Beach Sand: end of the year

Showing posts with label end of the year. Show all posts

Ahhhh! It's the first official day of summer vacation! I am so looking forward to the next 10 weeks off! It's the first summer in a very long time that I am not working! I was so super busy the last few months that I just haven't had time to share...better late than never, right?!

Here are some things that happened in my classroom the last few weeks of school.

Even after you have collected reading books, students can continue practicing research and reading skills. I created these author study books and they are great for the end of the year. You can choose the author to study or assign different authors to individuals or groups of students. Be sure to gather books by the author(s) for students to read and reflect on. Find this product HERE in my TpT store.

If you are still in school and looking for some fun end of the year/summer activities, check out more of my products HERE.

My Travel Journal and Hobby Time are also perfect to use after textbooks have been collected, but you still want to keep an academic atmosphere.

Enjoy the rest of the school year or the start of your summer vacation!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Building confidence and self-esteem in children is a stepping stone toward being a healthier adult. When students have a sense of their strengths and weaknesses they are better able to face life's challenges, conflicts, and negative pressures. As teachers, helping students develop self-esteem is something we do on a daily basis, but not all students find success or confidence in the classroom setting. Kids can feel as if they are only as good as their test score or a grade on a report card. In this testing frenzy time, I think we need to step back and remember the WHOLE child. There are so many talents hiding within our rooms that we can't even see.

Years ago, needing an activity for the last week of school, a colleague and I came up with the idea of Hobby Time. We allowed the kids to bring in hobbies/crafts to work on and share. They were having a blast teaching each other and "showing off" what they could do. Over the years, it evolved into more than just a show and tell time. I began to realize that even the students who were not top academically had something to offer and share. Their confidence was up and their self-esteem inflated!

Hobby Time includes activities that give students a chance to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. They have the opportunity to research, draw, create, write, and share about what makes them special. All of these activities come together to make a perfect lapbook scrapbook or can be used in an interactive notebook. What a nice keepsake, too!
Some students may need help and encouragement finding their hobby/interest/sport. Allow them to write about one they want to succeed at. Discuss goal setting and what it takes to achieve those goals. Help them discover that everyone has talents!

We need to guide and nurture the whole child. We need to take time to get to know who our students are outside of the classroom. By allowing students to showcase their hobbies, recreational activities, and sports, we will help them feel confident, fit in, and shine in the classroom!

Use this product as a back to school/get to know you activity, an end of year culminating activity, or anytime in between. JANUARY is Hobby Month so that would be a perfect time!! Do some or all of the activities provided.

TODAY ONLY you can win this product! Visit my friend Denise over at Sunny Days in Second Grade and enter her Winter Giveaway going on now until December 14th! Good luck!!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Wow! I have not participated in a Currently in a really long time! I'm glad to get back to it today. Stop by and visit Farley at Oh Boy in 4th Grade and link up, too!

Here goes...

So...can you tell that I have summer on my mind?? IT. IS. TME. I know the kids are done and so am I. I still have some packing up to do, as well as report cards, filing, and other paper work to complete...which accounts for the need of a personal assistant. The coming week is only 4 days for us (lovin' it!) with Thursday being an early release. Friday is a planning day and our end-of-year luncheon at Bone Fish Grill...YUMMY!! My third grade team has tons of fun planned for our kiddos. Monday is Autograph Day. We all gather outside and let the kids run around getting their friends' signatures on t-shirts, yearbooks, and notebooks. After autographs, students get to pick which movie they want to see on Wednesday. Each one of us will show a different movie in our classroom. The students get to choose which classroom they will visit...limit is 20 kids in each room. We hand out movie tickets with 3 kids in each of our classrooms getting a VIP ticket. Those kids get first pick. Movie Day will be on Wednesday. Tuesday is Game Day. We allow board games, cards, and electronics. On that day, we will also do some summer crafts and have a special treat. Wednesday is Movie Day (with popcorn). And Thursday is survive-until-noon day (that's for me LOL!).
Then it's SUMMER!! My plan is to be at the beach AT LEAST once a week and to put time aside for TpT/blogging/social media. I just found out I will be working as a trainer for my district most of the month of July. In between, I'm heading to NYC with my daughter and my BFF! I CAN NOT WAIT!! What are your summer plans? When does your vacay start??

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a summer blog hop with some freebies along the way!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Summertime! It's finally here! This is where I want to be right now!

Last day of school was on Thursday. Planning day and luncheon today, so the beach has to wait a few more days!

It's Five for Friday time and we were busy this week!

The last week of school was full of chaotic fun! Monday started the week with Autograph Day and Park Day. As a grade level, we meet outside and the kids run around getting friends and teachers to sign shirts, yearbooks, or notebooks. Later, we were supposed to head over to the park next to our school, but the weather did not permit. We stayed at school and the kids brought out their towels, games, drawing materials, snacks, and hung out with their friends. The weather cleared up and it was a good morning.

Tuesday was our class celebration. A Sunshine Party. (Click HERE to read more details about this theme.) This year I decided to have a breakfast. Something a little different. My parents rocked the house! I had one dad cooking up the waffles and French toast (homemade batter by the way). Check out the fancy pancakes shaped like suns!! A mom and dad whipped those beauties up! They had aprons on and cooked together. So cute! They used those ketchup bottles for the batter and "drew" out the sun shapes. How fantastic was that?? Other parents donated toppings like whipped cream, chocolate chips, syrup, and fruit. It was a yummy morning!

The kids had a blast. Enjoyed their breakfast and moved on to Game Day! Some brought board games. Some brought electronics. They enjoyed the time hanging with their friends and just being kids.

Wednesday was Movie Day. Each teacher on my team chooses a movie. We meet again as a whole group. Each teacher holds up our movies and say GO! The kids run to the movie they want and we hand them a ticket (24 per teacher). Room moms send in popcorn, too! I showed The Muppets...love that movie!

Thursday was the LAST DAY!! Noon dismissal. (I find half days feel longer full days!) My kiddies were cute. They made a conga line to specials. We had a dance party. I handed out report cards and awards and these simple little goody bags. (tried to stay in line with the sunshine theme.) Lemonade Kool-Aid, lemon drop candies, Life Savers, and gumdrops shaped like orange slices. Then the bell rang at noon. Tears flowed. Hugs all around. And we said good-bye.

The bag toppers are my FRIDAY FREEBIE. Click HERE to get yours. (They fit perfectly on a Ziploc bag.)

All in all I had a fantastic school year. I was SO fortunate to have a class of motivated well-behaved students. I was truly sad to see them go. I'm looking forward to a restful summer, in between working for the county as a reading trainer. I hope you are enjoying a must deserved break or getting ready to start!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Thanks to Latoya at Flying into First for hosting this fun linky! This week she's asking that we share two bloggy buddies.

I have SO many new friends that I've made that it was super hard to pick, but I finally decided to choose two of my newest buddies.

First up is Michaela from The Center Based Classroom.

Michaela is a Massachusetts blogger and fellow third grade teacher. She shares lots of neat hands-on and center/workshop activities. I just found her blog and love reading about her products and projects. Her kids recently completed some really cute biography projects. Head on over and check them out!

Second on my list is Brittany from Closing the Gap...in a Cute Outfit. I LOVE this name!

She is a first grade teacher from Louisiana. I found her through her adorable linky, Share Whatcha Wear. You link up with a picture of you in your favorite outfits and share a little about your clothes. It is so fun to see what my teacher friends around the country are wearing. Her blog is adorable and funny. You must check it out!

The end is near people! I can feel it! Only 12 school days left with the kiddos. Here is a little freebie for you. Let you kids create awards for different events from the school year. (no awards for other students only events). Makes a cute bulletin board display, too. Hope this helps fill some time you may have in the last days! Click HERE to download and enjoy!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

It's FRIDAY! I'm so happy and ready for another round of Five for Friday! This one is going to be short and sweet and little more on the personal side.

#1: I was home for two days this week with my little girl. She had a high fever, but now she's back and feeling fine. We have dance recital pictures tonight and I'm proud to say I mastered the French braid (the required hair style for the pictures and recital). This year's theme is Broadway and I can't wait. It makes me so happy to watch her dance.

#2: My 12 year old son is on his first extended day field trip. He is off to Sea World today. The kids will have an educational tour first than they are free! He doesn't have to walk around the park with a chaperone...he's on his own with his buddies. Thankfully, I have a VERY responsible boy. I know he will be fine, but don't think this mama isn't going to worry until he's back home around 11pm.

#3: Last week I told you about my fur baby that suffered a back injury. We took him for a one week check up today. Our vet feels to be safe, he should rest for another month. This means no jumping and no running with the other doggies in the yard. This is going to be a challenge, but it's what we have to do. After the month there is no guarantee he won't injure it again. There is nothing we can do, but let him be a dog at that point. He can't stay confined forever.

#4:I hope all you moms enjoyed a beautiful Mother's Day. I know I did. My family came to my house for a BBQ. My niece celebrated her first Mother's Day. It has been a blessing to have her son in our family. Here he is hanging with my mom, his great grandmother:

Here he is a few days later hanging on for dear life while my sister's dog steals his diaper! How funny is this?? Just makes me laugh every time I look at it.

#5: For a fun end of the year project, my kids are reading fractured fairy tales. I put them in groups of three, let them choose one book, and now the groups are rewriting the book into their own reader's theater. They should be ready to perform them soon. I'll let you know how they turn out! Here are some of the books they are enjoying:

Thanks for reading through all my personal stuff from this week. Now for a little freebie for you! I hope you enjoy these Brain Boosters for the end of the year! Click HERE for the download.

Find lots more FREEBIES HERE and some great bloggers, too!

I also want to link up with Molly over at Lucky to be in First. Check out her cutie blog for some more freebies!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

The end of the school year is quickly approaching! I am still amazed at how quickly time flies. I always go through the same inner monologue: "Did I cover everything? Did I spend enough time on ______? I didn't do enough ______! I'm not finished with ____!" Do you worry that the year is over and you haven't completed it all?? Though I feel like I haven't done it all, I know that I've done my best. I can say with certainty that I gave my kids 110% of what I have. I'm certain you have all worked as hard! As the year winds down, I like to think about having a little fun to celebrate all that we did accomplish.

Our last day for the students is June 6th and our celebration will be on June 4th. For the past couple of years, I have had a Sunshine Party. It's really a very simple theme, but lots of fun to to celebrate summer. Here is the "criteria" for a Summer Sunshine Party:
#1: Everyone dresses in the color of sunshine...orange, yellow, red. Students can wear hats and sunglasses, too.
#2: Serve food that is orange, yellow or yellow-ish...vanilla ice cream, lemon drops, lemon cookies, vanilla cupcakes with yellow frosting, popcorn, orange slices, and lemonade are a few of the fun foods I've served over the years.
#3: Play some fun summer songs. I have a CD of songs with summer, sun or sunshine in the lyrics. Have a dance party or play musical chairs.
#4: The kiddos work on a summer sunshine scavenger hunt I've created which is included in my new End of Year Summer Sunshine pack.

Also in this pack you will find activities you can work on during the last week to go along with this sunny theme. I've included reflection sheets, a Summer Brain Booster, bookmarks for summer reading and one to create for your incoming students, an autograph page, and two cover choices to create a book for all these activities. There are 8 activities in all.

You could also add this "All About" Poster for the End of the Year to the above activity pack.

All of my products are 20% today and tomorrow in celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week. Remember to enter the code TAD13 to get an extra 10% off from TpT.