Fun in First

A Teaching Blog by Jodi Southard

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Father’s Day – Donuts with Dad

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A couple weeks ago, I had a Donuts with Dad morning in my classroom.  If you happen to still be in school (sorry), this is a great way to celebrate Father’s Day with your students.
In preparation, we made mugs that I purchased from Dollar Tree.
I purchased Elmer’s paint markers to use.  Originally, I was going to use Sharpies, but after reading many tutorials, I went with the actual paint markers instead.
I was a little worried about these being messy or running down the mug, but they were great!
My goal was to take these mugs home and bake them to try to keep the marker from washing away…however, it was the last few days of school and life was just too crazy.
Instead, I just included these instructions for the dads.
We also practiced poems to read to our dads, and made our Father’s Day Flipbooks.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mothers-Day-Fathers-Day-Flip-Books-1810776
I made a slideshow to share that included pictures of each child along with what they loved about their dad.
It was a great morning!

Mother’s Day

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My favorite day of each school year is the day of our Mother’s Day celebration.  We prep for the day by practicing poems, completing writing and pictures for our moms, and painting vases.
I purchase vases from Dollar Tree for the students to decorate each year.  I originally found this idea on Fabulous in First, and loved it.
I put the students into four groups, and have them learn a poem to read the day of our celebration.
We also decorate the bulletin board and classroom for our mothers.
 These were super simple using Astrobrights paper and heart stickers from Dollar Tree.
 We used the website Tagxedo to create these heart word clouds for our bulletin board.
The students decorate folders to hold all of their items.
 
The night before the celebration, I purchase flowers to put in their vases, table clothes, muffins, and juice.  I also set up their “Mom! Let’s Talk” bags.  I place questions in the bags as conversation starters.  This is a FREE download here.
During our celebration, the students read their poems, share their items they have created throughout the week, have discussions using the “Mom, Let’s Talk” bags, and then we watch a slideshow. 
For the slideshow, I take a picture of each student and then ask them to tell me the best thing about their mom.  I type them into a slide to place after their picture.  Add some music, throw in a couple of mother quotes, end with some class pictures, and you are good to go.
It is such a wonderful morning!
 


All About Our Mother’s Day Celebration {Mother’s Day Flip Books and a FREEBIE}

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I absolutely LOVE celebrating Mother’s Day in my classroom!  Our Mother’s Day Celebration is probably one of my favorite days of the school year.  I was going through some old pictures on my iPad, and came across the pictures I took from last year’s celebration.  It made me a little sad because I will not be in my classroom this year for this special day.  {I decided to extend my maternity leave, and take the remainder of the school year off.  I will be returning to my classroom in August.}
I realized that I never shared these pictures from last year on my blog because our celebration had to be pushed back later into May due to state testing.  Just one more reason to dislike testing!
 We prepare for the day by completing some Mother’s Day activities to present to our moms (grandmas, aunts, or special ladies).  As we complete these activities, the students place them in a folder that they decorate for the occasion.

I made these Mother’s Day Flip Books that would be PERFECT for a Mother’s Day celebration.
 
 
This packet includes versions for Mom, Grandma, Aunt, & Mum (for my Aussie friends).  I also went ahead and included Dad, Grandpa, & Uncle, so you are all set for Father’s Day as well.  You can find these booklets by clicking HERE and heading over to my TpT store.
We also use a lot of the activities in Cara’s Precious Parents packet.
I split my students into 4 groups, and each group practices a Mother’s Day poem to read during our celebration.  I did NOT write these poems.  I found them from a couple of different sources a few years ago and retyped them.  You can click on the picture below to download the poems.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bTZllX7s9pREZmRWRNd1Fkam8/view?usp=sharing
 
We also make these fingerprint vases for our mothers.  This idea came from Michelle at Fabulous in First.  I buy flowers the morning of our celebration to place in each of the vases.  I get the vases each year from Dollar Tree.
 

 
 
My FAVORITE activity to do during our Mother’s Day Celebration is our “Mom.  Let’s Talk!” bags.  This was a last minute idea that I came up with three years ago, and I love it!  Before the special day, print off the discussion questions and place them in a bag for each student.  Cut out the “Mom. Let’s Talk” labels and glue them onto each bag.
During the celebration, the child and their mom, or other special guest, will take turns pulling out a question and discussing the answers.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lets-TalkConversation-Starters-for-Mothers-Fathers-Day-1815032
 
It is seriously SO heartwarming to hear your students having these wonderful conversations with their mothers.  Just click on the picture above to download this FREEBIE.

 
I also purchase some snacks and drinks for our special day.
At the end of our celebration, I show our Mother’s Day slideshow.  For this slideshow, I show a picture of each of the students, followed by a quote from that student of what they think is the best thing about their mother.  I add music, and it’s a super simple way to end our celebration.
 
 
 
 Some questions that I have been asked in the past include:
 
What do you do if a student does not have a mother that can come?
On the invitation, I say that if a mother cannot come, a grandmother or another special lady may come.  For those students that do not have anyone coming, I ask my colleagues to fill in for them.  I have always been fortunate that teaching assistants or Reading Recovery teachers have been able to come into my room to be a special guest for my students.  If this is not a possibility, I am sure that you have other mothers in your room that would be willing to let another child join their conversations during the celebration.
 
How far in advance do you send home an invitation?
I like to send it home as early as possible so mothers can plan to take off work if necessary.  At least 2 weeks prior, but 3-4 would be ideal.
 
Do you write a grant for the materials used for this celebration?
No.  I purchase everything myself, but you certainly could write a small grant for parent involvement.

 
 
When do you do this during the day, and how long does it last?
I have always done mine in the morning around 9:00, and it lasts about an hour.  My students come into the room at 8:00, so this gave us time to get everything set out, and to practice our poems one last time before “show time.”
 
Hope that helps!  Even though I will miss out on this year’s opportunity to do a Mother’s Day celebration, I know it will be a tradition that I will continue to carry on throughout the years.
 
 


Mother’s Day Celebration

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Today I had a Mother’s Day Celebration in my classroom.  It’s the first time I’ve ever done this and it was great!  This will definitely be a new tradition in my classroom every year. 
 
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Throughout the week, we worked on some things for our mothers.
First, we completed this Mother’s Day Booklet. {Click on the picture for the free download.}
 
We also completed some activities from Cara’s packet.
 
It was amazing how hard they worked on these!  All to impress their mothers 🙂
 
We also made these vases with our fingerprints. {I found this idea on Instragram from Fabulous in First.} I just bought the vases from Dollar Tree and we used acrylic paint.
I purchased two dozen roses this morning so I could put a rose in each of the vases. 

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We also practiced poems all week to read. {Click on the picure below to download the poems that we used.}

 
When the mothers came into our room, they were able to get a snack and a drink with their child.  Then I gave each child a “Mom, Let’s Talk” bag.
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Each bag contained questions that mothers and their child could discuss with each other.  It was so amazing to listen to the conversations my students were having with their mothers.  They had the biggest smiles on their faces listening to their mom tell them stories.  Too sweet!

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{Click on the picture below to download the questions.}
 
After the students had conversations with their mothers and gave them their folders, it was time to read our poems. 
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To wrap up our celebration, I made a slide show with each child’s picture and a quote.  I had asked each student to tell me the best thing about their mom. 
 
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It was such a wonderful morning!

Mother’s Day Booklet

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I’m not real sure where May has gone.  Mother’s Day is this weekend.  Yikes!  That snuck up fast.  I made this booklet that I will be having my student’s do tomorrow.

Click on the picture to download

I’m hoping to get some more Mother’s Day things put together before Friday, but with all of our end of the year assessments, I’m not sure it will happen.
Are you feeling the stress of the end of the year?
Just click on the picture above to download for FREE.
Don’t forget to enter to win my Thirty-one giveaway.



End of the Year Poem

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How are you handling this distance learning thing?  Now, that it is getting close to the end of the school year, I have to admit, I am getting more and more upset about how this year will be ending.  I LOVE the end of the school year, and not only because it will be summer.  I miss our ABC countdown, Mothers & Fathers Day celebrations, field day, end of the year party, and so much more.  But, it is what it is, and I am trying to make the best of it.

Last weekend, I drove to each of my students’ homes and gave them a little gift.  It was so amazing to see all of them, from 6 feet away.  Each bag included the book, The Very Impatient Caterpillar, a pencil, bubbles, candy, a poem, and a flat Mrs. Southard.

This FREE poem is a great sentiment for students to end the school year.

Send a flat teacher to your students to have them share their adventures with you during distance learning.

I wanted to share the end of the year poem and note with you for FREE.  I included two different versions of each, just to give you options.  Click HERE to download.

And…I’m pretty sure that I probably should have sent home the pajama, messy bun, and slipper version of myself instead, because let’s be honest, that is DEFINITELY more real life right now 😉

Send a flat teacher to your students to have them share their adventures with you during distance learning.

 

I hope that your distance learning is going well.