Make These Easy St. Patrick’s Day Treats!
I made these little “pots of gold” in no time! The Dollar Tree had nearly everything I needed. I was looking for some cuter cups, but these worked just fine. I found them in the disposable dishes area. I bought some multicolored little cups that hold about four ounces. The packages I bought had multicolors. I bought several packages and pulled all of the green colored ones out. Then I bought some gold Easter grass and put a little in each cup. Next, I bought some Rollo candy…Who doesn’t love to receive a treat for an occasion. Of course, I attached a cute note about begin worth more than gold and ta-da…I made a cute treat to brighten all of the teachers’ day! I hope you get a chance to do something kind for those you work with, too!
Cheer Up Your Colleagues!
When morale is low, I like to surprise my coworkers with a surprise treat in their mailboxes. It doesn’t take much to grab some cookies and candy from the grocery store and put it in a little sack with a kind note. This gives someone something to look forward to eating all day. Here I picked up some pumpkin cookies, threw in some candy corns and attached a cute note. On the note I included a riddle…What makes jack-o-lanterns so smart? A candle makes them bright!
An Excuse to Go Outside! Teach Weather!
In the warm months children love to go outside while at school. I like an opportunity to take them! Teaching lessons like these will be sure to give you some outdoor time. Warning here…I front loaded content before we got a whole lot of outdoor time. I bought a couple of units on TPT to give me some lesson advice, but after the students got the content, I moved forward from there. After having a silly group of kids the year before, I adjusted the way I let children interact. I will give you a brief overview here to guide your steps.
Teach content. I kept the content I taught simple but left a lot of the content learning up to the children’s research. Using ideas from the units I bought along with my own ideas, I taught the following…
1–temperature and how to read a thermometer (a thermometer journal is a good idea!)
2–what are high and low pressure. We built a simple barometer and checked the pressure
3–wind speed. We observed and recorded an anemometer outside on a still and on a windy day. I had a store bought one, but you can make one with plastic or paper cups.
4–The terminology of the weather symbols and fronts. What do the symbols mean on the maps?
5–Learn what precipitation is. How is it calculated? Build a rain gauge if you like. I assigned this as a homework assignment one year. (start saving your water bottles now)
6–I had children watch meteorologists and how they presented the weather. They had to watch at least 10 forecasts from different news channels. One child said this was her least favorite, but I think it was very beneficial. Discuss the forecasters intonation, hand motions, and public speaking.
7–Next, children made a weather map on state maps I ordered. Most state highway departments will mail you free ones if you ask. (Order them now. It can take a while.)
8–Then I followed some of the resources I bought more closely because I had them write a five day forecast. (students had to have 2 weather backgrounds. One had to be the weak forecast and the other was their weather map.)
9–I had them write a script for their forecast.
10–Last step for the children was to have them film their forecast with an iPad mini. If you can trust your students the iPad videos turned out really nicely. If you can’t trust your group with a little independence (I did this with 3rd grade), you may want to have them do their forecast in person.
We showcased these to parents and they enjoyed them!
Can You Find Lucky the Leprechaun?
Part 1
Sometimes you just have to do things that are fun to make your own self enjoy your job. The stress of multiple meetings, testy parents, and paperwork can wear on you. To help myself enjoy work, I do something just for FUN that the kids will love because it makes me happy!
So this week I bought two leprechauns at Hobby Lobby, a fun hat, and some shamrock stickers. I cut out a bunch of shamrocks die cuts and a sign that says, “Where is Lucky the Leprechaun?”–all of which I stuck to the wall. I hid the little leprechaun statue outside in a small bush near my door. The students have been looking all over for it. They needed a little mystery and fun before spring break! Truth be told. So do I. After two days no one has found the leprechaun. We will see what tomorrow holds.
Part 2
Okay so I normally go overboard! This week is no exception. I brainstormed one morning while fixated on my leprechaun scavenger hunt idea. I made some clues for my classroom so the students could eventually be led to the leprechaun and his pot of gold. Here are my clues. Maybe you can use these and adapt them to your room to make your own classroom hunt. I taped each clue in succession onto different items to help students find the leprechaun.
- Dear Children, Is the leprechaun too old or is he just hiding his gold? Take some TIME to follow the clues he left behind. (hide near clock)
- Don’t give him an inch! He might be under the bench. (hide under bench)
- Where does a leprechaun live? Under a rainbow or does he share a house with a mouse? (side under a computer mouse)
- Sneaky little guy! Could he have left some of his stash near the trash? (hide near trash can)
- Is he able to hide under the table? (hide under table)
- Beware he might even be under a chair! (hide under chair)
- At night he likes to lie on a pillow and sometimes he can be found looking out the window. (hide near window))
- Oh no! Danger! He likes to climb on a cord that’s near the board. (hide near board)
- Ah! You caught him!!Leprechauns want you to show you care by taking time to share. (Share all of the gold with your class.)
I had two leprechaun searches going. One outside in a bush for anyone who walked by (with no written clues) and another in my room for my students. The clues in my room I taped to their respective spots. I used Rolos chocolate candies in a small plastic cup for the leprechauns pot of gold. In essence your really could do any search hunt with these clues. Have fun and enjoy!
Part 3–after the hunts…
The outdoor hunt, which was for anyone who walked by, needed some extra information for students to find the actual leprechaun. I hid him in too difficult a place. I didn’t think it would be that hard. I came outside the last hour of the day and gave the students oral clues to help them find him. I gave the other students looking at the same time some shamrock stickers–not quite a pot of gold but still fun for all. I did give the winner some “gold”. If the students actually searching outside had been my students, I would have put more thought into making up written clues.
The classroom hunt took about 10 minutes and we still had time to do my main lesson. I would do the indoor one again for which I posted the clues above.
The Book that Needs to Be Heard in this Season…
Merry Christmas! This book is educational, funny, and may even make you shed a tear. It did me. The reason I say it needs to be heard is that some students don’t know the Christmas story. They have only seen and been exposed to the sanitized version allowed to be told in public schools…you know…Santa, elves, reindeer, Christmas trees, stockings, magical North Pole type stories. Did you know it was on video if you don’t have a paper copy available. The Best (worst) Christmas Pageant Ever.
Step Up your Summer Bubble Experience!
This was students’ favorite experience with bubbles this summer. We used the Camp Invention curriculum called Invention Celebration. One of the lessons had students make bubbles on a piece of paper. The bubbles lasted longer than normal bubbles and had a more dense consistency. This allowed them to pop in a perfect circle on their paper making an imprint.
The bubble solution had a unique consistency. We used an entire small bottle of Dawn dish soap in a bucket that holds about 1.5 gallons. Then we put two small bottles of glycerin in the bucket and filled the water the rest of the way up. We let the solution sit over night. Next, we. put three separate pint containers on the table with some of the solution. In each solution, we put a spoonful of acrylic paint and stirred. This colored the bubble solution. Then students enjoyed blowing bubbles with their bubble wands!
How Can You Build a Quick, Easy Barometer?
I did this blindly–not really knowing if it would work. I was in search of interesting weather activities and thought I could make this barometer work. When the air pressure is high the arrow points above the middle mark. When the pressure is low the straw points below the middle mark. Here’s the one I made at home. The best thing is that it really works!!!!
A few easy materials:
1.jar
2. rubber band
3. balloon
4. straw
5, tape
6. paper/index card
7. ruler ( and/or grid paper)
8. tape
After I built this I had my doubts about it working. I build one at home first. Get a jar (larger jars are better but I used baby food jars because I had some on hand). Snip off the bottom part of a balloon so that you have a wider surface to stretch latex over the mouth of a jar. Get the balloon as smooth as possible across the lid and put a rubber band around the balloon to seal in the air as tightly as possible.
Here’s the barometer I made at school.
Some places say that you should use double sided tape to attach the straw, but I used regular Scotch tape, and it worked fine. Cut the end of the stew into a pointed shape so that it works as a pointer towards the marked paper. You can incorporate measurement and be as precise about it as you like. With the barometer I made at home I just build the barometer and put a mark where the stars was pointing after I first built it. Then I put another mark about a cm above and below the initial mark. I found mm graph paper online as a free download and used that at school. This makes for a great measurement discussion. Enjoy building your very own barometer!
How You Can Build a Worm Farm at School
Recently I taught some lessons about earthworms and ecosystems. I did this in a series of short lessons that you will enjoy. Even your children that don’t like to do their work will work for you if they get to touch a worm. 🙂
Lesson 1: We read the Diary of a Worm. This book is so fun and helpful to boost creativity. Students gladly named their worm. Next, we learned about the anatomy of a worm. You can find diagrams in lots of places showing worm anatomy. Then we observed a worm wih a magnifying glass to see how it moved.
Lesson 2: We did three simple worm experiments with our worms in a plastic Dollar Tree dish covered with another clear dish so that it made a kind of petri dish. 1. Does the worm like moisture? Half the dish is covered in wet paper towel. Students place one worm inside and see which way it travels. 2. Does the worm like darkness? We covered half of the roof with black construction paper to see if the worm would like dark or light. 3. We tapped one side of the dish with a pencil to see if the worm would like or not like sound.
Lesson 3: We build a worm farm/ecosystem. I used old lettuce containers that can be found at the grocery store like these. On the bottom of the container, we placed brown paper to soak up any water from when we added a fine mist. Then of course we added some dirt. I let several children come and add a cup of dirt so there would be lots of involvement. Next, I let children add their worm. Finally we added some food such as celery leaves and fallen oak tree leaves. Ta-da! Earthworm Academy is open for business!
