Fall Fun! 3-D Pumpkin Life Cycle!

 I cannot believe it is already the first day of fall! I feel like this summer has flown by and now it is time to gear up for all things pumpkin, leaves, and Halloween! I always love fall in the classroom. So many fun things to learn and projects to complete. Plus, it seems that Halloween is a favorite holiday for many kids!

Some of the fall projects I like to incorporate into my classroom are 3-D pumpkin life cycles, October Directed Drawings (Draw and Write), as well as 3-D Spider Reports and 3-D Owl Reports. Some years I pick either spider or owl reports, and some years we do both! I will create separate posts describing the different activities so everything stays organized! 

Check out the fun we have with our fall projects!

Up first is the 3-D Pumpkin Life Cycle. Life Cycle learning is big in primary and the pumpkin is such a fin one to explore. Of course carving a pumpkin is a great way to learn about the parts of a pumpkin. This is a fun activity to do to complete the life cycle unit. These look adorable surrounding the room and students love taking these home at the end of the unit/fall/month. Click here for the project. I love using orange paper for this project as it looks so good and cuts down on the degree of orange coloring the students need to do (it can be daunting). It also makes the inside of the pumpkins look amazing! Check out this affiliate link for the orange paper I like to use. I also have an instagram video to show how to put the pumpkins together if you would like to view the process!

Affiliate Links for Supplies:

Glue Sticks

Paper

Crayons

I hope your students love these 3-D pumpkins as much as mine do! :) Leave any questions in the comments!

Happy Fall Project Creating!

All About Me Posters!

 The back to school season has always been one of my favorite parts of being a teacher. Not because summer break is coming to a close, but because of the excitement of setting up a new classroom and welcoming a new group of students to join me for the year. 

Picking out a classroom theme is always been so much fun and most of my themes revolve around fun bright colors. One thing I switch up each year is the "All About Me" posters that my students complete to become part of our beginning of the school year classroom decor. Not only do I learn a lot about each student, but our classroom community is built with wonderful student work adorning our walls and ceilings. 

I have gone chosen many designs over the years, but no matter the choice for the year, my students always love making these 3-D posters and ask frequently when they can bring it home to hang in their bedroom. 

Here is a variety of classroom All About Me Posters that I have used throughout the years....

Click here for link to posters!

Mother's Day 3-D Flowers

While we are only in mid-April, it is never too soon to start thinking of fun activities to celebrate mothers! While Mother's Day is very happy for lots of people, it can also be a sensitive holiday. While creating a Mother's Day project I kept in mind that my students could have many possible caretakers and guardians.  This is why I also included possibilities such as dad, grandmothers, and grandfathers, too!

Check out these adorable flowers! The students color and cut the flowers, then add reasons they love their mom on the petals. The flower then is assembled to stand independently and is such a cute way to show appreciation for mothers. 

I also have a tutorial video with steps to assemble the flower. Check out the Mother's Day 3-D Flower here!

December Directed Drawing and Writing Centers

 The weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break are so much fun and so exciting for students.  An activity I always like to do is my Christmas Draw and Write Directed Drawings. These activities allow for the excitement of the Holiday season, while still working on academics and standards. Students have fun drawing various Christmas related items from reindeer to Santa! Check out the pack here!

October Draw and Write- Directed Drawings for Halloween!

 Each year I pull out these adorable Halloween Directed Drawings and my students get so excited! They are always a fun addition to our writing center and the students love learning how to draw October related items! Included in the pack are two versions of directed drawing/writing formats for the following: Cat, Bat, Owl, Witch hat, Pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern, Leaf, Candy Corn, Ghost, and Spider!

These are great for first, second, and third grade students! Even my little first graders love giving the more challenging drawings a try! They try their best to create the drawings and are so proud of their work! You can check out the October Pack here! I also have a pumpkin freebie if you would like to try it out before grabbing the whole pack. :)

September Apple Fun!

September is the month of apples. This is the month where teachers delve in and teach the life cycle of the apple tree, conduct apple investigations, and explore fiction and non-fiction books surrounding the delicious subject. To enhance the apple studies in my classroom I have developed a craft that will help culminate our learning of all things apple. 

While the construction of the apple looks somewhat challenging, when given direct instruction of each step of construction, first graders in my class have risen to the challenge and successfully constructed these adorable fruits! They are great helpers when someone at their table gets stuck on a step and I of course monitor them and help when needed. 

Check out these adorable apples here. Card stock is not necessary, just regular copy paper works great. What is also fun is the ability to copy them on green, red, yellow paper so there is a variety of apples on display in the classroom. They look adorable hanging in the classroom and brighten up the space before all the fun fall projects begin. 

Click here to grab the apple!

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?