christmas and yes, he gets lots of presents to open.

If you are interested, find our Classroom Promise on TpT:

Speaking of promises...

what promises did you make this summer (to yourself, to your family, or to anyone!!)

More specifically, what promise did you make and KEEP this summer?? :)

The first one to share will score this copy for free! (Just be sure to leave your email address!)

Even if you are not the first to comment, we still want to hear from you! It makes us happy!

Oh and one last note...DR. SEUSS was the inspiration for the READ letters that I created in the last post. Congrats Megan, who commented, "Dr. Seuss? The Cat in the Hat?" You got it!

Megan, send us an email so we can give you your freebie! :)