Day of Pink!

Hi Everyone!!!

It feels so good to be back!  Seriously, long time no blog :(.  On another note, tomorrow our school is celebrating the Red Cross Day of Pink.  If you have never heard of this day please read the excerpt following this blog post.  In response to the Day of Pink I wanted to create a bulletin board that celebrated what makes us special.  I used the book The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald as a springboard for a writing activity.  Students were asked to choose their favourite part about themselves - it could be absolutely whatever they wanted.  They then had to write about it.  Check out their sweet work below.

 

It`s a quick post tonight!  I am off to paint my nails pink to go all out for Day of Pink tomorrow.  I can't wait to see the whole school in their Day of Pink 2013 shirts!  It is going to be a fantastic day full of meaningful activities.

 

   

 

 

 

I will be back soon, I promise!  I am going to document my poetry writing adventures with my students on here very soon.

Lauren :)

Red Cross Day of Pink

April 10, 2013

 

Wear the Shirt. Be the Difference.

The Canadian Red Cross Day of Pink is an initiative that provides students, staff and the larger community with the opportunity to discuss the impact of bullying and to learn how they can use their power to help create a safe and respectful school environment. On April 10, 2013, students, staff and community members wear pink shirts in solidarity to show that they are taking a stand against bullying.

How did it get started?
It started in 2007 when two high school students in Nova Scotia took a stand against bullying in their school. The students asked all of their peers to wear pink to school after they heard a male classmate had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt. To continue the momentum, the Canadian Red Cross Day of Pink campaign brings together schools and communities to wear the shirt and stand together against bullying.

Can You SPOT The DOT? ...or believe it's already July 17th?

Well, I can't believe it's already mid July!!! I haven't posted on our blog in quite some time. The last few weeks of school were CrAzY busy and then to make life just a tad CraZiEr we decided to host our youngest daughter's family birthday the morning after school ended! (Seemed like a good idea at the time as we were accommodating family that was in town and family going out of town) Note to self: won't do this again next year! Needless to say, running around getting goody bag stuff, party supplies, presents, ordering balloons, making cupcakes all whilst whisking our girls off to soccer four nights a week, followed by evenings of finalizing, signing and stuffing report card envelopes, was a little chaotic! Anyway, summer holidays are here now and I am loving spending the days with my favourite two kids! I decided to post an activity that I have done in the past in my classroom and plan to use for a Back-to-School activity in September. It's a book art activity to do in response to Peter H. Reynolds' book, the dot.

My students LOVED this activity and were super creative with their pictures. Can you SPOT the DOT in the pictures below?



Have a great week! I am looking forward to more sunshine filled days this week! Enjoy the freebie!

~Jeanine

Freebie - How-To Survive ________ Grade - End of School Year Writing Template

Hey Everyone!!!

I had myself convinced that I had four weeks left of school this weekend....but when I checked my calendar this afternoon I was sadly mistaken. Five weeks it is! With the "four week" excitement that I woke up with I decided to create a How-To Survive ___________ Grade writing template for my students to use.  I have customized this template for grades one to four so hopefully many of you can find a use for it!  There are two different templates included: one template offers space for just writing, the other template offers space for writing and a small picture.  This product is great for end of school year bulletin boards, or can be shared with students entering the grade your students are leaving. 


You can download the product for free from our Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I really hope you and your kids have fun with this activity!


Happy Sunday!  Have a great week everybody!

Lauren

Mother's Day and Birdhouse Ads!

As Lauren already mentioned, last week was a bit of a whirlwind! I am thankful that things have slowed down this week and we are back to our usual classroom routines. For Mother's Day, my class also created the mini My Mom is Excellent books that I posted on TPT. We also painted frames that held photos I had taken of my students on the playground. The frames looked super cute and sparkly when completed. During our Monday morning meeting, my students were excited to tell all about their mom's responses and reactions to their presents! I have included a couple of pictures of some finished books.

Last week we also did one of my favourite Spring activities for our bulletin board. I THINK I got the idea, years ago, from a Mailbox Magazine. My class LOVED this activity and had tons of fun creating their little masterpieces. We made birdhouses out of a variety of construction and coloured paper. (I supplied a variety of tracers for the kids to chose from.) My students got very creative and added lots of little details and features. Next, we looked at apartment/house ads on the internet to see how ads are written. Then my students had to get busy creating their own ads for their birdhouses. Next, we typed up the ads during our next scheduled computer time. Check out some of our adorable birdhouses and ads.