Monday, February 26, 2018

Author Studies: Seuss

We do tons of author studies in 1st & 2nd grade. It started with our Seuss Study and it just spiraled from there lol

We go all out for Seuss!!

One year we decorated a separate room.  My mother is also a teacher at my school. She had been our reading specialist, but now teaches 2nd grade.  It used to be that teachers would sign up for time slots to have their classes visit  our very own Seussville.  We would read a book or share some facts.  We've given out birthday cake, cookies, cupcakes, but we always give out bookmarks.  They ask you to name your top three books.  Oh I forgot to mention, I dress up at the Cat in the Hat. ;)
You see all the books on the floor?  They usually go around our room.  I have collected almost all of his books.



So I took book covers of all of the books we own put Seuss Cat in the Hat hats under them.  The children get a black and white copy of the book sheets.  When children read that book, they color in the hat.

Then there is this recording sheet.  We record the date, book title, favorite part and then the "hat" rating system.  As a class we decide what each "hat" means.

Rating System in this case hats.  Here is an example:

1 hat- means the book was okay and I would only tell one friend about it.
2 hats- means it was good and I would only tell a couple of people about it
3 hats- means it was amazing and I want to tell everyone I know!!

We made an anchor chart with hats for display.




Currently, we cannot make copies in our building, so I just, display this one as a guide the first few days, and the kids record in their Daily Five journals.  I do have copies made for the  books read pages though :)  


Other Author Studies to come:

*Mo Willems
*Marc Brown

Which other author studies do you do? Leave me a comment or message me and perhaps I will make that one next :)


Monday, February 19, 2018

Shopping: Target and Dollar Tree






Fingers for reading group pointers
Space set for our Space Unit


Dollar Tree books: Search & Smile






Dino finger lights (Target)
Black sand for construction unit

2 min timer +/- 12 seconds lol


I really need to do some product testing!


Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Non-standard Measurements

We have tons of these in our room.  They get so excited when I bring out a new one.

Since there is a bit of set up, I don't want to keep reinventing the wheel each and every time I introduce a new set.  At the end of the season, I grab a few backpacks on clearance.

This serves two purposes.  One it keeps all of the materials contained and two.... they have to measure it too!


You can get pretty much everything at... school lol grab some extra supplies and *BAM* this center is done! I use new supplies at the beginning of the year, but as the year goes on, I replace them with the used supplies that would normally just throw away.

You need:

* crayons
*backpack
*binder
*glue bottle
*glue stick
*markers
*stickers
*Kleenex
*pencil
*ruler
*hand sanitizer
*tape
*empty spot

I let the children choose something they find around the room.

I change out the backpack every so often... you know every quarter or when I remember lol




Here they are so far:
At the beginning, we work on this together in small groups.  I bring the backpack over to our table.
We don't worry about going in any particular order, so I don't want them to think that they have to wait later at a center for the "thing" that's next.


For storing the paperwork (as we call it) I print off 1-one-uno page in color.  I glue that sheet to a Manila envelope. and laminate the whole thing. If I want it to be closed, I add a Vel-Cro dot/square.   If I have different levels they each get their own envelope.  I just store them inside for next year.

September/Beginning of the Year




Because they are obsessed with using them if their friends have to use one lol 

Fall



Apples



October







Apparently, I need some for November! ;)

December






Gingerbread:




Think Polar Express


January














February












March









April 

*Spring
*Weather











Think spring Cleaning lol


Ducks  
this also fits in for farms!

this also fits in for farms!




May








Think Mother's Day


June

You could use them all at the end of school or beginning of school, since we are all still eating watermelon during the end of our summer.


this is the easiest of them all



One easier, 3 harder

This is the hardest of all 4.



there are two easier, only one more difficult


think Ocean/Sea unit

July

Think 4th of July
Chinese New Year
I am game for fireworks anytime!



Think:
Veteran's Day
Flag Day
4th of July



Misc

Think
*Science study of trees
*peanut butter pine cone for deer in winter


You could use this during fall too



think zoo