Fun in First

A Teaching Blog by Jodi Southard

Writing

Welcome Back to School Letters with a Technology Twist

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Do you send Welcome Back to School letters to your students before school starts?  The past two years, we have been able to put a letter to our students in the envelope that gets mailed out the week before school starts.  I LOVE taking this opportunity to welcome my students to my classroom!  As a parent, I also love it.  My two girls are anxiously awaiting their letters, which should be in our mailbox tomorrow 😉
This year I wanted to add something special, and give it a technology twist.
I shared this idea in my “Building Classroom Community Right from the Start” session at I Teach 1st this summer, and I wanted to share it here on the blog as well.
Have you heard of QR codes?  I’m sure you have seen them around because they are on almost everything now.  I decided to add a QR code to my Welcome Back letter.  The QR code is linked to a recording of me reading the letter to my new students.
Go ahead…try it out.  If you do not have a QR reader on your phone, you can download a free one in your app store.
So, want to make one for yourself?
1.  Download the AudioBoom app, and create an account.
2. Record yourself.
3.  Go to www.audioboom.com and login to your account.  You will find your recording.  Click on the “QR Code” tab.
4.  Download the QR code and save it to your computer.
5.  Insert the QR code into your letter.  Done!
 If you would like to download my template from my letter, click HERE.  I have placed text boxes on the pages for you to type into, but you can delete the text boxes, move them around, or add new ones.
I love that this gives my students an opportunity to learn a little more about me as well as hear my voice.  It’s all about establishing those relationships with your students right from the start.


Back to School with #25DaysofColor from Astrobrights

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I obviously LOVE color! I mean look at my blog design.  Color just makes me happy.  I love using color in my classroom.  Color can make learning a more fun and impactful experience.  I am so excited to be teaming up with Astrobrights for their 25 days of Color.  For 25 days, Astrobrights Papers will feature a project using a different color of its paper, providing ideas and inspiration on how to #ColorizeYourClassroom. 
I received a box of paper from Astrobrights to use.  The colors are gorgeous, and the quality is amazing!
Since we know that color paper can add creativity to everything in the classroom, I was so excited to get started.  My hero (focus) color was Orbit Orange. 
I decided to create an entire back to school ice breaker activity with the orange theme.  On the first day of school, during our Morning Meeting, I will begin with the classic knock, knock joke;
“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Banana.”
“Banana who?”
“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Banana.”
“Banana who?”
“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?”
Then, we will sit in a circle, and I will hold an orange in my hand.  I will tell one reason why I am glad that we are back in school.  Then, I will pass the orange to the next person in the circle to tell a reason why they are excited to be back in school.
When we are finished going around the circle, the students will return to their seats to draw and write their reasons.
When they are finished, we will have oranges as a snack.
I will also be using this color to make welcome bags for my students.
 I would love to fill them with orange pencils, stickers, paper, and more.
You can download the free printables from above by clicking HERE.
Another one of my hero colors was Rocket Red.  This is kind of a pinkish-red color.  I loved it paired with other colors from the Astrobrights collection.  I thought it would be perfect to make my Back to School Flip Book even more eye catching!  (The All About Me page is the Rocket Red color.)  I LOVE the result.
My last hero color was Re-Entry Red.  I included this in my Back to School Flip Book as well, but I also wanted to use it for my Welcome Letters.
I mail these to the parents before school starts, and thought printing them on colored paper would make much more of a statement than white.  I also used some other colors (Martian Green & Galaxy Gold) to print off my other information sheets.

You can get the printables above for free by clicking HERE.

How do you use color in your classroom?
For more ideas on how to Colorize Your Classroom, be sure to follow #25DaysofColor, Astrobrights Papers social feeds and visit ColorizeYourClassroom.com.
Post your own project using Astrobrights Papers with the hashtags #25DaysofColor and #ColorizeYourClassroom for a chance to be featured as the Colorize Your Classroom project of the week. 



Back to School Flip Book

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We just got home last night from Lake Michigan.  It was much chillier than I hoped, but we still had a lot of fun.
 This is how the little man spent his time at the beach.
  I was able to finish this Back to School Flip Book last week, but just got around to posting it today.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Flip-Book-1939218

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Flip-Book-1939218
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Flip-Book-1939218
This is just a simple activity that your students can complete during the first week of school.
Just click on the picture below to head on over to my TpT store.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Flip-Book-1939218
My entire store is on sale this weekend, so you may want to head on over and pick this up.
Now that we are home for the weekend, I’m trying to catch up with everything before heading to Vegas for the SDE I Teach 1st Conference and Teachers Pay Teachers Conference.
I will be presenting 4 sessions on Tuesday. 

I am SO nervous, but excited as well.  The conference is wonderful, and the energy is just amazing with that many teachers around.  It is quite the experience! 
Hope you are enjoying your summer.

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Free Printables for Parents

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I shared these last year as a Fan Freebie on my Facebook page, but I went ahead and threw them into my Teachers Pay Teachers store as a freebie.  This seems to be an easier way for some people to get the files.  I like to send these home during Parent-Teacher Conferences, but they are also perfect to include in a Welcome Packet for back to school.  Just click on any of the pictures below to head on over to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Printables-for-Parents-Freebie-1913266

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Printables-for-Parents-Freebie-1913266

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Printables-for-Parents-Freebie-1913266

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Printables-for-Parents-Freebie-1913266
 
I’d love for you to leave me some feedback in my store after you download them.


Bunny Math FREEBIE & April Nonfiction

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We are on Spring Break this week, but if you have school tomorrow, and you need a quick math activity for your students, this is perfect.
Students will spin on the Bunny Spinners to see what numbers they will be using to write their equations.  You can differentiate this according to each student’s level.  You can have them add two numbers, three numbers, or more.  You could have students subtract their numbers, or even multiply.

I have also included two different grouping mats if you would like to have the students demonstrate their equation using jelly beans or seasonal erasers.
 
This freebie also includes a recording sheet for students to write down their number sentences.
You can download this FREEBIE by clicking HERE.
 
I have finally finished my Nonfiction in April packet, as well.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nonfiction-in-April-1791024
 
This packet includes units on Farm Animals (cows, pigs, sheep, & chickens), Plants, Rocks & Minerals (metamorphic, igneous, & sedimentary rocks), and Dinosaurs.
If you have already purchased the entire year bundle, go back and redownload it to get the new update that includes April.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Year-of-Nonfiction-1564581
 


Open House Freebies

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Monday is our Back to School Open House/Meet the Teacher Night, so I have been busy getting the finishing touches done on my room and setting things out for Open House.
I have done Magic Confetti in the past, but when I came across the idea for Jitter Glitter instead from my friend, Krissy, at Mrs. Miner’s Monkey Business, I knew I was changing it up. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bTZllX7s9pT0pacnRQc2FaS1E/edit?usp=sharing
I made this right away and headed to Dollar Tree.  I was able to buy these little packets of glitter 5/$1, but the little tubes of glitter that Dollar Tree sells would also be perfect.  Just click on the picture above to download for FREE.
I also found this cute idea on Pinterest from Teach N Tex for Open House.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bTZllX7s9pWDU3OEZZc1czN2s/edit?usp=sharing
You can click on the picture to download this freebie.
 
I had also posted my brochures and “Thanks for Popping In” pictures on Instagram last week, so I wanted to share that free download just in case you couldn’t find it from previous posts on the blog.  Just click on the picture below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8bTZllX7s9pMDYybVQ0SnQtYUk/edit?usp=sharing
Here are just a couple more snapshots of my classroom.
 

 
I am officially finished in my classroom until Monday.  I’d like to say I’m going to have a nice relaxing weekend, but we are going to start moving into our new house, so I don’t think “relaxing” is in the plan.