tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76966635522237184902024-03-21T13:49:11.666-05:00Just Add ClipartA first grade teacher blogLauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-26338096300981933472012-04-24T16:22:00.002-05:002012-04-24T16:23:20.440-05:00First Grade PoetryDuring the last two weeks, my kiddos have been writing lots of poetry. I think that poetry is something that they are naturally drawn to and pretty easy to write.<br />
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We've read lots of children's poetry-- including my favorite Shel Silverstein. My kids can't seem to get enough of him this year!<br />
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I started out teaching this unit by reading "Writing Dino-mite Poems" in the <a href="http://www.creativeteaching.com/p-2300-learn-to-write-collection.aspx">Learn to Write series</a>. This is a great tool for teaching writing. There is a teaching book with printables and a read-aloud book for each type of writing. You don't have to purchase the whole set. Individual books are sold at my local parent teacher store. <br />
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I've found that it's easiest to have structured poems for the kids to practice with each day. I bind these in a little book to take home. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0QWw3b3k3X2FLN1k">here</a> to download a copy of my poetry book. Many of these poems were inspired from the Dino-mite Poetry book. Others were found online.<br />
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I hate that I let my kids take home their books without taking pictures first. I'll do my best to describe each poem with an example.<br />
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Animal Riddle Poem- inspired by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shannas-Animal-Riddles-Level-Readers/dp/0606305513#_">"Shanna's Animal Riddles"</a></div>
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1st Line- one sentence describing animal</div>
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2nd Line- another sentence describing animal</div>
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3rd Line- It rhymes with ___</div>
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4th Line- sound or action word, repeated three times</div>
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5th Line- It is a (name of animal)</div>
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*Make sure children pick animals that have rhyming words!</div>
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How Do I Know?</div>
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Students should pick a time of day, a season, a month, or holiday to write about</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWXKGVT9Nf6q-EJGaTXr5icVYyu-GtKfxrvKLguLnkqIJMANCLMPf9ezIGKk4bO3-EqDCqsb2BNq4y6vlKpUfnARlvv1uMIlhON-LWbH6KRRDEV72LuOibaW8xn5-xL38QKfL6CHqwCs/s1600/Poem-+simile.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjWXKGVT9Nf6q-EJGaTXr5icVYyu-GtKfxrvKLguLnkqIJMANCLMPf9ezIGKk4bO3-EqDCqsb2BNq4y6vlKpUfnARlvv1uMIlhON-LWbH6KRRDEV72LuOibaW8xn5-xL38QKfL6CHqwCs/s320/Poem-+simile.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Simile Poem</div>
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Students can pick any object to write about.</div>
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Spring Is...</div>
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First Line- Color or colors to describe something "springy"</div>
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Second Line- Name of object</div>
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Third Line- a phrase starting with -ing</div>
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Fourth Line- Any thought pertaining to topic</div>
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A few other sping ideas (bumblebees, flowers, butterflies, basketball, baseball, grass, sandals, dresses)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmq6-O86NMTUQvwzBxv68n24basZB-qFeEpxNOheJ5kYJWm9BkdcI4FNQyonENjLy3fJfGPQ7d9H97aZUW3QpxLvNAGx_OkT0wALC-OksMZ_-qyspLCJfxtoB0QRGZICCE1Oq42XqaME/s1600/Poems-+I+can.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmq6-O86NMTUQvwzBxv68n24basZB-qFeEpxNOheJ5kYJWm9BkdcI4FNQyonENjLy3fJfGPQ7d9H97aZUW3QpxLvNAGx_OkT0wALC-OksMZ_-qyspLCJfxtoB0QRGZICCE1Oq42XqaME/s320/Poems-+I+can.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I Can</div>
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On each line, the children will tell something they can do like an animal</div>
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The Book of Poems also includes an acrostic and a free verse poem.</div>
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How do you teach poetry? I would love some new poems to try next year!</div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com90tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-76457720960435356202012-04-23T18:46:00.003-05:002012-04-23T18:46:58.017-05:00Reading/Math Tub ChoiceI really love the structure of my reading and math tubs this year. If you want to find out about reading and math tubs, you can read my previous posts.<br />
<a href="http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/10/trying-out-reading-tubs.html">http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/10/trying-out-reading-tubs.html</a><br />
<a href="http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/10/reading-tubs-update.html">http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/10/reading-tubs-update.html</a><br />
<a href="http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/07/math-overhaul.html">http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/07/math-overhaul.html</a><br />
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I've never been super confortable with giving my children choices during independent work times. I guess that's the control freak in me. I like the control of grouping my children (either by ability or behavior).<br />
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But, I decided to give "choice" a try as we come to the end of the year. I have a pretty good class this year, and I thought they could handle it.<br />
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I first started by adding student choice to Math Tub time. We do math before reading each day, so it just made sense. I told my kiddos if they could make good choices all week with math, we would give reading a try the following week.<br />
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I've been really pleased with their choice-making abilities. Granted it's not as quiet as when I was picking the groups, but I think it adds a little more enthusiasm for the activities.<br />
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So... how does it work?<br />
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Well, I have 18 kids and 4 tubs each week (4 reading and 4 math). At the beginning of our tub time, I let the children come up one at a time and make their choice on the Promethean Board. They know that only four children can pick each tub- then that tub is full. The two children picked to make their choice last get to be the fifth child at two of the tubs (so there are 2 groups of 4 and 2 groups of 5).<br />
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Here's what my flipchart looks like. I just quickly change out the names of the tubs each week, to help the kids know where they want to go.<br />
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** If you're interested in this week's tubs: The homophone match was from First Grade Parade, the i sort came from Cara Carroll's March Unit, the Popcorn sort is from Babbling Abby's popcorn adjective unit, and the lightning bug round-up game can be found <a href="http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/05/lightning-bug-round-up-word-work.html">here</a> for free.**</div>
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As they are making their choices, I also write it down on a little chart. I probably don't have to do this part, because they remember what has already been completed. But, I like to see what's been completed by the end of the week. Maybe I'm trying to keep a little control??<br />
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After they make their choice they go ahead and get started. This has helped space out the kids getting started, so they all aren't moving at the same time.<br />
<br />How do you do choice in your classroom?Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-70587243864960228112012-02-22T22:51:00.000-06:002012-02-22T22:51:34.918-06:00Photo DumpI'm hoping the old saying, "a picture's worth a thousand words" is true tonight. I'm so tired. I went straight from work to pick up my kids and then to a really cool missionary thing at my church. It wasn't over until 8:30. Needless to say, it's been a long day. But, I have tons of pictures from the last few weeks...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupcCzsdwSgVPrzzshM7vKjjp_5kJFQcWvwQi_5e0UicihhvdZIOojf5zHQJViXAA1gy_w36__TmjhVzSIWzGlrQCDWnSz3Pm8atHXHmveUnwBonQKjrqOhrung3HChiLennQvRha96JI/s1600/DSCN2475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupcCzsdwSgVPrzzshM7vKjjp_5kJFQcWvwQi_5e0UicihhvdZIOojf5zHQJViXAA1gy_w36__TmjhVzSIWzGlrQCDWnSz3Pm8atHXHmveUnwBonQKjrqOhrung3HChiLennQvRha96JI/s320/DSCN2475.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My kids collect their Valentine's cards and treats in these heart pockets. Some years I let them decorate the front, but we were pressed for time this year. (I kinda like the "clean-ness" of no decoration!). These are really quick and easy to make. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tySTZ5-YH1dhsKP2Iw3B7sI51MiOZFIu9PSyPJHYKBzXtFcJX8ei8pcadgpMWwPxVcm4tQYsEH1RhLXvIyFaovXYkpqDV206boml-2dTG2SEz5F06FUTmPzJYH_819RserJpWSMcHbI/s1600/DSCN2548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2tySTZ5-YH1dhsKP2Iw3B7sI51MiOZFIu9PSyPJHYKBzXtFcJX8ei8pcadgpMWwPxVcm4tQYsEH1RhLXvIyFaovXYkpqDV206boml-2dTG2SEz5F06FUTmPzJYH_819RserJpWSMcHbI/s320/DSCN2548.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> This is the hanging hall art for February. The kids glued tissue paper squares to a heart traced onto red cardstock. It works best to paint a little glue, place tissue paper in glue, then paint over the top with more glue. Watered down glue works well. Wait until they're dry then cut out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMwY308M7qn4Kg0UKkrCy3Q2z2Sw6RpaRvyNhC4N2VJZq8pn66KzZGjteAqqhyphenhyphenmTkqvZyVgoMI0RKdI7NkTAVM9MVjEgAetXF_hHd99UVlxb0rswScQ-FLWtbIEUhm848o8vb-18UDWg/s1600/DSCN2549.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMwY308M7qn4Kg0UKkrCy3Q2z2Sw6RpaRvyNhC4N2VJZq8pn66KzZGjteAqqhyphenhyphenmTkqvZyVgoMI0RKdI7NkTAVM9MVjEgAetXF_hHd99UVlxb0rswScQ-FLWtbIEUhm848o8vb-18UDWg/s320/DSCN2549.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Z7ppRDLkFALeO7z_WzWoU8x3XXvlfBVCKkTmdQuszm42t0dlCjoU0Z8EGorDRD54Hw76H82PxgI40fSatqzMrbaZaHJz0pDa8UQ1dXJLw_Vt16s2_kg9qdFEMwZxraZ-h-i6kYsr-j4/s1600/DSCN2551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Z7ppRDLkFALeO7z_WzWoU8x3XXvlfBVCKkTmdQuszm42t0dlCjoU0Z8EGorDRD54Hw76H82PxgI40fSatqzMrbaZaHJz0pDa8UQ1dXJLw_Vt16s2_kg9qdFEMwZxraZ-h-i6kYsr-j4/s320/DSCN2551.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We celebrate Valentine's Day with our Dads-- Doughnuts with Dad. This takes the place of a party. I've done it every year I've taught and really like it. The kids make these dads to hang in the hall.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvaDa_xHmvE4DR75-rcobaSrPbXed4AMbrjvt_vjoT3SFtbVAzWAkNKOK4okaRYvzo-1dgpAJaFq7HQHRFgvvadVmkQhqAZxU6Uv_-T4qeDoeVEicFPJl-0DA6GXdtoayeWe28ps4Jlc/s1600/DSCN2554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpvaDa_xHmvE4DR75-rcobaSrPbXed4AMbrjvt_vjoT3SFtbVAzWAkNKOK4okaRYvzo-1dgpAJaFq7HQHRFgvvadVmkQhqAZxU6Uv_-T4qeDoeVEicFPJl-0DA6GXdtoayeWe28ps4Jlc/s320/DSCN2554.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhid1f9Wocz4tKSWNL7C1nQUdpuY5sNBAwGQMTjkgV6pqrWuIp63e3qo5phhNKuNQeLPCWuRiwxHGeOe_1j2CzSH7ovf50em1Got43w1TMxR0QgR72m0BslM39M4qovPknIH0wf3gt2ou0/s1600/DSCN2555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhid1f9Wocz4tKSWNL7C1nQUdpuY5sNBAwGQMTjkgV6pqrWuIp63e3qo5phhNKuNQeLPCWuRiwxHGeOe_1j2CzSH7ovf50em1Got43w1TMxR0QgR72m0BslM39M4qovPknIH0wf3gt2ou0/s320/DSCN2555.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We also make dad a little book, a card, and a button. Nothing too fancy-- Dads don't seem to be too picky! We also play Are You Smarter than a First Grader (kids vs dads). The kids really like it. My friend and I created the game on a flipchart for the Promethean Board. If you are interested in a copy let me know.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4P9zhc3XMsj1sxhmOgxTOovUl8FwDrPwisR-VDcWg7M2RJiBdPqmCXUyZlPwwc17wYEgQ39I-0PIJWagHuC5Y8uNl87rUT21s4zbofn3fsVJ2iyu8xoCCjvxx6dfZUgtikuHphK04kuQ/s1600/DSCN2556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4P9zhc3XMsj1sxhmOgxTOovUl8FwDrPwisR-VDcWg7M2RJiBdPqmCXUyZlPwwc17wYEgQ39I-0PIJWagHuC5Y8uNl87rUT21s4zbofn3fsVJ2iyu8xoCCjvxx6dfZUgtikuHphK04kuQ/s320/DSCN2556.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My room set up for the dads (I dust off the doughnut sugar and reuse these tablecloths!)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZ-7NQQZKNdm31FX3uJFuLRl9Qgkj3g3cBOFOWaw7nPEs4WkUEPwK4kNTcPLgNLMdXspzh7NNTLA2RuS4zHL7YzOl4Bxa5bhMhltrMUFhBTHN-FKynGt2pYOzYdqLbFWzMiKqyovhCZw/s1600/DSCN2559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZ-7NQQZKNdm31FX3uJFuLRl9Qgkj3g3cBOFOWaw7nPEs4WkUEPwK4kNTcPLgNLMdXspzh7NNTLA2RuS4zHL7YzOl4Bxa5bhMhltrMUFhBTHN-FKynGt2pYOzYdqLbFWzMiKqyovhCZw/s320/DSCN2559.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I was feeling festive this year-- even the tree got a little heart love.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXUF2163LdQn4OCCQYkeRKSrRaHenYJ0pQcdPHO89pZX_iPuWkSN0PtcyLMRIDDXbs4nWtE-IgqFup1Fb4VliWR3T0Gdhkn76Hx_c4LQDh168fdNkV8V7Vlnh9bsKuQY9L7z0JvrHn04/s1600/DSCN2593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXUF2163LdQn4OCCQYkeRKSrRaHenYJ0pQcdPHO89pZX_iPuWkSN0PtcyLMRIDDXbs4nWtE-IgqFup1Fb4VliWR3T0Gdhkn76Hx_c4LQDh168fdNkV8V7Vlnh9bsKuQY9L7z0JvrHn04/s320/DSCN2593.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The kids were so excited to dump all of their goodies from the heart pockets and read their cards.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9luwzQSe6DZNfZA9rV20LRX2o284mpPbpWUsDqwGhE8rIpa69eqZNRUr3FkGkhjQ-AgrnK-FV5vDYHrOfJStiOhNQcDa8HpleBkrJnZb0bqjttthUtRCEo7B5rFjmiL03AWXtA3JNiI/s1600/DSCN2596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf9luwzQSe6DZNfZA9rV20LRX2o284mpPbpWUsDqwGhE8rIpa69eqZNRUr3FkGkhjQ-AgrnK-FV5vDYHrOfJStiOhNQcDa8HpleBkrJnZb0bqjttthUtRCEo7B5rFjmiL03AWXtA3JNiI/s320/DSCN2596.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We've been learning about place value the last couple of weeks. I love this marshmallow place value activity. The kids loved it too! We practiced first with just the marshmallows, then added the recording sheet later. You can find the activity <a href="http://babblingabby.blogspot.com/2011/01/monday-news-place-value-marshmallow.html">{here}</a> on Abby's blog.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZX8Owu2HHVAIzc7oIvpFPAntX01GB7qSvjpiMaYr8conMMfcwTSrrNlHG89JgYfLAF1jhxK2W4_a84iGnrHHZeAUjztvFQdbvJ6V2GkTckim_6PuWSSewH9GKHAZulAjqYjsZm0R2eq8/s1600/DSCN2611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZX8Owu2HHVAIzc7oIvpFPAntX01GB7qSvjpiMaYr8conMMfcwTSrrNlHG89JgYfLAF1jhxK2W4_a84iGnrHHZeAUjztvFQdbvJ6V2GkTckim_6PuWSSewH9GKHAZulAjqYjsZm0R2eq8/s320/DSCN2611.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We also did a little contraction surgery last week. My class loved that too! They were so cute in their little surgical masks and gloves (I got a dentist parent to donate the masks). My class was struggling with contractions this year. I really think this helped them to understand these words a little better.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZhyphenhyphen-II4BCh4tga8aF-5VTxJ60mSBrdSZ6M9HOPw9Xiuukoarvbucmxh-8_ptAVlvk_KpVTEs59qksVU3x2jx8Hb066ErrUpJC5M6N9w-krb1X9kmBuJR15aCQv5t0mwGcEgCA7tZxHA/s1600/DSCN2655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoZhyphenhyphen-II4BCh4tga8aF-5VTxJ60mSBrdSZ6M9HOPw9Xiuukoarvbucmxh-8_ptAVlvk_KpVTEs59qksVU3x2jx8Hb066ErrUpJC5M6N9w-krb1X9kmBuJR15aCQv5t0mwGcEgCA7tZxHA/s320/DSCN2655.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> Of course I copied Cara's surgeon. I'm willing to admit that I have absolutely no drawing abilities! I love tracing with the Promethean Board :)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmNMl8X9Oeu3L5qDr4Jvcxy7HQSNQLEM_wM2ORk8DeouZIFWeDi6nDWImhQaIcZG6ThR3zjq_pC1x5v59Y3sOdGjOHt4NtLezZCRKl_mBAiUfrtOrJwLHwO2fyppD2hcp8viD2o-vAlI/s1600/DSCN2642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAmNMl8X9Oeu3L5qDr4Jvcxy7HQSNQLEM_wM2ORk8DeouZIFWeDi6nDWImhQaIcZG6ThR3zjq_pC1x5v59Y3sOdGjOHt4NtLezZCRKl_mBAiUfrtOrJwLHwO2fyppD2hcp8viD2o-vAlI/s320/DSCN2642.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">One of my math tubs this week-- from Cara's Place Value Unit (this is a must buy- probably my most favorite unit of hers)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2AQKQfPEJonSCpGdY89qmoy3FzCUZjkBLSbvLenakm5HEO-dk8w7thpGYn0uKLzdJ942LU3ys6IbYAM9MJN6BHj9zJG4MXFIRhtwlTN6BoJy98m-Xaq43ZExtCEcm_k23qUiotfZtlzU/s1600/DSCN2645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2AQKQfPEJonSCpGdY89qmoy3FzCUZjkBLSbvLenakm5HEO-dk8w7thpGYn0uKLzdJ942LU3ys6IbYAM9MJN6BHj9zJG4MXFIRhtwlTN6BoJy98m-Xaq43ZExtCEcm_k23qUiotfZtlzU/s320/DSCN2645.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another math tub from Cara. I was afraid the base 10 blocks would get all mixed up if I put different amounts in 10 baggies. So I used different colored pipe cleaners and pom poms for tens and ones. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOnWJEXkAe1qZEXIiztQyzACKvrXBWwyUQylZ9jp6y8fI6aIzr4NcdnGin3UbxChMsyEV-8GA-jUkp5g5MiQGu3IRi7tLVDSP9XNOgwBZKof_SWeNolzr8U4nEx2lpVf31DeEAIK8I1U/s1600/DSCN2647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOnWJEXkAe1qZEXIiztQyzACKvrXBWwyUQylZ9jp6y8fI6aIzr4NcdnGin3UbxChMsyEV-8GA-jUkp5g5MiQGu3IRi7tLVDSP9XNOgwBZKof_SWeNolzr8U4nEx2lpVf31DeEAIK8I1U/s320/DSCN2647.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I made this little 10's mat to help them sort their beans into groups of 10. They LOVE scoop and sort! Cara's again!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdY4ixNsFt634xnqbBCBIVXSlMDIRAAzUq2rY6D0urtEEnOM4l1xO2-yYSHlDH3dnVyDIavz1xrlNPSLNcaJRIzNHTKJB0Y7kOMV_OagOtx81fT_UBmU9-Ts2Jn9oGNTmJg5VIAprB2M/s1600/DSCN2648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdY4ixNsFt634xnqbBCBIVXSlMDIRAAzUq2rY6D0urtEEnOM4l1xO2-yYSHlDH3dnVyDIavz1xrlNPSLNcaJRIzNHTKJB0Y7kOMV_OagOtx81fT_UBmU9-Ts2Jn9oGNTmJg5VIAprB2M/s320/DSCN2648.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5avWWz2XuIj54LkajFG4NLImUGoW1xDmmvovxpYGPdPd5Z1hhA6Q5az9cJmZNDM7ZcNCt9O3FavZn88GNkB8Hp2tM7Q7riJDeAPlQFgwhMNxDmU6M6oKCQ5tgJrQcOWZ2cN9n20daOsU/s1600/DSCN2649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5avWWz2XuIj54LkajFG4NLImUGoW1xDmmvovxpYGPdPd5Z1hhA6Q5az9cJmZNDM7ZcNCt9O3FavZn88GNkB8Hp2tM7Q7riJDeAPlQFgwhMNxDmU6M6oKCQ5tgJrQcOWZ2cN9n20daOsU/s320/DSCN2649.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I can't remember where I found this idea last year. Please let me know if it's yours. I created this little sheet. It's just good practice for counting tens and ones. Once they made their own initials, they could use the base-10 blocks to create other letters.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtfot5qA8hs4SyHzIu-kwHOi4e9O4gHtCHuiEhEdO7kNyAhyphenhyphenJWHcH3-Ig1doZdMxjvbcNTYw9kpHL6MlJJIjiG821AgTXthSch1pAe0u-5wumEFJjWO088Nrx1vINpUkYrsMefjJIcvU/s1600/DSCN2650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtfot5qA8hs4SyHzIu-kwHOi4e9O4gHtCHuiEhEdO7kNyAhyphenhyphenJWHcH3-Ig1doZdMxjvbcNTYw9kpHL6MlJJIjiG821AgTXthSch1pAe0u-5wumEFJjWO088Nrx1vINpUkYrsMefjJIcvU/s320/DSCN2650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Open House is tomorrow night. So, we've been working hard to make sure the room is "Parent Perfect." Here are the directed-drawings of George and Abe. I love this activity from Deanna Jump. I made them draw with marker-- they listen much better that way!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NcUBhIpirAuTBnptEyCIG73nYftHlydSIYmpl5Vgmyzv93t3Sjp71FguRsjBBSMu9EQdiYxShkCWiwXSQqTP4fKakYg6gQFls1Q-mmBP4zz64xZGAiqG3TgtESo2m49ZWT0aFXOqjjE/s1600/DSCN2651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7NcUBhIpirAuTBnptEyCIG73nYftHlydSIYmpl5Vgmyzv93t3Sjp71FguRsjBBSMu9EQdiYxShkCWiwXSQqTP4fKakYg6gQFls1Q-mmBP4zz64xZGAiqG3TgtESo2m49ZWT0aFXOqjjE/s320/DSCN2651.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our anchor chart inspired by Abby. This lesson was a hit. They all wrote a question on a sticky note (making sure to use a question word and a question mark) then I answered each one.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKdXnZGJ-MoRIuV_lsBb4h-_TxqKm71HHdfb2GmPpMqbxuMa1TCOg-klLBajs0ccS-FBBrCNAb9Q-oPJfs7Cd12RVY5W_7LvkxIwJ90nj-Pu4VF_UqhteucFaOv3PmYBK27EHgTrA0rE/s1600/DSCN2652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKdXnZGJ-MoRIuV_lsBb4h-_TxqKm71HHdfb2GmPpMqbxuMa1TCOg-klLBajs0ccS-FBBrCNAb9Q-oPJfs7Cd12RVY5W_7LvkxIwJ90nj-Pu4VF_UqhteucFaOv3PmYBK27EHgTrA0rE/s320/DSCN2652.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I loved this inferring idea of Cara's but didn't have a big bulletin board. So, I changed it a little to fit my space. I took a picture of each page in the book and printed them out. Each child worked with a partner to make their inference. They all created their own David, but some were sent home early for lack of space.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi12P50PcRnpnJUQZ_eOvPfs4VkM-QIaXERoYwdEPkQ3n3zETbDvMxOMYJvev2QtpcGkPURiw66Fozxzx44lSfjN8P8Rw7s5-epOuxOhmZLopMVolgQ21Vs1Hff-hOy-rma06LU4e7nGk/s1600/DSCN2653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi12P50PcRnpnJUQZ_eOvPfs4VkM-QIaXERoYwdEPkQ3n3zETbDvMxOMYJvev2QtpcGkPURiw66Fozxzx44lSfjN8P8Rw7s5-epOuxOhmZLopMVolgQ21Vs1Hff-hOy-rma06LU4e7nGk/s320/DSCN2653.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlZvjY3IS7vJSoEjCE8sJUxRrp4shU5mn5_BGoHeBbqmtBYX_gVvjhNlDK7M7JvuztGAbUowwZt5puATXXkgkF-YNrnTb7IwHgh8U4ylAOFIQRdBvYzZza_eRa5zvTosxfii0pp9h0fY/s1600/DSCN2654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlZvjY3IS7vJSoEjCE8sJUxRrp4shU5mn5_BGoHeBbqmtBYX_gVvjhNlDK7M7JvuztGAbUowwZt5puATXXkgkF-YNrnTb7IwHgh8U4ylAOFIQRdBvYzZza_eRa5zvTosxfii0pp9h0fY/s320/DSCN2654.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After studying -ch we had a crunchy munchy -ch "party", inspired by First Grader at Last. It wasn't really a party, although I called it one! The kids each brought in their own -ch food for snack time.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_y2Jg1JY35sHFlvEZ7fPZaXPoRBLIoNPnU7Us0LKeNkSRPpltFiIItZpIq6xhOSOEB-8V849EnbUdajlkL8vqTd5V4rbsaZhrt4aDrjDf7TaWMi8OYAnZVMUkLQDnfh_Toujy-CtxbGc/s1600/DSCN2656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_y2Jg1JY35sHFlvEZ7fPZaXPoRBLIoNPnU7Us0LKeNkSRPpltFiIItZpIq6xhOSOEB-8V849EnbUdajlkL8vqTd5V4rbsaZhrt4aDrjDf7TaWMi8OYAnZVMUkLQDnfh_Toujy-CtxbGc/s320/DSCN2656.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I love how these Splats turned out. My kids had some great text-to-self connections.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_KK11_mOXNQ2xhM-4QlejxZ7M4kpdGwUmLT_AwdpX8W82VwQGg6YJgYzVpsu7w3Reba9dimkWcuJChZZnW7xziQymZ0yWgnhW4q87CnZ2rVjPvaMf8dSMwDrFMSQ7rzH-r14Grb0Hpg/s1600/DSCN2657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU_KK11_mOXNQ2xhM-4QlejxZ7M4kpdGwUmLT_AwdpX8W82VwQGg6YJgYzVpsu7w3Reba9dimkWcuJChZZnW7xziQymZ0yWgnhW4q87CnZ2rVjPvaMf8dSMwDrFMSQ7rzH-r14Grb0Hpg/s320/DSCN2657.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My kids really got into homophones. I read "Dear Deer" to introduce the concept. They worked in pairs to create their homophone pears. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4ZMBnSmU3V6Zgki8tolFP3nv592P1gCwH0_SEJ-ZSBAurIodEAtRLKBM7sZr1y-Y7VBdgpbjtS9OW3qm0rGdyjYLkBerBQESNgg12k0ZTkQ-_oGyNSapA8J_P59AmkGKVp5ts6IDFLI/s1600/DSCN2658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4ZMBnSmU3V6Zgki8tolFP3nv592P1gCwH0_SEJ-ZSBAurIodEAtRLKBM7sZr1y-Y7VBdgpbjtS9OW3qm0rGdyjYLkBerBQESNgg12k0ZTkQ-_oGyNSapA8J_P59AmkGKVp5ts6IDFLI/s320/DSCN2658.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSf4UMC_25PqNm0r93Hyqx5cPTp_ENLxuSQz2Q-VbkG2Wkgupn4Iz16W8kXXN92UqPl-RELb0ilYtruklFpNOSlAT6KCFKwuiuOa6ngmzC39jy1mS3jPyJpzS8V6k8otUOkxodwwT1L0/s1600/DSCN2659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSf4UMC_25PqNm0r93Hyqx5cPTp_ENLxuSQz2Q-VbkG2Wkgupn4Iz16W8kXXN92UqPl-RELb0ilYtruklFpNOSlAT6KCFKwuiuOa6ngmzC39jy1mS3jPyJpzS8V6k8otUOkxodwwT1L0/s320/DSCN2659.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here are some of our finished Venns. I think they turned out really cute.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8750Qhq7gdgVDEX7r4etyzhR2BsHq2Tlfp7FIyFBIB8zo5bgZEH7zzrma_tbWTxGHrWavE6lqS6btS8q5i7n5s8J_THCr-YMP3R1Hkv7qUEDsMFrZ44DI3xjH2suA5gqrm-br0PPP6Us/s1600/DSCN2665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8750Qhq7gdgVDEX7r4etyzhR2BsHq2Tlfp7FIyFBIB8zo5bgZEH7zzrma_tbWTxGHrWavE6lqS6btS8q5i7n5s8J_THCr-YMP3R1Hkv7qUEDsMFrZ44DI3xjH2suA5gqrm-br0PPP6Us/s320/DSCN2665.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsRgsZufdFR88ysfK1FhhNhrQc4FQ_FD6Od7Ee6Ko5Pq1MWP3e3w82PKQopVqgV9ozlFKddiigQNI_XjUwoT2pvQ_W42QOO2-YgxXNHQBbTjwKP3L7bCaI4BniXmXc6__6ZbRU8P16rY/s1600/DSCN2663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsRgsZufdFR88ysfK1FhhNhrQc4FQ_FD6Od7Ee6Ko5Pq1MWP3e3w82PKQopVqgV9ozlFKddiigQNI_XjUwoT2pvQ_W42QOO2-YgxXNHQBbTjwKP3L7bCaI4BniXmXc6__6ZbRU8P16rY/s320/DSCN2663.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This one cracks me up! Not quite sure about the red glasses :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOYB4BCYYQQnO7IxE_DQ5mB3ZSxpVq-JvuFSQNqDsPvfQuOyivk4DgbnF7UUktuGdyoUxH95qn2RuufJ-ZgaOwbeoQhQb9_UvjcEk4mMQiqHELsmVCYn1hyphenhyphen_dfyxVjgNMhQQ_zWQT8Frg/s1600/DSCN2664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOYB4BCYYQQnO7IxE_DQ5mB3ZSxpVq-JvuFSQNqDsPvfQuOyivk4DgbnF7UUktuGdyoUxH95qn2RuufJ-ZgaOwbeoQhQb9_UvjcEk4mMQiqHELsmVCYn1hyphenhyphen_dfyxVjgNMhQQ_zWQT8Frg/s320/DSCN2664.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvq3acPceUiU7lBhr89kgXhyrEdBFgNmjUvg-SfOnIUrUB5TPytZN0-gi4KNrO1dMl9hQ3MeEphPTMmamgylRYhfvvN9tm9KiXjn-68J03Z5LUVzIwzhjfNEu1aIgpDuoxm5nr8tSn7Q/s1600/DSCN2660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlvq3acPceUiU7lBhr89kgXhyrEdBFgNmjUvg-SfOnIUrUB5TPytZN0-gi4KNrO1dMl9hQ3MeEphPTMmamgylRYhfvvN9tm9KiXjn-68J03Z5LUVzIwzhjfNEu1aIgpDuoxm5nr8tSn7Q/s320/DSCN2660.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I've never had a child make their Venn into a ninja-- there's a first time for everything!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyuZUSprQXpxpyEuPI0rvau-duCPS8lUMJx5a8qm9c82XIPYhYqnI2PoNhPvB6Fi7xEDdFDixjPHAGz_lrqN53zntm1-umOb0GiZeKG8nGYgno8sf6AvHtbS95VtoP0SpDEsJ66_49eY/s1600/DSCN2661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOyuZUSprQXpxpyEuPI0rvau-duCPS8lUMJx5a8qm9c82XIPYhYqnI2PoNhPvB6Fi7xEDdFDixjPHAGz_lrqN53zntm1-umOb0GiZeKG8nGYgno8sf6AvHtbS95VtoP0SpDEsJ66_49eY/s320/DSCN2661.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4HJrgdovB_TesSzCizkb61Cmnf0DHDTt3Hyr3uwySbfzprt-qruT1bWy6D1GpoTHz2wZvO2Aucdqepsjhzu6m_BBmTfUCDDepRbZg02tPcfZThs643HbvOUn1OwcbMyHniQ6Aip4C3M/s1600/DSCN2662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4HJrgdovB_TesSzCizkb61Cmnf0DHDTt3Hyr3uwySbfzprt-qruT1bWy6D1GpoTHz2wZvO2Aucdqepsjhzu6m_BBmTfUCDDepRbZg02tPcfZThs643HbvOUn1OwcbMyHniQ6Aip4C3M/s320/DSCN2662.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-90994761305725116612012-02-19T20:18:00.000-06:002012-02-19T20:18:54.265-06:00Attitude Adjusted... I ThinkI'm sorry for the negative tone of my last post. My intent of this blog is not to complain about my job. I actually love my job-- and this year I have a great group of kids. My gripe isn't with Skpye at all. I just get bogged down with always being asked to do more. It seems there are always new standards, new assessments, new philosophies, new technology, new paperwork, new procedures that all get in the way of the job I love (all of that with no pay raise-- actually a pay cut if you teach in Alabama). That's what frustrates me the most.<br />
<br />
Thanks to all of you who commented about your Skype experiences. I truly appreciate your ideas and your willingness to communicate with my class. I'm planning to get in touch with you and set up something. There was even a sweet teacher from Egypt that wants to Skype- how cool is that? <br />
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I am in agreement that my firsties will love it-- let's be honest though, what do they <em>not</em> love? They were also "in love" with the Fruit Loops and marshmallows I gave them to practice place value, the Band-Aids, surgical masks and gloves we used to do contraction surgery (some even took the masks and gloves to daycare to play doctor kitties!), and they still beg me to go back to the field and run laps around the track (which they obviously didn't see as punishment during recess one day last month). <br />
<br />
{There's that little bit of bad attitude creeping back in.}<br />
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So, I'll end with this. <br />
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I thought about it all week. Of course I immediately came to Philippians 2:14 that says"Do all things without complaining." Even my principal's quote of the week was about having joy and a good attitude (hope she didn't think of that one after reading my last post!). I'm a rule follower and will do whatever my job requires of me. I'm trying harder to do it without complaining. Of course my kids will love it, and it will be a great experience for them (and me).<br />
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I'll keep you updated on how it goes.<br />
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If you made it to the bottom of this post, you deserve a little freebie. This week my kiddos are learning about long e, spelled -ee and -ea. Here's a little word work to practice long e. Those that finish early always enjoy creating their own puzzles on the back. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0ZGM0ZmMzYWMtY2I1OS00MjJhLWJhMTctMWM5YzZjNmRkMDYz">{here}</a> to download a copy. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXmdzxwOQ08XcTpl78nUhqLSwLoQ1O4yrFSYkscnFT3ElTb_oUssyilVcHKpDwYELFF2ViIL746UgKKfvDrphyjmAY2_kwFwG0zztcNgzqeRCewOD5dVxPe_4mAhZMckESKHwENaauaY/s1600/--ee+crossword.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvXmdzxwOQ08XcTpl78nUhqLSwLoQ1O4yrFSYkscnFT3ElTb_oUssyilVcHKpDwYELFF2ViIL746UgKKfvDrphyjmAY2_kwFwG0zztcNgzqeRCewOD5dVxPe_4mAhZMckESKHwENaauaY/s320/--ee+crossword.png" width="265" /></a></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-61354746153076588872012-02-16T18:16:00.000-06:002012-02-16T18:16:38.581-06:00Skype in First Grade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpcXdezXUgXBbfDSzHXV044pXMtNkn5uz6y9XQvR0PP8UyBe3k0GfTFT2q1Vmqw-aaYGoPTIxxZ90Jw5bhyphenhyphenC6FDSM4qudEkL4Pt3hW3MMhHqbAhgwWIcqbMTfNqUTUe_jnTH19-ModOE/s1600/Skype.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpcXdezXUgXBbfDSzHXV044pXMtNkn5uz6y9XQvR0PP8UyBe3k0GfTFT2q1Vmqw-aaYGoPTIxxZ90Jw5bhyphenhyphenC6FDSM4qudEkL4Pt3hW3MMhHqbAhgwWIcqbMTfNqUTUe_jnTH19-ModOE/s200/Skype.png" width="200" /></a></div>Have any of you ever used Skype in your classroom? Our school has asked that we give it a try during the next month. I'll be honest-- I have a bad attitude about it. I love technology, and I feel like I do a good job of using it. But, with so many other important things going on in my classroom---like LEARING TO READ-- I don't really want to put the time or energy into Skyping (is that a word?)<br />
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I'm sure it will be great, and hey- I might even like it after I do it- but right now I just don't want to. Maybe after I complete 100 report card assessments and finish 18 time-consuming report cards I'll have more energy :)<br />
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So, I guess I need an attitude adjustment. I'd love to know if any of you have used Skype in your classroom. What did you do? How did you and the kiddos like it? Did you ever do it again? I just need to find a little motivation. I'm the kind of person that will put 150% into any project I find worthwhile. I'm hoping you give me some great reasons to find this valuable.<br />
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If you've never used Skype at school, what do you think? Is my bad attitude justified, or should I look at this as the perfect opportunity to try something new?<br />
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Maybe, just maybe, if I <strike>beg</strike> ask really nice one of you lovely teachers would be willing to Skype with my class??! I'm sure you're just dying to, right?Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-68353663054594919512012-02-07T21:16:00.000-06:002012-02-07T21:16:47.757-06:00Scrambled Sentences in ReverseI love finding a new spin on an old activity. For months now, my kids have been unscrambling sentences during reading tubs. The sentences started off super easy and short, then became longer, then capitalization and punctuation were left out... Now this activity is getting too easy (which is a good thing, right?)<br />
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So, it's time for a twist on the ol' scrambled sentence. After reading <a href="http://mrsleeskinderkids.blogspot.com/2012/02/mirrors-and-literacy.html?showComment=1328665878331#c5919532567100900628">Julie Lee's post</a> about mirrored words I had an idea. The kids will use mirrors to read each reversed word; then they can unscramble the sentence. I'm hoping this will add a little pizzaz to this activity.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBa6Ha0AtfDZmw8nWlW7Gr2F59ngeUoEtXqJl7KMzR7uTd6zUj6S1z6XThiFXAWa0cewKBwU3pgs4JPTwYHt6GAp0-q30PQUYCacVz_TvQm4AgvqSyaEAF7Y3S1sE8KIranEWws30AG0A/s1600/SS2.png" /></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM692LXaem00fbtQVDHHBwFuebQ7SJ03VVXLthgQQOE3lIoWGhNv2jEkqqk1PrXyTj_kwkqwb1NJNsYQ8cuv63MSjznj4axBQHFOKrSh1JRSBGaI3jY7cx02WDHd9CjfunWzEnTiroFQw/s1600/SS1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM692LXaem00fbtQVDHHBwFuebQ7SJ03VVXLthgQQOE3lIoWGhNv2jEkqqk1PrXyTj_kwkqwb1NJNsYQ8cuv63MSjznj4axBQHFOKrSh1JRSBGaI3jY7cx02WDHd9CjfunWzEnTiroFQw/s320/SS1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I decided to go with a spring theme as wishful thinking that spring will be here soon. Plus it makes it a little more versatile to use anytime between now and May. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NGFiNTE5YTMtYTdkOS00NzYzLTg5YjAtNzdiM2FjMDk5ZDQ2">{here}</a> to download a free copy. Please let me know how it goes if you try it with your kids.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-82065916157732655202012-02-01T22:01:00.000-06:002012-02-01T22:01:33.692-06:00Friend VennsAfter reading Abby's post about her Venn Diagrams I thought I'd share how my kiddos make their Friend Venns. <br />
First, each pair of children start out with a <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0MjY0Y2M5OTQtMjBmYi00OGQxLWE4MTYtMjkzOTM0Yzc4YTI5">rough draft sheet</a>. They sit together and brainstorm ideas. This usually takes a little while-- especially depending on the pairing. Sometimes when children are too similiar it's hard for them to complete this part. As they are working, I walk around the room and take a picture of each pair and write their names at the top of their Venn (just to make them a little cuter). After a little teacher proof reading, they are allowed to start on the body.<br />
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I've done the Venns two different ways. For several years I used a round head shape (made from tracing a large plastic plate). I like these, and they always turn out pretty cute. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Xa5Cy5Nu5PADwwXBo-iH3nAlXWMSKzLK5FWknTRIIMjZU9H57tuHe3PDtXHCBszEgPQ6-Jevy73yF_H17I53N9HonVEnWVR4I-mrav74K8ZX8VPZTvwDz94nq8iIQM3iaUX2maIrsXk/s1600/DSCN2481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Xa5Cy5Nu5PADwwXBo-iH3nAlXWMSKzLK5FWknTRIIMjZU9H57tuHe3PDtXHCBszEgPQ6-Jevy73yF_H17I53N9HonVEnWVR4I-mrav74K8ZX8VPZTvwDz94nq8iIQM3iaUX2maIrsXk/s320/DSCN2481.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
A friend on my team came up with the idea for a diamond shaped Venn. I think they are super cute and allow for a little more personalizing. They are a little more work to prepare, but so worth it-- especially for Open House later in February.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWq8Q_Gs-DTMB12EJPJ233oPuQn0gKhomL5Y2Trjd6JIfT-_cYKpyFEiukfcBTkJKyykRVpFvNuLbTnM4mHwXhhGvykE2SYEt_Qfr4yyTJ6-DUWkGrozXsx6TZvdUXtZLp4e4anxknCg/s1600/DSCN2479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWq8Q_Gs-DTMB12EJPJ233oPuQn0gKhomL5Y2Trjd6JIfT-_cYKpyFEiukfcBTkJKyykRVpFvNuLbTnM4mHwXhhGvykE2SYEt_Qfr4yyTJ6-DUWkGrozXsx6TZvdUXtZLp4e4anxknCg/s320/DSCN2479.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0b_YeC0Ms-FPdb72PerDvbt38eAkg_K7v25KlRX1OUVhimsGE7p-BLBNm7kdJPDyRid3_khsYsGIJ0IBT8p2Rqb9b6y4l7LLeQMqJMQgHbSXERxJQWl0R3ClKCR4QmO4bYkbxEI9dk90/s1600/DSCN2480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0b_YeC0Ms-FPdb72PerDvbt38eAkg_K7v25KlRX1OUVhimsGE7p-BLBNm7kdJPDyRid3_khsYsGIJ0IBT8p2Rqb9b6y4l7LLeQMqJMQgHbSXERxJQWl0R3ClKCR4QmO4bYkbxEI9dk90/s320/DSCN2480.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK49l_d1J_OuNBeBzvP8QaYdWFcLE_XnJ-BDqPUcLBo451afnjdjunQp78gr1lOmlp6ROAKXdInNA4vbZ6b1ogv5K-5icV39dbvE33pg1yMpnStNMYWpp_WBB2WW1cdfBQ1GwA6eWxCcY/s1600/DSCN2478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK49l_d1J_OuNBeBzvP8QaYdWFcLE_XnJ-BDqPUcLBo451afnjdjunQp78gr1lOmlp6ROAKXdInNA4vbZ6b1ogv5K-5icV39dbvE33pg1yMpnStNMYWpp_WBB2WW1cdfBQ1GwA6eWxCcY/s320/DSCN2478.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The children write their information on the Venn first. Then, they start adding details. I give them strips for the arms and legs. They are allowed to add hair, shoes, bows, etc (one year I had children adding things like tennis rackets and baseballs in their hands). Whatever floats their little boats! These are so cute displayed on a bulletin board alongside the picture of each pair. I wish I had more examples but we aren't doing this project until Friday- the picture above is from last year. <br />
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I did the best I could to share a pattern with you. It is too big to get the whole thing on a piece of paper. You should be able to print both pages and then tape them together to create a pattern. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0MTBmNDViZTktNDM0Zi00YWYzLThjNTctNzdiN2Y5N2YyZWI3">{here}</a> to get the pattern. The shape really doesn't take too long to cut out. I like to trace the writing lines in pencil for my kids, just to keep their work a little neater. Best part is you'll only need one page per two children.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-38515410211592887622012-01-31T18:57:00.000-06:002012-01-31T18:57:55.917-06:00A Peek at My Week(s) and Two FreebiesWow! The past two weeks have been so busy! And it doesn't look like February is going to be any slower. I have so many ideas to share. I guess this post will be a little random, but that's how it goes. So, in no particular order...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbjTzT39fq4ezQFICJXtHOjBexsrKjso8cbOcbdVxMYEowzJO266raWnKigVWzkZd5twNUIcMWS_TsloTw3gGh2NKxh-p51Uj8ZUZ2sA9-E3mNx8J7eqBC8KqLXKsLfOHkZA9nQxvjk0/s1600/DSCN2432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbjTzT39fq4ezQFICJXtHOjBexsrKjso8cbOcbdVxMYEowzJO266raWnKigVWzkZd5twNUIcMWS_TsloTw3gGh2NKxh-p51Uj8ZUZ2sA9-E3mNx8J7eqBC8KqLXKsLfOHkZA9nQxvjk0/s320/DSCN2432.JPG" width="240" /></a>We celebrated the 100th Day ... two weeks ago... This year I wanted to simplify the day, while making sure I still included some new Pinterest finds. We started off the morning by making gumball machines. I was inspired with Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten gumball machine. I wanted each of my kids to make their own gumball machines-- with, you guessed it, 100 painted gumballs! I wasn't quite sure if this would be the biggest disaster of the year or a really fun idea (but I talked the other 8 first grade teachers into giving it a try with me!). So, with VERY explicit instructions we got to work. The kids assembled their machines first. Then I carefully showed them how to dip the Q-tip into the paint and dot, then dip and dot, dip and dot--- until they had 10 dots of one color. I set up two colors of paint at five set of desks. After they finished one color they were free to do the second color. When everyone was finished we rotated to the next table. I was in shock! My very chatty class was SILENT! It was first grade teacher gold!! They were so busy dipping, dotting, and counting that they didn't make a peep! They were very proud of themselves when they had 100 pieces of gum. And no one screwed theirs up-- they all turned out just as neat as the one in the picture! Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0ZGJiNWJhOGQtZGMzOS00ZWY1LTg1ODEtZDI2ZDFlODBhN2Fl">{here}</a> to get a copy of the poem at the bottom.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ExGhuZQ_Bosgj-AsIEGVU9F0ryT-CKhVHQ1iZvOTMRomobt4J0JieE_4Bm0r9Mkd4ikiDuhUVYmHKL1H7kq4e3svUQR7PBNOxx9hZBErwo2Uo_dpb72Erj134mtrGHO6bTyLmWtCrSs/s1600/DSCN2427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ExGhuZQ_Bosgj-AsIEGVU9F0ryT-CKhVHQ1iZvOTMRomobt4J0JieE_4Bm0r9Mkd4ikiDuhUVYmHKL1H7kq4e3svUQR7PBNOxx9hZBErwo2Uo_dpb72Erj134mtrGHO6bTyLmWtCrSs/s320/DSCN2427.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We also completed a 100th Day Mystery Picture. I gave my kids a sheet with two hundreds charts on it. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0MmVjMTVkNzMtYzc0My00OWEwLTk4OWEtMDNkYWViNDYwOTcy">{here}</a> to get your own copy. Then I called out one number at a time and told them what color to use. With each square they were guessing what the picture would be. Easy, fun, and a great way to assess number sense.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGISUIeAdfsIK-J8KXp-xCK5erFjLLsNGqsEvl7AAWAV57PL-7LUiLK90WoFAQiJ4OPXcB9h5OSyzTIIJNx9OFZdpP1p8jL-Tc30pJcM44xdBvjC1tGHs8dEAjIVN3MMk5xmytaZKJ62o/s1600/DSCN2453.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGISUIeAdfsIK-J8KXp-xCK5erFjLLsNGqsEvl7AAWAV57PL-7LUiLK90WoFAQiJ4OPXcB9h5OSyzTIIJNx9OFZdpP1p8jL-Tc30pJcM44xdBvjC1tGHs8dEAjIVN3MMk5xmytaZKJ62o/s320/DSCN2453.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
This past week we wrapped up our study of winter/snow/arctic animals. We were inference investigators thanks to Abby's super cute Snow Day Case Files. They LOVED it, and learned a thing or two about making inferences. Although, I was a little surprised at some of the inferences they made-- guess my schema and their schema are way different :) I can't wait to follow up with Cara's "No David" lesson tomorrow.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTXZRrmn6Uc-H-80OhbC46onEEPmTAMd0bFoUWR6nYQenH9DbsSTrQh5WlvdIrvOgy9E2h3mfBfVYcXKrC4wOMCukuBy6y5T3MANiOJVSu_2P3ggxueT9iUjQv2XIFQOxXd3EUtmrI6w/s1600/DSCN2446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTXZRrmn6Uc-H-80OhbC46onEEPmTAMd0bFoUWR6nYQenH9DbsSTrQh5WlvdIrvOgy9E2h3mfBfVYcXKrC4wOMCukuBy6y5T3MANiOJVSu_2P3ggxueT9iUjQv2XIFQOxXd3EUtmrI6w/s320/DSCN2446.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We also read "The Mitten" and did a little activity. Each child chose an animal then wrote 3 clues using the sentence frame "Who _______?" At the bottom of the mitten they wrote the answer. (Example: Who is white? Who is small? Who can hop? A rabbit, that's who!). I actually typed their clues as they finished writing them. It tied in perfect with our phonics study of wh/qu and questioning. We discussed using good descriptive words so that we could easily guess the animal. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0YmQ5ZmYxYjYtYzg0ZS00ODc0LWI3MmYtMTljM2Y2MjU4MDNj">{here}</a> for a copy of the mitten page I found on Jan Brett's website.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8atBTS0pquloAr6I6adCfWJARWk7P2RHu6I_xl9Uk6FALWZba4fTU_Jow4pHvJcQAp_UdfCpeMCRVfPLqw3NcV3fEt5LeZ7PICfW_EBMEqYKHOVa39UmEqO-T64MfOEVBX07KL5yX9k/s1600/DSCN2452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8atBTS0pquloAr6I6adCfWJARWk7P2RHu6I_xl9Uk6FALWZba4fTU_Jow4pHvJcQAp_UdfCpeMCRVfPLqw3NcV3fEt5LeZ7PICfW_EBMEqYKHOVa39UmEqO-T64MfOEVBX07KL5yX9k/s320/DSCN2452.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is my sample, and yes-- I used clipart for the picture! An artist I am not!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>And, now for a few freebies. The first one is for math. The kids will use the monster cards and practice adding 1 and 2 and subtracting 1 and 2. This is another great assessment of number sense to 100. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NTkyZjcwNDYtY2U2NS00ZDdjLWIwN2EtYWJhZTc0ZjRiMjkw">{here}</a> for a copy.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEBYmVIUac4cgWEMYtwpgC7oZImhnRoPDs8LShAobWJlGxYo1P-HlXjs3nc3BDf5p2VC4yhjfZONz_xRyteMId7Of1E-XKTD1LrsJUz6bkpesT9zkHcDQ7gVnrveHaCeP152Pnizwyj4/s1600/monster+card.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEBYmVIUac4cgWEMYtwpgC7oZImhnRoPDs8LShAobWJlGxYo1P-HlXjs3nc3BDf5p2VC4yhjfZONz_xRyteMId7Of1E-XKTD1LrsJUz6bkpesT9zkHcDQ7gVnrveHaCeP152Pnizwyj4/s200/monster+card.png" width="182" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1v-lOcHsGEi2GFkmGWSGIvheg3ozyC-dpER874Kncw-OXMMfXA5MgvXFsHahqn0l6jwYHmcAWnSc0yM0_1fYsPkhjxkaudj1kKyY1-pO1vhAfifCkfsz1a7YD_osNH2trzoA8qJFqD4/s1600/monster+sheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1v-lOcHsGEi2GFkmGWSGIvheg3ozyC-dpER874Kncw-OXMMfXA5MgvXFsHahqn0l6jwYHmcAWnSc0yM0_1fYsPkhjxkaudj1kKyY1-pO1vhAfifCkfsz1a7YD_osNH2trzoA8qJFqD4/s320/monster+sheet.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The second one is for reading. It seems that I might be a tad behind some of you-- we are still stuck on short vowels in StoryTown. Hopefully soon we'll be moving to long vowels. Until then, here's a little more short vowel practice. The kids will use a vowel die to create words, then sort the words as real or nonsense. My kids have actually already completed this same activity created by Made for 1st Grade, but it had a winter theme. As I was listening to my kids complete the tub, I kept hearing them say things like "If I roll a "e" then I'll be able to make the word "red." I loved the activity so much that I created a new one for February. I hope that's not against copyright rules. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0YTczM2M3NjItZmEwMi00NTU5LTk0M2MtYjExNTQ1OTEwYTA1">{here}</a> for a copy.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WG8fifKMilxBbm751vsmr-1ErOunFwVcH6uDk-o2fd42kbm2yLOeYLjz9I7xKPteooZL2VF2Il7mztK7P4DY5i5eycIDbWtAABi41ZNiCNPzRXSLOqVvudoteo32yfER2cTbF15rRDU/s1600/Love+Bug+sheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0WG8fifKMilxBbm751vsmr-1ErOunFwVcH6uDk-o2fd42kbm2yLOeYLjz9I7xKPteooZL2VF2Il7mztK7P4DY5i5eycIDbWtAABi41ZNiCNPzRXSLOqVvudoteo32yfER2cTbF15rRDU/s320/Love+Bug+sheet.png" width="289" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJJfs-AZL4dlopGqiUEc8jp0OEY0eZqcSLe7dwZjsRpX0WCDtWGvh9NChGVqks2MoU_aIv7wCQn4qbVfn2Y9Q_JYn8iCI2eVRjzoLHOIUuOw9a4zAEiQbXIZXjipHz2rked5dwzmsu_0/s1600/Love+bug+cards.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJJfs-AZL4dlopGqiUEc8jp0OEY0eZqcSLe7dwZjsRpX0WCDtWGvh9NChGVqks2MoU_aIv7wCQn4qbVfn2Y9Q_JYn8iCI2eVRjzoLHOIUuOw9a4zAEiQbXIZXjipHz2rked5dwzmsu_0/s320/Love+bug+cards.png" width="190" /></a></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-91693103310424377032012-01-22T11:59:00.000-06:002012-01-22T11:59:23.936-06:00Chinese New YearFor the past several years, I have celebrated Chinese New Year in my classroom. My school has a decent number of Chinese children, and I always have a couple in my class. Their faces light up when they find out we are spending the day learning about their culture.<br />
There are LOTS of good Chinese-themed books to read. We start out with the one below. It's great for explaining many different concepts in a simple way.<br />
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvMlYVX6O9OHA_Yte_zpoVfURgVvuY9YNZLw7K6n_qLI9IcZG-KfKF14zWyqrPdVo-2KLt4WnZnDWCJ-80rqe0bwxMwunI63mXzK8-AwEXSnDBtcBKjDcY4Gx8YOTIDZPnYo76Hs8jMM/s1600/Chinese+New+Year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcvMlYVX6O9OHA_Yte_zpoVfURgVvuY9YNZLw7K6n_qLI9IcZG-KfKF14zWyqrPdVo-2KLt4WnZnDWCJ-80rqe0bwxMwunI63mXzK8-AwEXSnDBtcBKjDcY4Gx8YOTIDZPnYo76Hs8jMM/s1600/Chinese+New+Year.jpg" /></a></div>This book discusses the animal zodiac and tries to explain some of the different animals. Ahead of time, I check to see which year each child was born (you think they would know, but many don't!). I tell them which animal they are and we discuss some of the characteristics. They always get a kick out of this part-- and they want to know which animal their brother, sister, mama, and daddy are....<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NTcyZDk0ZWQtMzE1ZC00NzdmLTk3OTAtMGZiMWQ5ZTIxYjRi">Here</a>'s a little sheet I typed up with all of the animals on it. I give it to them to take home. I also let them color a picture of their own animal. <br />
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<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next, I use a very simple flipchart I made</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVguaaICqA9RnT8LueX6C4ZPhmtzITAWvYu1wGXgugtdtk6ImgLyt9B7rZ7AMmTLj0lrqgs-ORLdLclmJrpcAc23U571_yAbMwO3RHQfSjG6v4U-oiKa2Li7ivt9GcCudcw1BmxROxDuA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-20+at+1.02.36+PM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVguaaICqA9RnT8LueX6C4ZPhmtzITAWvYu1wGXgugtdtk6ImgLyt9B7rZ7AMmTLj0lrqgs-ORLdLclmJrpcAc23U571_yAbMwO3RHQfSjG6v4U-oiKa2Li7ivt9GcCudcw1BmxROxDuA/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-20+at+1.02.36+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We find China on the map, then watch a very good movie on Safari Montage</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMB5jhAY1zOuA-cjtm_qGyKY8E0P1pQeinxEyQQYrykQIzl6QHWiytwv3lwASeS8eg44fJg1zbOC-afYg7Bfyb6Q3OGlZW7fFCryV0JQ9C_khKIja4O8lPeCpN2eQ6NTCk31riw5cZCE/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-20+at+1.02.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMB5jhAY1zOuA-cjtm_qGyKY8E0P1pQeinxEyQQYrykQIzl6QHWiytwv3lwASeS8eg44fJg1zbOC-afYg7Bfyb6Q3OGlZW7fFCryV0JQ9C_khKIja4O8lPeCpN2eQ6NTCk31riw5cZCE/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-20+at+1.02.50+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We complete the Venn Digram together</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5v-P6LIhlIWichaJeIY3iqTJmXPZIRuZv7SNcJ3j9xU7M5VfSiEIH4UFEZUvkbHrLsvt5_SuRN-RVHUfsY958rJlahUhRLIkN0OkPqMJSoDK86oJH56WoYXjsOmT4SYumq1nsEQh6r8/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-20+at+1.03.10+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5v-P6LIhlIWichaJeIY3iqTJmXPZIRuZv7SNcJ3j9xU7M5VfSiEIH4UFEZUvkbHrLsvt5_SuRN-RVHUfsY958rJlahUhRLIkN0OkPqMJSoDK86oJH56WoYXjsOmT4SYumq1nsEQh6r8/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-20+at+1.03.10+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We look at how to write "Happy New Year" in Chinese</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>After looking at the real characters, I let the kids try writing it themselves. I do it like a directed drawing. First, I give them half of a piece of construction paper (hotdog style). They fold it to make four boxes. This helps to keep their symbols a little neater. On the document camera, I draw one line at a time (trying my best to explain it as I go). They always impress me with how theirs turn out.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyahM1RwUr6dEyn4J4XS0dbvtj1fWlwSrC7kbF3vJph90IbfuZO42AW-zOppj1YVqpwcvQ0VLNBKweYYWvsvToxX185j2_1L_Yd_VYUbqea01PxtJtgBfUA3ShDFpxkYO2hrDfZX_NreU/s1600/DSCN2423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyahM1RwUr6dEyn4J4XS0dbvtj1fWlwSrC7kbF3vJph90IbfuZO42AW-zOppj1YVqpwcvQ0VLNBKweYYWvsvToxX185j2_1L_Yd_VYUbqea01PxtJtgBfUA3ShDFpxkYO2hrDfZX_NreU/s320/DSCN2423.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: center;"> This is kid work, not mine-- they all turned out similiar to hers (this wasn't just the best one!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I like to read Grandfather Tang's Story to them and then have the kids make their own tangram animals. If you haven't read this book before, it's great, and the kids love it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCkETSlTDfCYlmC2X2srr8Ja1XNXwvcC3meV_9PJItBUbDxZPDS4CLPhYFuE3nUT8hgjjROcGyioy1EjZjrrdiRUsBSeoow_IXVJBnIlxGnSsRuuod2W56z9JRkNg7Awj9WGZPDkoLZA/s1600/tang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQCkETSlTDfCYlmC2X2srr8Ja1XNXwvcC3meV_9PJItBUbDxZPDS4CLPhYFuE3nUT8hgjjROcGyioy1EjZjrrdiRUsBSeoow_IXVJBnIlxGnSsRuuod2W56z9JRkNg7Awj9WGZPDkoLZA/s1600/tang.jpg" /></a></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's always interesting to watch the kids do their own tangram animals. It seems so easy for some, and so difficult for others. Some of the kids that are really good at reading or math struggle, while some of the strugglers finish quickly. It's a great assessment of spatial skills. I give the kids a <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0MGQ4MDFmYzYtMGE4Ni00OGQ0LWE3NzEtYjlmYjdjOTM4YjM3&hl=en_US">little sheet</a> with several animals to choose from, then let them get to work. They have to cut out the <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NmJkNzM5YTEtYzEzMi00ZDExLWIwNTYtZTA0YTI4MTJmYmEz">tangram pieces</a>, arrange them on their paper, let me check it, then glue the pieces down.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItb8rqvdU6BbwwoEbZWdaePBe8x-zbdPKD8lfPZp0rX1lMN92V0WmMFfdvgdAQTLudT5JsFJEAjM5rvMLNxoICWDjFhkL_Ep_9GR_62pxTYbP7Uvwhj58DKXk4ZQkwitJwuHhhO9fIYc/s1600/DSCN2424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItb8rqvdU6BbwwoEbZWdaePBe8x-zbdPKD8lfPZp0rX1lMN92V0WmMFfdvgdAQTLudT5JsFJEAjM5rvMLNxoICWDjFhkL_Ep_9GR_62pxTYbP7Uvwhj58DKXk4ZQkwitJwuHhhO9fIYc/s320/DSCN2424.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIYUEkFGqeVM6z8UN6lejx6Ki39luXDpWtvJKxJfygzsSpT-JB0qjLUaVHGit0PCXfky5evOGRo3WaoCvRJUHkf9-hk7qatTuu8RRkZXGMRooDGECCWUfPh5UP4fIaHb-jLiivMbzLHo/s1600/DSCN2425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIYUEkFGqeVM6z8UN6lejx6Ki39luXDpWtvJKxJfygzsSpT-JB0qjLUaVHGit0PCXfky5evOGRo3WaoCvRJUHkf9-hk7qatTuu8RRkZXGMRooDGECCWUfPh5UP4fIaHb-jLiivMbzLHo/s320/DSCN2425.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The cat was very easy for one little girl to do, and it turned out perfect. The bunny...well... let's just say I don't think it will be hopping away anytime soon!</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Throughout the day I read several other books-- two of my favorites are Ruby's Wish and The Seven Chinese Brothers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7pX8eCv5k1uQakTRL9irII8Xt0oTJcEF1VphjBivirhaOkGyYqAmSX3j5cOgxgzDhDy31VAK29TqSU0jzboMgqhqPJGh7AOptHHc530nBeYQrdLfD0CCWPf9BfWJbnCmUEz1-aWE9o8/s1600/ruby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA7pX8eCv5k1uQakTRL9irII8Xt0oTJcEF1VphjBivirhaOkGyYqAmSX3j5cOgxgzDhDy31VAK29TqSU0jzboMgqhqPJGh7AOptHHc530nBeYQrdLfD0CCWPf9BfWJbnCmUEz1-aWE9o8/s200/ruby.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfd7C1gnCsP4a79hUECFeRJkDEcXFWarDwOAGbWwDE4Wom7jgQUkOIM2JV6de-GdN9Y0L5JR47SS9LvCWBVVHWDNDRrhtvwElYuWLN842zJYRVc60KttjkHsJhwgplFwfBlfUVlbwjFM/s1600/seven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfd7C1gnCsP4a79hUECFeRJkDEcXFWarDwOAGbWwDE4Wom7jgQUkOIM2JV6de-GdN9Y0L5JR47SS9LvCWBVVHWDNDRrhtvwElYuWLN842zJYRVc60KttjkHsJhwgplFwfBlfUVlbwjFM/s200/seven.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next week, as one of their reading tubs, my kids will be listening to Sam and the Lucky Money (from BookFlix) and completing a reading response sheet.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE6z-MUqMwbzE7NEnR6-CQcIggwRNSm7zyOXZst1RRpQUzpNPdZdJ15oM3xyxS5Fk0MCANrUjettVHvYckVQPEz9uPQZ_ly-cff2Xil1RCJp9a6iaS3G9EjyOizxZNTQaQUL9oJjWX50U/s1600/sam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE6z-MUqMwbzE7NEnR6-CQcIggwRNSm7zyOXZst1RRpQUzpNPdZdJ15oM3xyxS5Fk0MCANrUjettVHvYckVQPEz9uPQZ_ly-cff2Xil1RCJp9a6iaS3G9EjyOizxZNTQaQUL9oJjWX50U/s1600/sam.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">How do you celebrate Chinese New Year in your classroom?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-35970033568955167482012-01-20T17:58:00.000-06:002012-01-20T17:58:19.803-06:00National Geographic KidsWhile we were studying about polar bears last week, I came across a resource I didn't know existed. I thought I would share (in hopes I'm not the only one who didn't already know about it).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3Pg5uQkoYtWkSZ2LnI3BvdIT0jRVJcDTVE-MW8dExU4l5zdNmmKOiddEjxkudMBO8d7ZkYEwOkRZ6ldhKWxU4ldZVahAWwPMUKWOKbEo2qVNgwJGQFTRW6bWK6NU4bb0wPiYwpjP3gI/s1600/Nat+Geo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3Pg5uQkoYtWkSZ2LnI3BvdIT0jRVJcDTVE-MW8dExU4l5zdNmmKOiddEjxkudMBO8d7ZkYEwOkRZ6ldhKWxU4ldZVahAWwPMUKWOKbEo2qVNgwJGQFTRW6bWK6NU4bb0wPiYwpjP3gI/s1600/Nat+Geo.png" /></a></div> I have used the National Geographic Kids website for several years now. I have always used the search feature to find info on the animals we are studying. Last week, I noticed they have a page for all animals (in one little spot all together). You can get there by clicking on "Animals and Pets-- ALL"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjNQgqzYIGpvyST2x6O-BzFjXy3DPe3ebhmoxFzJFas7Ywv_NkIJmA-wTi1oD5qlLEN_rq0edT44TmxL8R3ULZ8bi_hy4xmuL3NUs-lX-6J9TT1l5cxtjJ5DrBv03fnxPMw2x2qiT8mg/s1600/Nat+Geo+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjNQgqzYIGpvyST2x6O-BzFjXy3DPe3ebhmoxFzJFas7Ywv_NkIJmA-wTi1oD5qlLEN_rq0edT44TmxL8R3ULZ8bi_hy4xmuL3NUs-lX-6J9TT1l5cxtjJ5DrBv03fnxPMw2x2qiT8mg/s320/Nat+Geo+2.png" width="320" /></a></div>It's even organized where the kids can easily find the animal they are looking for (either by type of animal or by habitat). How great is that?!!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSOmb-Qjy7RmSAERhl81OlTvK5SL6aq514rOYIX-mEM8e8kZnE0kDCLhabSyNhxUtg9qbHW2DBRLlGh6gYqhmC-9DB6ptIXVtEe9sE4JcuHeL-HSMhSuWYVTii10ysNB7opK2aOFQXV0/s1600/Nat+Geo+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSOmb-Qjy7RmSAERhl81OlTvK5SL6aq514rOYIX-mEM8e8kZnE0kDCLhabSyNhxUtg9qbHW2DBRLlGh6gYqhmC-9DB6ptIXVtEe9sE4JcuHeL-HSMhSuWYVTii10ysNB7opK2aOFQXV0/s320/Nat+Geo+3.png" width="297" /></a></div>Each animal has a little info, some pictures, a video clip, a map to show where they live, and some have a sound bite. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXN1J5JpEymXrIvtzV_xSNIJty2NlJ5Z-JPboDeL8YiWD4f1XBM9CxJRiAN8uD1IpGItx8QibJTRBLSjXkaxHETEgmcjmKnEgYs3RmttsALIvnHSv7Ky_riC1jSZzTQjQVE4r9SubuObQ/s1600/Nat+Geo+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXN1J5JpEymXrIvtzV_xSNIJty2NlJ5Z-JPboDeL8YiWD4f1XBM9CxJRiAN8uD1IpGItx8QibJTRBLSjXkaxHETEgmcjmKnEgYs3RmttsALIvnHSv7Ky_riC1jSZzTQjQVE4r9SubuObQ/s320/Nat+Geo+4.png" width="320" /></a></div>We studied the polar bear together, and then I let my kids look up an animal of their choice in the computer lab. They were way into it! It's definitely a place I'll send them when we research animal habitats.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMCbThU-K32qIWniNIlufZihThLX3FGOeSqjl5Sm1NovUjdJx-GcIOQ4zg-8F25YaedboFXL7m7zHNhloWLGsDpAFgAfhZ2jHWmIbus20bZywp1UhnCTymzNprPoIm7BMhLkPPFRca_A/s1600/Nat+Geo+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWMCbThU-K32qIWniNIlufZihThLX3FGOeSqjl5Sm1NovUjdJx-GcIOQ4zg-8F25YaedboFXL7m7zHNhloWLGsDpAFgAfhZ2jHWmIbus20bZywp1UhnCTymzNprPoIm7BMhLkPPFRca_A/s320/Nat+Geo+5.png" width="320" /></a></div>A little funny story... We were looking at the map (pictured above), when a child asks, "Mrs. Morse is that cross where Heaven is?" What a sweetie pie!Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-38369308111224268262012-01-16T10:29:00.001-06:002012-01-16T10:40:23.727-06:00A Day in my Shoes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztjTMH3_k6TMoL7QFpS_o7_I1tdULMIhE9pjL9e9fSSZHKirx4I8sxNNG_wdY-6xFHl-gVHAxBmrNdZfk5UiyNd2zlqo0rQLUrtlU4cMCZvUWEoLzaEsI3HXuL_hUx_PA9e_B8uz2YrU/s1600/Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztjTMH3_k6TMoL7QFpS_o7_I1tdULMIhE9pjL9e9fSSZHKirx4I8sxNNG_wdY-6xFHl-gVHAxBmrNdZfk5UiyNd2zlqo0rQLUrtlU4cMCZvUWEoLzaEsI3HXuL_hUx_PA9e_B8uz2YrU/s200/Day.jpg" width="200" /></a>When I saw a <a href="http://missklohnsclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/01/link-up-for-day-in-my-shoes.html">Linky Party</a> about everyone else's day I was so excited. I'm a little bit nosy and love to see how everyone else spends their time each day. It's been interesting to read when everyone is getting up, how long it takes to get ready, what time the school day starts, school schedules, and after-school routines. I thought I'd add my day to the mix:<br />
<br />
6:00- Alarm goes off... I hit snooze<br />
6:09- Alarm goes off... I hit snooze again<br />
Alarm- snooze, Alarm-snooze- this goes on until 6:30 or so<br />
<br />
6:30- I roll out of bed, wishing I had just a little more time to sleep. I'm always in a pretty good mood once I get up, but getting up for me is tough. I wish I was a naturally early riser, but I'm not!<br />
<br />
6:30- I jump in the shower- super quick, regretting that I didn't get up just a little bit sooner. I reflect on the day. Some of the best thinking time is done in the shower.<br />
<br />
6:40- I wake my husband and tell him to go and wake up our four year old. He gets C. dressed every morning (and he's done it since he was born! I know I'm lucky!). Hey, if I have to be up early so do you hunny!<br />
<br />
6:40-7:15- I get ready while C is getting ready. I have mastered the art of getting ready quickly (that way I can sleep longer). If I'm lucky my 2 year old girl will wake up before I leave. It's my only chance to see her before the afternoon. I get her some milk and settle her in my bed for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. <br />
<br />
7:15- We rush out the door, leaving hubby and K. behind. Hubs doesn't have to be at work until 9:30-- must be nice! He gets K. ready and drops her off at daycare before going to work.<br />
<br />
7:30- This is when I should arrive at school, and I do as long as traffic cooperates perfectly... We really only live 10 minutes from the school (that gives me five extra, right?). As I walk down the hall I pass all of my sweeties sitting in the hall waiting with the aide. It almost seems like I'm a celebrity with all the waving and "hey, Mrs. Morse!". I quickly put down my stuff, clock in, and glance at my e-mails.<br />
<br />
7:40- I take C. down to his preschool class (I LOVE having him at school with me!). A quick kiss and a "hi" to his teacher. Generally, I'm running up the stairs back to my room as the bell rings.<br />
<br />
7:45- Kiddos come in, so excited to tell me all about the night before. I give each one a hug, handshake, or high five, and they get started on their math tubs. I love starting with math tubs because the late bell doesn't ring until 7:55. Morning work is hard to do when every child starts at a different time. Children work on their tubs while I do attendance, check their folders, send lunch money and notes to the office, and then eventually circulate around the room to see who needs help. There's usually those couple who need help daily. They hunker down at my table and we do their tub together.<br />
<br />
8:25- Math Notebook<br />
<br />
8:45- Math Lesson<br />
<br />
9:10- Calendar- I love this time of the morning because I change it up depending on the needs that day. Sometimes it just turns into a read-aloud time, or a sharing time, or a "come to Jesus meeting" if we've had "that kind of day" the day before. But many days, it's just calendar on the Promethean board.<br />
<br />
9:30- Snack- we eat snack in the room. I hate having kids eat in the room. I don't like all the smells of foods mixed together, and I can't stand the crumbs. But, my kids are generally "starving" by then, and it's a nice break in our morning. I have an extremely LONG morning in the room (not complaining, it's good teaching time, but it's LONG)<br />
<br />
9:40- Read to Self- the kiddos get their book boxes and read. This is time for me to pull my lowest readers for Intervention<br />
<br />
10:00- Writing- We normally do Daily News before a quick writing lesson. Then, the kids get busy writing.<br />
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10:45- It's finally time to leave the room!! PE time. I take my kids to the gym for PE while I run around like a crazy person trying to get stuff done. This is time to check and respond to the 50 e-mails I've received all morning, make copies, check my teacher work box, straighten up the room just a tad (because I'm OCD), plan, use the restroom (I haven't been since I left the house at 7:15)-- all of you are teachers why am I trying to explain. You know that 30 minutes flies by!<br />
<br />
11:15- Pick up my kids from PE and go straight to lunch. My scheduled time is 11:20, so it works out perfectly to take their lunchboxes to PE and not waste any time going back to my classroom.<br />
<br />
11:20-11:45- Lunch- a nice and quiet break to eat my lunch-- not! That doesn't ever happen. We sit in the loud, sometimes hectic lunchroom with our kids, while they peck you to death coming to the table with first grade concerns (I can't open my water bottle, I need ketchup, Jack is in my spot, I need to go to the bathroom, my mom said I could get ice cream but I don't have any money......). It's not really an enjoyable lunch, but at least it's a time to sit down and do a little teacher talking for a few minutes.<br />
<br />
11:50-12:20- Recess- There's no parent/aide/assigned teacher to watch the kids at recess. But, that's ok, I don't mind getting out and breathing a little fresh air (unless the air is below 40 degrees- then I'm freezing- remember I live in Alabama- this southern girl doesn't like the cold). I go out to the playground with 3 other first grade teachers. This is our time to catch up on the day. I love these girls. We plan a little, problem solve, and just chat. Sad how it turns in to school related stuff more than personal stuff, but that's how it normally goes.<br />
<br />
12:20- As the kids come into the room, they grab their reading tubs and get started. This is my time to work with students, and a time I wish I could magically morph into five different people. My favorite thing to do during this time is reading conferences. I love reading with the kids every day, and they love reading with me. It's not uncommon to have kids asking "are you going to read with me today?" or "I picked out a new Level I book and I want to read it to you." First grade teachers are in the process of some professional development to learn more about flexible small groups. I won't lie-- this is not how I like to spend my reading time, but I'm willing to give it a chance. So, after conferring with several children, while at the same time helping Susie who can't log into the computer, and Johnny who doesn't understand how the tub works, and Billy who is playing in the hall, and Amy who is arguing with Tucker about which book they are going to listen to, it's time to clean up. This is the most exhausting time of the day. <br />
<br />
1:00- 1:40- Phonemic awareness, phonics, and comprehension lessons.<br />
<br />
1:40-2:20- Specials. I take my kids to specials 4 days a week. On Fridays, I have to go to the computer lab with them.<br />
While they are at specials I pack up their folders and put them on their desks. We used to pack up before specials but it was cutting into reading time, so now I do it during my "break."<br />
<br />
2:20- I pick up my kids and we book-it back the room so the early kids can quickly pack up before the first bell rings at 2:25.<br />
<br />
2:35- The "normal" bell rings. I take my kids up to carpool and head back to the room. This is usually my time to decompress and talk a little.<br />
<br />
It seems like each day of the week there's something to do right after school. On Mondays we have faculty meetings; On Tuesdays my grade level meets and plans; Every other Wednesday I have a small group book study; On Thursdays I tutor (my choice-- good money!); Nothing on Fridays!<br />
<br />
3:45- This is about the time I start working on things for my classroom. <br />
<br />
4:15- Time to leave school and run to the grocery store or run another errand. It is MUCH easier to shop without the kiddos!<br />
<br />
5:00- I pick up my daughter (who is bouncing up and down with excitement) from a home daycare. I have to be there by 5:00. Many days I'm speeding to get there in time.<br />
<br />
5:20- I swing by my mother-in-law's to pick up my son (he only goes to school until 12:30, so my MIL picks him up and keeps him in the afternoons). I check C's folder and sign his sheet right then while I'm still in the car-- the mornings are too busy. My MIL is a talker... so we talk... and talk... and talk. By this time, all I want to do is get home.<br />
<br />
5:30- Thankfully, I live 3 miles from my MIL and I can get home quickly. I get the kids in the house and settled playing. I try to sit down for a couple of minutes and talk to the kiddos.<br />
<br />
5:45- Start cooking dinner, emptying the dishwasher, washing a load of clothes, breaking up fights between the kids.<br />
<br />
6:30- Hubby arrives home-- time to eat!<br />
<br />
7:00- Kids go in the tub. They play while my husband and I clean the kitchen and talk (a few minutes of uninterrupted adult talk). Wash hair, get on to kids for dumping water on the floor, clean up the mess, get them out and dressed for bed.<br />
<br />
7:30- My husband reads to my son, while I rock/sing/read/pray with my daughter. I love this time of the day. I'm thankful that she's two and still enjoys wock wock time. She cuddles right up and we generally fall asleep rocking together.<br />
<br />
8:15- I lay her in the bed and go tell my son good night. My "me time" has begun for the day! I've been trying to do better with running (well it's more like a jog) on the treadmill. I love to play my worship music loud and drown out the rest of the world. It's my time to reflect on the day, pray, and run out all the stress. I also get around to a little blog-stalking, crafting, washing more clothes, cleaning the house, and watching TV. Recently my husband and I have gotten into reruns of 24. What a great show! I check my school e-mail one last time (makes the morning time easier) before I go to sleep. I would love to go to bed by 11:00, but it's generally closer to 12:00 before the lights go off.<br />
<br />
11:45- Good night! I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. Hopefully, it's a quiet-night's sleep without the kids waking up or me talking/walking in my sleet (but many nights I'm not that lucky)<br />
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Wow! That was much longer than I intended for it to be. If you made it to the bottom you deserve a prize. Join the party. Link up with <a href="http://missklohnsclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/01/link-up-for-day-in-my-shoes.html">Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher</a> and share your day.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-90737859223624702692012-01-16T08:53:00.000-06:002012-01-16T08:53:36.564-06:00To Joplin With Love<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FB4rlxhM3GjY_lCJDoQnsFUJs7W4EpmV_iEsUs7hq74oPwa1yRysUrfsOZnlWyP9rfQDLVn5PEjnCaE8eC3hnKq0SF3bWGxCY_t8YWzUeK3kRjVuW_pCnCRa8RPuGh7XUyKja5Ti48c/s1600/Joplin.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FB4rlxhM3GjY_lCJDoQnsFUJs7W4EpmV_iEsUs7hq74oPwa1yRysUrfsOZnlWyP9rfQDLVn5PEjnCaE8eC3hnKq0SF3bWGxCY_t8YWzUeK3kRjVuW_pCnCRa8RPuGh7XUyKja5Ti48c/s200/Joplin.png" width="200" /></a>I love giving to others-- especially when they are in need. When I saw Deedee's post a few days ago I knew I wanted to help. It gave me chill to see how many other bloggers have also decided to giveaway some of their work to the teachers of Joplin. I sent my Christmas pack and Winter pack-- the only two things I have for sale. I wish I had more to give, but the rest is already free on my blog!<br />
<br />
If you haven't already, you should join <a href="http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/2012/01/love-to-joplin-linky-party.html">Mrs. Wills' linky party</a> and send Joplin a little love.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-34486668303976928382012-01-10T07:45:00.000-06:002012-01-10T07:45:05.537-06:00First Grade Funnies and Calendar Flipchart for Second SemesterI love lilstening to first graders. They say some of the funniest things. Here are a couple I've heard in the last two days:<br />
"My Grandmother is taking me to ANTlanta in a few weeks."<br />
<br />
As a girl is reading to me she reads, "Last week Jesus went to space in a spaceship." The word was Jessie, not Jesus. She never even stopped to question what she was reading!<br />
<br />
This morning, I hear two children arguing about last night's BCS game (Roll Tide, by the way!). One is saying "the game was in New Orleans". The other is arguing, "no, the game was in the United States."<br />
<br />
On to the calendar... At the beginning of the year, I posted about my calendar flip chart for the Promethean Board. I e-mailed many of you a copy of it. Well.. it "expired" in December. So, I thought it was probably time to post the second semester version for those of you who want it. This flip chart will only work with the Promethean Board! Please let me know if you would like me to e-mail you a copy. Promethean Planet is not cooperating and I can't get it to upload there. I'll try again.<br />
<div>Here are a few pictures of what it looks like.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpcAa9FnmME6xVzBc8f19DtItHITsMp8_ixgvn4sDSv-bLCbNkfGzimzjrvFFbrW9o-_jMMs-tGOi8hagKjgHuvhwpykqFleUSMAX6BIAYmt5t8ZcviU1BUdOaluypIA4F9yOadyzKgk/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.09+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpcAa9FnmME6xVzBc8f19DtItHITsMp8_ixgvn4sDSv-bLCbNkfGzimzjrvFFbrW9o-_jMMs-tGOi8hagKjgHuvhwpykqFleUSMAX6BIAYmt5t8ZcviU1BUdOaluypIA4F9yOadyzKgk/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.09+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First page (I removed "today is, tomorrow will be...). Each month you can change the calendar by: Retyping the name of the month and deleting the image of the January calendar. The images for February-May are stacked behind January.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HALLBcsBp8-6qqd3iDN8RZsS0n6xcUxc0wRW-s-J4ogkRyjvBR8V1YkInQHdTTdgLCcf_EOrjdXpA8Nkxb0GfDA7lrOCUlhleSvazTyHIeCcFxhlrhw9qSETqK-WmaMNdbL6vH9FBOk/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.31+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1HALLBcsBp8-6qqd3iDN8RZsS0n6xcUxc0wRW-s-J4ogkRyjvBR8V1YkInQHdTTdgLCcf_EOrjdXpA8Nkxb0GfDA7lrOCUlhleSvazTyHIeCcFxhlrhw9qSETqK-WmaMNdbL6vH9FBOk/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.31+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Each song title is linked to a page with an audio file of that song and the lyrics</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRStsoKEBBVQRvgn8am0kymmAfXG1bSp8Yv_qK3k6WUf3yg24DTbr5D3F3buviHIdvPJcSs7xO7WdezWmK0JXF-DN8tjZ9eY16sthReRz1jYe285noR342EDbzaOjLEnMjQxt98oS4uDE/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRStsoKEBBVQRvgn8am0kymmAfXG1bSp8Yv_qK3k6WUf3yg24DTbr5D3F3buviHIdvPJcSs7xO7WdezWmK0JXF-DN8tjZ9eY16sthReRz1jYe285noR342EDbzaOjLEnMjQxt98oS4uDE/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.46+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page to practice place value, odd/even and greater than/less than. I like to write addition or subtraction sentences or initials for coins (Q, D, N, P) on the Greater than/less than part to make it more of a challenge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXDQeneyGZmvjNUQMHSP6hZXXrfXne_wy6JuDdeNnaKeKM5W8-3hOdu_MgvwvUDJNGkzkwvrScupNoQr10WlDQejNc07t_mEnMQb4rlUHO3PEPlpVhRzEqP5RdpytBPWH0OCW8HO9wPU/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXDQeneyGZmvjNUQMHSP6hZXXrfXne_wy6JuDdeNnaKeKM5W8-3hOdu_MgvwvUDJNGkzkwvrScupNoQr10WlDQejNc07t_mEnMQb4rlUHO3PEPlpVhRzEqP5RdpytBPWH0OCW8HO9wPU/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.16.56+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A place to practice money. I've removed the coin poems (hopefully by now everyone knows the coin names and values). I added the bills-- oooh, aaah!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHmz6PXNOlzY1Fy5CdL-TPhXgQksnsw_yqEt6T8x59CWkdzT3AQPyM_BzD6CtsS1-lZRTVuLUe4_i7z6NF3XMpCc6B8Gs0Kzx4Xp-5Wwa_JBaCbhXnysQiP69LoF8feIsyg1mc4X7ygQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.17.04+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHmz6PXNOlzY1Fy5CdL-TPhXgQksnsw_yqEt6T8x59CWkdzT3AQPyM_BzD6CtsS1-lZRTVuLUe4_i7z6NF3XMpCc6B8Gs0Kzx4Xp-5Wwa_JBaCbhXnysQiP69LoF8feIsyg1mc4X7ygQ/s320/Screen+shot+2012-01-09+at+3.17.04+PM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A place to practice composing a number. Sometimes I like to create a challenge: Example - ways to make 16<br />
I might write one that says 76- ____ = 16 or ____ + _____ + _____ + _____ = 16 (your answer must be the same number all four times)<br />
Keep those extra smart kids busy with the challenge while others are creating their problems!<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-59297502960098263972012-01-08T01:10:00.000-06:002012-01-08T01:10:43.536-06:00Winter Math Centers and a FreebieI'm excited to post about my new winter math centers pack-- "A Wintery Mix of Math Centers." I've included 7 math games/activities to use during independent practice time (in my room it's called Math Tubs). These centers were designed to practice Common Core Standards and be easy enough that most children can complete these without teacher help. Four of the games have a snowman/penguin theme, while the other three are Valentine-themed. Here's a little preview. If you're interested you can find the set by clicking <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Wintery-Mix-of-Math-Centers">here</a>. I tried to keep the price teacher friendly, at $5.00.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwVCRplhvokS15m-lZdsGKa7tkmm7Dhin58ZEvemvVmWv0d3MWBaDFngtz99-oBSqzFUXuzTqM3npFDrMZtaGTEX8HqY-B1M6IDqCsA1DqDleyJwQEaK_J_3EPKpM7Fcyt-pAnai3ZKM/s1600/Preview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwVCRplhvokS15m-lZdsGKa7tkmm7Dhin58ZEvemvVmWv0d3MWBaDFngtz99-oBSqzFUXuzTqM3npFDrMZtaGTEX8HqY-B1M6IDqCsA1DqDleyJwQEaK_J_3EPKpM7Fcyt-pAnai3ZKM/s640/Preview.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />
And as a thank you to my sweet blog followers, you can pick up one of the games FREE! Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0M2I3ZDM4YWEtN2U0Zi00MGUxLTg4ZjctMzVlMjZmYjcwYzVl">here</a> to download. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWlX5YEBz_Hl0xS3gtKiaQFJWOzRGkxereVijJwBIQsPxLj8Se7_mhrX_7_ANtgmOKFAu_uw6yDm_86n2fasyOqrOnlb-sWwztkk0Fck_h32ZRwctTIUrgHmVKdT2GxxOlQN4v_oaLLI/s1600/Love+Bug+Round+Up.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWlX5YEBz_Hl0xS3gtKiaQFJWOzRGkxereVijJwBIQsPxLj8Se7_mhrX_7_ANtgmOKFAu_uw6yDm_86n2fasyOqrOnlb-sWwztkk0Fck_h32ZRwctTIUrgHmVKdT2GxxOlQN4v_oaLLI/s320/Love+Bug+Round+Up.png" width="249" /></a></div> Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-53984513578606196702012-01-06T14:43:00.000-06:002012-01-06T14:43:03.455-06:00Penguin FunI found the cutest penguin activities this summer on <a href="http://firstgraderatlast.blogspot.com/2011/01/have-you-ever-seen-pink-penguin.html">First Grader At Last</a>! I'm so glad I saved the idea-- and actually remembered it! The kids learned about penguins today and had lots of fun. We started by creating a penguin schema chart. I was really impressed with what the children already knew. They weren't super excited about sharing until I started writing their names next to the fact they gave (on the sticky notes). After that, there were hands flying high! Next we read <u>Penguins</u> by Gail Gibbons. As we came to "facts" that were incorrect, we moved the sticky notes to the Misconceptions fish. I also wrote new facts on our penguin chart as we found them in the book.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOfZJCNMnkE-2E_QllJ2UkIpUVN1negytoU2f1uOJq03WT6j0IxsJ0pZHfF06AY70TMEg9kc1eP2hxpV7Papic14OsN4_inf3e2hyrzzrFV4eGIm_-YZeO8-H2gPKNE7mnC0cK_eQl9I/s1600/DSCN2395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxOfZJCNMnkE-2E_QllJ2UkIpUVN1negytoU2f1uOJq03WT6j0IxsJ0pZHfF06AY70TMEg9kc1eP2hxpV7Papic14OsN4_inf3e2hyrzzrFV4eGIm_-YZeO8-H2gPKNE7mnC0cK_eQl9I/s320/DSCN2395.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>My favorite part of the day was making <span style="color: magenta;">pink penguins</span>. We read <u><span style="color: magenta;">Pink!</span></u> by Lynne Rickards. What a cute book! Afterwards, the children used construction paper and scrapbook paper to make their penguins. I didn't give them any patterns. They had to listen and follow directions as we made each piece. I love how different they turned out. The last part of our project was to write about their <span style="color: magenta;">pink penguin</span>. This is probably the best they have done with writing all year!! They were so excited about it. Most started out the same way "My penguin's name is ____". After that I allowed them to write anything they wanted (a description of their penguin, about their penguin's family, activities their penguin likes, where their penguin lives...). After I modeled mine they got started. It was SO quiet in the room as they created their descriptions. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNMmHU0osmrPzZvNaM2xWJ0zP8FQwJmKRgRc8S5cg5jgw1aFh3S8pN18fsm4qC1Kwjb7ASG1gEvYBORgU1xZ0OWDYQPVAwMbx93XrO1R54vmbxwtyOJ7GyEAV4rwWn_vadz13IZR0yFk/s1600/DSCN2392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtNMmHU0osmrPzZvNaM2xWJ0zP8FQwJmKRgRc8S5cg5jgw1aFh3S8pN18fsm4qC1Kwjb7ASG1gEvYBORgU1xZ0OWDYQPVAwMbx93XrO1R54vmbxwtyOJ7GyEAV4rwWn_vadz13IZR0yFk/s320/DSCN2392.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2ADN-7RGG02eNbjaGgMfPUDE63scP29llnUq575_qgkv24Ph0HSQNCt3fTiXxG97i0GJwUrKROObvpG3doGKYqY74-V16SZPYNo9N-NFfxzPmZQmXERv5-VWvm6s4SjFoc55EEJDaDI/s1600/DSCN2393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2ADN-7RGG02eNbjaGgMfPUDE63scP29llnUq575_qgkv24Ph0HSQNCt3fTiXxG97i0GJwUrKROObvpG3doGKYqY74-V16SZPYNo9N-NFfxzPmZQmXERv5-VWvm6s4SjFoc55EEJDaDI/s320/DSCN2393.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DKhMtQXlrdAhpvkAE05eAaApGaZYaxm1hsCnHBaCt56BN9BfxvOFsb2M6J125s85Qeixju6MxvxASiAgeplZiYxTSuYm_pt-G-KAUhOKriUFjJ1gxIvZGkGpfc4VbjferDQUVUbnghU/s1600/DSCN2394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DKhMtQXlrdAhpvkAE05eAaApGaZYaxm1hsCnHBaCt56BN9BfxvOFsb2M6J125s85Qeixju6MxvxASiAgeplZiYxTSuYm_pt-G-KAUhOKriUFjJ1gxIvZGkGpfc4VbjferDQUVUbnghU/s320/DSCN2394.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMQS2P-JdjEf4msZK57mhK_bdMbMbPhKR1bqNoUerIJnh06n4CMegCD9rzfpQ0y1bJtKCK7BpYxAZXXj7gK1nEjFjc2QvXbrcXX8g785H5aZAVlKB31J3hc_3OYuZEPSjBwJuSMl94LM/s1600/DSCN2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMQS2P-JdjEf4msZK57mhK_bdMbMbPhKR1bqNoUerIJnh06n4CMegCD9rzfpQ0y1bJtKCK7BpYxAZXXj7gK1nEjFjc2QvXbrcXX8g785H5aZAVlKB31J3hc_3OYuZEPSjBwJuSMl94LM/s320/DSCN2396.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Next week the kids will measure themselves against an Emperor Penguin, complete a graph in their math notebook ("Have you seen a real penguin?"), and read more fiction and nonfiction penguin books.<br />
Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NmRiYzU3YWQtNGVmMS00ZDU4LThiMWItOTZhZGU1YjBkMjBk">here</a> to download the graph.<br />
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We will also complete the activity below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacqK-b6a-FbvkrVg9Llwbg_CmWDZXQwvRmUwtjKrOgWBIviZzW3UjV6rvc5Zdhc0DQSLSrM2QAJpjYNR3fXy14UNDaBmxKPoBcmrPjiq4gKTiFdKRA_iYvFHfr8jyup68p388KhYxpQE/s1600/DSCN2397.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacqK-b6a-FbvkrVg9Llwbg_CmWDZXQwvRmUwtjKrOgWBIviZzW3UjV6rvc5Zdhc0DQSLSrM2QAJpjYNR3fXy14UNDaBmxKPoBcmrPjiq4gKTiFdKRA_iYvFHfr8jyup68p388KhYxpQE/s320/DSCN2397.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-31369977537990206752012-01-05T22:30:00.000-06:002012-01-05T22:30:08.537-06:00It's Snowing in AlabamaSince there's a good chance we won't be seeing any real snow in Alabama, we started decorating the room to make it look like a winter wonderland. Here are a couple of my favorites for winter:<br />
Snowman Writing Activity<br />
I first give the kids a cut out snowman and let them decorate it with construction paper. We talk beforehand about what should go on their snowman- hat (what kind--toboggan, baseball cap, top hat..), stick arms, maybe gloves or mittens, a scarf, face details, buttons... I remind the children that each snowman should look different. I have found that when they create the accessories from construction paper the finished product turns out neater than if they use markers. Although I give in a little because a scarf can be hard to make from paper. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_gtiUCPV7Bc/TwZ3QFjyYwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/DQCX8GMeIRs/s1600/DSCN2388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_gtiUCPV7Bc/TwZ3QFjyYwI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/DQCX8GMeIRs/s320/DSCN2388.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fqjwAazttUc/TwZ3GSewxhI/AAAAAAAAAZE/jj8l9zUb--Q/s1600/DSCN2387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fqjwAazttUc/TwZ3GSewxhI/AAAAAAAAAZE/jj8l9zUb--Q/s320/DSCN2387.JPG" width="240" /></a> </div><br />
After they have created their snowman, they each write four descriptive sentences about it. I give them a couple of sentence starters like "My snowman has _____" or "He/She is wearing ______". The assignment is to create a LOST poster with a description of their snowman so that we can "find" their snowman. We discuss using color words, size words, numbers, and other appropriate adjectives.<br />
I like to display these on a bulletin board with the snowmen and posters seperated a bit. Once they're up, we'll go back and read the descriptions and see if we can match the snowmen to their descriptions.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HOK2MXbqRq8/TwZ3bcz5vtI/AAAAAAAAAZc/qRO-b26hxUI/s1600/DSCN2389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HOK2MXbqRq8/TwZ3bcz5vtI/AAAAAAAAAZc/qRO-b26hxUI/s320/DSCN2389.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_r_f-I5Efpo/TwZ4iJ0_tbI/AAAAAAAAAaA/6wJ0vbGZwJk/s1600/DSCN2384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_r_f-I5Efpo/TwZ4iJ0_tbI/AAAAAAAAAaA/6wJ0vbGZwJk/s320/DSCN2384.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0YTY3MGE2ZDAtZDk3YS00NzFhLWFkY2YtZmRjMTRmMWNkNWJl">here</a> to download the snowman template<br />
Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0ZTA1Njc3Y2MtNDI5Ny00ODcwLThmMjQtYWUyNWU3OTEyMTQ5">here</a> to download the LOST writing paper<br />
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3D Snowflakes<br />
I love to hang things from the ceiling, but I'm not a huge fan of it hanging in my classroom. Two other first grade teachers and I hang artwork in our little corner of the hall. Each month we swap it out with something that fits the theme. In August and September I hang the first letter of each child's name, in lots of different colored paper. In October, the kids paint candy corn to hang. In November, I hang their turkey glyphs. The children make poinsettias to hang in December. And that brings us to January. For the past 7 years I've had the kids make these 3D snowflakes. They are really simple to make and pretty to hang. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bdT2C3FSS24/TwZ3uduKcLI/AAAAAAAAAZo/gLyf3fmzwtY/s1600/DSCN2383.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bdT2C3FSS24/TwZ3uduKcLI/AAAAAAAAAZo/gLyf3fmzwtY/s320/DSCN2383.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9gHRp_K8D9k/TwZ33Fw31GI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/lTF2pYXPsJk/s1600/DSCN2391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9gHRp_K8D9k/TwZ33Fw31GI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/lTF2pYXPsJk/s320/DSCN2391.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
All you have to do is have each child cut out two snowflakes. Then line them up on top of each other and staple on the dotted line (I use three staples). Fold back the paper so it becomes 3D, and volia... a snowflake! Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0ZWQ2NmVhNjctZTA4Yy00ZmQyLThhMmYtYWUyNTMyOTQ4NzYz&hl=en_US">here</a> to download a copy of the snowflake.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-58155408886590462292011-12-05T09:12:00.000-06:002011-12-05T09:12:31.615-06:00Christmas Math CentersI (the kids in my class) have found a small mistake on one of the math centers I sold in my Christmas Cheer Math Pack. I fixed the mistake and downloaded the new pack to TPT. You can also click<a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0M2MzMzU0M2ItYjcxOC00MjYxLWIxMGEtMzk0MDk5OGYzYTg2"> here</a> to download the corrected set of cards. I created a card with the time 12:30, but really it should have been 1:30 to match with the clock. These cards belong to the "It's Almost Christmas Time" game. I'm sorry for the mistake!Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-5745803525540805642011-11-21T16:27:00.000-06:002011-11-21T16:27:25.238-06:00From Turkeys to ReindeerThis will be a smorgasbord of ideas all rolled into one post. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">First up... Turkey Word Work</span></strong><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-4SlNtcNLgX-w4tt-kfo58FNiDJhY2wvrieSeiDxiOwYkXpSudqu2UcebMESIG5q5touWQF7RUfR_V0PiXS9eWyNwIZZyDAtHODY_SJv5eLL4w1PUzBn3tAEqCs6kRXg6Bw7uWAsy1A/s1600/DSCN2280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ-4SlNtcNLgX-w4tt-kfo58FNiDJhY2wvrieSeiDxiOwYkXpSudqu2UcebMESIG5q5touWQF7RUfR_V0PiXS9eWyNwIZZyDAtHODY_SJv5eLL4w1PUzBn3tAEqCs6kRXg6Bw7uWAsy1A/s320/DSCN2280.JPG" width="320" /></a>Yes, I know, it's almost Thanksgiving now... and there's no way you could possibly use this idea this year...but I thought I'd share because I really liked it. Maybe you can tuck it away for next year. I found some word family turkeys last year on a blog. I loved them, but they were designed to practice long vowels. Since we're just now wrapping up short vowels I created some new turkeys to use as a short vowel review. My kids loved them. This project was one of their reading tubs a few weeks ago. Each child chose one turkey (each with a different word family) and six feathers. They wrote words for their word family on the feathers, colored, cut, glued, and voila...word family turkeys.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicS41oObcKOXJ-mUGFlFq3J5uK4vCDhQRxykJrwATEbBGPheuMnnvhUjfeFHpLiqv2_uA4z3SXddap_AIH3mx4o5HzQkU3s7qYMfXdkgJ0b31if5h9ZTG5LqwUJ1K5iw4qUkD4GLRRUNA/s1600/DSCN2281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicS41oObcKOXJ-mUGFlFq3J5uK4vCDhQRxykJrwATEbBGPheuMnnvhUjfeFHpLiqv2_uA4z3SXddap_AIH3mx4o5HzQkU3s7qYMfXdkgJ0b31if5h9ZTG5LqwUJ1K5iw4qUkD4GLRRUNA/s320/DSCN2281.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0NDcxYmJhNjktZWFhNC00ZjZjLTk2ZjQtMGYzZDg2MjljZDA2&hl=en_US">here</a> to download the turkey bodies<br />
Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NjUxOGYyMTEtMjUzYi00ZDljLWI1YzktZDQzNzg5YWYyNjEy">here</a> to download the feathers<br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Moving on to Reindeer</span></strong>... because Christmas is right around the corner. Now, I'm not one of those Christmas fanatics who puts up Christmas decorations the second week of November. But-- I do like to do these reindeer during the first few days of December so we can use them all month. I call them Reindeer Mail. I send home a letter to the parents requesting that they send in a small item (candy, Christmas pencil, small notebook, other junk from the Dollar Store) for the reindeer pockets. The children also spend a little time each day writing a note to each child in the class. For the notes, or Reindeer Mail, I tell the children who we are going to write a note to for that particular day. Within 17 days we have a note for each child. When I pick your name, you get to write a note to me :) By the time our Christmas party rolls around each child has a reindeer pocket full of little treats and special notes. We open them on the day of our party. Each first grade teacher does this and we all use our bulletin board outside the room to hang the reindeer. The kids are so excited to see what's inside.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVOvgM0RgoDrNvVVzXSi0Ze4e_wKPaWVfQW15eckyZqn3Kr0ZwPyMBh2BiFRSbXwsPnbH_zV66kGuM40KVNHAxeaVJf7cy1BQaz10ZHkG1VM9ULFd-rAfNrhNhtiD5c5XY4BIB9cYFXU/s1600/DSCN2289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVOvgM0RgoDrNvVVzXSi0Ze4e_wKPaWVfQW15eckyZqn3Kr0ZwPyMBh2BiFRSbXwsPnbH_zV66kGuM40KVNHAxeaVJf7cy1BQaz10ZHkG1VM9ULFd-rAfNrhNhtiD5c5XY4BIB9cYFXU/s320/DSCN2289.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
To make the reindeer pockets: fold a 12 X 18" piece of brown construction paper twice- until you have a V shape. Staple a few times on the back. I use the large circle di-cut for the eye balls and nose. We have a smaller circle di-cut that I use for the eyes. I always give them a choice of blue, brown or green for the middle of the eyes. I use a 4" di-cut 0, cut in half for the bridle. I like the look of glitter on the noses, but I do that part myself-- for obvious reasons :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNcisCFI75wCAB92ouEbJRyv6Us0JE3l6jhDwfw94a1XWgx6kST0109jhOlm_dTWd9UKyCJ4DkwD7N2q9vxW6jdEvQJQGweyJjNXDpQRbz5oWI7VCHAVG2uvneeaA_RPDDooqN9nXVaE/s1600/DSCN2291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNcisCFI75wCAB92ouEbJRyv6Us0JE3l6jhDwfw94a1XWgx6kST0109jhOlm_dTWd9UKyCJ4DkwD7N2q9vxW6jdEvQJQGweyJjNXDpQRbz5oWI7VCHAVG2uvneeaA_RPDDooqN9nXVaE/s200/DSCN2291.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfTJJdzpSzPFch0lSuXZzCiRaMWI96MMH8_Qd6QTeewdvr6IvNUb_7aIJCrTYCtspqMC5Z7N3AB82morvNpJoPS4bfVI5g0ct8zAVw6F0EUA_wNRvdztWMY95QOwnIeB1AGszL9vUqiE/s1600/DSCN2290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfTJJdzpSzPFch0lSuXZzCiRaMWI96MMH8_Qd6QTeewdvr6IvNUb_7aIJCrTYCtspqMC5Z7N3AB82morvNpJoPS4bfVI5g0ct8zAVw6F0EUA_wNRvdztWMY95QOwnIeB1AGszL9vUqiE/s200/DSCN2290.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Since I'm obviously not good at blogging each day-- or each week-- I'll share another idea. This is one of my favorites! Each year my kids make <strong><span style="color: lime;">Christmas books</span></strong> for their parents. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif45Lgu5vBv8uQ9HQuobhuaOm4TZyhmxhlmZTKRpBSYb7RrTnw381lIBgGa_g0qtzLSwdXd4N8vJnKQYi7jhDz-bXySuXe0xUeIHbLH-nI5jF-ng5wmy2ORKZW0WHXzmfWttZToWc8hP8/s1600/DSCN2283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif45Lgu5vBv8uQ9HQuobhuaOm4TZyhmxhlmZTKRpBSYb7RrTnw381lIBgGa_g0qtzLSwdXd4N8vJnKQYi7jhDz-bXySuXe0xUeIHbLH-nI5jF-ng5wmy2ORKZW0WHXzmfWttZToWc8hP8/s320/DSCN2283.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">These are similar to the Mother's Day books I wrote about in May. I order little blank books from a company called Bare Books. The kids create a Christmas book, called "Christmas Is..." We read Gail Gibbons' book, "Christmas Is..." first and start a discussion about Christmas. Then the children map out their book (click <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NTBlNzRmZTEtNzM3ZS00YTI4LWFkMGYtZmU4MjAyY2QwMDJj">here</a> for a copy). Each page starts out "Christmas is____" They fill in the blank with an -ing word and a noun. Some examples:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">baking cookies</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">sitting in Santa's lap</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">celebrating Jesus' birthday</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">listening for reindeer</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">decorating gingerbread houses</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">singing Christmas carols</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">hanging stockings</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">decorating the Christmas tree</div>opening presents<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">giving to others</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After doing the planning page, they write the words in their book. I type out the sentence frame, copy onto 3.5 X 5" labels, and stick in their books ahead of time.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Then for the next 10 days, the kids illustrate one page a day. I buy them the 64 count box of crayons to use for the second semester of school (because the 24 count is all yucky by this point). They LOVE all the color choices and always do a really nice job illustrating. We also decorate the cover and dedication page. Lastly, I have each child sit with me and I type the About the Author info (I've found this is so much faster than having each child write it themselves, bring it to me, and then try to decipher their writing). I also take a picture of them with a Santa hat to put on the About the Author page. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We spend a little time wrapping them in class (which is a hoot, because none know how to wrap). Then they go home as a present for their families.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10lxWFLOD0El9Mywihou3M3oADPpvmHBxICC0EsyBCnzFEmCPzvncpXE04BICOf9vq-6wQG2lvCjuZ8hbuDoyDoELROgEs65htim0kNAz_IvRS2VRA4eccCRlxx8-i6f6Lv7ndpe-70g/s1600/DSCN2284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10lxWFLOD0El9Mywihou3M3oADPpvmHBxICC0EsyBCnzFEmCPzvncpXE04BICOf9vq-6wQG2lvCjuZ8hbuDoyDoELROgEs65htim0kNAz_IvRS2VRA4eccCRlxx8-i6f6Lv7ndpe-70g/s320/DSCN2284.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8Mau13ZfSY3ZpXflNYO9F3HJat969xPVuAWqqDz1fuCqE0hPW755Ha14dwJQjtk_WadxBL-fdlyYZc0Lzl6vL6zVWYok47P1J32Puq5FpOVTcRY3A-zDiHwjJH_WhVImTMZHDL-qYXE/s1600/DSCN2285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8Mau13ZfSY3ZpXflNYO9F3HJat969xPVuAWqqDz1fuCqE0hPW755Ha14dwJQjtk_WadxBL-fdlyYZc0Lzl6vL6zVWYok47P1J32Puq5FpOVTcRY3A-zDiHwjJH_WhVImTMZHDL-qYXE/s320/DSCN2285.JPG" width="240" /></a> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYouV-cMvD3zunO7cyS0aVdZifbx0IK7rO5lGiJtdsLFGcADosQiUoMApBTHduqBSW6uo14ECe6Mp8FTJHO6Y4i6ZQNOciFPBUM71tQJppIf7XBbPSE-sBdGvM8JmJohgI6FHsOLuWj7Q/s1600/DSCN2286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYouV-cMvD3zunO7cyS0aVdZifbx0IK7rO5lGiJtdsLFGcADosQiUoMApBTHduqBSW6uo14ECe6Mp8FTJHO6Y4i6ZQNOciFPBUM71tQJppIf7XBbPSE-sBdGvM8JmJohgI6FHsOLuWj7Q/s320/DSCN2286.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5_lY7PxIHu1dV9jka5V21Y1d_dSPHMofaZsTJKkaNSp1szQysBQcyAmfEtgP0zUj_UZ_9Quwx5IDoz_S_cDmDrqoPfBqeVZ3VFVt0uWGwaE_ws7qZXgwnQGhhnNmki6EJ1w_DOBdi1M/s1600/DSCN2287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5_lY7PxIHu1dV9jka5V21Y1d_dSPHMofaZsTJKkaNSp1szQysBQcyAmfEtgP0zUj_UZ_9Quwx5IDoz_S_cDmDrqoPfBqeVZ3VFVt0uWGwaE_ws7qZXgwnQGhhnNmki6EJ1w_DOBdi1M/s320/DSCN2287.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Most years I have one child who doesn't celebrate Christmas. They will do a book called "My Family." Their sentence frame says "My family _______." This book is much harder for the kids to write, but it still works fairly well.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last on the blogging agenda...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I've created some <strong><span style="color: red;">Christmas Math Centers</span></strong>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOJSpF7zEKVulPASgKyt8-P-D7-WI2bYt7BtxbTF9G9ipxjQtE9XyECl7CPLa_yr5vjwR8zlupuKBFV5SR1Q_PSmMmTzLKriVgGIXj0mE3OxE1Ov22c9fHLfdg6P2iYPTgFcEkhCBRQM/s1600/Christmas+Cheer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOJSpF7zEKVulPASgKyt8-P-D7-WI2bYt7BtxbTF9G9ipxjQtE9XyECl7CPLa_yr5vjwR8zlupuKBFV5SR1Q_PSmMmTzLKriVgGIXj0mE3OxE1Ov22c9fHLfdg6P2iYPTgFcEkhCBRQM/s320/Christmas+Cheer.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">You can find them in my<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Cheer-Math-Centers"> TPT store</a> for just $5. These activities were made to cover Core Curriculum content for "real classrooms." My kids will be using them the next three weeks in their math tubs. If you check them out, or purchase them, I'd love to know what you think.</div><img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYouV-cMvD3zunO7cyS0aVdZifbx0IK7rO5lGiJtdsLFGcADosQiUoMApBTHduqBSW6uo14ECe6Mp8FTJHO6Y4i6ZQNOciFPBUM71tQJppIf7XBbPSE-sBdGvM8JmJohgI6FHsOLuWj7Q/s320/DSCN2286.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 74px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 2146px; visibility: hidden;" width="72" />Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-43083557760088734922011-10-30T14:26:00.001-05:002011-10-30T14:27:49.164-05:00Reading Tubs UpdateAfter trying reading tubs for a week, I know this is the direction I want to go with my class this year. It has been a natural fit, most likely because it's so closely structured to math tubs. The children had no trouble at all adjusting to this new change. And, an added bonus-- I "found" a little more time in the day for writing! Here's how my reading block looks now:<br />
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9:30-10:00- Whole group- phonemic awareness, phonics, grammar lessons<br />
10:00-10:45- Writing<br />
10:45-12:20- PE, Lunch, Recess<br />
12:25-1:05- Reading Tubs (pretty much Word Work and "Listening" choices)<br />
1:05-1:25- Read to Self<br />
1:25-1:40- Comprehension Lesson<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The only change I decided to make was to Tub 4. I started Reading Tubs thinking that Tub 4 would be computer. But, it turned out to be too much computer time. So now my kids will listen to a book (using BookFlix, TumbleBooks, or Storyline Online), then have some sort of writing response. After they are finished, they can go back to the computer until the time is up.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here's a peek into Reading Tubs for this week.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #674ea7;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">Tub A</span>-</span> Fall ABC Order. This is an activity I purchased from the ladies at <a href="http://madefor1stgrade.blogspot.com/">Made for 1st Grade</a>. If you haven't checked out their units, you should. I bought the Fall pack and loved it so much that I bought the Scarecrow unit, Thanksgiving unit, and Indian unit. After finishing the tub, the children will play Roll, Say, Keep with sight word cards.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfaE6-rrFTCQX9AlzzMB7apsASwmm4V6o1JZMy0DuRJjLDHOHUMTZkl_FeVEfLJg0CqJwsxgU4Te8G7XHee6CFHAZbCkbN8gIoAsCp1PQZP0grwLJS13VcRZB4HwWWw9uQhOYx4QXlFw/s1600/DSCN2202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfaE6-rrFTCQX9AlzzMB7apsASwmm4V6o1JZMy0DuRJjLDHOHUMTZkl_FeVEfLJg0CqJwsxgU4Te8G7XHee6CFHAZbCkbN8gIoAsCp1PQZP0grwLJS13VcRZB4HwWWw9uQhOYx4QXlFw/s320/DSCN2202.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Tub B</span>- This past week my kids learned about nocturnal animals. They made a cute owl/bat that a co-worker created. We ran out of time to add facts to the bat and the owl. So, this week my kids will use nonfiction books to write bat and owl facts on their owl/bat. After finishing this tub, the children will listen to books on the iPod.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_FJjQ2mL-tC8a-LZ0h6Fk1dSwz9JD7XHwHMGYLxfknrrw9iYTjjzSGL8ullldm7WRVpKidb3wPaNCDYJM_qrOl4SP5fmiNkWS9KkTpHvrKmdCnVzjCPbRl1ul_pfIucW2jWdiDhQ9vw/s1600/DSCN2203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV_FJjQ2mL-tC8a-LZ0h6Fk1dSwz9JD7XHwHMGYLxfknrrw9iYTjjzSGL8ullldm7WRVpKidb3wPaNCDYJM_qrOl4SP5fmiNkWS9KkTpHvrKmdCnVzjCPbRl1ul_pfIucW2jWdiDhQ9vw/s320/DSCN2203.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKdibgP0zyY8CxJKsdQ7tuKsvxHP3x82S5ElUEIdF7JjAGtBFyyXJH55HOR72dF6M2atb_stf2V8VeiKWCDHBgpT4I_DZc-Lvhw9UxyblQ-O_kEIzhMym64GpngEHfP9UiBJ0wB5yl_I/s1600/DSCN2207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKdibgP0zyY8CxJKsdQ7tuKsvxHP3x82S5ElUEIdF7JjAGtBFyyXJH55HOR72dF6M2atb_stf2V8VeiKWCDHBgpT4I_DZc-Lvhw9UxyblQ-O_kEIzhMym64GpngEHfP9UiBJ0wB5yl_I/s200/DSCN2207.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOBfwsHcOUEC7oLyiWo8H5v06RIcTz3kyVvSt5H2VmZ-msD-9264LunVbzFtZOfn37eszRgnPGC95EksEyISUtnntxR6l1OjbnD4vBE39voEFz5fjNIMOOsHzGySKo-fMuFH9qQdK1Qs/s1600/DSCN2208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOBfwsHcOUEC7oLyiWo8H5v06RIcTz3kyVvSt5H2VmZ-msD-9264LunVbzFtZOfn37eszRgnPGC95EksEyISUtnntxR6l1OjbnD4vBE39voEFz5fjNIMOOsHzGySKo-fMuFH9qQdK1Qs/s200/DSCN2208.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnj7yi0orWFw7qdnoTM_I6DdTRtvnZH37N6YSD2wJtjyuFFRzHevLHsYVW2_9HUUpYgPsdT3U8Bx8IiaKirAs5Sf00r_ZZFKf7wZ3o6u8FhPmuwt8CUehZB5VjogXAzGtW7hUWl_HH3UQ/s1600/DSCN2209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnj7yi0orWFw7qdnoTM_I6DdTRtvnZH37N6YSD2wJtjyuFFRzHevLHsYVW2_9HUUpYgPsdT3U8Bx8IiaKirAs5Sf00r_ZZFKf7wZ3o6u8FhPmuwt8CUehZB5VjogXAzGtW7hUWl_HH3UQ/s320/DSCN2209.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: orange;">Tub C</span>- Scarecrow Scrambled Sentences- This is another activity created by Made for 1st Grade. After finishing this tub the children will "Read to Someone."</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdl03eQVEP2u4kjqSVfIgJ0O475oq6eZDof1MHb6CZISbU9KsebtiZldR1jbjltwNKFr_f558TNinlh443kuYO-eOe3lGu013q7EVBSgDNDsAV1yxOFDiffXjwfcLrggm3dWynlrF2d8w/s1600/DSCN2205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdl03eQVEP2u4kjqSVfIgJ0O475oq6eZDof1MHb6CZISbU9KsebtiZldR1jbjltwNKFr_f558TNinlh443kuYO-eOe3lGu013q7EVBSgDNDsAV1yxOFDiffXjwfcLrggm3dWynlrF2d8w/s320/DSCN2205.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> <span style="color: #38761d;">Tub D</span>- After listening to a book online, the children will write a response- "What is your favorite part and why?"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrfA3ylO8Di355maOc1HaH4xW0NdYXThxj8KVVT6b4u2OImui4p61bFtXL1cZL32ibAtvVj4w_ry2q2nbPW4oSTY5nNEFMY7TgtB8ORB3YoGO__qxZn4fqfkT3sUjRTxlrGjKwWatWV0/s1600/DSCN2206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrfA3ylO8Di355maOc1HaH4xW0NdYXThxj8KVVT6b4u2OImui4p61bFtXL1cZL32ibAtvVj4w_ry2q2nbPW4oSTY5nNEFMY7TgtB8ORB3YoGO__qxZn4fqfkT3sUjRTxlrGjKwWatWV0/s320/DSCN2206.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-59718880698912510142011-10-25T16:17:00.000-05:002011-10-25T16:17:46.427-05:00Parent ConferencesYesterday was a long, but productive, day as I met with almost all of my parents. I wanted to share the conference form I use that is pretty quick and easy to write.<br />
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Several years ago, I used to write a paragraph about each child. It took so long to look at all of their assessments, then try to word a sweet, but direct, synopsis 18 different times. I decided there must be a quicker way. So, I created a checklist-style conference form. The skills closely relate to our lengthy report card. All of the "positives" are listed on one side and the "let's work on these" skills are listed on the other. Sometimes, I will put a checkmark on both sides (ex. If a child can count by 1s and 5s but not 10s, I will just circle the 1s and 5s on the "positive side" and then circle the 10s on the "negative side." ) I feel like it's a quick way for parents to see areas of praise and areas of concern. <br />
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Here's a look at my checklist. I have downloaded it as a Word document, in hopes that you could change it to meet your needs. Click on the picture to download.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B3q9lZGd46F0NTEyNWFjYTQtMzVkYy00ZDI2LWFlNWUtYzlkMDFjMWZkZWYy&hl=en_US"><img border="0" height="640" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa1oSlcNK9qj2uMCDSrqDLcuPsAEZLHE_Eog7aDtkFeYVO6lu1X5SqhVkgbWyop92ZFbEfqf1G2OUjU7ezefznjOwZgmKOQpHN0RGWy7aZuZtIeo09DTB6ahwYXBWGtwoKmbni7u8daY/s640/Conference+Form.png" width="531" /></a></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-50234515263197558382011-10-24T17:05:00.000-05:002011-10-24T17:05:45.100-05:00Trying out Reading TubsAlthough I have supported Daily Five for the past couple of years, there has always been something(s) about it I didn't like. I've changed it so many times that it hardly even resembles Daily Five anymore. Last week, the girls on my team got the wild idea to try Reading Tubs instead of Daily Five. I was so interested and excited that I stayed late on Friday afternoon trying to get it all set up for this week. Here's a first peek at Reading Tubs...<br />
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Reading Tubs are structured just like Math Tubs. The children are grouped into four groups (for now by reading ability, but they could definitely be mixed ability). I decided to label my reading tubs A, B, C, and D so I don't confuse the kids. Each child will go to one reading tub a day, for four days. Three of the tubs have a Word Work activity. The fourth tub with be computer (Starfall, BookFlix, Storyline Online, or Tumble Books). <br />
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After students are finished with their tub, they will have a second choice available. The four choices are a reading game, listening to books on the iPod, read to someone, and computer (Tub D will stay at the computer the whole time- no second choice). <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVITwMZXdn6U0H8wEA0_MHiHBQT4YTRU9ZlE_hCcKF7kXYig2yIa74u5j4KQVA8OiQPUQN5Z9sk85xnJ0TacZYQJyAxYqlnCQibFu6QbehzixX0raWZ1xaBYy6bYqKhtCLxDbtlUf7VDY/s1600/DSCN2194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVITwMZXdn6U0H8wEA0_MHiHBQT4YTRU9ZlE_hCcKF7kXYig2yIa74u5j4KQVA8OiQPUQN5Z9sk85xnJ0TacZYQJyAxYqlnCQibFu6QbehzixX0raWZ1xaBYy6bYqKhtCLxDbtlUf7VDY/s320/DSCN2194.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's my Reading Tubs chart</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3A9aGq_gTGn1WfYxDKa0CfhyphenhyphenCZUKgCRZB8jRVEJultyyU4d-BidReRvGBkxvR_3xTRxlvC7i68OFz7DE3v6f1zqttCpppIAqOtTe7ZY3AC-zBbpz61RIwKTa9yYZ0WCBNHJZk9ita-s/s1600/DSCN2195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3A9aGq_gTGn1WfYxDKa0CfhyphenhyphenCZUKgCRZB8jRVEJultyyU4d-BidReRvGBkxvR_3xTRxlvC7i68OFz7DE3v6f1zqttCpppIAqOtTe7ZY3AC-zBbpz61RIwKTa9yYZ0WCBNHJZk9ita-s/s320/DSCN2195.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's my Math Tub chart</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Here are the materials for reading and math:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGWqohvhoCYMd6H0ZDGh961UoofD2iY-L86e6eb_Oj2kph70-TpnWb9KihpancSZAaJQaOPpHAsWicw9CkW8a390c_IXGs01RbCvX8DWNdPiBu2QNZCnZgvNDJC_WPzk1s4WBXxJ-ptA/s1600/DSCN2196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGWqohvhoCYMd6H0ZDGh961UoofD2iY-L86e6eb_Oj2kph70-TpnWb9KihpancSZAaJQaOPpHAsWicw9CkW8a390c_IXGs01RbCvX8DWNdPiBu2QNZCnZgvNDJC_WPzk1s4WBXxJ-ptA/s200/DSCN2196.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImkVy86cKeT4WV-3zkUc1Nw8GcX-YcftniYpDzT9cG7N-0yl7RVa3G4aBlM8uS6QHkmcADS7O35PL-2FVuNu6YskrlPgCqd-sfamZWw8Ay8r2zDJsw0baDvjuEGGBLQ1PW7mip9v9bDE/s1600/DSCN2197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjImkVy86cKeT4WV-3zkUc1Nw8GcX-YcftniYpDzT9cG7N-0yl7RVa3G4aBlM8uS6QHkmcADS7O35PL-2FVuNu6YskrlPgCqd-sfamZWw8Ay8r2zDJsw0baDvjuEGGBLQ1PW7mip9v9bDE/s200/DSCN2197.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: lime;"><strong>PROS:</strong></span><br />
- shorter time spent- I plan to give the kids 35 minutes to work on Reading Tubs, instead of the 45-50 minutes we are currently spending with Word Work/Listening choices of Daily Five.<br />
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- less transition- Transitions are a struggle for my class this year. Instead of the whole class moving at once to a new choice, each child will move when he/she finishes the work.<br />
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- fewer materials needed- Currently I need at least 5 sets of a Word Work activity, and even with that my children have to work with a partner. When one group doesn't finish Word Work on time it messes up the next group of children who should be using those materials. With Reading Tubs, I can create 4 sets and all children can work alone and not have to worry about someone else needing their materials.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><strong>CONS:</strong></span><br />
- less time for listening choices- With this system the children will only go to a listening choice if they are finished with their Word Work. Hopefully this will be motivation for them to finish early, but if not they will miss about 10 minutes of listening time.<br />
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I had parent/teacher conferences all day today, so I haven't actually tried out Reading Tubs yet. I can't wait to get started with them tomorrow. I'll let you know how they go.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-91549104102586536942011-10-19T20:10:00.000-05:002011-10-19T20:10:56.773-05:00Free Halloween Math GamesMy kids (and I) are loving all of the fun Halloween-themed things going on right now. We've learned about pumpkins, scarecrows, bats and spiders. And coming up soon-- owls. I created a few Halloween games to spice up math tubs. They have been a big hit.<br />
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<span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Spook-tacular Tens</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">One of the Common Core standards in first grade is to determine the meaning of the equals sign and have children tell if equations are true or false. I created this little game to begin teaching the concept of equal and not equal-- plus it fits in nicely with our addition strategy of the week-- tens partners. The children sort the addition fact cards into "Equals 10" or "Doesn't Equal 10". Then they record their answers on the recording sheet. Click on the picture to download a copy.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0YWFhZWFlNWEtNTg5Ny00Y2IwLThiYjAtZjE2YjI4YzljMTY5&hl=en_US"><img border="0" height="239" rda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdQAo0dj9nPEvAjwPp2qkf3977mfYxe4juImNGZMuZ7IzbOYs2wSLnaBwbqKwjRNwxr5lLO6erZk4DCVD-1CiUzWTRu2S0pV7ftTrcjQ6BXWkMOBpuhv3lhfQaHR9dg-1q4h_QzO45_zY/s320/Spook-tacular+Tens+Game.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>Spooky Coin Count</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">The next game focuses on counting like coins-- pennies, nickels, and dimes. The children sort the cards by the coin type. They count their money and record on the sheet by skip counting. Click on the picture below to download.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0YTI1YWI5ZGItYzMzMS00Mzc0LTlkMDctMDY1ZTY5Y2Y5NTAz&hl=en_US"><img border="0" height="165" rda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BzZL691A3FRmszNyCjU1XTHGyhMQ_cHUMkb96aQ3JV9nwp3g9VKPRPyotR_9rXLwF3bm__5UJBAOWa4ocYiuCn-NaXaGI1QVppd-_I7gqjEv46vslB_P8qvJCl-iJA8q1dXxa3qqO5I/s320/Spooky+Tens.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><strong>Double Double, Toil and Trouble</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">My kids are loving this game this week! The directions say to use 7 pennies in the middle of the witches pot. Instead, I've let them use candy. They aren't even eating it-- just using it in the game. It's the little things, I guess! Anyway, a partner teacher said she was making her kids use 13 objects if they are playing with three in a group. That extends the length of the game a little. Good thinking, Jan :)</span><br />
Click on the picture to download.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0MGExZTljYmEtNjU2OC00NjFkLWE4MGItNmFkYTNiOGZhNDkx&hl=en_US"><img border="0" height="247" rda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBS90hpyiotlz3npNPL1HRQ-Jvt6TsXfFDI8XGl7JvKbIBmbaRoz-A9Zlb_h_Ds9svylB5_lF09RGZ3ltMvglcBQqksOB5hhyphenhyphencpcQ7dcLTwM0PAgeAxrCgxRMxAlEy1n3BCSkeaUychk/s320/Double.png" width="320" /></a></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-41495899191691036422011-10-12T17:27:00.000-05:002011-10-12T17:27:42.653-05:00Pumpkin ParadeLast year, all of the first grade teachers had a pumpkin parade on Halloween. The children decorated a pumpkin to look like a book character. They brought the book to school to sit out with their pumpkin. Each class rotated to the other classrooms to see all the pumpkins. I was blown away by their creativity! Later, we put the pumpkins in the hallway for other classes to see. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B3q9lZGd46F0OGNlYzRiNjctOTJhZi00ODE4LTgwYWYtYjE4YmYzOGNiZDhk&hl=en_US">here</a> to download the parent letter I sent home.<br />
Here are some pictures from last year<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_o2YK_jdQzmIASAHMRp645ff7KhW9vBx3AHy6-jEbl8i7_Gx5ML9vj11aRfiBaj5PEuIv_QdE1ChJA6SEXxg0S7MU9tJ66th92tl0QKJdHNNUfF34ZVMI5nLAZ_pBI08tzOh9Tm64Rs/s1600/DSCN1216.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_o2YK_jdQzmIASAHMRp645ff7KhW9vBx3AHy6-jEbl8i7_Gx5ML9vj11aRfiBaj5PEuIv_QdE1ChJA6SEXxg0S7MU9tJ66th92tl0QKJdHNNUfF34ZVMI5nLAZ_pBI08tzOh9Tm64Rs/s320/DSCN1216.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm2cVCP3PLJ2L3QMC_5spuTWFbKZMFQJSf2gYNsjFM26tDy_5-6iw4DSa3GhrthKLwzqNee5E4T4yx2H4SuLtjsslGZIilnYsgNPomXUdI9xxyZpBHY7VNbhequ0vfNvBBi4XJBuCERA/s1600/DSCN1215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm2cVCP3PLJ2L3QMC_5spuTWFbKZMFQJSf2gYNsjFM26tDy_5-6iw4DSa3GhrthKLwzqNee5E4T4yx2H4SuLtjsslGZIilnYsgNPomXUdI9xxyZpBHY7VNbhequ0vfNvBBi4XJBuCERA/s320/DSCN1215.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqil_YjddZ3eaN2xfIt3izIrlqHlUGnwQHy7hAJFhs9xmDe8WnHM3NR8DFi0qvpPjFQLvF_OgqkqEnpuvTU4wFjd8u1u7k7uecJISlI-gpP7fYV6lXK3WctKUPuLL6dJZH0qupvYZdys/s1600/DSCN1230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLqil_YjddZ3eaN2xfIt3izIrlqHlUGnwQHy7hAJFhs9xmDe8WnHM3NR8DFi0qvpPjFQLvF_OgqkqEnpuvTU4wFjd8u1u7k7uecJISlI-gpP7fYV6lXK3WctKUPuLL6dJZH0qupvYZdys/s320/DSCN1230.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-74204383191440304292011-10-11T21:15:00.000-05:002011-10-11T21:15:37.404-05:00Daily Five...Well Really Just FourIs it just me, or do all the rest of you have a hard time getting in the Daily Five every day? I love the Daily Five routine, but after trying it out last year I had to tweak it to fit my teaching style and time constraints.<br />
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I didn't like the jumpiness (is that a word?) of teaching a mini lesson, breaking for choices, mini lesson, choices... so I combined several mini lessons into one. I spend 30 minutes teaching the Harcourt lesson for the day. We do the question of the day, phonemic awareness warm-up, a phonics lesson, and a quick grammar lesson. I'm also trying out the Phonics Dance this year. So far I like it :) I try to include a word family several days a week too (on the posters in the picture below-- I just use Vis-a-Vis markers to erase at the end of the year)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLJj9h9Y7lhClxl4tDDIXmg05vTkRebHO57Hf3AECQZExZSQEkGVKGoCsT1xQVKJaiWUDWNf2kTtoEwjwSgwnEyqiHM5qVJQYdEIVOmrUTjuQgf1ikBTkLwXA0M3LKONrI-MvUiJ__yU/s1600/DSCN1963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLJj9h9Y7lhClxl4tDDIXmg05vTkRebHO57Hf3AECQZExZSQEkGVKGoCsT1xQVKJaiWUDWNf2kTtoEwjwSgwnEyqiHM5qVJQYdEIVOmrUTjuQgf1ikBTkLwXA0M3LKONrI-MvUiJ__yU/s200/DSCN1963.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br />
Then it's on to Read to Self. We started school way at the beginning of August, so my kiddos are pretty good at it now. My goal is 20 minutes, but sometimes it goes a little long if my intervention groups run over. I'm a control freak. So, my kids all Read to Self at the same time. I love this time every day. It is my intervention time, and the room is oh so quiet :) Even though it's really no choice, I still refer to Read to Self as Choice #1.<br />
Here are a few pictures from Read to Self after the first month of school.<br />
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Next it's writing time. I so wish I had multiple times in my day for the kids to write. I would love a Writing Workshop time and a Work on Writing time--- but in the real world that just isn't happening. So, Work on Writing is also done whole group. I usually have 30 minutes or so for a quick mini lesson and quiet writing time. I keep one day a week for journal writing; the other days focus on our writing unit. My kids think Writing is Choice #2 (again though it's not really a choice).<br />
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I have a nice break in the day for PE, lunch, and then recess. Once we get settled back in, I have a little over an hour before Specials. I start with a comprehension lesson. I use Harcourt one or two days a week, then throw in a little Reading with Meaning later in the week.<br />
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The last part of my Daily Four are Word Work and Listening. I have 17 children in my class and only four computers. That is a little bit of a dilemma if I need half of the kids "listening to reading." So, I break up my class into half. Nine kids do Word Work (alone or with a partner- it's their choice). The other half are divided up among three Listening choices- computer, iPod, and Read to Someone. On the computer they have limited choice- BookFlix, TumbleBooks, Storyline Online, or Starfall. This is probably their favorite Listening choice. I purchased the Scholastic books on CD and downloaded them to my iPod. The children have a tub of books to choose from when they go to the iPod choice. Read to Someone is pretty explanatory if you're already familiar with Daily Five. The kids keep the same listening choice for one week, then swap to a new one. The Listening/Word Work time is when I meet with students for reading conferences, small groups, and DIBELS progress monitoring (and lately for assessments-- hopefully those will be wrapping up soon, since report cards are almost finished). <br />
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This system has worked pretty well this year. My class hasn't seemed to notice that choices are omitted from the Daily 4. They really seem to like all of the activities, although Read to Self isn't their favorite.<br />
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I'm curious... How do you fit it all in? I'd love for you to share.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696663552223718490.post-11866276389826502132011-10-04T20:44:00.001-05:002011-10-04T20:46:09.467-05:00Directed Drawing -- Spider Webs<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kGEovE4mlPVZsZY6ruV23LYVaP3TECRbxIDlovT0AVDHuhJ6gETEPBJgrt9q1d5QkPTjYNK1q61_1QlPR4SEvdC0z4MOQKar3-UPqfoMSjP6jsg8x8P9cUew9M9XAbN2AZVpMJfqHc8/s1600/jss_toilandtrouble_spider+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kGEovE4mlPVZsZY6ruV23LYVaP3TECRbxIDlovT0AVDHuhJ6gETEPBJgrt9q1d5QkPTjYNK1q61_1QlPR4SEvdC0z4MOQKar3-UPqfoMSjP6jsg8x8P9cUew9M9XAbN2AZVpMJfqHc8/s200/jss_toilandtrouble_spider+1.png" width="200" /></a>Each October I love to have my kids draw spider webs. It is a great activity to practice listening skills (they all need more help with that!) and to learn how to use a ruler as a straight edge. It's also a great way to teach math vocabulary like vertical, horizontal, diagonal, half, fourths, eighths, middle, equal, and so on.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9hfBX7gBRwRrNp27Jd1vrfXt_Du3XYawHIU4V9xjEWRZVpFR5C7DJ3AKFnQbUd6gsW54yqRzrmOyaPVgJEWz0Hhha0sF8seDTxSMzqcuU1wUoXdgqWtS5CIWCSHY1Povrq-WHVaWi8k/s1600/DSCN2141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9hfBX7gBRwRrNp27Jd1vrfXt_Du3XYawHIU4V9xjEWRZVpFR5C7DJ3AKFnQbUd6gsW54yqRzrmOyaPVgJEWz0Hhha0sF8seDTxSMzqcuU1wUoXdgqWtS5CIWCSHY1Povrq-WHVaWi8k/s200/DSCN2141.JPG" width="200" /></a>Start by giving each child an 8 X 8 piece of black construction paper. Have them find the center of the paper and put a dot. I walk around and see if they put their dot close to the center. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be close.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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Then they will use a ruler to draw a vertical line down the middle and a horizontal line across the middle. As they are drawing at their desk, I create one with them step by step on the Promethean Board.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN0GQE3_sIpJ275T3UiZFplOFBSfp4L1miTwWJ-0ygdaihaDzqw8Uu1ZP2cSHF35s_dLc5uzIQicrcwIeQ8iw33zUUVfM_goyc06jIccg-XzsZUxyDt66WezqlYQSmDUgI4q-loHbJtI/s1600/DSCN2142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCN0GQE3_sIpJ275T3UiZFplOFBSfp4L1miTwWJ-0ygdaihaDzqw8Uu1ZP2cSHF35s_dLc5uzIQicrcwIeQ8iw33zUUVfM_goyc06jIccg-XzsZUxyDt66WezqlYQSmDUgI4q-loHbJtI/s200/DSCN2142.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Next, they will need to draw the diagonal lines. I have them start at the center and draw towards the corner, four times (instead of making two longer lines). This helps those who didn't get their dot exactly in the center of the paper.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTUtqyCpbb-Jle-3we3D_Yys2MVyuU4UPwD62BMf5vJEoV-_VUXIQvGIQ3tgAoLpKowoqwMvkyPdOKMuLMo699_tKD81tbyxm_ytLd8520q5ukYcBPbipvceX1xaHg9XmRtJOc58mAu8/s1600/DSCN2144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPTUtqyCpbb-Jle-3we3D_Yys2MVyuU4UPwD62BMf5vJEoV-_VUXIQvGIQ3tgAoLpKowoqwMvkyPdOKMuLMo699_tKD81tbyxm_ytLd8520q5ukYcBPbipvceX1xaHg9XmRtJOc58mAu8/s200/DSCN2144.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE83okBDwGdejcKf66-4Abi4L-LDkGi5eZNeinVVkR9fMoyfA3Xl60sOJOR5ts5nIlDB4JELEYuXDDV4GgCAsNUP7FGUk9c0WS5knIwz8mlEmgIgQvTHpcY6mdhKfqgnePBvJZyIubAI0/s1600/DSCN2143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE83okBDwGdejcKf66-4Abi4L-LDkGi5eZNeinVVkR9fMoyfA3Xl60sOJOR5ts5nIlDB4JELEYuXDDV4GgCAsNUP7FGUk9c0WS5knIwz8mlEmgIgQvTHpcY6mdhKfqgnePBvJZyIubAI0/s200/DSCN2143.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After all the lines are drawn they will make four dots on each line. This is the part you will need to model explicitly. Many will want to draw their dots super close together, or draw more than four. (I drew mine more as lines, instead of dots, so they would show up in the picture. I don't have the kids make them that big).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSISIshKvwKMDYkXCer-tPnZHCXDu7ihq0yr2AVp7-ls35lOBR6Wew67G6G3xcerXQa-xmOOChvDsOZYW2uBiLPkbeExdxzGCoDSBDSzT5_VX5D08_kiFR60Gfj-58MlL4v3g38c-BEK8/s1600/DSCN2145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSISIshKvwKMDYkXCer-tPnZHCXDu7ihq0yr2AVp7-ls35lOBR6Wew67G6G3xcerXQa-xmOOChvDsOZYW2uBiLPkbeExdxzGCoDSBDSzT5_VX5D08_kiFR60Gfj-58MlL4v3g38c-BEK8/s200/DSCN2145.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>After all the dots are drawn, they will connect the dots. This part can be a little tricky. So you'll need to model it a couple of times before they do their own. I show them two different ways. One way is to draw straight lines to connect the dots. The other way is to draw swooped lines. I show them both and let them decide. Most know their own artistic (and spatial) abilities and choose appropriately :) <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqxzGV9c5V4D4tQKlyuEbZhky_FLa6PLCq8KO24vPwidk9vXYpimFdQG1WAhaDwMKk5tZvA5qReDfYmGLMInFVk_n8Pi7J1r_VHAnpaoQthT3YyyPtGM1bgsqYal5zMfgoYrfYsSnFEY/s1600/DSCN2146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqxzGV9c5V4D4tQKlyuEbZhky_FLa6PLCq8KO24vPwidk9vXYpimFdQG1WAhaDwMKk5tZvA5qReDfYmGLMInFVk_n8Pi7J1r_VHAnpaoQthT3YyyPtGM1bgsqYal5zMfgoYrfYsSnFEY/s200/DSCN2146.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwQLlx1JiL-lT5YkW8C-PBT865SYbtPWYwPMTKXWSUPrriQAvAs8Vh0kVqV0xK2ZGRyrT3q3H14fknpLkN22jEEZfXLVrvRhyphenhypheniAiOTzJd1a3kIuOThARmY4QJumPqid3OEZAecEgDksQ/s1600/DSCN2147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZwQLlx1JiL-lT5YkW8C-PBT865SYbtPWYwPMTKXWSUPrriQAvAs8Vh0kVqV0xK2ZGRyrT3q3H14fknpLkN22jEEZfXLVrvRhyphenhypheniAiOTzJd1a3kIuOThARmY4QJumPqid3OEZAecEgDksQ/s200/DSCN2147.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>In my example, I used silver Sharpie (which turned out looking pretty good). I usually have the kids draw with pencil. Then a parent volunteer or I go back and trace over the lines with silver glitter glue. They turn out so cute (even those children that don't follow your directions at all still end up drawing a spider web-- it looks more like a web you've just walked through instead of one a spider just built, but no the less it's still a web!)<br />
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I'm planning to do this activity next week with my firsties. I'll post pictures after they make theirs.Lauren Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10452360705108760605noreply@blogger.com3