Five for Friday - February 10th

Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  We had a short four day week due to the large snowstorm that hit the Northeast.  We are buried under a foot of snow!  Winter is finally here!  

ONE: Nonfiction Book Publishing

This week and probably next week as well we will be publishing our nonfiction books for our classroom library.  I love having the kids work on a selected piece to add to our classroom library.  What I don't like is how long it takes to get the books published!  Some days it feels like the process will never end!

That being said I love how each kid edited a piece this week.  Instead of having the kids edit using a checklist, I buddied them up and had each buddy be an "editor" to help their partner.  Sometimes when I have the kids use a checklist I never really know if each student goes through each part of the checklist.  Having a buddy holds them accountable and helps them see issues in their writing.  

To help the kids stay focused on each aspect of editing we used these editing strips.  I was impressed by how each group worked together and helped their buddy edit their pieces.  Now it's on to publishing!

TWO: Kindness Matters

Every year this book gets to me.  I find myself reading it aloud and getting choked up. We read the book 3 times this week, each time focusing on different aspects of the story.  On Monday we read the book and focused on how Maya the new student in class felt.  This sparked some great discussions and awareness of how our actions impact those around us.  

On Tuesday we focused on Chloe and how her actions hurt Maya.  Our discussions centered on times that we acted like Chloe and perhaps hurt others feelings with our words, actions, or exclusion of others.  We had such a good conversation around this topic and the kids were honest about how they've acted at times and how they think these actions impacted those around them.  

On Friday we completed the same activity the kids in the book did.  I filled up a large bowl of water and we placed a rock in the bowl.  As I did this the kids and I focused on the ripples that went out.  Then I had each student come up, place the rock in the bowl, and name one thing they have done that was nice for someone else.  This proved to be a powerful visual for the kids.  After sharing, I had the kids write about the one kind action they shared with the class using a quote from the book.  

This is such a wonderful book and I would recommend it be used in every classroom!!

THREE: Solids and Liquids

Our investigation into solids this week focused on what solids sink and float in water as well as how solids react to magnets.  This week we did a few pages in our notebooks to record some observations but the focus of our week was spent talking about what we've observed.  Then we used these observations to make some statements about what solids sink and what solids float as well as what solids are attracted to magnets and what solids are not.  Once again this week I was floored by what my kiddos came up with... they're minds were working overtime and I couldn't be more proud!

FOUR: Snow Day Instagram
Thursday was a snow day and the northeast was slammed by a foot of snow.  This doesn't happen all the time here so I wanted to do something special with the kiddos.  We took a break from our usual Friday routine to create an "Instagram Post" of all the fun things my kiddos did on their snow day.  They loved getting a chance to share with their classmates what the did on the day off!

This was a big hit today and I can see many ways to use this in the coming weeks.  I'd love to use it every Friday to have my kiddos highlight what they learned during the week or what they liked most about the week... the possibilities are endless.

FIVE:  Valentine's and 100th Day

For the second year in a row, we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day and the 100th Day on the same day!  It's a catch 22... on the one hand, we get all the hoopla over on one day.  However, it's gonna be a crazy day!!  Kiddos have already started to bring in their 100 items and Valentines... since when did Valentines need candy and erasers and tiny games and gifts?  But really... who can resist the sweets!!

Have a great weekend... Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

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Five for Friday - January 27th

After a long hiatus I am back to link up for Five for Friday to highlight some of the work we did this week!

ONE: Morning Tubs 

While I think morning work is valuable, I also love the idea of using morning tubs rather than morning work for my firsties.  Three days a week my kiddos come in and can choose from 8 different tub activities I have set up.  This is one of my favorite times of the day as it allows me to see my kiddos cooperating with different classmates.  I also love to see their creativity shine through in the various activities.  

My kiddos come in at 9 am and we go to special by 9:25 so they have a good 20 minutes after unpacking to make a tub selection and play around.  I only have two rules during this time... 1. you can't do the same tub two days in a row and 2. you can't change tubs after you've made a selection.  

While not a rule for morning tubs, I've encouraged my students to work with different classmates and they've given this a good effort each week.  Typically I keep the same tubs for two weeks or six days which cuts down on my prep each week.  

Teacher Confession: I've kept the nonfiction book tub for several weeks and I have to say it is always a popular choice.  Kids love reading nonfiction and I love seeing them share what they're reading with their classmates!

TWO: Presidential Speech

Another teacher confession... this was actually from last week on Inauguration Day.  To go along with our Scholastic News edition about our new president I had my kiddos pretend to be the president.  They were asked to think about and write about different ways they could help the country is they were president.  Then we had a Presidential news conference where each kiddo was able to give a "speech" about what they wanted to do for the country.  

After their speech the "media", aka the other kids in class, was able to ask a few questions of the new president.  The kids LOVED this and they asked some thoughtful questions.  They also came up with some great ways to help our country.  It was a fun way to incorporate the inauguration of the new president.

THREE: Super E

This week we finished learning about super e.  I love calling silent e super e.  It's totally motivating to each kid and over the last few weeks we've been involved "Superhero Training" related to super e.  Each week we used super e to make a different vowel say its name and we did many activities throughout the weeks to "train" out minds to understand and correctly use super e.  

After successfully going through their "training", each kiddo received a certificate and a Super E Superhero badge.  They were overjoyed about the badges!!

FOUR: Winter Themed Math Games

Each day our math block consists on guided math and I love this time but sometimes it can overwhelming as it takes a ton of prep.  To cut down on some of the prep I've created these math games that don't require a ton of prep and can be used for several days as the spinners allow for different number sentences to be built.  While I love task cards I don't love the prep nor do I like when the kids finish the cards because they can't be reused.  These spinner games can be used several times before the kids get bored with them because each spin can create a different math question.  That's not to say i don't use task cards because I do but one of my main sources of games each week are these spinner games!

 

FIVE: Solids and Liquids
This week we started a unit on matter and the kids did an awesome job sorting several solids based on color and shape.  Next week we'll be testing objects to see if we can roll or stack the same objects.   

Have a great weekend.. Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts! 

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