Teacher Tuesday: recorder storage solution

I recently started my 3rd graders on recorders, and I'm trying out a new storage and organization system for the recorders this year that I think will make it much faster for students to find and grab their instruments at the beginning of class:

Of course, you can't be surprised at this point that my system revolves around my color-coded groups, right?!? I got the magazine holders at IKEA last summer and put some (you guessed it) duct tape to mark each color across the top. I have one set for each class, and I have put numbers on each case (with a silver fabric marker) that matches the numbers the student use in their own classrooms. I used to assign numbers to students in my own room based on my seating chart, but I quickly realized it was more important for them to remember their own number than for me to know which number was for which student. I do write down their numbers on my seating chart so I can remember it though.

With this system, the students only have 3-4 recorders to sift through in their color box, find their number, and take it to their seat. The magazine holders are the perfect size for holding the recorders too. They could easily hold up to 8 without having to cram them in I think but having smaller groups does make the process of finding individual recorders that much simpler.

If you've got recorders on the brain like me, you may want to check out my posts on organizing solutions for my recorder karate belts and recorder karate sheet music. You may also want to check out my recorder karate records sheets, which are a part of my complete music teacher organizer set.

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Mommy Monday: snow day ideas for toddlers and preschoolers

Well, here in CT we're in for another snow day today- we've had quite a few in the last couple of weeks! Today I wanted to share my favorite things to do with my 3-year-old girls when we are unexpectedly stuck at home.

1. Cook
Yep, our #1 favorite thing to do on a snow day is cook! And why not? My girls love helping me cook, and I can stock up the fridge/freezer for our next few meals while I'm home and have the time! You can check out many of my favorite easy meals on my Recipes Pinterest board (most of them are easy enough to do with the kids), but here are a few of my favorites:

Energy bites: you can customize and adjust this recipe so many ways, and it is like sensory play too if you let everyone mix it up by hand! :)

I actually use this recipe but cook it in the oven instead of the crockpot. But it's delicious and easy.

OK, I know what you're thinking- too many ingredients I don't have in my house. Just trust me on this one: even if you have no children, you NEED to buy the stuff and make this now. It is so yummy and so quick to make too. This one is fun with the kids because it is a much more action-packed recipe, but still easy and quick.

2. Clean

I know I can't be the only mom who thinks doing chores on a snow day is a great idea. The trick is to make it a project. Pick something out of the ordinary- I'm not talking about vacuuming or picking up toys- it needs to be something unusual to be exciting. Think deep clean the bathroom or organize the closet. Then let the kids help plan how to execute, and start delegating. It really does feel good to be productive and work as a team. As long as they are team members and not minions just following orders, the kids will love it too!

3. Build a Fort

There are so many ways to build a fort/tent/whatever. Use an old box, couch cushions, blankets, storage containers, tables, chairs, and anything else you can find! The fun is figuring out how to get it to stay up, and make it big enough for everyone to get inside. 

4. Read.All.The.Books.

We read every day so reading books is nothing new and exciting, but usually when we read we are on some kind of time crunch (or I start to feel antsy) and I limit the number of books we read in a row. On snow days we can go crazy! The girls get excited about bringing my piles and piles of books and reading them all, one after the other.

5. Tinker
Basically just pull out some interesting stuff, and see what you come up with! This is a great way to get the creative juices flowing and encourage exploration, discovery, and independence. Our favorite materials lately are pipe cleaners, blocks, and play dough, but we've had tons of fun just pulling out the recycling box and using the stuff in there (just taking out the open cans with sharp edges of course...). I made a "busy box" that is basically a box of stuff for tinkering (but slightly more structured), which has been a favorite for many months now. You can read more about that here:

6. Dance

The girls got this awesome toy for Christmas, which has been a great way to change up our dance party routine:

Basically it gives you a prompt (like "swim like a fish" or "run like a puppy") and then plays music to match that movement. It's great because it comes up with so many movement ideas and different musical styles so I don't have to think. We do our own dance parties too though- just turn on some music, move, and laugh! Our favorite is the Raffi station on Pandora. You can also do some different games: call out one body part to move at a time, call out one person's name to take a turn leading the movement, or call out different actions (like march, walk, jump, slide, run, tiptoe etc).

7. Snow Play

Just because you can't go on an outing doesn't mean you can't go out! Even if it's just for a few minutes we love to get out of the house and play in the snow. Up until recently that generally just involved touching the snow, looking at the snow, and maybe attempting to walk in the snow. The last couple of times the girls have finally gotten up the nerve to actually have fun and they now make snow angels and snow balls with the best of them! Soon we will be making epic snowmen and other large snow structures. Yes we will. 

8. Crafts

Crafts are always lots of fun and they're great for a snow day when you have a little more time. There are tons of fun and easy craft ideas on Pinterest if you're truly stuck, but honestly, sometimes the most fun comes from having some great supplies on hand to just pull out and let inspiration strike! Right now the girls love ripping up paper, glue, stickers, markers, and stencils. This post has a great list of arts and craft supplies for young children:

9. Video Call 

Especially since I am the only adult in the house, I like to have some Skype conversations with family and friends. Even if it's just a quick hello, it's a nice change of scenery for everyone and helps prevent cabin fever and/or just getting sick of each other. Plus it's a great time to catch people who we normally can't talk to with our regular schedules! We've also done group video chats on Google Hangouts (and I know there are a few other services out there that will let you do this for free).

I hope you found some new inspiration in this list for the rest of this winter. I know I will be looking for more ideas, so please share yours in the comments below! 

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Teacher Tuesday: teaching letter names of notes on the staff (part 2)

If you missed last week's Teacher Tuesday post, I talked about my favorite full-class activities for teaching the letter names of notes on the staff in any clef. You can read that post here. Today, as promised, I'm back to talk about my favorite activities to teach letter names in small groups. I use these activities primarily in centers, where students are rotating through the different activities to practice the letter names. Whenever I introduce a new clef (I push treble clef in 3rd and bass clef in 5th grade), I usually plan one class period of full-class activities to practice the letter names, and then one class period of centers, where students can get more practice. As with most center activities, the students need to have some grasp of the concept (or have a place to find that correct information) in order to successfully complete the activity independently.

1. Music Tutor (iPad)
This iPad app comes in a free and paid version. The free version has ads, but the paid version is just $1.99 so it's probably worth the investment. I love this app because you can customize it to treble, bass, or both clefs, you can customize the range of notes it displays- you can set it to use ledger line notes or just the line and space notes, and you can choose the amount of time on timer. I like to use the 1 minute timer so that it keeps the fast pace. There are plenty of other great iPad apps, both free and paid, for practicing letter names on the staff- this is just one example- but I do like this one because it is simple, straight-forward, and fast-paced. Here are some other great iPad apps for practicing note names.

2. Card Matching Game
I print off a picture of each note on the staff (one of each letter name) and one of each of the letters A-G, and put them on construction paper (I've done it where all the cards were the same color, or where the notes were on one color and the letters were another- two different levels of difficulty depending on what you do). The rest is just like memory matching except you are matching the note to the correct letter. I like having this center because it is a bit more low-pressure than some of the others.

3. Note Spelling Game
There are a lot of ways to do this but my favorite method (because it is the most low-maintenance) is this: I have words spelled with note letters (like CABBAGE or FADE) on folded pieces of paper in a cup, and enough dry erase boards and markers for each student. On "go", each student opens the paper they picked from the cup and races to write whatever word they got on the staff. Whenever they finish writing they yell "done" and the other students check their answer. If it's wrong, the game continues.

(Other variations could include using tokens or other small manipulatives on a staff or having all the students write the same word. I like dry erase because I don't have to keep up with a bunch of little manipulatives, and I like doing different words for each student because it adds that element of luck and unpredictability that feels more like a game for kids.)

3. Kaboom Sticks
This idea has been making its way around Pinterest for a while under a few different names (including Fiddle Sticks and Busted), but whatever you call it, it's definitely a kid favorite! I use this for rhythms as well. I'll let the guy that I took the idea from explain (see video below), but for my version I write the notes on the staff on the sticks and the student has to identify the letter name.

4. Swat the Note

If you've been paying attention you know that this was on my list for full-class activities as well. I use it for both. Basically one person says a letter name and the other students race to touch the note on the staff. What's fun about doing it as a small group activity is that I have the students take turns being the judge and caller. They LOVE getting to do that after doing it as a whole class beforehand. I've set it up for small groups by writing on a regular whiteboard or showing a projected image, and having them use fly swatters to swat the note or just hitting it with their hands. 

Well, there you have it: my favorite small group activities for practicing note letter names. I hope you found these ideas helpful!

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Mommy Monday:10 Foods for Busy Moms to Keep On Hand

I have very high standards when it comes to how low-maintenance a recipe must be for it to be added to my cooking repertoire. I use a menu planner to plan out my meals, and I always plan meals that I can have ready to serve within 15 minutes of getting home on week nights. On weekends and holidays? Maybe 30 minutes-worth of work. Max. But even then, there are days when I just don't want to go with the plan. Some days I don't want to (or can't, because some people decide to wake up at an ungodly hour and insist on throwing tantrums) spend 10 minutes putting ingredients into a crock pot in the morning. Some days I find out that my kids just ate the very thing we were going to have for dinner for lunch at the nanny's house. Some days I just plain don't feel like it. Some days I go to get an ingredient and it has gone bad. Some days.... OK you get the idea.

When that happens, I have a few things that I always keep in my fridge or pantry so I know I have things I can whip up quickly, while still appealing to the toddler palates and maintaining a certain level of healthy eating. Here are some of my favorite things that I keep on hand for me and my two 3-year-olds to eat when things go off the rails.

1. Frozen Peas

I've had a bag of frozen peas in my freezer at all times for the last 2 years I think. My girls will eat them straight out of the freezer, or I can heat them up in the microwave in 30 seconds flat. I also add them sometimes to casseroles, pasta, or even tuna. If they finish their meal and they're still hungry, peas are often my go-to option to offer the girls as backup. They're also an easy food to take on the go- I throw some in a ziploc bag for each of them to eat in the car, at a picnic, or on a play date. No matter what state of frozen-ness they are in, the girls love them!

2. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are the best. They're so yummy and so healthy. I haven't met a toddler yet who doesn't like sweet potatoes. And, if you don't know this yet, you can cook them in the microwave in 4-5 minutes (depending on the size). I try to buy the long, skinny ones because they cook faster- poke a few holes in it, wrap it in a paper towel, cook on high for 2.5 minutes, turn over, and cook for another 2 minutes or so. And it's the perfect on-the-go food- it even comes in its own packaging! We take it on picnics still in the paper towel, and put the peel in the paper towels to throw away or take home more easily. For meals at home I usually peel and cut them into smaller pieces. And because they keep longer than other produce, they're a great thing to keep stocked.

3. Boxed Mac and Cheese

I know, this is totally a stereotypical thing to feed small children. But really, every now and then it's a great comfort food. It's my go-to food when the girls are sick, or we're feeling out of sorts. It's also easy to add things to it, like ground meat, spinach, bacon bits, or hmm, peas! When I'm totally stumped and don't want to put up with any complaints about what's for dinner, mac and cheese has never let me down. Our favorites are Back to Nature and Annie's brands. I feel less guilty giving them pasta out of a box when I use those, plus they come in cute shapes :) 

4. Bananas

Another easy food to take on-the-go, prepackaged by nature :) Also a good addition to smoothies (my favorite way to use up veggies that are about to go bad). When I'm feeling fancy, we make "banana splits"- I cut a banana length-wise, spread with peanut butter, put it back together, and cut it into slices. My kids are going to kill me when they find out what a real banana split is. Oh well.

5. Canned Beans and Corn

I hate really don't care for other canned vegetables, like green beans, because they're soggy and taste weird, but canned black beans and corn have become a pantry staple. They're both good to add to casseroles, pasta, tuna etc, and my girls love them straight out of the can too. Plus if I have some chicken, cheese, and tortillas, we've got ourselves a pretty nice taco dinner. 

6. Eggs

I don't know why it took me as long as it did to figure out that fried egg sandwiches were an excellent dinner option. It was one of my girls' favorite breakfast for a while before I had my epiphany. Now it's my go-to emergency meal. If I have ham on hand, our favorite way to make them is to crack the egg in the pan, flip it, put a slice of ham on top, flip it back, and when the ham and egg are both cooked, turn off the heat and add a slice of cheese on top. The girls like them without bread, but I like to put mine on a bagel or piece of toast and maybe even put some salsa on top. Yum.

7. Cheese

I have a confession to make: I LOVE cheese. I don't know how or why, because I grew up in Japan where cheese and other dairy products really aren't that big. But it's true. I usually have some kind of shredded cheese, cheese slices, and cheese sticks in my fridge at all times. Cheese is great for thrown-together meals (like casseroles, pasta, or fried egg sandwiches), and the cheese sticks are a great quick snack.

8. Frozen Salmon

I know not all kids love salmon like mine do, but boy do my girls love salmon. They will chow down on that stuff like nobody's business. I love it too, so that works out. Plus it's quick to defrost, and quick to cook. I usually pan fry it and throw on a little teriyaki sauce at the end. Done. 

9. Frozen Chicken

Chicken is just so versatile. It's also probably the #1 kid-friendly meat because it's so mild. I recently discovered that my girls LOVE pan fried chicken thighs with a little salt. That's it. I can't believe I've been spending all this time seasoning and cooking my chicken different ways when they love it just plain like that. Obviously there are a million different easy ways to use chicken too, but I'm adding that to my emergency meal plan options now. I have also found quite a few crock pot recipes that let me throw in the chicken still frozen in the morning, and I come home to dinner. Awesome.

10. Yogurt

Another versatile food that's great at home or on-the-go. I put some in pouches (read more about my reusable pouches here) to take in the car, add them to smoothies, or just eat it. One of the beauties of yogurt is the variety. I think the girls get excited about the different colors and flavors. Right now they usually eat greek yogurt, which comes in so many different flavors it's astounding. 

Alright, I'm still thinking of more things that I always keep stocked in my fridge or pantry, but I'd better stop there. Those are definitely the "biggest hits" in my house. What are yours? Leave a comment! :)

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