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?
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.
