2D Shape Fun with Angry Birds ...

One of the advantages of being a Mama to three girls of such varying ages, is that I always have a sounding board when I am trying to create fun and engaging learning activities for teaching.

This past week in maths our focus was on 2D shapes.  We did lots of fun problem solving tasks throughout the week.  The geo boards were a real hit (thanks must go to my lovely fellow co-worker, Miss T for the loan of her geo boards!!).

I wanted a fun activity for the end of the week and I really LOVE using visual arts to teach maths and to satisfy the curriculum outcomes.  I was thinking of doing a guided drawing lesson using a character from a picture book, like the lesson I posted about here, but after some convincing from my own girls, we went with an Angry Birds theme!

First I created three reference posters in my Paint program, with three different Angry Birds.

The kiddies had to choose their favourite of the three and then they had to use the shapes template to create their Angry Bird.  I only provided the basic shapes and the kiddies had to draw the extra ones they needed (for example, I only supplied them with one rectangle for an eyebrow and they had to draw the other one.  Doing this helped satisify more of the maths outcomes than if I had just given them all the pieces needed....).

They had so much fun creating their Angry Birds!  They pasted their creations onto a worksheet that I printed up, then they had to use the word bank at the bottom, to answer the question of which shapes they used and how many of each shape... (Don't you just love it when you provide a word bank....but they don't even look at it *sigh*)

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead!

Thanks for stopping by!

'Rainbow' Tree Frog Art...

When you live in a small country town sometimes it is faster and easier to make do with what you have around you, rather than ordering online and waiting for things to get to you!  I know that there is a fabulous product called Scratch Art Paper, however, when it came to one of our visual arts lessons last term that tied in with our unit on Wet & Dry Environments, I decided to wing it and use what was in the store room!

We grabbed some white art paper and the kiddies used oil pastels to cover the rough surface of the paper, with brightly coloured stripes (yes we used smocks... just love the mess that oil pastels make *not*!!).

We then painted the entire page of bright stripes with black tempera paint (2 - 3 layers of black paint were required to cover the oil pastel to my liking)!

I then used a lead pencil to transfer a tracing of a tree frog onto each sheet and the kiddies used the blunt end of a skewer to trace the tree frog outline ... revealing the fabulous bright colours underneath!

The reaction from the class as they revealed their 'rainbow tree frogs' was just priceless and they were ALL so proud of their artworks!  I think they did a fabulous job and created such wonderful pieces:)

Sure it would have been easier to use a commercial scratch art paper, but the things we learned about colour and technique along the way would have been lost if we had done so :)  I love this lesson because it provided the opportunity for ALL my students to have a successful and positive experience with art, regardless of their abilities!  To see them all so proud of their efforts just made my day!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Teacher Note Card Giveaway, Just For You...

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Well my 2 week Autumn school break is coming to an end.  It has been a great two weeks of re-motivation and creativity here in the Rubie household,  not just for me, but also for our girls.

I am back to the classroom on Monday and one of the things that I noticed I needed last term, but didn't have... were little note cards that I could send home to a parent to thank them for something they had done or sent in with their child, or even just to pop on a colleague's desk to brighten their day.  So I of course hopped online and I knew I wanted an owl theme.  I couldn't find anything that I really, really loved...so I made my own (and yes they match my blog header!!).

I will be listing the PRINTABLE 'A Note From The Teacher' cards pdf, in my Teachers Notebook store ...

 but as an end of break giveaway, I will be giving away three Notecard pdfs that are personalised with the winners' names, just like the ones I made for myself.

A lot of giveaways and freebies are products that are geared towards students, so I just wanted to giveaway something that was JUST FOR YOU!

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  

To enter, just leave a comment on this post letting me know if you would like to be in the draw, preferrably with a contact email address.  I will get each of the Rubie girls to draw a name from a hat (yep love the old fashioned lottery system!!).  The giveaway will be open until 5pm Sunday evening, Eastern Australian time.


Please note that this is a printable PDF which you will need to print onto light card stock, trim and fold yourself to make your own note cards.

GOOD LUCK & THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

Early Reader Printable Booklet Freebie

Hi everyone!  I hope that you are all having a wonderful start to your week:)  There has been lots of fun and learning happening at our home today (yes, even in the school break!!).  Our little Lottie started Kindergarten this year and until then, she would stubbornly show a huge disinterest in anything reading and writing related!!

But she is just loving learning now and the proud little look on her face when she gets sight words correct, or reads one of her early reader books, just makes my heart melt ... I am just so proud and so happy FOR her:)

Anyways, Lottie requested that I make her 'a dinosaur book to read'.  So tonight I have made up a really simple little early reader booklet which focuses on the sight words LOOK,  AT and THE.  It also focuses on some of the colour words (color for my US friends!!).  Again, I have used the fabulous clip art by Kirsten at KPM Doodles.

So here it is ...

It is just a simple 8 page booklet (you need to cut each page in half along the dotted line and then staple it together.  Apologies if it does not line up exactly!!).

If you can use it and you would like to get the freebie copy from Google Docs, JUST CLICK HERE.  I hope you find it useful.  I know that I will be using it in class with my littlest blossoms.

Thanks for stopping by!

Classroom Labels ...

Wow, I don't think I have been so creative in ages, it really is amazing how getting a clean bill of health can make you feel!!  I am not sure if I have said that I am so lucky to be staying with 'my' class for another term!!  I am caretaker for my class, and as the classroom I am in really 'belongs' to the class teacher, I have been really hesitant to even touch anything!  I am serious... I even felt weird writing on the class whiteboard at first.

Because we have started literacy centres this past term, I have had to move the classroom around and have brought lots of blue and green plastic tubs to organise things.  I find that I feel really unsettled if the classroom is messy or even disorganised (yeah I know...why did I choose teaching as a career? LOL!).  Anyway, I thought that I would go even further with temporarily personalising the classroom and yesterday I created lots of classroom labels and tags to go on all of those tubs:)  Oh ... and of course they are colour coordinated and feature cute little owls!!  Again, I have used the gorgeous clip art from KPM Doodles and Saraink, both of whom you will find on Etsy.

There are 33 large rectangular labels which are great for tubs, baskets, shelves or walls... (I have included both American and English spelling on the labels).  Labels include such words as:  art, glue, writing, paper, crayons etc...

There are also 24 round classroom reader tags.  These are numbered 1 - 20+ for levelled readers.  There is also a 'chapter books tag', a 'non-fiction books' tag, a 'familiar readers' tag and a blank tag.

Also... I have included round tags which spell out the word 'welcome' for you to create a welcome garland for your classroom.  Also included for the garland is a blue flower tag, an orange flower tag and a little blue owl tag.

I made this packet for myself, but my Miss Olivia (11yrs) thought that other owl loving teachers may like them for their classroom too?  So I have listed them in my Teachers Notebook store for $2.00.  HOWEVER....

This giveaway is now closed!  Congratulations to the 3 winners and thank you so much for your comments:)

 I have 3 'Little Blue Owl' Classroom Labels and Tags packets to giveaway to the first three owl loving teaching friends who are follwers of my blog and who leave a comment on this post, along with their contact email address.

Thanks for stopping by!

Presto, Change-o!!

Well if you have visited my blog before, you might notice something is a little bit different!!  I had been meaning to get a blog makeover for a while now, as my original blog design was my very first attempt and I did it in a hurry...just to get my blog up.

Well I am a Queen of Procrastination, and yes I have 7 more days until term 2 begins ... AND I still have to do my teaching program.  But, I have had a bee in my bonnet about changing the look of my blog, so I spent all day giving it a makeover.

I think that this new design really captures more of ME!  Owls are my favourite animal, I love teal & green together and I love spots and bunting!

To create the new look for my blog I used some gorgeous spotty clip art from my favourite clip art designer, Kirsten from KPM Doodles.  I then added the cutest little owl, ribbon and bunting clip art from Sara at Saraink.  I just love how it has turned out.  If you haven't visited either of these fabulous designers on Etsy, you really need to make sure that you pop on over!!

I also have a new blog button, so please feel free to grab the code from my sidebar, and change out the old one if you have it!

Yesterday, thanks to the wonderful encouragement from my dear husband and three daughters, I also mustered up the courage to open a Teachers Notebook store.

 At the moment, I am just listing my freebies,

including this customiseable Dinosaur 'I have, who has...?' game which goes really well with the Dinosaur Stomp Spelling activity from my last post (yes, I do like things to match and am a huge fan of symmetry :O).  Hope you find the time to stop by, you can find the link in my sidebar or you can click on the shopfront image above.

I do still intend to upload my freebies to Google Docs.  If you would like to download this freebie from there, then just CLICK HERE.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dinosaur Stomp Spelling Activity Freebie...

Hi everyone!  I am on a real roll here, trying to get as many literacy centres created and made for my kiddos, before I start back at school next week - phew still 7 days break to go!

This Dinosaur Stomp spelling activity is along the same lines as the Pirate Treasure Spelling Activity from my last post.  You can check that out by clicking HERE.  Again, I have used the fabulous clip art from Kirsten at KPM Doodles.  If you have not checked Kirsten's clip art out, you should head over there straight away!!  Kirsten has very generous terms of use conditions for teachers!!

This Dinosaur Stomp version uses dinosaur egg shaped letter discs to create the spelling words.  I have printed these out onto colour card stock (and I don't think I will even bother laminating them!!) ...

then students write their words on the recording sheets.

This time I have also included a 'Make your own Find-a-Word puzzle' worksheet that my students can complete using their spelling words.  The advantage of having our middle daughter in the 6th grade, is that she helps me with activities for my 1st and 2nd graders to do.  My extended Yr 2 kiddos love making their own find-a-word puzzles, so they should really enjoy this added worksheet!

CLICK HERE to download this FREEBIE from Google Docs.

Again, I hope that you can find this useful in your own classrooms.  I have another couple of versions on the way... my little Lottie, who is in Kindergarten, wants me to make a fairy version and a truck version...looks like I may be busy tonight!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pirate Treasure Spelling Freebie...

I am so lucky to have a class full of 1st and 2nd graders who love to practise their spelling words!  Seriously...when we have a spare 5 minutes or if I have early finishers, they ask if they can write their spelling words!  Favourite ways to do this are on the individual white boards and of course using the jumbo pencils that I posted about HERE.

We have implemented a new literacy program for Grade 1 and 2 this year, as part of a trial program.  Part of that involves us having our class doing literacy centres while I am doing guided reading... nothing new for most of you out there, I know!!  The only downside to this has been that the amount of time that we are required to spend on guided reading AND writing every day, has taken our spelling time away (OK, I am pretty OC when it comes to spelling, so I was 'borrowing' time from science and computer lab, to ensure that my kiddos got their spelling and handwriting practise in)!!

Anyhoo... I first saw some fabulous spelling gems over at the lovely Tara's blog,  4th Grade Frolics, a while back.  I decided to put a pirate themed twist to them and my kiddos LOVE this spelling centre!!

I bought clear glass gems from a local cheapy shop and then used a sharpie to write the letters onto the sticky side of small round dots.  I just stuck these to the flat sides of the glass gems and voila....pirate treasure letters!   I store my pirate treasure gems in an old instant coffee can.

I have used the fabulous graphics from the very lovely Kirsten at KPM Doodles, to make up the centre into a  packet to share as a FREEBIE.

The packet includes a storage container label...

Two worksheets with different pictures,  that you can either just photocopy or laminate (which is my preference, as we have a photocopy limit)...

And lastly, I know that sometimes people are not able to get hold of the clear glass gems, so I have included alphabet circle sheets in the packet, so that you can just print them out onto yellow card, cut and laminate them, and there you will have gold pirate coins :)

CLICK HERE to download the Pirate Treasure Spelling packet.

I hope that you can find this spelling centre useful and that your kiddies have lots of fun using it to learn their spelling words.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Aussie Visual Arts Unit of Work Freebie...

Hi everyone!

It seems that I have been MIA lately,  more than I had realised.  I am a pretty private person and would like to remain so...but I will apologise and say that I have had quite a big health scare over the last little while, and have been spending my energy and my focus on my students, my family and myself.

I am currently on a 2 week school break and received good news yesterday,  regarding my health.  So once my school break is over ( and believe me, I am not wishing it away...as I am loving having the time at home with my girls), I will be back into blogging and catching up on everything that I have missed!!

At the  moment, as you know, I am teaching a combined Year 1 / Year 2 class.  However, I have a Visual Arts unit of work that I compiled, which would be suitable for Yrs 3 - 6.  I have used it with a Yr 3 class and it was a lot of fun!

If you are not familiar with a lot of Australian artists, it is a great introduction for you :)  Sidney Nolan was such an amazing Australian artist and the subject of the collection in the unit of work, Ned Kelly, is such an iconic, popular and fun subject for kids to study!!   I mean let's face it... which kid doesn't love bushrangers!! This unit of work can be linked into many other key learning areas, such as Social Science and English!

The unit of work has lesson outlines as well as a work booklet for your students to complete over the series of lessons. The PDF document has my home state's learning outcomes listed, so you will have to ignore those if they are not required (sorry my laptop died and took my Word version with it!!).   I hope that someone can find it useful!!  To download the document from Google Docs, just click HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I wish you all a wonderful end to your week!!  I am really looking forward to catching up on everything that you have been up to (yes, that means actually commenting instead of 'lurking;...gee I hate that word!!).

I am taking our girls to see 'The Lorax' tomorrow...has anyone seen it yet?  What did you think?

Kind Regards,