END OF SCHOOL YEAR BULLETIN {freebie}

I was in charge of decorating the office bulletin board for the month of May. This is what my kiddies and I came up with.

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My inspiration came, from all things, a party invitation I found on a blog. I just took it a step further. 

I created a letter template in Word to match the theme and assigned my 3rd graders to write to the upcoming third graders. 

• What do 2nd graders have to look forward to next year?
• What advice do you have to help them be successful in Mrs. Ashmore's class?

I wanted to make the candy wrappers/that's a wrap idea more obvious to viewers, so I handed paper plates to a handful of early finishers in my class with the instructions to paint giant candies.

They were happy to oblige. 

I wrapped the painted plates in cellophane and tied two ends with ribbon. 

Not bad for 5 minutes of my time. 

The 2nd graders had fun reading through the letters while they stood in line for lunch, my students got practice with letter writing and cursive, and it was a fun way to end the year. 

A free download of the template is yours below for teachers who are interested. 

That's A Wrap letter writing template

ANTARCTICA CRAFT & BULLETIN BOARD

We spent the week reading about Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. (If you haven't watched the movie about this true, incredibly inspiring survival story, put it on your Netflix queue today.) As a super fast, easy culminating activity, we made these penguins:

TP Roll wrapped in black construction paper, a white tummy, black wings, and a face. Some added feet too. I provided no templates...just scrap paper. The kids took care of the rest. 

They were displayed on a simple bulletin board with a map I enlarged on the copier and photographs of other Antarctic animals. 

Easy peasy.

LUCKY RAINBOW KID's CRAFT for MARCH

 

My third graders make these lucky leprechaun rainbows every March to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. They are easy and soooo pretty hanging up in a row.

 

Take a paper plate (dollar store find) and cut it in half. On the sides that pop out (the bottom of the plate), paint a stripe for each color of the rainbow in order. Fill in any left over space at the bottom with the final color (purple). 

Make sure you get uncoated paper plates or the paint won't adhere. 

Then set aside. I always divide this project between two days to give the plates time to dry. 

 

I do the prep for this phase beforehand. 

Cut one streamer per color (about 12 inches long). Then, I cut each streamer in half long ways (hot-dog style). Now there are two long, skinny streamers per color. 

 

Now attach each streamer to the blank side of one of the plate halves with glue...right along the straight edge. Line the streamers up with the corresponding rainbow colors. 

It looks messy, but it's okay because no one will be able to see it in the end. 

 

Staple the two paper plates together with the rainbows facing outward. 

 

And finally, enjoy. Hang in the classroom, in a window, or somewhere they can catch a breeze. 

Possible Variations:

Add cotton clouds, glitter, or...I've had students who pasted hand drawn pots of gold to theirs!

Good luck!

LONG "i" FRIES

When our spelling list followed the long /i/ pattern, I typed up the week's words (smiley monster font), copied them onto yellow construction paper, and had kids sort them into the labeled French fry containers (is the long /i/ sound made with "-igh", "i-consonant-e", "y", or some other spelling pattern?) I know I've seen this on the Internet somewhere. The kids thought it was sooo cool.

To get the McDonald's boxes, I walked in and asked for them, simple as that. I felt foolish, but the teenage girl returned my explanation with a smirk and a handful of red boxes for free. 

PAPER SNOWFLAKE KID's CRAFT

After a whirlwind of holidays and vacations, I wasn't in the mood for a complicated January-themed classroom door. A few pages of dollar store window clings...and some snow decoration thingies that were left out for grabs in the work room...and I called it good. 

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If I was just a tad less burned-out, I would have created something similar to this. (Does anyone else ever feel like they need a vacation to recover from their vacation?) Maybe next year. 

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For a January craft, I was excited to finally try this out. I saw it a few year ago and liked the variation from the traditional snowflakes kids seem to make every year at school.

Some of my third graders opted to copy the original exactly. 

And some got creative with colors and curls. 

I recently got a GINORMOUS new TV in my classroom--which is exciting enough--but this TV also hooks up to my computer!! Those of us without Smart Boards or projectors get excited about simple things like this. 

I just pulled up the blog where I originally found the craft, and scrolled through Simply Modern Mom's detailed picture tutorial.  Explaining to the kiddos what they were about to do was a breeze, because it was very visual and clear. It was like magic.

And kids apparently pay closer attention to a screen then to their teacher. Having left it up while they worked, I had to answer far fewer questions than usual. 

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I let my early finishers get started on other variations of her snowflakes. 

Next, I hung the finished products inside the front office's display case--either directly onto the butcher paper, or hung with string from the top. 

And then, because I felt the display should be somewhat educational, I googled a bunch of interesting facts about snowflakes, typed them up in a cutesy font, and pinned them up too. 

(Did you know that the largest snowflake ever recorded fell in Montana at 15 inches in diameter?! That little fact blows my frickin' mind.) 

And finally, my overachieving self went out and bought some of that white paper filler used in gift bags, and spread it along the bottom of the case to hopefully, further the look of snow. 

Now, we Southeast Idahoans just need some real snow outside to go along with this cold. This winter has been strangely devoid of any significant snowfall. Who's ever heard of a brown Christmas in Rexburg?

"SYNONYM" ROLLS

We discussed synonyms in class. Using an idea I found HERE, I introduced the idea of "synonym rolls." I drew outlines of cinnamon rolls freehand with a marker, copied enough for everyone, and the kids listed as many synonyms for assigned words as they could throughout the spirals. 

The finished products were turned in to cookie sheets for "baking."

Lots of comments on this fun, easy bulletin.

READ-ALOUD BULLETIN BOARDS

Our read-aloud book last month was "Frindle" by Andrew Clements. It is such a fun read, and I love that it goes over definitions and dictionaries. We spend so much time on dictionary skills in 3rd grade that it fits perfectly with the curriculum.

This focus bulletin was easy: colored print-out of the book cover, an enlarged dictionary definition for the word frindle, and a giant butcher paper pen...er...I mean, frindle. I tried to give the cap dimension with white chalk highlights and by curling the paper slightly to look round. 

In October, our read-aloud book was the hilarious, adorable "Bunnicula" by Deborah and James Howe. I wanted to help my kiddos keep the characters straight, so I made this bulletin. I added white vegetables and my favorite quote from the story for good measure. 

Any of you teachers have favorite read-alouds to recommend? Do share!

BEE-THEMED CLASSROOM {freebies!}

This year, I wanted to have a bit of a theme for my third graders. I didn't want to give up my September sunflower door, so I thought adding bees to the mix would mesh nicely.

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You may recognize the hanging beehive I made from THIS post.

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The kids made their own sunflowers and wrote things that make them happy on the leaves. THIS little gal wrote: "my hores make me happy," until I made her fix the spelling.

This is the display that greeted my new students by the door...each of their names written on a cartoon bee.

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FUN FACT: This phrase comes from the fact that bees actually have little sacs behind their knee to store pollen. That's where the good stuff is.

In the classroom, I added a bee themed sign above the birthday cupcakes.

And labeled the class jobs chart: Hive Helpers.

Here is where the "bee" happy bunting hangs above my desk. I made flags with scrapbook paper, color printed text, and an Internet found clip-art bee. Then, I strung ribbon through punched holes in the top corners. 
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Easy peasy.

And I revamped my writing center area with bee-patterned cloth, a sunflower border, and my favorite part: beehives for each phase in the writing process. Each child has a bee clothespin with their name on it that they move according to where they are on their project.

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I'll post more on this later with free downloads for my teacher followers who are interested.

I also made several variations of slips I can randomly place on desks looking especially neat and organized...a behavior I definitely want to encourage! Maybe I'll include a little treat too.

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(Drones are male honeybees that forage for pollen.)

Here is a similar one I made for a simple, quiet recognition of those especially kind acts I see around the classroom.

Desk Drone certificates for Bee-themed Classroom

You're welcome to a download if you could use them too. Just print and cut into strips.

Caught Being Nice

Print, cut, and enjoy.

WARNING: R-Rated Post

I was alone in my classroom reading this from one of my new third graders and dying to share it with someone. This little gal made three very funny mistakes right on top of each other...each a little more shocking than the last. 

I often have to translate students' experimental spellings in my mind as I read. My thought process as I read this went something like: 


You are a nice teacher.
You are smart. 
You are cool. 
You are fun.

Aww. What a sweetie. 

Do you like...touching kids? 

Um, that's awkward. Does she mean hugging them maybe?

Do you like...whores?! 

WHAT the...?

Do you like to...ride whores??!

OH. MY. GOSH!


It was at this point that I dropped the letter and laughed out loud for a minute straight. I mean, obviously, she wasn't meaning to say those things. In case you are wondering, I'm pretty sure the correct translation is something more like:

Do you like TEACHING kids?
Do you like HORSES?
Do you like to ride HORSES?

Nonetheless, this is one letter I will be keeping forever.

THE CURRENT BUZZ

I've been busy working on my bee-themed classroom for the first day of school (just a few days left!). As a result, my head is a whirl with cheesy bee puns. This "bee happy" banner I made is just a sneak peek of things to come.

So here's a story for ya:

I decided to be brave and enter some photography into our itty, bitty county fair. I printed three 8x10 photos, matted and framed them, and sheepishly handed then over at the fair grounds. I felt so foolish. It didn't help that I was completely surrounded by parents filling out entry forms for their children.

For several days after, I felt butterflies in my stomach every time I thought about going back. I had asked for my photography to be judged! How intimidating! What if I didn't get any prize at all?
But what if I did?
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My thoughts eventually snowballed into grand visions of ribbons and recognition. By the time I went to see the results, I was entertaining myself with memories of Wilbur from Charlotte's Web, being paraded around the fair with a full marching band. It could happen, right?

That's not exactly how it played out.

Not only were pink Participant ribbons hanging from each of my frames, but two photos were hung SIDEWAYS on the wall, as if the judges couldn't even tell what they were supposed to be!

I'm trying not to let this one experience squelch all my hopes and dreams.

I have given up on vegetable gardens for now. For 3 years, I provided tender, loving care through the summer until school hit in August. Then, it all died...just as everything was nearing its harvest time. I'd just be too busy!

I was tired of putting in so much work for nothing. So this year, I threw handfuls of wildflower seeds in our garden box and called it good. I was worried when for a few months it looked like a box of weeds. But recently...it paid off.

Oh, and this is what our house currently looks like. Dormers built, shingles laid, and most walls sheeted.

Several windows still need to be cut out on the front, and others need to be made bigger. But this gives the general idea.


Next up: house wrap and window installation!

CATERPILLARS IN A CUP

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I ordered them from the Internet. For the children, of course. The aforementioned children were convinced they could tell each caterpillar apart. Apparently, the insects' unique personalities made this possible.

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Meet Frankie, Bob, Steve, Germaine Jacoba, and Frankie Joe George Cheese Bob III. At least that's what I've been overhearing these past few weeks. (How do they even come up with this stuff?)

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They crawled around their cup, eating, pooping, and building a disgusting mass of webs...until one by one, they hung head first from the lid like gymnasts. A week later, all five chrysalids hung in a happy row...butterflies baking within.
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At this point, I opened the cup, untangled the chrysalides from their webs, and pinned the lid inside this netted butterfly atrium. I didn't even gag!
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The darker they get, the closer they are to being baked through. By the time they emerged, each chrysalis was almost black.

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Even when we had a student on watch at all times, we missed every single emergence. It happens fast! But we were sure pleased to have all five turn into beautiful, delicate painted lady butterflies.

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They drink with their long, curly tongues from sugar water sprinkled on flowers or from fresh-cut orange slices.
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Our next step, is to set them free to their natural habitat. That is, if the weather will cooperate. It has to be above 55 degrees.

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Pretty, yes?

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On another spring topic, look at my tulips! We're starting to see some color!!

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Soon to follow will be my allium...or purple-poof-ball-Dr.-Suess-flowers...as I like to call them. Uncle Doug, I was glad to know what they're really called...but I still like my name better. No offense.
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