Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures - Smile for Picture Day!

This post is sponsored by Colgate. Opinions are my own.

What the Teacher Wants is happy and excited to partner with Colgate and the Kids in Need Foundation for the Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures Smile For Picture Day Pledge! We've taken the pledge and hope you will join us in bringing education and smiles to children in need!

We invite you to: 

TAKE THE PLEDGE BRIGHT SMILES FOR PICTURE DAY

A bright smile reflects a child’s developing self-esteem and the promise of a healthy, successful school year. Now through November 17th, pledge to promote bright smiles — for picture day and every day — for the chance to win 500 sets of toothbrushes and toothpaste for an elementary school in your community. 

Here's what we need you to do: 

1. Go to www.Colgate.com/PictureDay

2. Agree to spread the word by teaching your students the importance of oral health by teaching these 4 healthy habits: 

* Brush with fluoride toothpaste 2X a day, especially after breakfast and before bedtime.
* Limit sweet, sticky snacks to avoid plaque attacks.
* Visit a dental professional regularly.
* Once teeth are touching, floss your child’s teeth once a day to remove plaque.

3. Take the pledge from now through November 17th and enter to win 500 sets of Colgate Kids toothpaste and toothbrushes for your school! You can also check out the website for more details.

{Enter here: Colgate Picture Day}

4. Join us on social media! 

Share a picture day photo on social media using the hashtags #BrightSmilesBrightFutures #promo from now through November 17th and $1 will donated to the Kids in Need Foundation to help provide essential school supplies, including toothpaste and toothbrushes to those who need it most. You can also follow @ColgateBSBF on Twitter for the latest program updates!

Here's my lovely school photo example. Haha!

 Of course I have 10 of these 8X10 pictures from my school picture day! 

If you want one signed, let me know! ;)

Or maybe I should use this photo from 1st grade?

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Thank you to Colgate for letting us be involved in the campaign to help bring brighter smiles to children in need!

Halloween Activities for K-6

Let's be real. October can be a crazy month for teaching. Between students being excited about dressing up in costumes and all the candy they eat during the month, kids can have a hard time focusing and working hard on school work. 

We have both created some resources that are fun, engaging, AND educational that you can use during the month October. It's a great way to keep them excited about learning. 

This Halloween Writing Pack has been in my store for years. It's actually one of the first things I posted in my TPT store back in 2012. This year I gave it a major makeover to update the design and add some new features. 

• This writing pack contains two parts – 4 Halloween Writing

Assignments and 5 October themed journal pages.

• Each of the 4 Halloween Writing Assignments have a

brainstorm page. These pages have directions for each story 

and will get your students thinking about what they write 

before they begin.

• I have included 3 different differentiated writing pages for

each of the Halloween Writing Assignments. This will help

you meet the needs of your students, and also allows these

writing pages to be used for all grade levels K-6.

• I have included two different grading rubrics. The first

rubric can be used for grading each of the 4 Halloween

Writing Assignments. The second one can be used as an

overall grading checklist for the entire Writing Pack. Full

sized and quarter sized rubrics are included. (I like to staple

the smaller sized rubrics to the top of each story after I have

graded them.)

This unit was originally created for grades 3-6, but I've had teachers of younger grade levels use this and love it too. With my update, I created differentiated writing pages so it can be used will all grade levels K-6.

3-6 example:

K-2 Example:

(My own sweet daughter, Allie, wrote this story. She's in kindergarten! I obviously helped her with spelling and punctuation, but she wrote the story all by herself!)

Rachelle also has a Halloween pack in her store made specifically for grades K-2. It's a fun unit that integrates Halloween into math, literacy, and art! 

This unit has over 100 pages and is full of fun activities your students will love! It's differentiated for Kinder, 1st, and 2nd grades (black and white options available to help save ink.)

Here's what's included:

Scoop and Sort Place Value

Patterning

Greater/Less

Problem Solving

Graphing

October Battleship

Place Value Game

Bat Writing

Spider Writing

Spelling Game

Q-Tip Skeleton

Paper Plate Spider with Writing

Paper Plate Scarecrow

Hand Print Spider with Poem

Spider Web Chart

Don't Munch the Mummy! (sight word game)

Reading Response Activity

Interactive read-a-loud

Original Poem

Green Witch, Green Witch book 

Student Mini-Book

Class Book

Word Search

October isn't quite so scary when you have your students working on fun, meaningful activities that keep them engaged. We hope these resources will help save you time as you plan and prep your lesson plans over the coming weeks and also offer educational Halloween activities your students will love! 

Want to save these ideas for later? Feel free to pin any of these images. 

       

STEM Stations with Blocks Rock!

On STEM Fridays in my classroom, I oftentimes have STEM Stations where students can choose a challenge and they can complete the game or challenge with a partner or group.
Last Friday, I had the chance to put in the game called Blocks Rock!  And oh boy, my students were obsessed!

*This blog post is in partnership with Blocks Rock. Opinions are completely my own. 

Here's how the students play Blocks Rock:

• The students get equal amounts of blocks (the game is for two players, but I had my students play in pairs so there were 4 students playing).
• Player 1 flips over a card and both players create the picture using the blocks (I love that they can build it flat or 3D like a tower). There are two types of cards (Level 1/2).
• The blocks have to be touching.
• The first player to build their structure will ring the bell and they win the round (you can also have students touch their head when they are finished if you don't want to hear the bell).  If the structure isn't correct, the round continues...and the pressure builds! HA!
• The player who wins the round, keeps the card.
  
  
  

This game can be modified and adapted as needed. Students can build "flat" or in a tower (think: 3D).

What I love about this game:

• It is SIMPLE but CHALLENGING for all students. They have to problem solve, which all kids need practice on. Really anyone can play (my 4 year old nephew and 10 year old niece loved it).
• It comes in a nice case that is easy to get out, travel with, and put away.  The carrying case has 24 blocks, 2 decks of playing cards, and THE BELL! ;)
• Can be played anywhere!
• I LOVE that this game also has a technology extension. You can download the app for free and use the blocks included in the game to play or you can just use the playing cards. 

• Last but not least, it is researched based and the kiddos are LEARNING.

• Color Identification: Players match the colored blocks to the colors on game cards.• Problem Solving: Players arrange the blocks and fix when necessary.

• Shape Identification: Players match block shapes to the shape of blocks on game cards.

• Spatial Learning: Players must build a structure to match the structure on the card.

• Hand-Eye Coordination: Hand-to-eye coordination is key to building a block structure

in the shortest amount of time.

• Math Skills: Points on the cards can be added up at the end of the game to determine

the winner, or younger players can count the number of cards each player has to find the

winner.

Ok... so I know you just want to know if the kids like it and if it challenges them. YES AND YES! BUT- your principal might want to know if there's research behind the game and the answer is yes. The picture on the left is an MRI of someone playing with blocks. The picture on the right is a board game. What!? Mind blown! Send this to your principal.

Is this something your classroom or home can use?  

Check it out here!

P.S. Blocks Rock is giving all our readers a special promo code to save 20% off at checkout! Make sure to enter the code: WTTW20

Go Noodle Plus Giveaway!!

We are HUGE fans of GoNoodle! 

And today we are excited introduce the NEW GoNoodle Plus!

(Please note: This post is part of a partnership with GoNoodle. )

GoNoodle Plus Video - Schools from GoNoodle on Vimeo.

What is GoNoodle Plus?

GoNoodle Plus is the most academically comprehensive version of GoNoodle. It offers hundreds of ways to deepen student learning with additional curricular videos, learning games, and printable activities!

What does GoNoodle Plus include? 

A whole suite of interactive learning games

Question sets that you can personalize

Learning extensions with engaging printables and activities 

More movement and mindfulness videos full of academic content

Why do we love GoNoodle Plus?

Our students need to be engaged in high energy and high engagement learning and GoNoodle Plus provides this kind of learning for kids! These videos are full of educational content and academic lessons that students love. If we can make learning more fun and meaningful, students will learn more, remember it longer, and come to school each day ready and excited to learn. 

Try it free for 60 days!

We are excited to offer you a free 60 day trial. 

Simply visit GoNoodle here: app.gonoodle.com/redeem

Enter the code: TryPlus17

Want to win a FREE year subscription to GoNoodle Plus?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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