Five for Friday - It's Finally Spring Break

Short week and we're FINALLY on spring break... I am so excited!! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday!

Here are some of the highlights from our week!

ONE: US Symbols

We finished up our US symbols unit this week with my kiddos acting like "tour guides" to give their classmates a tour of one of the US symbols.  I was so impressed by the information they shared with their classmates as they toured each of the symbols.  Here are a few of the US symbols they drew to share with their classmates!

TWO: Regrouping

We started regrouping this week.  I LOVE this time of the year because it is literally a culmination of all we've learned through the year.  My kiddos blew me away this week... they did such an amazing job working through all the regrouping lessons we did!  

We began the week by just regrouping ones for tens.  The kids did a great job with this and we had some great math talks around this while we worked.  

For the next two days, we worked on regrouping with tens and ones cubes.  I really want my kiddos to understand how regrouping works before they actually do the procedure while adding vertically.  

The next day we worked on the vertical procedure of adding with regrouping.  As buddies worked together during our small group time we sang our adding vertically song and used cubes with a vertical work mat to show the procedure and how it actually works with the cubes.  

THREE: Plants

In a few weeks we'll be visiting a local preserve to transplant these lupine plants to help the butterflies that live in the preserve.  This is the first year in my five years of teaching that all the seeds have sprouted.  I have literally only watered the plants once since we planted the seeds in March... perhaps that's the trick.  These are definitely my kind of plants!!

FOUR: Egg Hunt

Yesterday at the end of the day we had a short egg hunt in our classroom.  The kids were so excited to search around the room to find the eggs!  I bought a pack of 48 eggs from Walmart for $1.98 a few weeks ago.  This pack had 6 different colors which was perfect for separating my kiddos into 6 groups.  Then I took 6 eggs of each color and filled them with math sentences that the kiddos needed to solve while hunting for the eggs.  This was a great way to spend the last 30 minutes before our week long spring break!!

FIVE: Spring Break

So excited to tackle this to do list over spring break.  I know I won't get it all accomplished but I'm excited to tackle some bigger projects as we head into the last two months of the school year!  

Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts.

Have a great holiday weekend! 

Five for Friday - April 7th

Another week in the books.  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday.  Here are some highlights from our week!

ONE: Vowel Team Baseball Games

Much like last week we played another game to help us review another vowel team this week.  Instead of the football game from last week we played a baseball game this week.  The kids had so much fun and I loved to see them working together as a team to complete various tasks.  

TWO: PIE
After seeing Hope King's amazing idea to teach author's purpose I knew I needed to try it!  The kids loved the idea and worked so hard to identify the author's purpose of various books.  I was so proud of how responsible and hard working they were during this activity today!  We had so much fun!

THREE: Adding and Subtracting Two-Digit Numbers

I love this time of the year when my kiddos are using all kinds of strategies as we begin adding larger numbers.  This week was no exception as we used an addition and subtraction call and response to remind us to always start in the ones place!  Even with the song, I did have one kiddo that was adamant that we start in the tens... gotta love commitment to what he believes in!

FOUR: Charlie the Ranch Dog Instagram

This week we read a nonfiction piece about a ranch.  Since we live in upstate New York my kiddos don't know much about ranches or the ranch lifestyle.  I read Charlie the Ranch Dog this week to give them some more exposure to the idea of a working ranch.
I also brought in all my Ree Drummond cookbooks to share some of the pictures in of her ranch with the kids.  On Wednesday I had my kiddos create an Instagram post as if they were Charlie... lots of napping and eating bacon!  I think they know Charlie very well!

FIVE: Spring Math Tubs
Spring break in four days... cannot wait.  In the meantime, I took out all the Easter themed tubs I have to keep my kiddos engaged and working both this week and next!  Here's one of our favorites games!

Don't forget to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Vowel Team Baseball Game

Last week we played a game of "football" to give us more practice with the OA and OW vowel teams.  This week with opening day of baseball happening on Sunday I thought it would be fun to play a game of "baseball" with my kiddos to give them some practice with the IE and IGH vowel teams we're learning about this week.  

To create the baseball field I used tape and created the baseball diamond on our carpet.  I literally ran out of this green tape as I was making third base but I made due with what I had!  

It's hard to see against the word wall but I put up a baseball banner much like the football banner I put up last week.  The baseball banner was $4.99 at Party City... they have a ton of sports related items in store and online.

  To play the game I separated the kids into two teams, the Green Spies and the Orange Knights.  After separating the kids each student was given a recording sheet to write their answers on. This is important because all the kids are engaged the whole time as they are all responsible for writing the words I call out.  

As I shouted out a word, each student wrote that word on their recording sheet and I went around to check each page.  If each player on the team spelled the word correctly, their "batter" on the field rolled the dice.  Each number on the dice corresponded to a particular hit on the field and the batter moved accordingly.  

I also gave one student on each team a PomPom so he or she could be a cheerleader... we've had some interesting cheers both this week and last week! The two baseball/Yankee bears were given to each team as well to act as a team mascot!   

The kids loved playing the game and at the end of day two the score is 5-5.  On days three and four the kids will be using IE and IGH words in sentences to make the tasks a bit more challenging.  

To get us thinking baseball before the game each day we sing the national anthem and wave our American flags... created as part of our US Symbols unit we've been working on.  We also sing"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" each day to really put us in the baseball mindset.  

While this was a simple room transformation and game to play it keeps the kids engaged and excited to review and use new words that we are working on.  I love seeing how excited they are as they are playing together on a team with their classmates.  

Five for Friday - March 31st

I'm linking up today with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

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Here are some highlights from our week!

ONE: Football Games

My kiddos loved playing "football games" each day this week to review the OA and OW vowel team patterns.  On days 1 and 2 each team spelled words using these two patterns.  If every team member spelled each word correctly, the quarterback would earn a "first down" and would be able to advance ten yards on the playing field. Everyone was engaged and participating for every minute of these games.  

On days 3 and 4 I had my kiddos use words in sentences to make the tasks a bit harder.  All conventions of writing counted in terms of teams earning a first down of not! 

TWO: Amazing Words

For the past several years I have used a vocabulary tree, decorated with bananas that have the vocabulary words we're learning.  Typically these words are part of a book or story we are reading throughout the week and we spend a good amount of time talking about the words and coming up with a class definition of the word.  

After we create a definition we often act it out, so the kids can make connections to the words and begin to understand their meaning.  I often have my kiddos "teach" one another what the words mean as well as use the words in a sentence.  

This week we've been learning about US symbols and my kiddos came up with these definitions on their own and I was so proud of their work all week as we taught each other and then used the words in several sentences.  

Giving them the responsibility of creating a definition and then using the words has ensured that they don't forget the words once the week is over.  Very often while reading and discussing other topics a past amazing word will come up and many kiddos remember not only the word but the definition as well.  Mission accomplished!!

THREE: Plants
Our plants have really taken off and the kids can't get over how exciting it is to see them grow and change from day to day.  These plants are part of a field trip we will be taking in May and I love that this part of it gives them ownership and responsibility in terms of taking care of something each day.  It's also lent itself nicely to some nonfiction writing that we have been doing throughout the year!

FOUR: US Symbols
My kiddos were hard at work this week learning about the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Bell.  Here are some of the highlights of what we've done and studied all week!

FIVE: Adding and Subtracting 2-Digit Numbers
I know I posted about this last week as well but this is the time of the year when everything starts clicking and the kids are using so many strategies they have learned to help them in math.  This week was no exception as we added and subtracted tens and found the missing part in these number sentences as well!

Don't forget to check out more Five for Friday posts at Doodle Bugs Teaching!!

Vowel Team Football Games

We have been learning about different vowel teams over the last few weeks and this week I wanted to add a bit of excitement to our daily practice and review of the OA and OW teams.  I had purchased these football banners a while back at Walmart on clearance and this week was the perfect opportunity to create a football field for us to "play on".  

When my kiddos came into our classroom yesterday they went nuts for the football field and the room was buzzing all morning wondering how we were going to "play" football to get some practice with our OA and OW vowel teams.  

The field was super easy to make.  I just used tape and wrote the numbers on the tape.  For the goalpost I used old pool noodles I had at home.  I knew I saved those extra pool noodles for a reason!

Here's how the game works... I divided my kids into two teams, the Green Goals and the Orange Throwers.  Then the team selected a quarterback to stand on the field with the mini-football egg (also found at Walmart in the Easter section!).  

As I shouted out words each team member needed to spell the words on their individual recording sheets.  If every teammate spelled the word correctly, the quarterback would get a "first down" and move 10 yards towards the end zone.   

Having individual recording sheets worked well because every team member was working and engaged the whole time, not waiting for their turn to do the "work". On day 1 after each team scored a touchdown, I gave them one additional word to earn the "extra-point".  So at the end of quarter 1 (or day 1) the score was tied 7 - 7.  I did the same thing for today for day 2 and the score is now tied 14-14.  

On Thursday and Friday we'll step it up a bit. I'll either give them a word and they'll have to use it in a written sentence or I'll give them a sentence using the OA and OW words that needs to be edited.

To add a bit more excitement I gave one member of each team a pom pom so they could cheer on their teams as they were working to earn their first downs. I also played the NFL on Fox theme song.  I only had a few kiddos that knew the song... but it still made it exciting for them to play!  After we played today and the score was tied we did this victory dance on GoNoodle to celebrate the first two quarters of our classroom football game.  

It's always amazing how little things can truly keep the kids engaged and motivated to work hard!  

Five for Friday - March 24

Another short week for me as today was a full day of professional development.  I'm linking up for another Five for Friday post... here are some highlights from our week! 

ONE: Pete the Cat

Next Monday the K-2 classrooms will be attending a Pete the Cat play!  I'm so excited to see my kiddos reactions as they experience live theater.  Some kids have never seen a play before and there's always a sense of confusion and wonderment as they try to figure out how this is happening on stage.  To prepare for the play on Monday we've spent the week reading some Pete the Cat books! 

TWO: US Symbols

We started one of my favorite units of study this week... US symbols.  The kids are always so engaged during this unit and this week was no exception.  We took it slow to start off focusing on what symbols are and what America means to them.  Here are a few of the responses I got!

On day two we talked about the US flag and my kiddos already knew or observed a ton about the flag.  We read a few short nonfiction books and then wrote down some of the most important facts related to the flag.  

After writing the facts we talked about what the flag stands for and we worked on two new vocabulary words, freedom and courage.  I find it helpful to have the kids come up with their own definition first.  If necessary I will tweak it and then I have them teach each other what the words mean.  This seems to be the best way for them to really understand the word to the point where they can actually use it in their conversations.  Whole brain teaching techniques are so helpful when learning new vocabulary and I am excited to see what they can do with these new vocabulary words next week!

THREE: Opinion Writing

This week our opinion writing unit took off and we've been using what we've learned about topic sentences and supporting sentences independently.  This year I slowed down paragraph writing and we've focused on each part of a good paragraph, discussing what each part is and then writing many topic and supporting sentences together.  

This week as my kiddos were writing opinion pieces they used these cheeseburger paragraph charts to help them.  I can't wait to read all their opinion pieces in the coming weeks.  

FOUR: Adding and Subtracting Tens 

Adding and subtracting tens is always a great topic to teach in math as it uses all the skills my kiddos have worked on throughout the year.  As we used these task cards the kiddos got to share their math thinking and I was so proud of their work!

FIVE: Vowel Teams 

This week we started learning about vowel teams and my kiddos loved my NY Rangers jersey and hat that I wore all week as they competed in sports-themed activities to help them learn about ea and ee.  I think their favorite part was the whistle! Getting them to buy in and keeping them engaged is the key to success and this really worked this week.  Coming next week... football themed activities!

Don't forget to check out Doodle Bugs Teaching for more Five for Friday posts!

Spring Resources - and a Freebie!

Happy first day of spring! We may still be buried in snow from the Blizzard of 2017 last week but we are all excited here in upstate New York for spring and warmer temperatures.  We have a few more weeks until spring break here and I wanted to get my classroom feeling like spring even if there is still snow on the ground.  

Last week we created these contraction caterpillars to showcase all we know about contractions.  I'm in love with how bright and springy the Astrobrights papers look!  

I put the template for this caterpillar in my TpT store as a freebie.  I included a list of different ways to use this template in the file as well.   I love crafts that are low prep and can be used in different ways.

From year to year I often change how I use a specific craft depending on where I am in my curriculum and what skills we have mastered and what skills need more work.  Here are two other ways I can see using this craft although I have listed a ton of different ideas in the template.

I'm always looking for different ways to keep my kiddos engaged and practicing their sight words... especially this time of year!  This Beautiful Blooms sight word game is a freebie in my TpT store as well.   Kiddos draw cards and read sight words and the game continues as they kids continue to draw cards.  If the kids draw a "Cold Snap" card they need to put all their card back and start again.

I have also included a sentence version of this sight word game to make the game a bit harder for kiddos that need to be challenged.  This game is also free in my TpT store. 

I love using these spring themed problem-solving printables as well.  By this point in the year my kiddos are great math problem solvers and I love challenging them with all kinds of word problems.  I keep things fresh and engaging by using spring-themed printables.  I have two different sets of printables as freebies in my TpT store.  Hope you find them helpful!

Happy spring!  Here's to a great first full week of spring!!