End of the Year Gift

The school year is coming to an end which means CrAzY, cRaZy, CrAzY!  Summer officially begins in one week, which is hard to believe considering today we had rain, hail and SNOW (that actually stuck to the ground for a while)!  What a day!! 
I created an end of the year teacher gift for my daughter's teacher.  If you have never tried out WORDLE, you totally should!   I had my daughter list all the things she could think of pertaining to this school year.

I really like the wordle puzzles where the words are going both horizontal and vertical, but this was my daughter's project and she created it the way she wanted. 

So...where to begin?  Here is a step by step of what to do:

1.  Go to WORDLE

2.  Click on create.

3.  Type in a list of words you want into the box.  One word or phrase per line.  When you are done click on GO and your project will appear.

4.  From here you can edit your wordle puzzle...the direction of the words, font, colors, etc.

5.  Print your wordle and trim your paper down to 8 x 10.  (If you want your wordle in a 5x7 frame, reduce your wordle on a copy machine first.  Get a frame and you are done!

For FAQ click on the link, otherwise these were some tips I found very helpful...

*All words will be the same size of font, unless you type the same word multiple times.  For example, if I were typing up words that described my family, but wanted my last name to really stand out, I would type my last name 2 or 3 times so that it would appear 2-3 times larger than the other words.

*If you want 2 or more words side by side in your wordle, add a ~ between each word. (Mr. Smith would look like Mr.~Smith)

*I saved my word list on Microsoft Word so that I could edit anything I didn't like or change it up.  Just a suggestion because it's better be to safe than sorry right!?!

Hope this idea helps out.  This would also make for a great Mother's Day/Father's Day gift!



Mother's Day Gifts

OH. MY. GOODNESS. Am I glad to see Friday here or what?  What a week.  I am sure most of you are feeling the same way!  This was such a great week with it being Teacher Appreciation week, but this close to the end of the school year also made it a crazy week.  Anyway, I realize that it is probably too late for any more Mother's Day ideas with your students, but if you are still looking for a craft idea to do with your own kids, then maybe one of these ideas can help.
I really liked this idea from Second Grade is Splendid.  

She used these {personalized} tiles as coasters, but I was thinking of something similar to these only using the tiles as...well...tiles.  I am sure you have seen tiles with vinyl sayings on them which sit in a stand (small easel).  Whichever way works for you, I think it would make a simple, cute and personal gift for mom!
Another really great mom idea is this bottle of leMOMade from Diary of a First Grade Teacher.

What did my class do for the moms this year?  Well my inspiration came from IKEA.  On a quick run into the store last weekend (literally in and out in 15 minutes) I was searching for small easels to make the tile project (mentioned above).  IKEA did not have any easels, but while I was looking in the picture department, I came across these 2 sided picture frames for only $0.99 each.

When I saw them I instantly thought of how perfect these would make for a Mother's Day gift, especially since I still didn't have an idea.  Well here is what we ended up doing with them:
I gave the kids each a 4 x 6 white cardstock and told them to draw a picture of their moms the best that they could.  Here are a few...

 Then I gave them each a questionnaire about their moms that they had to fill out with their best spelling and handwriting.  (Sorry the first one turned out blurry.)

My mom is a good cook because she makes _________________. (#1 answer:  hotdogs!)
My mom taught me how to _____________________.
I know my mom is smart because she knows how to _______________.
My mom makes me laugh when she _____________.
I know my mom loves me because she _____________.
(All of my students have moms, but be sensitive to those who don't!)

The last thing the kids got to do was decorate their picture frames anyway they wanted using Sharpies.  Each student decorated a lunch sack for their gift bag and took them home today.  I think the moms should appreciate these frames.  After all, don't most moms love a good homemade gift?!?

Mother's Day Portraits

I absolutely love this Mother's Day idea for the classroom!  The idea comes from Lesson Plans SOS but can be purchased from TpT HERE.  I am not so sure it would work for my 1st graders, unless I adjusted the prices and kept the same concept.  I think 2nd and 3rd graders would find this to be a blast though!!

Basically the students were allowed a $5.00 budget to spend on "mom" items at the Ma Store.  They were given a price list of the mom items and had to come up with what they would spend their money on.  Once their lists were approved, the kids could buy their items and begin creating their moms.  Some of the items to buy included buttons, googly eyes, hair, clothing, jewelry, etc.  Honestly, these are so stinkin' cute!  Here's a look at a few more, but head over to Lesson Plans SoS for the full scoop.

Further down on their post, they described about a Mom Spa the class hosted for the moms.  Sounds like a fun activity!

Mother's Day Ideas

With Mother's Day being only a few days from now, if you haven't found something yet, it's not too late!  Check out these ideas...
Frogs and Bees Under the Seas has FREE downloadable gift tags for Mother's Day.

A super cute All About Mom book that is a FREE download from Fabulous in First.

Make some Mother's Day Stationary using the template from In the Teacher's Lounge.

Several Art ideas for Mother's Day from Art Projects for Kids.

GREAT new craft ideas over at the Crafty Crow.



What are you doing for your moms?  I will be sharing what my class did  today later {hopefully tonight} after a ball game...