Smile File

**NOW UPDATED for 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 HERE** To read more about the new boklet format, click HERE**

It's almost the end of the year! I've had several requests for this file this year and I wanted to offer the updated version in its own post so it will be easier to find.

One of my most favorite end of the year activities is the Smile File!

Each student uses the freebie sheet to make their own folder by folding it back and stapling it down the sides. They fill their name in on the line and then grab 1/4 sheets of paper (I use many different colors to make it fun), grabbing as many sheets as there are kids in class.

Depending on the age of your students (I have done this in 3rd and in 5th), you will need to allot a nice chunk of time and may need to break this down into smaller chunks, depending on their stamina. I usually do this with some nice, relaxing music in the background and encourage them to take the time they need so that each student gets a great note.

Everyone will then write a sentence or two (a compliment, a memory, why it was nice having them in class) to each person in the class and sign their name. They will then slip the paper into the student’s Smile File and repeat the process around the room.

Helpful Teacher Tips: Before we begin, I make a chart about some nice notes we could write and leave that posted for those students who may have trouble thinking of specifics for each student. I will also write my Smile Files for each student in advance and put them in the envelopes lickety-split so I can hang out near my kiddos who need a bit more support with writing.

After the students are all done, you can choose to have them read them in class, or to save them for when they get home-- it's such a special and simple way to celebrate your classroom community and end the year in a bucket filling way.

To get this year's updated freebie, download HERE and enjoy! If you'd like to read about how to make this into a booklet format, click HERE.

Bright Ideas: Managing Headphone Cords

Welcome to another month of Bright Ideas!

I am so excited to be sharing this next idea with you all: Managing Headphone Cords!

Keeping headphone cords untangled and separated was beginning to drive me insane! It took away valuable time away from both me and my students when we were getting out knots instead of working on our iPads or Chromebooks. Plus, even when they tried their hardest, the cords were so long they would tangle no matter how we tried to keep them organized.

Enter, zip ties!

These little guys are available everywhere and are cheap as can be. A wonderful parent volunteer helped get these put together so that the majority of the cord was zipped up. Simply wrap the cord around your palm, then secure it tightly with three zip ties. The tighter the better: the cord will move and adjust as kids handle it, so any that were loose had to be redone. The ones that were tight, however, have lasted throughout the whole year and beyond!

Keeping these stored was simple as well. I used the slide-top sandwich baggies:

Now, we don't spend any time sorting or untangling at the beginning of Listen to Reading or Technology Time in our classroom! It has been such a sanity-saver and I hope it can help you, too!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more great ideas.

Booking Across the USA: Colorado

Welcome to Booking Across the USA! I am so honored to be presenting my adopted home state of Colorado alongside 49 other wonderful bloggers sharing their states through the "Travels with Charlie" series from Blue Apple Books.

Colorado is found in the Way Out West book and contains fun facts, beautiful illustrations and a poem highlighting our famous landmarks.

When we used to study Colorado in our Social Studies curriculum, one of my kids' most favorite projects was to make a Colorado State Flag Pin and I thought it would be the perfect tie-in with this book!

Our state flag's colors represent all that our beautiful state has to offer, from the blue skies to the white snow, so it's a wonderful craft that can be hung from their backpacks the whole year as a souvenir of learning!

To pick up the easy-peasy directions, click HERE or the illustration below. I projected these in our classroom and we created them whole-class, step by step.

Fonts by KG Fonts & Jen Jones, Frame from Zip-a-dee-doo-dah

For more Colorado State Flag resources, check out these sites:

• State Flag: Interactive Coloring Page
• State Flag Printable Coloring Page
• Colorado State Facts

I hope you enjoyed stopping by and be sure to check out all of the other 49 states HERE.

Sharing My {Love} of Scentos!

If you've followed teacher blogs for a while, there's no doubt you've heard of Scentos. This company is by far my favorite for all things teacher supply since everything they sell is scented!! Yes, it's amazing :)

Plus, as you can see, they have everything you need for your teacher and classroom needs!

Here are a few ways I love using them in class:

Partner Editing Bin

Scentos has these fantastic pens with the different ink choices-- I totally remember these from my elementary days!-- that work perfectly for partner editing in writing time! When kids meet with their partner, they grab a pen and get to work. They can choose the color and work on circling misspellings, making editing marks, writing comments and questions in the margins, and more. At the end, they can stamp their partner's work with a Scentos stamp of their choice or with smelly stickers.... loads of fun for what was once a pretty boring process :)

Making Anchor Charts

I love using Scentos to make my anchor charts and because they are so easy to distinguish from other markers, I can always make sure they are available for me to use with my kids. I always set up my anchor charts the afternoon before and leave parts of them empty to fill in together with my class during the lesson. I always make my headers with Scentos markers and then outline with black Sharpie so they pop against our wall when I hang them up. I also print out clip art (since I am NO artist!) and glue them to the charts to help the kids visually, too! There is something about writing with smelly markers at the end of a long day that makes me smile ear to ear, know what I mean?

Fun Treats for Students

Obviously, my kids love Scentos as much as I do, so it's easy to use their pencils, stickers, and markers to inject some fun into our projects. You've probably seen their larger markers (shown on the top right) in stores everywhere and they make the perfect student marker for writing on posters and anchor charts. Plus, Scentos has pencils (both color and #2) with scents, so they are great to use during Teacher Time as a fun reward for great answers, collaborations, discussions, and more.

If you're interested in finding Scentos for your own class, you can in stores everywhere. Click HERE to see the specifics and even more products (including bubbles, glue, and chalk!).

Disclaimer: Scentos sent me these products to test, but all opinions, photos, and recommendations are my own. I only recommend what I use and love!

All About Brain Breaks

I know if you're reading my blog, there's a pretty good chance you've heard of my Brain Breaks for the Classroom. They are the perfect little pick-me-up or calm-me-down for your class and can be used in a variety of ways and in a variety of settings.

I have a few posts on my blog, but I thought it would be the perfect time (due to a recent update) to revisit this product and give you some additional information about Brain Breaks and why they are so helpful in your classroom.

Why Brain Breaks?

Did you know:

• Movement increases heart rate and circulation, which often increases performance.
• Our brains are designed to learn short bursts of information, followed by time to process the information.
• Young children in particular require more breaks from seat work.
• Sitting places 30% more pressure on the spinal discs than standing, especially for long periods of time.
• The data suggests that exercise is the best overall mood regulator.

[Source]

That's why Brain Breaks are so important! The best part? You probably do them already when you see your kids' eyes glaze over or they just don't seem to be with you in a lesson. Having them gesture, stretch, clap, toss a ball around, listen to and dance to a song are all ways to help break up the intervals of teaching and learning to help re-energize the brain.

GoNoodle.com is a *fantastic* website that is full of Watch & Wiggle Brain Breaks and more. I never had the privelege of using it in my classroom, but a simple search will show you loads of bloggers who are using it with great success. GoNoodle has put together a fantastic, research-based White Paper HERE to give you even more data on the importance of Brain Breaks in your day.

Brain Breaks for the Classroom

If you're like me, you sometimes get into a rut with what Brain Breaks to choose and that's where these handy dandy sticks come in. On the front is the title and a corresponding picture and on the back is the description of the activity. **This is a new feature, so if you already have my Brain Breaks for the Classroom, be sure to redownload the updated version to get your description circles for the back!**

ALL Brain Breaks (Classroom & Holidays) now have circular descriptions to attach to the back. View more in the previews HERE. Redownload for free if you have previously purchased these!

Having the description on the back will help not only you and your students remember, but they become an easy and effective way for a substitute to use them, a guest or even your principal to stop in and lead a Brain Break from time to time! You'll find that some of these are energizing and some are calming. Some are quick and others take a few minutes. Some can be done independently and some need partners or even small groups. Some need the help of the teacher or a student leader and some are just on your own. With nearly 70 different Brain Breaks, there are definitely some for all occasions.

Starting Out & Mixing It Up

I don't start with all 60-ish Brain Breaks in the bucket at the beginning of the year. I first select a handful carefully from the stash and usually start with a variety of both calming and energizing Breaks to introduce the responsibilities of both.

It's obvious that energizing Brain Breaks will need some guidance and a few gentle reminders along the way to stay in our spots, stay in control of our bodies, and be ready to get back to work when finished, but I am always reminded how important it is to guide students through relaxing Brain Breaks as well. Oftentimes, they are hesitant to close their eyes, or stretching and breathing become silly and overexaggerated, and therefore the the "calming" focus is totally lost. I always have to tell myself to reinforce the expectations around these Brain Breaks just like I do in other areas and that often means practice, practice, practice!

Throughout the year, typically on Fridays of each week, I will introduce new Brain Breaks. My Friday schedule is always more relaxed with less intervention time and pull-outs, so I find it easier to cover content and have more breathing room than Monday through Thursday. Because of this, I can find the time to introduce a new Brain Break or two, try them out throughout the day, and be ready to fully incorporate them starting on Monday of that next week.

I also like to start having kids pull the Brain Breaks as the year progresses. I begin my having them make a choice from a few that I have selectively pulled from the bucket, but as we get more familiar with them all, I will have the student decide when he/she pulls one if it's a best-fit for our needs right now. For example, one time a child pulled a partnering activity when we were getting our minds ready to take a test. He decided it wasn't the best time for that one, and made a different choice, but we did decide once the test was done to work with partners and be more silly (It was the Partner Sit & Stand, and he was right, before the test would have been a logistical nightmare, but after the test it was the perfect way to laugh together!).

We also will incorporate holiday-themed Brain Breaks into our routine the week or two before a celebration. This is just another way to work together or get our minds back on track in a fun and engaging way! Plus, they allow us to practice some of the content knowledge that we learn around the holidays. For example, in the Brain Breaks for Earth Day, we quickly reviewed rotation versus revolution with the Earth and the Sun. It was a great and simple way for kids to act it out and oxygenate their brains at the same time!

Other Brain Break Ideas...

I was so fortunate to have a laptop and a Document Camera in my classroom, and I know many of you have similar setups. If so, you'll need to check out my Pinterest board for Watch & Wiggle Brain Breaks that I wrote about HERE. There are so many fun and catchy songs that are kid-friendly that they (and you!) will love dancing to! We would also use this Brain Break to play content songs or Schoolhouse Rock songs to remind us about grammar rules and multiplication tables.

I also love both of these resources for days when you're trapped inside for indoor recess! This past winter was especially brutal everywhere, so if you were trapped inside for more than one day, you know how quickly cabin fever sets in ;) Starting and/or ending recess with these Brain Break videos (or, heck, showing them the whole time!) is an active alternative to going crazy, right!?

They are also the perfect way to break the ice at the beginning of the year and work wonders at controlling the end-of-year wiggles! Once the temperature starts creeping up, the energy level does, too, so these breaks are the perfect way to channel energy and get kids moving in a more guided direction.