Thank You Veterans

This year for Veteran's Day my teammate told me about a neat remembrance project that she does in her classroom... and I wanted to add it to my classroom as well.  Basically you take a long piece of white construction paper, and attach the red/blue strips.  I labeled the strips in alphabetical order: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy and gave out star stickers to my class to stick in the category of someone in their lives (grandparents, uncles, dads, friend's dad) that they know who have served our country.  The kids that wanted to share out loud full class did so, but not everyone wanted to speak aloud - which is where the stars came in.  Some kids only had one star, but some had multiple ones.  In my own life I was able to stick stars onto Air Force (grandpa and uncle), Army (grandpa), and Marines (nephew).  We also watched the Flocabulary video of Veterans Day with our school membership.  That was pretty powerful.  How do you celebrate Veterans Day?  

The Great Cookie Election

I decided to keep the politics out of my classroom during the election, but I still wanted to show the process of the electoral college though, so I hosted the Great Cookie Election on Election day.  It was super simple, and I definitely want to remember this for the future.  

First up - I picked up two kinds of cookies from the store: 

Then I wrote out all 50 states on little slips of paper, and put them all on the back table in my classroom.  Each child chose a state they would represent and chose that ballot.  With the remaining ballots, I asked for volunteers and they were quickly picked up.  The students tasted both cookies and had to come to a decision for what cookie should win the vote.  

The kids wrote their choice on their ballot and turned them into the basket.  It was a secret ballot.  

I wanted the kids to understand how each state had a certain amount of points, we had a quick discussion about population (keeping it very simple), and I posted a google image map of the states and EC votes on my projector.  Then the kids got out their whiteboards or a piece of binder paper to do some math.  The goal was 270 points to win.  I also kept track on the board.  

I would reach into the basket, choose a state, the kids would consult the map and find the corresponding point value, and then I would tell them which cookie got the point.  They would add, and every so often I would ask for an update on my board.  Chips Ahoy won by a slight margin.  I really think the kids were able to then understand the election.  

Turkey Art

I like to remind my students to be thankful for the everyday constants in their lives.  Some years we make mini books, and I give them a couple of minutes every day to brainstorm gigantic lists.  This year I decided to pass out a Melonheadz clip art freebie and they used it to brainstorm turkey feathers.  It was such a nice display the past couple weeks of school, students were reading other papers, and wanting to add to their own thankful turkey feathers.  

I'm thankful for MelonHeadz and all the freebies on her blog.  Her freebies were definitely my jumping off place when I started creating 2 years ago.  

I know it's been a while - almost a full month since I last posted, but this past week I finally remembered to take pictures of everything we have been up to lately.  Stay tuned over the next week as I post everything.  :)  

Hope you had a great week!

Student Motivation: Using the Seasons

It's Saturday already?  It's been a crazy busy week.  Nothing like starting 2nd trimester off with a bang. 

This week has been a ton of fun - but the fun was also academic.  That's my student motivation today as I link up with Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching.  

For example, yesterday my students completed Candy Corn Math to change it up a bit.  

We used Fifth in the Middle's math activity.  I highly recommend it!  It got them working in groups - having that "Math Talk" while they estimated, measured, compared, graphed, surveyed, and created patterns.  It was so much fun!  It took my 4th graders about an hour to tackle the entire thing.  

The prep was pretty easy - I just picked up a big bag of candy corn - and put 1/3 of a cup into a snack size plastic bag.  It easily made 8 bags.  Then the class formed groups of 4, and went to it.  I realized that my kiddos completely had forgot about how to set up a graph, so we had to do that part together... channelling the primary teacher in me.

I love to incorporate the seasons into my classroom.  I hope you have a great day!    

Five for Friday - Owl Pellets, Spiderwebs, and the Pumpkin Patch

5 random things about my week...  Let's see...

Today we tackled Owl Pellets in class - well, really outside...  

The weather was marvelous.  Same type of set up as last year - each group had a plate (I chose foam since adults were spraying water on them), a bone bowl, gloves, tweezers (Big Lots has a 2 pack for $1), toothpick, and this year I brought wooden skewers from home.  I put down butcher paper, and the kids wanted to sit boys vs. girls.  When they were completely done, they got a snack size plastic bag and separated out the bone bowl with their partner.  Then they headed inside to fill in Jivey's Owl Pellet Dissection worksheet.  It was so cool and gross at the same time!   

 This week we had our parent art docent come in and present a lesson about art in nature.  She had a powerpoint that she shared with the class with different pictures of spiderwebs.  Some had snow on them, some had rain, they all had different designs.  Then she walked them through creating their own webs.  It totally ties into reading Charlotte's Web and Halloween...  

The kids each got a square of card stock, and she had them take a ruler to draw perpendicular lines with a sharpie.  Then she had them go through the intersecting point and draw 2 additional lines.  The next step had them drawing "valleys" starting at the outside of the square making connectors between the main straight lines of the web.  From there, once the web was complete, she had them take 2 colors and create an AB pattern going around.  The last step was optional, but if they wanted to they could draw a small spider on the web and add googley eyes.  The kids loved the project!    

Number 3 is easy... my preschooler had his first official field trip to the pumpkin patch today.  Since I was up to my eyeballs in owl pellets my husband got to chaperone.  

Lucky him!  His shirt is so cute - he actually made it in class with his teacher.  They tie dyed the candy corn shirts specifically for this field trip.  S is so proud of it!  

What else?  Today was a minimum day to work on report cards and I actually FINISHED!  We always have the afternoon to get it done, but I never actually get it done on time during the day... it usually takes me into the next week.  Somehow miraculously I did this year.  Yay!  It being the end of the trimester - I will completely enjoy this random weekend with no grading!!  :)  In other classroom news - I totally fell today.  Tripped over a backpack during prep and went down.  OUCH!  Got a beautiful bruise that has formed...  

Last up I wanted to give a shout out to Fifth in the Middle.  That girl is now celebrating 1,000 followers over on TPT.  Make sure to go enter!   

Well, I'm linking all of this up to Doodlebugs.  I hope you had a great week too!  

An Autumn Treat

Last year I found this little picture floating around on Pinterest.   

It comes from the website Gracious Rain.  I thought it would be the perfect little treat to bring into the classroom on the first day of Autumn.  
Now it has become a tradition - even with the beginning of Autumn falling on a weekend - I still had to buy the supplies to make them for my class.
I promise I did have everything ready to make them yesterday, but with my monster migraine, and the normal crazy Mondayness (I know, not a word) of it all - well it didn't happen.  
So I surprised my kiddos this morning with them for a recess treat.

For my class of 32 I bought:
*2 boxes of Pop'ems Glazed Donut Holes 
*a handful of pretzel sticks - one per kid
*chocolate frosting (with a spoon to help dip the donut in)
*chocolate sprinkles
*a container of paper cupcake wrappers to hold them until I gave them out

It's easy steps and it goes fast to assemble:
Step one: Put a tad of chocolate frosting on one end of the donut hole.
Step 2: Dab the chocolate frosting end side into the chocolate sprinkles.  Tap a couple of times so the chocolate side isn't sticky anymore.  
Step 3: Stick a pretzel stick into the sprinkle side
Step 4: Place inside a paper cupcake wrapper, and start all over again.  
It was easy, cheap, and the kids loved it.  If you make extras, make sure you share with your teammates and the office staff - they appreciate it too!
Happy Autumn!     

Autumn Activities mentioned by YOU

1. 
   
   
   Once again - YOU are so smart!  Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me.  
   I wanted to pass your ideas onto others as well in case they could add them into their lesson plans in the coming months.
   
   
   These wonderful comments were made on the giveaway post when I asked the question - 
   "What is your favorite Autumn activity to do in the classroom?"    
   
   
   Please check out the links for the blogs listed below.  
   
   
   Thanks again everyone!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Allie

   I like to make leaf collages on contact paper!
   
   Allie
   The Gypsy Teacher
2. 
   YearntoLearn

   I have a stained glass leaf art with crayon and oil that I do every year.
   
   Denise
   Yearn to Learn Blog
3. 
   karenb

   I give each student a pumpkin and have them do a descriptive writing about the pumpkin.
5. 
   Kim

   Carve a pumpkin in class. Surprising how many have never done that!
6. 
   Allison 

   With my students, we estimate the amount of seeds in a pumpkin, and then count them. We also discuss the life cycle of a pumpkin.
   
   teacherroom102.blogspot.com
7. 
   abqgreene

   I like using a big pumpkin for math studies. 
8. 
   Lisa R.

   My favorite fall activity is our Pumpkin Investigations that we do around Halloween. We do math and science investigations, like circumference of a pumpkin, seed estimating, sink and float, etc. It's so much fun for the kids!
   Lisa
   Learning Is Something to Treasure
9. 
   Molly

   Looks like fall = pumpkin time! haha We do "Pumpkin Biographies" in October! They are so much fun!!
   
   Molly
   Lessons with Laughter
10. 
    meghan

    We made "Pumpkin Pie in a Cup" last year and wrote a how-to about it. The kids loved it!
    
    Meg
    Third Grade in the First State
11. 
    FourthGrade Flipper

    My favorite fall activity is taking my 4th graders on a hike in the woods on our school property. There is also a creek and pond on the property and the kids love finding crayfish (that is our first fall science kit) and other wildlife!!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper
12. 
    Renee 

    Fall is my favorite time of year!!!! Our favorite activity is carving pumpkins and writing a how to story about it!!!
13. 
    Charell M.

    My favorite autumn activity happens during Thanksgiving! We make "I am thankful for..." placemats and then I laminate them so that the students can use them as real placemats during our "Family Feast" (known as a holiday party...any excuse to have snacks with the kiddos)
14. 
    mrsyoung

    I love canoe haikus! Our grade level visits a nearby lake for a "watershed day" and do things like test water quality, role play, so on. When we return, students write a haiku about nature and decorate a construction paper canoe with Native American symbols. So fun to read! And I love the beautiful fall colors we observe on our trip!
    
    Young Daze in 5th Grade

Hope you have a great day!