Ooops...I am a horrible blogger. Is it too early to make my New Years Resolution?!?!
My first goal this year was to work on managing motherhood, being a wife, and a teacher. Well, I think I have a routine figured out that is working great....so far. My new goal is to add blogging back into the mix. Here is my first attempt in two months.
I feel like so much has been happening in my classroom, but I've been horrible at documenting it. Here is a little bit of what I have from the last two months. Now, it's not much and it isn't really anything exciting.
One of the mini lessons that I did with my little ones awhile back was on asking sentences. They were having a very difficult time identifying whether a sentence needed a period or a question mark at the end. This was a spure of the moment mini lesson and anchor chart.
I added the heading: Words that Show Someone is Asking a Question before the mini lesson. Then I directed my students to list some words that would show that someone is asking a question.
This is the beginning of the list. This mini lesson actually took two days to complete. Each time a student added a word to the list, we also wrote an example sentence using that same word.
This is the beginning of the list. This mini lesson actually took two days to complete. Each time a student added a word to the list, we also wrote an example sentence using that same word.
Afterwards, I hung this chart in the classroom and I feel that it has "clicked" for many of my students. We just need to work on applying it to our writing!
Back at the end of October, my first grade team invited a "bat man" to come visit our first graders. Mr. Bat Man brings in some skeletons of bats and some REAL bats for the firsties to see. I remember last year I was extremely nervous, but this has actually been one of my favorite moments in first grade.
Mr. Bat Man brings in a large net and 3 or 4 bats to fly around. Well, the first time we had him scheduled to come for a visit he FORGOT! Our firsties were so disappointed. While they were disappointed I was in a panic. I had nothing planned for the next hour!
So, I did an impromptu lesson on main characters. I quickly created the anchor chart below and pulled out Purplicious to read. This impromptu lesson on main characters actually ended up being a great lesson and it transformed my entire day. My firsities were really into learning about main characters. This group of kiddos is really creative.
After reading the text and doing some "turn and talking" about the main character, I had my little ones only draw to describe Pinkalicious. I was really impressed with their creativity. This group of kids loves to draw and WRITE! I am loving this group this year. (Math on the other hand is not so great, but that is a story for another time...)
We also wrote a great writing piece using key details to describe the main character that also was an opinion piece as to why they would recommend the book Purplicious to a friend or family member. But...I forgot to take a picture of the whole display. I told you I have been slacking at documenting what has been happening. Ooops.
So, that is all I have. Be on the look out this weekend for my Black Friday Sale and the TpT Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale! Plus...I am working on a really cute Elf writing activity that you don't want to miss out on. I hope to have it done by Monday!
The Early Bird Sale...
The Big TpT Sale...
