How to Make a Jack o' Lantern

I love that it's finally getting cooler at night. It seems by the time Halloween comes, you finally need to wear a jacket at night.
This was going to be the first year my two year old carves a pumpkin and he was excited, I was excited...I was going to make sure it was an occasion. I picked the perfect pumpkins to match each person in my family, bought the carving tools, layed out the paper...we were ready to go. My husband and I carved off the top despite protests from my toddler, but he's used to hearing "No" by now. Pulled off the top and all I heard was "Ewwwww!" He wanted nothing to do with it. "It's scientific." I told him. Nope nothing. The last thing was to carve a face and once again he couldn't participate. So forget the traditional jack o' lanterns, I got out the paint and we went to town. He did the base coat on about 50% of them and loved sprinkling the glitter over the glue. When he woke up in the morning, I had added all the details and he was thrilled. The only thing that would have made it better is if one of the pumpkins was Spiderman. Oh, well.

I know many of you mommies that are homeschooling are probably carving pumpkins with the kiddos, so why not turn it into a "How To" paragraph. I teach my students how to write a paragraph by always starting with an outline, using transition words, and a picture with a few words (not a complete sentence).  They refer to the outline while writing their paragraph. If I were to do this with my first graders, I would tell them the four steps and complete the outline along with them, but it's up to you based on the age of your child.

Grab the writing freebie here.

Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween.

The Name Jar and Short Vowel Necklace

I found such a wonderful book. It's actually more than 10 years old, so what took me so long to discover it. The Name Jar is about a little girl that recently moved from Korea and is nervous that the American children will not like her. She wonders if she should change her name to an American name that is easier to pronounce. It's a lovely story with an ending the kids in my class can learn from. This is actually something that happens in my class quite often and so many of my students were able to relate to our story's character, Unhei. We continued our study of story elements. Using a story map has been super helpful and I love how easy it is when using sticky notes.

Grab this story map for The Name Jar.

I also made a story map for the children to have them try completing their own.
Another activity we used with this story is discussing ways we are special. Just like Unhei's name made her unique, we all have something unique about us. Unhei's grandmother tells her during the story, "You are different...That's a good thing!" I couldn't agree more. I love finding opportunities to celebrate what makes us special. 
 
We completed a chart and the children told me something that makes them unique. 

Grab this writing page for The Name Jar.

Our art activity tied into the story. We made our own wooden name stamp like the one Unhei received from her dear grandmother. A local business puts out tons of scrap pine wood each day, so I was able to grab wooden blocks for the class to make their own "name stamp". We first sanded the paper, so that they became sliver free. Next, the kids used starch to brush on colorful tissue paper. Some children were methodical when placing their tissue paper and others just slapped them on with no rhyme or reason. Both ways came out beautifully. I punched out the children's first initial with our school's Ellison cutter and pasted it on with Modge Podge. One coat seals the coat and makes the block shiny.

We are still working on short vowel CVC words. This was a fun, tactile activity we did that started as a small group activity that was lead by a parent. We strung the straws a "beads" together as a whole class. The children wore the necklaces all day. They took them home and read them at least three times. If they got their boxes checked off, they received a ticket the following day. 

 Providing your students with a variety of ways to practice their phonics and fluency skills increases the likelihood of increased success, not to mention makes learning CVC words FUN!

Check out this fun way of learning phonics...HERE.

Enjoy your week.

Me on the Map and The Day the Crayons Quit

This week just flew by. I'm finding it difficult squeezing in everything in. I find myself more and more integrating subjects, so I'm able to get two for the price of one.
I've been loving CLOSE reading. I find it's a great way to include Science and Social Studies into your literacy block. I can also have a parent lead a center if I provide them with comprehension questions as a guide. 

This week we started our Social Studies unit - Me on the Map.
We're starting with the largest map, Earth and working our way down. The example shown is of Matty's Continent. Matty's our fictional character taking a trip to his places on the map. 
One of the other activities we are doing with each CLOSE read is working with vocabulary terms. I use vocabulary words, provide the official definition, and a photograph depicting the term. The photos are powerful. I have many second language learners, but honestly I think photos benefit all the children.To really make the term concrete, I've provided the children with vocabulary books. They use this to describe the word in their way. Illustrating the word is also powerful in remembering the new word. Grab this freebie.

Following up our first CLOSE read about the globe, we made these fun globes with puffy paint. So cool.

Just mix Elmer's glue, shaving cream, and food coloring. Dab the paint with a brush, do not stroke the paper. I went ahead and made a rainbow of puffy paint to use with my kids at home. LOVE!

Matty on the Map

This is the unit I'm working from...Matty on the Map if you want to check it out.










 


This week we read the story, The Day the Crayons Quit. You have to read this story with your class. Super cute. If you're working on friendly letters it works perfectly. We brainstormed different items we would color with each of the six colors on the brainstorming page. We used this page to write a letter in paragraph form to a friend. The children circled three different items. 

 At this point in the year my writing philosophy is model, model, model. We brainstormed adjectives to place in the introduction. Then I modeled writing the first sentence in the body of the paragraph. My goal is to have them use an adjective to describe their item. We write one sentence, then I have them share their sentence. For many students I have to remind them or provide them with adjectives. It becomes more of a habit as the year progresses.

The Day the Crayons Quit PowerPoint

We also did this fun PowerPoint mystery picture. It only has 60 numbers, so it was a perfect level for most of my kids. Even so, I still had to sit next to the computer to pause the slide show a few times. The kids loved it, but they kept thinking it was Camilla from A Bad Case of Stripes. 
 




 

The Day the Crayons Quit FREEBIE

We ended the day with this cute crayon box. I LOVE the crayons with the big googly eyes. What great artists I have! I copied the crayon paper on gold construction paper. I folded the box and cut off about an inch off the top. Grab this FREEBIE for your class. I hope you have fun.
Enjoy your new week.

Pete the Cat - Back to School

The first week is done. I love all the fantastic books that go great with Back to School. Any Pete the Cat story IS AWESOME! We started with Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes and followed it up with Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.

We made these adorable little ROCKING cats. I gave them a choice of red, orange or green shoes. We graphed about it after we were done. I love how the bulletin board turned out.

Next, we read about Pete's groovy buttons. I just love how all the kids sing along with their favorite part. Soooo sweet. We talked about adjectives and how they were used to describe Pete's buttons. We brainstormed our own list. Then, they chose and adjective from each category.
We wrapped it up with folding an origami GROOVY shirt. We used the scrap paper basket in the office to make the buttons. This way they were able to choose the exact color and size they wanted.

Next week we are going to talk about Story Maps, specifically character and setting. 
 
Post-It notes fit perfectly on this story map. Then it can be used over and over again. Love the bright colors too.

In the listening center I included this reader-response page. Scan the QR Code and the children will hear a fantastic version Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. The kids can follow along with the class' book and the answer the questions.
I also included the title for the origami shirt bulletin board. Hope you enjoy.

Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes - Listening Center

Grooooovy Buttons Bulletin Board

If you like any of these activities...check out my TpT store.