Modern Day African American History Month Unit

African American History Month is next month! I decided I wanted to incorporate Black History into my curriculum for the month of February, but in a way that is more meaningful and relevant for my special needs learners. While Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Thurgood Marshall, Sojourner Truth (to name a few) are all no doubt remarkable and historical African American heroes in our history...but they are irrelevant for my special learners. 

I felt that my students would better benefit from learning about African American Heroes from the 21st century and even the late 20th century. I wanted to teach them about African Americans that they may have seen on T.V., heard on the radio, or possibly even heard their parents speak about. 

I designed this mini-unit to do just that and I will begin implementing it in my classroom next week. Here are the featured heroes. 

BARACK OBAMA

OPRAH WINFREY

GABRIELLE DOUGLAS

JORDIN SPARKS

MICHAEL JACKSON

MUHAMMAD ALI

MICHAEL JORDAN

MICHELLE OBAMA

DAVID ORTIZ

TIGER WOODS

I leveled it to meet 3 levels of learners in my classroom. My high functioning students and students working at a 3rd grade level or higher will be able to complete all of the activities above; a biographical passage, comprehension questions, a Venn Diagram, and write a short summary about each hero. 

For my middle functioning students, I plan to assist them with reading the passage or even read the passage to them. Then, they will complete the Venn Diagram with facts about the hero and the "Name That Person" cut-n-paste activity sheets below. 

For my lowest functioning students, I've included a simple 10-page activity booklet for them. Each page features one of the ten heroes and a couple of important facts about them. Students then circle a picture from a field of three indicating what the hero is known for. They can also complete the cut-n-paste sheets as well. 

I'm super excited to introduce this unit to my students next week! I know they will be much more excited to learn more about some of these role-models that they have probably seen, heard of, listened to, and can better relate to. 

If you think your students would better benefit from a more modern day unit for African American History Month, you can check out this mini-unit in my store here. 

Happy African American History Month!

Memorial Day Weekend Sale & TPT Giveaway!

I've got lots of reasons to celebrate this weekend! Not only am I honoring those that gave their lives in active military service, but my husband's birthday is today and it's a 3-day weekend!! We're heading to Vegas tomorrow to spend two days with my brother-n-law and his wife that are flying in from Indiana! Vegas Baby! I'm overdue! 

So celebrate with me! Some of my teacher friends and I are giving away a $25 TpT gift certificate to spend any way you wish! See details below! 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Co-hosts: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), Teaching Superkids, A Plus Kids, The Chocolate Teacher, The Bender Bunch, Brittani Black, Simone's Math Resources, A Classroom for all Seasons, Carrie Comincioli and (A Little Red Bird Teaches).

Giveaway organized by: An Apple for the Teacher

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter.  Giveaway ends 6/4/16 and is open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Everything in my TpT store is also 20% off through Monday!
Visit my store {here} and stock up for next year school year!!

Solution to Holiday Themed Organization/Storage

As the school year winds down (4 more days), I tend to reflect on what has worked for me and what hasn't....and then I make changes! One thing that finally worked for me this year is my holiday themed organization! I finally LOVE it! 

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you might remember this post where I tried this! At the time, I thought it was the best thing ever!

Well it didn't work for me! Storing 3 months worth of holiday materials in one box and having to leave the box beside my desk for 3 months just wasn't cutting it! 

So then I tried these containers and had one for each month. What was I thinking? Fail! Which is why I don't have a photo of them in action! 

Well they say 3 times is a charm! And I must agree! 

This year I decided to invest in this baby and I must say the end of my dilemma is here! 

 It has worked perfectly and conveniently!

I got this 15-drawer organizer from here. It has the 10 skinny drawers like this traditional styled organizer typically has, plus 5 deep drawers for your holidays that you generally have more resources for. 

Our biggest and longest holiday celebrations occur in October, November, December, January and February; so these deep drawers were perfect for storing all of my centers, resources, books, notepads, stickers, etc. for these popular celebration months that tend to stretch beyond just a 1-day celebration.   

For the other 10 drawers, I needed less space to store my materials as these celebrations are only 1-day celebrations. For these drawers, I organized as Back to School, Groundhog Day, St. Patty's Day, Dr. Seuss' Birthday, Easter, Multi-cultural/Earth Day, Mother's Day, Presidents/Flag holidays, and 100th Day of School....and because I had alot of resources for Christmas, it worked out perfectly that I had a small drawer left for my overflow of Christmas resources! 

I love my new system! It has worked so well for me this year that I'm hoping it can work just as well for you!!  

Let Your Aides Take the Lead!

From time to time, my aides will show me an idea they found for a craft, science experiment, or class recipe. I usually just say, "Oh I love it!" Or "What a great idea!" But I never do anything with it. Let me add that I have the BEST paras EVER!!!! 

Then, last month one of them showed me a couple pictures of some Christmas crafts she had found that she thought the kids would love. I was super busy and probably didn't show much interest. I felt bad about it later and decided to take a look and then I saw the pictures in the trash can. I went home that evening feeling really bad about it! 

I thought about how much I, myself, love doing crafts and planning fun activities for my students. How fun it is to stalk pinterest and the Internet for fun ideas....and how especially fun this is during the holidays! 

And I thought, they obviously love it too!!! Of course, it's fun! 

I came in the next morning and asked them if they would be interested in each taking a day to be responsible for a Christmas craft the following week. They would plan it, purchase the materials, and carry it out with the students. They were no doubt super excited and answered yes without hesitation! 

And I must say they both came up with some fabulous ideas and I could tell they both had so much fun!!! :) And so did the kids of course, and I really enjoyed being able to just sit back and enjoy!

Para #1 did a little science with the kids. You all know how crazy we are for science!
Their sparkling water and cotton candy science ended with a fruity raspberry drink!  

She also made friendship tea with the kids from scratch....and they got to make a batch for a family gift as well!

Para #2 did this!

They glued peppermints to their initial and then ribbon was added to make a Christmas ornament.

I have already designated them a day next week to plan a winter craft. I'm so happy I did this! They love it, it's fun for them, and now I only have to plan 3 activities instead of 5!!!

I can't wait to see what they come up with next week!! :)

Give it a try with your paras!

....And be sure to scroll down to the next post to check out my giveaway that ends tonight at midnight PST! 

Thanks a Bunch, 

APRIL in a Click with 5 Easter Freebies

A little later than normal, but here's your April in a Click, packed with 5 Easter freebies! 

Download "April in a Click" {here} and all of the images you see above will be clickable. Just click on each picture to be taken to the freebie or the activity link. I have 5 freebies for you this month, so be sure to snag those up even if for next year. 

Follow my Easter Pinterest Board here for more April ideas!

Follow Traci's board Easter on Pinterest.

Loving Spring Break this week!
Anyone else on Spring Break?

Freebies for a Last Minute Leprechaun Visit

If you're not on Spring Break this week, it's still not too late to throw together a classroom Leprechaun visit with this Leprechaun Kit! It's a great way to bring some fun into the classroom and your students will remember it year after year!

The kit is filled with loads of fun from Leprechaun slime to Leprechaun pudding, to fun trivia to Leprechaun traps. Some other things included are a letter from the Leprechaun, goodie bag toppers, clickable links, a colleague game, coloring page and hat craftivity, writing prompt sheets and several other printables.
While you won't have time at this point to make traps or participate in the colleague game, here are some simple steps from the kit to help you throw together a last minute, successful Leprechaun visit.

I've also included the letter from the kit for you, just click on it!

And now it looks like you'll need the Leprechaun Dust recipe....so here is a non-clickable version of that too!

I wish you a successful Leprechaun Visit! If you use my tips and freebies here, I'd love to hear about it!

If you'd like to purchase the kit for some of the other activities or to store away for next year, you can check it out in my store {here}.

!!!Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Christmas Ideas You'll Want to Pin for Next Year!

First off, I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and got to make memories with your loved ones! While I know Christmas is over, I still wanted to share with you some ideas you can pin for next year!!

This was so much fun! In the past our staff has done this with one another, but this is all about elfing a classroom, not a staff member! Just fill a gift bag with goodies (I chose candy canes), set outside a classroom, knock, and run!!! You can get the free printables from "Inspired Owl's Corner" {here}. 

These photo booth calendars turned out fabulous and were sure to be a big hit when the parents opened them! I hate that I forgot to take pics of the finished product, but trust me, they are adorable and such a keepsake! You can purchase the pack from Deanna Jump {here}.

Aren't these the cutest? These were so suitable for my class, considering we live in the Mohave Desert! You can find this pattern and pack from Linda Kamp {here}.

We did our first book exchange this year and the kids loved it! Each child had to bring in a wrapped book, new or gently used. We sat in a circle and played a game similar to "hot potato." Students passed one book at a time around the circle while the music played. Once the music stopped, whoever was holding the book got to go to their seat and unwrap their new book! Will definitely be doing this every year!

Take advantage of Scholastic's dollar book sale each year and give the gift of reading! If budget allows, spruce it up a little with a dollar candy-filled candy cane from Dollar Tree!

Make cute staff gifts you know they can use!! While we as teachers tend to complain about some of the useless, cheezy gifts we get from our students....I don't know about you, but I've gotten some pretty ridiculous things even from my colleagues!

Lastly, entice good behavior and make it fun with my free Christmas clip chart! Challenge students to stay on the "nice list" or even become "santa's top!" This was such a motivator for my kiddos last week! And you can get it free {here}.

Hopefully you can pin some of these ideas for next year! And if you've already started planning for your first week back, be sure to check out my "January Math!"

 Click {here} to download a free worksheet from this pack!