I will admit that I was kind of sad for my spring break to end. I LOVE being able to sleep in just a little bit and it is so much nicer to wake up without having an alarm clock buzzing in your ear. But today we started one of my favorite units so that made going back to school a little easier, Insects Unit. This Insects Unit can be used with an Insect Animals theme or as stand-alone Reading and Writing lessons and activities. Here is how I plan out my Insects ... continue reading...
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Insects Eric Carle style!
We read Eric Carle's series of insect books and then we made our own Eric Carle inspired insects. This is what we started with. The papers were made by painting with bubble wrap, sponges, circle paint brushes and those soft body wash thingies. (not the technical term...but shoot! I can't remember what they're called. You can buy them at the Dollar Tree and then come on a little rope. ) I LOVE how the kids know how to use squares, rectangles and their creativity ... continue reading...
BYE Bye Insects
We said goodbye to our insect unit. Every year this is one of the favorites so it is hard to say goodbye to those pesky critters and move on. :( We end our insect unit with a class favorite... Build a Bug! They use candy, marshmallows, and pretzels to build a model of an insect. Did I mention how much they LOVE this activity? Here are a few of their creations. WOW! My sweeties did such a good job. Here are some insect journal ... 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...
Insect Learning Fun, Freebies and a Sale!
We read lots of Eric Carle books and created our own papers to use in his style. No patterns, please! The kids use rectangles and squared to create their own unique insects. I LOVE the results. Much better than if I had given them patterns to trace. Building insects with pattern blocks. The unit includes a sheet for them to tally, graph and add the pattern blocks they used to build their insect. We always start out by charting what we think ... continue reading...
Going Buggy! Butterfly and Mantis
Whoo-wee! This week was CRAZY! Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders were taking the CRCT test this week which meant no planning time and very little recess. I don't drink but this week just about drove me to it! I don't know about you guys but I am ready for Summer vacation. We get out of school on May 25th so the countdown has begun. :) Even though it was a crazy week we still had lots of fun learning all about insects. We learned about butterflies and drew the life cycle of a ... 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...
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...
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...
More zoo unit pictures
Here you'll find more zoo unit pictures. We made alligator pie and then used Interactive writing to create our How To chart. Our fun poem. This was written by a Canadian poet by the name of Dennis Lee. I'm told there are a few more verses to the poem...but this was just enough for us.. we love it! YUMMY! Alligator pie The kids wrote their own How To during Writer's Workshop Our alligators and nonfiction alligator writing. A close up of ... continue reading...
Zoo unit Day 1 Giraffes
I LOVE this time of year. My little sweeties are becoming independent thinkers and learners who have blossomed into readers and writers AND all of my Favorite units are in the Spring!! Zoo animals, Dinosaurs (my fave), and Insects (my fave), What???!! I can have more than one favorite! :) I spend two weeks on each of these units. There is just something about these topics that get kids super excited about learning! Today we learned all about Giraffes. ... continue reading...