Children's author Samantha Berger just came out with a new "Crankenstein" book for February, A Crankenstein Valentine. See what happens to an ordinary kid on the yuckiest, most lovey-dovey day of the year... Valentine's Day! Cheesy cards, smelly flowers, and heart-shaped everything? It's enough to turn any kid into a Valentine monster! Yuck!!! Until... Crankenstein meets someone just like … [Read more...]
Valentine Science: Secret Messages
Yesterday, I started sharing some of my favorite holiday science ideas for Valentine's Day. If you missed the first one, you can see it HERE. Today's investigation is simple and fun, especially if your students have never done a crayon-resist project. The children love it because they get to send sweet secret messages to their friends and, even better, they get to use paint to reveal the hidden … [Read more...]
Valentine Science: Ice Cream Floats
It's no secret I love science and holiday science is extra special. I'm not sure how far ahead you plan your lessons. If you're like me, it's not consistent. I'd love to have several weeks planned out at a time, but (honestly) it rarely happens. Still, I'm already thinking about Valentine's Day... maybe you are, too. So this week, I'm sharing some of my favorite Valentine science investigations. … [Read more...]
First Week Favorites … I WILL
"I promise to do what I promised to do." Not much is more important than being trustworthy. People need to know they can count on you and it's never too early to teach this to kids. In our school, we live by the Lifelong Guidelines, so our kids learn to understand important concepts throughout the year like: • personal best • truthfulness • active listening • trustworthiness • no … [Read more...]
First Week Favorites … SAY WHAT?
This is another one of my favorite first-week lessons as we begin to establish our classroom community. I begin by reading a picture book about listening. I'm sure there are some really high-quality titles out there, but this book belonged to my daughter and every kid I've ever had loves it because of the familiar characters. (Plus, I can do a pretty good Tigger voice... it sells it every time.) … [Read more...]