Community Service: 🐩Making Dog Toys in the Classroom 🐶

🐶TURN A T-SHIRT INTO A DOG TOY🐶

I am disappointed in myself for waiting until the last week of school to incorporate community service projects into my class. The parents and students were so willing to help and were so thrilled to be serving the animal shelter pups in our community. If you are looking for an easy and FREE service project to do in your classroom, I highly recommend this! 

Working in a low income school, I try to avoid asking students/parents to bring anything in that costs money. Therefore,  I asked students to bring in an old T-shirt that they don't wear anymore. I emphasized that I did not want them to go out and buy one. Many kiddos brought in bagfuls of shirts, so students who didn't have one were covered.

 I used the blog here for instructions on how to make three dog toy variations. From trial and error, my students and I learned to first cut off the sleeves (inside the seems). Then, cut off the collar in a straight line so that you are left with a square (or rectangle) of material. Next, cut both side seems which will leave you with two squares of material (the front and back of the shirt). Cut into strips 1" thick. Cut shirt in whatever way will provide you with the longest strips. Students found that when the strips were too short, it was difficult to tie into a knot.

Between my co-worker and I, our classes were able to make over 60 dog toys in one day and we donated them to our local animal shelter. I am already thinking of ways I can incorporate at least one community service project a month next year. What service projects do you do in your classroom? I'd love some new ideas!

For the Love of Students (and dogs), 

                                                             Emily

   

VOCABULARY POWERPOINTS

Vocabulary PowerPoint 1
  Vocabulary PowerPoint 2
This past school year, I have been reflecting and thinking a lot about the answer to closing the academic achievement gaps in students. As an educator, it is always a challenge trying to accommodate so many different student needs. I am always on the search for answers. I want each of my student's school year to be as beneficial and appropriate to them as possible. My reflection has led me to....VOCABULARY. Now I am sure many of you are thinking..."well duh,"  but emphasizing grade level vocabulary was never a huge focus in our lesson planning. We did vocabulary lessons here and there, but nothing consistently. I plan to change that!
 I decided that for next year, I want to incorporate a vocab-a-day into my routine. I know many teacher's who do this, and find huge success in it. I searched the internet and found a list of 6th grade vocabulary words that have been commonly found in standardized tests, textbooks, and activity books for 6th grade. My plan is to take no more than 5 minutes per day introducing the word and its meaning. I am going to have my students keep a running list in their interactive notebooks of the words and definitions, so they can refer to it all year and even incorporate them in their writing.

The powerpoints I have created, you can find here and here.
Below is a sneak peek. I am keeping it fairly simple, so it is easy and quick to read.