Room Mom Gifts

I wanted to give my room moms a thank you gift at the end of the year. So I bought bottles of Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe's and decorated them with material from our school uniforms. I also added a class picture on top of the material (not pictured). 

I also had the students decorate wooden frames and then I put a class picture in each frame. The students layered their fingerprints on the frame. I forgot to take a picture of the frames, but they came out really cute. The room moms loved their gifts.

Rainbow Crayons

On Monday, I recycled my students' used crayons to make rainbow crayons. First, I had a parent peel the crayons.

Then, I broke them into little chunks and put them in silicone cupcake molds.

Next, I baked them in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. When the crayons were completely cooled, he I popped them out of the molds.

I passed the crayons out to my students at graduation. They loved them!

Cooking in the Classroom: Butter

Last Friday, my students made butter. We used baby food jars and heavy whipping cream.

The students filled their jars half full with heavy whipping cream. 

Then they shook their jars for about ten minutes.  Eventually, they ended up with soft butter. They put it on crackers and ate it. They loved it!

Some of the kids said that it was the best butter they ever tasted.

Home Made Board Games

I made board games to help my students review what they have learned this year. They were extremely easy and cheep to make.

I used a tri-fold display board, adhesive vinyl in various colors, dot markers (not pictured), a 1.5" circle punch, and stickers (not pictured). I spent $16 and made six board games. I also used white card stock to make the cards for the game. The students used counting bears as game pieces. I think this game turned out the best. It is a letter sound recognition game. A student picks a letter card out of the bag and says the sound it makes. If the student says the correct sound, the student gets to choose a dot card out of the bag and move their game piece to the first dot on the game board that matches the color dot on the card (think of modified Candy Land).

 In this game the students practice nouns and verbs. 

In this game the students practice the sight words we have learned this year.

  In this game the students practice subtraction.

  In this game the students practice addition.

  In this game the students practice color recognition.

The students also get to practice being good sports and playing by the rules. It is a great activity to help the students work on social skills.

Rhythm Tic-tac-toe

Today my students played rhythm tic-tac-toe. I learned this game when I was in the credential program. I used a piece of poster board and drew a 4x4 grid on it. I used mini bulletin board accents on the grid to show where to clap (I change the accents to coordinate with each season). 

Each row represents one measure in 4/4 time. Each square equals one beat. When there is no bulletin board accent (snails), the kids tap their shoulders to show that there is a rest. The students clap when there is a bulletin board accent. For example, when the students read the picture above they would tap-clap-tap-clap, clap-tap-clap-tap, tap-clap-clap-tap, clap-tap-tap-clap. I chose a student to move the snails and we started again. The kids loved it!

We reviewed note types and names and then played rhythm tic-tac-toe.

Wild Thing Refreshments

My room moms set up this refreshment table for my students. They made all of the treats by themselves!

Where The Wild Things Are- Spring Play

Tonight is my class' spring play. We are presenting a play based on the beloved Maurice Sendak book, Where the Wild Things Are. I created a script, made costumes, and designed the set. Here are some pictures of the set.

 This is Max' throne.

My students made this block tower for Max to destroy as one of his mischievous acts.

Max' room. I painted this on a 9'x6' canvas.

I made Max' boat (with help from my awesome husband) out of cardboard, felt, and tulle. I used a sharpie to write Max on the boat.

This is my class dressed up in their costumes. I am on the right. My teaching assistant is on the left.

I made wild thing foot prints that went from the front of the school to the hall. I made a template and traced it onto orange, teal, green, and brown adhesive vinyl.

I traced this Max onto cardboard and hung it from the ceiling to make a cute photo spot.