My All-Time Favorite Valentine's Day Book

There are books that I come back to again and again. And this one, for Valentine's Day, is always at the top of my list. It's called Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch". I discovered this gem years and years ago and I have used it ever since. 

This book has a message kids need, something to inspire them to be better and do better. To look for the lonely. To show kindness to the overlooked. It. Is. Perfect. 

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Mr. Hatch was all alone. He kept to himself and followed his routine each day, never veering from it....until one day the post man makes an unusual delivery to Mr. Hatch's home one afternoon. And that is when everything changes. The delivery was an enormous heart-shaped box of candy. There was a note that fell from the box that said, "Somebody loves you!" The note changed everything. He started taking extra care of himself in case he met his secret admirer. He started to change his routine, to smile more and be friendly and helpful to everyone he met. Everyone in town noticed Mr. Hatch had changed and they changed toward him too. The whole town fell in love with Mr. Hatch until....

Well, I better not give away the ending away. But you will just have to pick up the book and find out the ending. You can find the book over here.

Five Things to do to Ease Back to School after New Years

I am not the kind of teacher to rush back and hit the books and new learning right away after Christmas break. I love to spend the first day back as a review day...some might call it a slow start. Here's a look at what I am planning to do my first day back. 

1. Start with time for talking. 

I think this one is very important. Students have been away from the classroom for two full weeks. They are excited. They are tired. Some don't want to be there. Let's face it, they need a few minutes to share and talk about their break, and hear about the breaks of others. I will be using a Rolling into the New Year activity to help with this. Students have a few minutes to talk with friends in a structured way. Using this is super easy. Students take turns rolling the die and then talking about the question they rolled. You can see it in the picture below. You can find this activity over here.  This resource is updated for each year, including this year. 

2. Review Rules and Procedures

Students need to be reminded of the rules. Anytime you are out for more than a weekend, it is a good idea to review. This could be done in fun ways like making it into a game or a fun and interactive quiz. 

I am going to use a true or false quiz that is fun and a bit ridiculous. For instance, I choose really outlandish things like: 

True or false, when entering the classroom late, you should pretend to be on the red carpet, walking with style and doing a few spins on the way to your seat. 

Students will smile, laugh and also remember what they are really suppose to do, because I will also have the real rules and procedures throw in such as: True or false, when entering the classroom late, you should come in quietly, close the door behind you, put your things at your desk and join whatever activity we are doing. 

You get the point. I would do this with every rule and then go over it together when everyone has finished.

3. Math Review

Instead of jumping in to a new concept in math, we are going to do a math review called Unlock the New Year. This review is by Cooties and Cuties and it is a quick countdown activity where students do a few review skills for each number on the board and then move toward the number 1 where they will get a few Hershey's kisses as a celebration for completing the challenge. 

4. Starbooks Cafe

Starbooks Cafe is a fun and relaxing way to get back into the swing of reading while reviewing several reading skills in a reading marathon. Students will get to sip a sweet hot chocolate while reading and responding to a book of their choice. 

I found this activity years ago online, but I do not remember where it came from. But you can see how I set this up over here.

5. Staff Appreciation Writing

I am adding in this new activity from hello_fifth on TPT. Students will choose one staff member and will write about why they are grateful for that staff member. It will give them a chance to work on their writing skills, but with a smaller task instead of diving right in to writing essays. It will also put a smile on the staff member's face when we give them out to each of them. 

As a bonus, this week, I have a part two of low cost New Year activities, so be sure to check it out as well. 

Five Favorite December Read-Alouds and Book Picks

During the month of December, I LOVE to bring out all the winter and Christmas-themed books. It just brings me so much joy and helps make the crazy season more predictable and festive. I'm going to share five of my favorite December books for upper elementary. 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

Themes: Generosity, Forgiveness, and Healing Through Friendship

Summary: A young widow and her son move to a new town. They have lost their precious nativity set. The widow finds a widowed woodcarver who begrudging agrees to carve a new one, but does not promise to have it done before Christmas. The woodcarver, harsh from the wounds of the death of his own wife and child, is gruff and hard to deal with. But over the days and weeks as the widow and her her son visit him while he carves, the woodcarver slowly begins to heal and soften. 

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Theme: Hope, Faith, Community

Summary: A stranger arrives in town. The townspeople each have their own ideas of who he is and what his work is. The children hope he works with candy. One brave girl, goes to see him and is allowed to help him open boxes and crates and fill jars with...candy! As they unpack together, she stumbles upon a new candy she has never before seen...it is a curved candy with red and white stripes. The man patiently shows her the secrets behind the candy and the spiritual ties it has. He tells her that they must tell everyone about the message behind the candy. So, together they go to each house in town passing out candy canes and telling the story of Christ.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Themes: Change, Christmas, Redemption

Summary: One of the churches in town has a beautiful Christmas pageant every year that is put on by the children. It's predictable and comfortable. The same lady directs the play each year, but this year, due to an accident, she is unable. When the new leader takes over, things begin to go from bad to worse. The Herdman family shows up on the scene. Every kid in the church is afraid of the Herdmans. They are infamous for their bad behavior. They waltz into the church and take over, stealing the prize roles of Mary, Joseph, and the wisemen. It seems to be an unholy alliance and people in town are up in arms over the whole ordeal. But change comes to the Herdmans, as they practice and perfect their roles. And in the end, everyone says it was truly the best Christmas pageant ever. 

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (with novel or picture book options)

Theme: Triumph of Good Over Evil, Gift Giving, Hospitality, and Redemption

Summary: To escape the effects of the war, a family of four children are sent away to stay with a relative in his big house. While playing one day, one of them stumbles into the wardrobe and into a magical land. Upon returning to the house, no one believes that she went to another world until they too unwittingly discover it for themselves. In this land, Narnia, it is perpetually winter, a curse from the white witch. The children find themselves in all sorts of adventures, including their youngest brother being kidnapped by the witch. They team up with the other creatures to win him back, but that involves sacrifice...the ultimate sacrifice. 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Theme: Jealousy, Community, Materialism, Transformation

Summary: In a magical land on a tiny snowflake live the Whos. In the town of Whoville, Christmas is a time of gluttony, showing off, and thinking of ones self. The Grinch, who lives on the outskirts of town, was ostracized as a child and now keeps to himself most of the time, only coming out occasionally to terrorize the town. Cindy Lou Who begins asking questions about the Grinch and winds up feeling sorry for him. After the Grinch steals Christmas, the other Whos are upset at Cindy for being to friendly with the him. Cindy sets off to confront the Grinch, helping him and the other Whos realize what is really important isn't things. It is community and friendship.  

What books are on your Christmas reading list this year? 

Christmas Gift-Giving in the Classroom

Favorite Ideas From Student Another Student

One of my all-time favorite gift ideas is for a special gift exchange that doubles as an easy class party. My students love to exchange gifts, but we have all been in classrooms where, (gasp) someone gets the worst gift ever. One year I hosted a totally open gift exchange and one kid brought deodorant. I wasn't sure what I was going to do when another student chose that gift, but thankfully, the kid was super-excited...it was apparently a rite of passage moment. He had graduated into the deodorant-wearing realm and so all ended well....but...it could have ended quite poorly.      

Last year was the year of my favorite gift exchange. I had student bring a new, wrapped board game. It was great for many reasons. 

• It doubled as the perfect classroom party. After presents, we played board games for probably about an hour. Students were laughing and having a great time with friends.
• It gets students off of devices. It is my hope that they will have so much fun with their game that they will play at home with friends and family too.
• It is highly interactive. Board games require interacting with others. It is a great way to foster relationships in and out of the classroom, a skill that devices have greatly hindered.

Favorite Ideas From Teachers to Students

I have done many different gifts over the years for the students in my classroom, but one of the easiest and most budget-friendly is a small gift bag. I purchase an item like a set of Uno cards from Dollar Tree, add a Christmas Pencil, eraser, and some candy. The kids are thrilled with that. 

This year I am doing a spin on this idea, except I am changing out the cards for a can of putty. I was at Target the other day and found these great cans of putty marked down from six dollars to just $2.50. I could not leave them behind. I selected several different kinds, enough for each child in my class. I created a little tag that says, "You're Putty Awesome! Merry Christmas," and I am adding some other small items like pencils and candy. I know my students will be excited about the putty. It was super easy to put together, and it was within the budget that I wanted to spend.

Favorite Ideas From Students to Teachers

My all-time favorite teacher gift was given to two team teachers in my building and put together by their room parents. It was absolutely amazing! I have never personally received this, but it would be perfect. It was a gift card wreath. The room parents asked all the parents to donate gift cards. I am not sure how they did this, but I think it would be even more perfect if they had created a form for the teacher to fill out about favorite stores, restaurants, etc. Then parents could purchase from their list of favorites. 

As a teacher, I love to save my gift cards to do fun outings during summer vacation with my kids. It means a lot that I don't have to spend the money, and it is a gift that keeps on giving.  

The Week Before Thanksgiving and a Fun Thanksgiving Tradition

Are you looking for a way to celebrate Thanksgiving with your classroom during the week before Thanksgiving? Here's some of my Favorite ways.

The History Behind Thanksgiving

Have your students learn the history behind this special, truly American tradition. I created a small booklet of articles about the traditions we hold dear during this time. Students can read about these traditions, answer comprehension questions, and then there are extension activities for the students to further their learning. 

Click here to find this resource. 

Turkey Pardoning Simulation 

Get your students writing with a courtroom simulation of the famous turkey pardoning ceremony. Students will dress their turkey in a costume to attempt to escape the dinner table, write a persuasive speech about why their turkey should be pardoned, and deliver it to your classroom "courtroom" to await a ruling

You can find this fun activity right here. 

If you, as teacher, can wear a black graduation robe and find a wooden hammer, even better! You are instantly a convincing judge for your classroom courtroom.

Thanksgiving Art Meets Teambuilding Challenge Activity

Why not throw in a teambuilding challenge with an art spin? In one of the challenges, teams of students will create Macy's Day Parade balloons. This one is a lot of fun. Three challenges are included...this is a spin off of the TV show Chopped, but with an art twist.

Be sure to grab this one over here. 

Thanksgiving School Tradition

We started a fun Thanksgiving tradition about three years ago at our school. That tradition is to celebrate the final day before Thanksgiving break with a school-wide celebration in Charlie Brown style. We share a feast, like Charlie Brown and his friends did. We serve toast, popcorn, jelly beans and pretzel sticks. While we enjoy our "feast" we watch the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie. It is a fun tradition and a great way to start off the holidays. 

Math Block Series: Christmas Came a Little Early

Is it too early to begin thinking about and planning for Christmas in the classroom? I would say, absolutely not! Christmas is just around the corner and I know how busy things are between Halloween and Christmas, so no, it is not too early. I am already thinking about spicing up my math centers with some Christmas-themed games. Here's a sneak peek at one of them. 

An Up Close look at my Division Game

Practicing division is much sweeter when it is a candy/cookie themed game. I call this game Oh Christmas Tree. I created it for math centers. It can be played with partners or even with a small group of up to 4. Simple to prep, this game gets cut out and if you choose to laminate, it can be a game you have your students play from year-to-year. You could even have a parent volunteer do the cutting for you. 

How to Play the Game

The game is easy to play and can be taught to students quickly. To start, each player will take a tree cookie board and some pom-poms. You could definitely use other counters if you do not have poms. Place the round candy cards upside down, or in a bag where you cannot see them. Take turns drawing a candy card (without looking). If a student draws an equation, they will simply solve the equation and if they are correct, they will place a pom-pom over one of the dots on their tree. If they do not get it correct, their turn ends without adding a pom-pom. If a student draws a solid candy card, they will read and follow the directions on it. Some cards say remove one pom-pom. They will take one off their own card. If they draw a card that says remove one pom-pom from another player, they will choose another player who will then remove a pom-pom. If they draw a card that says add one pom-pom, they will add a pom-pom to your tree. 

Be sure to check it out over here!

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Books for the New Year - January Titles for Building Reading Comprehension

Books for the New Year

I am always on the lookout for new books to use for different seasons in my classroom. I recently ran across the book Because by Mo Willems. It is absolutely perfect and stunning for the new year. I am going to use it for goal setting and will also tie in some reading comprehension strategies and reading skills. 

I decided to try to find a book to partner with the book to Because. The book by John Lithgow called, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo, was the perfect book to use. It has a similar topic and is lots of fun. 

New Year's Book Descriptions

The book, Because, is a beautifully illustrated book that features the story of an orchestra. It traces inspiration from one piece of music to the final moment when an orchestra is formed. It shows how just one person can have a huge effect over the lives of others. It is written in a simple pattern, but don't let that fool you! This book is packed with possibilities for older students like my upper elementary kids. 

The book, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo, is a fun book that features an orchestra as well...only in this book some rogue animals take over the orchestra, reeking havoc in the process. 

 New Year's Partner Books

What I love about using these two books together is their easy link based on not only the orchestra, but how easily the books show a cause/effect relationship. They are perfect for linking together to compare and contrast. 

Lesson Planning for New Year's Books

I was looking through these two books with reading lessons in mind. I knew I wanted to connect the books not only to New Year's celebrations, but also to my curriculum. I looked for skills that could be incorporated. Here are some good ones.

First, of course, we will have a discussion about the points of the book using  basic questions as well as questions that dig a bit deeper and require making connections.

Next, using the book Because, we will work on cause and effect relationships. This book is perfect for that. Each page has a cause/effect sentence on it. We will branch away from those, writing some of our own. In the end, we can link back to the book, Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo for one last cause/effect.

For deeper learning, students will think about the effect (goal) they want to have for the rest of the school year. They will list out some causes....what will cause them to reach that goal. They will draw a picture of themselves completing that goal. If you visualize it and have a step-by-step plan, you can achieve it, right?

The book, Never Play music Right Next to the Zoo, is also a great way to review basic nouns and verbs. We will do a quick verb sort with this one. 

Another great skill to work on with these two books is comparing and contrasting. Using partner books allows you to have enough similarities, but there will be many differences as well. A Venn diagram is the perfect way to organize a comparison between these two books. 

Using fun picture books is one of my favorite ways to teach new skills and these two new (to me) books will be the perfect addition!

Valentine's Day

Are you looking for a quick an inexpensive idea this Valentine's day? If so, be sure to read on for a couple of fun ideas you can put into place immediately with little time left. 

For me, Valentine's Day would not be Valentine's Day without sharing some books in the classroom. Kids love listening to stories and over time, I have built up a little collection to help celebrate the day. None can ever measure up to my absolute all time favorite book, Somebody Loves you Mr. Hatch. It is seriously so good. I never tire of it. It is definitely my yearly MUST READ.

My next suggestion is to bring a treat to pass out. Last year I did a donut bar and my class LOVED it! I picked up some donuts on my way to work, added a can of pink icing, and some sprinkles and the students got to decorate and enjoy their own donut. Sometimes I bring homemade goodies too, which is even more cost efficient.  

If you have seen those tubes of hashtag blocks at Target, you know how much students love them. And their creativity is astounding! I love to use the Valentine sets for a hashtag block challenge. Students have a grid of different challenges that they complete. It is a lot of fun and for only a dollar per tube of blocks, it isn't bad....plus you can reuse them from year to year. 

Finally, I love to pass out Valentines. This year, I am giving these super fun Valentine envelopes that open up to reveal 8 coupons that can be used in the classroom for privileges. My students absolutely love receiving coupons from time to time, usually during holidays. 

If you need more ideas for celebrating Valentine's Day in the classroom, be sure to check out my older blog post here and here and here. 

And, if you are interested in snagging these little Valentine coupon envelopes, you can find them here. 

5 Fun St. Patrick's Day Ideas for your Classroom

If you are a teacher like me, you are always looking for engaging ideas for every holiday. With St. Patrick's day coming up soon, I have started gathering ideas for what I can do across the content areas to bring in a spark of holiday fun while also keeping the learning going. St. Patrick's day was always a fun day for me in elementary school, even though we did nothing in our classes about the holiday. We all tried to wear green to avoid the dreaded pinches and looked for people who had forgotten so we could deliver those....in a gentle way, of course. 

My love of holidays got me thinking about all the ways I could celebrate in my classroom on St. Patty's day. I wanted it to be something valuable though that could help the students continue to learn important skills, but I also knew that connecting it to St. Patrick's day could help it get more buy-in from the students and make it that much more fun.

Here are five ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with your class this year.

1. Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Art

Virtually no kid...well, OK, there is that one in a million child...hates art. Kids are naturally creative and have vivid imaginations. They love to get their hands dirty and keep them busy. They enjoy making and doing things. Children are also social and enjoy interacting with others. So why not create a challenge for them that includes art. For this game, I love to create three bags of art supplies for each small group (about 4 students per group). With the students working together, they are also working on collaboration skills while being creative. They are building teamwork skills too. It is perfection. Each group will receive the same bag of supplies. Sometimes I keep the challenge completely open-ended or other times I will give the students a task or theme, such as, use your art supplies to create a rainbow with a pot of gold. The students will have a set time, usually 20-30 minutes works well. During that time, students work together to create a masterpiece that goes with the theme (or is their own idea). They are told at the beginning that their artwork will be judged and also teamwork will be factored into the score. 

Each group is competing for three rounds, or three different assignments (one new bag of supplies for each assignment). At the end of each round, students present their project to the class, practicing good speaking skills. I keep score through all three rounds. At the end of all rounds, a winning team is named. I like to play this game several times throughout the year. I usually launch it during back-to-school week and have several ideas for different holiday versions as well. 

It is a lot of fun and students always enjoy playing.  The competition keeps kids accountable to do their best work and they love the interaction they get with peers.

2. The History Behind the Holiday

If I am going to spend time focused on a holiday in my classroom, I want my students to know the ins-and-outs of that holiday. Where did it come from? Why do we celebrate? When did we start celebrating? Do other places around the world celebrate? If so, how? What are some traditions behind this holiday? It is the perfect link between social studies and reading. I like to use articles that answer these questions while I am in small groups. It is fun to hear the chatter from students about things they have learned that they did not know before. Sometimes I spend just one day on exanimating the holiday, while other years I spend the days before and after delving deep into it. Both work great, and it is really just personal preference that dictates how you approach this. 

I didn't really find much out there, as far as reading passages, so I have created some of my own for St. Patrick's Day and also other holidays. I like to link my passages to other content areas as well, if possible. It is easy to tie in writing, and sometimes even science or math. 

3. Center Games

It is easy to find center games for every holiday. Math is a great place to start. I enjoy making little games that practice important skills and are themed for the holiday. One of the most important skills that I teach is multiplication. If I can gamify it, the students are all over it. They love playing games that help them learn their facts vs. just sitting with a stack of multiplication cards. It just makes it more fun. 

So any time you can throw in some games to solidify those math skills, do it. You will not regret it. And your kids will thank you for it. 

4. Amazing Race Games

One idea that I LOVED a few years back was when I created an Amazing Race style game. It was so fun to watch the students race through different challenges, all themed around St. Patrick's day. My race included math and writing ideas. The race began with a fact sort. Students had to solve equations and sort them into St. Patrick's Day pots based on the answer to each equation. After that, each student received an envelope with directions for the next challenge. The next challenge was a game called Show Me the Money where each student had some coins with different amounts printed on them. They had to use coins to show the amounts in two different ways. Between each game, they received an envelope with instructions or special activities or treats. For activity number three, students were give a set of cards with different coins shown. They had to count each group of coins and organize them into a line showing the least to greatest amount, in order. Up next, we had a Punctuation Place activity where I gave students dry macaroni, dyed green and some strips with sentences that included dialogue written on them. Students had to use the macaroni and other pasta to correctly punctuate the sentences with commas, quotation marks, and periods. My final activity was for students to create a color poem. The poem used the five senses to talk about one certain color. I love how those turned out. 

5. Writing

Finally, it is always fun to include some writing in my holiday celebrations. I like to have students write in some way if I can find a way to tie it in. For St. Patrick's Day, it is fun to have students write a letter to someone telling them how lucky they feel to have them in their life. Then they actually deliver the letter to their friend or loved one. It makes their day.

Those are my five ideas for ways you can make the holiday special, while also keeping the learning level high. If you are interested in any of these activities, you can check out the resources I used below by clicking on the pictures.