Adorable Apple Craft

This adorable project comes courtesy of our colleague Diane Ramsey. She created this craft to hang on her classroom clothesline. It’s super easy and provides an opportunity for your students to show their personalities through art.

First, give everyone a basic apple pattern and a half sheet of paper. You can vary these colors depending on the color of your apples. We provide green, red and yellow apples and allow our students to choose which color they’d like. Next, pass out white dot stickers for the eyes. Then, make sure you give access to paper scraps, glue sticks, crayons and scissors. Our students cut their own leaves, stems, grass and other props. In the past, students have made apples holding books, wearing glasses, talking to worms, wearing high-heeled shoes and other silly things.

When finished, make sure to allow time to share. There will be lots of laughs to go around.

Pete the Pasting Pirate: A Glue Stick Lesson

Every year, when we glue something into our journals for the first time, I like to watch how the students use their glue sticks. Over the years I’ve noticed the same mistakes over and over. I’ve grouped these classic blunders into 3 categories; I’m sure you’ll recognize them.

1. The Single Dot: One dot, big or little, in the middle of the paper. Nothing else. Never sticks.

 2. The Power Pusher: Half of the glue stick ends up on this page. It’s lumpy, it’s bumpy, but it will never fall off. Ever!

3. Full Coverage: Every single spot on that paper has glue on it. The student will be asking for a new glue stick by the end of the day.

You’ve seen them all before, haven’t you? But how do you get them to stop?! Enter Pete the Pasting Pirate. This short tale will have students gluing their papers like pros in no time.

Long ago, there lived a pirate named Pam. She was fierce, she was strong but she was always losing her treasures. If she could figure out a way to stop losing them, she would be so much happier! On one of her journeys across the sea, she met another ship captained by Pete the Pasting Pirate. Pete shared his secret for getting treasure to stick around. When you bury your treasure in the right place you will never lose it! “But how do you find the right place?” wondered Pam.

“If you land on a small island,” explained Pete, “you can leave after you make your mark. This is no place for treasure.”

“If you land on a larger island,” continued Pete, “send out a man to walk the edges of the island. If you discover it’s not big enough, sail on. This is still no place for treasure.”

“But if the man walks the edges of the island and discovers it to be quite large,” finished Pete, “then bury your treasure and mark it with an X. You’ll never lose your treasure again!”

“And remember, matey, never press too hard to make your X."

While you tell the story, be sure to model the three types of gluing on different sizes of paper. I hope Pete can help you alleviate some glue stick problems in your classroom!

If you like this story, you can download a mini-poster here.

Everything Journal

Our school used to order planners for each of our students. But what we discovered was that they weren’t really being used like they should have been. So we turned them into “Everything Journals”. By the end of the year each journal was filled with colorful and imaginative responses.

We no longer order planners, so we’ve turned our planner prompts into journal prompts! The prompts can be used in pre-K through third grade classes. Emergent writers can use a mix of illustrations and words or short phrases to respond to the prompts. More fluent writers can respond using sentences or paragraphs. This makes differentiation a snap.

The prompts can be used weekly, or cut apart ahead of time and placed at a writing or literacy center. We have made both color and black and white options that you can choose from depending on your printers and copiers.

The prompts are so varied that our students never tire of doing them.

Caterina and the Lemonade Stand

Looking for something to do with your kids this summer? Why not make a lemonade stand? We have the perfect book to introduce the idea: Caterina and the Lemonade Stand, by Erin Eitter Kono.

Take a break from the heat and check out this book from your local library or even buy your own copy. You’ll love it.

Invisible Dog: The Easiest Classroom Pet

I have had fish, hermit crabs and a turtle. Many other teachers have gerbils, mice, snakes, hamsters etc… I have found real creatures can be REAL maintenance. And what do you do with them over the long breaks? How about the unexpected snowstorms? Not to mention, schools are revisiting health and safety policies that won’t allow certain animals in schools anymore.

So one year I got an invisible dog and allowed the kids to name him. He had a visible bed, toys, food and water dishes. He was well behaved and never had accidents. My first graders adored him. They took him to recess and even on errands to the office. I put books about dogs (both fiction and nonfiction) by his bed, in case students wanted to brush up on their canine knowledge or read him. 

You could also let your students take the dog home over the weekend with a dog journal. Each family could experience the joy and ease of having an imaginary pet.

Mystery Book

Looking for a way to spice up your read aloud routine? Try this!

Wrap a book cover or folder around a book you think your students have never seen. After telling them the title, ask students to guess what the book will be about. Make a list of their ideas. Next, read the book without showing the pictures. When finished, ask students to draw a scene or character from the book. Obviously, they will be drawing what they think the scene or character looks like. Share their creations and then unveil the cover. Reread the book, this time showing the pictures. Your students will be entertained and amused by their own creations and the contrast to the actual pictures. Tweet or Instagram the alternate illustrations to the author and illustrator of the books you use throughout the year.

Pencilpillar

Tired of students losing their pencils? This is a surefire way to change that.

Gather wooden clothespins and medium sized pompom balls. On each clothespin, glue three pompom balls in a line to resemble a caterpillar. You can use multiple colors or matching colors. Glue wiggly eyes on the pompom closest to the end that opens up (opposite the end where you squeeze). After the caterpillar dries, show students how to clamp their pencil in the clothespin. When they aren’t using their pencils, the “Pencilpillars” will stay on their desktops and watch over their pencils so they won’t get lost. I like to start the first day of school with these fluffy fun surprises.