Made it Saturday: Personal Puppet Show

Today I'm going to teach you how to make a Personal Portable Puppet Show!  

You can use them in grades PK - 12!  The best part...once you make a class set, you can use them for years to come!     

Materials: 
Packing Tape/Duct Tape or a Stapler
Yarn/Ribbon
File Folder

Fold Front in Half

Tape or Staple Sides (as close to the edge as possible)
Look at the top area of the fold.
You need to cut slits about 1/2 an inch from the edge.
Then, cut across.  Keep that scrap.

You're going to have 1 pocket and 1 opening.


You can use a hole punch to make holes or you can use scissors
to make slits.  Measure Ribbon or Yarn to make a "necklace".

This is the Final Product that you can use over & over again!  Now, how do the kiddos use it?  Make a Puppet! You can use the scrap paper (but you need all of it, this is 1/2 and it's too short) or a Popsicle stick.  

Next, Trim Paper and Design a Setting.  Slide the Setting into the Pocket.  

The Puppet goes in open area, so the student can move the puppet around.

Now, your students can use the front flap to demonstrate knowledge of the skill you're working on for the week.  This is an example of a summary, but you could easily do a story map, cause/effect graphic organizer, t-chart of fact/opinion or for lower grades students could draw all characters or write names of characters.  You can also use the puppet to practice point of view.  

Again, trim the paper.  Fold the paper in half and slide it over the open area.  

TA-DA!  A Portable Puppet Show!   I did not make this up, I saw a version of it a training a while back, then I saw it again this summer at a GT training by The Project Gals.  

This Little Piggy is Making 22 Personal Puppet Shows!

The new, improved clip chart; creativity

The New & Improved Clip Chart

Well, the clip chart isn't new at my school.  We've used the system school-wide for atleast 3 yrs.  We had 4-5 steps and everyone started on green and would move down.   This summer, while blog stalking I found the new move up and move down clipchart.  I really liked it b/c I thought it was colorful - yes I know not the best reason to choose a classroom mngt tool!  Turns out my team agreed to use it.  Seriously, not one day goes by that we don't have someone ask us about it and/or one of us doesn't comment on how much we love it.  The kids are doing so well!  Honestly, I only had 2 kiddos in my homeroom who moved down all week long!!   DISCLAIMER: The pic isn't a true example of behavior.  I needed to take a pic for this post and everyone was already back on "ready to learn", so I asked one of my little friends to move the clips around, I took the pic and when I got home realized she moved way more down than up.  Sorry!!!   During the day the students constantly are trying to clip-up!  If any student gets to purple in any of our 3 classrooms, they get a prize right away!  My team agreed to this.  We give out crazy straws, hershey kisses, pencils, erasers, granola bars, 10min. computer time passes, library passes, stickers, bubbles, etc...  I've had many teachers who has stopped to ask/comment about the chart.  I always direct them to Teachers Pay Teachers so they can find one to match their classroom theme/design.  I like the idea of positive reinforcement rather than negative. 

CREATIVITY

This week each group made their own graphic organizer/story map for First Day Jitters.  

 

 I teach 3 reading classes and you can really tell who can think outside-the-box and has creativity with the very first project!  In my 1st class of the day, 4 out of 5 groups copied my layout directly from the board.  In my 2nd class only 2 groups copied directly from my example and by the end of the day, in my homeroom....1 group!

 

These 2 groups were so creative!  I wish I would have remembered to take pics of the final product.  One group used each persons hands' and put their information inside the hands!  Wow, it looked awesome.
Another group used FRAMES around their titles and they turned out amazingly cute.  This poster was oh so organized and very neatly written.  In fact, it was neater than my very own example!!  Next time, I promise pics of the final product:)

Craftivity x2

Saturday I worked on 2 craft projects. First, My "F". This is a new trend at our school - hanging an initial by the door. My teacher friend makes and sells them, but since I'm crafty I thought I'd do my own.

Materials:

• Mod Podge
• Sponge Brush
• 1 Sheet of Scrapbook Paper
• 1 Letter (mine was .50cents at Wal-Mart in the clearance isle)
• Coordinating Ribbon

First, Trace the letter onto the scrapbook paper. Trace as close as possible to the letter. Remember, to flip the letter backward;)

Next, Mod Podge the letter. Add the paper and flatten out any bubbles.

Now the hardest part (IMO), add the ribbon around the edge of the letter. I was out of hot glue sticks (that's what I get for not making a list when I went to Wal-Mart), so I went around the edges with Mod Podge. This was messy and it very time consuming, because you have to let each section dry before you can move on.

To add the ribbon, you can use hot glue, a staple gun or flat top thumb tacks (this is what I had at home). This is my finished product! You can add embellishments or fur if you wish. Since my letter is about 4", I decided to create something clean and versatile. My paper matches my color scheme, but I chose a pattern that is generic and can match any theme since I'm a "Reading Teacher".

I also mod podged a "Clipboard", another big trend at our school.

Materials:

• Clipboard
• Mod Podge
• Assorted Thin Ribbon
• 1-2 Sheets of Scrapbook Paper

First, you'll need to trace and cut the paper. It is not going to fit. I decided to leave the space at the top because I wasn't sure how to cut the paper correctly. Then, I mod podged the clipboard and added the paper. You need something with a edge, like an old credit card to help you smooth out the paper. Cover with a layer of mod podge and let dry 10 min.

This is when I added ribbon at the top. I simply double-knotted the ribbon. Some people use material scraps, others use tulle.

I cut out an extra "F" from my last project and used it on the clipboard. Mod Podge again. Note the Pink Ribbon at the top. I didn't like it after it dried, so I peeled it off and spent an hour trying to figure out how to cut paper correctly to go under the "clip".

Finally, I figured out how to cut the paper to fit around the "clip" by tracing a strip of paper and flipping it backward to trace onto my scrapbooking paper. No, I wasn't good in geometry.

Sorry about the bad pic.

This is my finished product. I'm happy with it.