Not by the Color of our skin...

Hello Everyone,
I never really took time out to think about this, but in learning about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we have an opportunity to make so many connections with ourselves, other characters and people, and of course, the world, and I think it's important for kids to do the same.  My little Social Studies unit on MLK does just that.  Many of the activities have and will help kids understand what life may have been like in the late 50's and 60's.  Many of us and unfortunately many of our kids have experienced discrimination to some degree. In our classroom we have discussed how important it is to look at the inside of a person, rather than how she looks, sounds, moves, etc.  From Chrysanthemum to The Grinch, to Rudolph, we keep digging to find the hidden meaning the author is trying to portrait.  
MLK is one with whom we should spend time on.  I have compiled many of the ideas we have used in the past and created a few new things to help those connections happen!

A 9 page mini book for the kids to make is included in the unit.

For your free unit, celebrate freedom and click here!

The unit is over 20 pages and includes patterns for the craft connection, some mini posters, writing activities, a book for the kids to make, a song, and a puzzle.

Thank you Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

Joyfully!

Nancy

There's Snow Time Like Winter

Hello Everyone!!
I have absolutely loved having this week off.  Christmas was a very relaxing and sweet day of celebrating so many things. I feel so blessed!
 I ended up getting a yucky cold later in the week, so I was forced to stay in and enjoy the snow from my couch.  It did give me some time to put together a little unit for later on in the winter, probably the week of Jan 21.  I love having time to plan ahead for a change.  This little unit includes some winter poetry and interpretation responses, some compound word activities, a word search, some math tub activities, including one with missing addend, a marshmallow snowman craft connection, some quick reader's response to go along with "The Biggest Snowman Ever" By Steven Kroll, a mystery picture math activity with addition and subtraction clues, and a fun science activity. Here are a few pics to help you visualize.

Looks good enough to eat!!

 

Unit has a Borax snowflake in a jar experiment.

If your fingers aren't too cold, click here for your 45 page wintry unit!

Now that I'm feeling a little better, I'm going to venture outside!!  Hope your time off is a time of blessings and joy!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Smitten With Mittens

Hello Everyone!

My wish for you is that you enjoy some joy and peace this holiday season.  My wish is that you also enjoy this new unit, Smitten With Mittens.  I love to take one piece of literature and center my entire learning environment around it!  After our New Years unit when we get back from break, I thought it would be great to use "The Mitten" by Jan Brett, another of my favorite author/illustrators.  I know kids love her books as well.  I am using this literature to help with retelling, drawing conclusions, interpretations, adding and subtracting, problem solving, and even some quick little science activities.

Here are some pics of a few of the 50 page unit.

6 page problem solving

For your free 50 page mini unit, put on your mittens and click here!


As always, thank you for your support with my attempts at blogging.  You all are the best!!
 Have a wonderfilled week!!

Joyfully!
Nancy

Rudolph's Message

Hello Everyone!

I love Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer even more than I did before our lesson today.  Today as we were reviewing the story, we began to see a clear picture of the author's message. Here's our brainstorming anchor chart.

I am so proud of this group of firsties.  They have really begun to see stories as more than just stories. They are thinking more deeply into comprehension and connection. Keep diving kids!!

Our next connection to Rudolph was to express our thoughts about the message through a craft connection. 

I initially wanted to use this craft for a retelling, but it went perfectly with what we worked on today.  The kids had to write in their own words, what they thought was the most important message from Rudolph (and the author, of course).  They cut out their writing, added a Rudolph cover complete with a shiny nose, a title, and alas! A quick reader's response!

 (Conventions in writing are works in progress.  We did not edit before creating the connection response.)

We then, desperately needed to become the character!  We cut out our antlers, glued them to a headband, and added a red nose!!  We want to be like Rudolph!!

We'll all go down in history!

I had one little guy tell me that he wasn't washing his nose off until next October.  He was going to be Rudolph for Halloween!! :)

The patterns for both these activities are in my Reindeer Games unit.You can get that freebie here! Click!

Tomorrow? Yes, we will still be in school tomorrow.  So many fun things to do yet!!! 
Till then, have a wonder-filled evening!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

What Glows like Rudolph's Nose?

Hello Everyone!

Just a teeny tiny post tonight!  Way too much going on!  Today we continued with our study of reindeer.  We read the original version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer- written in 1939!!  We'll do some comparing and contrasting later this week, but I wanted to get a quick response and text to self connection in.  I paired the kids up (during their "Read to Someone" time) and had the kids brainstorm and write all the different things they could think of that glows like Rudolph's nose. When we got back together, we added all the glowing ideas to a chart.  I loooooove all the great responses!!  Way to go kids!! I think the only things that glow brighter than Rudolph's nose are the minds and smiles on my little cuties!!

Not sure what dream lights and glow pillows are, but the kids convinced me they glowed! :)

This reader's response activity can be found in my Reindeer Games unit. Click here for your copy!

Have a perfectly glow-filled night!!
Joyfully!
Nancy

Grinch Alert II and Reindeer Races

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share a couple of things we did last week to finish up our Grinch Week and a fun subtraction Reindeer Game we played this morning.

On Friday, the day started with Fidget With It Friday and Green Play Doh!  We practiced spelling our sight words!

 We got to enjoy that wonderful Dr. Seuss book again by making Grinch Cookies with our third grade book buddies!  I drew a sample on the board and the kids did great!!  Colored frosting, mini marshmallows, black licorice strings, and yellow Sixlettes.

Our Grinch Cookies turned out great!!

  We made our Grinch Grime.  This year I got Green Glitter Glue to use instead of white school glue!  It turned out so cool!! Kids loved it!!

We had such a fun day. At the end I gave the kids some Candy Canes the Grinch had left behind.  You should have heard them when they read what he had done to the red and white ones!! :) EWWWW!

Our Amazingly Dedicated, Sweet, and Fun Team!!!  

 

 

Today, Monday, we began our week of Reindeer Games.  We are going to learn all about reindeer (caribou) and include them in all of our other curriculum areas.  This morning I put together a fun little Reindeer Race.  We divided into two groups and sat on either side of the large work mat. Each team had to roll a die and count down from 20 that many spaces. We put "lights" on each number as we counted down. The team that got to the finish line first won.  Great subtraction practice! The kids each had a recording page of their own. Tomorrow we'll try it with addition!

The cute reindeer plastic tablecloth is from...you guessed it! The Dollar Store! :)

Click here for your copy! There's one for addition too!

And here for my Reindeer Games unit! :) 

A great start to what will be a great week!
Have a good one!!
Joyfully!
Nancy