So I have gotten a lot of questions about how I make these name clouds...

And I happened to have a moment to respond tonight...but for some reason I can't respond to the comments that I have gotten...so instead I made a little video for you...

I hope this helps you out!

UPDATED- -
I just finished mine for this year’s class! This is how I fixed the size issues…
In the “Appearance” section click to make a rectangle shape.
Where it says aspect ratio change to 1.35.
I saved changes then under “Grab and Share” I click save as a graphic image.
I insert that graphic into Word or Publisher and resize to make it fit properly on the page.

A Happy Belated Valentine's Day everybody!

 

I wanted to show you some pictures of the little Valentine's celebration we had in our classroom.  It was a mustache theme!

 

First, here are the valentines I gave my students...

 

 

Yes the mustaches were pulled off and put on faces (which was not my intention at all so they were not sticky thus the shortage of tape in the classroom today!)  And do not worry my peanut allergy student got heart shaped Gobstoppers instead of M&Ms.

 

I do Valentine's Day a little bigger than most other holidays since it is also my birthday! I set up a kind of large treat spread...

Not my best table set-up...but the students just wanted the food!  Here are the treats in the box...

Petit fours from a yummy bakery in town...so much better than cupcakes...melt in your mouth delicious...and less messy too!

 

We enjoyed reading our cards and our Sweet Secret Messages and each student left feeling full, special, and loved!

 

The best gift of the day...sending the students off to a four day weekend...yippee!

 

I hope your Valentine's day was as sweet with your students as it was with mine!





This month for our Random Acts of Kindness, my mom (also a teacher) brought me a great idea, and she told me I could share it with you. She does a Valentine Exchange in her classroom, but she wanted to also have her fifth graders complete an activity that involves a little more than writing their name and a lot more implementing writing strategies. So she created...

 

You know what is perfect about this activity??? The secret part! You know how our upper elementary/middle school students start to get a little squirrelly about Valentine’s Day.

Students spend a week creating their messages to their classmates. They can’t use the overused words of nice, pretty, sweet, cool, or awesome. And the messages aren’t very long...only about a sentence! Then students turn them in for “review.” This allows us to catch and correct any possibly unkind messages (not that my sweet kiddos would intentionally be unkind...but just in case!). On Valentine’s Day, students will cut apart their messages and stealthily distribute them. My mom says her students spend more time enjoying these messages than the other cards they get.

Not allowed to do a Valentine Exchange? Then this may just be a perfect way to get around that by incorporating these messages into your writing class! Add the requirement of a certain number of similes, metaphors, and other figurative language that need to be included in the messages your students create. You could even take a grade on these if you needed one!  

To get your download your copy, click on the banner below...

Prep is easy. Simply print...write your students’ names on the lines...copy (make sure to copy only single sided--this is a reminder for myself too! I just know I will press that duplex button!) Your students will do the majority of the work!

I can’t wait to show you the Valentine’s I am distributing to my students...I just have to make them first!

Oh my goodness...just got my internet back up!  Who knew I was so addicted and felt so lost without it?  Going involuntarily off the grid this weekend really threw me for a loop!

February is going to bring lots of fun including a blog-iversary celebration, a guest blogger, a giveaway (or maybe two!).  But let's start the month off right with my Currently from...

 

Ever had one of those weeks?  That was my week last week...I'm not going to go into details, but I am ever glad that Monday will bring a fresh start.

 

Pet Peeves- -

My biggest pet peeve would be a noisy line!  It grates on my nerves to have my students talking in a line and can be downright embarassing to have classroom doors close as your class walks by because of noise.  I also can't stand traveling around the building with my class in a line that looks closer to a snake eating its dinner than a line.

 

My other pet peeve would being impolite...interrupting, getting up while someone is talking, not saying please, thank you, or excuse me.  Grrr!

 

I am off to enjoy some Super Bowl commerials!  Have a great week!