Displaying Children's Artwork Created with Mother Goose Time

The Mother Goose Time monthly themes come with daily art projects and crafts for students to make.

Lately, artwork has been taking over our household.  So, I created a simple system for displaying it.

Here are my top 3 locations for displaying artwork:


Location 1:  The Doors

Our main doors are metal and magnetic, creating the perfect spot to hang a few of our collages throughout the month.  I like to display them with the included inspirational photographs and the words/names of what they have created.  I think this helps to enhance our literacy rich environment.

I love how they can be put up and taken down easily with a magnet or two.  Simple and cute.


Location 2:  Our Bulletin Board

We inherited a bulletin board with our house.  If you are looking for one, I have seen quite a few for sale on Facebook Marketplace and on Craigslist lately.  In my classroom I've often hung student artwork in a row, like a patchwork quilt, but I had a better idea at home.  

I decorate the background of our bulletin board to look like the theme for each month.  Throughout the month I add my childrens' artwork to the board as they create it.  We build our bulletin board as we go.  At the end of the month, I take down the artwork and set up the bulletin board for the next theme.

Location 3:  Binders

At the end of the month we put our artwork away.  I place some of my children's favorite pieces in page protectors inside binders.  These are great to refer back to.  My 6-year-old uses the labels on each page to help her spell words when she writes in her journal.  These are great conversation starters and portfolio's to keep for a lifetime.

Love the artwork you see displayed?  Check out Mother Goose Time for more ideas and curriculum.

How do you display the artwork your children make?

Why I LOVE Mother Goose Time

These days I am loving my new found Mother Goose Time preschool program!

This spring was a juggling act to teach 4th grade to my students virtually, while teaching 1st and preschool at home to my daughters.  I needed a time saver, a program that was all inclusive, and that contained all the necessary materials and lessons I would need to execute it.

I also needed a program that I could use with both my 2 (almost 3) and 6 year old, since I would be teaching them at the same time.

While exploring First Book Marketplace I stumbled across a program that peeked my interest, Mother Goose Time.  I ordered three of their older kits (Science Lab, Alphabet Island, and Camping) and was immediately impressed.  Then I ordered three more kits on Experience Early Learning (Pond Life, Birds & Eggs, and Bugs & Crawly Things).  I'm having my girls pick each month which kit we explore.

Why do I love Mother Goose Time?  Here are my top 6 reasons for selecting this curriculum:

1.  The lessons are laid out in weekly books that make teaching simple and satisfying.

The graphics are beautiful and helpful in setting up each activity and craft.  Directions are written simply and don't require a lot of prep work to set up and execute.  Each activity is engaging and fun for my girls.  Not to mention, there are a million and one ways I can modify, adapt, and differentiate the curriculum for their different age levels.


2.  There is a strong literacy connection throughout each week.  Literacy skills are embedded in the music, books to read aloud and explore, individual books for emergent readers, and daily activities.

3.  Foundational math skills are built, and reviewed, with calendar time, STEM stations, included manipulatives, and the daily activities.

4.  The art project are fun, age appropriate, and stunning to display.

Art projects use a variety of mediums and aren't all cookie cutter.  They provide students with the necessary inspiration and materials to create their own unique art projects that align with each day's topic.

5.  Each theme incorporates sensory exploration, gross and fine motor skill development, and speech and language.  Each day touches upon necessary skills that both of my girls were previously working on through early intervention and special services.

6.  Mother Goose Time is perfect for my 2 and 6 year old.

The curriculum is developmentally appropriate for both my girls.  Each day hits on key curriculum that my 2 year old needs now and reviews previously learned skills that my 6 year old can practice.  Each theme and topic engages both girls and provides a spring board for both to learn and explore more throughout the day.

If you are looking for an amazing preschool curriculum, check out Mother Goose Time.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Read Across America Bulletin Board and Hallway Display Ideas

Does your school celebrate Read Across America?  Our para professionals kick off this holiday by decorating the bulletin boards and hallways outside each grade levels doors. 

Here are some photos of the different displays we have had in the past:

I love this Guess Who Bulletin Board because it is interactive.  Students guess who is hiding behind each shadow and check their guess by looking under each flap.

 3rd grade took on the book, Oh The Places You'll Go.  They printed pictures of students and placed them in hot air balloons that soared through the hallway.

They placed this adorable sign in the hallway as well.  

4th grade took on the book, Daisy Head Mayzie.  Students held adorable daisy picture frames and smiled for the camera.  Sweet and simple.

For the younger grades, student faces were printed and placed on these terrific Thing 1 and Thing 2 bodies.

Have some good Seuss displays?  Please share!  Read Across America will be here before we know it.

Take Academic Advantage of a Snow Day!

No need to set the alarm....you are about to have a SNOW DAY!!!

But, wait . . . you can take academic advantage of this day!

Provide your 3rd and 4th grade students, in advance, with a packet of Solve & Color Math worksheets.

Simply print them out and pass them out when anticipating a snow day.  Students will keep the packet at home, only to open on one of these special days.

Answers along the bottom contain a quick self-check for students working independently.

What are you waiting for?

Print a few math worksheets now and you will be prepared for a snow day later!

Interactive Morning Messages

Today I wanted to talk to you a little about Interactive Morning Messages.

Our district uses a responsive classroom approach.  Each morning we have a morning meeting which includes an interactive morning message.

When I first started teaching I would spend my precious morning minutes creating a fun morning message that would often be ignored by distracted students as they arrived.  How could I save my morning time and present a morning message in a way that would catch students attention immediately as they entered each morning?

I decided to make my morning messages interactive!

How do I do this?  By adding a section at the bottom of each message for students to respond.  I keep a little bin of post-it notes and markers nearby.  I post my morning message up front by our door so it's the first thing students see when they enter our classroom.  They stop, read the message, and immediately respond.  Then, we read and discuss our morning message as part of our morning meeting.

To save time I bring the pad of paper home over breaks or long weekends and write out a months worth of messages all at once.  I follow a simple schedule:

Monday - Weekend Happenings

Tuesday - Social Studies / Science

Wednesday - Math

Thursday - Language Arts

Friday - Riddles, Jokes, and Fun Stuff

This schedule helps me think of new and creative messages rather than falling into a pattern of the same boring posts.

Here are some examples:

This is the message that I plan to post on the first day back from February Break.  This will also be my first day teaching after my long maternity leave.

You can underline key words to make them pop.  Use color to make different parts of your message stand out.  Place a post-it note on the message as an example of your expectations for students.

Here is another example.  This morning message ties in our math content.  I am collecting data about students' favorite colors.  We will use the tally chart to make a bar graph during morning meeting.

Notice how I left the day and part of the year blank at the top of the message?  I do this so I can reuse the message next year.  I'll just cut off the bottom and put a new piece of paper underneath it.  You can use post-it notes to add the date to the top of your message or have students help you fill in the date during your morning meeting.

Here are some helpful tips to make your interactive morning messages amazing:

Do you use morning messages in your classroom?  What tips would you share?

Go Character Education - Teaching Positive Character Traits in the Classroom with a Pokemon-like Feel

Are your new students obsessed with Pokemon?

Would you like to teach your little monsters about positive character traits?

Are you hoping to infuse responsibility, respect, and gratefulness (just to name a few) into your classroom schedule?

Well, I have the perfect program for you!

I've created Go Character Ed, a character trait program to infuse positive character trait instruction throughout your day.

I've collected, created, and packaged together loads of resources for you:

- Read Aloud Lists

- Classroom Activity and Lesson Ideas

- Task Cards

- Bulletin Board Display Items

- Posters

- Bookmarks

- Wristbands

- Postcards/Notes Home

- Reward Certificates

- Tickets / Brag Tags

- Discussion / Scenario Cards

- Journal and Prompts

....and more!

Infuse character traits into your language arts centers with task cards that contain quick activities that students can complete independently, with partners, or in small groups.

Students can write and reflect on the traits in their own personal journals.  Print the cover on colored paper for a little extra flair.

Reward students for showcasing positive character traits, or simple remind them, with wristbands and bookmarks.

Fill your teaching toolbox with warm-ups and activities to explicitly teach the character traits to your students in small blocks of time.

Print off the tickets and pass them out to students as part of your behavior management system.  I plan to pass them out as our classroom currency earned for displaying role model behavior.  Students can collect them inside vending machine capsules that slightly resemble Poké Balls.  At the end of the week students will be able to exchange them for prizes.  The colorful ones could be laminated as Brag Tags.

 Each character trait will be available individually, or you can purchase them bundled together for a nice discount.

So far I have the following packs available:

- Responsible
- Respectful
- Grateful
- GROWING BUNDLE

Why wait, catch them all now!

Problem of the Day - Aligned with Engage NY's 4th Grade Math Module Application Problems

Do you use Engage NY's 4th Grade Math Modules?

If so, then I have a product that you will LOVE!

My Problem of the Day Problem Solving packs!

I rewrote each of Engage NY's Math Module Application Problems into 3 fun formats.

The Cut Out versions contain four of the same problem on one page.  Have students cut them out and paste them into their very own Problem of the Day Journal.

The full page layout contains just one problem per page with lots of work space for students to draw a picture or diagram, show their work, and write an answer statement.

Projectable pages are also included.  One slide contains the problem and work space.  Have a Smart Board?  Students can come up and show their peers how to solve the problem.  Then flip to the next slide to see another possible solution.

There are a million and one uses for Engage NY's Application Problems.  Engage NY suggests in their lessons that the Application Problem be completed right after that day's fluency activities and before the Concept Development.

This year, I plan on having students complete this daily problem in their Problem of the Day Journals for morning work.

 Not every lesson contains an Application Problem.  Sometimes I want to expand a lesson across 2 days, instead of just 1.  There isn't an Application Problem on review or test days.

But, I would still like students to complete a problem for morning work.

So, I created an add-on pack with 35 extra problems.  There are 5 problems for each of the 7 fourth grade modules.

You can purchase the Add On Pack here in my TPT store.

You can find an individual pack for each module here for FREE!