The Jelly Donut Difference

I have always been a fan of Maria Dismondy books and have used them in my classroom every year.  I get so excited when I hear she has another book coming out.  Her books always have strong messages including diversity, standing up for others, courage, and kindness.  They have been valuable staples in my classroom.  I am thrilled to be a part of her virtual tour for her new book The Jelly Donut Difference.

This is yet another wonderful book with a great message.  This book's message is  about sharing kindness with the world.  What a wonderful and powerful message to teach our children and students, especially in a world that, at times, seems to not have a whole lot of kindness.

Here is a short trailer about this great book!

My students loved this book.  They loved the "spreading kindness" message.  We did a little of that over Christmas break and this book has been a great reminder to try to spread a little kindness daily.  I hope you will take some time to check this book, as well as her others, out.  You will not be disappointed.  They are incredible.

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Ready to Rock the Writing Test

One state test done!!

I posted these on my IG and FB pages and had some questions and requests so I wanted to share a quick little post about them.  We work so hard to get ready for the writing test and I wanted my kiddos to know how proud I was of them BEFORE the test and give them a little something to encourage them.  I made these "letter bookmarks" a few years ago but this year gave them a little facelift;)

I picked up all the supplies I needed at Hobby Lobby.  

- a bag of foam glittery stars

- a little bag of snow confetti

- a bag of star confetti

- little clear ziploc baggies

I put 3 foam stars and a little sprinkle of everything else in each baggie.

Printed the bookmarks and you're all set.  Each student was greeted by this on their desk the morning of the test.  I hope it helped ease some stress and encourage them:)

I uploaded the bookmarks as a freebie to my TPT store and made the name editable so you can put your own name in:)  You can get those HERE.

I also wanted to share another fun test-prep idea we did.  This idea was from my teammate and was inspired by the Valentine Scoot idea from Teaching With a Touch of Twang.  I made a Super Hero/Super Writer emblem template for each student.  I gave one to each kiddo and then they rotated desk to desk to write something nice, encouraging, thoughtful,  or inspiring.  I had a timer and we rotated every minute.  Super Writer Scoot!

We did this the day before the state test.  I told them their homework for that night was to read their notes before they go to bed and to get to bed early:)

I hope you can use one or both of these ideas in your classroom to encourage your kiddos:)  If you do, I would love to hear about it!  

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