This is my favorite Thanksgiving project but, it could be an any time of the year project if you swap fall color leaves for green ones! Below you will find step by step instructions with pictures.

For this project you will need:

1. Paper Bags
2. Leaf Template
3. Something to write with
4. Glue or tape
5. Things to be thankful for!

The template has various types and sizes of leaves. Choose which one will work best for the size of paper bags you have.

Start with a paper bag. I use over sized bags but the standard size works well too.

Split the bag into fourths.  Stop cutting about 1/2 the way to the end of the bag.

Cut the bag into fourths.

Next, stick your hand into the bag. You need to open the bottom of the bag for the base of the tree. Once you have the base, grab the bag just above the bottom. You will begin twisting from here. It helps to do this on the table with two hands. Have one hand hold the base on the table while the other hand twists the bag. This will make a nice sturdy trunk!

Continue this process until you have a sturdy trunk with a nice base.

Your tree should now look something like this. All of those pieces sticking up will soon be your branches.

Now, take each piece and carefully twist them into branches.

You are almost done! Once you have every branch twisted, you will be able to move on to the leaves.

Put the tree aside, it should look something like this. Now that you have a tree, you can get started on your leaves. If this is a Thanksgiving project, be sure to print leaves on fall colored construction paper. (Regular paper will work too.)

Now, using a leaf template (click here for one!) cut out as many leaves as you want. Write things you are thankful for on each leaf. After you are finished, staple, tape or glue each leaf to the tree. There you go! Your very own thankful tree!! The tree shown below was made by one of my students. This tree is more of a science tree than a thankful tree, but you get the point. :)

Below several different types of leaves were used. You can have students pick and chose leaves, or they can stick with one variety. I leave the choice up to them!

When I made the jump from elementary school to middle school, writing a syllabus was a bit of a daunting task. I would have loved it if someone would have given me a template to follow so... for any of you beginning middle school or high school teachers out there- here is the syllabus I used. I hope someone out there finds it useful!

In my earlier years of teaching I was super thankful for any help anyone gave me. About eight years ago I stumbled upon this great PowerPoint template. It was so long ago I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from or who gave it to me. I thought I would pay it forward and post it here for anyone in need of a Back to School Night PowerPoint presentation!

The fonts and formatting will most likely get thrown off when you download it, but I adore the backgrounds and animations on this.

Enjoy!

I am on an earth science kick these days. The summer has given me less time than expected to keep up with this blog, but I have been able to sift through some of my fun Earth Science resources! Here is one of my favorites- a hands on model of fault motion. I originally got the idea from a CalTech student who brought in a gigantic model showing fault motion. I adapted it for student use. Its great fun! Hope you enjoy!

You will need a fault line template for this. It is a trapezoidal prism- each side matches up at a slant to demonstrate plate movement. a trapezoidal prism is pretty crucial to this activity. A simple cube doesn't give as good of a visual.

The top of the box is decorated by students to show the earth's surface. Below the surface are three different layers of the crust. This bit is crucial to show what happens when plate move and how geologists are able to study plate movement based on how the layers are mismatched on each side of the fault. You can take this activity pretty far! Have students show strike slip and dip slip motion with their models. Have them observe and take notes as the go along. I love this activity!