Show Me That Smile!

February is Dental Health Month!

Kindergartners have twenty teeth before they start to loosen up, wiggle, and get pushed out by their adult counterparts, so if the sight of teeth hanging by a thread or blood grosses you out, brace yourself, because kindergartners work hard to earn a visit from the Tooth Fairy!

There are three different ~kinds~ of teeth working each day during breakfast, snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and dessert:

Incisors help us to bite.

Canines rip or tear our food.

Molars grind, grind, grind food down to help our digestive system.

Here's an art activity that helps students count, track, and follow directions as they visit with one another to share the information they've learned about dental care:






Our smiling faces were shared in the hallway on our bulletin board, along with information we learned about teeth:



Look at those beautiful smiles!

February Transition

Goodbye mittens, snowflakes and snowmen.

Hello hearts, 100th Day, and cheerful art!

Teacher tip:  as each month comes to a close, designate an "art afternoon" to prepare bulletin displays for upcoming themes, skills and explorations.  By all means, get your students involved in planning, decorating, and preparing their learning environment!

Today my Super Stars:



...glued multi-colored tissue paper squares to light blue construction paper.  A parent volunteer then cut out collage-y hearts...

...while students assembled paper chains to frame our word wall and calendar/weather/story bulletin board:







Students continue to bring in sets of 100 (beads, paper clips, cereal pieces, etc.) for 100th Day (February 2 for us), and many Stars have been practicing counting to 100 in honor of our special day.  Two students suggested we make a "cheer board," where each student could add his/her name as our counting goal was accomplished, and after a class vote, (unanimous!) it was decided that we'd use our heart-shaped owl to keep track:



I'm LOVIN' it!

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Welcome, welcome, welcome new OWOH visitors!  I'm so glad you've dropped by- my giveaway post is below (and I have really enjoyed visiting your awesomely creative blogs this week)!

Hickory Dickory Dock...

...we are learning about clocks!

Learning how to tell time is just one skill kindergarten students develop when learning about clocks. This week my Super Stars have been noticing the difference between analog and digital timepieces, and have identified and counted how many of each they can find in their own homes. Next week they will learn how to tell time to the hour and half hour, and of course we'll tie our math unit into our language arts materials as well. This week, the Stars numbered their own clock faces and assembled a grandfather-type clock after reciting "Hickory Dickory Dock." After identifying different events and times in our school days and weekends, my students chose their favorite time of day, dictated that information to me, which I then printed out for them to glue onto their finished project.

Here are the pieces of construction paper we used:



The purple sheet is a piece of 12X18" paper.



The white clock face has lines for the numbers~ make sure your students write the numbers in the correct spots.







We added heart details since it's still February, but it would be easy to simply trace a circle for the bottom of the pendulum, or cut out a cute shamrock shape if you're teaching time in March. Foamy stickers also work well for this project.



Of course we HAD to add stars to the top:



A larger clock for the bulletin board:







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Funny quotes about time:

~ One student told me her favorite time was "six o'clock." "Six o'clock in the morning, or six o'clock in the evening?" I asked. Hesitating as she tried to not roll her eyes at me, she replied "Uh, Mrs. Sommerville, six o'clock in the AFTERNOON."

~ "How come my mom always says 'It's time to GO?' How come she doesn't ever say 'It's time to STAY?'"

~ "My favorite time of day is whenever it's warm enough to go outside for recess."

~ "My favorite time of day is when my brother takes a nap so I get the t.v. all to myself."

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I'll be spending some time in my classroom this weekend, making a few "teacher created manipulatives," photos of analog and digital clocks backed with magnets so the students can sort them by type. I'll post photos this weekend!

Hearty Appreciation

Today we're in-the-pink here at home, but this past week at school was full of sweetness, surprises, and fun~

My students won roses for me via our school's Box Tops for Education program. My Stars were thrilled that our class won the fragrant and beautiful gift, and shared my enjoyment of the flowers by stopping to smell-the-roses throughout the day, OFTEN. I had to laugh when one student, after three visits to my desk to smell the bouquet asked with a concerned look on his face "Mrs. Sommerville, why do those flowers smell like plants?"

The roses, cards, goodies and handcrafted treats traveled home with me yesterday afternoon and are keeping me company this morning...I plan on enjoying them throughout the weekend!



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~ Mamacita wrote the most wonderful "Letter to My Heart," a non-frilly timeline tracing lessons learned, ordeals endured, and gifts received through Love's orchestrations.

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...another reason Romantic Love is Wonderful? Because it happens at any time of the year, in any language:

Why Romantic Love is Wonderful: Wooing

The wooing.

Oh yes, the wooing.

Whoo-whoo, WHO Can it Be?

This heart-faced fella is on our hallway bulletin board (our Family Flowers are being sent home for Valentine's Day):



...along with this poem (we've been learning about punctuation and how to use our "questioning voice" when we see a question mark; we've also identified question words such as who, what, where, when, why, and how):





I photographed my Super Stars concealing their faces behind construction paper hearts so that their photos could be added to the display for some hallway "guesses" as to our valentines' identities~ here's mine:



Hopefully parents will not only enjoy the heart art that is sent home this week, but will get a kick out of finding their child's sparkling eyes and hidden faces when they visit us at school this month!

Adopted Ancestors

I adopted ancestors over the weekend. I have no idea what their names are, but their expressions captured my imagination and hit my funny bone all in one fell swoop...

(Honestly, couldn't you see some froo-froo valentine-y phrase above their heads extolling the joys of love, romance, and marriage?)



The tintype photograph was found in a coppery/metal frame that yes, I put back after scanning the photo:



I LOVE it!

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~ Right as my ancestor-adoption-addiction begins, The Thrift Shop Romantic concurs that the scanner is a most trusted friend to both me and my ephemera...



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Perhaps my great-great-great-great (how many greats?) relative above should have remembered this:

Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges whatever is given to her.


So - if you give her crap, You will receive more back than any one human being can ever handle.

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Vintage Valentines

I visited W.D. Pickers Antique Mall last Saturday, roaming the aisles looking for nothing in particular when a box of vintage post cards caught my eye. I found some *~treasures-to-me~* that I purchased and brought home, that perhaps someday will find their way into some valentine art- until then, I'll enjoy their scandalous imagery:





One postcard actually revealed to me the *real reason* my mother taught me all about teatime as a young girl:



Yep...to land a man. The inscription on the back? "A tempting presentation."

Mother! For shame!

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Check back tomorrow to see the tintype that also made its way home with me over the weekend. I've never been one to adopt ancestors, but the expression on the couple's faces is priceless and may just inspire me to try my hand at altered art in the future!

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~ Tipnut shares some vintage/retro valentines as a free download...

~ Whimsy Love shares very cute handmade valentine ideas (TEACHERS, check out the owls!)...

~ Tara Frey shares a rockin' candy valentine tutorial to dress up those candy heart boxes...

~ Marie LeBaron made a heart themed tic-tac-toe game over at Once Upon a Holiday

~ Chocolate dipped pretzel hearts... Make and Takes certainly got me drooling...

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Shoeboxes as Valentine Mailboxes

Take these...



and cut some holes in the top of them (Be careful though, the lids can make your scissors or blades slip!).

Use bulletin board paper like wrapping paper, and a glue stick so that the paper adheres to the surface of the shoebox...





Wrap the box up like a present, and then cut a hole through the paper where the opening in the lid is located. Gently pull the paper to the inside of the box and glue or tape it in place. Rough edges or tears will disappear once your students gussie up their mailbox with stickers, doilies, cut out construction paper hearts, foamie stickers, etc.


(Psst: I cover every shoe box in the same colored paper to avoid arguments and hurt feelings. Light blue is pretty enough for pink, red and white accents and "boyish" enough for my rough-and-tumble Stars.)

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I send home a class list of students, teachers, and special people in the school several weeks before our Valentine's Party so that my Stars have as much time as they need to address their cards and treats themselves. While classmates and teachers are usual card recipients, don't forget your principal, classroom aide, and school or night-time custodian!

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I apologize for my recent lack of posting~ I've been visiting blog after blog after blog, thanks to Lisa's event blog, One World, One Heart.

February~ Works of Heart

Goodbye dark blue bulletin board paper, it's time to lighten up (and brighten up) our hallway to feature our "Works of Heart"...









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Students made Family Flower Bouquets with construction paper, foamy heart stickers, crayons, and sponged hearts. I cut out a vase shape, and then asked the Stars to add stripes and foamy heart stickers. They counted how many family members lived in their homes with them, and drew a thick green stem for each person. With donated sponges from our Art teacher, I cut out heart shapes, and encouraged my students to use red and pink/white swirled paint to add a "flower bud" on top of each stem.

The light blue bulletin paper trimmed with plain white "Bordette" scallops makes the bouquets *pop!*

~*Stop*~ Banner Time!

I'm back to school on Monday, so this week/weekend I've been taking some time for myself downstairs in the craft nook:



The Christmas decorations are down and packed away for another year, but I'm already thinking about Valentine's Day. Time to make banners!

I started with various pink patterned papers (hmm, sounds like this blog hosts the 3 P's, instead of the 3 R's!) and ribbon:



Used a very cute heart shaped hole punch and buttons:



Made six banners, though this keeper is for me:



Hearts, ribbons and twinkle lights- c'mon Cupid, get a move on!

February Flowers

These will be around a bit longer than the flowers my husband is bound to get for me and our daughter- and I can take the bouquet apart and use the flowers again in the months to come for new arrangements, decor, and crafts. For now, they cheerfully greet any and all who come through our door.

Start to finish: