Monday, March 28, 2016

Gettin' My (Teacher) Craft On

It is a truth universally acknowledged that upper grade teachers
 have a lot of correcting to do, 
and lower grade teachers have a lot of fiddly prep work to do.


Which is great, 
because I loooove fiddly prep work!


A recent lesson began, as many do,
 with a find in Bullseye's Playground (formerly the Dollar Spot) at Target.


Hmmm... what could I do with these cute but cheap li'l clothespins?



Well, I could do a matching idea on a piece of paper...

but is there something even more engaging I could do?

Claudina Thinking

Bingo!



I printed out six hedgehog drawings found on the internets, 
laminated them, and wrote uppercase letters on the hedgehog with a Sharpie.
 On the clips, I wrote the corresponding lowercase letters,
 so kids could practice matching them.

Is this as adorable as all get out, or what?


But, I can hear you say,
 "Dang It Minnie, isn't that a lot of work for one fifteen minute lesson?"

Yes, it is.  But fortunately, a sister teacher taught me a neat MacGyver trick.


To remove Sharpie marker from a slick surface,
 just write over it with a dry erase marker...


... and it will wipe right off.


Now I can use these hedgehogs for number matching, word completion, etc. 

Who knows? 
 Maybe if I get transferred to middle school,
 I can even use them for Periodic Table practice.