MLK Day 2018

My students love it when I put up an upcoming holiday on our math calendar!  But what is funny, is that its not only the holidays that we are out of school, but the ones we are in school for too.  It's because they've realized that I always plan something fun that day!

The next holiday will be MLK Day, and my students know that on Tuesday, when we return, our class will do lots of things related to Martin Luther King, Jr.  I have several things planned all throughout the day, and I've listed them below.

Morning Work:
1. "I have a dream" color sheet.

2.  Thinking map:  Circle map to show what they already know about Dr. King.

Shared Reading:
1. Read aloud the book titled Martin's Big Words.

Here is a good choice for an upper grades read aloud.  It's called Who Was Martin Luther King?

Independent Reading/Reading Groups:
1. Read and complete color/comprehension sheets  (first one for grades 1-2, second one for grades 3-5)

 

Shared Writing:
1. Together we will create a class chart titled "How to be like Martin".  This will open up a great discussion of the book we read earlier during Shared Reading.

Independent Writing:
1. Students will create their own "I Have a Dream" small book.

Social Studies:
1. Watch Brain Pop video about the life of MLK or read the book titled .
2. Complete cut/paste time line activity.

3. Compete cut/paste fill-in-the blank activity sheet (Upper grades:  scrambled words fill-in-the-blank activity sheet)

 

If you are interested in doing any or all of these things in your classroom, you can download the complete unit titled, Martin Luther King, Jr., An American Hero here.

Here is a freebie just for stopping by. 

  

Just click here to get your freebie.  

TYT Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) sale

TPT is joining the rest of the cyber world tomorrow and Tuesday for its big Cyber Sale!  Now is the time to grab up all those products you've been looking at, but wishing were on sale!  I've got plenty of shopping to do myself!  So go start shopping!  

You might want to check out my newest Christmas product to use with QR code readers.  It's a collection of links to 20 great read aloud books with a Christmas theme.  My kiddos love using the iPads in the listening station to read along with these wonderful Christmas stories!

St. Patrick's Day 2017

One of the most exciting things to do on St. Patrick's Day for first graders is to have a leprechaun visit  the classroom.  It seems that some leprechauns wreak havoc on the classroom, while others leave a few scattered gold-covered, chocolate coins.  I prefer the latter because I really don't want to clean up the room any more than I already do.

To add to our independent reading this month, I made QR Codes for March and April read alouds for several books about St. Patrick's Day.

At our school we have B.Y.O.D. (Bring Your Own Device) day every Wednesday, and sometimes on Fridays as well.  We are fortunate to have a few iPads in our classroom as well.  I rotate the classroom iPads and students who don't have one, know they will get a turn next time.  All you need is a QR Code scanner which can be downloaded for free from the app store.


I like these QR codes because they do not show advertisements to my students at the beginning of the read aloud.  My students like them because they feel so hi-tech using their devices to read the wonderful stories themselves.

Easter comes in March this year, so I added Easter books in this QR Codes for March and April Read Alongs  I've included several of my favorite books.  Here is a list of the books included.

• St. Patrick’s Day
• The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day
• The History of St. Patrick’s Day
• That’s What Leprechauns Do
• Jack and the Leprechaun
• Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato
• The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day Ever
• There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover
• The Leprechaun’s Gold
• Fin M’Coul, The Giant of Knockmany Hill
• The Easter Egg
• Pete the Cat Big Easter Adventure
• The Night Before Easter
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• Marley and the Great Easter Egg Hunt
• The Easter Bunny’s Assistant
• Bunny Cakes
• Happy Easter, Curious George
• Happy Easter, Little Critter
• Happy Easter, Mouse!
• The Runaway Bunny

There are times I want my students to respond to a book they've read independently.  Here is a FREE copy of one of the response sheets I use in my classroom.  You can cut it in half and have students paste the sheet into their regular Reader's Notebook.  Another ides is to make a Response Journal and put in several blank copies of this page or others like it.  Then have your students fill out one response per day, or as you desire.

If you happen to be a second or third grade teacher reading this blog, you probably teach the difference between simple and compound subjects and predicates.  Here is an activity I made to help, at least with the subject topic.  It's called St. Patrick's Day Simple Subjects vs. Compound Subjects.

I always love to include an educational video that explains the origins and traditions about our national holidays.  

Here is a great one that tells all about St. Patrick's Day.

I hope you and your students enjoy St. Patty's Day this March 17th!

What are you doing for Dr. Seuss Week?

I can't believe February is almost over and March will be here next week!  In fact Thursday, March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Our school will celebrate this beloved children's author with a full week of Seuss-like fun!

• On Monday, students will wear a hat and bring their favorite Dr. Seuss book to read during reading.  Our principal will read The Cat in the Hat to each grade level.  
• Tuesday will be crazy sock day and we will read Fox in Socks.  
• Of course Wednesday will be Wacky Wednesday, and all the children will dress in their wackiest of outfits.  
• Thursday students will wear green for Green Eggs and Ham.  
• On Friday, we're all wearing our favorite college shirt along with reading Oh, The Places You'll Go book.   

Dr. Seuss's birthday coincides with Read Across America Day, so I really wanted my kiddos to have as many books written by Dr. Seuss as possible.  I was so disappointed when I found that I only had 7 or 8 in my classroom.  So I went to our media center and found only 2 that were not already check out by students or teachers. With only about 10 books, it didn't look like we were going to do much Dr. Seuss reading at all... and then I had an idea!

I would make QR codes linking to books that could be read with an iPad!  I worked on this for several days and when I was done, I had 20 books linked to videos which showed the words, in most cases, on the iPad screen, as well as the sound of someone reading the story aloud!

As you can see, last year my kiddos enjoyed traditional books 

as well as our new access to read alongs with our brand new QR Codes!

My students were so engaged and excited to get to read so many great treasures by Dr. Seuss!  We actually used these all throughout the week.  If you are interested in checking out the set, you can click on the link below and download a preview.

Here is the set of QR Codes with twenty books by Dr. Seuss.

If you want to see the fun Dr. Seuss-inspired math activity called 

Name and Number Cat in the Hat,

 click on the link in this sentence. 

Dr. Seuss Week

Well, today was Read Across America Day, the day to celebrate the birthday of that illustrator and author, Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr Seuss.

• On Monday, students brought their favorite Dr. Seuss book  to read during reading.  
• Tuesday was crazy sock day and we read Fox in Socks.  
• Of course today was Wacky Wednesday and all the children dressed in their wackiest of outfits.  
• Tomorrow, Thursday students are to wear green for the Grinch, or their favorite Dr. Seuss shirt.  
• On Friday, we're all wearing hats and reading The Cat in the Hat.  

I made a set of QR Codes with twenty books by Dr. Seuss. 

I used these along with our iPads and a tub of about 10 classroom Dr. Seuss books to rotate around the students during independent reading time all week.  The kids have had a blast!

This morning our principal dressed up as the Cat in the Hat and two of her sidekicks helped out as Thing 1 and Thing 2.  Here are a few pictures as they entertained the whole first grade.

 

In math, we have been working so hard to learn all the combinations of numbers one to ten, so I came up with this activity to give them a bit of fun as they practiced.  I called it the Name and Number Cat Hat.  I decided to do this during math rotations so I could work with just four or five in a small group.

I wrote each student's name on a white strip that served as the rim or base of the hat.  I gave them a large sheet of black construction paper and a stack of red and white 2 in. x 6 in.  rectangles.  I took a bag of snap cubes and instructed the children to count the letters in their name, and then pull out that same number of snap cubes from a bag I showed them.

To make the number combinations, we started with all of their cubes on one side of the black paper and none on the other.  Then they recorded a number sentence on a red rectangle to begin, like 0 + 6 = 6.  Next, the students moved only one block to the other side of the paper, picked up a white rectangle and recorded that number sentence, like 1 + 5 = 6.  This continued until all the cubes were on the other side of the paper and all the number combinations were recorded.

It was a great day!

How Can You Help Your Students Read Words With Blends?

When children first begin to read, the best thing to use are repetitive books.  These are books that have a predicable structure and, for the most part, have the same words repeated over and over, adding just one new word per page.

Example:
    "I like cats."
    "I like dogs."
    "I like balls."

This gives children the support they need to review and repeat words they have learned and to see only a small amount of new words, in order for them to find the enjoyment in reading a book. Those beginning readers feel such pride and a sense of accomplishment when they have successfully finished reading a book.  This is a key component to future learning... a love of reading!

However, very soon, they will progress, learning the sounds and sight words needed to read lengthier text.  Once a student begins to read at level D (Fountas and Pinnell), blends are introduced.  Students need practice using these blends to become familiar with them.

I just made a set of Blend Puzzles to use in my classroom's literacy centers, so I thought I'd share them with you.  These are the first in a series of blend puzzles I will be creating and posting to TPT, so check back soon to see the next set.

Better yet, follow my blog, subscribe by email or bookmark this in your favorites, and you won't miss the post when I introduce the next set.
   

Simply laminate, cut apart puzzle pieces, and put them altogether in a baggie or file folder.  Then make them available for students to choose.  You may want to introduce them in your reading groups.  That will generate some excitement for sure.  I like to introduce all of my new material either in a small group or whole class, before putting it out.  Not only does it generate interest, it also gives me the opportunity to communicate my expectations for how I want the activity to be used.

I would love to hear from you...  How would you use these blend puzzles?  Just click on the "comment' button below.