Whimsy Workshop Teaching

Teacher Clip Art, Literary Resources, Classroom Ideas

First Grade Writing: Free Downloads

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Looking for something super simple for your first grade writing centers?  Download these FREE seasonal writing templates for your writing center!

These fun writing topper templates are a great way to offer differentiation and interest in your writing centers!
I created a set to use through the school year for seasonal topics.
They are free to download and try with your students!

TEACHER PREP DIRECTIONS:
These centers require very little prep! Just copy the topper and writing template you’ve chosen for each student. Students will need [Read More…]

Story Writing Ideas

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We reserve time each day for story writing!
There are so many ways to encourage students to write, even when they are just at the emergent level.

Two priorities that I focus on the most in my primary classroom are:

Making students feel confident in their ability to express ideas through writing.
Allowing students to have opportunities to share their written ideas in a supportive environment.

Explore Different Kinds of Writing
Many students have no strategies for thinking of a writing topic, so we spend a [Read More…]

Seasonal Art and Crafts Projects

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SEASONAL ART IDEAS
Our classroom is always full of bright and colorful art work!
My student are so proud to see their work displayed, and how they pull their parents into the class to see what they completed today.
This year, I took my art lessons to another level by making them independent!
 

 
 
In the last 20+ years of teaching, I’ve often looped with groups of students for more than one year, so I am always having to come up with NEW projects so as not to repeat [Read More…]

Thanksgiving Art and Writing

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How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in your classroom?
Do you celebrate “Friendsgiving” too?

WHAT EXACTLY IS “FRIENDSGIVING”?
Have you heard of “Friendsgiving”?
I was hearing this phrase everywhere and wondered what it was all about. Was I missing some new trend? NOPE. Turns out, it’s just like Thanksgiving, only you’re with your friends!
This is perfect for a group of friends who can’t afford to fly home to see relatives. But it’s also perfect for celebrating in the classroom. We’re all friends, and we’re all thankful!
I used [Read More…]

Christmas Trees and Wreath crafts tutorial

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Looking for some fun and easy Christmas crafts for class? I have some ideas to share!
Here are some cute little winter craft ideas that my grade 2 students tried this year.

 WREATH CRAFTS
First, you can make this simple curled paper wreath with just a few supplies. All you need is one pipe cleaner (or wire) bent into a circle, and some green paper strips and red pom poms!
Want a copy of the step by step pictures for your art files? Click [Read More…]

Integrating Math Writing Art and Science

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I am constantly trying to find new ways to integrate different subject areas in my classroom. We have LOTS of activities that integrate math, art and writing, but because it’s that time of year to start studying life cycles, we’ve now incorporated science into the mix! Here’s how we do it:

Our caterpillars arrived last week and my students are completely engaged in learning about their life cycle. We used color-by-number templates to create the round life cycle pictures seen in [Read More…]

25 Classroom Tested Mother’s Day Ideas

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This will be my 25th year searching for cute new Mother’s and Father’s Day ideas! Because I often have siblings of my students from previous years, I don’t want to repeat those ideas too often.
I’ve collected a big list of ideas, most of which I’ve tried in my classroom to see how well they work out in real life!
The first one is super simple: a bouquet of paper flowers with a twist! Each flower stem has a coupon that mom’s [Read More…]

Art Tutorial – Little Gecko

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We made these cute little geckos in our classroom during art time, and they turned out so well that I’ve made another simple tutorial to show how easy it is!
You will need green and black paper, glue, scissors, and chalk pastels (similar to soft chalk). You could change the colors to suit what you have available.
 

 
 

 

 

 
If you’d like to see more step-by-step photo tutorials, you can choose from these huge collections of art lessons for elementary classrooms. Each has lots of [Read More…]

STEM Exploration Outside the Classroom

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We’ve decided to embrace the idea of STEM in our classroom.
We’ve also explored STEM outside of the classroom! This is where creativity flourishes and students feel the freedom to be themselves and let their natural curiosity lead them.
 

 
Since almost everything we’ve done this year has fallen under the category of “integrated learning”, I’m not surprised that my students have completely embraced STEM projects.
Projects that integrate science, math, engineering, art and more? Sounds fantastic, especially when we bring it outside where [Read More…]

Pop Up Santa Art Tutorial

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Christmas has the best art projects, including this cute pop up Santa!
Aren’t they fun? Students draw their own eyes and mouth, so each Santa is completely unique and wonderful! The rest of the Santa is made by simply cutting out the templates and gluing the pieces together. He pops out, but can also be made flat, if you prefer!

SIMPLE MATERIALS FOR SANTA
All you need is the printable templates, paper, scissors and glue!
pink: face and nose
red: hat
white: hat and beard
blue: background [Read More…]

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