Sunday, December 11, 2011

Holiday Craft Ideas - Economics Unit

Each year we do a Holiday Themed Economics Unit.  To help the students understand our learning goals:

The students act as “Elf Factory” workers and make holiday themed crafts.  I explain to them that if they worked in a crayon factory they wouldn’t get to take home the crayons they made so they don’t get to take home the crafts they make, but instead they earn RR (school pretend) money.  Of course, I take in to account the quality of their work when deciding how much to pay each child.  I also offer bonuses to any student that helps others, has good behavior, or helps with additional clean-up.  After making the crafts, the students must pay their bills to help them understand that we first spend money on our needs.  Then with the money they have left over they are able to purchase items that were made in our workshop. 
Here is a look at some of the things we have made so far! (Just in case you need some ideas!)


I found these beads at AJ Moore in Red, Green, and Clear



Use 1 green pipe cleaner

Snowflakes: Use 3 Silver Pipe Cleaners, cut in half twist around each other in the middle, add beads



Grinch Pills - I found this idea on Pinterest!



Christmas Trees with Fruit Loops


I found these foam ornaments at Walmart $5 for 36!

Dog Theme - Triple Clusters, Math Tubs, Question Words FREEBIES

Last week our story was called Dog School, so our centers had a dog theme!  J
Phonics - Triple Clusters, Silent Blends
We learned about Triple Clusters.  Here is a match the dog to the bone.  After my students matched the dogs and bones they practiced using them in sentences.



Download HERE!

We also practiced reading words with silent blends.



Vocabulary- Question Words, Story Words

We also learned about question words.  I thought it would be fun to have a “fantasy” dog birthday party.  Here is the little invite and then the students practice answer “W” words questions.  I got this idea HERE from Sarah Cooley’s Quints Baby Shower Invite!

 
Download HERE! 

Story Words: Illustrate, use in a sentence.



Comprehension- Predicting and Sequencing
We practiced predicting with the story, Harry and the Dirty Dog.  The students had to predict where Harry would take the brush.  Then next day they sequenced the events in the story.  I found this sequencing page in the Teacher Helper Magazine.  We also sequenced the events in our main story, Dog School.






Math- Time to the Hour, Counting by 2s

This week for in Math we are practicing counting by 2s.  We also learned how to tell time to the hour!  Here is a look at our a few of our Math Stations.
 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Phonics Pack Mistake

I found a mistake in the Phonics Pack -- I wrote Pepperment instead of Peppermint. If you already purchased this pack, please redownload to get the correct version.


Saturday, November 26, 2011

Cyber Monday TPT Sale - Phonics Pack Preview

On Monday everything in my TPT store will be 20% off.
 This includes a newly uploaded Phonics Pack – This Holiday themed packed includes a Digraph Sorting Activity with sh, ch, wh, and th Elves and 24 ornament word cards AND a holiday ABC order activity.  Both of these Phonics activities also have recording sheets!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Wild Weather - Math and Literacy Fun

Hey Everyone!  Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving Break!  I wanted to share some ideas we did a few weeks ago.  Our phonics skill was l blends – I decided to use clouds to teach this skill.  Our comprehension skill was Drawing Conclusions.  That is such a tough skill for this age group but once I found the BUG eyed Weather Kids from Scrappin Doodles I knew my students would love this skill!  From there the Literacy and Math ideas all linked together!  J

Math – Estimation
 How many cotton balls will it take to cover the picture?



I always put the picture on my ELMO and project it onto the SMART Board then I place one (counter, cotton ball) on the picture for the students to use as a reference.  Then the students record their guess. Then we cover, count, and the students record the actual amount it took to cover the picture.  We also talk about how a good guess is within 5.  So we decide if "we" made "good" guesses!

Math – Estimate and Measure
How long is the line in big and mini marshmallows?

Literacy– Drawing Conclusions
We used the same pictures from the cotton ball activity and the students had to draw a conclusion about what type of weather in each picture.


Literacy– Word Wall
We even used the letters in CLOUDS to practice the words on our word wall.


Creative Writing
We used the same pictures.  The students wrote about some of the pictures.



Poetry
We read a poem about Rain and found the rhyming words.



If you are interested in any of these ideas, plus a few more,  You can purchase this unit in my TPT store!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Scholastic NEWS - Freebie

Just in case you have scholastic NEws in your classroom.  Here is a FREEBIE!

Thanksgiving Up Close

You may have to be a member!


Here is a sheet to use in your classroom!



At Home Reading Program

We LOVE to READ!!!
Does your school have an at Home Reading Program?
Here is a look at how we DO reading:

Rodeo Board KEY

Close Up Look
100 colt: Horse Cutout, 200 Rider: their face on a cowboy/cowgirl, 300 Lasso: Rope, 400 Sheriff: star on their shirt, 500 Move their fish Out of the Corral -- CHECK TWO books for the REST OF THE YEAR from the libary.  ~Names and Faces have been covered to protect students.
Reading Record Sheet
Here is a look at the Reading Record Sheet: parents record books here.

Parent Info:
So far we have read:

We turn in students milestones once a week and they add to the board.  We update this SCHOOL total each week.  We have a special dress up day each time we hit a large milestone.  By the way out school's mascott is a colt! :)  We also have a LARGE celebration at the end of each year.