teachersbrain, Author at Teacher's Brain

The Best Father’s Day Party Ideas

May 14, 2021 teachersbrain Teaching Tips

Looking for great ways to celebrate the amazing parents of your students? Father’s Day may be during summer vacation but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate it in your classroom!

You can either celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day separately (check out this amazing Mother’s Day celebration idea here!) or you can combine them both into a super fun Parent’s Day. Not only do you get to bundle it all together, but this is a little more inclusive for kids who don’t have a mom, dad, or traditional caregivers at home. Parent’s Day parties can be for anyone who cares for them!

Here are some fun ways to celebrate Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, OR Parent’s Day.

Invite parents to the school! Doing this in the late afternoon or just the second half of the day will make it easier for parents to leave work if necessary and make it in.
Have a picnic. A simple picnic with chips, sandwiches, and juice is fun for everyone. At the end of the year the weather is usually nice so take it outside and get some sunshine. Just make sure to have a backup plan if it gets rainy! You can request food and supplies from parents ahead of time to save yourself from spending too much on food.
Play some games! Get some frisbees (you can usually find some in the Target Dollar Spot or the Dollar Store this time of year) and let students play with their parents. You can also get some footballs-which would be a hit for Father’s Day!
Take a tour of the decorated classroom. After the picnic and games, invite parents to tour the classroom. You can decorate with students’ artwork or crafts they made for their parents!

This Bulletin Board Decoration set is perfect for classroom decoration during Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or a Parent’s Day party. It also makes a great gift that they can take home and give to their parents.

This download includes different pull waffle books, a pocket to hold coupons, and blank waffle books to create your own story! Just add a bow and a folded lunch bag to create a keepsake for students to give to others or use on the bulletin board.

What is your favorite way to celebrate parents? Let me know in the comments!

Memorial Day Activities For Elementary

May 7, 2021 teachersbrain education, Teaching Tips, Writing

While some students may just see Memorial Day as a day off from school, it is a great time to teach them about Memorial Day and why we celebrate it. It is important for them to know about those who gave their lives while serving our country.

Here are some ways you can teach elementary students about Memorial Day in your classroom.

Start by giving them the definition. It seems simple, but this is something that not a lot of students know or understand.
Read a book about the holiday. Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops by Jill Biden and Raul Colon is a great book written by the First Lady.
Write a letter to a hero. If your students have any friends or family members that served they can write a letter to them. For other students you can have them write a letter to hero you select for them. This is a great way to give students perspective and a chance to express their gratitude.
Discuss the difference between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. On Veterans Day we celebrate those still living who served our country, on Memorial Day we celebrate those we lost.

My Memorial Day Writing Activity is the perfect addition to your lesson!

Perfect for students in first through third grade, you’ll get a variety of writing activities.

Included with this resource, you’ll get

an informational sheet about the holiday
acrostic poems with self rating systems
Home of the Free Because of the Brave printable
Informational writing planning page
Informational writing page
Thank you, Hero Letter
Thank You Letter
Posters for students to fill out
Poster about informative writing
Transitional words and phrases list
Word wall words
Rubric

You’ll get everything you need to get your students engaged in learning about our American heroes.

Looking for more teaching activities for May? Check out Mother’s Day ideas here!

Mother’s Day Celebration Ideas

April 30, 2021 teachersbrain Distance Learning, Teacher's Pay Teachers

I have always loved celebrating Mother’s Day in my classroom, and students do too! Mothers (or other primary caregivers) are without a doubt a huge and important part of a student’s life. They have unlimited amounts of love and guidance for their children, so students love to celebrate them!

One of my favorite ways to do this is to have Mother’s Day Tea.

This is a special day where we show moms how much we care by having cookies and tea with them.

Before the party you can have the students decorate the cookies especially for their moms using premade sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles. You can go around and take pictures of students with their moms to give to them at the end of the year.

To go along with tea time, students create these sweet Mother’s Day lapbooks.

With this craft, they can color and decorate a special gift for their mom. They can write a letter to mom, draw a picture of the two of them, give them tea, share what they love about her, create Mother’s Day coupons, and more. This gift is sure to be a hit with all moms!

Mother’s Day Tea may be a little more challenging this year because of the pandemic. Some classes are in person again, but some students are still learning from home. If you aren’t able to bring moms into the classroom, you can send these gifts home with students as well.

If you are distance learning, and need something kids can gift virtually, they can create these digital Mother’s Day cards.

This resource comes with 10 Google Slides. Just use the edit boxes to add your own text, add an image of mom and print to give to mom or their caregiver.

It may be a little different this year but students can still spoil their moms and show appreciation for all they do with these fun resources.

What’s your favorite way to celebrate Mother’s Day with your students? Let me know in the comments!

Virtual Field Trips For End Of The Year Celebrations

April 23, 2021 teachersbrain Distance Learning, Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

The school year is wrapping up! It was definitely a different year than anything we have experienced before. Many students had a hybrid learning experience and some did distance learning all year long. Teachers definitely had to adapt and find new ways to stay connected with students from afar.

Another thing that wasn’t possible this year was field trips! I always loved going on field trips with my students. It is so refreshing to get out of the classroom for a new kind of learning experience.

If you are missing field trips and looking for something exciting and new that you can do from the safety of your classroom (or home for those who are distance learning), you definitely need to a try virtual field trip!

There are so many options out there for virtual field trips. A quick Google search will show tons of ideas! You can take a virtual field trip to the zoo, an aquarium, museums, science centers, farms, national parks, and more! Don’t see a virtual field trip idea that calls to you? You can also use Google Slides to give students a virtual tour of your chosen location.

Of all of the virtual field trip options, my favorite is a virtual field trip to the BEACH.

I created this virtual field trip beach day for elementary students! To start, students will “take a flight” to the beach, then, once they arrive, the learning starts. Students will learn about beach safety, ocean life, what to do at the beach, and more!

Then, students can participate in some learning activities including labeling, counting, and writing.

Included in this resource you’ll get 8 Google Slides with titles, edit text boxes, directions, and movable parts along with:

KWL chart
Packing a suitcase for the beach activity
1 minute take off flight video
7 minute beach field trip video (beach safety tips, car ride to the beach, animals at the beach, people swimming, and interview questions of what people like or don’t like of the beach)
Sequencing events, 2 writing prompts, counting objects (under 10), labeling parts, beach song, and comprehension questions
One extra slide for you to add anything you would like to the lesson.

Since this is a virtual activity, it can easily be done in the classroom or while distance learning. It makes a great end of the school year activity!

I hope you and your students love these virtual field trip ideas!

Looking for more end of the year activities to do with your students? Check out my post here on memory books!