MLK Activities and a FREEBIE

It's hard to believe we are already half way through January! I just went back to work this week. We had an incredible three week vacation and now reality has set in. My teacher planning wheels are in full gear. 

We jumped in with both feet and started learning about Martin Luther King Jr. I was able to get some of the activities done that I had planned, but our learning is going to continue for several weeks. Tolerance and acceptance of others is not a one month lesson! 

I started off the week by reading this book about Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. It was just the right amount of informational text for my kiddos. I hooked them, but didn't lose their interest! Win-win!

Then I used the vocabulary cards from my Martin Luther King Jr. packet to help with comprehension and understanding. We followed up with a vocabulary review page that we used in our ELA interactive notebooks.

As we were reading different books about MLK's life, we created this classroom timeline. It is a great visual reference for my students. I have seen several of them getting up and checking the timeline while they are working on follow up activities. A teacher's dream! 

We also started working on a paper bag interactive books about MLK's life. Oh, how the kids L-O-V-E-D this activity. It was engaging and meaningful because they were in the process of learning about MLK's life. I prepped and stapled the paper bags ahead of time for the kids. They colored and cut each of the parts. Then, as a class, we assembled the books, so there was little room for error.

All these activities can be found in my Martin Luther King Jr. packet. 

And now it's time for a FREEBIE. Here is a True or False Flap Book to kick start or add to your Martin Luther King Jr. activities. It can be completed whole group, in partners, or independently depending on your group of students. 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone enjoys their long weekend! 

New Year Resolution FREEBIE

It is hard to believe that 2015 is coming to an end and 2016 is just around the corner. Most of us are just fully  emerged in winter break and can barely think about anything except making sure our alarm clocks are turned off! 

However, some of us are planners! Me.. Me...Me!!! In preparation for the New Year, I created and prepped these resolution crafts for my kiddos to complete the first week we are back from break.


All the templates are included to create a boy or girl New Year's Resolution booklet.


All you have to do is copy the templates on white paper. Next, choose if you want your students to write a personal resolution or a school resolution. I am going to make an anchor chart  and have a discussion with my class, so they have ideas about what resolutions are and what they mean. Finally, cut and staple the pages together to make your booklets.

You can grab this activity with all the templates for your class too! Just click on the picture below and grab your FREE copy! 

Happy New Year everyone!

Holiday Classroom Traditions

I am excited to be joining some of my blogging friends to share everything HOLIDAYS with you!

December is in full swing and I have been packing in the holiday projects like nobody's business this week. First up....

 1. Reindeer Portraits

I LOVE making these directed drawings with my students each year! Every single one of them is a success! They add a TON of festive cheer to our room and the kids are proud of themselves.

I HATE, let me repeat....I HATE paint, painting or anything that has to do with paint and kids in my classroom. HOWEVER, for some unknown reason, I love when the kids paint these reindeer. I pull them up in groups of 5. They have their own little station with watercolors. water, and their picture. We go over the painting rules together and for the most part the kids ROCK it!

You can find the step by step directions for this project at Artventurous: Reindeer Portraits.

  2. Snowman Ornaments

 I am always looking for memorable gifts my students can give to their families for the holidays. These adorable salt and flour snowman ornament were loved by all my families. I had my mom come in and help the students form the noses and round faces. She took the snowman home and baked them to dry them quicker. The next day, the kids painted them. We let them dry and we added ribbon.

3. Christmas Tree Math

This math craft is always a favorite of mine and a big hit with the kids. It is from Amy Lemon's blog. I created different ornaments to go with the math skill of regrouping, so my kids could get extra practice. But really you could use the idea in so many different way to work in your classroom.

What are some of your favorite traditions? I would love to hear your ideas! 

Holiday Gift Ideas!

Gift giving is something I truly enjoy. I LOVE the challenge of finding the perfect gift for someone I care about. The thing I HATE, is the pressure of finding 900 perfect gifts for everyone I care about in a one month period. It stresses me out! 

To help everyone's stress levels go down this holiday season, I thought I would share some of my gift giving ideas. Some I have already used and a few are on my list for this year!

Family Gift Ideas:
I am always looking for memorable gifts my students can give to their families for the holidays. These adorable salt and flour snowman ornament were loved by all my families. I had a school volunteer come in and help the students form the noses and round faces. I took the snowman home and baked them to dry them quicker. The next day, the kids painted them and we added ribbon.

Paint Stick Snowman Ornaments:
All you need are paint sticks, google eyes, scraps of material, black and orange paint, raffia, and ribbon.

Student Gift Ideas:

Snowman Soup

And of course, use your bonus points to get a Scholastic Book for each student.

Co-Worker Gift Ideas:

Rudolph Chapsticks

Mistle "Toes"

Teacher Gift Ideas:

 A personalized gift for your child's teachers is simply awesome. Last year, I ordered these wooden pencil signs for my own children's teachers and my student teacher. They were a hit! I just placed my order for this year too!

Tallahassee Sunday Pencil Signs

Gobblin' Up Main Ideas and Details

 Today, I am sharing a fun and festive way to review main idea and details in your classroom.

 I am always teaching and reteaching main idea and details to my kiddos throughout the year. Seems like they can never get enough practice with this skill. Any way I can change it up and make it seem like a fun thing to learn, then I am "all over it!" Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I decided to merge turkeys and main idea together for this review lesson. 

The kids worked in partners with a short passage. Some were informational text. Some were fictional text. On their white boards, they wrote what they thought the main idea and details from the story were. Next, they shared their ideas out to the other partners at their table. Finally, they made their turkeys.

The kids wrote the main idea on the body of the turkey. Then, they chose 4 important details to write on each of the feathers and assembled their turkeys. I displayed them with the common core standards for my grade level .

If you would like a festive way to review main idea and details with your kiddos, you can grab this activity for FREE by clicking on  the link below.

Gobbling Up Main Idea and Details FREEBIE