Five for Friday

Hey Y'all!

It's been awhile since I shared what a peek into our week looks like.

So here's what we were up to all-week-long.

We are on week 2 of integration and thematic learning. 

This week was all about the moon and sun.
I love incorporating fiction books that match our theme into our week to review comprehension skills. This week, we started off jotting down questions of what we had about the moon.

Speaking of thematic units, last week we learned all about presidents.

I made this freebie for when we held our class election on Friday.

You can grab it by clicking on the picture below.
Or you can read about it here.

We also started our unit on telling time this week.

We made a life sized clock and labeled all the parts!

Some of my lovlies have been needing a gentle reminder on what it looks like when we do 'read to self' during our rotation time of guided reading. 

I sat down with each group and re-visited rules/procedures/and went to book shop with them.

I'm hopeful to see some improvement next week!

Living in Texas, our winter is like spring which doesn't help when the AC has been out all week.

So we took our writing time out into the halls to refresh and cool down.

It's going to be a fabulous Friday now that we have AIR!!!!!

Thematically Planning--President's Week

You know those quotes that stick with you...the really important ones? 

The ones we find most meaningful?

At the I Teach 1st conference Cara referenced a quote in one of her sessions that blew my mind.

"97% of students will retain information if it is taught thematically."

Then what on earth have I been doing the last four years!

Operation: change how I teach

So of course, I came back from the conference and have been planning out our weeks thematically ever since. It makes the weeks more fun and more engaging for the kids.

I do believe their brains pick up on more as they are hearing it all throughout our day!

This last week we learned about the President, well because we were off for President's Day. 

Hello! I'm sure they had absolutely NO idea WHY there was no school Monday. 

So I read a short little mini book on President's Day.

Intrigued they were, so I went on to introduce our poem for the week. 

During whole group reading time, we read a book called If I Were The President.

My kiddos LOVE telling me their schema so that's what we recorded first.

I  gave them 3 minutes to record 3 things in their schema about the president. 

We came together to share then we read the book. 

This is a great book because it has kid-friendly facts and terms. 

{book pictured below}

We recorded our new learning together and then on their paper. 

Throughout the week, we read several other fiction books.

We made connections to Arthur Meets the President.

We made our campaign posters after reading Grace for President.

We held our election after Reading Duck for President.

Once students were well aware of the many jobs of the president, we held a class election.

They were pumped!!!

Step 1: hang campaign posters around the room

Step 2: make voter registration cards

Step 3: vote!

Step 4: count votes and make pictograph

Step 5: declare a winner, graph results and tabulate data

We also incorporated writing into this day of fun.

After I was declared the official winner {what can I say--they LOVE me}, we pretended they were chosen as the president!

"I would play with my dog. Sign bills. I would make laws and rules to help people." 

Let me just say that I packed a lot into their little brains and LOTS of it stuck!

If you stayed tuned in this long, I've managed to throw in a FREEBIE for you loyal thing you!

Snag this with most of the templates (that I created) seen on this post in my TpT store!

As I began to think about our theme for next week, I based it off of our science unit: Objects in the Sky. I found several fiction and non-fiction books, scoured Pinterest for relate-able craft ideas, and pulled in as many other things I could--like our poem and math unit on time.

Check back at the end of next week for more on how week 2 of thematic planning went!

A Month of Love, Activities and Freebies!

Love, kindness and all those warm fuzzy things.

That's what this post is made of...oh and freebies too!

Who doesn't love hugs and kisses? Yes, the candy!

I was just so curious, so we held a class taste test during math one day.

Students got one of each type of Hershey candy and decided which they liked best.

We graphed our results and made a class pictograph.

Hugs won by a landslide!

We turned our pictograph into a bar graph and analyzed the data.

After our taste testing we put our writing and crafting to work.

We thought about what it feels like when we get real hugs and kisses from our family.

Do you like {people} hugs or {people} kisses better?

"I like getting kisses because I like to give them right back."

Precious!

All of this is a freebie from Cara!

{find it here}

This time of year, I find that we get to get a little "too comfortable" with our friends. 

We've become sort of like a family.

So we discussed what it looks like/sounds like/feels like to be kind.

My goal is to display kindness (and patience, Lord give me patience) as well.

Each time I notice kindness being spread in our room, I plan to acknowledge it by writing the students name and their kindness trait on a sticky note and display the note around our chart!

My goal is for every student to have one by the end of the month!

Not only are we expressing kindness for our friends and school family, but for our family at home as well. An expression of love is always cherished!

We made these simple little books of reasons why we love our family and delivered them in hopes of getting a smile in return. Smiles=happiness : )

{Clicking on the picture above will lead you to my TpT store where you can download for FREE}

We decided that we also like to feel loved.

So we discussed what things make us feel loved.

Then we read about one of our favorite characters, Splat the Cat, and realized he felt loved too!
So we put two and two together!

And after all this, don't forget the REAL reason we are able to love one another...

What's Your Mental Image?

Our brains are really interesting things!

They are vastly different and very powerful.

Awhile back, I wanted to show my kiddos how different we all think.

I was introducing mental image and wanted them to visually see what I was referring to when I said "When we read, we see pictures in our brains, but they are all very different."

I gave each student a blank piece of paper and told them to draw and color a cat.

Here were their pictures.

There were no two alike.

It was a great way for them to see how their friends think as well. 

Here are several books I read to my kiddos to help them practice visualizing their mental images.

A Bad Case of the Stripes

The Salamander Room

I Need my Monster

Where the Sidewalk Ends: The Snowball

Normally we record them on a response page.

You can get this page from my Reader's Response to Literature pack in my TpT store. 

This is a great foundational lesson that can be used as reference all throughout the  year!

A Quick Look at President's Day

Whew!

I tend to forget how BUSY the month of February can get!

It's jam packked...but then again what month doesn't feel that way by the time it is over? 

Besides Valentine's Day, February also brings us President's Day.  

I find my students are more fascinated with non-fiction than anything else I teach. 

 There is just something about it that totally tunes them in!

 I put together a little packet to go along with our week long President's celebration.

  If you were able to check out my MLK unit and enjoyed it, then this will be right up your alley as it is fairly similar.

 

This mini-unit is the perfect way to teach all about Washington, Lincoln, and President's Day in just a few days! All you need is a non-fiction book to accompany the pages in this unit and you are set!

Here is what the unit includes:

 

*Who Was Washington? {describing graphic organizer}
*Washington was/had/wanted facts organizer
*Washington 3 facts and a fib {students produce & record 3 facts and a fib)

*Who Was Lincoln? {describing graphic organizer}
*Lincoln was/had/wanted facts organizer
*Lincoln 3 facts and a fib {students produce & record 3 facts and a fib)
*Comparing Washington and Lincoln! {Venn diagram}
*The President's: Fact or Not so Much {cut and paste fact activity}
*If I Were President... {creative writing prompt}
*President's Day ABC order

 

 

It is now available in my TPT store and will be on sale this weekend!

FREE Tips and Tricks for Managing All Kinds of Behavior

Do you ever feel your patience may become a little more strectched this time of year?

You're dealing with the same kids, but yet they seem a little different, right?

If you said yes, I think we may be in the same boat!

One thing I learned at the I Teach 1st SDE conference is to switch things up...and OFTEN!

It seems so simple and was quite a "DUH moment" for me. 

Seriously, why didn't I think of that...geez.

 #teacherfail

Thankful there's a Cara Carroll in this world to save my teacher butt sometimes : )

Her ideas were on point and I knew I had to implement them asap! So I did!

Here are 3 ideas for managing individual, table or team and whole group behavior.

And good news for you, I've put these printables in my TpT store for FREE!

 

If you're thinking about changing things up, find these free printables in my TpT store HERE.