Brain Breaks with GoNoodle.com!

Have you heard of GoNoodle.com?  

Well...you need to go, if you haven't!  It's a super fun brain breaks website for your class.  It features tons of dance and kid-friendly videos to move to.  It also has relaxation videos.  You and your class can create an avatar.  This avatar grows and becomes a champion as your class accrues more minutes doing brain breaks or exercises.  My first grade students last year...LOVED it!  

Classroom management tip here:  I told them they needed to show me UH-MAZING focus during our lesson and independent work and if they did well...then...GO NOODLE!  They got to work and stayed focused ASAP...with the excitement and anticipation of a brain break in mind!  

On top of fun...it's free to sign-up!  And you know how I love FREE.  :)  

Please come back and post a comment about how your students reacted to it.  Thanks!

Enjoy!

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Bring Coloring Pages to Life in 3D with ColAR Mix App!

Recently, I stumbled upon this cool website/app called http://colarapp.com/ .  You need to check it out.  Kids can turn a picture into 3D art with a mobile phone or iPad.  1) You print a coloring page from the website. 2) Kids color the page in crayon or colored pencil (markers don't seem to work).  3) You or their parents download the ColAR Mix App onto mobile phone or iPad.  4) Using the App, you take a
picture of the colored page.  5) Voila!  The kid's colored page comes to life in 3D!

I think it's awesome for all ages.  It promotes fine motor skills and technology at the same time!  And if you're creative enough, you can implement it into your curriculum.  

I tried the bird and worm coloring page with my first graders, as it corresponds with our animal theme in science.  My students loved it!  

Enjoy!

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Great Apps for the CC (Common Core) Classroom

Thanks to Frizzle, a Scholastic blog, here is an excellent website that lists Great Apps for the Common Core standards classroom!

They are not all free, but I've downloaded a few on my iPhone and I love them as a teacher and organizer, while my students are engaged with these tech savvy websites to help them learn and play in the areas of language arts and math.

I'm interested in this Shake-a-Phrase app, but hesitate in buying it right now.  If YOU buy it, please let me know if you recommend it or any of the apps listed.  Thank you kindly!

What do you think of Common Core?  

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Recite.

Okay, so if you are about making posters of quotes then this is the site for you!  Recite is where you can "turn a quote into a masterpiece."  Pretty neat.  You can type just about anything and they have a plethora of backgrounds and cool fonts that will create your quote into something awesome!

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Clever Student/Parent Reminders!

I've posted about The Mailbox many times because of their clever ideas.

Here is one that I think will work in reminding students and parents what is needed:

The next time a child needs to replenish a school supply or you’re requesting that students contribute to a class project, try this! Have each child write a short note to his parent(s) on the outside of a folded paper sack that, when unfolded, can be used to carry the needed supply to school! These unique requests really deliver!

See!  Clever!

I definitely recommend subscribing to them!  Thanks, Mailbox!  

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Reward Your Students with Coupons, not Candy

I prefer to reward my students with experiences, as opposed to candy or toys.  

As a fan of TeachersPayTeachers.com and liking their page on Facebook, I recently came across a first grade teacher named Laura Martin, who has reached $20,000 in sales this year on TpT!  That's awesome!

Laura created this 

Classroom Reward Coupons-50+ Coupons to Reward and Inspire Packet.  Some coupon ideas are Lunch with Teacher, Good Behavior Phone Call, Sit at Teacher's Desk, etc.  Pretty fun and definitely something a child would want!  Makes he/she feel extra special that day!

I downloaded something similar last year and put it in a folder for my students to flip through and choose what they would like.  It was something they looked forward to when I surprised them with these rewards at random.  

Thank you, Ms. Laura Martin for your time and creations!  You are awesome!  

Oh, and check out her website, Peace, Love, and First Grade, too!

Enjoy! 

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Free Back-to-School Printables from Scholastic

Scholastic is a great resource.  You can truly find a plethora of things there.  

As we celebrate Back-to-School, here are some free back-to-school printables provided by Scholastic! 

Enjoy!

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Reading Is Fundamental

Reading is Fundamental (RIF) is the largest children's literacy nonprofit in the U.S.  

RIF created this fun site for the early childhood group, which I love!

In the Babies & Toddlers section (ages 0-2), there are stories, nursery rhymes, lullabies, games, and finger plays, all to help parents/teachers to stimulate babies and toddlers in the early stages of literacy development.  

In the Preschoolers section (ages 3-5), you can read, sing, play, doodle, and explore.  

And of course, there's a Grown-Ups section filled with articles, activities, and more.

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SchoolTube?!?

I am so excited about this one!  There's SchoolTube!

It's like YouTube, but videos from students and teachers everywhere!  Many school districts restrict access to YouTube, so perhaps SchoolTube.com will work!

Pretty cool if you ask me!  

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TeachersPayTeachers

Did you know about TeachersPayTeachers.com?

Well, now you know!  It's a website...

WHERE TEACHERS BUY, SELL AND SHARE ORIGINAL TEACHING RESOURCES

It's absolutely brilliant. For a teacher of any grade level, you HAVE to go to this site, TeachersPayTeachers!

Any kind of resource (worksheets, slides, smartboard files, etc.) you want...it's most likely there and beautifully made for you by fellow educators.  You can search by grade level, subjects, price...theme, anything.  

Don't want to pay?  No big deal.  There are tens and thousands of already made work that teachers are willing to share for FREE!  Yup!  If you sign-up, they will send an email once a week (usually Sundays, for me) with their top downloads, recommended downloads, AND 10 free downloads that you would usually have to pay for.  It's truly a great resource to buy, sell, and share teaching resources!  

You MUST check it out!  Besides Pinterest...TeachersPayTeachers is the other go-to website for instant reproducibles!

Happy perusing!  

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Children's Books Guide

Need a list of Top 100 Children's Books of All Times?  

Or 100 Most Inspiring Children's Books?

Or children's books by subjects?  Social issues & behaviors?  Award-winning books?

However you categorize children's picture books or chapter books, I think you can find the book that you need at Children's Books Guide.  


The website is definitely a great resource for new teachers to begin their classroom library and parents to search for amazing books to read with their child.  

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Tagxedo! "word cloud with styles"

This website is sooo cool!  You can create an image using words!  

"Tagxedo turns words -- famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters -- into a visually stunning word cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text."

I'd suggest using it to create an art piece for your class of all your students' names.  You can create anything using any words!  The end result is infinite!  

Let me know what you create from it in your classroom!  Enjoy!

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If You Take A Mouse To School Ideas

I love the If You Give... book series by Laura Numeroff!  They are so fun!  If You Give Take a Mouse to School is one book to start off your school year!  Thanks to KidsSoup here are some fun and free activity ideas for you and your students!  Have a wonderful start to a new school year!

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Math Bags

I found this Math Bags idea from Deborah J. Stewart from Teach Preschool.  Thank you, Ms. Deborah at www.teachpreschool.org!  That's an awesome resource website!

I've implemented Math Bags in my prek classroom this past year and my students absolutely loved it!

• Each student received a "Math Bag" with their name on it, which I purchased from the Dollar Store.
• Within each bag, I placed an insert instructing my students' families to go around the house and help them find and COUNT 5 items (big or small) that they would not mind donating to the class.  These items can be small toys, paperclips, buttons, caps, rocks...really anything and the 5 items do not need to be the same.  
• I usually sent these bags home on Fridays and students return them on Mondays.  
• During our Monday Morning Circles, we would go through each bag and count and see the items their friends brought.  
• It was a lot of fun! And my students really mastered the concept of counting! 
• This Math Bags counting project lasted a good 1-2 months.  

You can definitely further the counting project to 10 items or more, patterns, even.  
Please let me know if you do this and how it worked out for you!

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Celebrate The 2012 Summer Olympics!

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London is just around the corner!
I'm super excited about it and I may just implement an Olympics theme in my classroom this year.  
Here's a website to activities all about the 2012 Olympic Summer Games!
This one, too.   

Have fun!  
Let me know if you have any ideas for implementing the Olympics into your classroom!

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100 Helpful Blogs for School Librarians (And Teachers)

Thanks to Edudemic for some awesome teacher resources, like this one with "100 Helpful Blogs for School Librarians (And Teachers)."  

It lists blogs from around the world from: 

• Librarians
• School Librarians
• Teacher Librarians (and as educators we can always use advice on our own classroom library!)
• Industry News
• Tech-Focused Library
• Children's and Young Adult LIt (important!)
• Professional Development and Learning (another important one!)
• Ed Tech (yes please)
• Book Blogs
• & Miscellaneous.  

Wow! Absolutely helpful!

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THE GIVING TREE

Mrs. Gold's Class is an awesome teacher & blogger!  Found her today and love her ideas!  Especially her Giving Tree idea!  You make a huge tree in your classroom, branches & all.  Make a ton of leaves.  As students see each other doing good deeds for one another, they write a blurb on a leaf and place it on the tree!  An amazing positive environment will come about!  Here are Mrs. Gold's Class' Bulletin Board Ideas (Pictures), and click on her Giving Tree pictures for details!

I tried to implement it in my preK class this year.  Put up the brown butcher paper tree towards the end of the year, but never got to writing down the good things my students did for each other.  Will definitely do it this year...& the next...& the next...

Thanks, Mrs. Gold!

Oh and you can also use a tree and call it a Wishing Tree, where you put an item on each leaf that you wish to have in the classroom and parents/volunteers can take down a leaf, if they wish to donate that item!

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READEO

Readeo is one of the most interactive picture book reading websites that I've come across.  It allows families and friends with children (or not) to come together and share storytime through video!  How awesome is that?  Click on the video below to learn more &/or go to their website!

The idea & moments of being able to read to a loved one in different places is priceless!  

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FAMILY EDUCATION

As a teacher, it's true that teaching a child is a team effort!  One of the many ways a child succeeds is through the love and support he/she receives from his/her parents, teachers, and all he/she comes across with.  It takes a village to educate a child!  Isn't that a saying?  

Well, I've come across this wonderful resource, more so for parents/families, but also useful for teachers.  Afterall...we do need to work together as a team!  ;)

Family Education is a website with various subjects of focus: Pregnancy, Babies & Toddlers, Kids, Teens, School & Learning, Entertainment & Activities, Mom's Life, Food, & Community.  Each tab/subject has detailed information for your heart's desire.  In regards to Family Education being a teacher resource, well, it has parenting advice (which can also be teacher advice, to a certain extent) & many activities & interactive tools that can be adapted &/or used in the classroom.  The site is actually linked with TeacherVision, where you can find "lesson plans, printables, and more." 

There's just lots of knowledge shared on that site.  

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KidsSoup & ABC Twiggles

KidsSoup & ABC Twiggles are another amazing Preschool and Kindergarten resource websites I've used.  KidsSoup is colorful and easy to navigate to find the themes, lessons, printables, crafts, games...tons of fun you want to have in your classroom.  ABC Twiggles focuses purely on the alphabet through a multi-sensory curriculum, through online books and videos, flashcards, posters, worksheets, coloring pages, letter matching, word walls, chants, books, recipes, crafts, and more!  

Unfortunately, their membership isn't free, but you can get the bundle (both websites) membership for $39.99 for the whole year!  Or you can just get the KidsSoup membership for $26.99 & ABC Twiggles membership for $21.99.  I think the bundle is the best deal for all that you get!  

If not, you can always just sign up for their KidsSoup Twiggle Magazine Newsletter for free ideas!  :)

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