Pumpkins, Spiders, and Bats . . . Oh, MY!!!

Well, this is actually just the Spiders and Bats part.   I wanted to go ahead and post this in case some of you needed ideas for next week! J

This week is our review week.  Every couple of themes we have a review week where we review what we have learned so far.  It usually comes right before report cards are due to the office so we are able to assess our student’s knowledge and skills.  Here is a look what we are doing in centers this week:

Chunky Monkey – Read the Hall

We decided instead of Read the Room we would do READ the HALL.  Might as well use all the space you can! This week the students are reading the words on pumpkins and putting them under the correct vowel sound.

Orange Pumpkins are 3 letter words with short vowels.

Green Pumpkins are for higher level students, longer words but still short vowels.

 

We put the words low on the ground so the students can sit on the ground instead of dragging their clipboard down the wall. ;)

This isn't the best picture, but you get the idea.  The students illustrate the words if they have time.

Word Wall – Review all Words

This week students are rolling a die and finding a word with that many letters.  If there isn’t a space or if they roll a six they roll again.

Vocabulary – Bat Part Words

Students read the Scholastic News about bats and then they label the parts of the bat by pulling out bat cards one by one.  (If you get Scholastic News at your school be sure to check out the videos that match it on the web!  They are GREAT!!)

Comprehension – Story Structure - Stellaluna

On Monday, I read Stellaluna to my students then each student had to create a story map that included that Characters, Setting, Problem, and Solution.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture.  We just folded a paper in half and half again to get the 4 parts and then they recorded each part in a different corner.

Comprehension – Noting Details – A House Spider’s Life

On Tuesday, I read A House Spider’s Life then I created a circle map of what we learned about spiders.  When I make circle maps I like to draw the picture in the middle.  I also like to teach my students how to draw.  I found this in Follow the Directions and Draw It All by Yourself.  The students then had to write 3 sentences about what they learned in the book.  When they finished they drew a spider.

Comprehension – Compare and Contrast – Spider and Bat

Today we read a nonfiction book about bats and created another circle map about bats.  The students then compared the two animals.

Comprehension – Fantasy and Realism - Spider and Bat

Tomorrow we review what we learned and then the students will read facts and decide if they are real or fantasy.   I don’t have any picture since we haven’t done this yet but you can download this activity here!

A                                       B   

Each student gets a bag that has all of the A cards, and one REAL Fantasy Strip from the B page.  They then sort the A cards under the correct heading.  I print 6 copies of page A all on different colors so they don't get mixed up!