Turkey In Disguise Project For Kids

October 30, 2020 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers

As a teacher, you know that family involvement is an important aspect of developing successful learners. Studies show that when families are involved in students learning, the students are more likely to succeed. However, it can be hard to find activities that families actually want to do together and that aren’t too time consuming.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, this Turkey in Disguise project would be a great way to get family involvement while working on an engaging holiday themed activity (check out my Thanksgiving escape room here). This turkey project is a great tool for helping families have fun together, while using reading and writing skills.

The Turkey in Disguise project incorporates listening, writing, and problem solving in one activity. In a busy classroom, finding activities that address multiple objectives is necessary. When they are fun for students and parents as well, that’s even better!

Here’s a walk through of the Turkey in Disguise Project

This fun turkey project includes everything you need to get your students’ creative juices flowing. First, students will listen to a read-aloud featuring a turkey that tries several disguises to save himself from being Thanksgiving dinner.

Then, they will work with their families to come up with a disguise to protect their turkey. They will use their writing skills to describe the disguise. This simple project will engage students in creative problem solving, writing for a specific purpose, and making connections to text. As an added bonus, they will enjoy getting creative with their families.

What ways do you use to get families involved in learning? Let me know in the comments!

If you are teaching VIRTUAL, try the digital version of this activity here.

Election and Voting Activities for Kids

October 23, 2020 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips, Writing

Teaching students about the importance of voting in a democracy is very important. Now more than ever kids are curious about politics. So, how can you teach students without getting too political? If you teach about elections and the voting process instead of using real political candidates, young students will still develop an understanding of how elections work, the responsibility of voting and how their feelings tie into the process. Election and voting activities for kids can be simple.

Here are some things your can do to teach about voting:

Share books like Grace for President by Kelly Dipucchio or Vote for ME! by Ben Clanton.
Talk about commercials, signs or local leader positions.
Write opinion papers about voting or elections.
Discuss how feelings help make decisions.
Hold a class pet election.
Students can take polls about favorite snacks or sports.
Make a voting booth or box. Have ballots for students to pick their end of the day activity.
Create a class campaign for a class mascot with posters, stickers and commercials.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, lead by example. Let them see your “I VOTED” sticker or tell them how you take time out of your day to vote.

Ideas for PARENTS to do with children to help them learn about voting:

Take your child to vote and discuss why you are voting for a particular candidate.
Write a letter to an elected official as a family.
Talk about how peaceful protesting is patriotic. Loving a country means speaking up when we disagree with actions.
Share your beliefs with your child.
Discuss how people all have different ideas and how to respect each other.
Read a book about voting, democracy or citizenship.
Point out signs about elections and discuss how they help us learn about candidates.
Let the family vote about what is for dinner.
Vote on a family vacation.
Use math to explain how we count results.

Virtual Teaching about Voting

Google Slides and Forms make it easy for students to learn about the voting process. You can create a poll using Google Forms to send to your students virtually. Share the results with the class over a live virtual meeting.

Election and Voting Activities for Kids

Check out the K-3 Google Slides for teaching kids about the voting process.

If you are needing some tips for teaching while social distancing, check out my post here!

Fall Crafts That Tie In With Literature

October 2, 2020 teachersbrain Reading, Teacher's Pay Teachers

Fall is such a wonderful time of the year- especially in the classroom. It’s right after we start the new year and our students are focused and excited. I love bringing the elements of the fall season into our day to day activities and lessons. With all of the colors and activities available, there are so many ways to use fall themes in your lesson plans.

One of my favorite ways to do that is to look for books with fall or Halloween themes. Finding a good book to read to your class and then doing a corresponding activity is a great way to explore the story more in depth with your students and make a text to self connection. Text to self connections teach your students valuable skills they will need in school and in life. Your students will learn to make the connection between what they are reading and themselves and explore empathy.

My Where’s My Mummy Craft is a fantastic option if you are looking for a Halloween themed activity that is both engaging and fun.

Included in this activity you will get:

Mummy craft printable
Text to self connection printable
“I Want My Mummy” bulletin board display

Start by reading the book “Where’s My Mummy” by Carolyn Crimi to your class. Have your students use the Mummy Craft printable to glue on toilet paper and googly eyes to make their own adorable little mummy.

This activity focuses on making a text to self connection. Here are questions you can ask your students to get the conversation going:

How do you think the mummy felt in the story?
How would you feel if you couldn’t find your parent?
How would you feel when you did find them?

A huge bonus when you do this craft is that it makes great Halloween classroom decor!

Want more fun Halloween activities for your class? Check out my Halloween Bats Escape Room here!

Johnny Appleseed Activities for Kids

September 21, 2020 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers

Hi Teacher Brains!
Can you believe tomorrow is the first day of fall???? In some ways this year is going by fast. In other ways it is dragging on forever. Education is happening and teachers are heroes for so many students and families who need some kind of normalcy for them to keep the faith that we will get through these difficult times. I hope you and your family are well!

September 26th is Johnny Appleseed’s Birthday. This was my favorite time to teach about apples and make homemade applesauce. The easiest recipe is to use a crockpot, add your peeled and cubed apples with a 1/2 cup of cinnamon red hots! (Yes, the candy!) It adds the sugar and cinnamon.

Interesting FACT about Johnny Appleseed

Did you know that the part we leave out when we teach about his life to young children is that the apples were not ones for eating. They were bitter, so we used them to make hard apple cider.

I want to make your workload lighter, so let me share some Johnny Appleseed resources that can help!