PEACE AND LOVE TO YOU TODAY

I am jealous of you today. I really am! Of all my classroom memories one of my favorites was watching the children open up their little valentines. "Look, I got a Minnie Mouse!" "See what Jamie gave me!" They were so thrilled. It's a reminder of what I always say about children being happy with plain vanilla. They don't need the world's fair or another toy or video game.

Peace and Love to YOU!
You can do this for your students and tell them to pass it on.
Peace (Make sign for peace.)
Love (Make sign for love.)
You (Point to someone.)

Love It Cheer

Make a heart with your hands (index fingers touching at the top and thumbs at the bottom) and extend from your heart.


Air Hug (Jane McPartland)
Say, “Give me an air hug.” Students open arms and pretend to squeeze.

Air Kisses (Beth Jenkins)
Kiss your fingertips numerous times as you scan the class. Blow kisses to all the children. Cross your arms across your chest and rub your arms as you say, “Feel the love.”

Thumbs Up Statements
Have students repeat positive comments as they stick up their thumbs.

I am a kind friend.
I am caring.
I am responsible.
I am polite.
I am a hard worker.
I am a helper.

AUTISM CIRCUIT

www.autismcircuit.net

The Texas Autism Circuit has created tools and techniques for students on the autism spectrum, but I guarantee you that these would be useful in any classroom. They explain how and when to use the tools and give you printable templates and resources.

Best of all - it's ALL FREE!

Behavior cue cards to reinforce verbal directions or quietly redirect a student.



First/then cards to use as a visual support for transitions.

Take a break card for when students might need a break or if they seem frustrated.



But wait, there’s more!!!

You’ll find ideas for collecting data,

helping children with time management,

and other social skills!

For every tool, you'll find an explanation of when and how to use it.  Take a look!

Tools

SOCCSS: Situation, Options, Consequences, Choices, Strategy,...

Behavior

· Social

· Classroom Organization

· Docking Station

· Key Chain Rules

· Help Signals
About

Choice Board
When to use: Choice boards are effective in many situations...

Token Board

When to use: Use when a student is ready to progress beyond...
Visual Countdown

When to use: Use to help with transitions from one activity...
Turn-Taking Card

I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!

 Have you ever heard one of your students say, "I don't want to do this?" I love what Barbara Brown (a fabulous kindergarten teacher in Orlando) told me years ago. She said when her students say, “I don’t want to do this!” she responds, “I don’t want to do it either, so let’s just get it done and then we can do something fun.” 

There’s an important life lesson here. We all have to do things we don’t want to do. The best thing is just to do it and then you can focus on the things you want to do! (Get those assessments and reports DONE and then shut your door and sing and dance!)

Happie Sticks
Happie sticks can be a motivation for your students when they finish their work early. Write special activities on craft sticks and store them in a cup or can on your desk. Children get to choose one activity at a time, complete it, and then they can choose another stick. Here are some examples:

make a book

play a computer game

do a job for your teacher

play a board game

make something in the art center

draw on the board

read a book

help a friend

make something with play dough

You Get What You Get
Here is a song to sing when children complain about not getting the item that they want. It goes to the tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.”

You get what you get.
You get what you get.
Just like in the gum machine,
You get what you get.

YOU'RE GOING TO GET A SPECIAL VALENTINE'S PRESENT!

My webmaster has set up a special link for you to download the FEBRUARY HAPPIES that Carolyn Kisloski and I wrote a few years ago.  It's easy peasy, free, and will make February lesson plans more FUN!

DON'T CRY OVER SPILT MILK

Yes, it really is DON'T CRY OVER SPILLED MILK DAY. I love this comment from dayoftheyear.com:

The main lesson of Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day is that you can take the time to look around you. Find joy in the small things and don’t worry about things that you don’t have control of! If something happens (spilled milk) don’t cry or yell. Take a deep breath and find your happy place!
This is a good concept to model and encourage in your students. When you make a mistake it's O.K. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again.

I thought it was important to model making mistakes in front of my students. "Oops! Let me try that again." If something we had planned didn't work out I'd say, "We'll try and do that another time." Things don't always go our way. That's life and that's O.K.

Oh Well!
It's helpful to teach children strategies for coping when things don't go right. Role play spilling milk, losing a game, and other incidents. Teach children to say, "OH, WELL!"


IT LOOKED LIKE SPILT MILK
Life has ups and downs and the world keeps on changing, but this book by Charles Shaw is a classic.

This was a book my students wanted to hear/see again and again. It was also fun to go outside and look for objects in the sky. Tie in with descriptive writing by having your students draw pictures and write what they saw in the clouds.

Art
Fold blue construction paper in half. Have children put a spoonful of white paint in the middle, fold, and then rub. Open. Dry.
What does their spilt milk look like? Have them write a story about it.

I think my picture looks like two angels dancing...or maybe cherubs kissing!


P.S. I hope you don't spill your milk today!!!!

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.

NATIONAL CHILDREN'S DENTAL HEALTH MONTH

Well, you learn something new every day, and I just learned that February is National Children’s Dental Health month. How timely with all the Valentine candy!

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!

WHO IS HONEST ABE?

There's a special birthday for a beloved President that you won't want to miss next Wednesday. His personal life was more than sad, but he rose above it and left a wonderful legacy for our country.

Abraham Lincoln
(Tune: “Pop Goes the Weasel”)
Abraham Lincoln, past President, (Point to a picture of Lincoln.)
Loved and honored by many.
To help us remember this famous man,
We put his face on a penny.
Hold a penny in your hand (Hold up a penny.)
And his face you’ll see.
He always tried to tell the truth.
He’s Honest Abe to me.

*Download the book to go with the song at drjean.org.

*For homework have the children "interview" their parents to find out what they know about Abraham Lincoln. Why is he called "Honest Abe"?

Log Cabin Snack – Give children pretzel twist sticks and a spoonful of peanut butter or cream cheese. Children try to build a log cabin by stacking the pretzels with the peanut butter.

*Use cream cheese if there are peanut allergies in your classroom.

Penny Inspection 

Let children look at pennies with a magnifying glass. How are the pennies alike? How are they different? Encourage children to describe the different scenes on the pennies.

Rubbings

Make rubbings of pennies.

Penny, Penny

Three children leave the classroom. The other children cup their hands as if holding a penny. The teacher hides the penny in one child’s hand. When the three children return to the room, they walk around the room and open their friends’ hands. The first one to find the penny gets to choose 3 new friends to leave the room and she gets to hide the penny.

Time Line 

Give children a sentence strip. At the left write the year they were born. Write each additional year up until the present. Children take the time line home and try to find a penny with each year’s date.
 

Did you know? If you look closely at pennies minted from 1959 to 2008 you can see Lincoln's statue in the Memorial.

In 2009 they introduced four new designs celebrating the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth year.

Birth in Kentucky Formative Years in Indiana




Professional Life in Illinois Presidency in DC


In 2010 the shield design was coined.