Go Bananas with These Freebies

We've been off to a great start with our busy little monkeys this school year!  But...there's no monkey business going on in our classrooms!  Melissa and I have both gone bananas with some monkey ideas. 

Before starting their first writing piece of the school year, Melissa's class brainstormed why third grade was serious business...homework almost every night, responsiblities of filling out assignment notebooks, learning new material...the list can go on and on!  The students then used these ideas to write why they were serious about learning.

She then took the students outside and took a picture of each one hanging on the monkey bars and added the following bulletin board headers for a finished project that is perfect for her upcoming Parent Night:

Don't Monkey Around: We're Serious About Learning can be downloaded on Google Docs by clicking the file name!

I also used the no monkey business theme to reinforce the importance of following our classroom rules.  After spending a few days talking about Above the Line Behaviors, Below the Line Behaviors, and Bottom Line Behaviors I introduced the phrase "Monkey Business" and we talked about what that meant and what that type of behavior would look like.  Boy, did they have fun showing me the types of behaviors they should not be doing!  We talked about making good choices when it comes to our behavior and we brainstormed a list of the good behavior choices they could make each day. 

I then had them choose 3 of those behaviors to write in this irresistably cute pre-writing notebook-a monkey napkin (purchased at the Dollar Tree) with 4 pieces of paper stapled inside. 

Each child then took their pre-writing notes and put them into a paragraph form on the sheet below:

Finally, we added this adorable monkey paper plate (also found at the Dollar Tree!) for a published piece that is sure to make any teacher go bananas over their wonderful writing!

 

Fundraising Fun!

School is in full swing…so is marathon training! (Missed the first post? Click here!)



I ran my 18 miler the first (FULL!) week of school, on the beautiful Chicago Lakefront path. We have our 20 MILE run THIS SATURDAY!! I am nervous, scared, excited, and currently just finished eating a plate full of spaghetti to efficiently “carb load” a few days before the long run. 20 miles is far! I mean…I am about 20 miles ROUND TRIP to school! I can’t believe I will be running that distance!!!

Training has been TOUGH this summer- it has been so hot and humid. However, I will never forget what one of my coaches said to me on my 16 mile “hilly course” run. I was at the 14 mile mark and was DONE! I mentally and physically was just exhausted…and complained about how hard it was to my coach. She told me “Chemo is hard.” Such simple words, but they really touched me. In fact, I continue to think about those words as I am nearing the end of my training.


Without a doubt, I would not have had the inspiration and motivation to train or fundraise without the support of the Team in Training staff. I tell everyone who will listen- these are some of the best people around!

We are so honored to make this post! Please read about our fundraising opportunity below!


Of course, you do not have to purchase something to donate. You can always donate the LLS home page or my personal fundraising page to donate as well.



I love LLS because over 75% of donations go directly towards cancer research, patient services, public health education, and professional education. Check out the complete breakdown here.

Learn more about the LLS and the Team in Training Program by watching this short video:

Click here to visit our TpT page, make a purchase, and be a hero!!!



Thanks for your support!

Back to School Bash!

Have you bought our Back to School Bash on TpT? If so, please make sure to redownload the file. We have added several new ideas to the file!

Here are some of the new additions:

A Transportation List

The Back to School Bash includes a Powerpoint file of the posters. You can customize what you want your transportation posters to say! All you do is write each student’s name on a clothespin and then put their clothespin on the appropriate transportation list.

Specials Schedule Posters

The Back to School Bash includes a Powerpoint file of the posters. You can customize what specials you want to include in your posters!

 

Birthday Celebration Bulletin Board Display

The Back to School Bash includes a Powerpoint file of the these posters. You can add the birthdays of the students in your class.

 

(The owls that are shown in this picture, are from a previous post: Whoooo’s a Good Looking Kid?)

 

We still have our favorites that we have been using with our students this week, including the Teacher/Student Venn Diagram and the “What Smart am I?” lesson.

The Teacher/Student Venn Diagram is a fun, interactive way to learn about student and teacher responsibilities in a brand new classroom with a brand new teacher! Students make a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the role of the teacher and the student!

Nicole and I both displayed ours differently!

Super Smart Students: Celebrating Our Smarts!

The posters in our files used to look like this:

and now they look like this:

This lesson is inspired by Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor from Harvard University. He developed the Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory in 1983.

Gardner believes each person has their own unique profile of the 9 intelligences (8 are described in this lesson) and no two people are the same!

This lesson shows students that we are all smart...in our own special way!

I place all the posters on butcher paper and keep this up all year long as a bulletin board in my classroom. I actually hear students say, "I am people smart" and "I am self smart so I want to work by myself!" I also show this to the parents at Curriculum Night and explain how I differentiate my lessons based on the needs of my students.

 

Click HERE to purchase the file on TpT.

We hope that you are enjoying the start to your school year!

We are hoping that you are enjoying your day off today!