How Can You Help?

My thoughts are with the people in Oklahoma who have suffered due to the awful disaster yesterday. I have made a donation to Teachers Notebook for their amazing fundraiser.  I hope you will check it out!  It's worth making a donation to help others and to receive an incredible bundle of teaching products.

Do You Need Valentine's Day Gifts?

Did you watch the game Sunday or did you take advantage of the amazing sale on TpT?  I must admit that I did both, but also decided to work on my latest product because, well, let's face it, it involved candy and OREO cookies.  Who could resist?

I have to admit that I had a great time creating different possible gifts for my students and parent helpers, but my husband enthusiastically jumped in to help (with a quick snatch of a Swedish fish) as well.  In the end, I loved the finished products!

There are four different candy/cookie bags with messages to match the sweet treats inside.  My favorite is the OREO cookie one!  Also, for those who would prefer to give something less sweet, there are two pencil gifts and one crazy straw gift.

This year I am going to give sweets to my parent helpers and crazy straws to my students.  All I have to do is print the colored tags onto white construction paper or blackline images onto colored card stock and attach them to the snack bags of treats and the straws from the Dollar Store.

I've packaged everything up into this neat little product for you to download at my teacher stores.  They are not only great for your students, but can also be used by your own children at home who may want to make something different for friends at school.

 I hope you love these as much as I do!  Now for a little freebie - I have a package of  gummy worms just waiting for a cute Valentine's Day saying.  The person who comes up with the best Valentine chat up line to go along with worms will get a free copy of my product and I will include YOUR idea in your personal copy of the product!  Just leave your idea in the comment section below for a chance to win!

Get ready, get set, and get creative!

Valentine's Day Card Holder

February is such a FUN month of the school year because of all the great Valentine's Day and president activities.  Today I am excited to share a project with you that will hopefully come in handy for many years, no matter what grade level you teach!

This idea was shared with me several years ago by my all-time favorite teaching buddy, Kelly.  I have been making these cute bear containers each year since and my students (and parents) love them. 

1. First, you need to collect a class set of gallon milk jugs and make sure they are washed completely.  Starbucks is a great resource if your parents don't donate enough by next week.  I once got a class set in one day by stopping at a busy Starbucks!

2. Next, cut out the front of the jug as shown using scissors or a razor.  This is not a job for kids!  Hello, parent volunteers...

3. Now, download the following image (click on image below) onto 8.5x14 inch paper.  Cut it out and trace it onto a piece of 12x18 manila paper that you have folded in half.  Be sure to line it up along the fold so you have a full bear shape when you cut it out.  Now you have a tracer that you can use long term!

4. Trace a class set of bears onto brown 12x18 construction paper.

 5. Copy the following sheet (click image below) onto various colors of 9x12 construction paper or card stock.  Students can then cut them out and write their names across the heart.  I go over them with glitter glue, but they can use crayons or markers instead.

6. Next, assemble your bears by drawing a face on them and gluing a bow onto an ear for girls and below the chin to make bow ties for boys.

7. Staple the sides of a student's heart to the carton.  The handle of the carton should be at the back.

8. Wrap the student's bear around the back of the milk carton and staple the arms to it, making sure the "paws" overlap the sides of the heart.

 Viola!  These look so amazing when lined up in alphabetical order along a counter.  My students are then able to quickly pass out their valentines on the special day.

Enjoy and come back tomorrow to see my newest product, which is full of gift ideas for your students!

Super Sale This Weekend!

This weekend TpT will be having the annual Super Bowl sale.  Get 28% off everything in my store and have a great time shopping!

Impressionist Art

Although I love all of my students' winter artwork, I personally can't wait to brighten up my classroom windows with some beautiful flowers.  Our district has art docents come in to the classrooms to teach a variety of lessons about artists and their techniques.  This Impressionist lesson  is one of my favorites!

This is an Impressionist art lesson showing a vase full of spring flowers that my students completed last year.

1. First, students were given paper plates with a variety of paint blobs on them.  They had popsicle sticks for each color and were told not to mix the sticks in the colors to keep them pure.  They were also provided with 12x18 inch white construction paper and each table had a stack of small (approximately 2x2 in.) pieces of scrap paper. 

2.  Students were instructed to draw a vase on the bottom half of their paper with a pencil.  Then they folded several pieces of the scrap paper in half.  They picked up a popsicle stick and dabbed a blob of paint into the fold.  They then were able to add one or two more blobs below the first color and folded the paper to spread the paint.

3.  Next, students pressed the scraps down onto their 12x18 paper above the vase to create a flower.  They made many prints this way and were encouraged to use each scrap to make two prints, which gave the flowers some variety.

4. When flowers were pressed onto the paper, students added some stems (if they wanted to) with thin paint brushes and mixed colors on their plates to create a color for the vase.

5. The finished product was beautiful and everyone's creativity showed, which is what art is all about!

My blogging buddy, Nicole at Teaching With Style, is hosting a linky that allows bloggers to show off an art lesson or project.  I recommend heading over to see what other bloggers have posted as well.  Get ready to start pinning ideas on Pinterest.  There are great ideas out there!

  

 

Magical Product Swap with a Twist, a Freebie, and a Giveaway!

Welcome to third Magical Product Swap, hosted by Jessica at Mrs. Stanford's Class.  I love this swap because bloggers get a chance to team up, choose a product from each other's store, and review it!

This time I am particularly excited because I partnered up with one of my favorite bloggers out there.  Her name is Corinna and her blog is Surfin' Through Second.  She lives and teaches in Hawaii, which is such an amazing opportunity for a non-native Hawaiian.  Corinna also teaches second grade and has shared many great ideas in the months that she has been blogging about teaching in Hawaii.  You really have been missing out if you haven't read her blog.  Be sure to watch the video she posted about pigeon language on the islands.  It's so fascinating!

Our swap of products differs from many others because Corinna has begun making clip art and, like all creators of teaching products, I LOVE clip art!  I'm truly addicted and can never have enough.  So, I asked if I could choose Corinna's adorable Heart Doodle Frames from her shop and have created a Valentine's Day product to showcase her work.  Nice twist on the swap, eh?

 Her frames are hand drawn with a heart theme. There are over 40 frames to choose from with filled or transparent backgrounds for only $3.00. There are even a few extras not shown in the previews.

Adorable, huh?  I think so, too.  That's why I created the following activity for our second graders, who love Valentine's Day. 

These games are fun for all students who need to practice telling time and I am giving it away through Sunday!  After that, it will be on sale for $2.00 in my stores.  Click on the picture above to download it by Sunday.

Now here's the most exciting part - Corinna and I are giving away her Heart Doodle Frames and my Winter Is Snow Much Fun products to a lucky winner.  All you have to do is follow our stores to enter (very simple) and cross your fingers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway