Gingerbread Math

This week we are doing all things Gingerbread!! We have been doing tons of the activities in my Gingerbread Fun literacy unit. My students have loved every minute.   So I decided to create some Gingerbread Themed Math Centers.  Here is a closer look:

 

These math centers are on sale for $2 for the night in my store.

Happy Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

I hope everyone enjoyed some time with your family and friends!!  I enjoyed dinner with some friends and then headed over to Jennifer Jones house for dessert. 

  

 We also celebrated her birthday!! 

 

 

I just wanted to post a quick blog post to let you know about the TPT cyber Monday sale! 

 

button from Jennifer Jones 

Thursday morning I uploaded my newest pack to TPT.  I'm so excited about these Gingerbread Literacy Centers.  Here is a closer look:

 

 

Talking Turkey - Story Structure

This week we started talking about all things Thanksgiving!!  Pilgrims, Native Americans, and of course TURKEYS!!  My students love read alouds.  I start my Daily 5 time with a read aloud each day.  Today we read The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli. 

Picture from Amazon.com

 In this book the Abigail Archer has a PERFECT family.  And of course the other little girls’ family IS NOT PERFECT.  At first she is sad because her family isn’t perfect but by the end she realized Thanksgiving is about having a loving family not what you eat or wear.

After we read the book the students completed this graphic organizer to practice recalling the Characters, Setting, Problem, and Solution from the text.  They did such a good job.

 

If you are interested I have this graphic organizer and more like it for sale HERE!!

This week also using TONS of ideas from CaraCarroll’s thanksgiving pack: Let’s Give Thanks!! We are using these centers during literacy and math.  You can check it out HERE!!

The Lonley Scarecrow - FREEBIE

Last week we finished the week by learning more about Fall and Scarecrows.  I read The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston.

 
Picture from Amazon.com

This book is about a little scarecrow that is so lonely.  No one wants to be his friend because he looks so scary.  Until winter comes and he is covered in SNOW, then he is NO longer scary.  He isn’t a scarecrow…. he is a snowman.  Now the animals aren’t afraid of him and they want to be his friend.

After reading the story, we worked on recalling the scarecrows feeling and how those feelings changed throughout the story.  Common Core Standards:  RL 1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the sentences.  And RL 1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, settings, or events.

 



 You can snag this graphic organizer FREE!!

DownloadHERE!!

During word work this week we practice finding and writing words from the word wall.  You can find this activity here!



 

Scarecrows and Leaves - Recalling Details - FREEBIE

Last week we continued working on Recalling Details.  I started off by reading this cute little book about a Scarecrow that just isn’t scary.  In this book his friends help him scare away the crows. 

 

 We talked about the Main Idea of the story then we talked about some of the details from the story.  I decided to just record one detail and then the students had to recall the others. 

 

This graphic organizer is from my recalling details pack.  You can check it out HERE. 

 

 

 

 

Later in the week I read this book:

 

This is one of my favorites.  My students loved this book!!  I decided to make this graphic organizer to go with the book.  The students had to recall three details from the story.

 

 

 

Download your own copy here!

Recalling Details - Meeting Common Core Standards

Hello!!  Happy Fall, I can’t believe it is almost the end of October.  We had the first three weeks off for our fall break.  I took a trip out to Dallas to visit my sister.  Last week was our first week back.  We have been nonstop learning about pumpkins and bats. 

 

I’ve been trying so hard to meet those Common Core standards while still have FUN!!!  On Monday I read this little nonfiction book about bats:

 picture from amazon.com

 

We are working on RL and RI 1.2 Recalling Details so we recorded what we learned on this graphic organizer.

 

This graphic organizer and more like it can be found in my Recalling Details packet. 

  Click HERE to check it out.

 

Tuesday we made these super, cute bats made by Cara Carroll.  Then we created a data collection to see if we thought bats were Cute or Creepy!!! 

 

 
Sometimes all these details are hard to remember and spell.  So as I'm reading I also write down some key ideas on the board.

Something simple like this: 


 no filter!!

Students were able to use these ideas when working on the Recalling Details paper.   

We have also started working on W 1.1 Writing opinion pieces.  I realized that first my students need to know the difference between a Fact and an Opinion.  I wrote these sentence starters to help my little firsties. This graphic organizer can be found in my Fact and Opinion Pack. 











I hope you are having a great week!!  I'm sure tomorrow will be a wild day at school.  Here is a little early treat my little TPT show is on sale!!

  

 

 

Writing

Today I thought I would share a little bit of how I teach writing!!  Of course I start off the year with some handwriting practice.  I usually start with A and work my way through the alphabet.  I teach my students that some letters are tall and some letters dig down below the line. 

 

 

 At the same time I start teaching my students to focus on only one topic at a time.  I LOVE to use beanie babies to help them write.  This also help them practice describing.  During the first week of school we practiced describing this little cutie “Lips”.

picture from amazon.com

 

 

 We also practice writing about animals.  I read an easy reader and my students write what they learned.  During the second week of school I read this little book about frogs. 

picture from scholastic.com

 

Then, we created this anchor chart and wrote about what we learned.

We use Lucy Calkins writing workshop but I like to throw in a few extra lessons here and there.  For the past few weeks we have also practice writing about small moments.  I'll try and post some pictures soon. :)

How do you teach writing in your classroom?