I have really be into using my windows as an additional project display.  Taking what is otherwise dead space and making it something pretty is just up my alley as of late.  So, using clear contact paper and sharpies, we created this amazing art project that really had some awesome WOW factor!  Honestly, there isn't much to this project. The kids looked at the original painting (we did a narrative writing project with it) and then drew their best rendition of it on a 12" x 17" piece of clear contact paper.  They then used colored sharpies to color it in.  Since we don't have white sharpies, I did buy white paint pens.  Those weren't super successful (they peeled off when I put them on the window) but the rest of the colors looked great! Would you like to know more about the narrative writing assignment my students did in connection with this art project?   You can read what we did, as well as pick up the printables, here. ...

For the past two years, I have read the book The Fantastic Frame to my students.  It is a fun little novel series where two kids get sucked into a famous painting (the first painting is Tiger in a Storm)  After we finished reading, I took that idea and had the kids create their own shadow box with THEM getting sucked into the famous painting.  They then wrote a narrative to accompany their painting.   Once the students wrote their narrative, they created the background of the painting they said they were sucked into.  The first year we did this, the students could choose one of three different famous paintings.  The second year, I just had them do the painting from the book.   It was easier that way ;)  They then inserted the background into the shadow boxes. The boxes themselves are just standard 9 x 12 x 2 shipping boxes I bought off of Amazon.  I then cut a hole into the front of the box to make the "window". Once the backgrounds were in,......

If you are anything like me, you probably spent the few days before Earth Day trying to find a quick and easy lesson (or set of lessons) you could do with your class that would be meaningful but not too time consuming.  I mean, with THE TEST only a week away, I wanted to acknowledge the day but still have some worthwhile rigor thrown in there.  So here is what we did to make sure that is exactly what happened. We started the day watching the Earth Day BrainPop .  It was free on April 22, which was perfect for my needs.  It gives a little history and insight into how the day came to be.  Then we watched the BrainPop Jr video about reducing, reusing, and recycling.  (this one is also free to access without an account.)  That helped my kids to see ways that they personally could reduce their waste.  We made a list of all of the different things we heard and ways we could reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Next, I read the kids The Earth Book by Todd......

Is there a project you do in your classroom that you keep returning back to year after year?  These "Foil Balloons" are that go-to for me.  They have been a staple in my classroom for nearly 27 years and other than a few off mentions here on my blog, I can't believe I haven't written a formal post about them until now!   This is strictly an art project.  I mean, I ALWAYS tie it to something that we are doing in class (ie: poetry, social studies, science, etc...) but the balloons themselves are just a really cool art piece that looks amazing when hung on the ceiling.   Here is what you will need  (I am linking all of these to my Amazon Affiliate storefront.  You can use any brand that you like though)  HEAVY DUTY foil (this just holds up better when the kids are working with it) Pen (pencil works too but pen is just better) Sharpies Access to a large school-sized laminator Straw Scissors Packing tape Fishing Line You can click here to find all of t......

Do you ever have an idea for a lesson but you don't know 100% where it is headed or how it will turn out?  That is what happened this year in the days leading up to Thanksgiving Break.   I knew I wanted to use the book Balloons Over Broadway and have some sort of writing and art response to it all, but I wasn't exactly sure what that would look like.  What my class actually ended up producing was FANTASTIC and is now currently my most favorite place to gaze at in my classroom.   We began by reading the book Balloons Over Broadway.  This is the story of how a puppeteer named Tony Sarg reinvented the Macy's Christmas Parade (which would turn into the Thanksgiving Parade) by adding large rubber balloons instead of live animals into the parade route.  We gathered a lot of factual information about the parade by reading this book. Then, we looked at videos of the parade itself.  Interestingly, my students had never seen this particular parade!  So I sh......

This week we took a little break from learning the heavy hitting standards to venture into the world of Zentangle.  I had my kids break out a piece of white copy paper (or, since not all of the kids have this handy at home, it was ok if they just used lined paper from their notebooks) and they drew a pumpkin shape.  We learned about Zentangle patterns and they covered their pumpkins in the patterns.  Then, they used a sharpie or other black marker to outline the pattern.  Finally they colored it in using various shades of orange.  (Every year, when in class, I have done this fun little art project with my students.  You can read a detailed description of how we created these pumpkins here on Panicked Teacher's blog.) Now, since we are virtual, I don't really have the traditional way of displaying the final art projects.  So I was forced to get a bit creative.  Instead of the usual display, I decided that we could pretend we were picking these pu......

As Spring Break approaches, I find that my fifth graders are in need of some reminders as to what it means to be kind to each other.   In general, they are sweet kids, but at times the words they use and actions they take, particularly on the playground, aren't the kindest.    Our read aloud for the month is Wonder  by RJ Palacio so the theme of kindness fit right into our room.  It just so happens that a new book, We're All Wonders by RJ Palacio, a picture book intended for younger readers to access the story, came out this week as well.  So the timing was perfect. (the two links above are my affiliate links and will take you to Amazon to buy the books.) I began by asking the students what kindness is.  We brainstormed a list of ideas and created an anchor chart.  Then I read the picture book to the students.  Because we had just finished Wonder, they were so excited to read this new version.  When we finished, I asked the ki......

How is that for a title?  If you have been following my blog the past few months, you know that I am quickly turning into a Google teacher.  I find myself thinking of the standards I want to teach and integrating them with technology tools to enhance the learning experience in an authentic way.  Such was the case as we entered our 13 colonies unit. In the past, I had the students make these fabulous colony "balloons" .  They enjoyed working together to research and create the project.  But this year, I wanted to do something different and with the availability of the chrome books in our school, I decided that we could use the Google Suite to make the research a bit easier for all. (however, ALL of this project can be done without computers.  Books and paper will work JUST as well...so don't stop reading if you don't have access to computers!!) First, I created one document in Google Sheets for each colony.  I had locked in the "question" area s......