Bottle Cap Word Wall Labels - Green Theme Day 3

My husband and I drink a ton of Tropicana and they each come with such neat, little orange caps. So, I took these along with other caps and lids to create labels for my Word Wall.

I'm sure there's a much better way to do this, but what I did was: 1) cut popsicle sticks to match the size of the diameter of each cap, 2) hot-glue each end of the stick to the rim of the cap, and 3) hot-glue circle magnets to the center of each stick.

I tried those adhesive magnetic strips and that was an epic fail, so I resorted to the more costly circle magnets (Hobby Lobby has a very strong brand of magnets that are 6.99 for 50 and they always have a 40% off coupon). Walmart also sells some for $6 that are a little weaker, but I think would still do the job. Amazon also carries some for about the same price as Hobby Lobby, I believe.

I made the letter circles on the computer and printed them out on full sheet sticker paper. I did not use Avery, so I had to hand cut each circle. Then, I added a coating of Mod Podge, so hopefully they'll last for more than this year.

If you'd like the alphabet stickers, you can download them for free here at TpT.

Bottle caps and lids are AWESOME!! Use them everywhere you can - as counters, bingo markers, manipulatives, etc. 

I also used them for our lunch count.

The students have been creatively placing their bottle caps around their lid choice in a circular fashion like flowers. So cute!

And here's my partner teacher's owl lunch display for some extra adorableness!

I also used bottle caps on my magnetic objectives board.

I'm just making sure, but have you heard about my free bottle cap math games? If not, just click one of the links below and start saving your caps!

Math Facts Bottle Cap Game

 In my math facts bottle cap game, students will time each other and write their times here. Did you notice? More bottlecaps!

QR Code Bottle Cap Games

Cupcake Number Word Lids (English, Spanish, & French)

Keep it GREEN my friends!

Vocabulary Recycling Soccer Match!

So, I snagged this cute idea on Pinterest from the Making Learning Fun Blog on converting strawberry baskets into hockey goals and having students practice skills with bottle caps. Here in the South I decided to make them soccer goals, not hockey :P.

Here's what I did for this fun game that really kept my Spanish immersion students engaged in practicing some tough science vocabulary on light.

Preparation:

1) A student brought in two plastic strawberry baskets.  I cut one side off of each, so they could be positioned like soccer goals.

2) Then I made some Avery #5410 labels with our light unit vocabulary. I put the definitions on tops of bottle caps and the terms on the inside of the caps.

Rules of the Game:

1) To play, students place the "goals" on opposite ends of the table.
2) Taking turns, they choose a bottle cap, read the definition, and name the corresponding term.

3) They check their answer on the inside of the cap, and if correct, they can take a shot at their opponent's goal by flicking the cap with their finger. If it goes in, they win the cap. If it doesn't, they return it to the pile. If they don't know the definition, they return the cap, and it's the next person's turn.

(Casi! The heart box in the background serves as the storage container for the caps.)

4) Continue playing until all caps have been won. The winner with the most caps wins.

This game is fun, free (except for the Avery labels), and good for the environment. Give it a try!

Turn Plastic Bottles into Magical Learning!

There is never an excuse for throwing away plastic bottles because there is always a reason to use them in your classroom. There are so many fantastic resources out there by super creative individuals for turning bottles into educational tools, and in this post I will try to touch on as many as I know about. So, peruse the ideas below and start saving your bottles!

 

DISCOVERY BOTTLES ARE THE BOMB!

So much fun! All you need are bottles some kind of fun material (rice, pom-poms, sprinkles, etc.). I got my start from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits who has the mother of all posts on discovery bottles. You'll need to scroll down to see the post because I'm having issues with the actual post showing up.

Discover Bottles by Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

February Word Find Shaker from Sunny Days in Second Grade

Synonym Shaker from Sunny Days in Second Grade

Many science discovery bottles for the little ones by Preschool Projects.

Making Rain by Ms. Dean's Garden

 

Rain Catchers by Tabitha Carro (me!)

Bottle O' Words Activity by Swamp Frog First Graders

Lava Lamps by Science Sparks

Lots of Preschool bottle ideas at Pre-School Play

Plastic Bottle Bowling by Meet the Dubiens

Quiet Spray by Mrs. Karen's Class

Brain Sprinkles & Other Fantastic Recycling Ideas by Mrs. Karen's Class

Do you have an awesome classroom activity involving bottles? Please link it up here - http://yourgreenclassroom.blogspot.com/p/bottles.html?zx=8aed6731523b0be9.

And please feel free to link up any other green classroom ideas anywhere you see fit in this blog!

Like to guest blog? I would love for you to at The Green Classroom! Please let me know at tabitha@flapjacklapbooks.com.



Light Bulb Grinch from Honey Bee Books

Now you know this is just too cute! What a creative, "green" craft to complete after reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" from Honey Bee Books! Although it may be too late to do this craft this holiday season, that gives you a whole year to save your old light bulbs for Christmas 2012 :).

 And although the Arte de Fazer blog is in another language (Portuguese??), there are lots of adorable holiday light bulb ideas there, also.

Happy Greenmas!!

Compound Word Plastic Eggs by Lesson Plan Diva

Have left over Easter eggs? This is a great way to reuse them, and I'm sure a lot many more come to mind. Click to see this post from Lesson Plan Diva.

Station/Center Bottle Caps

I just saw this in a fellow teacher's classroom and LOVED it. Using some sort of metal strips, bottle caps, and magnetic backing, she has a quick and cute way to sort students into different literacy centers.