You Make Our Class Colorful!

     I had an extra long weekend due to a snow day and Martin Luther King Day, so I worked on a few projects with my children.  Since Valentine's Day will be here soon, we worked on their Valentine's Day cards and some little gifts for teachers/classmates.  One project I wanted to attempt was one I had seen online a lot - melting broken crayons using a mold.  It turned out REALLY cute, so I thought I would share so that others could use it to make a gift for their own classrooms or children.

     First, I found a silicone mold at Michael's that was heart-shaped.  Then, I (easily) found broken crayons among my kids' art supplies.  I decided to use red, purple and pink to fit a Valentine's Day theme.  After peeling the papers off, I filled one of the molds about half full with broken crayon pieces. 

     I heated the oven to 250 degrees and baked the mold for around 13 minutes.  Some tutorials suggest baking at 275.  Upon removal, I let the pan cool for around 10 minutes, and then I placed it in the freezer to harden the new crayon.

     After around 30 minutes in the freezer, I removed the mold and the new crayon.  The colors that blended were beautiful!  The heart did crack (which seems to be a common problem).  In the future, I will allow the mold to cool longer before I place it in the freezer, to minimize such a drastic temperature change.

     Next, I wrapped the crayon in a small plastic candy bag, and added a little tag I made using the Martha Stewart CraftStudio App for iPad (it's an AWESOME app - I use it for many school-related projects).  I've included a sheet with the tags in this blog post for your own use!  Check out the finished product below!

Click here to download the pink tag (PDF file)

Click here to download the pink tag (Word file)

It's All Greek to Me!

I recently started a Greek Mythology unit in my classroom.  My students are SO very excited and interested in the ancient Greek gods, goddesses and literary characters.  In order to help promote their excitement, I designed a Greek temple for a classroom display.

    
     I found several resources online, but I highly recommend the following file from Teachers Pay Teachers.  The author has rewritten several greek myths in modern day English (at a 4th/5th lexile level).  My students are loving the myths - and they are excellent tools for close reading strategies (Common Core).

     I wanted my students to summarize each myth, as well as focus on character traits for each mythological character.  So, I created some trading cards that could be bound with a metal/plastic ring, stored in a Ziploc, or glued onto a poster.  I plan to use these to help my students compare/contrast the various characters, revisit and recall the theme of various myths, etc.  I hope that they will be useful to another 4th grade teacher struggling to find appropriate resources in order to teach the Common Core standards regarding Greek Mythology.

     Special credit goes to The LibraryFox on Teachers Pay Teachers for the clip art!

 

CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE GREEK TRADING CARDS!