A CUP OF IDEAS

Plastic cups for classroom management!!! Here are a few new "tricks" for you to try!

Help Me!
Give each child a red and green cup to keep in their desk. When they are doing independent work have them place the cups on their desk with the green on top. Green means they are good to GO! If they need help they put the red cup on top to indicate, “Please STOP and help me.”

Group Check
You’ll need a red, green, and yellow cup for this activity. Stack the red (bottom), yellow (middle), and green (top) cups in that order and place them in the middle of a table where students sit. If the group gets loud, remove the green cup and the yellow will be a warning to calm down. If the noise continues remove the yellow cup and they must stop all talking.


Note! I didn’t think of this. There are several variations of it on the internet.

Dippers and Fillers
This is a popular management system that many schools use. When children are unkind or say something hurtful they are “dippers.” When they are kind they are “fillers.” Punch holes in the sides of a cup and tie on a string or pipe cleaner so children can hang them on their chairs or a bulletin board. The teacher or friends can put a token in their cup to thank them for being a “filler.”
                                        

Storage
Plastic cups can be used for organizing art materials, pencils, and other supplies.
*How about a cup for “Lost and Found Crayons” or “Lost and Found Pencils”?

Snack Cups
In addition to using cups for liquids, they’re handy for serving popcorn and other snacks to children.

*Decorate with stickers and use for party treats.

Lucky Sticks
Let each child decorate a craft stick with her name. Place the sticks in a cup labeled “lucky sticks.” When you have a special job to be done pull a stick from the cup. That’s the “lucky” winner. Put their stick in your desk after they’ve had a turn and when all the sticks are in your desk put them back in the cup and start all over.

                                 

Review Questions
Write a question on the front of the cup and write the answer inside for a self-check activity.


Brainstorm
Divide students into groups of 4. Give each group a cup and challenge them to come up with as many uses for the cup as they can in 5 minutes.

COLOR YOUR DAY HAPPY

Something old...something new!

Did you know that Crayola makes WINDOW MARKERS and WINDOW MARKERS WITH CRYSTAL EFFECTS that are washable and will bring out creativity in anyone. I bet you could think of a dozen more ways to use these in your classroom.  (Yep!  Available on Amazon!)

Reading
Write letters, words, numerals, shapes, or anything you want to reinforce on windows or mirrors.
*Let children wear sunglasses and identify the information with a pointer.

Writing
Let children practice writing letters, numerals, spelling words, etc. on classroom windows.
* How about rainbow writing? Make giant letters, shapes, words, etc. on windows. Children can take the markers and trace around the figures with different colors.

Reward
Use these as a reward or when children finish their work early.

Reminders
Use the classroom mirror as a message board to write words of encouragement, reminders, or to celebrate accomplishments.

Special Days
Let children decorate classroom windows for holidays, seasons, themes, or other special events.

Brainstorm!
Write a word or theme and invite children to add their own thoughts to the window.

Sign In
Children can write their name or a special message when they come to school each morning.

Graffiti
What an open-ended art center this could be throughout the year!

Note! You could even have “window washer” as a classroom job. I found it was best to wipe off the marks with a wet towel before using a window cleaner.

ITSY BITSY SPIDER

How about another new video for your children?

https://bit.ly/drJItsyBitsy

ANOTHER DOSE OF VOCABULARY VITAMINS

When teaching vocabulary to children, experts suggest using interesting words and building bridges between children’s experiences and words. What a perfect time of year to enrich children’s vocabulary with “spooktacular” and “bootiful” words.

Note! These activities can be used for Halloween words, Thanksgiving words, autumn words, or any unit of study.

Brainstorm
Brainstorm “spooky” words, Halloween words, or other seasonal words. How many words can they come up with? Write them on the board as children call them out.
*Older children could brainstorm as a small group activity.

Dramatize Words
Call out nouns or adjectives like “skeleton,” “mummy,” “spooky,” “haunted,” for the children to dramatize. Encourage them to use their faces, hands, and whole bodies.

Pantomime
Write seasonal words on index cards and put them in a sack. Children choose a word and pantomime while their friends try to guess.

Seasonal Alphabet
Write the letters of the alphabet on a sheet of paper. Can they think of a seasonal word for each letter? Example: A - apples, B – bats, C – candy, D – Dracula…

Picture Words
Challenge children to turn words into pictures they represent.

Grow a Sentence
Write a simple sentence on the board. Can children add words to the sentence to make it grow?
I see a pumpkin.
I see a big pumpkin.
I see a great big enormous pumpkin.
I see a great big orange enormous pumpkin.
I see a great big orange enormous pumpkin on the porch.
I see a great big orange enormous pumpkin on the front porch.
I see a great big orange enormous pumpkin on the front porch smiling….

ADOPT A TREE

IT'S NATIONAL ARBOR DAY!

https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/educational-resources.cfm

Brainstorm
Divide children into small groups and let them brainstorm all the products we get from trees.

TREEmendous Writing
Let children look out the window or sit under a tree and write descriptions. Think about the colors in the tree. Are there animals in the tree? What are the parts of a tree?
*For creative writing, ask children to complete this sentence: If I were a tree I would...

Tree Identification
Get a book on trees from your school library. Take a nature walk and challenge the children to identify the trees on the school grounds. How does the bark on trees vary? Do all trees have blossoms in the spring? How are the leaves different?
*Hint! Give children a clipboard and let them draw their favorite tree.
*Let them do rubbings of leaves from different trees and compare.

Vocabulary
What's a deciduous tree? What's an evergreen tree?
Sing this song to the tune of "London Bridge" to help your students learn how about deciduous and evergreen trees.

If your leaves fall to the ground,

to the ground,

to the ground.

If your leaves fall to the ground

You're deciduous.

If your leaves stay green all year,

green all year,

green all year.

If your leaves stay green all year,

You're an evergreen.

Plant a Tree
Contact your local cooperative extension service, Forestry Services, or National Arbor Day Foundation for free seedlings. Discuss what your tree will need to thrive. Prepare the soil, water your tree, and record its growth.



*THE GIVING TREE by Shel Silverstein is a wonderful book to share, but my little kids always wanted to know, "Why did he have to get old?" (I wonder the same thing sometimes!!!)

A Beautiful Memory
A Louisiana teacher shared this sweet story about what happened when she let her class "adopt" a special tree on the playground. They named their tree Maggie and hugged her, drew pictures of her in different seasons, read stories and sang songs under her, wrote descriptions...you get the idea. One day as a group of children were playing, one child snapped a branch off another tree. A little boy started to cry because he said, "You're hurting Maggie's friend." I'm not sure "adopting a tree" was in their state standards, but it's a beautiful story about instilling a love of nature in children. And, it's so easy just to take a moment every now and then to focus on trees and all the living things this time of year. 

UMBRELLA DAY

National Umbrella Day is celebrated across the nation each year on February 10th. On this day, we honor one of the world's most useful inventions, the umbrella! Not only does the umbrella help keep us dry from the rain, but it also protects us from the heat of the sun. Umbrellas can also be used as a fashion accessory.

Who thinks of silly holidays like Umbrella Day? But did you know that you could actually "entice" children to read with an umbrella? Next rainy day place a large golf umbrella in a corner of the classroom. Put some popular books under the umbrella and explain that two children at a time can get under the umbrella and read together.

What else?

Vocabulary
Introduce other names for umbrellas, such as parasol and brolly (British).

Brainstorm
What are some different types of umbrellas? (paper cocktail umbrellas, patio umbrellas)

What are some different uses for umbrellas? (shade on a sunny day, cane, carry things, protection)

Writing
Write 4 facts about umbrellas.

Write how you would feel if you were an umbrella.

Art
Let children use the scrap box to design their own umbrellas.

P.S. Tomorrow is "Don't Cry over Spilled Milk Day." Discuss what that statement means and encourage the children to give examples.

HOW ABOUT A THINK PAD?

These THINK PADS are easy to make and can be used in multiple ways.

Stack 6 sheets of paper on top of each other. Staple each of the corners as shown. Cut vertically and horizontally in half to make four “think pads.” Make several dozen of these. To begin give one to each child. Keep the others in the writing center. Explain that if they do a lot of thinking and writing they are welcome to get another pad.

Notes
Children can use these to take notes as they listen to a book or watch a video. They can draw, write words, or simply scribble. Encourage them by commenting, “You’re taking notes just like the big kids do in high school and college! Isn’t it fun to know how to take notes to help you remember?” 

What can you find out?
Collect non-fiction books about a topic that you will be studying in your class. Place the books on a table along with think pads, paper, and pencils. Let two children work together and take notes to look in the books and see what they can find out (learn) about the topic.

Written Response
Older students can use think pads to write the answer to math problems or other questions.

Brainstorm
If children finish their work early they can brainstorm or doodle on their think pads.


Sticky Notes
Children also love sticky notes to write reminders to themselves, notes to friends, etc.
Note! Sometimes physicians or dentists will donate these to your class.

NATIONAL DENTAL HEALTH MONTH

February is National Children's Dental Health month. There’s a great website with lots of free activity sheets in English and Spanish to get you started. The daily calendar is my favorite.

https://www.ada.org/en/public-programs/national-childrens-dental-health-month

Here are some other websites with free lesson plans:

https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/patient-education/childrens-dental-health/lesson-plans



https://www.dentalcare.com/en-us/patient-education/childrens-dental-health/lesson-plans

Vocabulary

What is a dentist? What is a hygienist? What is plaque? What is decay? What is a filling?

Brainstorm
Why do we need teeth? What do we use our mouths for?

Guest Speaker
Call your personal dentist and ask her if she’d like to visit your class to discuss good oral health. You might be surprised that she’d be thrilled to be invited and will bring each of your students a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Tooth Puppet
Let children make a “happy tooth puppet” and talk about nutritious foods. What foods cause decay?



T-Chart
Have children make a t-chart of foods that are good for teeth and foods that harm teeth.

Dental Health (Stephanie Velasquez)
Glue the cut out of a white tooth on a colored sheet of paper and place in a clear sheet protector. Let the children color the tooth with a dry erase marker to represent the “germs" on the tooth after they eat. Children use a toothbrush to erase the germs.




This Is the Way We Brush Our Teeth
(Tune: “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush”)

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Every morning and evening.

First the fronts and then the sides.
Don’t forget the tops and inside.
First the fronts and then the sides.
Don’t forget the tops and inside.

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth, brush our teeth.
This is the way we brush our teeth
Two minutes twice a day.

Now we have happy teeth,

Happy teeth, happy teeth.
Now we have happy teeth
Give a great big smile!

KID INVENTOR'S DAY

Television. Water skis. Earmuffs. The Popsicle.

What do they have in common?

All were invented by kids!

500,000 children and teens invent gadgets and games each year.
These innovations help make our lives easier – and more fun!

Celebrate the ingenuity and value of young brainstormers on
KID INVENTORS’ DAY!

kidinventorsday.com

Planning an Inventor's Day would be great fun, but encouraging children to be creative and think outside the box is important every day!

Junk Box – Recycle cardboard rollers, bubble wrap, catalogs, junk mail, bottle caps, etc. for children to create into artwork, games, inventions, and toys.

Brainstorm – Provide children with opportunities to brainstorm in groups and independently. Use attribute webs, time lines, shapes, and other graphic organizers.

Literature – Creative writing enhances literacy skills as well as original thoughts. Children can write stories, poems, songs, plays, and so forth.

Learning Centers – Blocks, construction toys, play dough, puppets, art media, and musical instruments all provide children with the opportunity to explore their talents and interests.

Outdoor Explorations – Nature is the perfect prescription to clear the mind and open creative thought. Children need to spend as much time as possible on the playground, at the park, or in their own backyard.

Assessment Show and Tell – Instead of filling in bubbles, challenge children to demonstrate what they have learned in a creative way. They can sing a song, dress up, cook something, make a mural, etc.

HOW ABOUT A THINK PAD?

These THINK PADS are easy to make and can be used in multiple ways.

Stack 6 sheets of paper on top of each other. Staple each of the corners as shown. Cut vertically and horizontally in half to make four “think pads.” Make several dozen of these. To begin give one to each child. Keep the others in the writing center. Explain that if they do a lot of thinking and writing they are welcome to get another pad.

  

Notes
Children can use these to take notes as they listen to a book or watch a video. They can draw, write words, or simply scribble. Encourage them by commenting, “You’re taking notes just like the big kids do in high school and college! Isn’t it fun to know how to take notes to help you remember?”


What can you find out?
Collect non-fiction books about a topic that you will be studying in your class. Place the books on a table along with think pads, paper, and pencils. Let two children work together and take notes to look in the books and see what they can find out (learn) about the topic. 

                              
Written Response
Older students can use think pads to write the answer to math problems or other questions.

  

Brainstorm
If children finish their work early they can brainstorm or doodle on their think pads.

Sticky Notes
Children also love sticky notes to write reminders to themselves, notes to friends, etc.
Note! Sometimes physicians or dentists will donate these to your class.