Hey everyone! I've been beyond busy preparing for the 2017 Spring Teacher Blogger Retreat, but wanted to take a break from the planning to give a HUGE shout out to one of our event sponsors, The Pencil Grip, Inc. Y'all this company not only provides some amazing tools for our classrooms, but they truly, truly love and support educators. I don't want to give TOO much information away before the big retreat, but let's just say The Pencil Grip, Inc. is ready to spoil all of you who are coming to join us in French Lick, Indiana!
I've been a long-time, loyal fan of The Pencil Grip, Inc. and have used their pencil grippers in my classroom for years to help my kinder-kiddos learn to hold their pencils correctly, but more recently have fallen head-over-heels in LOVE with one of their newer products, Kwik Stix! If your kiddos love to paint....but you don't like the "clean-up," then Kwik Stix are for you!
If you have followed me for a while, you probably already know how much I love art! Several years ago I began to develop a special art program in my class that I called "Artist of the Month." I began by creating monthly units on different "master artists." We would study a different master artist each month, examine his/her artwork, discuss the techniques he/she used...and then, using all of those things as inspiration.... we created a masterpiece of our own. The program was a great success and it soon spread like wild-fire throughout our entire K-8 school, thanks to the leadership of one of my instructional aides, who since has been designated our school art director!
Well, needless to say, we paint A LOT in my room! I am afraid to reflect on past years and think about how much instructional time I used to spend on getting my kiddos dressed in paint shirts to protect their clothing, let alone cleaning up the "after-paint" messes! But I don't have either of those problems any more!!!! I am able to use Kwik Stixs tempera painting sticks to complete the same projects....and they look even more incredible than liquid, paint-on paints!
Below you will see pictures of our latest "Artist of the Month" kindergarten student masterpieces based on the work of Pablo Picasso. Just look at the vibrant colors!
Gotta' love no mess art! It's incredible!
A peek at part of our classroom "KinderGallery," which is located above our student lockers.
Our art supply closet is always packed with Kwik Stix!
Every class uses them... and they last for a very, very long time!
Are you curious about these amazing little art tools?
If you'd like a chance to win a few sets of Kwik Stix for yourself,
visit my Instagram account (hollyehle) for more details!
(Do it now! The winner will be chosen on March 10th!)
We are ready to roll out the red carpet,
and announce that we are opening registration for the...
And you WILL NOT want to miss what we
have planned for you this year!
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Are you ready to be treated like the
red carpet star that you are?
Need a weekend of pampering to escape
from the “work” of teaching?
Need to be re-energized and fall in
love with teaching all over again?
Ready to shine and be recognized for
the teaching-star that you are?
Then come walk the red carpet with us
at French Lick Resort!
French Lick is an incredible resort is
located in southern Indiana, but it is within 3 hours of Cincinnati, Nashville,
Indianapolis, and St. Louis!
Here are the details...
WHO: YOU
are invited!
WHAT: Spring
Blogger/Follower Retreat!
WHEN: March
17, 18 & 19, 2017
WHERE: French
Lick Resort & Casino - French Lick, IN
WHY:
To meet new friends, share blogging & TPT tricks & tips,
and
just have fun! {LOTS and LOTS of FUN!}
Join us for the whole weekend, or just a day!
Here is
a peek at some of the things we have planned…
Friday,
March 17th
OPTIONAL:Many attendees gather and socialize at the
beautiful West Baden Hotel. Come early
and join us!
Saturday,
March 18th
Blogger
Meet-Up Luncheon: Get-to-know-you luncheon, teacher product
giveaways, and “Teacher Tool” gift swap game
Keynote
Speaker: None other than PRINCIPAL GERRY will be there
to uplift, inspire, and create a room full of laughter!
Teaching, TPT, Blogging Round-table and Workshop Sessions: We will send
out a survey asking for topics of interest and we invite you to submit a
round-table proposal as well.
Dinner
Reservations at Resort Restaurant/s: (OPTIONAL) Meet up for dinner at one of the
resort’s casual, but classy restaurants.
Saturday Night
Social Event: Since everyone who is a teacher knows they
went into this profession for the fame and fortune (ya, right!!)……We will be
"rolling out the red carpet" for you as we invite you to dress up as your
favorite star, pose for the paparazzi, and have some fabulous fun with friends... Hollywood/Oscar Party Style! (Heavy hors d’oeuvres, non-alcoholic
beverages, photo booth pictures and party favors included.There will also be a cash bar.)
Sunday,
March 19th
9:30 am - Sunday
Breakfast/Brunch (OPTIONAL) Meet at the resort’s famous
breakfast buffet for our last g athering of good food, good conversation, and
goodbyes!
The
cost for attending this event is $75, which includes your lunch and beverages, a
portion of the meeting room rental fees and our Saturday night social event (including food
and non-alcoholic drinks).This is the
ONLY required fee for the entire weekend! The rest of the event (hotel
fees, if you choose to stay on site, and the remainder of the meal fees will be
on your own, based on your choices!). If you live close, you may choose
to drive in for the day. This fee needs to be paid by Feb.12 to guarantee
your registration. Also, note that due to the increasing popularity of
this event, registration may have to be limited due to size.
Wondering
if this event is something you might be interested in?
Check out what
some of last year's attendees have to say...
Hannah F. “Last year was my
first year at French Lick and I was so nervous! I remember driving up there and
imagining all the things that could go wrong! (of course) But, when I arrived I
was overwhelmed with the kindness of every single person there. Everyone felt
like they belonged and they did! The whole weekend was full of fun activities
that helped me grow as a teacher and as a person. I made so many brand new
friendships that I will carry with me forever. I remember driving away feeling
refreshed and so ready to get back into my classroom! This weekend will refresh
your love for teaching from the very instant you step into the hotel! “
Heidi N. "It was so refreshing to be
surrounded by like minded teachers! I left the weekend with new
perspective, new ideas, and a lot of new friends!"
Maja A. "Last year's meet up inspired me
to do so many new things, I finished out the school year strong with the things
I learned from the other teacher/bloggers there! I am so excited for this
years meet up!"
Are you ready to sign up for a "star-studded"
weekend of fun?
I love fall...but it is definitely the CrAziEst time of the school year for me! Report cards, conferences, balancing my own kiddos and family events...WHEW! I can hardly keep up! Do y'all feel that way too?
I've had quite a few requests this week for info on some of things I've been doing with my littles, so thought I’d share just a few activities from my
“SPECTACULAR
SPIDERS”
FUN FRIDAY!
Like usual, it took some Thursday night prep...
This week the goal was to cover my room in spider webs and spiders, of course. I just made a quick stop at Dollar Tree and for just a few bucks I had the room covered! (And YES.. that is a spider scarf I'm wearing! Picked that baby up at the Dollar Tree too!) The crazy spider headband is a few years old (got it at JoAnn's)...but I saw several similar ones at Michael's just a few weeks ago!
We started the morning with a quick spider introduction, compliments of Scholastic's latest "Let's Find Out" Kindergarten magazine. {LOVE how interactive these resources have become!}
Then we met up with our 6th grade BIG BUDDIES and made some pretty spectacular spider art! Want to know how we did it?
First, we pre-painted the black construction paper. To be more specific, we filled cups with white paint and threw in some marbles. We placed the black paper into the lid of a paper ream box, threw in the paint covered marbles, and then tiled the box top all around. WA-LA! Awesome spider-web-ish patterned paper! (We did this the day BEFORE we met with our buddies to assemble the project!)
Next, when our buddies joined us, the kiddos cut their spider-web-ish {Come on.. roll with me. It SHOULD be a word!} black paper into thin (about 1/2 inch) strips. The buddies worked together to form their own spider webs on the paper.
While all the kiddos were working on their webs, I called the buddy pairs over to "my" table and I painted the kinder's palms and fingers (NOT THUMBS) with black paint. They placed the first had down on a piece of white paper. Then they placed the opposite hand, palm part overlapping the already printed palm print, so that the opposite hand's fingers stuck out like legs on the opposing side of the spider "body." Immediately after that, I had the student make a fist and I painted the bottom of the fist with black paint... and had the child make a "head" print with the fist.
Finally, we cut out the dried spiders and glued on the two "primary eyes." Then... we took a Q-tip dipped in white paint and added the spiders two fore-eyes and four lower smaller lower eyes, just to be sure were attempting to be as anatomically correct as possible. (Most spiders have 6 eyes.)
On cue, "Dr. Science" {our early childhood director and one of my best friends} stumbled in like a hot mess, completely tangled in a ginormous spider web!
Note: I do all of the planning for what Dr. Science is going to do. I prep the activities and "scrips"...but my awesome (and crazy-fun) colleague, Mrs. Kidd, brings it to life when she comes over and we "team teach" the content. I LOVE IT! We are getting pretty darn good at playing off each other to keep the kiddos engaged! #couldnotdoitwithouther I'm telling you this because I've had followers comment things like, "Well, I couldn't do that because I don't have a co-teacher or an aide." People, I haven't always had one either! But if YOU are willing to do the planning, I betcha' you can beg a parent volunteer to come in and play along....YOU CAN do this! And it's FUN!
"Did I hear you've been studying about SPIDERS??" she asks.
Of course, Dr. Science always brings specimens or tools directly from her lab! This week, one the kiddos favorite items was this large wolf spider. {Oh YES. It is real... and it is ALIVE!}
Then Dr. Science showed us a multi-media, spider-factual {Hey! Look at me! Making up all these new words! Mr. Webster, you need to update your dictionary! Woo-Hoo!} slideshow movie. It is just typed facts, pics, and music. You have the read the words out loud to your kinders, which I kind of loved for this "Dr. Science" presentation. The kiddos thought Dr. Science made it in her lab and just brought it over to share!
Interested in checking it out? Click below...
Then, I shared this little snippet...
{BTW peeps, you should really check out the whole line of "All Things Animal TV" videos if you are ever in need of simple animal research or facts!}
Earlier, we had a class discussion on what we already knew about spiders and what we wanted to know. {Le' ole K-W-L chart activity} The kiddos came up with two REALLY great questions that I knew I needed to turn into research experiments.
The first question was, "How does a spider eat its prey?"
So we challenged each student to use their imagination and take the roll of a spider!
If you want all of the details of the experiment we did to answer this question, check out Deanna Jump's FABULOUS TPT science experiment packet. This packet contains DOZENS of other simple experiments that are PERFECT for every kinder-topic that you teach! If you have special science activity days or "Fun Friday" days, like me, it's a MUST HAVE!!!
Check it out here:
The next great question that they came up with was "Why do insects stick to spider webs, but the spiders never do?" Well, again.... you have to check out Deanna's Science packet (above) to get all of the details, but let me tell you.... the kids loved discovering the answer for themselves!
As always, a themed snack is an essential part of our Fun Fridays! But this week, it wasn't me that was doing the preparation. Our sixth grade buddies worked hard to create these yummy darlins'!
(Chocolate donuts, pretzel sticks, frosting and m&ms)
(These pics came from a few years ago, but I want to note that now I use two donuts to more accurately show a spider's body parts!)
We also headed to gym with a giant skein of yarn and made our own spider web!
Here are a few pics. I wish I had more of us trapping our people prey in the web....but I was having too much fun playing along to snap pics at the same time!
Whew! What a day!
Again... filled with fun, but filled with rigor as well! Wish I had time and space to post about everything we did...but hopefully you picked up at least a few new ideas/resources!
