The History Behind Holiday Traditions: Thanksgiving

I love learning the history behind holiday traditions. I love sharing that passion for the history behind holiday traditions with my students even more. Once the craziness of Halloween is past, we enter the biggest holiday season of the year. First, there’s Thanksgiving and then comes Christmas and New Years back to back to back. With those holidays come so many fun and meaningful traditions. I. Love. Them.

We started off the season by exploring the book, Balloons Over Broadway, one of my all-time favorites for learning the history of holiday traditions. This book follows Tony Sarg from early childhood through the time in his life when he starts creating for Macy’s department store. First he was hired to create displays in windows. Then he began working on creating a parade to bring some of the traditions of the immigrants to New York City. It outlines his love for puppets and how his ideas for the Macy’s Parade came from his love of puppetry. It. Is. Perfect. There’s so much to discuss. Love the link to immigrants too and their traditions and how those traditions bring new and rich traditions to our world.

After reading the book, we had a ton of fun stretching out our learning to really dig into the history of the parade and the events that led up to it. One of the activities we did was to create these cute Macy’s Wondertown display booklets. On the front cover, students created their own design for a holiday window in Macy’s department store. Afterwards, they read about how Tony started with the windows and how that led him to creating other things for Macy, including the Macy’s Parade as we know it.

Last year, my family went to the Museum for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta and I was just so inspired by the puppets and the history there. I knew I wanted to find a way to bring puppets into my classroom. When I really sat down with the book, Balloons Over Broadway, I knew I had found the link. Tony also loved puppets and especially marionette puppets. I created a short page on the history of marionettes and then the students created their own little marionette-style puppet that was inspired by the book. They were so absolutely excited…and continue to be excited over them.

We also learned about the steps that Tony used to create the balloons for the Macy’s parade. We created our own designs for a Macy’s day balloon. My students loved all of these activities. It all came together so nicely.

Another book we read was called Thanksgiving in the Whitehouse. This book explored the tradition of pardoning turkeys. I also loved that this book had so much that could be used for exploring character. It was based on events of the lives of Abe Lincoln and his son Tad when they were living in the White House. The themes I picked out were compassion and perseverance, perfect for any classroom for sure. I also loved that it told about Tad and his determination to save the Thanksgiving turkey that he fell in love with and wanted to keep as a pet. In the end, Abe Lincoln decided to pardon Jack, the Thanksgiving turkey from Thanksgiving dinner.

We popped on to YouTube to see a video showing our current president granting a presidential pardon to a turkey and talked about how this is a fun Thanksgiving tradition that happens every year. After the video, I gave each child a preprinted turkey. They had to disguise their turkey for the Thanksgiving feast so that it could not be recognized as a turkey. We took it a step farther and had each student think about the reasons their turkeys should be “pardoned” from Thanksgiving dinner. They were suppose to really be creative and have powerful reasons as to why their turkeys should be saved.

Once the students were done with their reasons, they were told that they needed to turn those reasons into a persuasive essay that they would be reading in court before the judge. Their job was to persuade the judge (me dressed in my graduation gown) that their turkey deserved a pardon. The class really took this seriously. It was the right real-world link for this activity. The students were very nervous when it was time to take the stand before the judge and fight for their turkeys. It was priceless.

One of my highlights where when one of my students, who passionately spoke about why her turkey should be saved looked at me and said, “Besides, aren’t you a vegetarian?” Why yes, yes I am. It was perfect. I even had a student come back a day later to ask if we could do another type of persuasive writing that we could bring before the “judge”. If they are asking for more, I count that as a definite win, friends.

The last book we read about Thanksgiving traditions was called The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving. This was again a great book for teaching character….filled with drive and determination. It is the true story of author, Sarah Hale who wanted to try to save Thanksgiving. It was disappearing and was not even celebrated by the entire country. She wanted to create an official day for the holiday and wanted the entire country to come together one day to celebrate thankfulness. She literally took up her pen and wrote letter after letter…thousands of them to lawmakers and president after president. It took her 38 years to FINALLY have Thanksgiving proclaimed as a national holiday….but she did it. We now have both her and Abe Lincoln to thank for the holiday. And by the way, she is the author who also wrote none other than, Mary had a Little Lamb.

I decided to launch a new series on Teachers Pay Teachers to help me celebrate the holidays in a way that I love best, through the lens of learning the history behind the holiday traditions. All of the activities listed above and more are in my History Behind the Holiday packs. If you are interested, you can click on the pictures below to be taken to my TPT store. 

Classroom Transformation: Wild Kratts

I've been wanting to do this classroom transformation since September when educators around the world were challenged by the Rock Your School movement. It was extremely difficult to hold off on this for a few extra weeks, but personally I was unable to make it happen until today. (Long story of moving schools, selling and buying a house and having to be out of my house for showings and inspections and all the things that come with that....and also commuting between 45 minutes to an hour each way. But all that is about to end when we officially move within 15 minutes of work in a few weeks.) Anyway, It happened today and my students LOVED it! They stayed on task so well. 

I decided I wanted to do something different for my classroom transformation, but I just could not decide what. I thought about my science curriculum unit and it was animal adaptations. That's when an idea hit me. I wanted to create a Wild Kratts theme! I just love that show and so do my kids. It is perfect since it is all about animals. I decided to focus on five different animals that students could encounter any day in the area where we live.

Day one was all about worms.

Day two will be all about fireflies.

Day three will focus on bats.

Day four we will learn about opossums.

Day five will be about skunks.

Today we learned about the creature powers (adaptations) of worms. First, we learned how worms secrete a special fluid that is released through the skin. We learned how the fluid made it easier for worms to slide through tunnels and through dirt and gravel without getting hurt. After learning about this special adaptation, we made our own slime in groups, following a recipe. 

Afterwards, students were excited and ready to do some more. We moved on to a close reading activity. It was all about worms. Students were given six problems. Each problem listed two truths and one lie. Students had to read through their paper that told them all about worms. They had to highlight the truths to prove that those were not the lie. Once they found the two truths, they circled the lie and had to check it. There were flip check cards around the room for self-checking. After getting an answer right, students came to me to get one of the supplies for making dirt dessert, only they had no idea what the items were for, because I did not tell them. Most students were able to figure it out. I gave them these items in this order.

1. a cup

2. a spoon

3. an Oreo cookie in a ziplock (this is when most students figured it out)

4. a gummy worm

5. another gummy worm

6. a pudding cup

Once everyone in class was able to earn all their supplies, we worked through the steps to making dirt dessert. Students are going to use that knowledge to create a flip writing assignment that shows the steps to creating dirt dessert.

Of course we ran out of time to complete everything, but I'm totally O.K. with that. There's always tomorrow. I always overplan.

At the end of the day, my principal said she was wondering why my class was so noisy at the beginning of the day. But then my daughter, who is in her class, had told that I had done a Wild Kratts transformation. Love the excitement when kids realize it's going to be a great day.

Start the School Year: Classroom Setup

Tomorrow, I am heading off to my new classroom, although we do not report to work until August first, to get ready to start the school year by setting up my space. I changed schools for this year and will also be teaching a different grade level, so I really feel like I have a lot to do and not much time to do it. I figure I can knock out a few things on my to do list tomorrow and then enjoy some more summer days before I head back to school for real. This is what my new classroom looked like when I first walked through the door. 

There is a lot of potential for this space. I love that it is a much bigger size than my classroom last year. I also am pretty stinkin' excited about using tables instead of desks...so much easier to keep things neat and tidy. I like the windows on one side of the classroom too. I am so thankful for a sink and drinking fountain right in my classroom! A sink in the classroom is a real game changer! The bathrooms for my class are in the hallway right outside my room and I can see the doors from my classroom. 

I am a big overwhelmed with having to unpack and set up and sort and do all the things before school starts, so I am just going to get in there are do a few things to help it feel like home quickly. 

Tomorrow, I am planning to recover the bulletin boards with new paper and add borders later....my borders, although ordered on Prime, are taking longer than two days, so the boards will be borderless in the meantime. I am also planning to work on arranging my classroom. If I can get the arrangement of the furniture done, it will be easier to add the decorative touches. I will try to unpack my books and start to sort those into different bins or spaces. I am also interested to check out everything that is in the room and take an inventory of what I may still need to get the school year started.  I have several types of organizational bins to help out in getting things set up and organized, but will still need to pick up some in a shoe box size. These are my favorite ones and what I have had the past two years in my previous classrooms...yes, I have moved for the last three years. First I switched grade levels and classrooms within the same school. Then my school closed and opened in a different location. Now I am moving to a completely different school in a different town, although I taught at this school previously (nine years ago).

I have also had my eyes on these 12x12 boxes from Michaels and I was able to purchase several on sale and with gift cards, so barely any money came out of my pocket for these. I call that a win!

I searched around and finally found some of these little snack containers at Dollar Tree. They were just three for a dollar! Score! I love using these for individual sets of manipulatives. They are perfect. I had a bunch of these in my previous classroom, but they were not mine personally, so I needed to pick some up and now they are mine so they can go wherever I do.

I have high hopes that tomorrow I can be super productive. I need to get a lot done! I want my classroom to start looking like I envision it. I also have a lot of projects going for my classroom with a big addition that I am working on building with my husband...neither one of us really has any construction know-how or experience, so I hope it turns out to be as easy as the tutorial we saw. I will let you know about all that in another post once it is done...if it all turns out! 

Start the School Year: How do You Teach Respect

To start the school year, it is imperative that you create a family atmosphere of respect in your classroom. The students within your walls need to know that they have a place to belong. They need to know that other students are pulling for them and celebrating with them and looking out for them. 

One of the ways to do this is to make sure that everyone knows everyone else's name and can pronounce it at closely as possible (perfect pronunciations can be impossible because our brains are born with the ability to use every sound, in every language, in the world, but by a young age, if our language does not use that sound, we lose it). Do not allow students to call each other by other names. This will help alleviate name calling.

Teach students how to show respect in their conversations and discussions. It is OK not to agree with one another. It is NEVER OK to put someone down because of their beliefs. Students will not naturally know how to disagree appropriately. Show them how. Teach them that you can still like someone when you do not see eye to eye.

Check in with your students. Have them them celebrate the helpers in the class. Make this the culture of your room. Students want to be recognized. Let it be for something positive.

Hang posters with quotes to encourage respect on your walls. Students will have a constant reminder of the importance of respect and friendship. 

You can grab these posters for free in my tpt store by clicking the picture below. 

Respect your students. If your student does not want to talk about something that is bothering him/her, give some space until he/she is ready. Speak with respect, including your tone. Just as you would not want a student to disrespect you in the way they talk or what they say, return the favor. If you must reprimand a child, try to do so quietly or outside of the classroom if at all possible.

Respect is a two way street. It can be taught. Students can and should be held to a standard of high respect not just for you, but for their classmates as well.

If you are interested in the respectful discussion posters, you can find them by clicking the photo below.

Start the School Year: Favorite Back to School Books

I suppose I am like any other teacher in the world. I have my go-to activities, my go-to books that I like to use to start the school year. I use them year after year. But I also like to collect new books to sprinkle amongst the old. I am a book lover from way back, and that keeps me hunting and looking, always, for fresh books to share at the start of the school year.

This year, I have purchased a few new ones. You can check out my staple books to start the school year on this blog post.

Last year, I ran into Adam Peterson's Instagram account via searching for ideas on kindness. He started a Yellow Day movement that focuses on being kind. He has a guinea pig for his class pet, just like me! He also wrote an amazing little book about kindness called Gigi's Yellow Garden. With a pet guinea pig in the classroom, this is the perfect book for my class! I also love that it is illustrated by a student! I mean, how fun is that?

This one may just turn out to be our guinea pig, Ginger's favorite book this year!

Another book I got was recommended by Amy Lemons from Step into Second Grade (on Instagram). She has this Rooted in Reading series that she created for TPT and is creating a new lesson for the book, Being Frank. After hearing her talk a little bit about this book, and seeing a preview of her resource, I knew this would be a perfect addition to my collection. It is about a boy named Frank who is just too...well, Frank! He says whatever is on his mind whether it is kind or not. This book will open up a lot of conversations about the power of our words and about not saying everything you are thinking. I have heard students say, "I don't mean to be mean, but..." right before they go ahead and say something extremely unkind. I know I can't be the only teacher who has experienced this. I am excited to use this book to talk about what is appropriate and also to teach that words do matter and have power. 

The last book I picked up was recommended by  Wild Things Learn, also on Instagram. It is called, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. I loved her idea of using this book to celebrate the grand opening of our library with much fanfare. It is a great way to talk about the importance of books in our lives and why they matter so much. 

New books are always exciting! I can't wait to share these new reads with my new class in August.

Start the School Year with Organization

Starting the year with organization is simple...keeping it that way throughout the year is not. I am generally not a naturally organized person, so setting up some routines and having a place for everything is a MUST if I want to stay organized. Here are some of my favorite tips for organizing a classroom at the start of the year. I am going to share my favorite storage solutions as well.

1. Have a place for everything. 
Whatever you do, find storage solutions for all the things you will use in the classroom. If that means baskets (hello Reggio teachers), bins, file cabinets, whatever you use, place items in something to keep things sorted and ready for students or yourself. Don't have a catch all organization method where all the leftover items you don't know what to do with get dumped. It will not be efficient or effective. A few years ago, I transitioned into this mindset after viewing classroom upon classroom that was so beautifully organized. I realized that it was the storage solutions that made it that way. So, sort your classroom materials. Put items that are the same together in one container. Label everything for easy clean up for your students and teach them how to return items to the appropriate spot. Do not assume that they will just simply do it on their own. Be explicit in your teaching. 

2. Make organization simple for your students.
Again, storing like items in one bin and labeling everything is a great place to start. It sets clear expectations as to where items should be returned after use. I like to also place bins in alphabetical order. This helps students find things quicker than if they are placed in a random order. 

3. Build in time for cleaning.
Students should be responsible for helping to clean the classroom. This is REAL life training, teachers. Students will be less likely to make a mess if you expect that they help in the clean up process...and your janitor will thank you for it! So, schedule some time at the end of every day to do just that. All you really need is to have 15-20 minutes of time. You can have jobs posted that rotate, or use an economy system where students earn classroom money for doing jobs. Or you can simply see what needs to be done and have students pitch in. I love to use this method for helping cleanup go quickly or this method for making sure the floor stays nice and neat.  

4. Clear your desk and teacher table everyday while the students clean up their areas.
Let's face it, starting the year with organization means making yourself keep surfaces clean. Let's face it, papers pile up and that can detract for an organized classroom. Make it a ritual to clear every surface at the end of every day.

5. Make filing papers a priority. 
Now that you have made a pact with yourself to keep the surfaces clean, give attention to each paper that built up throughout the day. If it is something you no longer need, throw it away. If it is something you need, file it or place it neatly in the correct storage spot. If it is a set of papers you need to grade, clip it together and place it in the correct bin or into your teacher bag to take care of at home (if you take work home). 

What are your best tips for starting the school year with organization? Let me know in the comments below.

Start Your Year on a Positive Note...and Keep it That Way

Starting the school year can be a challenge. I like to start it on a positive note and work hard throughout the year to keep it that way. Here are five easy tips to help you start your year off on a positive note and keep it that way too.

1. Send a letter of greeting to each parent. If you can get a hold of parent addresses about a week or so before school starts, send a letter of greeting to each parent introducing yourself and telling something about you. Be sure to include some things students will be learning during the school year. I also like to send a post card to greet the students individually. Students LOVE to get "real" mail and parents will enjoy passing this note along to their child. 

2 . At the start of the school year, call every parent within the first week. Seriously, take the time to call each one and thank them for entrusting their child to you. Tell them that you look forward to working as a team and share something positive that you have noticed about their child. It is so important to do this before any misbehaviors have a chance to happen. Generally, students are in the honeymoon stage the very first week of school, so I choose to make a phone call home during this time so that the first contact from me once school has started is a positive one. 

3. Set up a communication binder. Be proactive and set one up before school even starts. Keep a record, throughout the school year, of each and every communication. It can save you if you are ever in a tough spot. Documentation is key. Save every email. Document every phone call. Write down conversations you have with parents in person. This will help you keep track of all interactions. I like to keep a binder where I can write down each and every interaction. 

4. Send positive notes home. I set a goal to try to send one positive note home at least every two weeks to each child in my class and while I am not always able to accomplish that, parents really do enjoy getting little notes of praise from the school. To do this, keep a clipboard of positive note printables on a clipboard. Write each child's name on one of the notes. When you see something to celebrate, write a quick note. Send it home at the end of the day. Doing it this way helps you keep track of who you still need to send notes home with. I use one of these cute little printable note sets to keep it super simple. 

Here is another piece of advice on this one. If you have a child who is not easy, and let's face it, there's usually one every year, give these notes of praise even more often. Remember teachers, fair is not always equal. Fair is making sure each child receives what he or she needs and I make sure the students in my class know that they will not all be treated exactly the same because that may not be what he or she needs. Students with difficulties often have low self esteem, but you can help build that child up and strengthen your relationship with him or her by looking for things he or she is doing well or right. Be sure to be sincere and let him or her know exactly what you appreciate.

5. Have an open door policy. I know teachers who never give out their personal phone number or only allow parents to see them at certain times. I want my parents to feel and know that I am available to help them when needed. In the twenty years I have been teaching, I have NEVER had any parent overuse my phone number. Instead they are always respectful, apologetic, and thoughtful when they have to use it during my personal time. It certainly gives them a feeling that I care about their child and them and that feeling goes a long way. I am available to meet with parents after school as needed. It is not often that I need to meet with a parent or take a phone call, but I want them to know that I am there if they need me. 

Good communication will knock out a whole host of problems before they have a chance to begin. It is the number one way to keep parents informed, feel a part of the school experience, and be on your side. It is worth the time and effort. I am not a natural communicator. I am a quiet person, but knowing this about myself has made me push myself even harder to keep up the communication. So let's do it! Let's start this year on a positive note...and keep it that way.

If you need some resources to help, you can check these out. Click on the pictures below to be taken to the store.

Back to School Activities

Do you have back to school activities that you reuse year after year? I am that kind of teacher for sure. But I am also the teacher who is constantly trying out new things and tweaking things to make them better. Sure I still have my go-to list of ideas, but I also like to spice up the back to school activities to make them even better. Today I want to share with you five things I like to do with my students during back to school time.

1. Name Tags
I love setting out huge name tags for my students on the first day. When they arrive, it doubles as an activity that they can do while waiting for class to start. First I print out every child's name as large as I can on legal sized paper. I use a hollow font so that the name is outlined with a blank area inside. I make the lines thick in Photoshop so that all the letters touch. I do this so that later the name can be cut out as one piece instead of as individual letters. I make sure to double check the spelling of each name, cause it would be awful to arrive on day one to see that your teacher had written your name wrong. As students arrive, I usher them to their seats and ask them to decorate their name. If they finish early, I have them also cut it out. After school, I put them up  on a bulletin board that also has space to display a piece of work beside their name. It is an instant display. After all these years of teaching, I have found one thing to be true, kids everywhere LOVE to see their own work on display. 

2. Get to Know you Activities
If students have been in the same school for a while, they will probably already know a lot of their classmates. But as things usually go, there are new students that have come in over the summer. It is so important for me to get the class started by introducing ourselves and getting to know about things we have in common. This can be done in a simple sharing style, like going around and saying your name and also something about you such as your favorite color, or even better, turn it into a game...who doesn't like a game? With nerves so high on day one, playing a game can be a non-threatening way to calm those nerves and help students get to know one another. 

A simple game to get you started is just to have the students stand in a circle. Start with a ball. A student will throw the ball to another classmate and say their own name like, I'm April and you are ______. If they do not know the student's name, the other student will say his/her name and play will continue until all students have had the ball. Throw the ball around the entire circle several times (in the same order) to help students start to learn each other's name. 

Another back to school game I really like is called Everybody in my Family. To play this game, students will be in a circle, with each student standing on a paper plate. One player, usually the teacher, will start out. He/she will be inside the circle. The player in the circle will say, "Everybody in my family...." and then will name one thing about them such as, "Everybody in my family is good at gymnastics." Or "Everybody in my family loves pizza." Or Everybody in my family has a sister." Then all the other students that have that in common with the player in the middle, will come off his/her plate and run to another plate. The student who does not get a plate goes to the middle and says something about their own family. You can continue to play for as long as you like, but usually 5 minutes or so is just right for a quick and easy way to get to know a bit about one another. 

One other activity I love is to give each student a pair of Lego glasses (these can be purchased on Amazon) and a box of Legos to share. Students then use the Legos to build onto their glasses. They build something they like or you could have them build something to represent their favorite thing about school. Be sure to take pictures of each student as they finish their designs.

A new get to know you activity I tried last year was by the fabulous >>>>> She is the most amazing art teacher. 

3. Team Building
If your classroom is like my classroom, students work in teams a lot. To help them learn to work together, I give them several team or class challenges that they work on during the back to school week. There are so many different types of challenges out there. I like to shake it up sometimes and try different ones that I have found. 

A great activity from the book, Making Learning Magical, is to have students write down three of their favorite things.  After they have written all three, take a little break to share with students some of your own favorite things. You can do this in a powerpoint (for older students) or as a show-n-tell (for younger students). 

After sharing, pass out Play-doh to all the students. Tell them to use the Play-doh to sculpt one of their favorite things. As students work, be sure to walk around the class, engaging them in conversations about what they are making. Have them share with their groups what they have made. 

During the next day of class, a fun way to bring it all together is to have them work in teams to find one thing they all have in common. The teams can create a poster, make an art project or another sculpture to share with the class what they have in common. 

Another fun activity that I have done before is a spin off the show Chopped. This, however is an art challenge. Students get a bag of mystery supplies and they have to use what is in the bag to create something with their team. Teams will share their creations with the class. Teams are scored on how well they work as a team and also creativity and presentation.

These are just two activities that I will use this year, but there are so many amazing ways to get your teams working together. 
  
4. S.T.E.M.
S.T.E.M. challenges are all the rage right now. These are great for helping students learn to work together and persist through an activity. There are really so many S.T.E.M. challenges that you can find for free by doing a search or that you can purchase from Teachers Pay Teachers.

5.  Books
Books are a great way to calm nerves and also help set expectations for kindness from the first day. Some of my favorite books are:

First Day Jitters

Enemy Pie

Mean Jean Recess Queen

Each Kindness

Be Kind

There are just so many books to love and share. 


In case you are looking for some back to school activities, you can check out some that I have available by clicking the labels below.

Art Team Building Activity

Bulletin Board Activity