MLK, Jr. Craftivity

It's about time, teachers, to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

The dove is a symbol of both peace and hope. As such, it is a great symbol to honor Dr. King. Using the template that follows, have your students cut out a double copy of the dove. Glue the dove's body together, leaving the wings separated.  Gently fold the wings down on each side of the dove to simulate flight.  Color an eye on each side of the head.  Punch a hole and string yarn through it to allow the dove to be hung.  Hang the doves from the ceiling for a spectacular "peace rally."

 

You can find this craftivity, poems, teaching points, skill lessons, and other activities in my product, Poetry Possibilities for MLK, Jr. Day.  This template is available on Google Docs. 

Peace to all.

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Ghost Rubbings

Do you have time for a quick, Halloween project?  

Ghost rubbings are easy and fun for any age.

Begin by having your students cut a ghost shape out of construction paper scraps; any color but white.  Using small pieces of white chalk, have them rub the chalk all around the edges of the ghost shape.  A line 1/4" wide should be sufficient.  

I always have my kiddos put their ghost shape on a "dirty sheet" (a piece of paper from our recycling box) before rubbing the chalk along the edges. This saves lots of time on clean up!

Next, have them carefully put the ghost shape on the black paper with the chalked side up.  While holding the center of the ghost shape steady with one hand, they use a finger from the other hand to rub the chalk off onto the black paper.  

They should always rub in 1 direction - from the ghost shape out.  Rubbing back toward the ghost shape can cause the ghost shape to tear and/or the outline to blur. It's important not to let the ghost move around while rubbing.  

Once they have rubbed the chalk line around the entire ghost, remove the shape.  

Oooooo.  Now use the piece of chalk to add facial features.

For even more fun, repeat the process, making additional ghostly images elsewhere on the black paper.  If your students want 1 ghost to appear behind another, tell them not to rub the chalk off where the ghost shape touches the 1st ghost.  

Just in time for Halloween, It's a Spooktacular Sale on TpT! 

A bunch of sellers have joined forces to make this a Howling good sale, myself included. On Halloween ONLY you can get 20% off of everything in my store.  If you visit JD's Rockin' Readers, our hostess, you will find links to every store that has joined this event. Hurry! The clock is ticking!

SCARECROW Craftivity

Halloween is banned at my school.  So, harvest themes are big for craftivities in the fall. One of my favorite projects is making scarecrows. 

You can get the directions and templates from Google Docs.

Goggle Doc

Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UC67hhhSmXEzWNxTdMfNUxjYDorcO5iW08dtnXk4q0o/edit?usp=sharing

Check out a great Fall linky party by Valerie 

This craftivity is one of the activities you will find in my product, Scarecrows.  

It's available on TpT or Teachers Notebook.

Hooray for Hats thematic unit FREEBIE

It's about time, teachers, to start planning for the new school year.  As a primary teacher, I {heart} thematic units. Immersing children in a topic, carrying it across disciplines, and finding creative ways to meet the Common Core Standards are my passion.  One of my favorite thematic units is Hooray for Hats.  

This unit integrates ELA, math, HOTS, and creativity.  It is intended to last for 1 week, but I freely admit that I usually stretch it into 3 weeks.  There are so many hat related books to read aloud, so many writing topics, so many math activities, ...


The ELA components include vocabulary work, comprehension, poetry, alphabetical order, writing center ideas, and a 14 page booklet for students to make about Hat Idioms. You can download the Hat Idioms Book for FREE on TpT or TN.  Following is a preview of the Hat Idioms Book:

Hooray for Hats! math activities include computation, graphing, patterns, Venn Diagrams, journal prompts, sorting, measurement, and money.  Following is an example from the math portion:

Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) are also included in Hooray for Hats!  There are homework assignment sheets and a craftivity.  If you like thematic units, I hope you will check out Hooray for Hats!

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Mother's Day Craftivity

It's about time, teachers. . . for Mother's Day.  Following are directions for a card your primary students can make for their mothers.  I guarantee it will bring a smile to every mother's face and a warm feeling in her heart.

1. Give each student a 4.5" x 12" piece of construction paper in the color of their choice.  
2. Provide construction paper scraps for the students to make flower petals and long, thin strips of green paper for stem(s).
3. Students should position the background paper vertically, then glue on the stem(s) and flower(s).
4. Once the flower(s) and stem(s) are applied, have the students fold the paper in half and then in half again.  They will now have a 4.5" x 3" card.  
5. Ask them to unfold the card.  Using their very best handwriting, the children will write the following on each section of the card:   My love for you grows, / and grows, / and grows!

  Here's what the finished project looks like:

to all the teachers who are also mothers!