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

COUNTING DOWN

Right now, everything in my world is a whirlwind of looming changes, large and small. The anxiety of waiting for the debut of this entirely new life feels like I'm teetering at the top of that first wonderfully, awful drop on a roller coaster. Here are all the countdowns going down in this little life of ours. 

• Of course there is the house...I swear, it's all I talk about these days. Every conversation begins with a variation of the question: "How's the house coming?" A month MAX. And we really do mean it this time. We are in a race against the clock to have it ready to close before our June 1st deadline. What a year it's been!

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• A new house means a new neighborhood, which means a new ward for church, which means a new calling, which means new people I have to learn to be comfortable around, which means feigning calmness while experiencing heart palpitations.

I'm not antisocial, I promise. 

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• It's the last leg of the school year, yet there is SO MUCH TO DO. I know my 3rd grade sweeties sense the nearness of summer vacation, because it's getting harder and harder to keep their attention. Between warmer weather, assemblies, field trips, field day, the class play, and standardized tests, this dreaded month of no structure or routine to speak of makes classroom management nearly a bust from here on out.

• I just took part in the interviewing and hiring process of my new third grade partner teacher for next year. When it came down to it, I was basically allowed the final decision. This was very, very generous, and having been on my own for so long made it mean all the more. Having the new gal to work with is going to change EVERYTHING, and I am nervous and excited and full of hope for next year. 

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• My birthday is coming up.  I'll be 27. Yes, I count down the days until my birthday. Because simply put, birthdays are awesome. This year's countdown has been especially hard, because Mom's wrapped gift arrived in the mail a week early. And then Andrew placed it in the middle of the living room with the instructions that I am NOT to touch it. He did it on purpose just to torture me. Punk. 

Don't tell him it's working.

• Even the weather is getting in the mix. Spring is so close! My tulips are blooming, the grass is green-ifying, and it was in the 80's this last weekend. And then...I drove to work this morning in a blizzard. Countdowns shouldn't go backwards--it's not fair!

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• According to the receipt from the DMV, my brand-new driver's license will arrive in 10 days. The lady had me stand against a blue wall for the picture while she clicked away on her keyboard. I stood waiting for her cue, contemplating happy thoughts that might incite a non-awkward smile...when a bulb flashed in my eyes! That woman forgot a countdown altogether! I was indignant but didn't say anything. Now, for the next eight years, my I.D. will illustrate me as a seriously sullen, slightly spacey organ donor. 

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!

A DAY FROM HECK

Did I say heck? I'm sorry. I meant: H-E-double-hockey-sticks. 

I love my job...I really do. But every once in a while, I feel that I REEeaaally earn my 13 or so bucks an hour. 


1.) First off, a certain little someone in my class DEFINITELY forgot to take a certain medication today. Again. I could tell the moment this child waltzed through my door. This meant, I was to be this certain someone's full-time aid/ policeman/ ring leader. Every. single. blasted. second. 

2.) One of my students got kicked out of special education reading pull-out time for not completing homework. If getting 30 minutes of reading help each day is contingent upon completing homework...this kid will NEVER be getting this 30 minutes of reading help.
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And it doesn't feel right to me.

3.) One of my students fell at recess. He came back to class with blood dripping down his neck from the gaping gash on the back of his head. After calling Mom, she showed up to get him stitched up. 

4.) A certain lonely little guy was chasing his crush around at afternoon recess. She got sick of it and asked him to stop. He threatened to get a gun and shoot her. She cried in fear. Classmates rallied in her defense...and took it upon themselves to physically drag him away from her. Things got rough. Blood was drawn.

I began to hear snippets of this story as they came back from recess, and spent the next hour sorting out the details. The principal got involved. The district social worker got involved. I was lucky to have a student teacher continue class as normal, so I could handle it all . 

5.) It was at about this point I began to get a throbbing, blinding headache. 

6.) With only half an hour to go, a student threw up and I once again, called a parent to come get their child.

7.) The students finally got on the bus to go home. Within 30 minutes, parents were calling my room to express concern over the death threat. I gave proper reassurances that it is being addressed. 

8.) Then, I unintentionally made a teacher mad at me...one that I really like and need on my side. As I watched her leave my room in a huff, I decided it was officially time for me to go home. 

So here I am. At home. Nursing this darn headache and still reeling from all that still needs to be handled tomorrow. This is usually such a peaceful, country elementary school. What the heck happened?!


But anyway. Enough about me. How was your day? :)

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!

CODE

As usual, I was running around my classroom like a crazy person, trying to multi-task an insane number of tasks at once--straightening, copying, grading, sharpening pencils, arranging bulletin board displays, filing, answering questions, keeping an eye on the clock, monitoring students, planning, e-mailing, and applying band-aids...when I hit a roadblock trying to enter a grade into the computer. 

Ha. Ha. Ha. Very amusing. Like I have a spare second to sit and figure out whose paper this belongs to! 

Though to be quite honest, without doing any sort of number figuring, I knew EXACTLY who it belonged to:

That gal whose "creativity" will soon be the cause of my first gray hair. 

*smile*

CONSTRUCTION PAPER WREATH TUTORIAL

I was shocked to see my blogger stats the last few days skyrocket with over 70,000 hits to THIS post alone (about paper wreaths of all things). I figured that if that many people are interested in such a thing, I might as well provide guidance on how to make them. Maybe it will help to ease the stream of e-mailed inquiries I've been getting. 

You need:

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1.) one 9''x18'' sheet of green construction paper

2.) scrap paper of any color you'd like for bows, berries, etc. 

First, take the green paper and fold it in half...

...hot-dog style, like this.

Draw a line along the length that is open...NOT the side where the crease is...about 1-2 inches away from the edge. This marks your "NO CUTTING ZONE" for later. 

Then, draw tic marks every half-inch along the top and the bottom. You can make these marks one-inch apart for younger kids, but the narrower they are, the "lacier" your wreath will turn out in the end. 

I always tie this project in with the math lesson we have each December on measuring to the nearest half-inch.

Next, connect those tic marks with your ruler to make straight cutting lines. Notice my lines stop at the first line we drew earlier.

Then, cut along each line you drew, being careful not to go too far!

It will look like this when you've finished cutting. 

Now, open it up...

...And roll it in the opposite direction that the crease was folded to make a tube-like shape. It helps to have a second pair of hands for this step.

 I have the student hold one end together while I put staples in other side every couple of inches...as far in as my stapler will reach. Then we trade sides and I staple the other end the same way. 

I've found it just works better to have adults do the stapling part. Kids will only bunch it up, rip the "rings," and get frustrated. I always have a few teacher's aids on hand for this project.

I've also found that creasing the section that isn't cut, on either side a little bit helps to shape it for the next step. 

Now, join both ends of the "tube" you just made to create the wreath shape...

...and staple the ends together. At this point, you may need to finagle the stapler in through the "rings" to fix any bulges in the middle. After this, it should look like a wreath.

While students are waiting for an adult to help them with the stapler, they work on cutting out bows and berries. I've even had creative kids add pine cones and squirrels. I let the kids draw their own embellishments free-hand to allow for some individuality. If it's easier for you, copy off some clip-art bows for them to cut and paste instead.

Hang the final product in a window, on a door, or make a garland of them across the classroom ceiling.

Let me know if you have further questions. Become a follower to stay updated on future kids' crafts, activities, and other classroom helps. Enjoy your holidays! 

MY CRAZY WEEK

I woke up this morning at NOON. When I finally rolled over and looked at the clock, I was shocked. I had to go check the other clocks in the house to make sure. I guess my body needed it:

1.) Parent Teacher Conferences.
They require hours of preparation between the grading, progress reports, projects in class to finish and display, IRI graphs to print, thoughts to organize, classroom to clean, and appointments to arrange. And then there are the late nights actually conducting the interviews. And then there is usually that one parent who is angry at you for suggesting their child has any room for improvement or could have possibly ever broken a school rule. sigh.

But other than that, I really, truly, enjoy parent teacher conferences. I always leave with a clearer understand of why my kiddos are the way they are. Also, seeing how much the parents love their kids, for some reason, makes me love the squirts even more than ever.

2.) Sick.
Our house has had bad luck in the health department. Last week, Andrew came home miserable with the stomach flu. Luckily, with some distance and a bottle of Pepto, I was able to escape with only a day of mild nausea. But this week, I came home with a burning throat and a sinus headache. Teaching twenty-four, active eight-year olds while sick is never fun. 

3.) New Calling.
I learned to love my sunbeam calling much faster than expected. My bad attitude at the beginning only shames me now. And, as usual, the moment I get comfortable, I am issued a new call.

Laurel Advisor.

Relief Society presidency didn't terrify me near as much...and I was shakin' in my high heels back then, let me tell you. A few bad experiences must have traumatized me forever, because I have been out of high school for nearly ten years now, yet adolescent girls still make my palms sweat. It's as if I revert back to awkward teenager the moment I'm around them (though if we're being honest here, when have I NOT been socially awkward?). At mutual, I'm suddenly very conscious of my lack of witty things to say. Is my face turning red when I speak? And where am supposed to rest my hands while I hold a conversation?

The above quote has been helping me keep the proper perspective. This isn't about me. It's about those sixteen and seventeen year-old girls. Serve accordingly, Rachel.

4.) The House. 
Andrew's gone until 9 or 10 every night working to finish it by the new year. Although we knew it would be like this, and we agreed the sacrifice was worth making to build this house...it totally sucks. 
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I spend a lot of time digitally painting houses online these days. After angst-filled deliberation, I think the exterior house colors have been selected. Almost. I think.

On the Bright Side.
*I have the very best class this year. I just love them. Last year was so hard...and this year has been a breath of fresh air.

*Andrew is so wonderful. I was so miserably sick last night, and Andrew got a bath ready for me, brought me food, and rubbed my aching head until I fell asleep. I am spoiled rotten.

*After two late nights of parent-teacher conferences, teachers have Friday off. I love today.

*My Laurels are so good-hearted, talented, and well-versed in the Gospel. I don't know why I'm worried.

*We are totally building our own house. And that is freakin' awesome.