Dr. Seuss Day in the Upper Elementary Classroom

 Dr. Seuss Day is celebrated in Elementary Schools around the country on March 2nd.  The primary grades go crazy with their celebrations because most Dr. Seuss books appeal to that age level.  I teach 5th grade so it is a bit more toned down that day.  It is more difficult to tie the celebrations into grade level appropriate curriculum. 

The first thing we do is decorate our classroom door for the occasion.   I photocopied a hat and had each student color their own.  I used to buy premade cut outs but through the years I realized it would be more expensive that way.  I could laminate them and re use them every year but they wouldn't be able to keep them.  By having them color their own, the students were able to keep them when the day was over and we moved on to Pi Day.

  

I send a newsletter home every Sunday night and I love to change the theme each month. I bought this newsletter template set with 24 editable templates from The Brown Bag teacher on TPT for $6.00.  It was one of my best TPT purchases.   I searched the Internet to find free printables with inspirational quotes from Dr. Seuss and printed them out on cardstock.

 One of the assignments we completed related to Dr. Seuss were Theodor Seuss Geisel Research Banners.   They made an eye catching and informative display hanging in my classroom.  I purchased them on TPT from Elementary Lesson Plans for $1.25.

5th graders love food!  My husband made the kids deviled eggs with green food dye and wrapped up ham slices in honor of "Green Eggs & Ham."  My teaching partner made a special "Cat in the Hat" treat with gummy Lifesavers and Oreos. 

We finished up the day with a Goal Setting Activity based on "Oh, the Places You Will Go" that I purchased on TPT from Sunshine on a Cloudy Day for $4.00.

 

Still need more Dr. Seuss Day (Read Across America) Ideas?  Check out my previous blog posts!

 

Pi Day Classroom Decorations

For every new holiday I changes the front of my classroom door. Each child gets a pi symbol cut out with their name on it. 

I have no hallway bulletin board and my 5th graders have lockers so we utilitze the fronts of the lockers to brighten up the hallway for each new holiday.  For Pi Day we decorated Pi symbols.

Free Pi Day printables from Kacie Travis on TPT

Free Pi Day Banner from Kacie Travis on TPT

Don't forget to post the digits of Pi and print out a free copy to give to the kids.  See who can memorize the most!

Still Need More Ideas? Check out these Pi Day posts on my blog!

Valentine's Day Classroom Decor

 I love decorating my 5th grade classroom for each new holiday. One of the first things I decorate is the door to my classroom.  Be warned that I love puns and corny sayings. :) 

My classroom door in 2016

My classroom door in 2015

 I don't have a hallway bulletin board like most teachers based on the location of my classroom.  Instead, the walls are covered with lockers for the students.   I learned that if I wanted to display work in the hallway that I would need to hang it on their lockers!

I modified this FREE Jar of Hearts Activity that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers.   It fits perfectly on their lockers and looks fantastic! This lesson was also a great opportunity to talk about the people and things in life that we appreciate.

We continued the discussion by reading one of my favorite stories.

I hang a large clothesline across the width of my classroom and use clothespins to hang student work througout the year.  For Valentine's Day we continued the theme of love and appreciation of the people and things in our life with a Valentine's Day Project by The Panicked Teacher sold on Teachers Pay Teachers for $2.50.  This could also be put together as a 3-dimensional project.  Maybe next year I will do that and hang them from the ceiling.

 The sad part is that when we get back to school next week it will be time to take it all down and set up for the next holiday!

My Big Classroom Reveal!

The first week back to school was a success!  As always, the first week was long and tiring but it was very exciting.  I love my new class!

My van all loaded up and ready to head to school to set up

I moved from middle school to fifth grade this year so that meant moving to a new classroom.  If you are a teacher, you know how much effort goes into setting up a new room for a new grade level.  Here are some pictures of my room when I arrived two weeks ago

 

Here is what it looks like after I added my touch to it... 

The hallway outside my classroom

 I teach at a Christian school where all of the Elementary classrooms have the same theme.  This year's theme is F.R.O.G.  (Fully Rely On God) so there are plenty of frogs around the room.

I wrote each of the student's names on the frogs

View from the hallway (Rug $19.99 from Ikea)

I have 18 students in my class so I felt placing the desks into 4 groups made the best use of the small space (Curtains from Ikea $14.99 a pair)

Table signs hanging over each group of desks- signs can be found at Teachers Pay Teachers

Continuing the Frog theme with my Birthday chart

This Fun Frog printable was FREE on Teachers Pay Teachers

I purchased these Frog themed Classroom Rules posters from Teachers Pay Teachers

One of my middle school students last year drew this scientist for me.

The empty bulletin board will be filled with speech bubbles and pictures of the kids.  The kids will write their goals of the speech bubbles.

My cursive alphabet has a science theme.  This is an easy way to incorporate more science into your elementary classroom.  I purchased them on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I love working at a Christian school!  I can openly share my faith! You can print the poster on the right for FREE on Teachers Pay Teachers and the poster on the left for FREE on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I love having a podium.  The bar stool is from IKEA.

FREE printable from Teachers Pay Teachers hanging on the front of my podium.

One of my pet peeves is when people don't use these correctly.  So I have these posters hanging on the walls.  I printed them for FREE from Teachers Pay Teachers.

I purchased these Sterlite file boxes from Walmart and decorated them with an editable file from Teachers Pay Teachers.

Every time the students check the time they see this sign.

I will be super busy the next few weeks with my class and with my additional coaching duties but I plan to post about some more of the fun ideas that you can see in my classroom!