Shedding our Shells

At the end of each year I read The Hermit Crab to my students. As I read we discuss how they have filled their Kindergarten shell with what they have learned and now they need a bigger shell in First Grade to fill with knowledge next year. We brainstorm ideas together of what kind of things "filled our shells" this year (what they learned). Then I give each student a paper plate to paint with water color (which they LOVE....we don't get to do much painting anymore;) And then I give them pom poms, scraps of paper, stickers, buttons, basically anything you can find to glue on. Then I give each student writing paper to write about what they learned in Kindergarten. It's so cute to see what they come up with..things I may have even forgotten about. Finally, I have a little template of a hermit crab they cut out and I staple to the paper plate (it's a hard copy...I don't have an electronic copy...SORRY!) But it's super easy to do. So if you're looking for a good end of the year activity you might want to try this!

A HUGE Thank You!

So this year when all the office, nurse, custodians, cafeteria worker appreciation days came around I found myself panicking to get thank you notes to everyone. I mean where's the time!?!? So I came up with a template for students to draw a picture and write a little note to everyone and was going to just paste them on Poster Board. But my wonderful para came up with an adorable way to display the notes. I forgot to take pictures of the custodian broom she made out of poster board (so cute) and a tray made out of poster board for the cafeteria workers. I did snag a picture of the one for the nurse (the picture below). Everyone seemed to love them  and the students really enjoyed personalizing their own square.  So if you're looking for an easy way to give a big thank you this is the way to go! To download the thank you card template for FREE click HERE! What other ideas do you have for thank you notes? I would love to hear!