Can’t Miss November Books

As you are pulling out your books for November, consider adding these to your list. Some are sweet, others are educational and several are laugh-out-loud funny. Plus we’ve included some ideas for reading follow-up. Let us know if you have some good November books we should be sharing with our classes!

Fun with Candy Corn

There are so many different kinds of candy corn out there that we just had to create something to do with all of it. Enter this tasty candy corn unit.

Speaking from experience, we find it best to use this as a center. Purchase 3-5 different kinds of candy corn (there are sorting pages and graphs for 3, 4, and 5 included so you can use the one that matches how many kinds you found). These can be found at grocery stores as well as Target and Wal-Mart. Mix them in a large bowl and then distribute evenly (don’t count, just get a visual) into snack size plastic zip bags. At the start of the center, give each student a copy of the packet and a bag of candy corn. To encourage good quality work, we tell our students that the packet has to be checked by the teacher (for accuracy, neatness and overall effort) before any candy corn can be eaten. Not to worry, hardly anyone ever sneaks a candy prematurely because tattle-tails are always lurking and ready to blab. : )

**Here is a mini-poster you can print to hang in your classroom.

Designer Acorn Caps

For a cute fall display, try these Designer Acorn Caps.

Trace, print or copy our acorn template on construction paper or cardstock. We like to make the acorn bodies on brown paper and the caps on white paper. We feel that the white paper allows students more creative freedom in the design of their caps. Provide feathers, beads, stickers, buttons, pom-poms, sequins and other collage materials. Encourage your students to glue their choices onto the cap to create one-of-a-kind hats. Give them eye stickers or wiggly eyes to make a face on the acorn. Glue the cap on top and hang up your fashionable acorns!

Dread Sundays No More!

My colleagues and I all agree that we dread Sundays because we have so many things we’ve put off, like a ton of papers to grade or lesson plans to write. Here’s a strategy to beat the Sunday blues. Get together with your favorite teacher friends on Thursdays and catch up on work together!  Stay at school or meet at someone’s house. Bring some tasty snacks and drinks. Share stickers and fun pens and chase off those negative Sunday feelings. Set a time limit so you will be efficient and productive.

Reward Coupons for Positive Behavior

Do you need some fresh ideas for rewarding positive behavior? Last year we began using these reward coupons and saw great improvements in student behavior.

Students enjoyed these coupons SO MUCH that when we voted on our Top 10 Favorite Memories last year "earning coupons" made the list!

We use them weekly and monthly. They are also great motivators for the mid-year slump and the end-of-the-year crazy days. We’ve even used them as incentives for improving handwriting skills. Print, laminate and cut them ahead of time so they are ready whenever you need them!

Visit our Teachers pay Teachers site to check out our fabulous printable coupons.

Free Snack Friday

We found an easy way to excite our students at the end of the week. (Like they aren’t already excited enough on Friday – right?!) It’s called “Free Snack Friday” and it’s as simple as it sounds. Purchase snacks, pass them out and please your students. They will look forward to it all week! Here are some possible snack ideas: peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, pretzels, cereal bars, granola bars, apples, cheese sticks, nuts, fruit snacks or trail mix.

Short Vowel Apple Trees

September is full of fun things: the smell of new school supplies, less heat and humidity outside, and (possibly my favorite) bright, crisp apples. I love to incorporate apples into as many content areas as possible.

In science we study parts of a tree and seasonal changes as evident in apple trees.

In social studies we discuss the contributions of Johnny Appleseed and examine maps of apple orchards.

In math we explore fractions, graph our favorite color of apples and our favorite ways to eat apples and make patterns.

In language arts we read tons of fiction and nonfiction books about apples. We also love to make our short vowel apple trees. I’ve created 3 different sets of apples to use with various skill levels to help with differentiation. Give your students whichever set you feel is most appropriate. Students color their trees and apples, then cut them out and glue them onto the tree labeled with the correct vowel sound. After they have completed sorting, students glue their trees onto a large sheet of construction paper to create an orchard. When my students finish their orchards they get the chance to earn a special apple treat: a scratch and sniff sticker, a cup of cider, dried apple slices, a bookmark, etc. In order to receive the treat they simply have to read all of the words on their trees. Some practice with peers before reading to me. You could also print these sets onto cardstock and use them as an activity in either small group settings or whole class instruction.

Do you have any fun ways to incorporate apples into your lesson plans?

Erin