MEMORY BOOKS

Once those tests are a memory, you can make some special memory books with your students!

Memory Book 

Run off copies of a memory book for each child to color and fill in the missing information. Here are some suggestions:

1st page – “My Memory Book” with teacher’s name, school, year.
2nd page – “This is me.” (Child draws self –portrait.)
3rd page – “This is my teacher.” (Child draws teacher’s picture.)
4th page – “Here are my friends.” (Child draws friends.)
5th page – “My favorite thing at school is...” (Draws favorite activities.)
6th page – “Something I’ve learned this year…” (Draws accomplishment.)
7th page – “When I grow up I want to be…” (Draws future self.)
8th page – “This is my handprint.” (Trace around child’s hand.)
*You could also have children draw their favorite sport, color, book, song, food, etc.

Autograph Book 

Cut paper in fourths. (I like to use colored paper.) Have children count out 10 pieces. Hole punch and tie with a ribbon. Children walk around the room and get their friends’ autographs.

Movie 

Make a video of your students singing, working in centers, and doing other things they like best at school.

YOU
Take a photo of yourself with each child. Fill their name in the poem below and
glue it to a card with the photo. Present it to them the last day with a hug!

You’re a very special person
And (name), you should know
How I loved to be your teacher.
How fast the year did go!
Please come back to visit me
As through the grades you grow.
Try hard to learn all that you can.
There is so much to know!
The one thing I tried to teach you
To last your whole life through,
Is to know that you are special
Just because YOU ARE YOU! 

ABC Yearbook

A teacher in New York shared this idea with me years ago. It’s going to take a little work, but it will be something children will treasure the rest of their lives! You will need to assemble photographs of the children, as well as pictures you’ve taken throughout the school year. Take 26 sheets of paper and write a letter on each page. Glue pictures of the children on the page their name begins with. Next, sort through the pictures and glue them on appropriate pages. (I’ve give you some suggestions for each letter below.) Label the pictures and run off a copy for each child. Use card stock for the front and back cover and bind.
A- apple tasting, art, alphabet, “Alligator”
B- “Bear Hunt,” blocks, birthdays, books, bus
C- computers, caterpillars, counting, cooking, CLIFFORD
D- dinosaurs, dancing, drawing, “Days of the Week”
E- easel, exercise, eating, exploring
F- friends, fall, first day of school, “Five Little Monkeys”
G- GINGERBREAD MAN, games, graphs, gym
H- Hundred Day, Halloween, holidays, handprint
I- ice and snow, insects, “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “I can___”
J- jack o’ lanterns, journals, jump rope
K- KISSING HAND, kites, kindness, “Katalina”
L- letters, library, “Lettercise,” lunch, LEO
M-“Macarena Months,” music, math, magnets
N- nests, nursery rhymes, names, numbers
O- oceans, outside, “Over in the Meadow”
P- pizza parlor, P.E., puzzles, painting, “Peanut Butter”
Q- quiet time, quilts
R- reading, rainy days, running, rabbits, “Rime Time”
S- singing, spring, shapes, senses, science
T- “Tooty Ta,” turkeys, teeth, tests, TACKY THE PENGUIN
U- upside down, under, umbrellas (April showers)
V- Valentine’s Day, VERY BUSY SPIDER
W- word wall, writing, winter, “Wally Acha,” weather
X- “X” marks the spot (treasure hunt), X with body
Z- zoo field trip, zigzag art, “Z” end of the year

                                               

Here’s a poem for the cover:
     We’ve learned and played in many ways,
     But now the year must end.
     Here’s a book to remember special days,
     And all your kindergarten (first grade) friends!

Hint! If you don’t have photographs, let your children draw pictures for their books.

ZIPPITY DO DAH

Keep on singing to the last day with these songs!
Zippity Do Dah       
Zippity do dah - Zippity ay.
Look out (first grade, second grade, upcoming grade) 
We’re on our way.
Zippity do dah - Zippity ay.
Plenty of learning coming our way.
(Teacher’s name) is by my shoulder.
It’s the truth. It’s actual.
Everything is satisfactual.  
Zippity do dah - Zippity ay.
Look out world, we're on our way!

End of Year Cadence
(The children repeat each line.)
The school year is coming to an end. (Stand, march, and slap thighs to the beat.)
We’ll say so long to all our friends.
We’ve learned to read and write and spell.
We know our shapes and numbers well.
We’ve learned to follow classroom rules.
Getting along is really cool.
Science, music, art, PE.
School’s been great for you and me.
Summer’s time for outdoor fun.
Read every day and play in the sun.
And when school begins again.
We’ll be happy to see our friends.


Days Left in the Year Song – Count down as you sing this song to the tune of “100 Bottles of Pop on the Wall.”
(Number of days) left in the school year.
(Number of days) left, that’s so.
We’ve had fun, we’re almost done.
(Number of days) to go.
                                
*Make a paper chain and use it to count down the final days of school.

*Make a bulletin board with balloons for the number of school days left. Pop one balloon each day. (These could be real balloons or paper balloons.)

School Is Over   (Tune: Frere Jacques)
School is over.
School is over. (Children repeat each line.)
Time to go.  (Wave good-bye.)
Time to go.
We’ve had fun learning.
We’ve had fun learning.
Love you so.  (Hug self.)
Love you so.

TOOT A ROO!

Look at these "beauties" I met in Alabama last week?   
Toot-A-Roo
One teacher shared this idea she found on Pinterest.
Instead of tattling, the boys and girls try to catch each other doing something well or kind. They can “Tootle” (ta ta ta ta ta ta taaa!) and tell the class or teacher.

It reminded me of the "Toot-a-Roo" a teacher told me about several years ago. Cut paper towel rolls in half and let the children decorate them with markers and stickers. When a child accomplishes something or you want to reward them the class gets their toot-a-roos and "ta, ta, ta, ta, ta, tala!"

                                     

"Beano” Game (Rollins Thorpe)
You will need “Five Hour Energy” bottles without labels to make this game. Write a number on the outside with a sharpie and put that many beans inside the bottle.
Students shake out some beans, count them, and decide how many must be inside for the bottle to reach the number on the bottle.
They can keep playing until they have found all of the combinations.

Knock Knock!My daughter Holly wrote this rhyme about ten years ago, but one of the best things about children and poems is that they never go out of style.

Write this poem on a chart or make a PPT. Read it over several times with your class.
*Divide the class into two groups. Let one group read the "Knock! Knock" while the other group responds.
*Let the teacher read the "Knock! Knock!" and the children respond.
*Use different voices to reflect the characters in each rhyme.
*Enlarge the font and print a rhyme on each page. Pass these out to the children to illustrate. (This would be a good project to do with a friend.) Put their pictures together to make a class book.
*Invite children to make up their own "Knock! Knock!" rhymes.

                         
Knock! Knock!
By Dr. Holly

Knock! Knock! Who can it be?
Little mousie, squeak! squeak! squeak!

Knock! Knock! Who’s at the door?
Boom! boom! boom! It’s a dinosaur.

Knock! Knock! Who is that?
It’s a drummer—rat-a-tat-tat!

Knock! Knock! Guess who?
Baby crying—boo-hoo-hoo!

Knock! Knock! Who’s there?
Grrr! Grrr! It’s a grizzly bear!

Knock! Knock! Who can it be?
It’s a cowboy—How-dy!

Knock! Knock! Who’s there?
Granny in her underwear! (or rocking chair if it’s less scandalous)

Knock! Knock! Who’s at the door?
Big strong lion—roar! roar!

Knock! Knock! Guess who?
Opera singer—la da de do!

Knock! Knock! Who is that?
Purr, purr, my big fat cat!

Knock! Knock! Guess who?
Mr. Robot—Hello. How are you?

Knock! Knock! Who can it be?
A librarian—shhh! Quiet please!

TATTLE TALE, TATTLE TALE!

                              
Paying too much attention to children when they tell on others can be like a wild fire that is difficult to stop. Here are a few suggestions that teachers have shared with me over the past several years. (You will definitely smile as you read some of them!) There are lots of choices, so pick and adapt the one that works best for your personality, the age of your students, and your school.

A good place to start is to have a discussion about things that are an emergency and things that they are concerned about. Make a list on the board of “emergencies” (when someone gets hurt or sick, when someone is in danger, etc.) and “concerns” (someone calls you a name, someone gives you a mean look, etc.) Role play different scenarios or use a puppet to demonstrate what children should do. Choose one of these alternatives for children when they need to express a concern.

*Get a spiral notebook and write “Things the Teacher Needs to Know” on the cover. When children start to tattle hand them the book and say, “Write it all down. And don’t leave out a thing!”

*Pick up some old tax forms at the library. When children start to tattle hand them a form and tell them to fill it out and then bring it back to you.

*Put an old cell phone on your desk. When children start to complain tell them to put it on your phone. Explain that you’ll listen to your messages later.

*Put a picture of the President (or your principal) on your wall. Send them to the President to tell their complaints because “he’s much more important than I am!”

*Write “suggestion box” on a box and place it on a shelf with a notepad and a pencil. Discuss how children can write or draw pictures of their suggestions and place them in the box. Be sure to use the box to prompt class problem solving at least once a week.
                                         
*Use a stuffed animal to listen to complaints. Explain that (Tattle Turtle, Tell Me All - Allie the Alligator, or whatever you want to call the animal) is always sitting on the shelf waiting to listen to them.

*Giant Ear – Download a picture of an ear from the internet and enlarge it. Tape it to a wall and send children to the ear to whisper their concerns.
                                    
*Oreo – When children want to tattle they hold open both hands. They must say two nice things about the person before they tell you the negative.

*Lunch Bag – Open a lunch bag and put it on your desk. When children start to tattle tell them to “put it in the bag.” (Yes, they will actually go to the bag and talk in it!)

*National Tattle Tale Day - Remind children that National Tattle Tale Day is May 19th at 2 pm (I just made that up) so they'll have to save it until then!!

PEACE

I always say, “Children tell us things by their behavior.” And one thing you might have noticed about your students’ behavior recently is their frustration from testing. Do they seem to be a little “testy” with their classmates? Here are some ideas that may help them work out conflicts.

Peace Flower
You’ll need a large fake flower to make “peace.” When two children come to you to solve an argument hand them the flower. Explain that they must both hold the flower with two hands and look at each other. When they’ve worked out their problem and have “peace” they can hug and go back and play.

Peace Talks
Here's another “peaceful” way to solve problems using a composition book or spiral notebook. Ask the children who have had a conflict to sit next to each other at a table. Open the notebook and put it between them. Explain that you want to know both of their opinions of what the problem is. Give them pencils and ask them to write and draw their version of what happened in the book. When they have resolved their problem they can bring you the book and go back and play.
                                         
Friendship Tools (Liz Watras)
Teach children sign language for these words so they can use them to help them express their feelings. I’d suggest introducing one word each day at morning meaning and then reinforcing it at appropriate times during the day.
Hint! aslpro.com, handspeak.com, and lifeprint.com have a dictionaries where you can see videos clips of these words.

Ask (Palms together bring to your chest as if praying.)

Help (Make a fist with one hand and place it on the open palm of the other hand. Bring both up in the air at the same time.)

Stop (One palm open. Pretend to chop it with the other palm.)

Trade (Hold one hand in front of the other. Switch places and then switch places again.)

Wait (Hold hands up and off to the side and wiggle the fingers.)

Yes (Make an “s” with your fist and raise and lower it like your head.)

No (Middle and index finger straight and close toward the thumb.)

Share (Open palm and tap thumb on open palm of the other hand.)

Include (Pretend to grab something in the air and put it in the other hand.)

Please (One palm open on chest and make a circular motion.)

Thank you (Touch fingertips on chin and extend out.)

Excuse me (One palm up and brush fingertips of other hand across.)

Peace and Quiet

Here's an attention grabber that never fails.  Tell children when you make the peace symbol (middle and index finger up in the air) with one hand and put the index finger from your other hand on your lips they should do the same thing.  Tadaa!  Peace and quiet!!!!
   

COLOR IT SIMPLE

I was looking through my old files and I found some simple art activities to do with paper and crayons. Easy, peasy to set up and lots of fun for the kiddos!

Dancing Crayons

Materials: crayons, paper, music
Directions: Hold a crayon in each hand. Put on some music, and let the crayons “dance” on the paper.
*This would work well at the listening center using a variety of music, such as classical, country, march, lullabye, etc. 

                          

Bundles
Materials: crayons, rubber bands, paper
Directions: Wrap a rubber band around 3 or 4 crayons. Children can hold the “bundle” and draw a design or picture on their paper.


Dot to Dot
Materials: crayons, paper
Directions: Make a specified number of dots (six, ten, whatever) on a piece of paper. Exchange papers with a friend. Connect the dots. What does it look like? Add details to create an object or design.
                                               

Wiggles and Squiggles
Materials: crayons, paper
Directions: Have the children close their eyes and make a design on their paper with a black crayon. When they open their eyes, ask them to create something out of their design.
Adaptations: Have children exchange papers with wiggles and squiggles with a friend.
                  

Folded Designs
Materials: paper, crayons
Directions: Have children take a sheet of paper and fold it several times. Next, open it and trace over the creases on the paper with a black crayon. Finally, fill in each section with a different color, design, or pattern.

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

If it's May, then that means summer is just around the corner. My May website (drjean.org) is loaded with great ideas for parents and children to do this summer. You'll find links for summer activity calendars.... 

       
                       
                                      

You'll also discover how to make "Fun" Shine can.

Best of all, Carolyn Kisloski has created a free download of the summer fun journal. You're going to LOVE it, and we hope it will inspire your students to write over the summer.  (Each writing prompt has three choices so you can choose your favorite one.)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Summer-Writing-Prompts-Journal-2521920