Dads are Special!

At my school dads are always special.  With Father's Day in June and students at home for summer vacation, we needed the opportunity to honor the truly amazing dads we have.  Each year our school presents a special assembly just for dads in late winter.  Students sing, dance, recite poems, and perform for our honored guests.  Teachers try to decorate their rooms and halls with heartfelt writings from the students.  This year I created an "iDad" instead of "iPad" for a bulletin board in the hall.  It was a hit.  It was even very simple to create.  Black background, some pictures of apps downloaded, and a writing page to fit under the apps, and that's it. One interactive "iDad" for kids and dads to read. Considering I don't even own an iPad, I talked with my students about what apps we should put on display. They gave me ideas of what apps their dads used the most.  Facebook, Twitter, The Weather Channel, Scrabble, ESPN, Google, and Temple Run were some of the favorites. The bottom row of apps I created using an eyeball, a heart, the letter U, and a picture of a dad with a #1 dad ribbon.  I downloaded images, laminated them, and attached them to another blank piece of tagboard at the top.  Each child wrote a story about why their dad was special to them.  I taped the stories under the apps on top of the blank tagboard. Parents and students from all over the school would come and lift the apps to see what was under them.  The bottom row of apps read " I Love You Dad!"  I put up some letter that read "We 'app' reciate Our Dads!"  Students came by and peeked under each app over and over.  My class was so proud to show off their version of the iPad.

Lift the flaps and it reads
"I Love You Dad!"

Our iDad Bulletin Board

Seuss on the Loose

We have spent the last week doing our author study of Dr. Seuss. We began our week with Green Eggs and Ham, and ended with the much anticipated The Lorax.  From there to here, and here to there, we had funny things everywhere. Our classroom hallway walls were decorated with a tribute to Dr. Seuss.  Everyone loved our Thing 1 and Thing 2's parading above our lockers.  My class even told me how they wanted their arms and legs to move.  Using brads to attach the arms and legs made our "Things" more whimsical.  Each child's Thing was named with their corresponding number from our class roster.  Their smiling faces are in the center cut out circle.  Much cuter than drawing a face or adding googly eyes.  Plus the kids love seeing themselves!  I scattered some of Dr. Seuss's famous quotes along the wall.