Veterans are the Heart of America

Does your school do anything special to celebrate Veterans Day? Annually, my school has held an incredible Veterans Day assembly. Students and Staff invite any veterans that are in their family to be honored. It is so humbling to hear the stories of our veterans. My own dad is a Navy veteran (though he doesn't like to be recognized for it, no matter how much I try!)

Part of the assembly responsibilities is decor by students. Admittedly, one year, I forgot to have my class make something and we needed a craft- STAT. Thus came, this now staple of my Veterans Day lessons!

The beauty of this is it's no prep! All you need is to print the sheet and offer some green, brown, and black construction paper!

I've also seen these done with red, white and blue construction paper for a more American flag look!

Students gain huge fine motor skills by building hand strength through ripping and tearing. I love crafts that have the same directions but can look their own unique way. We always discuss ripping Goldilocks sized pieces- not too big, not too small, but just right!

 Snag your copy here to get a simple,  NO PREP Veterans Day craft!

Keep your head in the clouds!

I Scream for Hopes and Dreams

It's Labor Day, which is usually the telltale sign that Summer Break is officially over here in Jersey. This year is different for me. For the first time in roughly 27 years, I am not heading into a classroom as a student or a teacher (some years, I was both!). I'm on Maternity Leave to start this year! Could you blame me for wanting to stay home with this guy?

Photo Credit: Janet Lanza Photography

However, once a teacher, always a teacher! I cannot help but reflect on Back to School seasons of years past. My school is rooted in the ideals of Responsive Classroom and in nearly every classroom, you can find Hopes and Dreams for the students, teachers, and sometimes even parents posted year round as goals for students to develop and work on all year.

As many of my lessons as a Kindergarten teacher begin, I love kicking off Hopes and Dreams with a book. My kiddos LOVE Leo the Lightning Bug!

Have you read this one before? It's the darling story of Leo the Lightning Bug and his challenges and struggles to make his own bright light like the other lightning bugs. I have found it to be a great tangible connection for students to create their own hopes and dreams for the year. It doesn't have to be the same as their friends and it could even be something their friends are able to do well that they aren't able to.. YET! It's a story about resilience and never giving up. It's a great way to begin the thought process on what their own personal hopes and dreams would be for the school year.

Hopes and Dreams in my room are shared and posted ALL. YEAR. LONG. On days when we need a mood lift or a reminder of why we are in school and what we are working for all year, we refer back to our Hopes and Dreams. For something to be posted for the entirety of the year, I needed something I was willing to see all year. And so came, I Scream for Hopes and Dreams!

This adorable craftivity can be found in my TPT store here!

Best Part? It's a dollar deal!

That's right, ONE dollar for a meaningful and estetically pleasing lesson. Because who needs any more stress during Back to School season?

Enjoy this deal or pin it to save for next year!

Keep your head in the clouds!

Up and At Em! A {Groundhog's Day} Pack!

I still feel like we are just coming back from Winter Break, and yet, Groundhog's Day is only 2 weeks away! Groundhog's Day is one of my favorite holidays to celebrate in the classroom. It is super child-friendly and adds a sense of "magic" to the air simply by the fact that the act of a shadow can predict our weather patterns. Just in time for the occasion, I've decided to make a Groundhog's Day Pack to help channel in on the fun of the day!

This pack has everything you need to celebrate the big day! Starting of course, with party hats! There are two choices depending on what happens with the groundhog's big debut in Punxsutawney! 

Along with the hats is a foldable reader with one sentence explanations of how the holiday works and what happens if the groundhog does or does not see his shadow. While these are a lot of fun, my favorite part of the pack is the ultra simple craft!

What better time to introduce (or reintroduce) the shape, hearts! Just in time for hearts to flood our classroom for Valentine's Day, this sweet groundhog craft is made out of three hearts!

There's also an option for a blank face if you'd like your kiddos to draw their own groundhog face!

There are also printables for tallying and graphing predictions for if the groundhog will see his shadow, making predictions as you read, and compound words (like groundhog!)

I hope you can find TONS of use for this pack in your own classroom! Get it here in my TPT store!

Have a Happy Groundhog's Day (I personally am rooting for no shadow and Spring to come early!)

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

Cooking Up a Great Year in Kindergarten! - {A Back to School, All About Me Unit!}

I know, I know. Summer vacation should be about rest and relaxation, but I'm already getting inspiration for beginning of the year activities! I have had a Cooking Themed classroom for the last few years, so this only seemed fitting for me to create:

Cooking Up a Great Year in Kindergarten!

Check out the major craftivity of the unit below: A Menu of Me Lap Book!

The Menu of Me is a lift the flap craftivity that allows kiddos to share about themselves: What makes them special, Their house, Their teacher, Their Family, What they want to be when they grow up, What they do outside of school, and their favorite subject!

How fun are those "Favorites" flaps?! 

There's also this adorable Hopes and Dreams craftivity. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Responsive Classroom, students start the year documenting their hopes and dreams for the school year, sharing, and displaying them in the classroom. Keeping with the theme, the lift the flap plate cover allows for an adorable way to display your student's hopes and dreams around the classroom! These are so sweet, I may keep them up all year!

There's also Chef Self Portraits! There is a boy and girl version with the face already done- just needs to be colored as well as a boy and girl version with a blank face for students to draw their own. As an integrated teacher, it's always important to me to try to develop ways for all students to participate in the activities despite their learning styles. (There's differentiated options for the hopes and dreams as well!)

And of course, how do you end the first day without creating your own chef hat to wear while holding this first day of school sign?! I cannot wait to hang them up and compare them to our future last day of school pics! Cute factor overload!

Check out your own copy of Cooking Up a Great Year in Kindergarten!

As for me, I'll be at the pool! (I can't create ALL Summer Vacation, can I?!)

PS. This also goes great with my

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo

The Very Hungry Caterpillar {Part 3}

I am so enjoying my time teaching The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I had to share this freebie!

I originally saw the inspiration picture on Pinterest, but it just linked to the picture and not the source. Then, the lovely people at Libraryland gave a tutorial, but still no template. Alas, I found that primary teachers needed a template for this hat, and what better way to get it in their hands than as a freebie!

I just cut extra long red construction paper in thirds, and stapled two thirds together to create the base of this headband. You may want to use red sentence strips if you can find them! (and if you can, send that link my way! I'd love to purchase them!)

Now, besides the awesome freebie, I have to brag about my kiddos for a moment. We were super excited to come back from the weekend to discover that our caterpillars have grown big and fat just like the very hungry caterpillar! Take a look below! (Squeamish stomachs, beware!)

WHOA.

However, as you know, most children LOVE this kind of growth and my class was no different.

Check out their awesome Week 2 Observations! What great preschool scientists!

Now, for tomorrow's work: teaching them that it is not a web, but the exoskeleton shedding! Awesome science!

If you want to try out these observation sheets with your kiddos, buy them here with The Very Hungry Caterpillar No Prep Pack!

Keep your head in the clouds!

xo