While I was at the Dollar Store (my very favorite place to find things for school) over the weekend I found two really awesome deals.
The first was a game of spider jacks. Same game as regular jacks, only instead of jacks it is spiders! I have had jacks on my shelf all year and they have been played only a handful of times... several different children wanted to play spider jacks today! Use it for hand-eye coordination, counting, number sense, etc...
Non-fiction animal books. These books were too great to pass up! I got Giraffes, Zebras, Lions, and Elephants. They are non-fiction with great, real-life photographs of the animals and sentences that even beginning readers can read!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
The rain isn't getting us down!
Despite the chilly rain, we had a great day today!
This morning we had our March Community Dialogue. First Mrs. McCachren's fourth grade students presented their Shakespeare masks that they had made in Dramatic Art and also did a short performance that explained Shakespearean theater. The masks were awesome and I think the children really enjoyed the performances because the fourth graders had put them together, so of course they were silly at times!
This afternoon was the Mr. Al concert! I had never heard of Mr. Al... I've been missing out! The children were really excited to get to "ride on the school bus" and head to Barium Springs to hear Mr. Al. We got there and we were the only group there, which meant much more audience involvement! Mr. Al did all kinds of songs and the children got to do all kinds of dancing. The children got to reach in their pockets and pull out "their groove" and do all kinds of wild dancing!
After Mr. Al we got back in school just in time for ice cream :) Overall, a fantastic rainy day!
This morning we had our March Community Dialogue. First Mrs. McCachren's fourth grade students presented their Shakespeare masks that they had made in Dramatic Art and also did a short performance that explained Shakespearean theater. The masks were awesome and I think the children really enjoyed the performances because the fourth graders had put them together, so of course they were silly at times!
This afternoon was the Mr. Al concert! I had never heard of Mr. Al... I've been missing out! The children were really excited to get to "ride on the school bus" and head to Barium Springs to hear Mr. Al. We got there and we were the only group there, which meant much more audience involvement! Mr. Al did all kinds of songs and the children got to do all kinds of dancing. The children got to reach in their pockets and pull out "their groove" and do all kinds of wild dancing!
After Mr. Al we got back in school just in time for ice cream :) Overall, a fantastic rainy day!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Spring has Sprung!
This week we are talking about Spring! We're all glad it is here :) We're loving the warmer weather!!
This afternoon we did a lesson that incorporated Math, Science, Music, and Art. Basically... Everything!
We started out discussing what season we are in and what the different seasons were and the order, etc... Then we sang a song, "The Seasons Song" that described each of the four seasons and then had the chorus:
"Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
I like ____________ Best of All
Winter, Fall, Summer, Spring
_________is the one that makes me sing"
After we listened to the song in pieces and discussing each different season and the differences in each one (for example: In Summer you put on your sandals, in Spring you put on your rain boots), we listened and sang the whole thing. We talked about how each season had cool things that we could enjoy and brainstormed some of those.
Then I gave each child the chorus of the song in a poem and they had to choose which season was their favorite (it was hard for some of them because there are such good things in all the seasons!) and write the word in the blanks and make a picture of their favorite season inside the seasons border--They were illustrating the poem.
They did a fantastic job with these! (They will be sent home at the end of the year in their poetry books we've been working on).
We are going to continue talking about Spring this week with a Spring mini dictionary and then talking about the story When Will It Be Spring using a retelling cube. We tried out the retelling cubes last week and really liked them. This activity helps the children not only retell the stories, but also with their language and higher order thinking skills.
This Week's Centers:
ABC: Hatch-a-word. In this center the children are pairing up and reading eggs put together with different word families. For example, an egg might have "at" on it and then you turn the egg to make "Cat, Bat, Rat".
Math: Hatch-a-number. Similar to hatch-a-word. Eggs with the number families 1's-90's are in the bucket for the children to sit and read the numbers to each other.
Writing: Students complete the writing prompt "I wish I could grow". They copy this and then use inventive spelling to finish the sentence. I did not help the group today with any of their spelling and they all did a fantastic job! I'm going to try not to help the other two groups either
:-p
This afternoon we did a lesson that incorporated Math, Science, Music, and Art. Basically... Everything!
We started out discussing what season we are in and what the different seasons were and the order, etc... Then we sang a song, "The Seasons Song" that described each of the four seasons and then had the chorus:
"Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
I like ____________ Best of All
Winter, Fall, Summer, Spring
_________is the one that makes me sing"
After we listened to the song in pieces and discussing each different season and the differences in each one (for example: In Summer you put on your sandals, in Spring you put on your rain boots), we listened and sang the whole thing. We talked about how each season had cool things that we could enjoy and brainstormed some of those.
Then I gave each child the chorus of the song in a poem and they had to choose which season was their favorite (it was hard for some of them because there are such good things in all the seasons!) and write the word in the blanks and make a picture of their favorite season inside the seasons border--They were illustrating the poem.
They did a fantastic job with these! (They will be sent home at the end of the year in their poetry books we've been working on).
We are going to continue talking about Spring this week with a Spring mini dictionary and then talking about the story When Will It Be Spring using a retelling cube. We tried out the retelling cubes last week and really liked them. This activity helps the children not only retell the stories, but also with their language and higher order thinking skills.
This Week's Centers:
ABC: Hatch-a-word. In this center the children are pairing up and reading eggs put together with different word families. For example, an egg might have "at" on it and then you turn the egg to make "Cat, Bat, Rat".
Math: Hatch-a-number. Similar to hatch-a-word. Eggs with the number families 1's-90's are in the bucket for the children to sit and read the numbers to each other.
Writing: Students complete the writing prompt "I wish I could grow". They copy this and then use inventive spelling to finish the sentence. I did not help the group today with any of their spelling and they all did a fantastic job! I'm going to try not to help the other two groups either
:-p
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Ms. O is back!
After a wonderful week learning at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), I am back with my wonderful children!
I came back to a huge sign that said "We Miss You Miss Overcash!" with all of their names on it.
I got a positive report from the sub and was really proud of them!
This week we have been learning about St. Patrick's Day. We learned who St. Patrick is and a little bit about the country of Ireland. We completed a vocabulary/handwriting exercise on Monday where we learned several new words associated with St. Paddy's Day like "Shamrock", "Ireland", and "Rainbow".
We also got to read some really cute St. Patrick's Day books: The Night Before St. Patrick's Day and Looking For Leprechauns. We learned about those sneaky guys, but we never did get to see one!
With our buddies yesterday we completed a St. Patrick's Day graph and answered questions about it as well as writing in our journals about what we would do if we found a pot of gold! The leprechauns are still making messes next door, but I'm glad they aren't coming to see us :)
This week we are also learning about spring. We have been practicing our seasons and I am very proud to report that almost everyone is able to tell them to me in order! That's first grade work!
This week's centers:
Games: The children are playing "War" to practice the card and number skills that they learned last week while I was gone.
Math: The children are completing a book of missing numbers. This helps them to practice counting as well as writing numbers!
Technology: The children are playing an "I Spy" Game on the smart board. This is similar to the "I Spy" books that we have and the children love getting to play it in an interactive way.
Listening: The children are listening to Leprechaun On The Loose and completing a Listening Center report where they write the title, draw a picture, and finish the sentence "My favorite part of the story was..."
I came back to a huge sign that said "We Miss You Miss Overcash!" with all of their names on it.
I got a positive report from the sub and was really proud of them!
This week we have been learning about St. Patrick's Day. We learned who St. Patrick is and a little bit about the country of Ireland. We completed a vocabulary/handwriting exercise on Monday where we learned several new words associated with St. Paddy's Day like "Shamrock", "Ireland", and "Rainbow".
We also got to read some really cute St. Patrick's Day books: The Night Before St. Patrick's Day and Looking For Leprechauns. We learned about those sneaky guys, but we never did get to see one!
With our buddies yesterday we completed a St. Patrick's Day graph and answered questions about it as well as writing in our journals about what we would do if we found a pot of gold! The leprechauns are still making messes next door, but I'm glad they aren't coming to see us :)
This week we are also learning about spring. We have been practicing our seasons and I am very proud to report that almost everyone is able to tell them to me in order! That's first grade work!
This week's centers:
Games: The children are playing "War" to practice the card and number skills that they learned last week while I was gone.
Math: The children are completing a book of missing numbers. This helps them to practice counting as well as writing numbers!
Technology: The children are playing an "I Spy" Game on the smart board. This is similar to the "I Spy" books that we have and the children love getting to play it in an interactive way.
Listening: The children are listening to Leprechaun On The Loose and completing a Listening Center report where they write the title, draw a picture, and finish the sentence "My favorite part of the story was..."
Friday, March 6, 2009
We <3 Dr. Seuss!
This week we have really enjoyed learning about Dr. Seuss! Today in our Let's Find Out we talked about different characteristics of Dr. Seuss's books and realized that they usually rhyme and very very often have made up creatures with crazy names! At the end the children got to design a Fizzle-Top Hop-A-Lop! They did a great job! These guys are so creative!
Speaking of creative... yesterday we read Dr. Seuss's book, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet. We enjoyed reading about the different animal parts that the boy wished he had like duck feet, a whale spout, a long long tale, and even a trunk! Then I gave the children a big piece of draw and write paper and had them write "I wish that I had" and then draw a picture of themselves with the one or two animal parts they would like to have. The pictures were fantastic! Some children picked things like tiger tails and trunks like in the book, while others picked their own like cat fur, tiger bodies, and bunny rabbit ears! After they had drawn, I helped the children sound out the rest of their sentence. The children used inventive spelling to spell what animal parts they wanted. This is great because it teaches the children to rely on the sounds that they hear in the words and helps them learn to spell on their own without me telling them the answers!
This morning we read Green Eggs and Ham together. We thought it was so silly and we practiced the rhyming words by me reading part of the sentence and the children finishing it. After recess, we made our own green eggs and ham for breakfast! First, the children had to put the recipe cards in order so that we could follow it. Next, we followed the recipe. Each child got to crack an egg, put in a teaspoon of milk, and stir up the eggs. Once they were cooked- each child got to have a plate mixed with ham! They were DELICIOUS!
Then we made a Dr. Seuss rhyming hat. The children followed an AB pattern to color the hat and then we practiced saying the different words in the 'at' family. These are in their folders so they can practice with you at home!
Our graph of the week this week answered the question "Which Cat in the Hat character is your favorite?". It was a tie between the Cat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. I, of course, picked The Fish because he tried to keep everyone out of trouble! The children, minus 1, all liked the Cat and Thing 1 and 2 because they made messes and did lots of crazy stuff. Go figure ;)
This afternoon at ice cream we'll be watching the animated Cat in the Hat video.
Dr. Seuss week was so much fun! I hope that the children enjoyed it as much as I did :) I hope that we'll be able to do more author studies like this so we can learn about all of the great books that are out there!
Green Eggs and Ham Recipe
Serves 12 (change measurements for as many as you choose to make!)
(Prep: soak ham cubes in green food coloring over night)
1. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl
2. Add 12 tablespoons of milk
3. Add 1 teaspoon of green food coloring
4. Mix with a large spoon
5. Scramble eggs in skillet
Serve with ham chunks
Speaking of creative... yesterday we read Dr. Seuss's book, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet. We enjoyed reading about the different animal parts that the boy wished he had like duck feet, a whale spout, a long long tale, and even a trunk! Then I gave the children a big piece of draw and write paper and had them write "I wish that I had" and then draw a picture of themselves with the one or two animal parts they would like to have. The pictures were fantastic! Some children picked things like tiger tails and trunks like in the book, while others picked their own like cat fur, tiger bodies, and bunny rabbit ears! After they had drawn, I helped the children sound out the rest of their sentence. The children used inventive spelling to spell what animal parts they wanted. This is great because it teaches the children to rely on the sounds that they hear in the words and helps them learn to spell on their own without me telling them the answers!
This morning we read Green Eggs and Ham together. We thought it was so silly and we practiced the rhyming words by me reading part of the sentence and the children finishing it. After recess, we made our own green eggs and ham for breakfast! First, the children had to put the recipe cards in order so that we could follow it. Next, we followed the recipe. Each child got to crack an egg, put in a teaspoon of milk, and stir up the eggs. Once they were cooked- each child got to have a plate mixed with ham! They were DELICIOUS!
Then we made a Dr. Seuss rhyming hat. The children followed an AB pattern to color the hat and then we practiced saying the different words in the 'at' family. These are in their folders so they can practice with you at home!
Our graph of the week this week answered the question "Which Cat in the Hat character is your favorite?". It was a tie between the Cat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. I, of course, picked The Fish because he tried to keep everyone out of trouble! The children, minus 1, all liked the Cat and Thing 1 and 2 because they made messes and did lots of crazy stuff. Go figure ;)
This afternoon at ice cream we'll be watching the animated Cat in the Hat video.
Dr. Seuss week was so much fun! I hope that the children enjoyed it as much as I did :) I hope that we'll be able to do more author studies like this so we can learn about all of the great books that are out there!
Green Eggs and Ham Recipe
Serves 12 (change measurements for as many as you choose to make!)
(Prep: soak ham cubes in green food coloring over night)
1. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl
2. Add 12 tablespoons of milk
3. Add 1 teaspoon of green food coloring
4. Mix with a large spoon
5. Scramble eggs in skillet
Serve with ham chunks
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Snow Day and Dr. Seuss
Welcome Back to school after an unexpected long weekend!
I hope everyone had a fantastic *SNOW* day! I went sledding with lots of kids from school and had a blast!
This morning after talking about our calendar, we all wanted to tell what we did yesterday in the snow! We had time to share and then we got out our journals! The children drew a picture of what they did in the snow and then copied "On the Snow Day I" and then I helped them finish their sentence. It sounds like everyone had a really fun time sledding, building snowmen, and just playing outside in general!
The bad thing about the snow day is that we missed Dr. Seuss's birthday. The good news is that we can still do fun Dr. Seuss stuff the rest of the week! Today we're reading The Cat in the Hat and talking about our favorite rainy day activities.
The rest of the week we'll be doing more fun Dr. Seuss activities...
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday & Fox in Socks
Today we will be having crazy sock day! Students can wear crazy socks to school and we will have a sock-feet day in class. We will read Wacky Wednesday on the smart board and find all of the wacky things that happened on this particular Wednesday!
Thursday: I Wish That I Had Duck Feet
We will read the story and make a picture of what kind of animal parts we would like to have. We will have a large group discussion about what problems these might cause!
Friday: Green Eggs and Ham
We will read the recipe for Green Eggs and Ham and actually make Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast!
This week's centers also focus on Dr. Seuss.
Art: Students will make a multi-media Cat in the Hat using pipe cleaners for whiskers. They also must make an AB pattern for the hat.
Technology: Students will play One Fish, Two Fish matching at http://www.seussville.com/games_hb/game_viewer.php .
Writing: Students have a handout with all capital letters. They must copy the capital letter and then write the lower case partner.
ABC: Students will be given letters of the alphabet on Cat In The Hat cards to alphabetize. Each person has their own letters to put in order. This helps students practice their alphabet and awareness of where each letter goes.
I hope everyone had a fantastic *SNOW* day! I went sledding with lots of kids from school and had a blast!
This morning after talking about our calendar, we all wanted to tell what we did yesterday in the snow! We had time to share and then we got out our journals! The children drew a picture of what they did in the snow and then copied "On the Snow Day I" and then I helped them finish their sentence. It sounds like everyone had a really fun time sledding, building snowmen, and just playing outside in general!
The bad thing about the snow day is that we missed Dr. Seuss's birthday. The good news is that we can still do fun Dr. Seuss stuff the rest of the week! Today we're reading The Cat in the Hat and talking about our favorite rainy day activities.
The rest of the week we'll be doing more fun Dr. Seuss activities...
Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday & Fox in Socks
Today we will be having crazy sock day! Students can wear crazy socks to school and we will have a sock-feet day in class. We will read Wacky Wednesday on the smart board and find all of the wacky things that happened on this particular Wednesday!
Thursday: I Wish That I Had Duck Feet
We will read the story and make a picture of what kind of animal parts we would like to have. We will have a large group discussion about what problems these might cause!
Friday: Green Eggs and Ham
We will read the recipe for Green Eggs and Ham and actually make Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast!
This week's centers also focus on Dr. Seuss.
Art: Students will make a multi-media Cat in the Hat using pipe cleaners for whiskers. They also must make an AB pattern for the hat.
Technology: Students will play One Fish, Two Fish matching at http://www.seussville.com/games_hb/game_viewer.php .
Writing: Students have a handout with all capital letters. They must copy the capital letter and then write the lower case partner.
ABC: Students will be given letters of the alphabet on Cat In The Hat cards to alphabetize. Each person has their own letters to put in order. This helps students practice their alphabet and awareness of where each letter goes.
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