Foldable

Our story last week was about grasshoppers! My students have really enjoyed reading about different insects and it goes great with our life cycle unit in science! We created a cute foldable to help them organize their thoughts and ideas. The first window was a picture of their favorite part of the story. In the second window they wrote about the life cycle of a grasshopper, using the story for guidance. In the third window they wrote some facts about grasshoppers. In the last window they compared and contrasted the life cycle of a grasshopper and the life cycle of a butterfly. We use this foldable all the time in my classroom, so the students can make it pretty quick. If you have never used a foldable you should definitely try it out! The students love making them!

I hope everyone has a super Halloween! I am doing some fun activities with my students that I have found on different blogs. Thanks to everyone that posted all their GREAT Halloween projects!

One of my Hobbies

So I had to share this even though it doesn't have to do with teaching. One of my best friends and myself love to make hair pieces and headbands. We made some really cute ones last night for halloween. It is funny that we can get the same fabic, feathers, and jewels but both of them came out totally different. Here are pictures of the one I made:

I am super excited to wear my headband on Monday for Halloween! I hope everyone has a GREAT Friday!

Mini Unit Freebie!!!

I promised a new mini unit and here it is! I used the book Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet. The book is about the Macy's Day Parade. I will be using the book within the next couple of weeks to show the importance of tradition. I have created the following in my mini unit:

vocabulary words and games
sequence activity
family tradition writing activity
puppet creation activity

click here


Enjoy!

A little of this and a little of that

Hey everyone!

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while! I had a crazy week and weekend! I went to holiday mart with one of my bff's and my mom. It is never to early to start holiday shopping!

This week is Red Ribbon Week! Tomorrow is wear red day and of course I had to buy a new red shirt to wear. We are having a poster contest for each class. If anyone has any good ideas please leave a comment!

Something things to look forward to:

1. We also will be doing a really cute rock project to go along with our whole group reading story. I will post pictures of that later this week. My students this year really enjoy reading expostitory texts!

2. I got a really great book at Barnes and Noble today. I am planning on making a mini unit with it and of course I will post it as a freebie for everyone. Here is the book:

3. I was of course blog search and I found a great unit I am going to by from Hope King's TpT using the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I am really excited to use it in my classroom. Click Here

Have a super Monday!!

Super Activity for Place Value

So I came across this GREAT place value activity on Babblin Abby's blog! As soon as I saw it I knew I had to do it with my class.

Here's What You Need:
Place Value Chart
Box of Fruit Loops
Big Marshmallows
Toothpicks
Recording Sheet (you will have to write "HTO" on the "marshmallows")

Click Here for Recording Sheet and Place Value Charts

First poke a toothpick in each marshmallow (each child needs 3). Then put fruit loops in a cupcake tray. (each child needs 1 tray) I placed everything each table would need on a tray from the lunch room. Each student will also need a place value chart and a recording sheet. I would shout out what number I wanted in each place value and the kids would loop the fruit loops on the toothpick on the marshmallow in the right place value. Then I would have the students record their numbers. My students LOOVED this activity and were engaged the whole time! Here are some pictures:

Read Aloud Linky Party

Head on over to Swimming into Second for a Linky Party!
click here

I am currently reading a chapter book to my students that I read when I was in school. It is called "The Classroom at the End of the Hall." It is about the students at the classroom at the end of the hall. Silly things happen to them throughout the school year. My students love listening to their silly stories and they realize that not everyone is perfect!

Types of Sentences Freebie!

Hey everyone! I am sorry I did not post very much this week. We had a short week due to the end of the quarter and you would be glad to know I got A LOT done on our teacher work day. I also haven't been feeling to feel either, those darn kids get me sick every year. :)

This week we are going to be learning about different types of sentences. I have made posters for the four different types! I think we are going to practice with shaving cream, the kids will LOVE it!

Click here for the posters

I also saw this really cute idea on Babblin Abby's blog about place value. Her idea is super cute! You use marshmallows and fruit loops to help review place value. I got all the materials today and we are going to do the activity on Monday. I will take pictures to share!

Well the Mr. is ready to spend "our time" watching one of our favorite t.v. shows! Everyone have a great rest of your weekend!

Life Cycle Activites Continued and Place Value Freebies!

We are still discovering different life cycles. We planted two different types of seeds in baggies on Monday. The students were VERY excited to look at their seeds today and saw that they are already starting to change! Here is a picture of the two different types of seeds in the bags. (This experiment is very low maintance)

We also created a "Healthy Plant Guide." I don't have the document on this computer, but I will try and put the link on tomorrow.

Place Value! We have started working on place value this week. I am using a lot of hands-on activites to help keep them engaged. I have created a sheet I am going to send home for homework tomorrow, since they have a 4 day weekend. (not fair!) I also created individual place value charts to put on their desks! And of course I had to create a place value sign for my room, but I have to admit it isn't as good as Mrs. Lemmon's signs are.

Click Here

I have one more day with the kiddos then PD and Teacher Work Day! I am very excited to have a work day and get some overdue items done!

Capitalization and Reading Workshop Freebies!!

I created this quick matching game to remind my students about capitalizing the first letter of a sentence. They loooove playing these quick games during workshop time!

Click Here

I also use Mustdo and Maydo posters. These have become a staple in my classroom! My students always wanted to know their "must and may do's" for the day!

Click Here

Everyone have a super Friday!

Plant Life Cycle

We have started learning about plant life cycles this week! The kids are really exctied about learning about life cycles. Today we reviewed the life cycle of a plan by using our "plant chant."

After reviewing the different parts of a plant, we made the following plant project! It took a while, but the kids had to work on their following direction skills!

I hope everyone had a great Wednesday! (almost done with the week!!)

Fluency Freebie and Life Cyle Preview

Hey everyone! This week we are starting our "Pioneer Time." This is when we split the kids up in small groups for reading and math. My reading group needs to work on fluency and accuracy. I wanted to make a fun fluency game to play. Here is the game board that goes along with the game:

Click Here

Here is how you play: Have everyone start on the start sqaure. Each student takes a turn reading for a minute. If they read the correct WPM on the next square then they can move on. If not they stay on start and try again next time. The first person to reach the end wins. You can use the game with any reading passage. This will hopefully reinforce that the more times you re-read the better you get!

This week we will be starting our life cycle unit! The students are very exctied! I will take pictures and make posts as we complete some of our projects and experiments! Be on the lookout for them!