Listen Up Peeps!

So, are you Team Peeps or Team No Way, They're Disgusting? I'm the latter, but I sure do think they're cute and super fun for spring time.

I have an easy behavior management idea for you involving marshmallow Peeps that you can use right around Easter or after Easter once you pick up all of the Peeps from the clearance rack at Target.  The goal is to get students to listen and pay attention a little better...because we all know how spring fever goes.

Here's my display, which you can grab by clicking here or on the picture.  I set mine up the day before we started to grab their attention and build excitement.

Students will start each day with three Unifix cubes.  You could easily use counters, beans, or plastic pennies.  If a student is talking at an inappropriate time, not following directions, or is just not listening, they must give you a cube.  When I introduce the concept and chart to students, I show them a non-verbal signal that means, "You owe me a cube." I simply put out my hand, and they hand it over.
At the end of the day, students will record how many cubes they still have left on the chart.  Students who end the day with 1 or more of their cubes, get a marshmallow Peep and a certificate.  I've always used these adorable certificates that Recipe for Learning has on her blog.
This year, I snagged a small stuffed Peep at Target.  Each morning, I will randomly select the name of one student who had 3 cubes let the day before.  That student will get to hold the Peep at their seat all day- You all know they'll do anything to have a stuffy to snuggle with.

This is just an easy way to keep the chatting and general lack of listening in check.  Let me know if you decided to give it a try!

If you're too swamped to do it this year, Pin it and try it later on!

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The Jelly Donut Difference: Virtual Book Tour

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. 

You know how sometimes you come across an author and you just LOVE everything he or she writes?  For the past two years, I have been loving all of Maria Dismondy's books.  All of her books are written to make a difference and teach valuable life lessons.  Her newest book, The Jelly Donut Difference, is no different!

The Jelly Donut Difference is a quick read about a pair of siblings who learn that a small act of kindness can really change someone's day.  Such an important lesson for kids to learn!

I love this book as both a teacher and a mom.  In my classroom, I used it as a mentor text during a lesson on acts of kindness.  I always take the month of February to focus on kindness, and I was so pleased to be able to add The Jelly Donut Difference to my collection of kindness books.  It's a pretty quick read, but it made for a great discussion on ways that kids can spread kindness to others around them.  If you teach about random acts of kindness in your classroom or to your own children, this is the perfect book to use to introduce the idea!  I think it would be so fun to have your students deliver donuts to the faculty and staff around the school.  Think of the smiles that would bring!  However, #teacherbudget...

Instead, we brainstormed easy ways that kids can spread kindness to people that they care about without spending a penny.  I wanted them to get out of that mindset that kindness has to be a physical present that you give someone.  We also made a Crockpot Jelly Cake.  My recipe came from Rachel at Archer's All-Stars.  My class had a ball making the cake, and most of them liked it.  It made our classroom and hallway smell wonderful!  One of cuties said, "I think our act of kindness to all of the teachers is making the school smell so good instead of like sneakers and lunch." Hahahaha Right on, kiddo.

You can grab a copy of The Jelly Donut Difference on Amazon, along with all of Maria's fabulous books.  My other favorites are Spaghetti on a Hot Dog Bun, The Little Linebacker, and Chocolate Milk, Por Favor.  You can grab each book by clicking on the title or on the book covers below.

   

 

Be sure to follow Maria Dismondy on Instagram and Facebook to catch all of her virtual blog tour events.  I can't wait to see what she has in store for all of her readers!

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A Taste of Pennsylvania

Last week we wrapped up our unit on Pennsylvania.  It was so much fun.  The kids loved learning about our state, and I really loved teaching it.  Science and social studies is, by far, my favorite thing to teach.  To culminate the unit, I hosted a PA foods day, which we called A Taste of Pennsylvania.

PA has so many unique foods, especially the PA Dutch foods.  We had whoopie pies, cheese steak sandwiches, Hershey's chocolate, Turkey Hill drinks, PA Dutch birch beer, mushrooms, sweet Lebanon bologna, Herr's potato chips, Utz potato chips, and TastyKakes.  All of those foods are either grown or manufactured in Pennsylvania.  Fun fact- Central Pennsylvania is nicknamed "The Snack Belt" due to all of the snack food companies located in Lancaster, York, and Berks Counties.  Pennsylvania is also the mushroom capital of the world!

I used a super simple set up in my classroom, which led to easy clean up.  I grabbed some plastic trays and bowls from Dollar Tree and covered the tables with butcher paper in our state colors, yellow and blue.  I labeled each of the foods on the butcher paper.   My parent volunteers helped me cut up each of the dishes into bite sized pieces and arranged them on the trays.  You could definitely do this the night before if you're short on time. 

The kids were split into groups of four, and they rotated around the tables, trying each of the foods.  I asked that they tried everything, even if it was for a no-thank you bite.  They really did try everything with very little grumbling!  They were surprised at what they actually did like.  The students rated each of the foods that they tried using a scale.  You can grab it here. 

After we finished our taste testing, we gathered together.  Students took a moment to rate their top three favorite foods.  We then used that data to created a tally graph.  It was the perfect tie into my graphing unit, which we had just begun the day before.  Later in the day, we used the same data to create bar graphs.

A Taste of PA was seriously so fun!  It was the perfect end to our PA unit.  We spent about 4 weeks learning about Pennsylvania history, geography, and symbols.  I used my Pennsylvania Lap Book and Interactive Notebook for the unit.  It was perfect, as my students are loving interactive notebooks this year.  I don't have any food allergies in my room, so that kept things pretty easy.  I had all of my food donated by families.  I use Sign Up Genius for parties and donations.  I kept it simple, but organized, and it all went really smoothly.  I can't wait to do it again next year!   Let me know if you give it a try!

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Creating an Edible Butterfly Life Cycle

This week we've been totally into the life cycle of a butterfly.  We've read, wrote, and sang all about it.  We also have two butterfly houses in our classroom, one with a monarch and one with painted ladies.  Our monarch is in it's chrysalis.  So much fun!  My kids are completely loving it. 

To wrap up the week, I led them through the creation of an edible butterfly life cycle.  It was simple but really was a terrific review tool.  Overall, I think the entire thing cost less than $10. 

To get started, you'll need plain white paper plates, mini marshmallows, gummy worms, green grapes, and Pepperidge Farm butterfly crackers.  I prepped it all ahead of time, and gave each group a dish with all of the necessary ingredients. 

We started by dividing our plate into four sections, and labeling them with a key word for each stage: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.

Then, the kids drew a little background for each section.  I modeled the entire thing on the board, but game them freedom with their drawings. 

Next, I gave each group a dish with the food.  They had to decide which food item fit the stage of the cycle.  The kids had no problem with this at all.

After they had the entire cycle built, elbow buddies took turns explaining the life cycle to one another.  Then, we ate it, which was, of course,  the best part.  They were amazed by the butterfly crackers.  LOL! This was a terrific review tool- creativity, vocabulary, comprehension, and food! 

Food Substitutions:
mini-marshmallow: Tic-Tac, M&M
gummy worm: cheese curl, rotini noodle
grape: Tootsie Roll, string cheese cut into fourths
butterfly cracker: pretzel, farfalle noodle (bow-tie)

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