Our Class Has Heart and Currently February

Teaching With TLC had a simple and super cute heart art activity.  And she has a link to a video trailer for the book as well.

So we read the book My Heart is Like a Zoo and watched the trailer.  Then we used a lot of hearts and made an animal.  Finally we had to think of a sentence that used our animal and a descriptive word describing our animal.  SO cute and accessible for all my budding artists!

Checking out the arrangement.

Oh Boy 4th Grade is having her monthly "Currently" party.  I love seeing what everyone is currently up to!

Happy Wednesday,
Laurie

Math Fluency

I have a love/hate relationship with timed tests.  For reading I absolutely despise it....in no part of real life does reading for speed help you out.  Recall of basic math facts, on the other hand, is essential as math skills become more complicated.  To help with this, every Friday, we take a 10 minute math test.  Each test has 100 problems and is by number...+1, +2, +3 you get the idea.  The goal is to get 90 or more correct.  All students start the year with +1 or they may choose to challenge the math skill (they take the end of the book addition mixed test)  If they pass then they do the same process for subtraction. 

I keep track in a binder and up on a great set of cupboards that are perfectly sectioned into fours.  One for addition, one for subtraction, one for multiplication, and one for division. Each student has a baseball glove and earns colored baseballs for each test they pass.

Most students are on addition.  A few have moved onto subtraction and one is working on division. 











So when students walk in the door, on Friday, they get their test out of the math test file drawer, put their name on the paper, and turn it upside down on the desk while they work on morning work. The files match their baseball glove so they know which color folder to find their test.

I realize this sounds complicated, but students have been doing it since September and have it down to an art:-) Once they all have their test, I set a timer for 10 minutes and off they go.

Happy Tuesday,
Laurie

Just Can't Live Without Linky

Dragonflies in First is having a fun linky party.  And I just can't resist a good party!

Simply share the things you "just can't live without" in your classroom.  Here goes:

1)  Books~Every classroom needs a great library so kids have access to good books everyday!  Label it, teach kids how to use it, and talk about it all the time!

2)  The Tiny Transition Music Box--it plays Take Me Out to the Ballgame and lets students know when to transition from one thing to another or switch from session 1, to 2, to 3, during Reader's Workshop.  The kids are fascinated by it and it plays simply by winding it on the desk.



3) Lighting~I am not a fan of fluorescent lighting, so the more I can use anything other way to light the room, bring it on!  There are lamps around the room and thank goodness for the windows that run the length of the classroom!





I really needed to do five, so here are the two runners up that didn't make the top 3.
Pinterest~so many brilliant treasures to be discovered there.
Scentsy Warmer~because I like a room to smell like cookies!

Happy Monday!
Laurie

Valentine's Day Linky Party

Another linky party.  These are so fun!  Funky First Grade Fun is having a What Do You Love Party.

I Love:
Secondly, I am super excited to be the winner of Darlin' in First's Personal Narrative Unit!  I will definitely be adding it to my Lucy Calkin's writing curriculum!  So cute!

Happy Sunday,
Laurie

Buttons and Bookbags

We love reading, but putting away our supplies is becoming a problem:-)  My class keeps their just right reading materials in bookbags.  Some of them have a difficult time remembering to put their bookbag back in their cubby and because the bookbag has no name, it is often problematic returning it to it's home.  I reuse the bag each year, so didn't want to use paint to identify the bags.  I thought about stringing letters onto safety pins and attaching the safety pins to the bag, but the thought of having them fall off and finding the beads everywhere didn't seem like a workable plan.  Solution....buttons!  My school happens to have a button maker and after an hour of trying to figure it out, another teacher and I finally got the apparatus doing its job! 

Some of us putting our stuff in its home:-)

Bring on the buttons!  First I had my chickadees put their name in a circle and decorate it.

Then I collected the button making machine pieces.












And the button supplies

Finished!

I can not wait to the chickadees what I have been up to AND be able to return bookbags to the appropriate reader!

Happy Saturday!

Laurie

Mental Images

Images of a distinguished Edward

Mental Images is such a fun comprehension item to teach.  I like to start with poetry or short phrases from descriptive books.  We have made mental images of Edward Tulane, after reading his description.  "He had china arms and china legs, china paws and a china head, a china torso and a china nose. His arms and legs were jointed and joined by wire so that his china elbows and china knees could be bent, giving him much freedom of movement.
    His ears were made of real rabbit fur, and beneath the fur, there were strong, bendable wires, which allowed the ears to be arranged into poses that reflected the rabbit’s mood — jaunty, tired, full of ennui. His tail, too, was made of real rabbit fur and was fluffy and soft and well shaped.
    The rabbit’s name was Edward Tulane, and he was tall. He measured almost three feet from the tip of his ears to the tip of his feet; his eyes were painted a penetrating and intelligent blue.
    In all, Edward Tulane felt himself to be an exceptional specimen. Only his whiskers gave him pause. They were long and elegant (as they should be), but they were of uncertain origin....The china rabbit was in possession of an extraordinary wardrobe composed of handmade silk suits, custom shoes fashioned from the finest leather and designed specifically for his rabbit feet, and a wide array of hats equipped with holes so that they could easily fit over Edward’s large and expressive ears. Each pair of well-cut pants had a small pocket for Edward’s gold pocket watch. Abilene wound this watch for him each morning."

We read a funny Jack Prelutsky poem and drew our image of his words.

Love how the bottom one has the girl, just peeking over the fence!

My Neighbor's Dog is Purple

My neighbor's dog is purple,

its eyes are large and green,

its tail is almost endless,

the longest I have seen.

My neighbor's dog is quiet,

it does not bark one bit,

but when my neighbor's dog is near.

I feel afraid of it.

My neighbor's dog looks nasty,

it has a wicked smile....

before my neighbor painted it,

it was a crocodile.

-Jack Prelutsky

More images tomorrow!

Jennyfer@ Teaching in the Couv has a Top 10 list of books she uses for mental images.  I can't wait to try some of them out!

Happy Thursday,

Laurie

Groundhog's Day, Super Bowl, Symbols and Some Double Digit Math

We accomplished quite a bit today!  First we predicted whether or not the Groundhog would be discovering his shadow tomorrow morning.  I made a chart for students to collect their information.  Then students simply colored a groundhog and added it to the chart.  Love the cute groundhogs from Sharing Kindergarten has a really cute Groundhog's Day Unit....and it's FREE! 

Then we predicted who we thought would be winning the Super Bowl.  Because Patriotic is one of our American Symbol words, my class replaced Patriots with Patriotics:-).   BTW both teams are patriotic due to their red, white, and blue coloring.

So far the Giants are expected to win, with three more votes than the Patriots.











Our math unit is currently working with adding double digit numbers.  First of all, I won a set of super cute posters from, Emily@ Second Grade Silliness.  We refer to them everyday!  Today, we went on a double digit math problem scavenger hunt.  Tape 10 problems around the room and students have to find the problem, copy the problem, and solve the problem...so simple, but so engaging!  Thank you Amy@ Step into Second Grade for the great unit!  (She also has a  President's Unit that is adorable and FREE!)

Finally today, we played American Symbol memory.  I printed and laminated cards from OopseyDaisy's blog and we had a fun time making symbol matches.  We also played a different version where one partner had to give clues for the symbol they were thinking about and the other partner had to guess which one it was.

Happy Wednesday,
Laurie