Sorry for not adding a new post recently. We have been so busy with new Fall projects and Homecoming Week. I hope your kids have enjoyed the last couple weeks at school. We have done some fun learning projects for Homecoming and Fall and we will continue to add even more. I do have some great news for all of you parents. Nine of our students have already met their Accelerated Reader goals with still four weeks left to do so! Several other kids are also very close. We are hoping for all of our students to meet their goal within the next week so we can do a special activity on Friday. One of our fun activities we did last week to represent some of our great reading books throughout the semester thus far was to complete a "Pick of the Patch" activity to hang in the hallway, outside of our classroom. This activity was designed for students to write what their favorite book they have read so far is and why it is their favorite. We thought maybe this could give some other students passing by some advice on great books to read! Have a great Sunday everyone!

Onomatopoeia/Interjection Comic Activity

Eric Carle-Author Study; The Grouchy Ladybug

This is a writing activity to do with young children after reading the book The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. I put together the ladybugs before hand by cutting out a circle from black construction paper that was about 5 inches in diameter. I then placed a circular piece of writing paper inside the black circle and then attached a black circle of paper to the top as the head. I made the wings by cutting a circle of red paper about 5 inches in diameter and cut that circle in half. I attached the wings using two brass fasteners towards the top of the circle. The writing prompt for this particular assignment was "I am happy when...". The students wrote about things that make them happy. These answers varied from "I am happy when I eat ice cream." to "I am happy when I see my friends.". The children were advised to use their best handwriting and when finished, they could decorate their ladybugs by adding black spots, eyes, and antennaes. I created a bulletin board for the hallway by using blue paper and adding clouds to it. I placed the ladybugs with their wings open so the words could be read.

Eric Carle Author Study; The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Writing/Craft lesson; K/1 Classroom; We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and talked about the four stages a caterpillar goes through in it's lifetime. We also did a lesson on adjectives (describing words) the day before. I gave the children a sheet of paper with four picture boxes and four sets of lines on them. The prompt written on the first set of lines was "I start as a...", the second set of lines was "I turn into a...", the third set of lines stated "Then I spin..." and the fourth set of lines read "Finally I am a...". Students were directed to write the four stages of a caterpillar in their correct order (egg, caterpillar, coccoon, butterfly) but they had to include at least one adjective for each prompt. The kids had a lot of fun picking their adjectives and did a great job coloring pictures to go with each. I glued these four picture/writing sets onto a piece of construction paper. The next activity was to do the craft part. I gave each child four coffee filters. One cut out into the shape of a leaf, one cut out into the shape of a caterpillar, one cut out into the shape of a coccoon, and the last was just a full coffee filter. The students were to color, with marker, the four coffee filters. I then went around and sprayed each with water so the colors ran together and mixed a little bit (looked very similar to Eric Carle's illustrations). When the coffee filters were dry, I pasted a small white egg onto each leaf and glued the leaves next to the first stage on the construction paper, the caterpillar next to the second stage, and the coccoon next to the third stage. I then bunched the full coffee filter together in the middle and taped it to resemble a butterfly and glued that picture next to the fourth and final stage. These were so cute when finished and the kids loved seeing how the water made the marker colors mix together!

Valentines Day Writing Activity and Craft; Learning to make a list; K/1 Classroom; We first discussed some reasons we might make lists and brainstormed them together on the whiteboard. We then talked about how when we make lists, we don't use complete sentences, but rather a word or two to help us know what we are talking about. We discussed that bullets help us keep our list organized. The writing prompt was "When I hear Valentines Day, I think about..." and students were to make a list of at least four things they thought about when they heard Valentines Day on a small square piece of lined writing paper. When they were done writing and I had checked them to be sure they were done correctly, they were allowed to make their painted hearts. I had cut out construction paper hearts (half a page each) and the students painted one side of the heart and then folded them so the paint covered the entire heart. They loved doing this! After the paint dried, I glued their list to the center of their heart and placed all the hearts under a prompt stating "When I hear Valentines Day, I think about..." in the hallway for parents and guardians to see. They did great with the paints!

Maps Lesson; Cardinal Directions Craft: Make your Own compass; K/1 classroom: Kids were given a foam circle, four small circular label stickers, and construction paper. Their directions were to cut out a smaller circle to place in the middle of their foam circle and write their name inside it. They then placed a label sticker on the north end, the south end, the east end, and the west end. They wrote N for the north label, E for the East and so forth. They wrote small phrases that would help them remember the directions and placed them beside the corresponding direction. Ex. Phrase "Never Eat Sour Watermelon". The Never is placed by the N, the Eat by the E, etc. The kids loved making these and they love saying the phrases to help them remember!

Groundhog's Day- Writing Activity. K/1 classroom.
         -Writing prompt: "The groundhog saw his shadow. This means..."
                   -When children were finished writing they were given a groundhog picture to color, cut out, and add detail to. These turned out great and responses ranged from "This means we will have more Winter." to "This means it is groundhog day". The kids did awesome thinking up some very creative ideas.

Elephant and Piggie by Mo Willems Author Study craft. K/1 classroom: "Piggie is my favorite character because.." or "Elephant is my favorite character because..."