Anything's Possible~Imagination and Inspiration Grab Bags!

Hello Friends!

It's Jennifer from Stories and Songs in Second here to share some Dr. Seuss-inspired ideas that I hope you'll be able to include in some of your upcoming lessons!

On Friday morning as I was getting out of my car and heading into school, the van from Toledo's Imagination Station pulled into the parking space next to me.  I stopped to greet the two educators as they began unloading their tubs of science supplies for what promised to be a wonderful morning of exploration and discovery. Thanks to a grant written by one of our 5th grade teachers, all of our third, fourth, and fifth grade students were going to benefit from a magical and hands-on learning experience, and get a much-needed break from our mandated state tests!

As I helped them carry some of their materials to our gym, the wheels in my own brain began turning.  Even though my second graders could not participate in the planned Imagination Station event, I could host my own right in Room #2!  All I needed to do was open the doors of my "junk cupboards!"  

Since my class needed to make some kind of Seuss-like trees for our afternoon assembly featuring a slide show and Read-In-The-Round of Green Eggs and Ham, I decided that chenille stems (aka pipe cleaners), Scotch tape, and brightly-colored paper were just what my little "imagineers" needed.   After a short demonstration on how to best twist and attach everything, I gave them these directions...... 

• HAVE FUN!
• MAKE YOUR TREE LOOK DIFFERENT THAN YOUR NEIGHBORS!  
• USE YOUR IMAGINATION!

What ensued was 45 minutes of intense happiness and creativity! 

Granting my students unlimited access to pipe cleaners and paper of all colors was like handing them a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's candy factory.  

They were completely self-directed, very motivated, and uncustomarily quiet as they worked.  

I credit our reading of some of Dr. Seuss' more obscure stories last week for helping my group feel free to express themselves.  The whimsical and wonderfully different ideas and illustrations we enjoyed on the pages of McElligot's Pool, If I Ran The Circus, I Had Trouble In Getting To Solla Sollew, and To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street served as a great reference for my tree-makers, and inspired a fantastic and fabulous forest!

I can't wait to come back next week with STEM ideas from these two packets....

Mystery Bag Challenge for Kids

NEA Activity Guide for Read Across America

and put the "junk" I found at the Dollar General this morning 

inside these fun "grab bags" that I found this summer in the Target Dollar Spot....

and see what inventive contraptions and creatures my students come up with!

I also cannot wait to share this delightful story from Ashley Spires entitled 

The Most Magnificent Thing!  

It is a tale about a little girl and her dog who overcome frustration with perseverance and ingenuity.  It teaches a great lesson about "going back to the drawing board" many, many times before achieving success, and would be a great introductory read aloud for a unit on famous inventors or courageous American woman.

I hope that this post has provided you with some new ideas and ways to help your students' creative juices flow!  May this banner from my classroom be a daily reminder of Albert Einstein's wise and true words......

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

And may these lyrics from Anything's Possible remind you that unique and different ideas are sometimes the best kind!

Oh, the sea is so full of a number of fish!
If a fellow is patient, 

he might get his wish.
And that's why I think that I'm not such a fool,
when I sit here and fish in McElligot's pool....
It's possible!
Anything's possible!

Be sure to share this wonderful song from 

Seussical the Musical

 with your class!

Continue to keep calm, teach on, be creative, and stay colorful!

Yes! Pinterest CAN Help Your Blog! Read On for More Tips and Tricks!

Hello Friends!  

Cara here from Creative Playground
and I'm so happy to be with you today!

Us Ladies from the Primary Pack really strive to provide our readers with useful information that will assist you in your classroom, home, and in your personal life!  If you're a new visitor or a seasoned follower, I urge you to please take a look in our post history to find many, many useful and helpful posts that you can use today!  

Today will be no exception, I promise!  I'm sure you are all using Pinterest in some shape or form... You may have some boards for your personal use:  boards about your favorite dinners and cleaning tricks.  You may also have a Pinterest account for your business, like How to Boost Sales for example.  But today, I'd like to share some vital information about Pinterest and your Blog.

Yes!  Pinterest can help your Blog!

The following 10 tips are ones that will help you to help your blog.  So make sure to mark this post, or better yet, PIN this post to keep these tricks at your fingertips!  

Let's get this Pinterest Party started!

 Make sure your boards (both personal and business related) are relevant.  Get rid of boards that make no sense or are just willy-nilly pins.  If you want to keep those pins, make them a SECRET board.  Then only you have access to them!

 When you go to search for something on the Internet, how many of you use Pinterest as a search location?  If you're like me, you probably do!  When naming your pins, think of the search terms you or others might use to find your type of pin.  Name it that!

 You know that extra space that Pinterest gives you under the Title of your pin?  USE IT!  Try your best to include as many searchable terms and keywords as possible.  This is your big shot to lure others to your blog, which is what you want to do!  Also, make sure to add the link to your blog in this space.  You never know if your pin will end up at your blog, so give your readers the link to it just in case.

 Pin from your Blog Post, not your home page.  This makes readers upset that they'll have to travel all over your blog to find the information they're looking for!

Make sure your boards are categorized!  Try to put pins together that others will be able to search through easily.  If you don't want to change your pins or have those you want just for personal use, make them SECRET boards like mentioned above.

 Pay attention to topics that are trendy, or popular for the time!  If it is Spring, try to feature your Spring pins, not Winter ones.  If you're unsure of what is trendy at the time, check out Google and type in trends... It will tell you what's hot and what's not for that time period.

 Your blog MUST have Pin It Buttons!  Yes, it MUST!  If you don't have them, go back to your Blog Designer and ask her to add them to your blog.  Your readers need to be able to pin straight from your blog.  Without those buttons, it just makes it harder for them to do so.

 This is a no-no!  Don't place a pin on your boards and have it intentionally not lead to your post that you have it on.  Doing this will only make your readers upset, which you don't want to do.  We want happy readers!

 Before pinning an image from another location, make sure it leads somewhere!  These types of Blind Pins will also make a reader uneasy about you or your boards.  We want our readers to be confident about what your providing.  So make sure your pins aren't done blindly.

This is a topic many have for discussion...  Should you have a separate account for your business and personal boards?  NO!  It will just cause more confusion for you.  Also, you want to make that personal connection with your readers!  So let them in on what interests you (via your boards) so they know you're a real person just like them.  Make that connection!

I hope you were able to find some of these tips helpful for you and your Blog.  If you have any other tips for everyone out there, please leave them in the comments below!  We'd love to hear what works for you!

Until Next Time My Friends,

'Spring Into Learning' Freebie Packet & Product Link-Up

We can't believe it's almost spring and YES we are very happy about it!
Spring means more sunshine, warmer weather, and YES SPRING BREAK!

This month we want to give something to our readers to have for your students during Spring Break. We hope this will help you keep your students learning, while they are off on break and give them something to avoid the boredom that may come. 

We are very excited to be back again to share this March edition freebie booklet... it's our 'Spring Into Learning' Freebie Packet from The Primary Pack

This exclusive, freebie pack is full of printable activities for you to give your students while they are off on break or use in your classrooms for spring. They are no-prep, print-and-go style activities! There are activities for K through 3rd grade, so that you can make a custom Spring Break booklet for your students. 

Simply click the cover below to download.

We would also love it if you shared your own Spring freebies and products with our readers by linking up below! Please follow the guidelines and join us!

Remember you can link up with any Spring Themed Freebies or Products!

An InLinkz Link-up

We hope you enjoy our freebie booklet and that you grab and discover many great spring freebies and products from the link-up. Please check out our full products and stores, included within the booklet.

We'd also love to hear from you! Leave us a comment and share with us your favorite Spring Break activity.

Save Time by Integrating Across the Curriculum and a FREEBIE!

Hey ~ This is Karen and Kelly from Kennedy's Korner.  We are here at the Primary Pack on the 4th of every month.  Today we are sharing tips and tools to help you integrate Science and Social Studies. 

If you are like me..  I always have a hard time fitting in time to teach Science and Social Studies.  So over the years I have learned how to integrate my units into my ELA block.  

Social studies is an often-neglected subject in elementary school because typically it isn't on the state tests our students take. However, informational text comprehension is tested so every teacher should find a way to teach Social Studies during the ELA block.   If you think about it, what better way to teach non-fiction reading strategies than through interesting and relevant resources that relates to the world our students live in.  Science is a subject that is tested in most states and children generally love this subject because it is more hands on than social studies.  BUT I still have difficulty finding time to teach it as a stand alone subject, even though that is the expectation in most districts.  

I have found a way around this dilemma and I am here to share with you some tips and tools to help you integrate it across the curriculum in your room too. 

Kennedy's Korner Store 

Pick up our Frog Learning Log HERE for FREE for the month of MARCH.  

We hope our post was helpful and gave you some ideas how you can find more time to teach science and social studies.  

You can find us at Kennedy's Korner. We hope you stop by soon! 

Tips and Tricks to Survive Parent/Teacher Conferences

Hey there! It's Megan from A New Box of Crayons, here to share some tips and tricks on surviving Parent/Teacher Conference week! 

This week I am getting ready to complete my second, and final, round of Parent/Teacher Conferences...and let me tell you...I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I sat down today to think of the things that I have done that have made my life easier when prepping for conferences and I thought I would share them with you! Conference time can be overwhelming and stressful, so take a breather and enjoy my video of tips and tricks! 

Click the images below to grab your copy of these helpful products!

Self and Peer Assessment Made Easy & A Freebie

Hi Everyone! It's Emily from Emmy Mac's Class! 

Over the last few years I have experimented with a variety of ways to use Self and Peer Assessment in my classroom. 

I've used the Two Stars and a Wish! Which is effective when it's done right. But tricky for Firsties to do independently.

I have used the dreaded  CHECKLIST! Why did I bold and capitalize this word? Because majority of the time my little kiddos lie. They don't mean to, BUT they do. They don't check their work or their peers work, they just circle every happy face or give each box a checkmark. Don't get me wrong I love checklists...I just can't always get them to work with my students.

What I have found is really effective is the use of arrows.

This is what I do....

First I take the success criteria or the elements that I want them to be working on and put them on the arrows. For example, right now we are working on letter writing. I want them to have the following in their letter: Date, Dear, 3 Facts about them, 3 Questions, Punctuation, and a Sign off. Those items go on the arrow. You could also use sticky but I like how the arrow can point to where the student has used the success criteria.

These arrows are from my letter writing unit.

Students than place them on their work in the correct spot. i.e. If they have the question arrow they find a question. I have partners work together to assess each others work. We talk about the fact that it's not a big deal if someone is missing something but, that we do need to fix it. 

I also use larger arrows to model with the students how to assess my own work during modeled and shared writing.

Interested in trying it out? Click HERE or on the picture. Download these free arrows, write your success criteria on them, cut them and out and you are ready to go.

If you are looking for ready made arrows for self and peer assessment check out my writing units.