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.

My Teacher is Missing Activity!

Happy Monday everyone! This past Friday I was fortunate enough to take my personal day and spend the morning as the co-teacher in nursery school with my 4 year old daughter and then as a volunteer in the afternoon in my 7 year old daughter’s grade one classroom. It was so nice to spend the day with both my girls in their classrooms!

I decided to leave an activity for my sub that I had seen a while back on the wonderful First Grade Parade and also on Pinterest.  I have seen a variety of great ways to respond to the book Miss Nelson is Missing and decided to create something fun and engaging for my students to do while I was away. 

Click here for My Teacher is Missing Freebie. See below for some samples I got to read upon returning to school today.
~Wishing you all a great week!
   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

Press Here!

This week my students participated in a writing activity inspired by the book Press Here by Herve Tullet.  If you have not read this book with your students yet, you must!  My class and I were giggling and smiling the whole time while reading this interactive book.  All of my students were able to interact in some way with this book, whether it be by pressing dots or shaking the book.  It truly is a fun read!

After we finished reading Press Here I got my students to create their own Press Here inspired stories.  I left this assignment very open so students could be free to use their imaginations - title, content etc. was all up to them!  Their ideas were absolutely fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading and interacting with each one of their original books.  I included each book in our classroom library so all of the students can enjoy these fun books.

To create these books we made a simple swoosh book.  I call it a swoosh book, not really sure what the exact term is.  For directions on how to make this mini-book click here.  I bought colourful blank circular price stickers from the dollar store as the dots for their stories.  These dots can also be drawn by hand. 

Here are some pictures of just a few of the Press Here creations from my classroom:

 

I am telling you my class had so much fun making these books!  I would absolutely suggest you try it in your own classrooms - big smiles and so much fun to be had!

Hope you all have a great weekend!  I am loving the warm weather here this weekend!  I was able to get lots of yard work done today!!

Lauren

Writing Templates & Problem Solving Packages!

Hello and Happy Easter everyone! Last night Lauren and I were busy finishing our first products to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers. It was a late night, but we’re both very excited about our products and hope you will find them useful in your classrooms.  Please click on the pictures above or our TPT link to check out our products! 

-Jeanine