Valentine's Day rocks

I know I am a day late and a dollar short, but I had GREAT success with my Valentine's Day student gift.  You can use it next year, or for another time (like the end of the year, beginning of the year, etc)

I LOVE Pinterest (you can follow me through my button to your right), because there are SO many valuable hints, ideas, etc from great people!  I saw a pin with a simple rock and 2 googly eyes.  The note included a stamp which said "You Rock".  I thought that was TOO cute!  

Here is my step by step version. 

Materials:  rocks (outside or from a bag)

pink construction paper

note from computer

glue (I used Elmer's) 

I didn't have a stamp, so I created a quick note on the computer.  I added the hearts after I printed it and before I copied it onto pink construction paper:

Here are my rocks.  I had GREAT FUN choosing where to glue the eyeballs.  Hint: choose a fun place like down to one side, etc.  Each rock has it's own personality!

Here is what I gave to my students:

This last one was my favorite.  I kept it.  :)

Needless to say, these were a HUGE hit with not only my class of 3rd and 4th graders, but also to 5th - 8th graders. When I gave some to the older students, their eyes lit up.  I heard thank you many times over.  It's nice to look a student in the face and say, "You Rock!".  That's what I did when I placed one into their hands.  They all beamed in response.  

The eyes stay on pretty good, unless you handle the rock constantly.  I initially tried my hot glue gun, but the eyes peeled off immediately.  Elmer's glue works.  But then, I'm an adult who leaves their rock friends alone.  :)

Preposition FREEBIE

When I was in 4th grade, my teacher MADE us memorize the entire list of prepositions.  I thought she was so mean!  Well guess what?  I still remember them and I happen to also LOVE grammar!  I guess teachers are right after all....  :)

I recently created a preposition list for students and teachers and you can find it here.  It's free and ready for you to download and use!  The link will take you to my little new store on TPT.  Don't you just LOVE that site?  I sure do!

Divisibility Rules

Well, it's my last day off.  Not really, because I have the weekend, but on Monday, it's back to school.  I'm excited, but I do like lounging around with my coffee and slippers in the mornings.

I created a student cheat sheet for divisibility rules today.  You can find it in my TPT (teachers pay teachers) store here.  

I am using student notebooks in math class and this will make a great entry for them.  My students love using their student notebooks to remind them how to complete different math operations.  I happen to be a HUGE believer in anchor charts (documenting learning in general) having a crutch  place to remind yourself how to do things, etc.  The student notebooks came from Runde's Room and you can find it on her TPT page here.  I have tweaked some of the entries to fit the needs of my students, but the product came from her!

Have a great day!  :)

Video of my class

My class was visited by some reporters and we are now online!  My students had great fun viewing themselves today!  Over a month ago, our city's newspaper reporters visited our school and filmed my classroom for about an hour.  The children were wonderful and performed beautifully.  Well, to my surprise, the story is now on their website, along with a print story on the front page!  

My school is a remedial school for students who are behind in reading and math.  We have language arts all morning.  Enjoy!!  :)

click here

Pinterest

I added my Pinterest board to Rachel Lynette's wonderful blog list.  It's a list of teachers who pin MOSTLY free and "full of information" tidbits.  She said (and I 100% agree) there are disturbing numbers of people who are sending out commercials through their pins.  It's ok to have some pins which cost money (let's face it...some of our favorite things are from TPT and they aren't free), but the majority of our pins should be "ready to access, free to the general public" kind of pins.  Can I get an Amen?  :)

Here's the post:

Check it out!  There are many wonderful people to follow......!!!

Class Stationary

Way before I began teaching, I combed through hundreds of books, magazines, and sites for teaching ideas.  One idea I loved from the start was creating a class stationary page.  This page is used for classroom thank-you's, notes from the teacher to a student, or whenever one wants to show off their awesome class!!!  

During the first week of school, I had the children draw themselves in a tiny box.  I told them to draw only their head and to sign their name as well.  Surprisingly, I only had 2 students who needed new boxes to start completely over.  

Here's what you need to do:  cut approximately 3x3 or 2x2 inch squares (one per child, plus you), and find one blank 8x10 paper.  Instruct the children to draw their face and sign their name on their square.  If they draw with a heaver force, it shows up better.  Tape the portraits around the edge of your paper.  When you copy this, you might have to experiment with increasing or decreasing the light/dark option. 

Here's an example of 2 student's self portraits:

Here's our finished product!!  Didn't it turn out cute???  Because I only have 8 students in my morning class, I added myself and a drawing of our school.  If I had a regular class (meaning, more students and they stay with me all day long), I would add them across the top and bottom of the page.  I would also have a heading like "Mrs. Gillespie's class" or something catchy.

Student Wipe-Off Pages

I have been SOOOO busy lately. What teacher isn't? Especially teachers who have children of their own who are also incredibly social and busy bees?  Oh and my golden retriever has been ill.  AAHHH!!  Poor girl.  Anyhow, I have finished 5 weeks of school and the time is flying by (enter airplane sound). 

 I love Pinterest. There, I admitted it. There are so many awesome ideas circling around. It's almost like that fantasy we had as children: you're outside and it is raining candy...just reach up and grab all you want. With Pinterest, you can pin all the ideas you want. For free. Wow.

 Anyhow, I made some "student wipe-off page things" (what do you call them???) from a Pinterest teacher.

It was super easy to make. The only trouble I had was making the duct tape "even" on the front and the back. I eventually gave up on perfection, because guess what? There will be a PAGE in the middle and you won't even see the front vs the back!!   :) 

 Here's what you need: clear report covers (they are very sturdy, unlike page protectors),   1-2 roles of cute duct tape (one roll makes about 12). That's it! 

 These can be used for any worksheet imaginable. Oh, one thing: you need to decide which side you want to remain open. I left one of the small sides open. You could also leave the large side open. It's your choice.

Happy creating!!!