Native American Mosaic Teepee Craftivity

This Mosaic Teepee Craftivity Kit is just plain fun and adorable!  It also teaches SYMMETRY and uses a variety of GEOMETRIC SHAPES!  If you’d like to have a Mosaic Teepee kit just click below!  You have Black and White OR Color options for your mosaic pieces!  Just PRINT and Go – NO PREP!!  Who doesn’t LOVE that!?!

Click Here To Get this Craftivity Kit!

Look What I Did With a Leaf!

Here in Ohio fallen leaves are EVERYWHERE!!!  My kiddos LOVE bringing me pretty leaves they find on their way to school.  I thought this would be the perfect time to pull out one of my favorite leaf books...Look What I Did with a Leaf by Morteza E. Sohi.  My students were so inspired by the pictures in this book, they decided to create their own "leaf art!!!"

The Attack of DOGZILLA!!!

After reading the fantastic, WACKY book Dogzilla by Dav Pilkey, I asked my students to tell how they thought Dav Pilkey did the illustrations for this book.  (He actually took photographs of his own dog, Leia, carefully cut out one of them and painted a background around it.)  I had my students look through a variety of magazines to find a picture of an animal.  They carefully cut it out.  Next, they mounted it to a blank framed paper.   Next, they either painted or drew a background, making their animal look gigantic compared to the background.  They titled their art piece,  (BLANK)-zilla.)  Then, they wrote a mini-story to go with their completed art.  These made a FANTASTIC display!!!

If you would like more activities to compliment Dav Pilkey’s WACKY books, click the Dav Pilkey Unit below!!

We Found Gold at the End of a Rainbow! Great St. Patrick's Day Activities!

In preparation for St. Patrick’s Day, my class performed 3 different St. Patrick’s Day Reader’s Theaters, then made these very colorful GOLD AT THE END OF A RAINBOW treats!  Twizzler’s makes rainbow licorice and the golden candies are Rolo’s.  My students arranged them in a baggie and tied them up with a green ribbon and they’ve hit the JACKPOT!  We’ve found our GOLD at the end of a RAINBOW!!!  Click on the pics below for three really wonderful St. Patrick’s Day stories that I adapted into Reader’s Theaters and MORE!  May the LUCK of the Irish be with you!  I’ve also included an ultra cool St. Patrick’s Day craftivity link!

The Time Has Come. The Time Is Here. Our Visit From the Cat in the Hat This Year!

The time has come.  The time is here.  Our visit from the Cat in the Hat this year!

Who wouldn’t love a visit from the Cat in the Hat!?!   I can’t remember a year of teaching when the Cat in the Hat did not visit my classroom!  Not only do we get a visit, but we get to hear stories read by none other than . . . We also have time for a question and answer session to ask the Cat in the Hat ANYTHING!!!

Prior to our infamous visit, I always prep my students.  Many of them don’t buy in to the “realness” of The Cat in the Hat.  We all know kids are smart and they know that it is just a mom dressed up as The Cat in the Hat.  HOWEVER, if you tell them right off that it is a mom dressed as The Cat in the Hat BUT she really believes that SHE IS The Cat in the Hat and we want her to think that we think she is The Cat in the Hat it goes off without a hitch!  It is a very interesting dynamic going on during the presentation.  We even practiced asking questions that would be appropriate to ask a CAT prior to the visit.

Click here for this cool resource!