Remembering September 11th - craft

"Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?"

I was doing my student teaching in Plainfield, Illinois with a group of 4th graders.  Ironically, that day I had planned to teach a Health lesson about dealing with death.  Boy, oh boy, did we need that lesson that day.

Fast forward 14 years . . .

Talking to a group of 7-year-olds (who weren't even a twinkle in their parents' eye 14 years ago) about the events of September 11th is not an easy thing to do.  They can't even comprehend the pain and bewilderment of such an event; the absolute betrayal and anger; the fear that it could happen again.

  But it is something that MUST be remembered.  Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day.  Just because a group of children weren't even alive, does not mean they shouldn't know and grow from it.  

So last Friday, I introduced September 11th with these two videos from YouTube.  

These do great job of  giving the facts of the day without being too much for the little ones.

American Heroes for Little Learners (Freebie) by Mel D Seusstastic

Then I found this A-MAZ-ING packet on TpT that has 42 pages coloring sheets.  The great thing is, that she provided several versions of the coloring sheet so you can make it match whatever you may be teaching about: like Memorial Day, Patriot Day, heroes, etc.

 I grabbed what I liked best, as well as, some construction paper.  I thought this coloring page would look great with an American flag.

Here's what you need for each student:

1 sheet (9x12) white construction paper 

1/4 of sheet of blue construction paper 

5 strips of red construction paper (these are 1" strips)

1 white star

(Click on the image below to get your own copy of the stars)

Start by cutting out a star and glue it to the blue paper.

Now glue the blue into the upper left corner of the white paper.

Start gluing strips at the very top, along the bottom edge of the blue and along the very bottom of the white.

Fill in the gaps with the last two strips and trim. 

So pretty!

~Stacy

TPT Sale!!!!!!

This just in:  Teachers Pay Teachers is throwing a sitewide sale!  

Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 25th, you can get 20% off my store and an additional 8% by using the promo code HEROES.  

I also wanted to take this opportunity to share my latest product.

{Click on the image below to find this at my store.}

And here a a couple oldies but goodies!  

{Click on either image to be taken to my store.}

   

The anniversary of the end of the Civil War is coming up on April 12.  You may want to check out my "Civil War on Sunday Unit" if you really love Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House books.

My "Decorah Eagle Unit" is especially great because through the magic of live streaming video, you and your class can observe bald eagles.  The Decorah eagles currently have 2 eggs in their nest bowl and the third egg is eagerly anticipated.  You can check them out here.   

So fill your shopping carts!

~Stacy

Fancy Nancy Adjectives!!! - {FREEBIE}

I had such grand intentions.  I have been "working" on my latest unit for over a year.  And when Christmas wrapped up, I decided I would finally get this unit finished in time for Valentine's Day.  But . . . I guess that wasn't meant to be.  

Instead, walking pneumonia invaded and all grand intentions were thrown out the window.  

Nearly 4 weeks later, I'm just starting to feel normal again.  But here it is, four days until the BIG day and it's still not done.  So I decided to give my kiddos a little holiday fun and we did one of the great activities in my adorable little pack.  

Before I get to the activity, here is a sneak peek of what I have done and what I ~hope~ to get posted before next year's Valentine's Day rolls around.

And tons more!!!! 

{I hope you think of me next year for you Valentine's Day fun}

The past few weeks, my class has been spending time on adjectives.  It just so happens that my great, "Fancy Nancy" unit has an adjective activity!

Here's how it works.  The students make cute envelopes and then sort several adjectives into envelopes titled "How Many?", "What Kind?", "My Senses", and "Color, Shape & Size".   

After they finished cutting, folding, and gluing, they sorted the adjectives into the right envelope.

Click on Fancy Nancy to get your own copy of this great Valentine's adjective activity!

BTW. . . Adorable little Nancy here is by Nikki at Melonheadz.  You can get Nancy as a part of a bundle over at her TPT store.

Enjoy!

~Stacy

A {Good} Excuse and A Reading Street ~*Freebie*~

So, yeah.  It's been nearly five months since I posted last.  You read that right. F-I-V-E.  But I have a really, really good excuse.  I promise.  No, really, I mean it.  

Our school district finally rustled up the cash to buy us a new Reading series {because our old one was 12 years old and completely not up to current standards} and we chose Reading Street.  Taaaa Daaaaaa!  For those of you who use Reading Street and can remember your first years with it, I think you can relate to why it's been five month since my last blog post.

Don't get me wrong.  Reading Street is a great program and it is pushing our kids like never before.  But it has taken all my energy to stay afloat with all the content that needs to be covered.  The first year with a new series is always the toughest.  The teacher's manuals are jam-packed with material.  The hardest part is deciding what you can get done and what needs to be put aside.  {For this year anyway!} 

Does it sound like I'm complaining?  Sorry.  On to the FREEBIE!!!

My class and I were working on our folk tales as part of Unit 2, and {lucky me!!} it was my year for my formal evaluation.  

We had spent the week reading . . .   

. . . and writing folk tales.

For my observation, I wanted the class to apply their knowledge of the important elements of folk tales:  rewards/punishments and the central message or moral.  So found this great

set of videos on PBSKids.org that features 13 videos of animated folktales. 

 So I chose four of my favorites and whipped up these cute activity pages.  Click here to get your own copy.

{Since this was an observed lesson, I wasn't able to get pictures.}

 We completed this activity together.  I had desk partners discuss the rewards/punishments and the central message before having them share their thoughts with the class.  I was very happy how much the kids were able to share with each other

I could also see this working perfectly as a computer center activity.  Though you may not get the collaboration, you would end up with a great formative assessment!

Enjoy!!

~Stacy