Father's Day Awards - Writing Template and Gift

Father's Day is coming up and if you're still in school right now, you may be starting to think about Father's Day projects that your students can do for their dads. I've been selling a Mother's Day writing activity (it also doubles as a gift!) for years, but I never had anything for Father's Day and a few of our Facebook followers mentioned that they'd love an option for Father's Day too. So here is my new resource: Father's Day Awards. It's part writing project, part gift! 

A win-win!

This cute trophy and gold medal design is something your students' fathers will treasure! First students write about their dads, then they can color and personalize it. 

I realize that not all children have fathers to recognize on Father’s Day, so I’ve included multiple pages that include Grandpa, Uncle, and Step Dad. I’ve also provided blank pages in case there are any other special circumstances to consider.

You can choose to use the trophy page or the gold medal page. I've provided both as fun options. (You could choose to let each student to do one for their dads and one for their grandfathers if you have extra time.)

You can see it in my TPT Store: HERE! 

I hope this is helpful for those of you in year-round school, or those of you who get out later. Good luck as you finish out this school year!

Summer Bucket List Linky!

Hey! It's me, Natalie. You might not remember me because it's been quite a while since I've blogged around here. Something about juggling 3 little kids (ages 4.5, 3, and 8 months) plus school made me a little "preoccupied" for a little while.  I've taken a few weeks off to just focus on family and now I'm back and feeling more refreshed. Phew!

It's summer time for me now (I know some of you are still in school, and I am really, truly, very sorry!) and I've been having such a great time already! My family took our vacation early this year and headed down to the beautiful red rocks of Southern Utah. It was beautiful, hot, and tons of fun!

 

(Left: Me and my family hiking in Zions. Right: Babywearing little Sawyer in the red rocks of St. George)

A few years ago we hosted a Summer Bucket List Linky and today we thought we'd bring that baby back! So grab a blank copy of this Summer Bucket List and fill it in for yourself. We'd love to read all the fun plans and summer goals ya'll have.

I'll start:

School:

I left school two weeks ago thinking that I would keep my classroom the same, but a few days ago I got a really good idea (I think, ha!) for a new look for my classroom (aka computer lab - I'm the school technology specialist).  I'm feeling really excited about my new vision and am excited to start shopping and redecorating! 

My computer scope and sequence for the year needs some tweaks. This will be my 3rd year of teaching computers and I'm feeling like I need to revamp some things, make some new lesson plans, and create new & fun projects for my students. 

Another goal I recently decided on is applying for a technology grant to get a class set of web cameras. We have Mac computers but our school uses PC monitors so I don't have a built-in camera or microphone for my students to use. I would LOVE to do some fun GarageBand and iMovie projects with my older students this coming year and I've got my eye on these beautiful cameras from HUE HD. I'm hoping to find a grant that will help me purchase these for my lab.

Personal:

My whole mission this summer is getting into a new home! I've mentioned this before, but we bought our condo during the summer of 2007 --- right before the market crashed! This sent our home values down and, after 8 years (and 3 kids later), we are finally/hopefully in a place where we can sell and make a little profit. The plan is to get our condo on the market this month and then hopefully sell and buy a new house in July. I would love if ya'll could send some positive thoughts my way that all will work out for us!  :)

I recently purchased the Whole 30 book called It Starts With Food. After being really inspired by Rachelle and her fitness blog called For Blogness' Sake, I'm ready to make some changes and be more healthy. I am not sure how I feel about committing to doing a Whole 30 (I live off of Mexican food - tortillas, rice, beans, cheese - all things you can't eat on Whole 30), but I do want to be more healthy and eat food that's good for me, so I *might* be willing to give it try. I'm only on page 25 of the book so I guess I need to keep reading. 

To go along with eating healthier, I'm also trying to be more active. I've been running on the treadmill at the gym and working on building muscle by lifting weights. I still have a looooong way to go, but I'm trying! (I've got some extra baby weight I'm still working to get rid of.) I've decided that to help with being more active that I'd start training for a 5K. I don't know when or where, but my goal is to run one sometime this summer. (I've done the Color Run before and loved it, so I'm thinking of signing up for that one again.)

Fun:

My main focus this summer is on my kids and family! We've got our own summer bucket list that we made together that consists of lots of swimming, hiking, museums, parks, outside picnics, etc. I'm so excited for this extra time I get to be a mom and spend my days with my little kids!

I'm, of course, heading to Vegas again this year!! I go down with all my best blogging pals, stay at the beautiful Palazzo, and attend the TeachersPayTeachers Conference. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

Other than all that, I'm hoping to do a lot of relaxing this summer. Netflix, reading books, sleeping as much as possible (which is hard with 3 kids… ha!) are all my list of things I want to do this summer!

What about YOU?

What are your plans for summer?

Please join us in a fun Summer Bucket List Linky Party.

Grab your free copy of the template, then edit it (I use PowerPoint), and post it so we can see your fun summer plans. {Please link back to us here at What the Teacher Wants.}

Don't have a blog? Post it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever) using the hashtag #wttwsummerbucketlist and tag us @whattheteacherwants.

Grab your free template here: 

Thank you and HAPPY SUMMER!

LINK UP HERE:

Water Unit {With Bubble Day}

This is one of my FAVORITE thematic units to teach at the end of the year.  Just as you are about to get burned out... the Water Unit comes and saves the day (plus you end the week with a Bubble Day)!
This unit is PERFECT at the end of the year.  It's warm outside, the classroom is muggy and you're just about ready to be finished... it's the perfect time for a unit all about water. Not only is this unit fun, but it is the perfect integration of science, language arts, and even a little math.

This Includes:
Water Cycle Headband Craft
Water Cycle Map
Water Cycle Fill In
Precipitation Posters
Solid, Liquid, Gas Demonstration (with recording sheet)
Bodies of Water Passage (rivers, lakes, oceans, ponds-with vocab cards)
Ice Experiment (with recording sheet)
Water Smelling Experiment (with recording sheet)
Boat-Sink or Float (with recording sheet)
Favorite Water Activity (graph, data analysis, and opinion writing)
How to Have a Water Fight (writing)
Bubble Day Note
Bubble Day Homemade Bubble Recipe
Homemade Bubble Science Experiment (with recording sheet)
Bubble Factory (narrative writing)
Bubbles Cinquain Poem (planning sheet and writing page)
Bubble Art Directions
Bubble Poetry Walk (with original poem)
Double Bubble (math game with doubles facts)

Click {here} to check it out!

Here's one of my favorite activities from the pack:


And add the new GoNoodle video from Blazer Fresh on the Water Cycle! SO FUN!