Helpful Harvest: Make Worksheets Come Alive

We are 21 days into our Helpful Harvest series here at the Primary Peach and I have learned so much from my fellow Peaches!  What an amazing group of educators!!  I'm Meghan from Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris and today, I decided to integrate a technology tip for you that will make your children scream with excitement!  Seriously, go ahead and know that it will be loud in your classroom during this activity!  

YES!  Let's make those worksheets come ALIVE!  You are going to be just as excited as your students when you see this in person!  Checkout the steps below!

Head on over to Quiver Vision's website.  First, I would love for you to watch the video so you can see for yourself the fun that you and your students are in for.  Then at the top of the site, click "Education".  This will take you to the page with the downloadable worksheets that are available.  There are a ton of science and social studies content related pages and some just for fun.  These are perfect for your writing class.  Let them pick their own page for a fun write, read the passage on the worksheet and get them writing.  I say, save the "come to life" part for the very end and just see their excitement!

Students color their pictures with regular crayons or markers!  They can use any colors that they would like to, the app can change between their colors and the real life colors of the object or animal.

Download the app to your iPad.  Now, this is the sad part...it isn't free.  There is a free version, but it only has a couple of worksheets that work with it.  However, I can tell you that the full version is well worth the $7.99.

I let my son color and scan his picture this week for the first time and he seriously dropped the iPad!  When his bug jumped off the page he screamed and then started laughing.  After that, we had to print off nearly every picture from the site just so he could see what they would do.  AND he is only 4!!!  Another feature of the app that I love is that there is an recording of information for some of the pictures as well.  So kids are learning even after their scan!  

Isn't this amazing?  I couldn't think of a better way to be "helpful" than share this with you just in time for the holiday craziness!  You can use this as a time filler during all those stressful moments between now and Christmas.  :)  Enjoy!

Helpful Harvest: My Storymaker

Welcome back to the Primary Peach and our month-long harvest of great ideas for teachers!

Hi everyone, this is Valerie from Georgia Grown Kiddos.  I am super excited about a great find I get to share with you!!  

Today I have a fantabulous website to share with you to help your students create and enjoy their own online story.  

The site is My Storyline and students create stories by manipulating the characters and story details within the site.  Check out this short video to see it in action.

Isn't that amazing!!  I love how easy it is to add the characters and actions. You can type in the words too.  I think using it as a publishing tool would be super fun.  The kids can go through the writing process and when they are ready to publish, they can type it into the site and publish it when completed!  This would make for a fun and easy Work on Writing station for center time!!

I hope you utilize this awesome and FREE website.  There are tons of other fabulous tips and tricks to come this month in our Helpful Harvest theme this month.  For even more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates!”


Blessings y'all,
Valerie

Helpful Harvest: Scholastic Warehouse Sale Tips

Hey y'all, it's Kristin from School and the City. 

It's almost the most wonderful time of the year...

time for the Scholastic Warehouse Sale!!!!!!

If you have never been to a warehouse sale, YOU MUST GO. It is the perfect way to build your classroom library somewhat affordably. 

Shopping at a warehouse sale is no easy feat! I've shared some warehouse sale tips on my own blog before, but I thought the topic was definitely worth revisiting since the biggest book sale of the year is just around the corner.

I knew close to NOTHING when I walked into the warehouse for the first time, even after Googling "Scholastic warehouse sale advice" (to no avail). I suppose I'll share my suggestions with you before I start making my shopping list for the December event!

DO locate a warehouse sale near you and write it down in your planner or on your calendar (or tell Siri to do it for you). 

DON'T wait until the end of the sale to stock up, like I did. When I went to a sale, I went on the last day of a 10-day sale at my local Scholastic warehouse. Although I certainly had no trouble stocking up on books for my classroom library, all of the best deals were advertised on empty shelves. 

DO register as an attendee online before going. You will receive and print a "fast pass" meaning you do not have to wait in the registration line when you arrive. Also, your pass will have 2 coupons on it: $10 off $50 and $20 off $100!

DON'T show up at a sale without a game plan. Know what you are looking for and what you plan to buy, or else, if you are anything like me, you will end up throwing random books (that you wouldn't normally buy) in your cart because the prices are so great. (Hey - at least I limited myself to a basket, right?)

DO see if your local warehouse offers the "Build-a-Box" option. Basically, they give you a box and you can pack as many books are you can into it and pay ONLY $25 for the whole box of books! What a steal! Given, the box was way smaller than I imagined and you can only "build a box" with books from a specific bargain section. Unfortunately, I skipped out on this but I can't wait to do it next time. Since I attended on the last day, the Build-a-Box section was completely picked over and frankly I wasn't interested in one of those books, let alone enough books to fill a box.

DON'T ignore the stickers! Everything in the warehouse is 50-80% off (OMG!) except for items with purple or red stickers. Red stickers indicate the best deals, typically books that are marked down more than 80%... 1 dollar and 2 dollar books. Purple stickers are found with the biggest names ( Junie B, Magic Tree House, etc.) and mean that the book is only 20% off. 

DO download the Scholastic Book Wizard app. With the app, you can scan the barcode on a book and it will give you important information like GUIDED READING LEVELS! This app was the best shopping buddy - I'm so glad that I knew about it before heading to the sale. 

Lastly, DON'T spend your hard-earned cash when you can pay for your bargain books by volunteering your time. All of the nice ladies running the sale today were teachers from surrounding counties. I can't speak from experience, but apparently volunteers earn $8-10 credit an hour to spend on warehouse books! You can register as a volunteer on the same page that you register as a shopper.

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I hope that you feel significantly more prepared for your warehouse haul than I did! Good luck!

Any other tips or tricks? 

Off to make my list now... can't wait for the holiday sale! 

For even more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates! 

I'd also like to invite you to follow along with me at School and the City on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TPT for more ideas to make your life easier!

Helpful Harvest: Tips for Roam the Room Activities

Hello.  Tami here from Kamp Kindergarten. 

 

Heard County Veterans Park in Franklin, Georgia

Before I get started I want to take a moment to give thanks for our freedom.   We all know that freedom has a price.  A heartfelt thanks to all who have served our country.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE CAN BE FRIGHTFUL

 

I don’t have to remind you what it’s like to try to keep learners focused after days of weather like we have been having in Georgia the last week or so.  Winter isn’t even here yet with its weeks of no recess because of soggy playgrounds and windchill factors below freezing. 

Do your learners have PE every day?  If so, remember to add that to your thankful list.  I have had different PE schedules over the years, some where our rotation meant no PE for 2 or 3 weeks.  That is doable in months with great weather, but is a nightmare in January and February.

ROAM THE ROOM

 

I found “Roam the Room” activities to be helpful to keep my learners focused.  The activities offer an opportunity to get out of their seats and be actively engaged in their learning.

There is movement in the classroom, but it organized and has a purpose.  Kids love the opportunity to do the activities.  I love that it is an opportunity for them to channel excess energy in a positive activity.

With Roam the Room activities learners move about the classroom with a pencil, a clip board, and a recording page looking for cards with specific tasks.  When learners find a card they, write their response in the correct space on their recording page.

Types of activities include Read the Room, Write the Room, Spell the Room, Count the Room, Add the Room, Subtract the Room, and others.  You can make or purchase these activities including a recording page.  You may also make your own with task cards or flash cards you already have.  You may make a recording page or allow learners to use their journals to record their responses. 

I like finding these cards at dollar stores and the Target Dollar Spot.   Most sets have cartoon characters that the students love.  I think the favorite characters enhance the experience for little learners.

IMPLEMENTING ROAM THE ROOM

You may use whichever notebooks you already have for journals.  An advantage to using journals to record responses is that it saves paper and keeps your copy count low.  Those factors are issues at most schools with the current budget crunch.

I prefer these notebooks to the spiral bound ones for safety reasons and to avoid snagged clothing.  I am sure I am not the only teacher who has had a student to twist out the wire and present me with the wire and loose covers and pages.  (Who knew 70 pages of paper could create such a disaster?) 

 

If you have the spiral bound notebooks you may use wide tape to cover the wire.  You may use some of the cute printed tape available now.  Some teachers use different colors of tape to color code the journals for various ways that are helpful to their specific needs.

When using journals in lieu of a recording page, I have found it helps to use a medium binder clip on the right side about midway down the page.  This stabilizes the notebook and keeps the pages from flipping over as the student is trying to write.   If you have clipboards with a large enough capacity, you may prefer to clip the notebook at the top of the page.  Either method will stabilize the notebooks and make for easier writing.

 

I like to have the cards numbers or lettered for my activities.  I tend to number the language arts activities and letter the math activities.  When using flash cards or task cards I already have, I put them in a lettered or numbered zip top sandwich bag.  This way I don’t mark up my cards.

Place the cards in various areas around the room.  You may use clips or tape to post the cards.  If you use clips you can reuse the bags many times.

You are now ready for your learners to begin “Roaming the Room” with their journals looking for cards. 

I prefer to have a few students at the time roaming the room while their classmates do other activities in groups or in their seats. 

FREE ROAM THE ROOM ACTIVITY

Here is a Spell the Room freebie for your learners.  I hope they enjoy Spelling the Room.

 CVC Spell the Room FREEBIE

I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your learners a safe and happy Thanksgiving. 

Until next month,

Tami