We Broke Our Funny Bone!

In what other profession can you come to school with a sock on your arm (made to appear like a cast!) and fool everyone into thinking that you broke your bone???


Only TEACHING!!! And, yes, teaching is also the only profession where you can legitimately wear a SpongeBob t-shirt on SpongeBob day!

I was reading the April issue of Family Fun magazine, where there were a ton of cute ideas for April Fool’s day pranks. Even though April Fool’s Day is on Sunday, I could not resist this cute prank!


I followed the directions step by step- covered two paper towel rolls with plastic baggies and plastic wrap to create the cast form, slid the tube sock over the form, and covered it with glue. For more detailed direction, click here.



When the students walked into class this morning, they were immediately asking what happened to my arm. I tragically explained that while walking my dog yesterday night, I fell into a crack on the sidewalk and broke my wrist. If only my shoe laces were tied!!! I had to be rushed to the emergency room where the doctors immediately took an X-ray and put my arm in a cast.
Just devastating.

 
My fan club was very sympathetic and signed my cast with their well wishes. They were very careful not to press down too much on my sock cast. Anybody who thought that my cast was fake sure changed their mind when they went to go sign it- “Oh yeah, this feels exactly like how my cast did” or “Wow, you must be in a lot of pain with this cast on.”

I got lots of hugs, cards, and letters. Some of the other teachers even thought my cast was real! (And I am NOT fooling with that one!!!)

After lunch, I broke the news to my students, Happy (EARLY!) April Fool’s Day!!!! There were lots of confused looks until I took the cast (sock!) off my arm! They couldn’t believe it!!! They really were shocked! I showed them the article in the magazine and explained how I made the cast- they were very impressed!  
I even kept my cast for a souvenir!


All you moms and dads out there- maybe you can get out some housework and weekend chores by this cute little prank!

If putting a cast on your arm is not your thing…try baking some brownies for your kiddos. We post about this last year, too!


Grab a bunch of brown construction paper and die cut a batchful of upper and lowercase E's. Put them in a baking pan, cover with aluminum foil and...wah-lah!! Freshly baked "brown E's"!!



OK, you probably saw that one coming but, believe me, a classroom of little kiddos won't!!

Have kids of your own at home?

Leave the pan on the counter so your own little sweeties can get in on the foolin', too!

Or should I say, Brown E’s?????

Have a great weekend and Happy April Fool’s Day!

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Me…

Here are the 674 reasons we love…..(Insert school name here)!!

Nicole helped make this bulletin board in our school hallway. The number represents the people in our school- staff and students combined! 

The hallway display had a picture of each staff member and all the teachers with their class! The kids love looking at it when we are walking in the hallway- so do the adults!


That bulletin board inspired me to finally take down my February/Love theme that I had going on for my bulletin board!!

Here is how I added a little twist for my students:
Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Me! Here are the reasons I love being me!








 
I love what this student wrote:
"Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Me! Here are the reasons I love being me! First of all, even though my parents say I'm spoiled, I'm glad I have alot of toys and video games because when I'm home, I'm never bored. Second, I'm lucky that I have a dog because I'm an only child, so my dog keeps me company! Third, I love my family because they are always there for me. Me and my family might not always get along, but if you think about it, they're the only ones there, excluding my friends. I love being me!!"
I LOVE IT!!!!


My favorite part about this student's writing:
"I got friends, family, clothes, food, a house, and water. This is a perfect life for me."
SHE GOT THE HEART OF THE LESSON!!! :)
 

You can purchase the bulletin board posters from our TpT store for $1.50. Click here.

Enjoy the rest of your night!

Reading Raffle: Student Incentives for March!

Looking for a fun way to motivate your students during independent or guided reading? Do your students need a little motivation to stay on-task during literacy centers? Is everyone (including the teacher!) counting down the days (hours) to spring break?

What better way to motivate your students than to hold a READING RAFFLE???? I recently used my Scholastic bonus points towards over 50 free books- some for our leveled classroom library and some for the Reading Raffle. (If you don’t have any bonus points, try asking your students’ parents for donations!) I first decorated one of our tables with a shamrock theme and displayed some of the books that I ordered with my bonus points. I made sure to gather books of various reading levels and genres so that all my students would find books that they would be interested in winning.


When my students were engaged with their independent reading, writing thoughtfully in their reader’s notebook, and participating during our guided reading group discussions, I handed them a Reading Raffle Ticket. Download the Reading Raffle Tickets from Google Docs here!

The students put their raffle ticket inside the bucket of the book they were most interested in winning. Some students quickly discovered that some of the buckets only had a few raffle tickets and realized they would have a greater chance of winning that book! (GREAT lesson on probability, right??) We will hold or official drawing on the Friday before St. Patrick’s Day!

 

In the past, we have used this Reading Raffle idea as part of our Dr. Seuss celebration in March. We host a Bookworm Party in celebration of Dr. Seuss~ you can find more info about the Bookworm Party here. (on TpT)

What to do with the students who are not winners? Well, you can use that opportunity to teach a life lesson- you will not always win the lottery no matter how lucky you think you are OR you can make these cute little crafts for everyone:
 

The tags can be attached to some candy wrapped in gold foil or also attached to a pencil.
You can get the St. Patrick’s Day tags for free at our TpT store: St. Patrick’s Day
    

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Test-Taking Confidence Boosters

Well, it's that time of year for state testing!  Where we live, it's the 3rd through 5th graders who are getting ready to show off all they know.  Their #2 pencils are sharp, their brains are full, and they are ready to rock their test!  My daughter and her class are getting ready to start their testing this week and that got me thinking...what could her and I make for her class that would motivate them to try their best and bring a smile to their face during the upcoming week?  That's when the Testing Survival Kit came to mind.

My daughter and I had so much fun crafting together!  This was also a great opportunity for me to talk with her about doing nice things for others.  Let me tell you, she is so excited to bring the Testing Survival Kit to school tomorrow! Although we put this together for the state testing, you can give any of these items to your students prior to a test or sneak them into your own child's lunch box as a little "good-luck" wish. 

Here are the encouraging goodies for each day of testing:

Day 1:  Motivational Water Bottles

and=

adorable "you can do it" water bottles!

Click the picture for the water bottle printable (and many other cute ideas) from Dots-n-Spots. 

Thanks for the cute idea, Becky! 

 Day 2:  "Smart Cookie" Treats

We used a 1 7/8 inch scalloped paper punch to cut the "You're one smart cookie!" messages, added a cookie to a small baggie, closed it with a piece of ribbon, and hot glued the message to the knot.

  

   

  

Day 3:  Brain Boosting Vitamins

Thanks to Pinterest, I found these adorable Hershey Kiss labels on

Sweet Coconut Lime:

My daughter and I followed her great tutorial and added the candy to a Mason Jar.  Finally, we attached a label and Dr. Hershey's Brain Boosting Prescription!

Day 4:  Smartie Pants

This idea has been done before, but it was so much fun to put them together with my own little test-taker!  She was excited to {carefully} use the paper cutter to cut 2.5 x 3.5 inch pieces of cardstock and I hot glued the candy to the bottom. 

Next, we cut the messages using a 2 x 2 inch round paper punch.  When using punches to cut something you've printed, put the punch upside-down so you can see the image you are cutting.

 We glued the messages to the cards and added a pair of pants for some extra cuteness.  I have an old-school Sizzix machine (that's where I got the overalls), however, you could simply cut a pair of pants out of scrapbook paper.

After the brain-boosting goodies were packed up and the hot glue gun was unplugged, I finally sat down for a sweet treat with my own smart little cookies! 

Click here to download the printables for the Testing Survival Kit:

Arriving at school with a big, huge smile on-ready to drop off the Testing Survival Kit!!
If you are interested making a super cute bulletin board with the Smart Little Cookies theme, check out our very first post. Our Smart Little Cookie Lesson (on TpT) includes a "Top Secret" note to the parents, bulletin board headers, and writing the ingredients for a smart little cookie student!

Check out how Kerri and Lindsay from Teacher Bits and Bobs created her super cute bulletin board:

Amanda, from One Extra Degree, also created a super cute Smart Cookie bulletin board! Check out hers: One Extra Degree.