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!



 

Catch that Bug Recap

Here are some more pictures from our bug week!!  The students loved it!! I loved all the nonfiction books we were able to read.  The students also learning about life cycles in science this week so the butterflies and ladybugs books I had were perfect!! 

 

Read All About It

All of these sheets are included in the pack.  My students picked a bug and then wrote 3 or more sentences about what they learned.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

Word Wall Review

My students used the word wall to complete this sheet.  They needed to write all the words that were under each letter.

 

 

Author’s Purpose

We read this book and then the students completed this little comprehension sheet.  My students did really well recalling facts from the story.

 

picture from Amazon.com

 

 

You can find all of these and more here!

 

 

 

 

 

Goldilocks Day 2 and Some Math

Today we continued our Goldilocks Unit!!  My students loved comparing the two stories.  We also heard a lot more synonyms!!  Here is what we did today!!

ABC Order

Here a few samples of our ABC Order Center.

 

Word Wall – Is it safe to walk in the woods alone?

The students picked 4 word wall words and then answered the question using those words.   I love this center because it encourages them to USE the word wall.  It is also leveled because the students choose their own words.  This center has also really improved their spelling.

I Can Compare Can You

Today we practice compare and contrasting two characters from our Goldilocks stories.  The students were able to pick ANY two characters.  This choice helps the students be more successful with completing this activity.  We also talked about focusing not just on the things you can “see” about the two characters.  But more about what type of person they were in the story. 

  

All of the activities and MORE are available in my Goldilocks Stories Unit!!  Take a closer look HERE!!   Or if you like  this comprehension activity check out my I CanCompare Can You pack HERE!! 

  

Math – Buggy Subtraction Matching Game

Today we did a math activity from my Buggy for Subtraction pack.  We chose a ladybug card, subtracted 10, and then found the bee with the answer.

 

I taught my students to set up the problems vertically to make them easier.  I want them to learn that they can rotate any problem.

A few of my students continued to struggle with this activity so we I taught them how to draw a line down the middle to make each problem into TWO mini problems. 

 

AND THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL!!! 

 

 Happy Tuesday!  Can you believe it is MAY!!  I feel like April FLEW by!!  We have around 27 days left I think!! ;)   

Goldilocks FUN!!

This week we will be reading the many versions of Goldilocks andthe Three Bears!  For Common Core we have to read/ discuss books that have different versions.  This will allow the students to recall, compare, and discuss those stories.  I created this Goldilocks Unit to practice all of those skills!!  I also included a list of books that can be used.  However I’m sure there are many other versions you could include.  We started reading one book today and the students LOVED it!!  They completed several of the activities included in my Goldilocks Unit on TPT!!  Here is a closer look at what is included:

Here is a look at the other books we will be using!!

Sleeping Synonyms

This activity was PERFECT!!  I went through the books and found many common synonyms in the book: leap, jump; wee, small; house, cottage. The students loved it!!  They also tried to generate a new synonym if they could!!    This was the FUN part!!

Bear Syllables

I have two levels of this activity in the pack.  I included words I found in the books.  The students write the word and color one syllable for each sound.

Story Structure

Today we practice Story Structure; the students recalled the characters, setting, problem, and the solution. They needed to answer each part as a SENTENCE!! If you like these Story Structure pages but you aren’t doing a Goldilocks Unit you can purchase school themed pack HERE!!

 

 

I also taught them when the house belongs to more than one bear it becomes the bears' house!!  Check out how Alencia applied that above!!

Did you notice we decided to "nickname" the characters?  PB aka Papa Bear, MB aka Mama Bear, BB aka Baby Bear.  Check out this little girl's work GL -- Goldilocks!!  They crack, me, up!!

Again, you can find all of these activities and more in my Goldilocks Stories pack on TPT!!   I hope you all have a great week! 

Ouch!! Teaching the /ou/ Sound - Mouse Visit! HA!

This week we have been learning the /ou/ sound like in OUCH!!  What a CrAzY week so far and today is only Tuesday – I can’t believe it.  I decided to go ahead and branch away from HM this week!!  Our comprehension skill is Main Idea and Detail and you can only teach that with butterflies so many times.  – Plus I think the butterfly story will be perfect for sounds for Y!!  Anyway we are learning about people that help us with the /ou/ sound: Health Care Professionals: 

We've learned about Doctor’s Tools and pharmacists so far – We will learn about doctors, nurses, and x-rays later in the week.  I created this TPT Unit to use this week.  In the unit there are LOTS of recording sheets but we have a copy limit at my school so I often have the students write on newsprint paper to save copies where I can.  Here is a look at what we are learning. 

ABC Order

Vocabulary Words – Use in a Sentence

Syllable Split – Spelling by Syllables

/ou/ and /ow/ Sound

Comprehension: Main Idea:

Pharamists

Doctor’s Tools

 The WILDEST thing happened this morning.  A mouse ran right across the room -- One of my student’s SCREAMED, “A RAT!!!”  I ran right out of the room!! After I got the nerve to go back in I opened the back door and I’m hoping that he decided to “head for the light”.  So today when we wrote in our journals of course we had to write about our “visitor”.  I wish I would have taken some pictures they were SO FUNNY!!!!  And one student pointed out it was perfect for the /ou/ week!! J  At least they are learning!! HA!  If you are interested in checking out this TPT pack click HERE!