Spooktacular Halloween Treats for Kids!

 Are you looking for fun and easy individually wrapped treats you can pass out to your students at school for Halloween?  

Maybe you are looking for something that is healthy and cheap?!? I mean.......everyone knows that a spooky good time ALWAYS involves treats!!

I have a handful of ideas you can check out below, and I promise any of  these ideas will guarantee a smile on a students face! The best part about these ideas is that they will require little time and very little in the way of supplies.

1. String Cheese Ghost

To make this cheese ghost all you need is a pack of string cheese and a black sharpie.  Simply draw a spooky face on the top of each string cheese.  Cheap, easy and healthy!

 2. Orange Pumpkins

Just like the cheese ghosts, all you need is a sharpie and an orange fruit of choice.  Grab a bag of cuties, clementines or oranges and use a sharpie to draw a pumpkin face on each fruit.  

Make sure to have wipes on hand or a sink, as eating an orange or a clementine in class can get a bit sticky.  The good news--your classroom will smell really good!   

I have also used peach and orange jello cups instead of fresh oranges.  Same effect...but maybe a little less messy when kids eat them.    

3. Pudding Bats

Although not as healthy as a string cheese ghost or orange pumpkin, the pudding bat is just as cute!  For this fun snack you need black or brown construction paper, tape, a sharpie and pudding cups.  

Use the sharpie to draw eyes and fangs on the pudding cup.  Cut bat wings from the brown or black construction paper, and tape them on to the outside of the pudding cup.  Googly eyes could also be used instead of sharpie eyes.....sharpie eyes just takes less time!  

 4. Mummy pouches

Get any sort of baby food pouch (literally my four year old still eats baby food pouches---it is the only way he will touch veggies) or squeezable applesauce.  Wrap the pouches with white party streamers and fasten with tape.  You can sharpie eyes on the face of the mummy, or glue on googly eyes.

 5. Halloween Treat Tags

Using treat tags are a perfect way to give and put a smile on the faces in your classroom without breaking the bank!  Simply print out the tag of choice and attach it to the trinket or treat it matches.  Printing the treat tags on cardstock make the tags more durable!

If you are looking for more festive ideas, check out list of 30 ideas from Room Parent by PTO Today!

Halloween Costumes for Teachers!

 Halloween is right around the corner....

At our building, teachers and students dress up and have fall parties!  I sure love seeing all of the creativity.....and I am confident parents love the fact they get one more use out of their kid's costumes!

If you aren't sure what you will dress up as, AND you want something that is super easy, cheap and quick to make check out this notebook paper idea I made a few years back.

Making it was VERY easy and required little supplies.  All you need is a white shirt, permanent markers (blue, red and black), a ruler and the ability to draw straight lines!

If you want step by step directions, click here.

Another easy idea is to be that elusive traveler, Waldo, from the Where's Waldo series.  I purchased the red and white stripe dress from Amazon, and wore it on top of black leggings.  

To finish out the costume, I purchased some circle shaped eyeglasses, a stocking hat and a cane.  Super easy, and comfortable!  Bonus--the dress also works well for an elf on Christmas!

If you are looking for more ideas, perhaps some group ideas for the whole school, check out this list from We Are Teachers or Not So Wimpy's list with 20 costume ideas!

First Day Lesson Plans for Reading Intervention Groups (Part 2)

Are you curious about how the first days in intervention or pull out groups go?  Make sure you check out post 1, by clicking here.  On the first post I shared what I do on the first day of pull out intervention. Perhaps a quick read through will help you get some ideas of your own....

Day one is all about about building relationships and teaching your new students the routines, procedures and agreements that are in place to maximize your time together. 

Day 2 is a review of the routines, procedures and agreements.  Reviewing and re-teaching expectations is important to keep your year running smoothly.  In fact....beyond the first few days in small group, I still review...especially after a long weekend or a holiday break.

One effective way to review behavior expectations is having students brainstorm what a "ready to learn" student looks and sounds like using a t-chart.   Younger students can draw pictures, or teachers can scribe as students share their answers.  Older students can write bulleted lists with a partner, and then share whole class.  

After the reviewing classroom expectations, I continue to build the culture I want to have in my classroom by reading Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen. 

This is a great read to build a sense of community within your small group.  It helps the students learn that our classroom will be a place that is safe to be themselves, make mistakes and be a good friend to others.  

After reading the story, we stop to dialogue about how we are classroom family even though we aren't related.  Students share what makes them special and unique, and we make a commitment to be loving family members. 

Our Class is a Family flows right into making a collaborative class puzzle.  I use the free collaborative class puzzle from TeachEZY on Teachers Pay Teachers.  

I explain that individual puzzle pieces are all beautiful and unique.  Each piece has different shapes, colors, patterns and prints....but it takes ALL of the puzzle pieces to create one stunning, complete image.   The puzzle is just like our classroom family---one complete, amazing picture and the pieces are each of you--wonderfully unique!

Next, each student gets a blank puzzle piece which they decorate to represent themselves.  I love seeing their creativity and passions on paper!

While students are working on their puzzle pieces, I take the opportunity to complete some diagnostic testing.....because small group instruction will be happening the next day! 

What do the first days of your small groups look like?