Soil: Unit 4, Week 3

Happy New Year!  I can't believe how fast the holidays flew by!  Tomorrow we are heading back to school and ready for another week of Reading Street.  This week we are studying Reading Street's story Soil.  Here is the game board that I created to go along with the spelling pattern for the week:  dipthongs ow, oi, oy, and ou.  Click on the picture to download this game.

Here's the Comprehension Questions we will also use.

Here is a Trifold that Cary Short created.

Here is a Soil Test that Cary Short created.

Have an awesome year!

Merry Christmas!

I have been very lazy enjoying my time off this week.  I just had to share a Christmas song, The First Noel that our talented music teacher made.  Mr. Gier sings and plays the music in this song.  I hope you enjoy it and Merry Christmas!



Also, thanks to K. Mo at Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade, she awarded me the Liebster Award.

Gingerbread Houses

On Monday my 2nd graders brought in there Gingerbread Houses for our December Take Home Project.  Here are some of them.

Adobe house with lights

They were very proud of how great their houses turned out!

2 and 1/2 more days until my Winter Vacation begins!!!!!

A Froggy Fable Unit 4

Our last week before starting winter break we will be reading A Froggy Fable from Reading Street's Unit 4 Week 1.  Here's my weekly game board that practices the final syllable -le.

We will also do activities from Pearson Successnet as well as Comprehension Questions found here.

Here is also a Trifold that Cary Short created and shared.

Christmas Around the World

We successfully completed our first week of Christmas Around the World from Christina Bainbridge's website.  Despite having a snow day on Tuesday, we still managed to get through many of the activities.  Here are some of the projects we have been working on.

Here is our Christmas Tree.  Each day the kids have been writing how to say Merry Christmas from the Country of the day on their ornament.

Here are the ornaments we made when visiting America.

Apple Cinnamon Ornaments

I used a slightly different recipe to make the ornaments.  It was simple and turned out great.  Here's the recipe we used.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

3 cups cinnamon             

2 cups applesauce

1/2 cup glue.

You may need to add a little water to this: it needs to be the consistency of thick cookie dough. Have the children pound out to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters. If you do not have time to let them dry naturally you can stick them in the oven at 275 for 45 minutes x 3. Flip after each 45 minutes. I always do it in conjunction with math lessons on measurement. Makes 21 ornaments with a little left over. 

Here are how our Poinsettias turned out for Mexico!

Here are the fireworks from Brazil!

We have 5 days of school left.  Everyone's so excited for Christmas here, especially since we received snow in the NM desert.  Normally we are lucky to see a couple of inches a year.  We got about 4-5 inches and still have some on the ground in the shady areas.  

Happy Holidays Everyone!

A Weed Is A Flower Game Board

Wow this has been one busy week!  One of those week's when you wake and ask yourself what day is it?  Everything really ran together for me.  I have been completely immersed at home with reading the Twilight Series after watching the latest movie.  I told myself that I just couldn't wait until next year to see how it all ends.  I finished book one Friday night and have already started book 2 on my Kindle.

Then there was the scare from my expecting pregnant best friend.  She left the school Monday as soon as her students were gone with pains.  She delivered a healthy baby boy an hour and a half later!  Yes, you read right!  No one could hardly believe that one!

To end the week, my daughter who turns 3 in a few weeks, must have eaten something bad at lunch on Thursday.  She got sick in the night.  My husband and I were changing vomited sheets and cleaning her up in the dead of the night.

So that brings me to Saturday.  We've had a cold spell come through the desert.  It's wet and cold outside.  I think I will spend the day cleaning, reading, and wrapping Christmas Presents.  But, before I get started on that,  here is my weekly Game Board.

We are reading the story A Weed Is A Flower from our Reading Street series.

This week's game board covers the skill Comparative Endings -er -est.

Enjoy your week!  I know I am really looking forward to the next 2 weeks and starting Christina Bainbridges Christmas Around the World Unit!

Rosa and Blanca

We will be reading Rosa and Blanca from our Reading Street Series the last week of November.  Here is the game board that I've created that goes with the skill vowel patterns i, ie, igh, and y.

Reading Street Practice Pages

For additional Reading Street activities you can click here and here.

Even and Odd Street

I loved when I saw The Teacher Wife do her Even and Odd Street activity.  We have finally covered even and odd numbers in Math Investigations, and I just had to have my class do this fun activity too!  Here's our Even and Odd Street.

Thanks Lindsey for a great math activity!  My class loved making their even and odd houses!

Disguise the Turkey

We recently completed our monthly take home project, Disguise the Turkey.  Here are some of the turkey's my 2nd graders created.

Bumble Bee

Santa

Easter Bunny

Cow

Astronaut that says, "Houston we have a problem!"

Business Man

I am thankful for...

Here's a quick writing paper that I made to use just in case I run out of Thanksgiving activities for Monday and Tuesday.

On a side note, our pumpkin week was a hit!  The kids LOVED the pumpkin pie in a cup!  The kids also brought in their Turkey's in disguise.  They were so cute!  I hope to take pictures of some of them and post those tomorrow! 

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin

So this coming week my team and I decided to do things a little out of order.  We are going to teach the Reading Street story Life Cycle of a Pumpkin.  This story is actually about 4 weeks ahead of where we are, but teaching about pumpkins will make so much more sense now than a month from now.  Here are some of the activities we plan on using this week.

Here's my weekly game board with vowel patterns oo and u.  Click on the picture to download.

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Dominoes

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Comprehension Questions

Tic-Tac-Toe Choice Board

Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Trifold from Cary Short

I also wanted to personally thank Vicky Kinder who has created many of the activities that go along with our Reading Street Series.  You can find a TON of other activities here that she and some other generous teachers have created.

We are also going to use Christina Bainbridge's Pumpkin Observation Booklet and Ocean's of First Grade Fun's Life Cycle of a Pumpkin Writing.  Last, but not least, we are going to make Pumpkin Pie in a Cup from Teaching Heart Blog.

ClassDojo Rocks!

So last week I checked into ClassDojo after seeing Mrs. Brainbridge's post about it.  I am sooo glad that I did!  This is a great behavior management tool to use with your students.  Each student is given a cute monster avatar with their name underneath.  You can give out points to students for positive behaviors, or take points away for negative behaviors.

I quickly entered my students and chose which positive and negative behaviors I wanted to recognize, then it was up and running.  I introduced it to my students today and it was a hit!  Everyone was so excited to earn points.  I decided that for every 5 points that a student earns it was an automatic clip up with our clip chart.  


I used my laptop to award points, but tomorrow I am going to try using my iPod Touch as a remote.  ClassDojo has their own app that you can download onto an iPod or Smartphone.  They also have behavior reports that you can send home to parents!  You can sign up your class or take their short tour by clicking on the image below.

We Give Books

Here's another great website for Reading to your class:  We Give Books.  This website has a ton of popular books to read online.  They recently sent me their monthly newsletter and had some Thanksgiving titles featured for the month.

Enjoy reading these and all of their other books at We Give Books!

Compound Words Gameboard

This coming week our Reading Street Story is Anansi Goes Fishing.  Here is the compound word game board that we will use that goes along with the phonics skill of the week.

Speakaboos

I recently came across a website I had never seen before when we were finishing up our Fairy Tale Unit called Speakaboos.  They have tons of books that read the story online.  I found just about every fairy tale I could think of!  Plus they have other books like Arthur!  Check it out the next time you are looking for a book to read online with your whole class or for individual stations!  It has a sign up and log in section, but I haven't had to complete that in order to view their books.

Dear Juno Game Board

We had a really great week full of apples!  Our entire district does food tasting every month and Thursday was Apple Tasting Day!  The kids had a lot of fun graphing their favorite apples.  Then on Friday we made applesauce from First Grade Parade's recipe.  It turned out sooo good!  One of my parents took pictures and hopefully I can post them another time.  Friday evening we had Spooky Trick or Treating.  It was a big hit too!  I also can't wait to make What the Teacher Wants! Witches Brew on Monday!

Here is my weekly game board that I will use with Reading Street's Dear Juno.  It has Vowel Patterns o, oa, and ow.

Happy Fall!

Porkenstein

Ugghh!!  Today was going pretty well until my iPod did an update and then it stopped working.  I've spent much of the evening trying to restore everything on it.  It seems their iCloud may have something to do with it.  Anyway, I was excited to get this book in the mail today.

One of my students had discovered this book in our school library.  We had just finished up a 3 Little Pigs Unit and this book went right along.  It is absolutely funny!  The 3rd Pig is a Mad Scientist and creates another pig which eventually goes after the Big Bad Wolf.  Can you guess who wins this time?  Yep, you guessed it the Pigs!  It's also perfect for reading around Halloween!

Pearl & Wagner Game Board

I hope everyone has been enjoying this fantastic fall weather!  We certainly have.  Here is the Pearl and Wagner Game Board that I will use this week with our Vowel Patterns e, ee, ea, and y!

Also thanks to Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files.  She just posted a different way to save an attachment that I decided to try out with this document.  Hopefully it works fine!

Symmetrical Pumpkins

We are still studying about symmetry in math.  Today we focused on creating our own lines of symmetry.  I decided to have the kids make symmetrical Jack-o-Lanterns at the last minute.  It was a great activity and the kids loved learning about symmetry with the pumpkins.  Plus our bulletin board is up to date for our school's Spooky Trick or Treating Night.  Everyone was very proud of how they turned out!

This one was a 3D one!  Later lots of kids said, "Why didn't I think of that!"

One Good Turn Game Board

Here's my weekly game board that has Vowel Pattern ai, ay, and a to go along with One Good Turn Deserves Another.

Enjoy!

Symmetry

In math we have been working on symmetry.  The other day my class made some symmetrical creations with a few drops of paint and a marker.  I think they turned out pretty cute!

Ghost Guy

Pumpkin Man!

Another cutie!

Harvest Carrot

100 Followers Winner!

We have a winner for my Brainy Beats giveaway!  

Please send an email with your address to aubecky@hotmail.com and I will get Brainy Beats to you.

Congratulations and thanks for following my blog!

Giveaway Reminder!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for Brainy Beats by Teacher Tipster.  The giveaway closes at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time on 10-14-11.  You can enter by clicking here.

Thanks and good luck!

100 Followers Giveaway!

Whoo Hoo!  I finally hit 100 followers.  Now it's time for a giveaway!  I will be giving one lucky winner a CD by the fabulous Teacher Tipster!  He recently came out with his CD Brainy Beats.   The giveaway will be until this Friday at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

You have three chances to enter.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  To enter this giveaway you can do the following:

1.  Leave me a comment that you follow my blog.
2.  Blog about my giveaway, and leave me  a comment that you did.
3.  Follow Teacher Tipster on Facebook, You Tube, or Twitter and let me know which one you follow.

Thanks and good luck!!!

Breman Town Musicians Gameboard

It's been another busy week!  I've been getting ready for conferences and report card time.  Here is the game board to go along with The Breman Town Musicians, which focuses on Plurals.

click here to download

Have a great week!

Scarcity Game Board

Here is the Scarcity Game Board that I will use to go along with the phonics patterns in Reading Street this coming week.

Versatile Blogger Award!

Wow!  This has been a great week in Blog Land (and at school too)!  Mrs. S at Stapler's Strategies for Sizzlin' Second Graders! has awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award!

I feel like I just went to a double feature!  Thanks Mrs. S!!!  Here's what happens when you receive this award: thank the person who gave you the award, tell seven things about yourself, and pass this award on to fifteen other blogs that you think deserve it.

Seven things about me:  

1.  I love my family!  My Husband and my daughter are my life!  I often blog about Keira here!

2.  I LOVE to exercise!!

  

3.  I have over 100 exercise DVD's that I workout to in our home gym. 

4.  I was featured in Collage Video's magazine, "Get Ready for Swimsuit edition 2007."  I never thought I'd be on the back cover of a catalog in a bikini!!!    

5.  Dark Chocolate is my FAVORITE!!  I especially like Dove Dark Chocolate, but will gladly accept any kind of chocolate.

6.  I love to shop!  Whether it's online or the real deal, I'm always looking for a great bargain!

7.  My family tells me I'm on the computer too much!  Sometimes I just need to walk away from Technology.  Although being our buildings Tech Lead makes it kind of hard for me.

Now here are 15 more blogs that I really think deserve this award!

1.    Second the Best with Mrs. Duarte

2.    A Day in the Life of a 2nd Grade Teacher

3.    A Journey Through 2nd Grade

4.    Busy Bees

5.    Notes From Miss Dennis

6.    First Grade School Box

7.    Learning with Mrs. Parker

8.    The First Grade Parade

9.    The Inspired Apple

10.  Thriving Third Graders

11.  Stay and Play

12.  Ucreate with Kids

13.  Miss Kindergarten

14.  Keeping Up With Class

15.  Queen of the First Grade Jungle

I ♥ Your Blog Award

I am so excited to receive my first blogging award!  A big thanks goes out to Pitner's Potpourri who gave me the I ♥ Your Blog Award!

Now here are my Top 10 Blogs!

Rules:

1. Give the "I Heart Your Blog "Award to your favorite Top 10 Blogs that have touched your heart and inspired your teaching by listing them on your blog.

2. Contact that person and let them know of their heartfelt award.

3. When you receive the award,

copy and paste the graphic onto your

blog and give a shout out to the person who nominated you. 

4. Spread the LOVE by passing the "Heart Your Blog" Award on your Top 10.