What you dwell on is expanded in your experience. Daily pauses for gratefulness have paid dividends in my life! How can you teach thankfulness to your children and students? Continue reading as I share my own experience with harnessing thanksgiving and some fun activities to teach your kids too.
As a child I loved to role play. As we learned about settlers, explorers and Native Americans, after school I would play out these historical events being sure to give my 4 brothers and neighbors roles and duties (of course! I was born to boss lead teach). We traveled the plains, fought with enemies, and sailed the rough seas using cardboard boxes and dirt mounds as our props.
Where were you on that day…? I remember it like it was yesterday! I was in college and had gone to the campus cafe between classes. I walked in to see everyone staring up at the televisions from their booths. I made some silly remark to a friend sitting there like, “You should see yourselves, you’re all just staring up with your jaws open like this,” and then proceeded to open my mouth and stare blankly.
I cannot believe that Presidents’ Day is just around the corner. Time seems to fly after that all of the way through summer!
Everyday Heroes {Craftivities for September 11, Memorial Day, and Veteran’s Day}
This is a throwback post from last year, but thought it would be helpful to post it again.
It’s always been tough for me to teach my students about September 11 and what happened that day. Knowing that most of the students at school weren’t even born yet, makes it even more difficult.
I do however feel like it’s such an important date to remember and to help our kids relate to on an age appropriate level.
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day I’ve created a character craftivity! I absolutely love the quote by Dr. King where he says “…they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” During this MLK craft and printables students will explore different attributes that make up good character, discussing why it’s important not to judge others on their outside appearance.
Inside the Character Counts {Martin Luther King Craftivity & Printables} you’ll find:
-”Character Counts” Posters and descriptions
-”I Have Good Character” Mini-Book
-”Good Character Is…” Web Brainstorm
-”I Have a Dream Character Craftivity” (includes: instructions, writing prompts w/ 2 different line options (one with no lines for drawing and labeling), printouts & templates
I’m also having my very first giveaway!! Follow the directions below to enter to win this MLK Craftivity (You must leave a comment for each entry in order to win). This contest ends on Sunday, January 13 at Midnight, so enter today!
You have 4 chances to win!
Leave a comment below stating each entry you have completed. Be sure to include your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win!
1. Go to Michaela’s TpT Store and click “follow me” (Mandatory entry).
2. Follow this blog i{heart}edu by e-mail.
3. Follow Michaela on Pinterest.
4. Share this giveaway post on Facebook or Twitter.
That’s it! I will announce the winner Monday morning.
I absolutely ENJOY Math Centers! I know the kids do too. There’s something so great about turning the concepts you’re learning about into more of a fun game, then a required workbook page.
During the year it seems easy to find centers based on Seasons and Holidays, but I find it difficult to find many Bible based centers. That’s why I came up with “Welcome Baby Jesus! {Nativity Themed Math Centers and Activities}”. These are fun centers that hit Math concepts that students need to be learning in 1st and 2nd Grades and have the characters represented from the first Christmas like Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Shepherds and more.
Here’s what you’ll find inside:
* “Welcome Baby Jesus!” Nativity Counting Mini-Book and Class Book Idea
* Magi Skip Counting (Count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s)
* Sheepish Doubles (Adding doubles 1-9)
*“Time” to Follow the Star (Telling time to the hour and half hour)
* Silent Night Sums (Addition)
* Donkey Differences (Subtraction)
*Addition and Subtraction True and False
The fun thing is, these don’t even have to be only for your students, you can give them for your own kids, grandkids, church kids.
Enjoy sharing the greatest story on earth about Jesus’ birth in a fun, cross-curricular way!
Blessings,
Michaela Peterson 🙂
This year we are trying to do everything as “budget friendly” as possible. My sister-in-law and I saw some beautiful designs on Shutterfly and wanted to make them our own. We went on PicMonkey to see if we could take our pictures and make anything remotely similar. We were pleasantly surprised to find out what we could accomplish.
After doing this, I thought these would make a great gift to your students’ parents as well. Take a picture of your class, design the Christmas Themed Card, print off and send home to parents as a great parent christmas gift!
Click on over to Beginner DIY Christmas Cards with PicMonkey for a complete How-To on how to make your own Christmas Cards with PicMonkey!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas! There’s something in the air that makes most people seem happier, there’s salted caramel hot chocolate to be had, family gatherings to take place, but most of all it’s the perfect opportunity to share more about Jesus with our students and others. There is something so beautiful about young children seeing the beauty in the story of Jesus’ Birth that really can rekindle the love of Jesus for any adult! If you teach in a Private school, Homeschool, or just want to share Jesus with your own kids this “Journey to Bethlehem” unit is perfect for you!
Included:
* “On the way to Bethlehem” Mini-Book and Class Book Idea
* Bethlehem ABC Order Sort
* Memory Verse Puzzle (Isaiah 6:9)
* Nativity Nouns (sorting Person, Place or Thing)
* Stable Sort (Long/Short Vowels)
**Each Activity involves a corresponding student recording sheet!
I really wanted to extend the Nativity Story beyond the reading books, and bring the characters into everyday Literature learning topics like; ABC Order, Nouns, Sight word reading, Short/Long Vowels, and Memorization.
Click on over to my TpT Store for a closer look.
Jesus is the Reason for the Season!
-Michaela Peterson 🙂
I’ve been so thankful for all of the FABULOUS family time I’ve gotten over Thanksgiving Break! So so so much to be thankful for.
Great news on top of that, I’m having a huge Cyber Monday plus Tuesday TpT Sale (along with hundreds of other sellers)! On Monday and Tuesday my store will be 20% off and if you add the code “CMT12” you will save a total of 28% off.
WAHOO! Now’s a great time to stock up for winter and the rest of the school year!
While you’re there you can check out my new “Give Thanks with a Thankful Heart”, a great unit for teaching Heart-filled Thanks any time of year!
“Give Thanks with a Thankful Heart” includes “My Thankful Heart” Poem/Poster, Give Thanks acrostic, My Thankful Heart Craftivity, Heart Web and more!
Come visit my TpT Store to check out the sale!