Digital All About Me!

What a time to be an educator! With all the uncertainty of Covid-19 and starting schools, it has been a wild ride for teachers! My school district decided on a hybrid model (at this point). We will have two cohorts A and B alternating instruction two days at school, three days at home. It is still unknown at this point what the remote cohort will look like while we have a class of kiddos in front of us. My district has also provided an opportunity for remote only learning. 

Many other districts, however, decided on opening the year utilizing only remote learning due to Covid numbers. But how do we build relationships and start the year with primary students remotely? Well... we will need ALL the digital resources! 

This is where "All About Me" activities will change. I have created Digital All About Me activities that will allow you to get to know your students, even though they are at home learning! I have created 8 designs that work with many digital platforms. It is created for Google Drive, but can be altered to fit Seesaw, OneNote, and many more.

I think I am still going to try the 3-D route for my hybrid students, unless of course we need to go 100 percent remote.Take a look at the Digital All About Me Activities below! Grab them here! If you want ideas for 3-D All About Me Projects that are not digital, click here! I also have some 3-D activities with the digital version included. How is your school starting the year?

All About Me 3-D Rainbow Poster!

With the school year fast approaching, I have been in back to school prep mode! While I have no idea what the beginning of the year will look like with Covid still rampant, I have decided to prepare materials for the classroom as well as distance learning! 

The latest and greatest project is this new All About me 3-D Rainbow Poster! I have had a colorful classroom theme for years now and these will be perfect whenever we are allowed back for "in person" instruction. Just in case we are still distance learning, I also have a digital version included! Check out the rainbow poster below!

Here is an example of the digital "About Me" project that can be used with most learning platforms such as Google Classroom, Teams, and Seesaw. 

To grab the poster and digital All About Me Rainbow click here!

No matter what your "back to school" experience will be, I wish you health, happiness and the best of luck in the new school year ! :)

If rainbows aren't your thing, check out these other exciting "All About Me Posters" here!

All About Me 3-D Owl

I'm happy to share my latest in 3-D All About Me creations! For those owl lovers, I have created an owl all about me with pop-up features and feather flaps. I also included a bonus Owl Report resource in the file as a little extra! Check out the owl below and grab it from my TpT store here.

Here is the All About Me 3-D Owl Poster.

This is the free owl report file included with the All About Me poster. 

You can also use the template for a fun art project. Have your students color in nature colors, or create whimsical colorful owls!

Check out the video tutorial below!

Remember if you want to grab the resource, click here!

If owls aren't your thing, be sure to check out my other 3-D All About Me Posters in this blog post!

All About Me 3-D Posters! (Plus Digital Versions!)

As the new school year approaches it is that time again to think of classroom set-up and engaging first week activities for students. This summer I went a little 3-D poster crazy and came up with some fun new "All About Me" activities that look great in any classroom.

I started thinking about all of the cute cactus classrooms I have been seeing on IG and Facebook. I decided that a 3-D All About Me Cactus would be a great addition to succulent themed rooms! Of course I just had create a tutorial video to go with it!

I have also had bright and colorful decor for the past few years and decided to create an All About Me 3-D Crayon poster to go with the eye catching rainbow decor of many teachers.

*** Just added to the file! Two digital slides to use for distance learning! Check it out here!

I loved the way my 3-D Butterfly All About Me posters turned out. These look adorable in primary classrooms! *** Update July 2020*** I have added a digital version which is great for distance learning! It is included in the file! 

This All About Me 3-D Hanging Poster was a classic I have used for years! Upper elementary students love this one!

These 3-D Star Posters looked great in my second grade classroom and the students loved making them!

These 3-D Dodecagon Posters were so much fun for my 4th and 5th graders a few years ago! They loved the folding and constructing process.

I also love the simplicity of these All About Me Cubes! They also look great hanging in the classroom! 

 These apples are great for primary classrooms and look adorable hanging from an apple tree bulletin board creation! Click here to grab the apples!

****Update! New poster added! Check out the All About Me 3-D Owl!

I love being able to pick whatever poster I feel will match my room decor and be fun and engaging for my students each year. Stay tuned for more options coming soon! If there are any themes you would like to see for All About Me Posters, be sure to leave a comment and I will get working on them! 

Happy Back to School!!

Cloud Lamp Tutorial!

Since posting my cloud lamp on Instagram,  I have had many questions about how I created these adorable lamps for my classroom. They are so simple to make and they look terrific hanging from the ceiling! I was originally inspired by some color changing clouds I saw at an amazing art installation/experience called Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, NM. I decided that my classroom needed cloud lamps, so I researched a little and decided to give my clouds a try. In my classroom I will have two cloud lamps and three regular clouds that will hang from the ceiling (for these I covered the holes with the Poly-fil before hanging). I have a quick tutorial and affiliate links for the products I used below! If you have any questions feel free to DM me on Instagram or leave a comment below!

Supplies Needed:

1. Paper Lanterns

2. Color Changing Bulbs with Remote- You can choose to use a regular bulb if you do not want the color changing/strobe/flash features.

3.  Poly-fil- 1 bag can make 5 lanterns with plenty left over. 

4. Lantern Cord- I purchased the 20 foot cord to ensure it would be long enough to find a wall socket!

5. Hot glue gun and glue- Use high temperature glue, as it adheres to the lanters more easily than low temperature glue.

Happy Creating!

All About Me Posters

I am loving my summer break, relaxing, traveling a little, and of course thinking a bit about the next school year. Recently I have been brainstorming new ways to get to know my students for the start of the year.

Building relationships is so important and I love turning this "get-to-know-you" time into a hands-on art project with my students. Each year I have made interactive 3-D posters with my students and this year will be no different.

In the past I have created hanging posters like the one pictured below. Click here to grab the hanging posters.

They looked great hanging on our wall (or from the ceiling)

There is even a little tutorial to assist in the folding and creating.

One year we created cubes. These were hung from the ceiling. Click here to grab the cube posters.

When I taught older kids we created dodecagons. We also hung these from the ceiling and they looked amazing! Click here to grab the dodecagon posters.

I also have a tutorial for how to put the dodecagons together (although it is using a report dodecagon and not an "About Me" dodecagon, but the steps are the same).

This year, going back to the little ones, we are going to make butterflies! These butterflies are created so they are double-sided and will hang all around my room! I also made a single-sided version perfect for the bulletin board. The students will write their interests in each butterfly wing section. I can't wait to get to know my new kiddos! Click here to grab the Butterfly All About Me Posters.

These butterflies also come in a life cycle version!

If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave them in the comments! :) Happy classroom and Back-to-School planning!

"All About Me" Ideas for the First Week of School!

I am so excited to introduce two new products that will be perfect for Back-to-School! I have used "All About Me" books in the past as a way to get to know my students and provide them with some independent work for the first week of school. The books were very fun and engaging, but they always went home with the students and we didn't share or celebrate them. I created two different hanging posters that will accomplish that goal! Not only will students be able to share their favorite things with the teacher and their classmates, but it can be a decorative part of the classroom and allow for the practice of speaking and listening skills if students are given the opportunity to share them with the class.

Check out my Folding Hanging Poster, Cube Poster, and Dodecagon Poster!

Check out the video tutorials for each product below!

Folding Hanging Poster

Cube Poster Tutorial
Spinning Cube Poster Video

I am planning on having older kids, or a parent volunteer help with the creating of the posters for my first grade kiddos, but I have made these with 2nd graders and they were able to do the folding and gluing independently. If you are interested in the Foldable All About Me Hanging Poster visit my store here! If you are interested in the Cube Poster visit my link here!

Now I must decide which All About Me Posters I will have my kiddos complete this year! :)


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First Day of School Activities!

I am kind of in denial that school starts for me Aug 10th! Where did the summer go?!? Because this date is fast approaching I have been thinking about the first day of school and the activities I will have planned. I would love to share a few activities I will use with my new little first graders on our first day.

When the students come in I like to have an activity they can work on fairly independently as I greet parents and students and settle everyone in. I like to have an All About Me Book on each child's desk to start at the beginning of our day. This packet has fun pages that help me to get to know the interests of my students. Some of the pages include questions like, What is your favorite color? What is your favorite book? What is your favorite food? What are you excited about this year? Who is your best friend? What is your favorite thing to do in school? There are many pages in this packet and the students really enjoy working on this activity periodically during our first day. This is also a great activity to use to give your students a break from learning procedures and rules on the rug. You can get this pack here!

Another activity I will use on the first day is a page out of the Back to School Draw and Write Packet. This is an engaging activity where students will have to practice their listening skills, direction following, drawing, and writing skills. It will also teach them how to draw objects that students commonly use in their writing at the beginning of first grade. Included are 10 school related objects such as a pencil, backpack, boy, girl, apple, book, tree, and more! These will also be great for introducing writing center and our writing procedures. I will use this as a beginning sample of the skills the students have come into my class with after their summer break.

I also am in the middle of writing some procedures PowerPoint slide shows. I know these little ones will be tired and I need to keep the engagement high so I minimize the "Is it time to go home yet?" questions. The slide shows will be interactive with pictures and videos to show the students how to follow the rules and procedures. I will post a sample soon! I have high hopes for this project! :) It is amazing how automatically the classroom runs at the end of the year and it is so worth all of the repeating of expectations, and tiresome routine practice at the beginning of the year! 

One of my favorite parts of the first day is the classroom and school tour. The students are so excited to get their hands on the vast array of books in our classroom library, as well as use the materials in the desks they will get to sit in for the first time in their school lives. I love giving them a glimpse of the wonderful things they will accomplish and the resources they will get to use in the classroom. They also do not know the school very well, quite yet. They are used to the kindergarten classroom area and playground. The lunchroom, bathrooms, hallways and office are very new to most of the students and to ease anxiety we take a tour of these important locations.

Once the students have learned the rules and procedures I like to use the Back to School Procedure Task Cards to review important school information. I give the groups in my class points if they can work together to answer questions about the procedures we have learned so far. Check the task cards out here!

This year the students will be using monthly journals for their writing. I have created cute covers and paper with a variety of lines to meet my students' needs. On the first day (or maybe second) the students will prepare the journal by coloring the cover. We will not begin writing in them until the second day. Get the set of adorable monthly journals here!

I can't wait to share more soon! 

Happy Teaching!

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