Hey, Little Ant

Should the ant get squished?
Should the ant go free?

Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose is a wonderful story for discussing diversity, tolerance, and respect. (To view the book please click on the picture to link to amazon.com)

A kid spies a little ant in a crack in a sidewalk. He begins a conversation with the little ant about squishing him. Of course the ant begs the kid not to step on him.

Their conversation continues with the discussion of large verses small, comparing the ant's life to the kid's life, and then looking at the situation from the ant's point of view. The kid also cites peer pressure for squishing the ant.

The beauty of this book is that there is no ending to the story. The last page simply asks the question…What do you think that kid should do? (To squish or not to squish?)

This lends for a great class discussion about what is the right or wrong thing to do. Not everyone agrees on what that is. That's why asking your students to defend their answers is quite an eye opener for everyone.

Extending the Reading Experience:
To help children understand and connect to this book, I have added a new product to my
Teachers Pay Teacher's Store called Hey, Little Ant Comprehension Question & Answer Sticks & Craft.

Children need to think and talk about what they have read or what has been read to them.  These question and answer sticks are one way to support literacy and stretch student understanding and appreciation of the story, Hey, Little Ant.  This product also contains an ant art craft with speech bubble that students can make. Please click on the picture to view my TPT product. Thank you.

Enjoy your day!

Kathy

Happy Easter & Happy Spring Break

Happy Easter and a very happy spring break to all my teacher friends.

Rest, relax, and enjoy the warmer weather!

You are appreciated!

Kind Regards,

Kathy

Spring Ideas

So many cute spring ideas out there in cyber land.

Here are some of my favorites.

Easter Bunny Treat Bags from Stitch, Stick, Cut. Please click on the picture to link to their blog.

How to grow a carrot top from Laughing Kids Learn. Please click on the picture.

A spring gift from Creative Connections for Kids.

Easy Easter Bunny Treat Cups from Shaken Together.

Happy Spring!

Kathy

Spring Changes

Spring officially starts tomorrow, March 20.
Celebrate all the things that make the spring season fun!

Begin introducing spring to your students by reading the book, Spring Changes, by Ellen B. Senisi. Even though the book is out of print it is still available for purchase through amazon as a used book.
Please click on the picture.

The photographs in the book are wonderful.

The story begins with the first sign of spring, pussy willows. Then goes on to describe the weather changes, daylight is longer, snow melts, mud and dirt are everywhere.

There are lovely pictures of seeds, roots, flowers, and plants.

"Like magic, plants, change and grow!"

The story continues showing kids planting a garden (cover page) and playing around. There are great pictures of living creatures and baby animals that are born in the spring. The book touches on the holidays that are celebrated and how people welcome the spring changes everywhere.

Then spring slips into summer.

Happy Spring!

Kathy

Magic Leprechaun Juice

This is such a cute leprechaun trick idea that I read on Mrs. Goff's Tales blog.
She couldn't find the original website the idea came from and neither could I.
Thank you to whoever came up with this idea. I have added a few of my own twists.

The classroom door opened and the children scurried in. They found tiny green footprints that went from the window (or the door) to the white board. (Footprints can be made by making your hand into a fist. Paint the side of your hand, pinky finger side, with green paint. Stamp it. Then dip your pinky finger into green paint and stamp 5 toes above your first stamp.)

On the classroom whiteboard was a tiny note from a leprechaun that told the children he had hidden a special treat for them somewhere in the classroom. If they searched for it very quietly, they would find it. (Please click below if your would like a copy of the stationery to write the leprechaun letter.)

The kids searched the room and found a bottle of Magic Leprechaun Juice. (Soda, juice, water, or any kind of bottle. Use green food coloring to color the liquid.)

The label on the Magic Leprechaun Juice read, "For Children Only" and a "Warning: If an adult drinks this, his or her feet will turn green." (Please click on the label if you would like a copy.)

The teacher was really curious about whether the drink would change her feet a green color. She hemmed and hawed, but then she finally gave in to the children's chants of, "drink it, drink it", and took a big sip.

The children laughed and giggled and begged the teacher to take off her socks and shoes. So she did. The children were amazed and delighted the the Magic Leprechaun Juice had worked and the teacher's feet had actually turned green! The children talked about it all day long. They even wrote about it.

(Before the students come into the classroom take a paper towel and rub green food coloring on your feet. No worries. It will wash off your feet in 2 or 3 days.

Thank you Mrs. Goff for sharing this idea. Here is a picture of her green feet. Please click on the picture to visit her blog.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Kathy

Have You Heard?

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for stopping by.

Have you heard that Teachers Pay Teachers is 3 million teachers strong? Wow!

They are celebrating and so am I.

I'm linking up at Blog Hoppin to join in the celebration and spread the word.

All of my products at my Teachers Pay Teachers store are set for the sale on Feb. 27 - 28 at 20% off.  As an added bonus TPT is adding an additional 10% off by using the promotional code, TPT3, during check out. It's a great deal. There are lots of fun and creative ideas at bargain prices. So why not join in?

Please come back tomorrow on February 27 and on February 28 to get some great ideas for your classroom.

Please click below to visit my TPT store.

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a wonderful day!

Kathy

Leprechauns Never Lie

The leprechauns are coming!
The leprechauns are coming!
Watch out!
They are cute and fun but . . . they can be a little mischievous and cause some chaos.
But one thing they never ever do is . . . lie.

Lorna Balian's book, Leprechauns Never Lie, is very entertaining and fun to read with an Irish brogue.
Please click on the picture to link to amazon to have a look at the book.

Book synopsis:

Ninny Nanny is a lazy girl who lives with her poor grandmother. Their thatch needs patching. The potatoes need digging. The firewood needs gathering and the water barrel needs filling.

Gram nags Ninny Nanny to do the chores, but Ninny Nanny wants an easy way out.
She decides to catch a leprechaun and use his gold to solve their problems.

Ninny Nanny catches a leprechaun by tripping over him. This leprechaun is very clever. He tricks Ninny Nanny into doing all the needed chores while looking for his gold. She keeps calling him a liar because she can't find his gold.

Finally Ninny Nanny gives up looking for the leprechaun's gold and lets him go. But now Ninny Nanny and Gram can enjoy the fruits of her labor.

So where was the leprechaun's gold? The last page of the book reveals the secret . . . . . .
Leprechauns Never Lie.

EXTENDING THE READING EXPERIENCE
Once you have read the book to your students here are some fun follow up leprechaun activities.

I saw this cute torn paper leprechaun craft on Pinterest. Easy and fun for your students to make. Please click on the picture to link with I(heart) Crafty Things for directions.

This is a fun Shenanigans game from Mollymoo Crafts. Please click below to link.

Growing Shamrock Sprouts on a sponge is a great science lesson. Please click below to link to website Housing a Forest.

If you would like to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store I have 2 products that might help with your St. Patrick's Day classroom lesson planning for March.

Leprechaun's Never Lie - Comprehension Question & Answer Sticks & Craft
These question and answer sticks are one way to support literacy and stretch student understanding and appreciation of the story, Leprechauns Never Lie by Lorna Balian. Please click on picture to link.

Leprechaun in the Classroom, Reading, Writing, & Art
These lessons include reading a poem and digging deeper into its content by using definitions, rhymes, chunks, spelling, and contractions. Also, included is creative writing, writing a letter to a leprechaun, counting shamrocks, fun artwork, a day by day itinerary of a leprechaun's classroom tricks, and more.

I hope you catch a leprechaun!

Kathy