Graduation Ideas

For graduation each year, I have the students create a "collage" on a silhouette which I purchased from a local party store.  Unfortunately, this year the store has gone out of business and I could not find pre-made silhouettes to use.  I took a silhouette from a previous year and created templates for both a girl and boy graduate.  Each student received a quarter sheet of black bristol board, and they cut out their own silhouette.  UPDATE:  Well this year (2013) I could not find the images again AND I don't have a template from previous years...so I am going to have the students trace each other using an overhead projector and make a silhouette of their own head.  It's too bad they won't have the mortar board and certificate, but I will have to make due.  If you find the silhouette cutouts~grab em!  I had them add their name across the scroll part on the bottom, and decorate the rest using photos, images from the internet and items cut out from magazines.  They added glitter, felt stickers and ribbon to make them more eye catching.

Each silhouette was then mounted on a red or blue star which I had also purchased at a party store.  (I was smart and kept these to reuse them!)  These are then displayed on the wall behind the stage for graduation.    The students always do a wonderful job, and they get to keep the silhouette as a memento of their time at our school.

End of Year Gifts for Students

I always like to give something to the students at the end of the year.  For the past few years I have ordered from www.forteachersonly.com.  I love these personalized pens.  I buy enough to give each student two of them.  Each year I change what I write on them.  I love them so much, I keep several for myself at home.  They write very smoothly and they fit my hand perfectly.  Check out this site if you want something special that is still affordable.  I ordered mine for this year and had them in less than a week!

Check out what other teachers do at Joy in the Journey!  Click on the icon below to visit Jessica's terrific blog!

Father's Day Gift Thanks to Pinterest!

http://papercrave.com/diy-fathers-day-shirt-tie-gift-boxes/


For Mother's Day I found the cutest idea on the web.  All the students in my classroom made a keychain for Mom made with colourful beads and findings.  Each of them were able to personalize the keychain using letter beads.  We also made really cute flower cards.  Another idea I found online. 


I didn't know what I could do for Father's Day to "TOP" these really great gifts.  I think I may have found it!  See the above link for specifics and to download the templates.  These super cute little "foldable" boxes are all made from ONE piece of cardstock.  I printed out the instructions on coloured cardstock on the school photocopier and then created one for myself.  So easy and so fun! 


I used the design with the bow tie but I could not figure out how to keep the box closed, without having to glue it shut.  I thought of "brads" or paper fasteners and went digging through my shelves at school.  I punched a hole through the middle of the bow tie and then put the brad through the hole.  It worked really well and it looks adorable!  This way the fathers will be able to open and reclose the boxes without ruining them.


Inside the students will put a "coupon book" which I found in a previous year but had yet to use.  I also found little decorative rocks at Dollarama and I thought "hmmm maybe" and bought them.  I took them to school, dug out some metallic markers and wrote "DAD-You rock!" in colourful metallic marker.  Too cute!  The Dads can use them as paperweights or mementos.

APEC (Answer, Prove, Explain & Extend, Connect)

Here in Ontario there is  pressure for our students to do well on standardized tests such as EQAO (Grade 3 and Grade 6) as well as standardized assessment tools such as DRA and CASI.  In my school, we have used the APEC framework to assist students in improving the quality of their written responses.  Using APEC throughout the grades helps students learn that there are parts of a response which are essential for demonstrating learning.


The A stands for ANSWER the question.  Make sure you stick to answering only the question asked and rephrase the question in your own words as the beginning part of the response.


The P stands for PROVE it.  Use information from the text/math problem, underline or highlight parts of the text.  Include direct quotations from the text or use paraphrasing.


The E stands for Explain and Extend your answer.  Using your own words be sure to explain how you know that the answer you have given is correct.  If it is a math problem be sure to explain HOW you solved the problem.  Add more information that will help, from your own experience or from other information you may have learned about the topic.


I started asking students to use the C stands for Connect last year after I realized that if my students were able to make connections (text-to-text, text-to-self, text-to-world OR math-to-math, math-to-self, math-to-world) their written responses were richer and more developed.  Not all questions necessarily lead to all students making connections all the time…but this has turned out to be a good addition to the standard APE framework.

Open House Project

We just had Open House at our school and I always like to have something interesting on the bulletin boards to show off what a great class I have.  This year we have been spending a lot of time examining figurative and descriptive language.  I found a neat project on Teachers Pay Teachers and modified it slightly for my classroom.  The results were outstanding!  Each student created a foldable using materials I had purchased at the dollar store and craft section.  On each tab they had to write a different heading...Simile, Metaphor, Idiom, Antonyms and Synonyms, Character Traits and My Theme for the Year.  All of these sections relate to lessons and activities we have completed during our Literature Study of the novel "Airborn" by Kenneth Oppel.  Inside each tab they wrote an entry which reflected themselves.  After that, they decorated the "glyph" on the front of the foldable, and then put information relating to themselves on the inside.  Have a look at the results!

 

Laura Candler over at Corkboard Connections is having a Fantastic Foldable Freebies Link Up.  If you would like to see more examples of this exciting and interactive teaching strategy go to:Fantastic Foldable Freebies Link Up.



Follow me on Pinterest....

I don't know about you...but I am addicted to PINTEREST!  Have any of you used it?  I didn't realize how visual a learner I was until I started PINNING!  I set up a Pinterest account...and now I am pinning like mad!  I have posted lots of great ideas there...so look for me!