Easiest Christmas Gift Ever!

Need a quick and easy gift for your students to make for their families? Look no further...

The first step is to order Blue Magic Color Scratch Ornaments from Oriental Trading Company. At $7.39 for a pack of 24 ornaments, it's an affordable choice.
https://www.orientaltrading.com/blue-magic-color-scratch-snowflake-christmas-ornaments-a2-48_4748.fltr

Your order will include three different snowflake designs in different shades of blue. Wooden sticks are also included in your order.

The students will scratch a design into the blue ornaments using the wooden sticks to reveal the silver color underneath. Some students will decide that they want to scratch ALL the blue off and will end up with all-silver ornaments, and that's okay, too.

Your next step is to add the student's picture to his or her ornament.  The company that does our school pictures supplies us with a few copies of small pictures of each student. These photos have an adhesive backing. I simply peel and stick their photos in the middle of their ornaments.

If you don't have this option, trim a photograph of each student down to an appropriate size and glue to the center of the ornament.

FINISHED ORNAMENT 

Reindeer Christmas Card

This is a fun Christmas card for your students to make. It may also be a keepsake your kids' families cherish.

Materials:
Paper plates
Green construction paper - 9 x 12 piece for each student
Paint - brown, white, black and red
Paint brush (bristle or foam)
Crayons, markers or colored pencils
Glitter and liquid glue (optional)

Preparation:
Cut 9 x 12 paper and fold in half to make a card

Put brown paint on a paper plate
Student rubs hand on plate or teacher paints student's hand (palm side)
Student presses hand on front of card
   BE SURE TO WRITE STUDENTS' NAMES OR INITIALS LIGHTLY ON CARD WITH
   PENCIL!
Let cards dry for a couple of hours
Put blobs of red, white and black paint on a paper plate
Student puts thumb into red paint and presses it onto the bottom of the handprint making a
   Rudolph nose
Student puts index/pointer finger into white paint and makes two eyeballs near top of palm on
   handprint
Student puts pinkie finger into black paint and presses into eyeball (white paint) to make pupils
Let paint dry
Students write "Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays, etc.) to my "deer" family! Love, (student
   name)" inside the card
Add glitter to card, if desired, and let dry.

Recycled Christmas Card Ornaments

Recycled Christmas Card ornaments are a fun and fast Christmas craft for the holiday season!

Materials:
Small decorative paper doilies (from the grocery store or dollar store) - 1 per student
Used Christmas cards
Glue stick or liquid glue
Scissors

Preparation:
Save last year's Christmas cards or ask your parents to donate any they may have
Use a pattern to trace circles on the cards (make pattern by tracing a drinking glass)

Let kids pick cards they'd like to use
They cut out circles traced on cards
Kids glue the circle into the center of the doilies

Recycled Christmas Wreath Art Project for Elementary Students

Wreaths have a special significance for the holiday season. According to http://www.holidayinsights.com/xmas/wreaths.htm:

Wreaths have been used as a decorative sign of Christmas for hundreds and hundreds of years. Christmas wreaths can adorn any part of your home, inside or out. In many homes, this symbol of growth and everlasting life can be found both inside and out. It is common to find a number of wreaths on doors, over the mantle, or hung in windows.

The wreath is made of evergreens, most often pine branches or holly. They can be real or artificial. But, an artificial one just doesn't smell the same as a real wreath. It is decorated with a variety of items including pine cones, holly berries, fruits, and just about anything you can imagine.

The wreath has significant meaning for the season. It's circular shape represents eternity, for it has no beginning and no end. From a christian religious perspective, it represents an unending circle of life. The evergreen, most frequently used in making wreathes, symbolizes growth and everlasting life. Holly branches have thorns. When used in a wreath it represents the thorn on Jesus' crown when he was crucified. Bright red holly berries symbolize Jesus' blood that was shed for us.

Today, it is sometimes hard to remember the real meaning of Christmas. We get all caught up in the hype of Santa and his arrival. The wreath over the hearth brings a warmth to our hearts as we stop to reflect upon the true meaning of this very special day. 

This is one of my favorite holiday art projects because it utilizes common materials in an unusual way, recycles material, and it is simple enough for kids to do (mostly) on their own.

Materials:
1 small or large paper plate for each student
1 bow pattern traced on red construction paper
Scraps of green paper
Glue stick or liquid glue
Red paint
Glitter (optional)
Scissors

Preparation:
Cut the center out of a paper plate (1 for each student)
Gather paper in many shades of green (I collect all year round)
  * Leftover flyers from notices that were sent home (print on paper is okay)
  *Wrapping paper scraps
  *Construction paper from your scrap box
  *Scraps of wide ribbon
Tear paper into 1 to 1-1/2 inch strips

Students get several different strips of green paper and tear them into approximately 1 to 1-1/2 inch pieces.
They then glue the pieces onto the paper plate until plate is completely covered. Pieces should stick out past the edges of the plate.
Next the red bow shape is cut out and glued on.
Finally the student dips his/her index finger into red paint and then presses it on to the wreath several times to represent holly berries.
Optional: Put some glitter on the wreath and/or bow.

Finished Wreaths

My Favorite Read Alouds - Part 2

One of the ways I try to share my love for reading is by reading aloud to my class every day. This is something I will never give up, no matter how full my classroom schedule is.

I model reading with fluency and expression, often using different voices for characters. I read books I enjoy which makes it easy to convey my excitement about reading to my students. I often read one book in a series and then offer the other books as a choice during our silent reading time. I read books that are at the reading level of most third graders, but I also read books that are above the reading level of my students as a child's listening comprehension is higher than his or her independent reading comprehension.

I've been teaching third grade for the past five years.  These are some of the novels I read to my class year after year:

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo is an imaginative fantasy third graders enjoy as much as their teacher does.

Frindle by Andrew Clements is a fictional account of the way a new word comes into usage. The word lover in me loves this tale.

Punished by Vanessa Steel is the story of a boy who is cursed to use puns. Some may consider puns the lowest form of humor, but third graders and I love them.

PIE by Sarah Weeks is a mystery story about a pie shop. Each chapter features a different pie recipe. It's a unique story, and I have to admit reading it makes me a little hungry. FYI - I have not tried any of the pies recipes. My mother-in-law makes the best pies in the world which is, frankly, a little imtimidating to me.

Read-aloud is the best time of the day in my room.

Recycling Gift Cards

I have kept most of the used gift cards I've been given.  They're so colorful, and I thought  there must be some way to use them in a craft project.  In my mind, I was imagining heating them until pliable and then fashioning maybe beads or some other type of jewelry pieces.

I never did find the right project, but as the new school year started and I needed to replace my tired looking bathroom, library and office passes, I thought of my gift cards.

I used my exacto knife to make a hole through which I could attach the lanyards.  I wrote which type of pass it was and my name on the back with a permanent marker.  I then covered the writing with a piece of clear mailing tape to protect it.

If you have a good craft project using gift cards, please share!

My Favorite Read Alouds. Part 1

If my students read for pleasure and not because they are assigned to read, it's a great accomplishment. One of the ways I try to share my love for reading is by reading aloud to my class every day. This is something I will never give up, no matter how full my classroom schedule is.

I model reading with fluency and expression, often using different voices for characters. I read books I enjoy which makes it easy to convey my excitement about reading to my students. I often read one book in a series and then offer the other books as a choice during our silent reading time. I read books that are at the reading level of most third graders, but I also read books that are above the reading level of my students as a child's listening comprehension is higher than his or her independent reading comprehension.

I've been teaching third grade for the past five years.  These are some of the novels I read to my class year after year:

Almost anything by Roald Dahl - James and the Giant Peach, The BFG, George's Marvelous Medicine, The Twits, and Matilda

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Any of the books in the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park

The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies (Our reading curriculum, ReadyGen, features one chapter of this story in the first unit, and the kids enjoy learning the rest of the story.)

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner

These are a few of the read alouds I enjoy.  I'll publish more titles in a later post.

The ARC

The ARC stands for Accidental Robotics Coach.  How can you be an "accidental" robotics coach, you might be wondering? That's a good question. Or maybe you don't even know what a robotics team is or does. Allow me to explain...

FIRST Robotics was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen. FIRST is an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST Robotics is an international youth organization that runs robotics competitions for kids in elementary and high school. At the high school level, a new game is presented each January and the teams have a specified amount of time in which to build a robot to participate in the game.

Our school's team was begun in 2009. Three of my five children participated in various roles on the team. (The team was not yet in existence at our school when my older two were in high school.)

My middle child completed college and obtained employment near home. He's a computer programmer by trade. He served as a volunteer assistant mentor with his old high school team two years ago which still had the same head mentor/coach who had established the program.

The following year the head mentor decided to step down from the program.  My son then entered the role of head mentor.  As the new school year began that fall, the athletic director began the search for a new assistant mentor for the program.

As I teach in the district, I saw the email offering this new position to staff. I wondered who would step up to fill this open spot. As there were no takers after the intial email, I strongly suggested to some of my young and single female co-workers that this would be a great opportunity for any one of them. (See what I did there? Single son in need of an assistant. Two birds with one stone!)

But, alas, there were still no applicants for the position. The robotics season begins in earnest in early November, and it was now October.

Our team has a great sponsor in our local 3M plant who has paid our FIRST fees each year since the team's inception.  My son who was still assistant mentor-less had just tried to register the team for the coming season on the FIRST website. "Mom?" he said, hesitantly  "FIRST won't let me sign up and we can't access our funds unless our team has at least two mentors. Will you be the assistant mentor?"

So I wasn't the mentor the team wanted, but I was the mentor the team needed. I said "yes" to be sure the team would go on. I said "yes" so that future team members would have the opportunity to learn programming and CAD (computer aided design), complete electrical wiring, gain valuable building skills, practice problem solving in high-pressure situations, work on their public speaking skills and a host of other great opportunities for high school students. I said "yes" to try something new, and I said "yes" to help my son.

So that's how I became an accidental robotics coach. I may not have entered the position whole-heartedly, but now I'm a true believer!

https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc

Save Those Socks!

I don't how it works at your house, but each time I do the laundry, I end up with either a lone sock or a sock with a hole in it.

But I have found a use for these sad and lonely socks.

I cut the foot portion off the sock and take it to school where I put them in a basket for those kids who don't have an eraser for their white boards.
Sometimes I have to do a little convincing.  I have to reassure the kids that the socks are, in fact, clean and safe to use.
I like to recycle whenever I can.

Let's Get Organized!

In an effort to get my third graders organized and to keep their parents informed, I send home an assignment sheet like the one below each day.  

I can't take credit for this idea.  All the third grade teachers in my district use their own version of the assignment sheet.

It lists homework to be done for the evening and announcements/reminders for the coming day.

The student has a take-home binder which is simply a three-ring binder into which a spiral notebook has been inserted. (Both items are on our third grade supply list each summer.)

Each day they glue an assignment sheet onto a new page in their notebooks. The parents are asked to look over the the assignment sheets each day and sign them.
When I began using assignment sheets, I quickly learned that it's quite simple for kids to forge their parents' initials so I now ask for a signature rather than initials.

I check the assignment sheets the following morning.  Sometimes parents write messages back to me on the assignment sheet.

It's not a perfect system but it goes a long way toward making our students accountable and communicating with our parents on a daily basis.

VIESSELMAN ASSIGNMENT SHEET DATE: Tues., May 28,  2019

SUBJECT	ASSIGNMENT	DONE
Reading	30 minutes of reading
	Name of book --
Math	Practice math facts
	Homelink 10.2
Other:	Reminder: Spelling test on Thursday
	Wear tennis shoes for our walking
	field trip tomorrow
	PLEASE SIGN BELOW

Parent Name (No initials, please!)

Big, Beautiful Bulletin Boards

I love decorating bulletin boards! I could spend hours and hours achieving just the right balance of color, message, and texture.  The only problem is that sometimes I need to go home and, you know, eat...or do some laundry...or maybe even sleep...

As a result, I've come up with some tips to help brighten up your classroom bulletin boards quickly and easily:

1. Use plastic tablecloths from the dollar store to back your boards rather than construction paper or art paper from a roll.  Paper fades so quickly and isn't as durable.

2. Another option for bulletin board backgrounds is fabric. Look for fabric in the bargain bin/clearance bin in a solid color or small print. Fabric will last for years!

3. Pick colors for your boards which can span the school year. Coordinate the boards with your room's color scheme and/or your classroom theme so they never look out of season.

4. Measure once, cut twice.  (Yes, I know that's backwards.)  Measure to find the center of the board and make a small mark with a pencil or marker or place a tack at the center point near the top of the bulletin board. Start at the center and work your way out to both sides when placing letters and other items on the board.

5. A general rule for placing items on your boards is to leave a little more blank space near the bottom of the board than at the top.

6. Planned randomness is your friend.  Rather than spending time trying to get items straight on your board, purposely tilt items and randomly place and space them on the board while keeping the entire board generally balanced.

Preparing your classroom for the new school year can be an intimidating task. I hope these tips help you streamline the job!

 I add student photos once the school year has begun.

It's Almost August...Do You Know Where Your Sensible Shoes Are?

At this time of year, I find it almost impossible not to obsess about my classroom and the new school year to come.

While I look forward to bright, shiny school supplies, textbooks and my new students, I do NOT look forward to being on my feet all day again.

In my school, as in many schools, the flooring sits on a cement pad. It was built for cost effectiveness and made to last but not for comfort. And while I can take my feet for granted most of the time, in the fall of the year my feet do not afford me that luxury.

Several years ago, I developed plantar fasciitis. After limping around for a bit upon waking each morning, I would feel optomistic enough to put on cute shoes that matched my outfit while still being realistic enough to put my tennis shoes into my bag in case I needed them.  And each day after the walk from the parking lot to my classroom, I would give up and change into my tennis shoes as my feet were already protesting.

I took many measures to get my feet healthy again, but the one thing I would recommend to any teacher or other professional who spends hours on his/her feet is to stop buying cheap shoes. For me, it clearly was time to go for quality over quantity.

Of course, everyone has to find what works for them.  Here are recommendations based on my experience: Clarks, Naturalizer, Aerosoles and Born. I have also had good luck with Skechers.

If you can't find these brands near you, Zappos.com carries them.  I love their free, fast delivery and free returns, also.

Here's a versatile choice for the upcoming school year:
https://www.zappos.com/p/clarks-flores-poppy-black-combo/product/8892165/color/181562

In her April 25, 2019, article for SmarterTravel, Caroline Morse Teel consulted a doctor for advice about selecting shoes:
"Dr. Priya Parhasarathy tells travelers to look for the following when shoe shopping:
The shoe should not be able to fold completely in half.
You should have some flexibility in the toes but you should not be able to have the front of the shoe touch the back of the shoe.
It should also have a firm heel cup and should not collapse when you squeeze it.
A bonus is a removable arch support which will allow you to slide your orthotics or additional arch in if needed."

The rest of the article can be found at: https://www.smartertravel.com/shoes-that-are-good-for-your-feet/.

Moon Sand

When I became an assistant mentor for the high school robotics team, I soon discovered that one of our team's most important missions was outreach to the community, in general, and to young children, in particular, in order to spark their interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Our first outreach opportunity of the season was STEAM Night at the local elementary school.  Participants in the evening's event were asked to provide hands-on opportunities for children.

Our group would offer robot driving lessons (always a crowd pleaser), but we needed something more.

After doing some research on-line, I found the following recipe for moon sand from several different sources:

Moon Sand

8 cups flour
1 cup baby oil (I used vegetable oil)

Mix flour and oil with your hands until ingredients are well mixed and of the desired texture (fine texture without lumps).  If mixture is too dry, add additional oil a tablespoon at a time.

My research indicated that other kinds of oils would work to create moon sand. I decided to use vegetable oil so that the substance would be non-toxic if it was eaten (either accidentally or on-purpose!).

Affordable activities for a crowd are hard to come by so I was delighted to find that I could purchase the ingredients at the dollar store.

I had the robotics team mix up two batches of moon sand and place a half cup of it along with a small flyer (explaining what moon sand is and how to make it) into 100 small ziplock bags. The event participants were each given a bag to take home.

We mixed up two more batches and placed them in a plastic underbed storage container.  Children were allowed to touch and play with the moon sand.  Small cups and cookie cutters were placed into the moon sand for molding shapes.

It was quite a hit with our young scientists!

If you'd  prefer a small batch recipe for one to four kids to work on, I have provided that below:

Moon Sand - Small batch
Mix 3 cups flour with 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Mix with hands.  Add additional oil - one tablespoon at a time - until desired texture is achieved.

The Perfect Pencil

When your students arrive in your classroom this fall, they will bring with them a variety of school supplies with pencils being one of the most basic but crucial tools. But, unfortuately, as teachers know, all pencils are NOT created equal.

I sigh when I see a fancy colored pencil.  I know it will be a nightmare to sharpen.  It may even have a plastic coating which peels off during the sharpening process thus ruining the pencil (in the child's eyes, at least).

Many kids bring pencils which advertise different groups and companies.  Some of these are okay. There's no way of knowing.  I have found that a lot of these pencils have defective erasers which smear rather than erase when used.

Miscellaneous brands of No. 2 pencils are what most commonly arrive in backpacks in the fall. These are a crapshoot, but you often have to take what you can get.  They may be easily sharpened initially but attempts to re-sharpen them to a good point are futile.

If you're lucky, all your students will show up with packs of Faber-Castell, Ticonderoga or USA Gold pencils. These are quality pencils and are easily sharpened and re-sharpened.  If you're really lucky, all the packs of pencils will be pre-sharpened!

Put these brand names on your supply list for next year.  You'll be glad you did!

A 30-pack of sharpened Ticonderoga pencils is available from Amazon for $5.70.

https://www.amazon.com/Ticonderoga-Wood-Cased-Graphite-Pre-Sharpened-13830/dp/B006CSPZK4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AUMT59E26H6K&keywords=ticonderoga+presharpened+pencils&qid=1563765619&s=gateway&sprefix=ticonderoga+pre%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-1

Pencil Practices

So many pencils, so little time... 

Here's my system for making sure children can get sharpened pencils quickly and easily:

There is a round table near my desk.  On that table are an electric pencil sharpener and two small canisters.  One is blue and one is tan.  It doesn't matter what color they are as long as the canisters are two different colors and/or clearly marked "Broken" and "Sharp". The electric pencil sharpener is never used by the children. It's near the broken and sharpened pencils for the teacher's convenience.

When children don't have a sharpened pencil, they are instructed to bring a broken pencil to put in the appropriate canister and then may take a sharpened pencil.  

The table is near my desk so I am able to easily observe whether children are actually exchanging broken pencils for sharpened ones.  There is always that child who doesn't want to bother looking for the pencil in his or her desk or on the floor nearby and would end up with twenty pencils littering his or her desk if not required to make the exchange. 

I sharpen pencils before or after school, and, as I said earlier, students aren't allowed to use the electric sharpener.  I am convinced that this practice is why I haven't had to purchase a new sharpener in five years.

I currently teach third grade, and you may want to tweak this system to accomodate the different needs of the kids in your classroom.