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.

20

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!  

43