Awesome Podcasts for Kids

My class has been loving learning and listening to Podcasts! 

Here are some great ones that are fit for our students.

Also, here is the LINK for the resource to use in your class.

Wow in the World

www.wowintheworld.com

Explores facts about science, tech, and discoveries.

Brains On!

www.brainson.org

A science podcast for curious kids and adults tht explores questions 

about the world through science and history.

Story Pirates

www.storypirates.com/podcast

Podcast stories written by kids and performed by comedians and actors.

Circle Round

www.wbur.org/circleround

A storytelling podcast that adapts folktales from around the world.

BUT WHY? A Podcast for Curious Kids

www.vpr.org/programs/why-podcast-curious-kids

This podcast answers questions asked by curious kids.

The Past & The Curious

www.thepastandthecurious.com

Podcast that shares stories from history in a fun way.

Smash Boom Best

www.brainson.org/pages/smashboombest

A DEBATE where students argue for their fav things.

Tumble Science Podcast

www.sciencepodcastforkids.com

Podcast that explores science through interviews with experts!

Peace Out

www.bedtime.fm/peaceout

A mindfulness podcast focusing on relaxation and meditation.

The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian

www.finncaspian.com

An ongoing science fiction podcast story for kids! 

These are some amazing Podcasts for your students! 

Click HERE for resources to help your students learn about Podcasts!

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Solar Eclipse, International Space Station, and more things about SPACE!

Free Science Passages

Solar Eclipses

Mars Rovers

International Space Station

Opinion Writing to go with the above article (Included in the link above)

Enjoy!

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Pictographs using ART

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Who said math couldn't bloom with creativity? We dove into the world of pictographs, but with a twist – we're using art to make it blossom! After introducing our new vocabulary with the posters seen above, read on to see what was next. :)

    Picture this: each student is given a blank canvas, a flower pot waiting to be filled with four unique blooms. As they sketch and color, they're not just creating art; they're laying the groundwork for understanding data representation.

With every stroke of the brush (other media like colored pencils, watercolors, basically anything you have), they're also brainstorming categories – maybe it's types of ice cream flavors, favorite animals, or even sports preferences. The possibilities are as endless as a field of wildflowers!

Once their floral masterpieces are complete, we take our drawings and transformed them into pictographs. The best part is each picture is unique, so the student's data will also be unique!

Each flower becomes a symbol on our graph, and the number of each type of flower corresponds to our data.

As petals meet numbers, our pictographs come to life. It's a visual feast of colors and shapes, where math meets art in perfect harmony. And guess what? Learning feels more fun when you're painting and graphing!

Click here for the student papers.

By integrating art into our math lesson, we're not just creating pretty pictures; we're nurturing budding mathematicians and artists alike. We're fostering critical thinking skills, sparking creativity, and igniting a passion for learning.

So, let's paint and pictograph our way through math class! Together, we'll prove that when you mix a little artistry with arithmetic, it is much more fun. :)

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Smaller Projects to Get in Gear!

Small Projects

I love smaller writing projects for the beginning of the school year! Today we read Flight School by Lita Judge. This books has SO many themes intertwined in a beautiful but light book. The illustrations are my fav. 

Basically, the main character's dream is to learn how to fly. He is a penguin, and can't fly! His friend's try to help him out and basically end up building a string with wings for him and lift him up along the way. His disappointment in the middle of the story is strong when he learns he can't fly. However, with this, my students and I developed key messages that we thought the book had. 

The Author's Message

*never give up

*never stop trying

*keep on going even if it is difficult and your dreams might come true

*do the dream until it comes true and follow your dreams

After discussing the message of the story, we brainstormed our own current dreams!

I had MLB, WNBA, inventor, mind reader (LOL), explorer, gamer and more. 

Finally, students wrote their ideas on the bird template found here thanks to Crafts on Sea from the UK!

Bird Template

These looked great hanging on my door! Very bright and cheery. :)

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Year at a Glance Planning Sheets

I posted my "Year at a Glance" planner on Instagram yesterday and you guys blew up my DMs! I did not want to miss anyone so here is the link for the planning pages in case you are ready to jot a few things down. 

There are a few version depending on how much or little you would like to write down to set your mind at ease! Grab it here in my store front. It is a freebie saved at the top! save it for when you are ready. Enjoy your summer! :)

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Earth Day Oath

Earth Day is April 22nd and I immediately thought it would be fun to have my class read an Earth Day Oath just as we had for Read Across America. So, I adapted the reader's oath from the National Reading Association (to fit Earth Day), and I think it turned out so cute! Click on the pic below to use with your class!

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Lunar New Year Lanterns

Is there anything that you STILL remember from your elementary school days? For me, that special memory is something my school called MINI COURSES that happened towards that end of the school year, you could choose a special course (mine was cake decorating) to learn a special skill. The BEST part of it all was that we went to different classes for this event.

Well, my teammates and I tried to pull off something special so we decided to do something special for Lunar New Year! The three of us each focused on a special component of Lunar New Year. We focused in on Chinese Lunar New Year. Take a look at what my class and groups did. My group focused on the Lantern Festival that takes place at the culmination of the 15 day Lunar New year celebration. 

We learned about Lunar New Year using some kid friendly news sites.  We used National Geographic Kids to learn about the Lunar New Year animals! We used a doodle coloring page of the rabbit from The Imagination Box to doodle and write facts about the Year of the Rabbit!

While listening to music from an authentic Chinese Lantern garden, students listened to me talk about the legend of the lanterns. 

The Legend of the Lantern

Adapted from Brittanica

Emperor Jade was extremely devastated when someone in the town stole his goose. 

He was so upset and distraught, he did not know what to do. He decided to seek revenge 

on the town. As the town heard about the Emperor's plan, the townspeople decided to 

try and trick the Emperor. They decided to make lanterns that would light up the town and set off fireworks.  When the Emperor tried to sneak up on the town at night, he was confused by all the 

light and assumed the town was on fire. He left thinking the town was already destroyed. 

The people celebrated and each year, they continued the tradition of hanging lanterns around 

the town that symbolized 3 things. They symbolized peace, forgiveness and reconciliation! 

Also, traditionally, people would write riddles on the lanterns, and if someone could solve them, they would get a gift. Here are some riddles from Squarespace

We learned to write happy new year in Chinese! The students loved this. Students used their chrome books to find out how to write happy new year, their name, and their favorite animal. We used Google Translate for the translations and this form to record their work!

Then we made the lanterns! On one side, students decorated cherry blossom trees with tissue paper and dots(using any media you have on hand.) On the other side, students summarized the story of the legend, chose their favorite riddle (although some wrote their own.)

Overall, we had fun! The students took their lanterns home to see if their family could answer their riddle. 

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