GoNoodle!

A while back, I blogged about having class dance parties (you can see it here).  I have discovered something better!!  It is called GoNoodle, and it is awesome!  It is silly, energetic, fun, crazy, motivational, and best of all, FREE. You sign up, log-in, and create your class (I set up a demo class first so that I could check out the content and make sure that it was kid-safe and appropriate before I showed it to my students).  You can set up more than one class at a time.  Give your class a name, enter how many students you have, and then select the grade level.  You will be prompted to choose an avatar (they call them Champs).  There are many to choose from (I let my students vote on the one they wanted):

Once an avatar is chosen, you will be taken to the student home screen.  It will look something like this (the avatar you choose will be in the middle):

Clicking on Dashboard will take you to the teacher home screen.  Our Champ will take you back to the student home screen if you're on one of the other screens.  Explore will take you to an introductory video for students if you are new to GoNoodle, and a selection of new videos if you have been using GoNoodle for awhile.  Channels will take you to the different channels that GoNoodle offers (more about this later).  Clicking Categories will display the different categories that the videos fall under so that you can choose the specific type of video you want to see.  There are two buttons at the bottom: Champs and Play.  Champs takes you to the avatar selection screen, and the Play button works just like the Explore button at the top.

I don't usually select Play with my students.  Instead, I will click on Channels and let them choose from there.  The Channels screen looks like this: 

Each button will take you to a variety of videos.  Most of the videos range from one to five minutes.

• Don't know much about GoNoodle Plus.  It is a series of videos tied to core subjects that you need to pay for to see.  I live on a teacher's salary - enough said!
• Awesome Sauce is a kid-favorite.  It contains 24 very silly videos that encourage dance and free movement.
• Koo Koo Kanga Roo is another kid-favorite.  It has 32 songs featuring the two Koo Koo dudes during outrageous, crazy stuff.  This channel never fails to get my kids laughing, giggling, and moving.
  
  
  
• Indoor Recess has 21 videos that are range from 7 to 18 minutes long.  They are great for indoor recesses (imagine that!).  They contain a mixture of movement and brain activities.
• The Champ Harmonic are 5 videos featuring GoNoodle avatars moving to classical selections of music.
• Zumba Kids has 18 activities that feature kids doing Zumba.  They are upbeat and energetic, and my kids love to follow along.
• Flow contains 6 videos that encourage kids to slow down and be mindful.
• MooseTube has 11 camp-style songs that will gets kids moving and singing along.
• Fresh Start Fitness is 9 videos that are more like traditional work-out videos.  They feature people doing exercise moves to high-energy music.
• Game On! contains 3 interactive games that will get kids moving.
• Empower Tools contains 7 videos that teach kids some basic yoga moves.
• Kidz Bop has 11 pop-song favorites featuring the Kidz Bop kids singing and dancing.
• Brainercise with Mr. Catman is another kid-favorite.  These 11 activities feature a man in a cat mask (sounds silly, but the kids love it!) walking kids through moves that coordinate brain and body.
  
  
  
• Maximo features an animated character guiding children through 21 different types of movements that are for calming, stretching, and relaxing.
• Run With Us has 13 interactive track and field activities.
• Think About It activities are designed to get students thinking and reflecting on positive aspects of life.
• YouTube is a collection of brain break favorites (like Ants in Your Pants, Whip NaeNae, and Continental Drift) that have been found on YouTube.  You also have the option to add your own favorites from YouTube.

I would strongly encourage you check GoNoodle out.  It's great fun!!  If you like it, you can also invite parents and students to play at home.

Awesome TpT product!

I recently bought a product from Teachers Pay Teachers that was awesome.  It is a winter writing and art pack by Reagan Tunstall that includes activities for torn paper snowmen, Emperor penguins, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Tacky the Penguin, Froggy's First Kiss, and George Washington.  I bought it in time for Dr. King's birthday so that is what we did, and I think they came out beautifully.

I can't wait for President's Day; the George Washington activity is adorable!

Holiday Fun Stuff & FREEBIE

We finished up two holiday crafts that we've been working on for a couple of days now.  They are adorable!  I have had so many teachers stop by my room and ask about them that I just had to share.  The first one is from Surfin' Through Second and is called Elf Yourself!  Head on over for a template.  Here is how my student elves turned out:

I have them put up outside my door and I can hear kids and teachers chuckling every time they walk past!

The other project we completed is to give to our parents for Christmas.  I got the idea from Classroom DIY, but I changed it a little bit.  If you click on the link you will find complete instructions.  Here's how ours came out:

Classroom DIY had her (?) students do a subway art style tile.  Since my students are 2nd graders, I had them create a drawing instead.  I made a tile-sized template for them to draw on.  They made their drawings in pencil, I outlined them in Sharpie, and then they colored them in with Sharpies.  I completed the rest of according to Classroom DIY's instructions.  My students will be taking them home on Friday to give to their parents for Christmas.  I'm very pleased with how they came out, and I think their parents will be tickled.

Thanks for the fantastic ideas Classroom DIY and Surfin' Through Second!

I also have a freebie for you: a Las Posadas mini-book.  I made this a couple of years ago to help my students understand the Mexican tradition of Las Posadas.  I hope you like it!  Click here to get it.

Snowman Ornaments

I make these ornaments with my students every year and they always turn out so cute!  The best part is that they are super easy to make.  You begin with salt dough:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water

I also mix in white tempera paint to whiten the color up a bit. This recipe usually makes plenty for a class of 25.  If the dough is sticky, add more flour.  If it's too dry, add more water.  Here is the step-by-step:

1.  Give each student a rectangle of parchment paper, and have them write their name at the top.  I use parchment paper because it can be put in the oven without catching fire, and it allows me to keep track of whose snowman is whose while they are too soft to write on.

2.  Give each student a golf-ball sized chunk of white salt dough and have them separate it into three equal chunks.  They need to roll these chunks between their hands to make them into balls.  Caution them to do this quickly.  If the dough is handled too much it will get sticky!

3.  Have them place the largest ball at the bottom of their parchment paper.  Using the side of their hand, while it is curled into a fist, they will gently push down on the ball until it is about the size of a small cookie (not too thin!).

4.  Give each student a small amount of water (I usually put a margarine tub with water on each group's table).  They will dip their finger in the water and gently wet the very tiptop of the ball that they have flattened.  They will place a second ball on the wet part, so that they are overlapping slightly, and gently push down with the side of their fist until is is about the size of a small cookie.

5.  Repeat step #4 with the third ball of dough.

6.  Get a large handful of dough and mix in black tempera paint.  

7.  Give each student a marble sized chunk, and have them 
separate it into two balls.

8.  They will wet the tiptop of their snowman's head and place one black ball so that it is slightly overlapping the top of the head.  They will flatten it gently with the side of their fist.  This will become the snowman's hat.

9.  Taking the second ball of black, they will roll it between their palms to make it into a short, fat snake shape.

10.  Using their finger, they will wet where the black ball from step #7 overlaps the snowman's head.  They will lay the snake where the hat overlaps the head, and push it down gently with their finger to create the brim of the snowman's hat.

11.  Get a golf-ball sized chunk of dough and mix in orange tempera paint.  Give each student a small pinch and have them roll it between their palms to make a tiny snake.  They will dip it into the water and stick it in the middle of the snowman's face to create his carrot nose.

Collect all the snowmen and set them aside.  The student part is finished!

12.  You will need to bake the snowman in a 200 degree oven until they are dry (about 4-6 hours).

13.  Take them out and let them cool.  Peel the parchment paper off, and write the student's name on the back using a Sharpie.  On the front, using the Sharpie, add dots for eyes, a mouth, and buttons.

14.  Using a glue gun and paperclips, add a hanger to the back.

15.  Melt wax in a double boiler (you can buy wax in the canning section of your grocery store).  Dip the snowmen quickly into the wax to seal them.  I've never used shellac, but I don't see why you couldn't use it instead of wax.

16.  Add a ribbon around the snowman's neck for a scarf.












It seems like a lot now that I've written it all out, but it really is very easy to do.  And they always come out cute, especially when the kids make them a bit won-kitty!