Hey friends!
Sorry for my absence! It has been a crazy few weeks back to school, but I'm finally back in the swing of things!
I'm joining with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for
It was a short week, but here's what we have been up to lately!
Our reading this week centered around Martin Luther King, Jr. Each day we read books about Martin's life and charted new things that we learned about it. The kids were really into it. They couldn't believe how different things were when Martin was a kid and they were glad that they don't have to deal with those things today! Got this chart idea from A Cupcake for the Teacher!
The last few weeks, we have been focusing on doubles and doubles plus one in math. We have been working on quick, mental math. We have done a lot of activities using dominoes and dice. This was a quick little game that the whole class played (in partners). I found the idea {here} from Meagan Hawkins and revised it a bit for my kids. The kids also love this little doubles rap on youtube!
This one too!
The kids are LOVING our current writing unit! All month we have been writing "All About Books." Back in December, we did a non-fiction reading unit about Penguins. During that unit, we focused on non-fiction text features (table of contents, labels, captions, headings, chapter titles, glossaries, etc!). This was SUPER helpful when we started our non-fiction writing unit this month! I was able to reference the books we had looked at and discussed previously to use as models during our writing time. I also pulled tubs of books on topics that we have studied previously this year (apples, pumpkins, bats, & penguins). The kids loved the idea of researching! Many of them even checked books out from the Learning Center on their topics! I'm excited about how excited they are during this unit! They are learning so much!!! It makes me happy :)
Sticking with the writing topic...my student teacher has started to take things over and she started with writer's workshop. First, let me say that she is fantastic! We found this idea chart in the Lucy Calkins' writing books that we thought would be great for the kids...we were right! This lesson was awesome (she obviously put a lot of time into making the chart too!). She started the lesson with the chart on the left already made. She then told the kids that she had written this All About Penguins book and she wanted them to look at it to see what non-fiction features she had included. Everything in yellow on the right side is what they noticed! They loved it.
Next week they will be publishing their favorite All About Book and using this checklist to help them edit!
This one doesn't have anything to do with school. I mean, I guess you could use these in your classroom, but I mostly just wanted to show them off. It's lighted ribbon! I LOVE it!! When watching tv at night, I don't like having all of the lights on. These lights are the perfect amount of light in the room...and they look pretty cute too! I got them on amazon.
I have a group of struggling readers that is really struggling with CVC words, word families, rhyming, etc! I made up some cute CVC word cards for practice during their guided reading group. They are perfect for magnetic letter practice or you can laminate them and write on them with dry erase markers! Pick them up for free {here}.
Can we also take a minute to realize how wonderful kids can be? I mean, check out this picture below...
A student showed me her white board this morning. After my kids finish their morning work, they can read from their book box or write on their white board if they have extra time. She decided to make some goals for herself today:
1. Reading: to read 5 books or more
2. Math: to try my best
3. The hole day: to be a great listener
4. Writing: add more detail
Do you set daily goals??
Love it.
Have a fantastic weekend!
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