The Start of Something New

Saturday, April 27, 2013

All things have a beginning, well everything except a circle.  But that would be another post about shapes.  So we’ll leave that subject for later.

Welcome!  I’m new to this wide, wonderful world of blogging…so forgive me if I make a few mistakes.  I promise...I'm a fast learner!

My school year is quickly coming to an end, which means yet another beginning.  Next year I’ll find myself at new school, but this time closer to home – like a total round trip commute of about 5 minutes! No, I’m not kidding.  I have spent the last 6 years at a school that is 30 minutes away from the house, which means a commute of about an hour a day.  I’m ready for a change!  Now that I have Bean (my 5 month old cutie-pie of a son) I’m jonesin’ to be closer to home.  Can anyone blame me? 

Well, this blog has been in construction in my mind for about year and I finally wanted to start and build it.  So consider this my groundbreaking move.  I want this blog to be a place where one can share ideas or pick up a new one. We teachers all love to share and collaborate, and I am no exception!

So I’m going to start out with a fun activity for writing.  As the year winds down and testing comes to a close, I like to do this with my students.  Now I teach 2^nd grade, but really – this is so fun that any grade could do this, even high-schoolers!  What is this fabulous activity you talk about, pray tell? Are you ready for it?  Are you sure?  Mr. Potato Head Monsters!  Oh my!  Here’s the jist:  I partner up my students into teams of 2.  I give them a blank potato head body and tell them the rules.  They have to fill every hole with a part.  They have to creative.  They can’t be “normal.”  I give them about 10 minutes to create a creature.  Then, together they must write a story with their creature as the main character.  They have to use details.  They have to use descriptive language.  They have to have at least 1GOOD paragraph.  Then they must draw their creature as best as they can.  If there is time that day, they get up in front of the class and share their creature and their story.  Sometimes we save the share part for the next day.  The kids really love this – they finally get to play with my toys and show off their creations!  Download the stationary here and enjoy! Here is a pic of just three of the creatures my kids made.  
Super cute, right?  The stories were equally impressive.

Now, I know this post is kinda on the 'long' side, but as well as starting this blog thing, I have taken the plunge and started a store on TeachersPayTeachers as well.  I guess if you're going to go swimming, you might as well jump in the deep first. Let's see where this ride will take me!

Happy Weekend!
Shauna