Friday, June 21, 2013

Tech Tips

I stumbled upon this awesome blog today while on Pinterest. The name of the blog is “Teacher to the Core”. You can follower her blog by clicking here. I learned today how to add clipart backgrounds to letters in Powerpoint when creating printables.
1. Get a new slide in power point
2. Click the “Insert” tab
3. Choose “Word Art”
4. Select the style you want (1 or 2 work best)
5. Type your phrase, and adjust the fonts and size to your liking.
6. Choose “Format/Drawing Format” tab
7. Click “Text Fill”
8. In the drop down menu choose “Picture”
9. Power Point brings up your “my Pictures” file, you go to the spot where your keep your clip art or digital paper. Find the paper or clip art of your choice, choose it, and click insert/OK.
Click the graphic below to take you to “Teacher to the Core” original Blog post with pictures and directions.


Enjoy this Techy Tip! :) XOXO

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Pop Rocks Descriptive Writing


Another “while I was student teaching” post… I was struggling with an idea to teach descriptive writing, or even just how to explain describing words. I wanted to plan a super fun activity because it was the week of testing in the mornings!!!! AHHH! So I stumbled upon this fun activity by Babbling Abby on Teachers Pay Teachers. I almost NEVER purchase thing on TPT just download freebies, I was a college student " [don’t judge me] ; )
Here are a few pictures of my class and the activities we did…
Day #1 I drew this graphic organizer onto a large piece of writing paper comparable to poster board size. I brought in a real bag that looked just like this and the students did a cute little activity along with me.
My recommendation would be to use poster board because it’s more durable AND laminate it! Then, you will be able to use it year after year and when you’re done with it your can just erase it off and store it away for next year.
Day #2 – Graphic Organizer that ended up looking like this -----> look below
This was the day they actually got to eat the Pop Rocks Candy! I bought them at the Dollar Tree 3 for $1. That was the best price I could find, I looked at Sam’s, but they didn’t carry them. Their faces and reaction were priceless! Most of them had never had this candy before!


Aren’t they CUTE?!?!
Day #3 – Comparing the Pop Rocks to something else
There are 5 days of activities, but I don’t have pictures of the last 2 days! But, one day is a writing activity and the last day is craft day, and you can attach the written activity to the craft and display it in the hallway. All the kids enjoy seeing their artwork out on display!
Signature

Monday, June 3, 2013

Adventure to Fitness

While I was student teaching another 1st Grade teacher told me about a fitness website she had found and was thinking about using in her class in the afternoons when the class was getting a little sluggish. I looked at the website, reviewed the content, and watched a sample video. The URL link is www.adventuretofitness.com it is a get combination of problem solving skills and physical fitness.
First you have to make an account. Teachers use your school email address (that makes your account free) otherwise you'll have to pay about $12 and episode.
Here are a few examples of episodes I used in class.
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