More teacher ideas :)

So, I've been tutoring this summer a little (2 hours a day with the same girl I was a para for), and I get the chance to try out a lot of Pinterest ideas on actual children before I use them in my classroom.  :)  Here are just a couple of the most recent winners:

Got this ball for $1.50 from Walmart.  Wrote a lot of fiction reader response questions all over it.  You throw it and read and answer whatever question you see when you catch it.  BIG hit.  Got my very non-verbal "student" reading aloud and answering in complete sentences!  Good mix of speech, pt, AND literacy.  Win.

Took a Dollar Store plastic tablecloth and cut it into thirds. Used a sharpie to draw a calculator on it.  It's still rather large, which is GOOD, because you have to dance out the problems and answers!  I will definitely be making more of these, maybe half the size, for my students--at 33 cents a piece (or less if I do it smaller!), I have no good reason not to.  :)

I don't have pictures of the others, but here are some of the links and activities anyway:

MATH (working entirely on addition right now):

• iPad games, of course are a hit.  Math BINGO and Mad Math are the two I'm using.
• I did something like this...popsicle stick problem sorting.  She didn't like it the day of, but the next few days she went to pull it out and play so I guess it wasn't a total loss.  :)
• We worked on fact families with this 19-sided die and a worksheet...it was a hit!
• Growing Tall game, with plastic rulers and people she drew herself.  Like THIS.

LITERACY:

• We write in a journal every day.  I can't stress how important it is to me that children start "writing" as early as possible.  It synthesizes everything else you learn about, and even pictures can be used to tell a story! 
• There's an awesome app for iPhone/iPad called "StoryKit."  I believe it is still free.  You can make books with it and share them online with family.  She made an "all about me" book--picked out a few of her favorite things, posed for photos for each page, colored her background, typed her sentences, and then read aloud what she wrote.  It was awesome.  :)
• She gets to select her own book for reading and practice sitting in a chair and attending to the book for 5 minutes.  It's a challenge for her, but she is improving every day.  We then read the book aloud and do some sort of reading response activity--like the ball above, or having her show me her favorite part, tell me what it reminds her of, etc. 
• Today we wrote an email to the main character, using THIS template, some scissors, glue, and card stock.  :)

ART:

• We are experimenting with lots of different media.  We did some chalk pastels on dark paper and sprayed it with hairspray to keep it from rubbing off--she LOVED blending the chalk.  A LOT.  We also did an oil pastel, sharpie, book page, watercolor, and matte activity.  I want to make a million of these, they are SO PRETTY.  I'll have to make at least one and take a picture sometime!  We've also made our own puzzles with markers, and made LEGO self-portraits with just crayons and a printable.  When she gets back from her vacation, I'm hoping to do some collage work--I think she'd love the tactile stimulation!  (And arts/crafts are her favorite thing!)

MUSIC: 

• We've worked on primary songs, played with some toy instruments, and a few apps on the iPad--drums, piano, and xylophone are her favorite right now, but I have a guitar one, too.

I know a lot of moms out there are homeschooling or at least supplementing what their kids are learning at home, and I have a few teacher followers out there, too.  Hope this list helps inspire someone!  It's really just the tip of the iceberg...I have SO MANY MORE ideas to try!  I will try to be better about taking pictures of them so I can share them more prettily.  :)