Five for Friday: The Last Week of School Rewind (with Two Freebies for the Summer)

Well, I've made it across another finish line.  Finish line number fourteen, if your counting.  I'm sure you are not shocked in the least to know that my last week of school was crazy busy.  There were all sorts of things going on at school and outside of school.  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's weekly Five for Friday to share some of the highlights from the crazy week that was.

Number 1

This week we finished our data collection and mini books to go along with our Graduation Glyphs.  The Graduation Kid mini books are a combination of individual student info, class memories, and data collected from the glyphs.  My firsties had a great time with these and really liked the autograph pages.  This project was perfect for the end of the year and a nice keepsake.

For more information about the mini book and glyph, click on one of the pictures above.

Number 2

Since our last week of school is in May, we are never in session during the weeks leading up to Father's Day.  We don't want our dads to feel slighted, so we made our Father's Day Booklets, My Rad Dad, before we left on break.
In this booklet students complete statements about their fathers and then illustrate that statements.  They always turn out really cute and this year was no exception.

Hopefully my young learners will keep up with their booklets long enough to give them to their dads.

A made a booklet for D a little early so I could show a sample to the class.  It cracks me up that she says her dad is as strong as a cow ("because if a cow steps on your foot, it really hurts") and is good at wrestling.  I'm sure D will love it when she gives it to him.

If you would like a free copy of this FREE Father's Day booklet, click on one of the pictures.

Number 3

I wanted to share the end of the year gift I gave my sweet students.

It was a framed picture of our class.  I usually keep things simple and give a book or some kind of photograph to my firsties as we say good bye.  This year it was a picture and it went over really well.  

Our school does year books and group class pictures, but the majority of my students do not get either.  I think they really appreciated getting a picture of their classmates to keep.

Number 4

This week I also spent some time putting together a summer review packet for the kindergartners that will be first graders when school starts back.  This packet includes an eight week calendar with suggested literacy and math review activities, as well as cut apart manipulatives to use with some of the activities.

If you would like a FREE copy of my Summer Break Review packet to use with your students, click on the picture below.

The clip art for the Summer Break Review packet and My Rad Dad is from Scrappin Doodles.

Number 5

Speaking of kindergartners on the move to first grade, please indulge me in a proud mom moment.   A  finished kindergarten this week.  I really can't believe this year has already came and went. 

She had a great year, with a super fantastic awesome teacher and made many new friends.  D and I are so proud of her.  

And as scheduling would have it,  A's last day of kindergarten was also her very first ballet recital.  It was a big day for the whole family and probably good to have something to distract me from thinking about how quickly she is growing up.

We are certainly looking forward to some time off this summer.  If you are still weeks away from summer break, hang in there.  Each day you're a little closer.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Graduation Glyphs (A Fun End of the Year Activity)

Go get on the elliptical . . . do a blog post . . . fold laundry . . . do a blog post . . . go to bed and sleep until Friday . . . do a blog post.  Hmm, I guess I better do a blog post.
I'm not quite sure what has happened this spring, but finding time to fit everything in has been impossible.  But I've challenged myself to a fifteen minute post tonight, so that I can still get in a workout before bed.
So here goes.
What have we been up to this week?  Well, considering it's our last full week of school (please don't hate me).  We've been assessing, reviewing, and working in a couple of keepsake projects.  Today we made our Graduation Glyphs.  I love how they turned out.  They will be perfect to decorate our room for the next few days.

I am a huge fan of glyphs.  I love being able to mix math and art together into one creative little package.
My Graduation Glyph packet is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  It includes a ready to copy pattern, glyph keys, a data collection printable, and a end of the year memory mini book printable.
Tomorrow we will start work on the companion end of the year memory book.  Students will complete them with a combination of personal information and data collected from our glyphs.
If you are interested in finding out more about this end of the year activity, be sure to click on the picture below.

Okay, it looks like my fifteen minutes are up.  Wow, that went fast!
Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great rest of your week.
Best.

WOW MOM (Ideas for Mother's Day and Two Free Printables)

Hi friends.  Hope you are doing well.  I'm down to about two weeks left for this school year.  I cannot believe it!  This time last year I was in total stress mode about my daughter starting kindergarten.  I've always heard that once your children start school time starts moving even more quickly.  I am in complete agreement with that notion.
She has had a wonderful kindergarten year and made so much growth.  She loves her school and especially her teacher.  We were talking last night about her best friends and Ms. M was in the list.  So sweet.

Speaking of sweet, Mother's Day is right around the corner and I'm sure you're planning some sweet surprises for your class moms.  If you are looking for a lovely mentor text to go along with Mother's Day, I highly recommend A Mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza.

This sweet story follows Choco as he searches for a mother.  He goes from animal to animal comparing physical features to see if he is a match.  He eventually connects with mother bear who brings him into her untraditional family.
Like many of Kasza's books, the students will really enjoy the surprise ending.  This text is wonderful to use with many comprehension skills:  problem and solution, predictions, sequencing, and text to text comparisons (would be great with P. D. Eastman's Are You My Mother?).
I love this book because of the wide scoping definition it gives to what a mother is.  With all of the students that come through my classroom being raised by someone other than their biological mom, A Mother for Choco illustrates how a mother can be anyone who loves and cares for them.

After reading this text, we will complete a thought map about moms.  If you would like a FREE copy of this activity, click on the picture below.  (The clip art is from JW Illustrations.)

We have also been working on a couple of gifts to give to our class moms for Mother's Day.  Yesterday we made our mom glyphs.  They turned out fabulous and the kids had fun making them.

In addition to our mom glyphs, students will also make their My Marvelous Mom booklet.  We'll start work on those later in the week.  But when A saw what I was printing for my students, she wanted a copy.  She gave me my own personal edition of My Marvelous Mom and I LOVE it.

For a FREE copy of this booklet to use with your students, click on the picture below.  If your students are like mine, they will be excited to make these booklets and proud to give them to their moms.  (The clip art is from Scrappin Doodles.)

I hope some of these ideas help you as you plan for Mother's Day with your students.  There are so many wonderful ways for your students to show their moms how much they love them.  I'm sure anything your kids create will be cherished.
Have a great week.