Back to School Bonanza!!, Blog Hop and Freebie

Today I am linking up with the Blog Hoppin bloggers for What I like to teach. Actually, it doesn't really matter which subject I am teaching as long as I have a song, rhyme and/or a craft.

Since I started out as a kindergarten teacher, I was introduced to Dr. Jean's songs and lots of her wonderful ideas. Because I changed schools at one point, I ended up in second grade and now I love that age! The ONLY thing that I was concerned about was that the kids wouldn't want to sing all of those songs with me. After all, I had invested in ALMOST every CD that Dr. Jean had put on the market. (Not to mention...that I cannot make it through the day without singing.) Newsflash...The students still love singing in second grade! 

So...I decided to add writing activities to respond to some of her songs. It worked like a charm! The kids love to have the "experience"of dancing and singing with the music and then completing the literacy activity. 

However, sometimes I need to make up my own songs and rhymes if I can't find one that fits my needs. My plan is to grab (and keep) the attention of my buddies. One of them is The Plural Noun Song, sung to the tune of Jingle Bells. Each year, my kids love to belt out that one!

Another thing that I like to do is connect my lessons to a craft. Here are my latest craftivities:

I FINALLY posted this bundle yesterday. Yay! 

The start of school is a smidgen hectic. Wouldn't you agree? Even though school started 3 weeks ago in my state, someone may be interested in these activities for friendship building or for Open House projects. However, there are some teachers who have not started school yet. Bless you all. 

Or...I can just be glad that it is ready to go for the "Back to School Season" next year! 

Or...I can just be glad that I have a creative outlet that also comes in handy in my classroom. 

Nevertheless, my students enjoyed all of these activities! They even have their name desk tents on their desks still! 

As a matter of fact, some of my students continue to add color to their desk tents here and there. They are actually looking better with time!  :-) 

More importantly, name tents have helped me learn the students' names more quickly, since I have put off the task of taping flat name plates to the students desks. 

Because... I INSIST on cutting clear contact paper so that there is one big strip holding down the name tags. Not that I am particular...

Here is the camera craftivity that we made. 

I love when the students gasp as I pull out an example of the next craft that we will complete as a class. It cheers me up! 

Then, lo and behold, the students don't seem to mind doing whatever writing activity goes with it. Win, win!!


One of my favs... Post a Selfie! 

Selfies are all the rage. My first clue, well not really my FIRST clue, was the Belk ad with a girl taking a selfie. I guess it IS a big thing! 

Maybe it is a new form of art as some suggest. All kinds of people take part including my daughter's band director. He took lots of selfies with the students when they went on a band trip to Washington, DC. His slide show as a result was quite entertaining!

Here are some examples of the Post a Selfie! craftivity as well as a preview of what is in the pack.

The fourth activity that is included in the bundle is  a"How To" writing activity about How to Make a Friend and How to Keep a Friend. The lesson includes singing and acting out the motions to "Hello Neighbor," a cute song by Dr. Jean. (Also....that song is a FREE download in Dr. Jean's store.) What could be better than that? Here is a link to that section in her store. She has some other awesome free things as well. 

And last, but not least, I have a FREEBIE for your new school year.

Desk Fairy Awards. My students are super motivated to earn those awards. Click HERE to download the awards. 

(Pretend like you can see a picture of that here.)

There you have it. "What" I like to teach boils down to anything that has a song connected with it or a craft. Of course, I love Scoot games for any subject, but I will save that for a different post. 

Hop over to the Blog Hoppin blog to see WHAT other teachers like to teach. 

I have already found out some neat things about bloggers and I can't wait to try some of their ideas in my own classroom! 

Have a great day!

Carrie