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  • Ideas by Jivey

    Jivey shares ideas and lessons to make literacy accessible for all.

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    Uncategorized

    Balloon Pop Countdown {FREEBIE}

    April 24, 2016

    How did the last week of April get here so fast?! For many of you (some with less than five weeks left of school), you are beginning to think about how to wind down the year with some fun activities. But if the majority of you are like I was… you want to plan fun things, but your to-do list is sooo long and you are just so worn out! There were lots of things I would have done if only it had already been pretty much created for me. And that doesn’t mean you are a bad teacher… it means you are a busy, tired teacher.

    You’ve probably seen the fun balloon pop countdowns before- perfect for ANY grade! But as mentioned above, sitting down to think of all the activities that could go in the balloons and typing them out might be one of those things that keeps getting moved to the bottom of the list… and then suddenly it’s the last day of school… so I’m here to help you cross that one off!! But sorry, I can’t come to your room and blow the balloons up for you.

    Ideas By Jivey helps you organize a balloon pop countdown for the end of the school year with free pre-made slips of activities for the inside of the balloons as well as several ideas on how to manage the countdown in your classroom.
    In this free download, I have provided MORE ideas than you could use to give you plenty to choose from. Most of what I’ve listed are “free” things to do. Some require students to wear or bring something from home. Don’t want to do any kind of food? Skip that page! Do as many as you want- you can make it a twenty-day-countdown or even a five-day-countdown! Make it work for you!
    Cut apart the slips you want to use and roll them up, then stick each rolled up slip into a balloon before blowing it up.
    One of the struggles you might have is actually managing the balloons. Here are a few suggestions of ways to have your countdown:
    1. Print off two copies of the activity slips. One will be used inside the balloons, but the other will be for your records- number this page with the “days” you are doing each one, and number the balloons to match. NO SURPRISES with this method – well, not for you anyway. 🙂 This one is especially important if you want to use the food slips, for example. You’ll want to know when you need the supplies for them, and can ask parents ahead of time to send in goodies, too. (No one wants a note home the afternoon before an ice cream party that they need to send in two quarts of chocolate syrup.)
    2. Maybe you DO like surprises! I suggest choosing activity slips that don’t require a lot of planning ahead, then stuff those balloons! You could let a student choose which one to pop in this case.

    3. Use it as a behavior incentive. At the end of the day, if everyone has had a “good day,” pop a balloon to see what special activity will be the next day.

    4. Hang the balloons from the board, a piece of string, or even from ribbons attached to the ceiling! Here are some ideas:

    http://firstwithfranklin.blogspot.com/2012/05/10-day-countdown-baby.html
    http://classroomcompulsion.blogspot.com/2012/05/making-end-of-year-pop.html
    http://kinderfriendly.blogspot.com/2013/05/catching-up.html

    5. The actual popping can be done with a pin or thumbtack, or by sitting on the balloon, or in the upper grades- (if you’re super daring) letting a student throw a dart! This could also be a great behavior incentive- let a student who had an AWESOME behavior day pop the balloon.

    This idea is just one of many from the bloggers of The Primary Peach!

     

    by Jessica Ivey 
    Uncategorized

    Minute to Win It!

    June 1, 2015

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    If you have never played Minute To Win It in the classroom, you have been missing out!! We played these games almost the entire last day of school! It’s a super cheap and fun way to “play” with your kids. *I did NOT create any of these games- these are games that you can easily find by doing a search on the internet!*

    GAMES WITH CUPS:
    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Moving On Up is a good starter game- most of mine could complete it! You will need two colors of solo cups. I got mine on sale at Kroger! They come in bags of 50, so with this game, you can have multiple players competing at once. Change out one cup in each stack for the opposite color. In one minute, students should try to move the bottom (different colored cup) to the top by taking the top cup of the stack and moving it to the bottom. They can only use their hands (no leaning the cups against their body).

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Stack Attack is a bit trickier! Students not only have to build a tower with the cups, but then unstack them and put them back into one stack! Almost all of them got their stack built in one minute, but only a couple could unstack them without them falling all over the place! They still loved this one though!

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Finally, students had to knock cups off of their desk using only the air they blew into a balloon in the game, This Blows. Most could do this with no problem! They love the noises it makes too, of course. ;o) Once they finished this game, I had them blow up the balloon and we used them for a couple of other games…

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    In Point Up, they all had to keep their balloon in the air for one minute only using one pointer finger. After this game, we split into two teams and had a “relay race” to pop all of our balloons (one at a time) in one minute. The balloons were on one side of the room and the chair they popped the balloon in was on the other side of the room. I was worried some wouldn’t want to pop it, but they all loved it!

    GAMES WITH FOOD:

    They will be hungry after all that, right? Give them a little snack!

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Face the Cookie is as fun to watch as it is to play! Students put a cookie on their eye (close it!) then wiggle their face muscles to bring it down to their mouth. It’s so funny! They aren’t supposed to use their hands, but I let them hold their hand on their face in case it fell so they could start over. (They just weren’t allowed to touch the cookie!)

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Students use a spoon in their mouth to scoop M&Ms from one bowl to the next. They were all able to complete this in one minute! If students don’t touch the candy, you can reuse it for the next game!

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Suck It Up uses M&Ms, but most don’t want to eat them when they are done because they tended to drool down the straw. Ha!! Students sucked through the straw to “grab” an M&M, then carried it to the bowl. I gave them 25, and almost all of them were able to finish in one minute! I gave them milkshake straws because they have a bigger hole, but the game works with regular straws, too.

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    Noodling Around was hysterical! Using only a spaghetti noodle between their lips, students had to get as many penne pastas on their noodle as they could in one minute. Some were GREAT at it, and ran out of room on their noodle before time was up! Some dropped the penne pasta they had loaded on their spaghetti as they tried to get another. This one is easy to have multiple competing at once!

    The last game we played was super easy and just for fun.

    Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    I put a dab of Vaseline on the end of each kid’s nose, then they took a “Nose Dive” and got the cotton balls from their bowl! It was a fun way to end the games because they were all successful (and laughed the whole time)!

    To play all of the games we played, you need:

    Shopping List for Minute To Win It With Ideas by Jivey

    If you are like me, you have many of these items lying around your classroom or house already! Enjoy these fun games this year, or in years to come!

    And P.S.- there are SOOO many more games out there- check out some more!

     

    by Jessica Ivey 
    Uncategorized

    Jigsaw Puzzle Day!

    May 25, 2015

    You might recall from my previous post that I do an ABC Countdown at the end of the year. Even if you don’t do a countdown, you can easily incorporate many of these “days” into your end of the year! One of the days my kids loved was Jigsaw Puzzle Day. We put puzzles together and made our own puzzles, too!

    I have a cabinet full of puzzles I’ve acquired from places like the Dollar Tree that my kids like to put together sometimes when we have indoor recess. It’s amazing how many of them don’t even have puzzles at home! We work on puzzles throughout the day on Jigsaw Puzzle Day.

    Jigsaw Puzzle Day withIdeas by JIvey
    We also make two fun displays. Both are freebies on TPT!
    First, my kids thought of their FAVORITE thing we did this year in 4th grade. They decorated a puzzle piece and we made a quick door display! (As you can imagine, I got a lot of “winter party” pieces, but there is some content in there, too!)
    Favorite door display with Ideas by Jivey

    Here’s a close up:

    Favorite door display with Ideas by Jivey

    You can find this puzzle piece to download for free here!

    We also made puzzles all about 4th grade. This was during Teacher Appreciation Week, so you’ll also see all of my gorgeous flowers they got me! :o) The finished puzzles are something fun and colorful for the wall- and my kids loved looking at everyone else’s when there was some free time.

    Puzzle days with Ideas by Jivey
    Puzzle days with Ideas by JiveyPuzzle days with Ideas by Jivey

    You can download this freebie here!

    Don’t teach 4th? Here is a puzzle template freebie!

    Puzzle template freebie with Ideas by Jivey

    If you want to make a smaller puzzle, Krista has some free puzzle piece clip art you can download!

    Free puzzle piece clip art by Krista with Ideas by Jivey

    I hope this will be a fun way for your kiddos to reflect back on the year! I know mine sure enjoyed it! :o)

    by Jessica Ivey 
    Uncategorized

    Free End of the Year Poem from Teacher to Student

    April 26, 2015

    Are you counting down?

    As you wind down with your kiddos this year, give them a little something to let them know they are special!

    Student you are special poem with Ideas by Jivey.

    Grab the poem below, open it in Powerpoint, and you will be able to personalize the poem with your students’ names and your name!

    Looking for more end of the year ideas?

    Balloon Pop Countdown!

    OOBLECK

     

    by Jessica Ivey 
    Uncategorized

    Five For Friday: Fingers and Toes Day!

    April 24, 2015

    It’s been a while since I’ve shared my week, so here I am! :o)

    Fingers and Toes Day was today!! For those of you that have no clue what that means, we can officially count down to the last day of school on our fingers and toes! :o)
    Five for Friday with Ideas by Jivey

    We are in full swing of our ABC Countdown to the end of the year, too!

    Five for Friday countdown to the end of the year with Ideas by Jivey

    If you want an editable version, check out my blog post from 2013!

    Wednesday was Earth Day, and my kids had a BLAST creating a new invention to help the Earth thanks to Matt at Digital Divide and Conquer’s awesome PBL Activity!!

    First, my student teacher worked with them to brainstorm areas of need…

    Digital Divide and Conquer's awesome PBL Activity with Ideas by Jivey

    Then they got busy! What I love most about these types of activities is that my usual “top scholars” or “high flyers” aren’t always the ones who come up with the most creative ideas… as you’ll see below. Excuse the spelling but check out their awesome inventions!!!

    Digital Divide and Conquer's awesome PBL Activity with Ideas by JiveyDigital Divide and Conquer's awesome PBL Activity with Ideas by Jivey
    Digital Divide and Conquer's awesome PBL Activity with Ideas by JiveyDigital Divide and Conquer's awesome PBL Activity with Ideas by Jivey
    Matt has other awesome PBL Activities too- make sure to check them out!

    Oh and did I mention… we are also in the middle of state testing right now???

    With Ideas by Jivey

    We’ve been enjoying GoNoodle in between all the test review and actual testing!

    Five for Friday Go Noodle with Ideas by Jivey.

    If you haven’t been taking Brain Breaks this year, it’s not too late to start!! Sign up- it’s free! The kids love it, and it’s pretty amusing for the teacher, too. 😛

    Last… I have some exciting news- you must come back Sunday to see what it’s all about!! But here’s a little hint. :o)

    I hope your week was awesome! See you soon!

    by Jessica Ivey 
    Uncategorized

    Bright Idea: Paint the Ceiling!

    April 18, 2015

    I’m so excited to link up with some awesome bloggers to bring you a fun bright idea!
    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.

    Six years ago, a room mom gave me a gift that I absolutely loved: a painted ceiling tile!

    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.

    All of my kids helped to paint it, which made it really special. They love looking at their artwork up there, too, and even come back to visit after they’ve moved on to the next grade to see it! And of course, each new class gets to admire the tiles!

    If your building has drop ceilings, the tiles are very easy to take in and out, and inexpensive, too! (Although my custodian will just give me one if I ask for it…) I decided I wanted one every year to display. Some years, my room mom made it with my kids, and some years, I did.

    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.
    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.
    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.
    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.
    Bright Idea - paint the ceiling with Ideas by Jivey.

    I have found acrylic paints work the best. I also use sharpies to outline or write after the paint is dry.

    It’s a creative, fun thing for the kids to “give” you that you can keep forever- no matter how many times you move rooms! The tiles just come right down and move with you!

    I think this year, my kids have convinced me that we need minions on the ceiling… check back in a few weeks to see what we decide to do! :o)

    If you enjoyed this bright idea, please
    consider joining me on Facebook,
    Instagram, or my TPT Store for more great ideas.

    For more bright ideas from other bloggers,
    please browse through the link-up below
    and choose a topic/grade level that
    interests you. Thanks for visiting!

    An InLinkz Link-up

    by Jessica Ivey 
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    Ideas By Jivey

    22 hours ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    💩I've got a brand new mentor sentence mini-unit coming your way, and it's a gas! Whether your students love dinosaurs, or you've been looking for the perfect book to use for Easter, there's something here for everyone!Your students will have a rootin'-tootin' time, and I can guarantee they won't forget these grammar skills!💨💨💨💨Oh, alright... APRIL FOOLS! 🤣🤩But if you really ARE looking for some engaging mentor sentence lessons, definitely check out the All-Access Membership! (No fart books included, but still just as fun!) members.ideasbyjivey.com/all-access ... See MoreSee Less

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    Ideas By Jivey
    🦑🐙🦕🐟🦈Whether you want to assign them as digital assignments or print, these paired texts are sure to keep students excited to practice rigorous reading standards!This set contains two pairs of informational passages and one fiction/nonfiction pair (six total passages) about mysteries of the deep.⭐️ Loch Ness and Megalodon⭐️ giant squid, and lion's mane jellyfish and anglerfish⭐️ mermaids: informational passage and also an excerpt from The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian AndersenGet them for grades 2/3 or grades 4-6 here: www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ideas-By-Jivey/Search:mysteries+of+the+deep ... See MoreSee Less

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    2 days ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    🤓Using mentor texts as part of vocabulary instruction is a proven best-practice!🤩Multiple exposures to the words in context and their meanings, indirectly as well as intentionally, will help students truly understand how to use the new vocabulary.👂Hearing the word in a mentor text and then talking about it isn’t enough for students to truly “learn” the word. Students must see, hear, and use the new words in many ways in order to really understand it. 🥰All of the 150+ vocabulary units provided in the All-Access Membership do just that! Each week, there is a variety of ways students can apply and analyze the words from the mentor text, so they don't get bored doing the same activities either. 😎Check out the membership here: members.ideasbyjivey.com/all-access ... See MoreSee Less

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    💩I've got a brand new mentor sentence mini-unit 💩I've got a brand new mentor sentence mini-unit coming your way, and it's a gas! Whether your students love dinosaurs, or you've been looking for the perfect book to use for Easter, there's something here for everyone!

Your students will have a rootin'-tootin' time, and I can guarantee they won't forget these grammar skills!

💨
💨
💨
💨

Oh, alright... 
APRIL FOOLS! 🤣

🤩But if you really ARE looking for some engaging mentor sentence lessons, definitely check out the All-Access Membership at the link in my profile! (No fart books included, but still just as fun!) https://members.ideasbyjivey.com/all-access

#ideasbyjivey #mentorsentences #aprilfoolsday #teachersfollowteachers #teacherspayteachers #iteach345 #upperelementary
    🦑🐙🦕🐟🦈Whether you want to assign the 🦑🐙🦕🐟🦈Whether you want to assign them as digital assignments or print, these paired texts are sure to keep students excited to practice rigorous reading standards!

This set contains two pairs of informational passages and one fiction/nonfiction pair (six total passages) about mysteries of the deep.

⭐️ Loch Ness and Megalodon

⭐️ giant squid, and lion's mane jellyfish and anglerfish

⭐️ mermaids: informational passage and also an excerpt from The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

There are seven multiple-choice questions (each question assessing a different standard) and one constructed response/essay question PER PAIR.

Get them for grades 2/3 or grades 4-6 at the link in my profile! 

#ideasbyjivey #teacherspayteachers #pairedtexts #pairedpassages #upperelementary #iteach2nd #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th #iteach6th 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ideas-By-Jivey/Search:mysteries+of+the+deep
    🤓Using #mentortexts as part of vocabulary instr 🤓Using #mentortexts as part of vocabulary instruction is a proven best-practice!

🤩Multiple exposures to the words in context and their meanings, indirectly as well as intentionally, will help students truly understand how to use the new #vocabulary.

👂Hearing the word in a mentor text and then talking about it isn’t enough for students to truly “learn” the word. Students must see, hear, and use the new words in many ways in order to really understand it. 

🥰All of the 150+ vocabulary units provided in the All-Access Membership do just that! Each week, there is a variety of ways students can apply and analyze the words from the mentor text, so they don't get bored doing the same activities either. 

😎Check out the membership at the link in my profile!

#ideasbyjivey #teachersfollowteachers #vocabularyteacher #teachingvocabulary #iteachtoo #upperelementary #teachermemberships https://members.ideasbyjivey.com/all-access
    😍More and more teachers are discovering each da 😍More and more teachers are discovering each day that teaching with mentor sentences is the perfect way to teach grammar and author’s craft! 

📚Students will improve their writing and grammar understanding as they learn from the amazing authors of your favorite books.

👉Check out #mentorsentences for your grade level by clicking on the categories along the left side of my TPT store (link in profile)!

#fabulousfeedback #ideasbyjivey #teacherspayteachers #mentorsentence #iteachtoo #picturebooks #iteachtoo https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ideas-By-Jivey
    Surprise! 🥳 TPT is having an early spring sale Surprise! 🥳

TPT is having an early spring sale! 🌷🌸

If you've been saving a big bundle on your wishlist, now is the time to add it to your cart! 🛒

👩‍🏫Everything in my store is 20% off, even already-deep-discounted bundles, then use code FORYOU23 to get the extra 5% off at checkout!

Happy shopping! 😍 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ideas-By-Jivey

#teacherspayteachers #ideasbyjivey #teacherspayteacherssale #iteach #iteachtoo #mentortexts #mentorsentences #ELAteacher
    😍 For today's #mentortextmonday, let's look at 😍 For today's #mentortextmonday, let's look at a book you should use this week to celebrate #nationalcrayonday on Friday! 

🖍 The Crayon Man: The True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons by Natascha Biebow is a fabulous picture book to read when teaching text structure. 

🔎 It is not only a fantastic example of a narrative biography, but contains the elusive problem/solution text structure! (This one is always hard to find good examples of in picture books.) 

Get a weeklong #mentortext unit to use with the book in my TPT store, or at the link in my profile! https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/product/the-crayon-man-mentor-text-unit-for-grades-3-5/

#ideasbyjivey #upperelementary #picturebooks #iteachtoo #teacherspayteachers #teachersfollowteachers #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th
    🤷‍♀️Why do I recommend students complete 🤷‍♀️Why do I recommend students complete their #mentorsentences work in a notebook?🤷‍♂️

📓It becomes a perfect “living resource” to use during writing time! It will contain a collection of amazing sentences, skill practice, and sentence structure practice that they can apply to their own writing.

Read more about the way my students set up notebooks at the link in my profile!

#ideasbyjivey #teacherspayteachers #iteach345 #iteachtoo #mentortexts 

https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/mentor-sentence-notebooks/
    🤓Teachers are aware that understanding vocabula 🤓Teachers are aware that understanding vocabulary is crucial to reading comprehension, but we want students to do more than just “know it when they read it.” 

💬✍️We hope our students can adopt these words into their repertoire and improve their writing and speaking vocabulary as well.

🥰With over 150 mentor text units with contextual vocabulary lessons included in the All-Access Membership, you'll have everything you need to help students do just that! (Link in profile.)

#ideasbyjivey #mentortexts #teachermemberships #upperelementary #iteach345 #vocabularyteaching #teachvocabulary 

https://members.ideasbyjivey.com/all-access
    🤩Just ONE reason that I never looked back once 🤩Just ONE reason that I never looked back once I started the mentor sentence routine in my classroom:

My students were having these super deep conversations and even DEBATES about grammar and language. I’d never heard students be able to explain the functions of words so well before, or analyzing craft like actual authors! 🤯

👀Read more in the post at the link in my profile!

#ideasbyjivey #teachersfollowteachers #mentorsentences #iteach345
https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/5-reasons-mentor-sentences
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