Recycled Free Time Display - Green Theme Day 5

During summer cleaning, I came across this awesome business card holder/display that my husband was about to throw out. He really didn't want me to keep it because he didn't think I would do anything with it, but looky-here, I turned it into one of those fun, popsicle-stick free time displays!

I HATE wasting time, probably to a fault. I know all of us teachers are that way, and it's so hard to see students who are content to just sit and do nothing when they finish an assignment. Uuuugh! Do they not realize that when the blink their eyes they will be almost thirty-one!! Obviously not.

So anyways, I created a little phrase poster in Spanish. It basically says - "Take advantage of every moment of your life...That moment you just saw pass is not going to return." ¡La verdad que sí!

The wonky flower I made out of a plastic bottle and molded with a heat gun. I added Avery labels with task ideas to the sticks and brushed with Mod Podge.

To get the poster in two different designs in English or Spanish, click the image below.

Here's to making the most of every moment in our classroom!!

Recycled Door Signs - Green Theme Day 1

I have been so preoccupied with getting my classroom ready, that I have totally abandoned my blogs (my apologies!). But I do want to share some things I have done, so this week, I am going to try my best to share one post every day about how I have tried to be more green in my classroom.

Today's post is all about door signs! There are so many items out there than can be reused without having to give Hobby Lobby a third of your paycheck!

 This one I made for my partner teacher. She is so awesome and such a help that I have to do what I can to make up the difference. Here's what I used: a dish from Goodwill (primed and painted), bottle caps (painted white), plastic packaging, bubble wrap foam packaging, used buttons, straws (the eyebrows), twisted soda bottle strips (molded with a heat gun), and soda bottle leaves (cut out and heat gun molded).

 

 I also made her a large sign for the outside wall of our portable. First, I painted corrugated plastic (not recycled), printed out and laminated her name, attached and covered everything with outdoor Mod Podge. Then, for the recycling, the flowers are all an assortment of different soda bottle ends, cut and molded with a heat gun. I used bottle caps and buttons as centers. I used a combination of acrylic paint that was painted by hand and also airbrushed. The small flowers are actually bottle caps I cut open with heavy duty scissors. Everything was coated several times with a clear enamel spray. So far, so good!

  

 Here's mine.

 

 And here's my door sign. It contains used buttons, bottle caps, soda bottle, and a used dish from Goodwill that was primed and painted.

Here's a sign I made for my mom as she enters the classroom again after surviving cancer. Includes: soda bottles, candy wrapper, a pan from Goodwill, and hole punched circles from some old business cards.

So, here's a look at the outside of my green-themed classroom. Hope you'll stay tuned to see the inside this week!

Keep it green!

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Playing with Plastic

This year I want to do a green theme in my classroom, not just thinking of the color but also of decorating with only recycled materials.

So right now I'm continuing to work with plastic. Plastic and I have a love/hate relationship. It's such a harm to the planet, and yet to enjoy many things, I have to encourage its production.:( But lately, plastic and I are really having a good time together as I've discovered how much can be done with it.

The following items were made using scissors, E-6000, tweezers, plastic bottles, and most importantly - a heat gun.

Flower Ring. all plastic

Lots of Flowers

My Favorite One

Beads!

I have a lot of time on my hands, right? Well, it's summer, and I'm a teacher, duh! :)

So, I'm looking for recycling ideas for classroom management and setup. Could you please comment with a tip for me? Thanks a bunch!

"Green is the new black."

Fun Gift Idea with Clorox Containers

Today is my little brother's birthday (Happy Birthday, Nate! [Not that he'll get that message, since he doesn't even know about this blog :P]), so I decided to try my hand at a few things I've seen floating around on Pinterest.

First, I took a Clorox container, removed the paper and scrubbed it down really well.

Then, I tried some decoupage for the first time with Mod Podge and some candy wrappers from the best candy ever from Argentina (Bon Bon's and Marrocs!).

I knew it wasn't a smart idea from what I researched to use Mod Podge to attach aluminum to plastic since neither is porous, but I gave it a shot anyway. It kind of worked, kinda didn't. One wrapper never stuck well. But that's why you save these experiments for gifts for little brothers because they really won't care or notice either way!

Then I had seen this idea for tissue boxes, so I tried it with the Clorox container. I taped an undisclosed amount of $1 bills together and fed it through the mouth. The plastic lid is a little small, so it doesn't work perfectly. But I think my little bro will get a kick out of it anyway.

So, here's to recycling and gift-giving! If you have any cool ideas on gifts that involve recycling, please comment or link the post under "By Subject" or "By Material." Thanks!

Update - Nathan loved it! He's a cool brother like that. :)

Keep it green!

Bottle Caps and Foam Packaging Pot Drainage

As the school year ends, it's garden time! And I've found the uses for bottle caps still continue even outside of the classroom.

You know how you need to add pebbles or broken pottery to serve as drainage in your plant containers? Well, I've found that bottle caps and/or foam packaging work great as a substitute. They're free, eco-friendly, and so far my plants look great!

Do you have some great recycling tips in the garden to share? Please let me know! Happy Summer!

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!

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.