Easy DIY Silhouette on PowerPoint- for Mother’s Day

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Are you looking for a Quick and Easy Mother’s Day gift idea in addition to the personalized mothers day gifts and everything else you’ve already got sorted for Sunday? How about a silhouette WITHOUT the projector? I wish that I would have figured this one out years ago! Using the projector is very time-consuming, but not if you do it like this. This is a very simple tutorial on making silhouettes on Microsoft PowerPoint. I am so excited to share this tutorial with you. After this tutorial, I hope you will find using powerpoint fun! Just follow these simple steps. I did try to include as much detail as possible, but once you make your first one, you will see how easy and quick this is.

1. Take the picture.

I used an iPad to take student pictures. First, I took pictures inside, but it created a shadow effects in the background. This picture was taken outside against a contrasting background. If the background blends in to the students hair, skin or clothes, you will have trouble removing the background correctly. It will take part of the child’s blended parts away.

2. Upload the pictures to your computer.

Connect your device to to the computer or upload them via Dropbox.

3. Drag the child’s photo into a PowerPoint document.

I used the horizontal orientation so that I can add two students on one page.

4. Remove the background.

Click on the picture to select it. Click on the FORMAT PICTURE tab. Then, click on the REMOVE BACKGROUND icon. That will automatically convert the background to purple and put a box around the child. Make sure to drag the box to make it bigger or smaller, if you notice that any parts are missing. Things to look for are the shape of the nose, mouth, eye lashes and forehead because these are the parts that might blend in to the background. If nothing is missing, click outside the photo so that the background is removed.

This is what the photo looks like as soon as you click out of the photo. The background is totally removed!

5. Convert the photo into a black image.

To convert the color photo into a silhouette, you need to right-click on the photo to select it. This is the pop-up box that you will see. Click on the FORMAT PICTURE option.

You will get this pop-up box. You simply move the BRIGHTNESS slider all the way to the left. This will make your image BLACK!

6. Crop your silhouette or leave it as is.

If you prefer a close-up of the head, crop your picture. Do this by going back to the FORMAT PICTURE tab and select the CROP option. Then, just drag the corners to select the part of the photo that you want.

7. Resize your photo.

I added a clear 5 by 7 rectangle shape behind the photo. This is very helpful when resizing the silhouette and for cutting the picture out for a 5 by 7 frame.

8. You’re done!

Do the same for another photo on the same page. You see the 5 by 7 inch frame around each photo? This makes it much easier to cut.

This might seem like a long process, but it’s not. I just gave you the little details to make it easier for those who might be new to PowerPoint. It’s so simple. You can take all the pictures at school and take them home to finish them on the computer. You can print on card stock for durability, but it is not necessary if you plan to put them in cheap picture frames.

Pin it for later!

Enjoy!

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Teacher Appreciation Sale

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We are having a Teacher Appreciation Sale on Teachers Pay Teachers! 
The sale will be from Tuesday, May 5th to Wednesday, May 6th. Everything in my store is 20% off during the sale. If you use promo code THANKYOU at check out, TPT will give you an extra 10% off. This will give you up to 28% off on your purchases.

Check out my Monthly Journal Prompts. 

The Journal Prompts are differentiated for three writing levels and include an illustrated word bank.

Find the English bundle here.
Find the Spanish Journal Prompts here.

You might also like to take a look at my Phonics Crowns here. They are available in English and Spanish. Make sure that you purchase the correct language for your classroom. Just double check the product title and book cover because digital products are not refundable.

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21 Books for Mother’s Day

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Are you looking for books for your Mother’s Day unit? Here are some titles that you might find in your school’s library. My favorites are Love You Forever and The Kissing Hand, but the other books are fun to read as well. 

This collection includes the following books:

1.  Olivia A Sweet Surprise for Mom
2.  Love You Forever
3.  The Night Before Mother’s Day
4.  Mama, Do You Love Me?
5.  Is Your Mama A Llama?
6.  Just Shopping With Mom
7.  The Kissing Hand
8.  Just Me and My Mom
9.  Pinkalicious Mother’s Day Surprise
10. Where’s My Mom?
11. Mother’s Day
12. Fancy Nancy’s Fabulous Mother’s Day Brunch
13. Guess How Much I Love You
14. Me and My Mom!
15. Mother’s Day Surprise
16. Happy Mother’s Day
17. I Love You, Mom
18. Clifford’s Happy Mother’s Day
19. I Love You, Little One
20. The Berenstain Bears We Love Our Mom
21. I Love You to the Moon and Back

Did I miss any? Which one is YOUR favorite Mother’s Day book?

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FREE February Journal Prompts

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I have some Journal Prompts for Beginning and Struggling writers. This is a sampler pack of my February themes pack. This download includes a journal prompt sampler for Valentine’s Day and Groundhog’s Day.

Valentine’s Day Journal Prompts Sample

Groundhog’s Day Journal Prompts Sample

Full version of the February Journal Prompts 

The full version includes thematic prompts for Valentine’s Day, Groundhog’s Day, President’s Day, and Healthy Teeth. If you enjoy the sampler, you can download the entire February Journal Prompts packet here 🙂
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How to Make Snow

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Making snow is so much fun!

How to make SNOW

You only need TWO ingredients.
1. Baking Soda
2. White Conditioner
You just have to play around with the amounts. First, we poured out some baking soda into a round pan. Then, we added a little conditioner at a time. Too much conditioner will make your snow look like whipped cream.

Describe the snow

As the student begins to mix the ingredients, they can describe how it feels. Some words that you might hear are soft, cold, powdery and sticky. This diy SNOW feels sticky when you are mixing the conditioner into the baking soda. Your fingers will be a little sticky so make sure to wash hands with water and soap when you are done.


Beginning Sounds

We had fun naming and adding things that begin with the letter Ss.
Ss is for snow.
Ss is for snowflake.
Ss is for stocking.
Ss is for star.
Ss is for sparkle.We added colorful glitter to make the snow sparkle.
Ss is for snowball.
Ss is for snowman.


How to make snowballs

We finally made snowballs by grabbing a handful of snow and shaping it into a ball. It was so easy. 
Now, you are ready to make a snowman with this diy snow. Make the snowballs and add a hat, eyes, nose and a mouth. So much fun!
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The Mitten FREEBIE and Favorite Winter Books

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I love the book, THE MITTEN. It’s about a little boy who goes out to play in the snow and loses his mitten. While the mitten sits on the snow, a few fury friends find it and use it as shelter to stay warm on a cold and snowy day. I made a FREE emergent booklet back in 2013. I hope that you are able to use it with your young learners.

The Mitten Printables

Here’s a sample of The Mitten printables from the packet. This reader can be used for sequencing and retelling the familiar story of The Mitten. Also available in Spanish on my Bilingual Kinder Alphabet blog.

How to use:

*The students will name each animal as they do a picture walk of this booklet.
*The students will read the sentence.
*The students will write the missing word.
*The students will read the completed sentence.
*After every page is done, students will read the completed booklet.

Other Winter Books

Here are some other winter books that you may want to add to your winter unit.

Amazon.com Widgets

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Journal Prompts for Beginning Writers

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I LOVE our monthly journal prompts! Students in Kindergarten write at different levels. We try to engage them in activities that will help develop their writing skills, but sometimes it’s difficult to find something that will fit everyone’s abilities. We have always been told to differentiate our activities to meet every student’s needs. But, how can we do this in a room full of 20+ kids? I came up with Differentiated Thematic Journal Prompts that include a picture/word bank and sentence starters. How can these journals help? The focus on themes will make their writing meaningful and engaging. The thematic picture/word bank will develop their vocabulary skills. And, the sentence starters will help struggling writers feel successful. There are 5 journal prompts for each theme which will cover a week’s worth of writing. Each journal prompt has been provided in three versions. As the students develop their writing skills, the teacher will provide the corresponding writing page. This is how the writing pages are differentiated.

Level 1: These journal pages includes a sentence starter. They may also have extra wording on the picture labels. This will help students write a complete sentence by using the wording on the picture cues.  This format will help struggling writers use complete sentences and have a successful writing experience without the stress.

Level 2: This journal page does not include the sentence starters. Students are encouraged to use their knowledge of phonics skills. They are also encouraged to use any other words that may not be in the illustrated word bank.

Level 3: This journal page is for advanced writers. It does not provide place a for an illustration. This is so that students may have more writing space where they may include details in their sentences. Illustrations may be added to the back of the paper.

I have sets ready for the entire year. If you would like to learn more about them, you can find them all under the JOURNALS tab at the top of my blog. You can also find my Differentiated Journal Prompts in my TPT store.

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Turkey Craft for Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving time is so much fun. Here’s a fun Turkey Craft that will prepare your students for the upcoming holiday. This packet includes two versions of the turkey craft and some writing activities.

Thankful Turkey

This version includes a sentence starter on the feathers. Students will finish the sentence, “I give thanks for ________.” It’s a good way to help students reflect and be thankful for the good things in their lives.

Patterned Turkey

This other version includes simple patterned feathers that students will color. It’ will come in handy as a last minute activity or with younger students who may have limited writing skills.

Writing Activities

This packet includes seven writing activities.

Downloads

The English Turkey Craft may be found here.

The Spanish Turkey Craft may be found here.

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Trick and Treat for Teachers

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Are you ready for a Trick and Treat? 

I have teamed up with my Freebielicious friends to share some teaching tricks and special free treats for you!  

Teaching Trick/ Tip

Do your students ever forget to bring their backpacks to school? Sometimes we have many papers to send home and a student might not have a backpack on that day. It’s very difficult for little kids to carry papers during dismissal. Students will drop their papers on the floor a few times while walking down the hallway. A very simple trick is to keep a box of those large plastic baggies in the classroom. You will simply place the student’s papers and books in the baggie. Don’t forget to add a label with the student’s name, in case he drops that too 🙂

Teacher Treat (Freebie)

Here’s a free Halloween reader. It will help take the students’ fears away about certain little personalities that are part of Halloween stories, pictures, themes, etc.

Hop along to A Teeny Tiny Teacher and follow our Trick & Treat blog hop!

Photobucket

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Free Halloween Hat

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Here’s a free Halloween hat that can be used in October. It can be used as a fun center and students can wear them at your Halloween party. What I really like about it is that you can incorporate a mini-math lesson about symmetry and patterns. For that, the students would read and label the ABC pattern for the pictures that are lined up at the bottom of the hat. Students can also practice symmetry by using the same colors on those little polka dots that appear on the wings.

Click here or on the picture of this Halloween printable to download it.

(October 2013)

If you would like the “Name” word in Spanish, you can get that Spanish printable here 🙂

 

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