Valentine's Day Fun

Do you need a few more activities and ideas for Valentine's Day?

I have added a new Valentine's Day product to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  If you get a moment please stop by and have a look. 

Have a fabulous day!

Kathy

P.S.S.

For more fantastic February ideas please click below to join Tammy at 123 Teach With Me.

Groundhog Day

Is spring coming?  Is winter through?

Groundhog Day is just around the corner.  Will Phil see his shadow?

I don't know, but I do know that kids enjoy learning about Phil and the traditions of Groundhog Day.

Here are a couple of books that are wonderful for reading, sharing and learning about Groundhog Day.
This book by Gail Gibbons, is filled with fascinating facts and traditions that led to the celebration in Punxsutawney, PA.  Click on the picture below to connect to amazon.

The next Groundhog Day book is by Betsy Lewin.  It is an easy reader.  I read it to the students and then I place the book at a center for the students to practice reading.

After the students have practiced reading the Groundhog Day book then they complete the fun sheet below at the center.
Please click on the pictures below for the FREE copy.

P. S.
The 100th Day of School is coming up.  I have added a 100th day product to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  If you get a chance please stop by and have a look.  They make wonderful center activities.  Please click on the picture below.

Enjoy Your Day!

Kathy

Fun Things from Pinterest

I love all the sharing that goes on in Pinterest.  I have a board called, Classroom Favorites.

I thought it might be fun to share some of the things that I have found and added to my Classroom Favorites list.  If you would like to go directly to my Pinterest board please click here.
Classroom Favorites

Here are some of my recent favorites:
Please click on the pictures and it will link back to the original posts.

A kid friendly and interesting You Tube video about the groundhog.  Wonderful for Groundhog day!

Discovering tiny sight words in snowflakes.

A frozen, saturated sponge in a bag makes an icepack that won't drip all over when it melts. Great for the classroom.

Freeze pink milk cubes or juice heart cubes.  Great for class parties.

Sight word hockey! So much fun to play!

Cute and easy snowman door.

Bread ties keep tape end hand and easy to get to.

Love these easy and fun ideas!

Kathy

Magic in the Classroom

Nothing gets everyone's attention like magic.
Say to your students, "As soon as everyone has finished their work I'm going to show you a magic trick."

The room gets quiet.  Everyone starts working.  Students are helping and hurrying others to finish.  You remind your students to do quality work or it doesn't count.

You hear the students say, "I can't wait.  This is going to be awesome."  You smile.

Everyone has finished and they quietly come to the carpet.  You remind your students to sit flat on the carpet so everyone can see.

The students wiggle and giggle.  You hear them say, "This is so cool."

Just for fun you say, "I know you would rather be working.  So maybe we should skip the magic trick and go back to work."

Simultaneously you hear sighs, oohs, no, please, and other begging remarks.  You smile, nod, and say, "Alright. Let's do it."

You perform the magic trick flawlessly.
The students clap wildly!
Everyone says, "That was so coooool!  Do it again.  How did you do that?   I love magic.  You are the best teacher in the world."

You smile and say to yourself, "I know it.  I rock!"
To the students you say, "Maybe if we work really hard I will bring another magic trick next week."
The students smile and show a thumbs up.

Yes, I do magic tricks everyone once in awhile in the classroom for motivation, encouragement, behavior improvement, and just for the fun of it!

This is the latest one I found on Steve Spangler Science.  It rocks!  I first tried it on my husband, he was really impressed so I knew students would enjoy it!

Please click on the picture below to go to his website.  A subscription box pops up but you don't need to subscribe to see the instructions, just close the box on the bottom right corner where the x is.

Teaching is magical!

Kathy

Snowmen at Night

"Have you ever wondered about the secret life of a snowman?"
Well, wonder no more and read this marvelous book, Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner.

When the sun goes down and it's really dark the snowmen come to life.  They gather together for an amazing adventure!

They play snowman games and snowman races.  They do skating tricks on ice and giggle when they act like clowns.

They make snowballs and play a baseball game which then turns into a snowball fight.

Then it's time for sledding and playing until they're all tuckered out.  Slowly one by one they all return back home, leaving people wondering, what did the snowmen do last night?

Extending the Reading Experience

After reading this fun story ask your students to pretend they are invited to play with the snowmen at night.  Have them choose one of the snowmen's adventures and explain why they would want to play that game with the snowmen.
This fun sample comes from my TPT product, Snowmen At Night Comprehension Question & Answer Sticks & Craft.
It's a great product to get children thinking and talking about the story. The question and answer sticks are one way to support literacy and stretch student understanding and appreciation of the story.

Please click on the picture below for more information.

 

I have added a new paid product to my Teachers Pay Teachers store to extend the writing experience to the book, Snowmen at Night.

My new product is called, My Snowman's Secret.  It gives kids an opportunity to create their own secret snowman mystery story.

Please click on the pictures to have a look.  Thank you.

Happy Reading & Writing!

Kathy