Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Craft

I'm all about making learning fun and integrating subjects. I decided to take a science lesson about the life cycle of a pumpkin and turn it into an art project. I came up with this 3-D life cycle of a pumpkin craftivity. Plus, it makes a perfect "non-Halloween" craft for all your students on Halloween and an even better table decoration for Thanksgiving.

Swing by Sweet Tea Classroom to learn more.

Thanks,

Robin Sellers

Multiple Intelligence Theory

I wanted to find new ways for my teachers to get to know their students and would also help them differentiate their instruction.  Multiple intelligence theory was the first thing that came to mind.  I researched the resources (blog posts, pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, etc.).

My favorite resource I found was from Stephanie at Falling into First - "Everyone is Smart."  Stephanie wrote a fabulous book that explains the multiple intelligence theory to younger elementary students and then provides a great writing activity to help them think through which "smart" they relate to the most. 

Visit Thinking Out Loud to learn more about multiple intelligence theory, how I used Stephanie's activity, other resources I found useful.

 

Watermelon Festival Craft: 3-D Watermelon Life Cycle Craftivity

Create a 3-D Watermelon craft when you teach about watermelons, life cycles, or plants during your science units. This craft is perfect to reinforce the topics taught during this science lesson and it works well as a science center too. 

Learn more about this watermelon craft at my blog {HERE}.

Thanks, 

Robin @ Sweet Tea Classroom

The Brain, Baseball, and Geography

I read a lot about the brain because I find it absolutely fascinating.  I also want my students to learn, so I'm always searching for ways to help them remember what I've taught.

I've found that kids learn best when they get a little bit at a time, frequently, rather than one big lesson all at once, then never to see it again.  (Unfortunately, our present Math program does the latter.)

There's plenty of evidence out there to prove that frequent review and practice is the best way for children to remember what they're learning.

There's also plenty of evidence to prove that connecting the learning to the passions of the children help the learning process as well.

So, what does this have to do with baseball?  Come check out my blog at Elementary Matters to find out!

Earth Day Writing Freebie

I'm a big fan of Earth Day.  I think looking out for our world is HUGE and it needs to happen now.  Each and every one of us needs to do what we can to help this place be around for our grandchildren and our grandchildren's grandchildren.

I always celebrate every Earth Day with plenty of good literature.  Here are some of my favorite children's books with an Earth Day theme:

          

Earth Day is an ABC book, and makes a great introduction to the concept of protecting the environment.

The Lorax, is classic Seuss!  He tells about a mystical land of fantasy, which, in true Seuss fashion, a much deeper real story.  Even my second graders understand this valuable lesson.

The Wump World is a fun book to read to the children and NOT show the illustrations (even the cover) until the children have had a chance to show the Wumps and Pollutians that they visualized while listening to the story.  Another great story about a fantasy world with very real lessons!

This one is a new discovery to me, and my new "Earth Day Favorite". 

A River Ran Wild is a story that dates back to the days the Native Americans ruled this area, and respected the earth.  It continues through European settlers, the industrial age, and attempts to clean up the river.  This book is based on a local river, which makes it near and dear to my heart, but it's a valuable message about protecting our world.  My students became very upset when they saw what happened to the beautiful river!

See THIS BLOG POST for more about this book, and an art activity to go with it.

You can click the images above for a link to Amazon, to learn more about these books.

After reading, I intend to have the children do some opinion writing and/ or explanatory/ informational writing based on what they have learned about protecting the environment.

Here's a collection of writing paper with the Earth Day theme that I'll be using.  

Come over to Elementary Matters to download this freebie.

How are you honoring Earth Day this year?

What's up for Spring Games?

I am so ready for Spring!  Here in New Hampshire, the temperature seems to have trouble getting past the 40s, and there are still patches of snow everywhere, including my garden!

But Spring is in my heart, as well as my classroom.  

Games make up a big part of my centers, and I have several spring activities in my classroom!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see some of my Spring Activities!

Twelve Ways to Celebrate Writing

As a blogger, I know the power of the audience.  It's you readers out there that make me want to blog, and make me want to make quality blog posts!  Don't our children need this same sense of audience to motivate their writing?  I think so!

Here are some ideas for celebrating the children's writing:

1.  Share in Class!  Have one child read his/ her story to the class.  Class is expected to listen and ask questions that "prove they were listening."  This works well when the child is "mid-story" in order to get ideas on where to go from this point.

2.  Small Group Shares! Have children work in groups of 2 or three to share their stories as above.

3.  Share Your Best Sentence!  I like this one because there's usually enough time for each child to share one sentence.  If the children know it's coming, that helps motivate the children to work on the quality of their sentences.

4.  Share With Someone Else in the Building!  There are lots of adults in an elementary school who would be thrilled to "play along" with this one!  It's a great motivator to promise a child that he can read his story to the custodian, or the secretary, or the cafeteria workers.  It's a win-win!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see more ways to celebrate the writing of your students!

Easter Freebies!

Are you looking for Easter ideas?  Do you have an Easter freebie to share?

I felt it was time for an Easter Linky Party.  I hadn't seen any, so I decided to set one up!

Just hop on over to Elementary Matters, link up, or check out the freebies left from others!  Have fun!

Booking Across New Hampshire

Happy Booking Across the USA!  There are over 50 bloggers representing 50 states who posted about their states!  What are we posting about?  Books, of course!  Everyone has found a book that represents their state.

I'm so excited about the book I chose!

Click image for link to Amazon.

A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry is a piece of history, and a lesson about respect for the environment.  Plus, it is a beautiful taste of the state of New Hampshire!

When I first picked up this book, I thought I had a nice picture book about a river that runs through Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but it turned out to be so much more!

This book would be a great book to read when learning about Native Americans or when learning about the environment.  It's a great choice to read on Earth Day because of the environmental lesson.  It's also a great book for teaching history as well as the beauty of New England.  

I had many thoughts about activities connected to this book, but settled on one that celebrates the beauty of the clean waters of the Nashua River.

Come on over to Elementary Matters to see more about the book, a fun art project to go with the book, and see more books about New Hampshire as well as more books by Lynne Cherry!  (I'm sure you'll recognize a few!)

Literacy Center Cards

How do you organize your centers?  I do a combination of Daily 5 and the requirements of my school district.  Here are some cards that help me communicate with the children.  I mount these on tagboard and put magnets on the back, and I can organize our Literacy time anyway I want.  Come on over to Elementary Matters to see ideas!

Super Bowl Activities

Can you believe the Super Bowl is next weekend? 

I have a couple of freebies that are perfect for the week leading up to the Super Bowl!

Here's a math freebie for primary grades.  Children work their way around the football themed game board, telling 3 digit numbers that come directly after the one given.

Here's a map to help the children find the 3 key places involved in the Super Bowl:  the cities of the two teams playing, and the host city!

Come on over to Elementary Matters to download these two freebies!

100th Day of School Crafts

Are you ready for the 100th day of school? I have all that you need in my 100th Day of School: Polar Bear Party Craft Pack.

This 100 Days of School Craft Party Pack has all you need to celebrate the 100th Day of School in your classroom including a Polar Bear 100 days hat, a 100 days of school banner,  a 100 Days Smarter necklace, and a 100 Days of school chain.

 You can find this 100 Day Craft set at my Sweet Tea Classroom blog {HERE}.

Number Sense With Cuisenaire Rods

I have some students in my class who don't quite have "number sense".  These are the kids who still don't automatically "count on" when adding two numbers together, or determining the sum of two dice.  They still count the dots!  These kids need more "hands on" opportunity to get to know these numbers inside out!

I absolutely LOVE Cuisenaire Rods for helping children develop their number sense.  I posted about them a while ago with THIS POST about using Cuisenaire Rods to practice math facts and fact families.  I've got some kids who need to back up even further and really need to get to know the individual numbers by using these manipulatives.


Come on over to Elementary Matters to see my ideas on using Cuisenaire Rods to develop Number Sense and download this freebie!