Do you have some form of a Mitzvah Tree in your classroom?

I always had a hard time getting parents to actually write the Mitzvah notes even when I sent blank Mitzvah notes home. So I brainstormed to see what I could do to change that. Why are Mitzvah notes so important? They give kids 30 seconds to shine and be singled out in front of everyone. For the shyer kids, this is a huge confidence booster. For the more outgoing child, these give them extra positive reinforcement.

So at first I sent home a sheet of 5-6 blank notes every Friday and told parents that if easier, they could just send in all 5 on Monday and we would read one each day. It still wasn't really doing the trick though. So I switched it up a bit. Now, I don't bother sending the Mitzvah notes home, I just keep a bucket of precut Mitzvah notes at the kids' cubbies with a sign above it asking parents to please write one. I keep an empty bucket next to it to place the written Mitzvah Notes inside, and then I can read them at circle time.

Now for the notes themselves. For the past few years, I've been changing the mitzvah notes every two weeks when we would switch units. This year I changed it up a bit. I'm switching by season. So when we started the year, it was Summer, so we had Summer fruit Mitzvah notes. For the Fall, we had different Fall leaves, and now, during the Winter, we have snowflakes. I've also been changing the actual tree and saving the notes. At the end of the  year, I'll give each kid a bunch of his/her mitzvah notes to make a frame with, and then place their photo in the center. Another fun thing to do is simply collage with them. Parents get a real kick out of seeing their mitzvah note from the beginning of the year!

How do YOU get your parents tho write/bring them in?? Comment below!

I missed posting last night, so I'll do 2 tonight. This will be my final Fall post for this year, since I've been asked to move on to Chanukah! Anyways, back to the leaf rubbings, we took the kids on a Fall nature walk to collect different Fall leaves. When we returned to school, I taped them to writing paper (it's super thin) like so. Finally, the kids turned the paper over, and gently colored with the crayon at a slant and voila! The leaves appeared!

Doesn't it look great?!

My favorite Fall fruit is apples because of their versatility. There are so many fun things to do with apples, here are some ideas:

Apple Graphing- Many of you probably do some sort of apple taste test for Rosh Hashanah, but if you didn't, you can now! Prepare a chart with each child's name followed by 3+ blank columns, depending on how many apples you'd like to taste. The classics are of course, Granny Smith (green), Golden Delicious (Yellow), and Red Delicious (Red). If your kids are older, you may want to include Gala or Fuji and point out it's many colors, for fuji you can also point out its crispiness. Prepare slices of each apple for each kid to taste, and pass them out one at a time. Remind kids that we all have different tastes. You may want to give the kids 2 at a time, and ask which was their favorite, documenting on the chart. When you've tasted all apples, describe and show the results to the kids.

 Apple Stamping- Slice apples in half horizontally so that the flower of seeds is visible, and remove the seeds. Use these apple halves as stamps to either dip in ink or paint and create beautiful prints!

Applesauce- Cook apples on stovetop (if you teach older kids you can do this in your classroom with a hot plate) and place them in a bowl. Provide the kids with forks to mash the apples, and season with some cinnamon and sugar- delicious! You can even send some home in small plastic containers!

Fruit Leather- You can either make applesauce or use prepared applesauce for this. You'll need a well oiled baking sheet, and simply spread the applesauce about 1/4 inch thick and bake for 6-8 hours on lo (200-250). When it's done, it will simply peel straight off the pan. I like to give the kids some to taste and then bag the rest and send it home to share with the families.

Apple Mat- Follow the instructions to make Stained Glass except, cut out Apples from red, green or yellow construction paper, and fill in with appropriate colored tissue paper. You can also make the stained glass papers smaller, and add a small hole at the top to create a car hanger, door hanger, etc. (see the picture below).

Apple Cork Stamps- I don't remember where I saw the blog post with this idea, but it's too fabulous not to share! Cut 2 nicks opposite each other in the same end of a cork. This will be your stamp. You can dip into apple colored paints and press onto paper. Once it's dried, you can give the kids brown markers to draw stems.

Now that we have the background of Fall crafts- don't worry I've got more up my sleeve :),  today I had so much fun with my kids as we decorated a sign for our bulletin board proclaiming that it is indeed the Fall. First, I cut out the Letters F A L L, along with 4-5 different Fall leaves. Google images provided me with the ideas for different leaves :) Next, I provided the kids with tissue paper squares that were green, red, orange, yellow, and brown; following the progression of color that the leaves go through. The children had so much fun gluing the tissue paper squares to the letters and leaves, and then shaking off the excess squares, and when it's dry we'll hang the whole ensemble on our wall for all to see!

Stained glass is a fun craft that can be applied to any unit by simply changing the shape and color!

You will need:
Fall colored Construction paper- one per child
2 sheets of contact paper per child
Scissors
Tissue paper squares 
Fall leaves that the children picked on a  nature walk

First draw a large leaf on each sheet of construction paper. Then, cut it out so that you are left with the complete frame- feel free to butcher the actual leaf, or save it for an additional Fall project! Next, carefully stick one sheet of contact paper onto each page, covering the sticky window with the nonstick part of the contact paper to protect it. When the kids are ready to do the project, simply remove the non stick paper, and set out either tissue paper squares in Fall colors, or actual Fall leaves that they collected. Once the sticky leaf is covered, cover that side with the second sheet of contact paper, and hang against a sunny window for a stained glass effect!

So, I wrote in the previous post about the corn prints, and today, I went searching through my photo archives for a picture to demonstrate the technique. The picture shows the corn being stamped to resemble a flower print, as well as rolled to resemble polka dots.