Talk TURKEY to me!

Aright people it's time to talk TURKEY!  With Thanksgiving next week it is the perfect time to bring out the turkey activities and have fun teaching all about these quirky animals.  To get started I always like to see what my kiddos know by asking them "what do you know about turkeys?" and charting their responses on a schema chart.  This is an example of the chart I'd make.  You could draw it out on chart  paper and fill it in with sticky notes or use it with a projector.  I made it in color and black and white. Grab it FREE by clicking the image below.

Clipart by Krista Wallden of Creative Clips and Border by Sandra Macadamias

After charting our schema we'd then read a variety of nonfiction turkey books throughout the week.  We'd add our new learning to the chart and discuss any misconceptions.  Here are my favorite nonfiction choices.

Turkeys on the Farm by  Mari C. Schuh

Turkeys by Aaron Carr

All About Turkeys by Jim Arnosky

Turkeys by Hollie Andres

Next I'd have students complete a labeling activity like the turkey one included in United Teaching's Label It set. Check it out by clicking on the cover image below... IT'S FREE!

Lastly, I'm a HUGE fan of tree maps, so for writing I'd pull out my turkey tree map activity set.  We'd get to work filling out what turkeys can-have-are as a class and then students would write their own sentences and complete the turkey craft to attach their writing to. 

The craft can also be used as an add on to make a silly turkey hat!

Do you tie in teaching about turkeys when talking about Thanksgiving?  What kind of activities do you do?

A better way to "Class Party"

Ya know with Valentine's Day right around the corner I can't help but think about my first year as a teacher and the wonderful, fun, chaotic, crazy class parties I had to celebrate days like these with my students.  Here let me give you an example of what I mean...

It was Halloween of 2010 and I decided that having a classroom Halloween party would be great fun.  I sent home some flyers asking for treats, scheduled a few volunteers to come in for an hour to help, had students make some hats, and printed off a few printables for students to color.  I thought it would be a great way to spend a Friday afternoon.  MAN,OH,MAN was I wrong! 

On the morning of Halloween I received an abundance of candies, cookies, cakes (yes full cakes!) and toys.  Now, this may seem great but it's not, it's more like a nightmare.  I mean who needs that much sugar especially first graders on a Friday afternoon.   I guess I should have been more specific and had an actual sign up.  Rookie mistake I know!

It was time for the "party" the one I scheduled to be an HOUR long with very little planned activities and sugar.  Did I say sugar?!  Oy Vey!  Again what was I thinking?

Not planning out activities or setting clear expectations!  As a new teacher I imagined my 30 first graders sitting at their desks, quietly coloring, as parent volunteers nicely handed out a few treats.  Again... WRONG!  Instead it was more like the crazy scene from Kindergarten Cop but add cake to the mix.  My kiddos were so excited and there was no stopping them once the sugar flowed!  I didn't set clear expectations or really explain how I wanted my volunteers to help and let's just say I was SO RELIEVED when that hour was over and students went home.

Now I could probably continue but let's just stop there.  I mean who needs to hear more about my BIG FAIL.  HaHa  So after this first year I said... NEVER AGAIN!

So what do I do now instead?  Well, that's easy I do Holiday Stations!  Stations are a great way to  have fun and complete holiday themed activities, they just don't include the words unorganized, chaotic, and messy.  Here's the gist of how holiday stations look for me:

Now that's the basics.  Again, my stations are themed, easy to prep, and engaging.  Sometimes I include food and sometimes I don't.  If I do you can guarantee I am specific about what and how much I want. HaHa  I am in the process of creating holiday station sets to make life easier.  Here's a look at the materials I created to use for my Valentine's Day Stations. 

 If you like this idea and what you see, feel free to check them out in my store HERE.  At the moment the only other station set I have completed is for Halloween.  Eventually I'll have a few more.  If you have any ideas or suggestions please leave me a comment.  Thanks and happy stations!

*Sidenote: What about kids passing out Valentine's?  How about lining your bags up against the back wall and then have students pass out their Valentine's throughout the day.  Ask a parent volunteer or upper grade students to help with this and have them call a few students at a time.  Then at the end of the day, after stations, spend the last 10 minutes letting students look at their Valentine's before sending them home. * This also helps to send any treats home that may be attached to the Valentine's. Wink*

Groggy Groundhog Predictions

Do you celebrate Groundhog Day with your class? 

 

Although I feel these little furry friends have no official weather predicting skills I do enjoy joining in the fun and teaching about this holiday.  Many teachers use this holiday as a springboard into teaching about shadows and others spend the week talking all about groundhogs.  Either way I like to spend the actual holiday talking about Groundhog Day itself.  Here's a look at some of the things I'd have planned for a day of Groundhog fun!  

Click to see on Amazon

This story by Gail Gibbons is my go to book for Groundhog Day.  It is filled with great information about the holiday, the history, tradition, and even some facts about groundhogs.  I really like to start the day with this book and create a facts chart about the holiday.  

After this students would get my Groundhog Day emergent reader to color and read on their own.  We'd add this to their reading baskets for the week.

For math and writing I'd plan to ask the question "Will the groundhog see his shadow?" and then have students graph and write about their own prediction. 

 To jazz up their writing we'd complete and add this little groundhog craft to create a writing display.

And to add in science we'd talk a bit about shadows!  We'd start by reading this book by Clyde Robert Bulla.

Click to see on Amazon

Then we'd start exploring.  I created a little printable explore and fill book for students to record their observations.  In this printable book we'd start by defining "what is a shadow?"  

Then from there we'd continue our learning by answering the following questions in the book:

How is a shadow made?

How do we make our shadows bigger?

How do we make our shadows smaller?

What has a shadow?

To answer these questions I'd tape up a large piece of white butcher paper to the wall.  Then I'd turn out the lights and we'd use a flashlight as the light source.  Some students would become the "objects" and others would manipulate the flashlight to answer the questions.  At the end I'd send students off in groups with flashlights to see what else has a shadow.  

What do you think of these activities?  Do you do similar Groundhog Day activities in your class?

If you like anything you see above be sure to check out my Groundhog Day Mini Unit:

Five for Friday: 100th Day Galore!

Woohoo!  It's time for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching!  Last week I mentioned how I was browsing through my 100th day files and after browsing some more I thought this Friday I'd share FIVE of my favorite 100 day activities!

100th day flip books!  It's always fun to ask the many "100" questions so I thought why not put them into a lil' flip book.  With this book students are given scenarios and then asked to write and draw a response.

I can count to 100 chains.  Students are given 10 strips of paper.  Each strip has 10 dots on it and students are asked to count up the dots from 1 -100.  To do this I have them either use dabbers, stickers, or crayons to color in each dot.  Then we loop them together to form a chain of 10 loops.

Here's my version of the "When I'm 100" craft.  I like to complete a t-chart like the one above to help students brainstorm what they'd be like when they are 100.  This helps to get them ready to write.  Then we complete the craft and put it up with their writing on display.

And 100 day hats are a must.  This one includes a trace, color,  and write portion on the back band.

100th Day Projects.  Here are two of my favorites from my kinder class back in 2013.  I love the fish bowl!  So creative.

Well, I hope you all had a fabulous week and wishing you an even more fabulous weekend.

If you like any of the ideas above be sure to check out my 100th Day Activities Pack!

Five for Friday: Gingerbread Galore!

Happy Friday!  I'm here to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and this week I've been thinking all about GINGERBREAD!

The stores have been filled with Christmas things for months now and one thing I can't pass up is Christmas scented candles.  Sparkling Cinnamon, Candy Cane, Christmas Spice, and Gingerbread Cookie!  The one above is the gingerbread and it's my new favorite.  Seriously it's like walking into a fresh baked gingerbread house or at least how I'd imagine one to smell.  Oh and by the way "totes amaze" is short for totally amazing and I totally had to urban dictionary that. HaHa

Click to see in my Store :)

When talking with my mom last week she asked if I'd make a gingerbread writing display for her to use with her class.  So here it is!  I included a paper bow-tie (boy)/bow (girl) but I think a real bow would be really cute too!  Especially if you had different patterned ribbon that your kiddos could choose from.

Click to see in my Store :)

Do you all do a problem of the day?  Well if so here's a fun way to theme up your word problems for December.  These are my gingerbread themed story sticks and for whatever reason, in my experience, kids seem to think story problems are that much cooler when you start with "pick a stick, pick any stick."  So why not pick a gingerbread stick, read aloud the story problem, and let them solve!  I included a blank recording book too.  Plus I made up and included a fun little "5 Gingerbread Men" song, sung to the tune of 5 Little Ducks, which is perfect for acting out subtraction problems.

Click to see it on Amazon

Have you read this one?  I just did and I love it!  This will definitely be another one to add to my gingerbread collection.  I love the cowboy theme and the"Giddyup, giddyup as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man," refrain.  If you're looking for another gingerbread story to add to your comparing/contrasting stash then this is a good choice.

And of course with all that gingerbread talk I had to have a gingerbread snack!  I never really liked gingerbread cookies as a kid, but now as an adult... Well, that box is now empty so I think that says it all.  No judging. :)

Happy Friday and if you're on Thanksgiving break Wahoo!  Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Scarecrows!

It's November!  Can you believe it?!  I hope that you all had a relaxing weekend after a most likely busy, fun-filled Halloween!  So what does this month have in store?  Scarecrows, Veterans Day, Turkeys, and Thanksgiving all come quickly to mind.  Some teachers get off a whole week for Thanksgiving and others just a few days, either way it is sure to be another jam packed month.

The cute fonts above are from: www.kevinandamanda.com
 and the adorable graphics are from: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Fun-Classroom-Creations

I like to start off November by talking more about the season fall and a fun way to do this is to talk about Scarecrows!  These harvest helpers have been around for more than 3,000 years and today we see them all over as fun decorative characters for the season.  I don't know about you but I'd have fun making this a theme for a week!  So here are a few ideas I've created and found to help make planning a scarecrow week a little easier.  

1. Why not start the week off with a class graph:  Do you like Scarecrows?  Hold a discussion all about these cuties and then have students decide if they like them or not.  After creating the class graph have students record their results on a recording page like this:

Click to grab this Freebie :)

Clip Art from Fun-Classroom- Creations

2. We all know that teachers love to make scarecrow crafts with their kiddos, but before doing so I'd complete a scarecrow brace map with my class.  I'd use a brace map like this to help students identify the parts of a scarecrow.  I also created an emergent "My Scarecrow" printable book.  Each page follows the pattern "My scarecrow has _________" and builds the scarecrow from hat to shoes.

3. For science I'd give a lesson on the 4 seasons.  Following this introduction we'd spend the week talking more about fall.  I'd start off by reading the book I made below called What Happens in Fall and we'd also discuss our fall 5 senses.  Students would draw and write about their 5 senses for fall in the little book pictured below.

4. There are many great stories about scarecrows but one of my favorites is The Little Scarecrow Boy.  Below is a picture of story map pieces to accompany this story.  I'd do this whole class style in a pocket chart and then have students fill in their own follow up sheet. 

5. And of course we'd do a scarecrow craft, just look at the cute one I found below under tpt products.  But I wouldn't want to leave out the crow, so this is a torn paper crow I created along with a crow poem.  Isn't he cute?!  We'd for sure be making him!

All of the activities above can be found in my scarecrow unit on TpT.

Now here are a few more ideas to help you plan your perfect scarecrow week!

A great story by Ken Brown all about a chicken who is on a mission to solve a problem.  Your littles will love the beautiful illustrations and the fun repetition.

This is one of my favorites!  Margaret Wise Brown has written this super read aloud about a little scarecrow boy who doesn't give up.  This story is great for story maps, sequencing, and making predictions!

If you're teaching about fall this book by Heidi Press Gray is perfect.  Her water-color illustrations accompany simple text which describe the many happenings of fall.  Ooooo this story could lead to a great art activity!

Check out these fabulous finds!

Check out this product at MY TpT store by clicking on the photo.

Love these adorable scarecrow crafts by Lauryn Kirk Balogh!

Click the picture to check this product out in Lauryn's TpT Store

And this scarecrow glyph by Crayonbox Learning :)

Click the picture to check this product out at Crayonbox Learning's TpT Store

Before making my unit I purchased these cute graphics from Scrappin Doodles.

Click the picture to check this product out in Scrappin Doodles TpT Store

Here are some blog posts I found with great scarecrow/fall ideas!

Scarecrows & Fall by Growing Kinders:

 http://growingkinders.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/scarecrows-and-fallyes-i-am-bit-behind.html

Scarecrows! by Mrs.Lee's Kindergarten: http://mrsleeskinderkids.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/scarecrows_23.html

Scarecrow, Scarecrow by Kinder Korner:

http://www.kinderkorner.com/scarecrow.html

Scarecrow Fun from Mrs. Jumps Class:

http://mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/scarecrow-fun.html

Are you planning a scarecrow theme?  I'd love to see all your fun happenings.  Be sure to comment below and let me know.  Happy Planning!