grandma

Lucky for us it wasn’t Grandma George! Why not use your computer this year to make gift tags, gift card bags, small gift bags, recipe cards, and more? Grandma George has done all the work for you! All you have to do is print! 


 @http://www.grandmageorge.com/ is a site full or printables, not necessarily intended for the classroom. However, once you start looking at some of the printables I'm sure you'll quickly see how these can enhance your teaching. I'm going to showcase a few of the printables and offer some suggestions for using them. There are blank templates on this site too so you can decorate your own. Of course, these are all great for personal use outside the classroom too!


Print most of the items on photo quality paper. Card stock is a little too hard to fold neatly. Photo quality paper folds neatly and prints nicely.When you get to the site, click on Enter. You'll soon notice there is a fee for some of the items. Just scroll down further and you'll see all the free printables! Lots of them!

Curriculum Connections
//Poems/Messages.// Type poems or messages on a 2 x 3 rectangle using a cool font. Print out on card stock and slip them into this small gift bag to be given to someone. //Coupons//. Students could make coupons to give to parents (or to YOU) for Christmas, ex. This coupon is good for 2 dishwasher loads and/or unloads. Or this coupon good for one back massage. Great ideas for coupons can be found at @http://www.youthonline.ca/coupons/. The teacher could make gift cards for their students to be used each Friday or at designated times. __Examples.__ //Literature Book.// Have students decorate their own gift card holders showcasing a book they’ve read. The card on the inside might be a synopsis of the book or a teaser to entice others to read the book. These could be on a bulletin board. //Math Terms//. Decorate the bag with a picture describing a math term. The term and definition will be on the card inside. Here’s some great examples to use: @http://pickettsmill.typepad.com/radicchi/2008/08/math-vocabulary.html
 *  This gift card is worth 20 minutes of computer time for playing specific games.
 *  This gift card is worth 20 minutes as an office aide.
 *  This gift card lets you sit in the teacher's chair during one class period.
 *  This gift card entitles you to read with a friend in another class.

Print 2 on photo quality paper. Copy these into Pages and resize in Pages. If you can’t print in color due to budget restrictions, use the template for the bag and print onto decorative paper.


//Review bags.// Decorate the bag to match the topic, ex. Volcanoes. Make cards for each vocabulary word, cards to explain how volcanoes are formed or other topic, cards with review questions. The answers can be on the back. This can be used as a class activity, small group or an independent activity. //CharacterCounts bags.// Have the six traits of CharacterCounts on cards. Draw out a trait and have students give an example of someone exhibiting that trait. //Welcome to My Classroom.// What a great way to welcome students to your classroom with a decorated bag on their desk! Put in a pad of sticky notes, a pencil, their class schedule, your business card on a magnet (to go home for the fridge), a peppermint (to calm nerves), and anything else that seems appropriate. Always have a bag ready in case you get a new student. Put a map of the school in the bag with the Principal's name and the secretary's name.


<span style="color: #1e5740; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//Technical Writing.// Ask students to write how to’s. Students should choose a topic they are familiar with and write on the recipe card how to do something. For example, How to Ride a Horse (something I never learned!) or How to Throw a Baseball. //Reading Log.// Use recipe cards to keep track of the books students are reading. Each student prints out a recipe card as they finish a book. The teacher can determine what should be included on the card. Maybe a list of characters (written like a list of ingredients), the setting, theme, and a synopsis of the book. //Genres.// If your students are stuck reading the same genre, create cards with various genres

<span style="color: #1e5740; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">on them: historical fiction, science fiction, mysteries, biographies, poetry etc. The goal might be for every student to read at least one book in each genre.

<span style="color: #1e5740; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//Literature.// After a student has read a literature book, they create a bag topper with important information about the book. They attach the topper to a clear baggy which contains items mentioned or represented in the book. As the student shares the book with the class they talk about the contents of the bag and how they relate to the book. //Writing.// The teacher puts in the bag random items. On the topper is a list of the objects. Students must write a story that incorporates each object. //Math.// In the bag are random objects, maybe things from the teacher's desk or purse. Students must put a price on each item according to it's worth to the teacher or its usefulness. Something very useful or necessary might be worth $5.75 whereas something pretty menial might be worth $0.17. <span style="color: #1e5740; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Create math problems from the objects. <span style="color: #1e5740; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">

<span style="color: #1e5740; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Faithful Elephants is a bit different than most books about World War II. It focuses on the animals in the zoos in Japan, particularly the elephants who refuse to die. The book, although a picture book, is not intended for young children. It is more appropriate for upper elementary students. This is a sample of a topper for the book. In the bag, might be a toy elephant, a map of Japan, a sign saying Do Not Feed the Animals, and a couple of pieces of dog food (unless you just happen to have some elephant food at your house). Since this is book is pretty effective as a read aloud, the teacher could share the contents of the bag either before reading the book to intr

<span style="color: #1e5740; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">oduce the book, or after the reading, to review the book or maybe even the next day as a review.

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Here is a great recipe card that can be used in social studies/U.S. History. Have your students write cause and effect note on the recipe card (spelling a recipe for disaster). The cards alone have unlimited possibilities and application in the classroom but here is just one idea. Alex Hirbe DED318