Common Core Standards Posters and Essential Questions So.... many of you have asked, " How do you get your kids to write like that?" So, here's your answer. First of all, I am totally in love with the Philosophy behind the Workshop Model. I teach my kids to write by doing a quick mini lesson where I model the writing process. I think out loud as I write in front of them, Then, they have the opportunity to practice what I've just modeled. They turn ... continue reading...
Search Results for: label/Walruses
Walruses, Literacy Centers and Guided Reading, oh, my!
We made these adorable walruses from my Arctic Animals unit today. I love how they all turned out so unique. Our penguins are still fishing on our bulletin board so the herd of walruses won't be hung up until next week when we use them to decorate our polar bears and walruses venn diagram. I will post a pic next week when they are all hanging. So, I've had some questions about how I do Literacy Centers.This is a picture of my Literacy Center board. The pirates on ... continue reading...
Arctic Animals: Polar Bears and Walruses
Arctic Animals Polar Bears and Walruses Lesson Plan Ideas for Kindergarten and First Grade! We have always loved learning about polar bears and animals that live in the Arctic. This graphic organizer is an oldie but a goodie! And their learning transfers into their informational writing beautifully! Here are a few throwback pics Comparing and Contrasting Polar Bears & Walruses using a venn diagram. EXCUSE the ... continue reading...
Walruses Day 1
Hey y'all! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. It was so nice to have an extra day off! Tomorrow we begin our Arctic animals unit and our focus is on walruses. Click on the picture if you want to download my plans for tomorrow.Most of the things I will be doing this week comes from this unit. My son plays varsity basketball and we were out of town for games so I didn't get a chance to post what we did on Friday. Here are some quick pictures.Penguin facts Our ... continue reading...
How to Start Teaching Writer’s Workshop in Kindergarten & First Grade
Do you struggle with how to get started? Writer's Workshop in kindergarten and first grade classrooms is one of the most powerful components. In Writing Workshop in kindergarten and first grade, students are encoding words that come from their thoughts and feelings, which is a much easier skill than decoding. Successful writers become successful readers! So, how do you get started? The answer is simple. Just jump right in!! I usually start at the beginning of the ... continue reading...
The Gruffalo Lesson Plans | Reading Comprehension for K-2
The Gruffalo lesson plans for K-2. Engaging 5-day lesson plans with differentiated reading response, vocabulary, sentence study, and a craft for this fun story! The Gruffalo A clever mouse outsmarts some woodland animals who want to eat him with the story of a Gruffalo. Little does he know, a Gruffalo is real and loves to eat mice. Your students will love this award-winning story! Through our engaging lesson plans students will strengthen their reading comprehension skills and have fun ... continue reading...
Inferring with Primary Students: The Case of the Missing Toy Sack
Inferring with Primary Students: Christmas Inference Detectives Activities for Kindergarten and First-Grade Inferring with Primary Students: Kindergarten and First-Grade Inferring is an important comprehension skill for young readers to have and I love giving them lots of practice with this skill. We infer each week with the story we are reading, but I also like to give them opportunities to infer outside of the text. Inferring is just putting clues together and using that voice inside ... continue reading...
Oceans of Fun!
I got up bright and early this morning and drove 2 hrs. in search of the perfect wedding dress for my daughter Taylor. SUCCESS! But, I'm one tired mamma so this is going to be a super quick post! We just started our ocean unit. Nothing gets boys excited more than sharks! (okay...maybe dinosaurs...but they still LOVE sharks too). We used interactive writing to label the parts of a shark. Comparing sharks and whales. Schema Chart Writing ... continue reading...
Common Core Standards Organization and Wishy Washy!
I've had a lot of questions about how I organize my Common Core Standards and Essential Questions. I display them on posters which are hot glued to ribbon. The standards are attached with velcro so that they are easy to change in and out. (Please excuse the bad picture above. The standards shown are from the 1st grade set. Notice that the clipart images match the standard and that the essential question clipart also matches. This helps the little ones who can't read understand the ... continue reading...
Engaging Readers: Getting it ORGANIZED!
Hey There! Happy Hump day! We've had a few questions about how we organize our new Engaging Readers units so I thought I'd do a quick blog post to show you! These are the supplies I used to organize mine. I used a 1" binder sheet protectors Binder pocket (one pocket holds all four books) ziploc baggies Clear packing tape Printables for the spine and fronts of sheet protectors click HERE to get yours. First, I put our cutie patootie cover (thanks to ... continue reading...
FREE Spine Labels for Binders: Getting Organized!
This is a throwback post that I did awhile back about getting our Guiding Readers units organized. Since this post, I've had quite a few requests to make matching spine labels for the Writing and Math units. So HERE YOU GO! Sorry, it took me so long! We also have a Free Year-Long Curriculum Map for Kindergarten and First Grade. (Scroll to the bottom of this post to grab the map and spines) If you want to read the throw back post carry on! If not, Happy Organizing. ... continue reading...
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Reading Lesson Plans for K-1
Leonardo the Terrible Monster reading comprehension lesson plans with student response activities. Print and teach lessons to engage your students in reading! Leonardo the Terrible Monster This story by Mo Willems is one of my favorite stories to read, especially in October around Halloween. If you are not familiar with this book, it is about a monster named Leonardo. Leonardo is not a scary monster, no matter how hard he tries! He does some research and thinks he finds the perfect little ... continue reading...
10 Winter Themed Bulletin Board Ideas
Winter bulletin board ideas for teachers! I have rounded up so fun winter-themed bulletin board ideas for your classroom! These would work great as December bulletin boards or January bulletin boards. Take a look at these wintry bulletin board ideas to bring a little warmth to your classroom or hallway. Winter bulletin board #1 Home for the Holidays This adorable winter bulletin board idea is from Stephanie and Loreal @happilyeverelementary. It would be a great place for students to ... continue reading...
Tacky and the Winter Games Lesson Plans (Free File)
Winter Games Lesson Plans for kindergarten and first grade. These are perfect to use during the Winter Olympics. Tacky and the Winter Games Don't you just love Tacky the Penguin? My class has always enjoyed this character, so when I saw Helen Lester's book, Tacky and the Winter Games, I knew I had to add it to our Engaging Readers Series. The version of the Engaging Readers one comes with 5 days of close reading comprehension activities: Visualization Retelling Connections ... continue reading...
Arctic Animals Fun!
Comparing and Contrasting Polar Bears & Walruses using a venn diagram. {All of the directions for the crafts and the venn diagram strips are included in my Arctic Animals unit).EXCUSE the fact that it says, live in Antarctica! Mercy! I didn't even realize I had made the mistake until a sweet person told me. Ya know how your brain just kicks into auto? As a class we read these together and we read, lives in the Arctic. (didn't even notice the mistake). ... continue reading...