Barkley

        

 Barkley

Barkley is showing off his latest haircut.

 

     This is Barkley, a cute little Yorkie in our family.  I spent a couple of weeks in the presence of this little fellow.  He brightened up the day from the first thing in the morning to the last yawn at night. 

    

          This box was intended for my granddaughter to play in, but Barkley decided it would be fun for him too.

         This is when he was just a pup wearing his winter coat. 

    He doesn't like to get wet, so Barkley rides on his own raft in the pool because he wants to be part of the action.

      Last, but not least, here he is with his friend, Aldo the large black dog, taking a rest after an active day.

   

Barkley loves his baby.

        Everyone needs  to relax sometimes!

 It was a rough day.  Everyone needs a little snooze!
What can I say?

Enjoy your day!

Beti 

Halloween Finger Puppets

Halloween  

Finger Puppets
Boo!

       

         Everyone enjoys the Fall season and the anticipation of Halloween.
Finger puppets are a good activity for little ones to begin to interact with some Halloween characters. It's never too early the start thinking about Halloween especially if you are making something for your little ones.

     I like to use Altiod tins as a finger puppet to keep my finger puppets safe and sound in their "little houses" after playtime has ended.  The young child can always find their finger puppets when they are placed into their little house.
These have a simple pumpkin on the top to identify the correct container.

        A little orange jack-o-lantern with a big smile is always around during Halloween.  Black bats are a favorite at this time of year, but with a friendly little face.  Ghosts that say "Boo!" can't be left out of this group. Finally a cute little brown owl that says, "Whoo! " rounds out this little group. 

       Finger Puppets are a great activity to take on an airplane, in the car on a long trip or just at home.  They are wonderful for language development and communication skills.  Fine motor skills are developed when each finger puppet is being placed on different fingers of each hand. Color recognition is developed with the variety of bright colors.  Story telling can be incorporated with these Halloween friends in everyday play. 

        Today I linked up with Forever in 5th Grade for Show and Tell Tuesday Fall is Here.

       Stephanie has some great pictures of her cute puppies. Check them out.

 www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com
      
 Enjoy the fall season with family and friends!

Beti 

Adding Illustrations and Color in Notetaking

           

 Many students doodle while in class. Flowers, spaceships, airplanes, animals of all kinds, squiggles, stars, hearts, etc. We've seen it all.  Kids like to color.  But teaching your students to add little pictures and color to their notes can be very beneficial for your kiddos.  The pictures can help a person stir a memory of a piece of information during a test or sometime later in life. 
             
    My Social Studies class was making a flip chart about the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  I suggested that they add some pictures to their flip charts by telling them, " A picture is worth a thousand words".  

        This student drew an island on the Roanoke flap and a crown on the Queen Elizabeth.

        The flaps continued with a helmet and sword for Sir Walter Raleigh.

     This student took a different approach with stick figures and speech bubbles.
Sir Walter Raleigh is saying, " Go to Roanoke".  On the Captain John White flap, he wrote, You can't go back!" referring to John White leaving Roanoke to go back to England for supplies. 

    I love teaching these kids. They help me learn something new every day.  I hope I can do the same for each of my students.

   Please leave a comment if you have a spare minute.  I love to hear from my readers.

    This post is featured on Teachjunkie.com     Take a minutes to check out all the great ideas on the blog!  
    www.teachjunkie.com

I have linked up with Forever in 5th Grade for Show and Tell Tuesday.
www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com 

 

Enjoy your day!

Beti

One Pack of Seeds

Seeds!

        One little pack of seeds can sprout into a beautiful garden.

       Last fall I trimmed some  very overgrown bushes in my yard and cleared the space in between.  This spring the bushes started to sprout new green leaves.  I decided to plant wild flowers in the empty spaces. No big thing.  I sprinkled the seeds onto the dirt and raked them in. For a few days I faithfully watered the seeds until little green leaves started to poke through the earth. 
    
       I spent a few weeks away from home and was afraid that all my baby flowers would be all dried up.  Happily, when I got back my flowers were in bloom. 

   
    The neat thing is that every week some new flower bloomed.  

       These were the latest to bloom.
    

        In the fall, when the flowers die, the flowers will drop their seeds for next spring.  Then I will have a new arrangement of beautiful wild flowers in my garden.  

     So when you see those little packets of seeds in the store, buy one and grow some lovely little flowers.  They will brighten each  day with new blossoms.

     Even though it is the fisrt day of August, fall is coming the school year is just getting started. But plan ahead. Put this one in your planner for the spring.  Grow some with flowers in your classroom.  Could be a great Mother's Day gift from your students.

    Today I linked up with Forever in Fifth Grade  for Show and Tell  Tuesday.

https://foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com/2017/08/show-tell-tuesday-back-to-school-time.html 


    Have a great end of your summer and a successful school year.

Beti

Who am I? Explorers Flip Chart

  Flip Charts!

       If you know me, I LOVE to make  flip charts with my 5th graders!

As a study guide for the chapter on early exploration, we made this flip chart.  On each outer flap the students wrote "Who Am I?"  Then they wrote several "I  statements" to give clues to the explorer's name.  You can see that my kiddos use their notes to make sure their information is correct.

         This sample is the basic layout of the explorers' flip chart. I try to explain to the students that each statement must be specific to each person.

           The pictures of the explorers are from a set of reading comprehension sheets we used to study Christopher Columbus, Ponce deLeon, John Cabot, Hernando Cortes, Jacques Cartier, and Henry Hudson.  The pictures can be colored. By coloring the illustrations the students spent more time on each explorer and hopefully learn more in the process.

       After the flip charts are completed, the students "share or trade"  their flip chart with another student in class. Each student reads the  "Who am I?" questions and tells who the explorer is.  This can  also be used as a whole class activity where each student comes to the from of the room to place their flip chart under the projector for everyone to view at the same time. Students can then raise their hand if they know the correct answer. Some students like to try and stump their peers with difficult questions. 

        Today I linked up with Forever in Fifth Grade for the  Show and Tell Tuesday.  

www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com 

       Please send me a comment if you use flip charts or these are of any help for your students.

     

Beti

Recycled bottle caps into Math Matching game

    Recycled  Math Matching Game

           Do you need an activity that can be done at home with your kids during our time in quarantine?  This would be an easy, fun, and educational craft activity that you and your kids can do  tomorrow.  If you have older kids, they can help out those younger kiddos.   A whole family craft would be a great memory for your family.

        Since our School has earned the Green School certification for many years, so we collected plastic bottle caps instead of throwing them away. I decided that it was time to put these beautiful and colorful pieces of plastic to good use around St. Michael Catholic School. 

     My 5th graders are always up for a new project to help or serve someone else.  The kindergarten class directly below our room was our projected target.

      Number Matching and Counting Game

      We found 20 large green  bottle caps from juice containers. The students counted out the correct number of stickers to match the 1 - 20 numbers. The stickers were applied to the green caps. 20 orange caps were found. The numbers 1-20 were printed on labels, cut out, and applied to the orange caps. (Some fifth graders are still working on their cutting skills.) Now the Mod Podge work had begun. Several coats of the Mod Podge were applied  to both the green and orange caps.

This is self correcting with the matching number on the underside of the large green caps.

      We will have to wait for the ratings to come back from our kindergarten friends downstairs. Hopefully, we get 2 thumbs up!

Today I am linking up with Forever in Fifth Grade for the February Show and Tell. 
www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com
   

Hop on over to find all sorts of ideas for your classroom.

Enjoy every day to the fullest!

Beti

Hickory Dickory Dock

    Hickory, Dickory, Dock

     One of my favorite nursery rhymes is Hickory Dickory Dock.  Most children enjoy this nursery rhyme, too.
    
       Recently I watched a version online that involved a mouse and also a snake, cat, squirrel, monkey, and an elephant! Who ever heard of an elephant in this nursery rhyme? My granddaughter was enchanted by this video and song, especially the elephant. Of course, at the end the elephant goes up the clock.  Then, the  clock begins to creak and becomes smashed under the tremendous weight of the elephant.
    
     So as usual, I decided it would be fun to have a felt clock and some animals to sing and retell Hickory, Dickory, Dock. As you can see, I made a very basic grandfather clock and mouse to begin the song.

          Here is a silly little cat to add to the fun.

      I also had a lot of fun making this elephant.

        These felt animals and the clock are small enough to fit into a sandwich size zip lock bag.  I wanted to make it easy and small enough to fit into a diaper bag. It also had to be a good size for toddlers little hands and fingers to play with.

       Please spend as much quality time with your children as you possibly can. You won't regret it.  Some day, when they have grown up and have their own children, they will say that they remember when you played with them and sang, "Hickory, Dickory, Dock"!

Today I am linking up with Forever in Fifth Grade  for January's Show and Tell Tuesdays. Check out all of the January ideas that are included this month.
www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com

       Please leave a comment if you have a minute.  I'd love to hear from anyone who reads my blog.

Beti

Cracked Egg Cards and Envelope Baskets

 

Cracked Eggs  

  I found this cute cracked egg design to make an Easter card at 
http://www.sundayschoolkids.com/activities-lent-easter/1-cracked-egg-instructions.htm 

        My 5th graders made these cards for their 11st grade buddies.  They turned out quite cute.

     The directions were quite a challenge for some of the students.  First you had to read the directions from the bottom up. That was confusing for some.

The directions to reverse fold also stumped a group to children.  But the end result was very cute as you can see. 

 

    Envelopes came in handy to make a basket envelope for the Easter egg card.

          First, we took a legal size envelope and cut off the end with the return address. ( Our school gets donations, boxes of old recycle envelopes from local businesses).  

         Next, the remaining part was folded in half. The top flap was cut to match the curve.  Then a cut was made along the fold and following the curve to make a handle.  

        Finally, the open side of the "basket" was glued and decorated.  

       The cracked egg card fits nicely into the basket and ready for delivery. 

  Check out the Forever in 5th Grade Linky, SHOW and TELL.
www.foreverinfifthgrade.blogspot.com
    

 A joyous Easter to all!

Please leave a comment if you have the time. 

Beti