My Tee-Shirt Project

Every year I ask my class to send in a new white tee-shirt in the spring for my annual tee-shirt project.  I create a design and use transfer paper to put it onto the shirts.  I usually spend Mother's Day creating or ironing on the designs.  I've done it for so long I feel like an expert.
    To save money I make my design using half a sheet.  Kids sized shirts are don't need any bigger designs.  Over the years I would incorporate my theme of the year into the shirt.  I always dated them and put kids names somewhere into the design.  Some years I would even have the kids make some kind of small design in MS Paint and I would put it on their sleeve.  I don't do that any more.  It was too hard to keep track of all the individual designs and teeshirts.  Now I create the design using only kid creations.  I have the kids make portraits of themselves in MS Paint and I use Picasso to collage all the pictures into a nice neat layout.  I add a title and ba-zinga..... the design is done.  I only use Avery transfer paper.  I find it the easiest to use.

Check out this year's design.  We will wear them for the first time on our field trip to the fabulous Tyler Place right here in Highgate on May 21st.  It's a terrific family resort.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Tea

It's been a long time since my last post.  I guess I've been crazy busy lately.  Yesterday was our special day to celebrate our moms.  It was our Mother's Day tea.  Check out our end of the year slide show and our photostories to our moms.

Slideshow

Photostories

Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms in my life.

Field Trip to the Theater

A couple of weeks ago our first and second grades enjoyed a field trip to Burlington to attend a performance at the Flynn Theater.  The show was If You Give A Mouse A Cookie was a  fun and fantastical show ithat was delightfully adapted for the stage by TheatreworksUSA.  It was an awesome show.  Our kids loved the whole experience.

    Our school was treated to a workshop by two talented teachers from the Flynn Theater.  The day before the performance Suzann Olson came to Highgate to introduce our kiddos to the art of performance.  They put the kids through their paces.  Check out the video of the fun my first graders had with Suzanne.  This workshop was a perfect introduction to the theater performance.  Thank you Flynn Theater for offering this essential program to enrich our kids lives.

It's April

            We have about 50 days left to our school year.  Time is flying by and spring is in the air.  It's mud season and the sap is flowing into buckets and tubes all throughout Vermont and Northern New York.   The ice is almost out of the lake and there are still just a few patches of snow hanging around.  Soon every thing will start green up and we can leave winter behind us.  I love this time of year!

One  Fun and Crazy Class

New Fun Link and a Spring Freebie

I came across this great link that is new to me but not new for many people.  It was created for adults to use for instant feedback at conferences.  I have adapted it for use in my classroom.  It's called Today's Meet.  It's found at www.todaysmeet.com  

 I created a room with a question for my kids to answer or respond to.  Then I put a link up on my webpage for them to access the site.  It is a very simple website.  You go to the website and create a room.  Keep the name simple.  It will become your link.  Then in your first post, create a question.   I like that my kids have to type their name and then their answer to my question and it's a simple click to post their response.   And the best part is that it's FREE!  You can cut and paste all responses in one highlight to be able to save permanently.  You get to choose how long the page and responses stay up anywhere from 2 hours to 1 month.  I just love it.  Here is what my kids did with the Question: What would you do if you caught a leprechaun?

Check out Today's Meet for an easy way to tap into your students' knowledge.  Good Luck!

Also check out a post I wrote 2 years ago for a great spring freebie!

Trapping A Leprechaun

We are sure there was a leprechaun lurking around our classroom this past week.  It's a good thing my class created leprechaun traps to try to capture one.  Oh the messes he left all week long took us way too long to clean up.  I am so glad the our leprechaun has moved on to greener pastures (namely back home to Ireland).  There was green glitter sprinkled all over the carpet , books and even on the traps.  Our shoes were lost for a good part of a morning but were found in the bathroom.  We suspect that the tricky leprechaun stole them because the toilet water was green even after we flushed it.  He was kind on our last day when he left us necklaces, and candies.  He wasn't fooled by any of the fabulous traps.  Maybe next year.........
Check out how great all of our traps were!

St. Patrick's Day Videos

Erin Go Braugh..........Ireland Forever!  I love St. Patrick's Day.  Today I share some YouTube videos with you.  My students will be bringing in their leprechaun traps this week and I will share them next week with you all.

St. Patrick's day Hat

Leprechaun Hat

Leprechaun Stories and crafts  15 mins.

Song: Eat Potatoes and Cabbage

Song