Earth's Surface Changes

How wonderful would it be to just stay home Monday and Tuesday in your pjs all day and play with your baby and watch Lifetime movies work on updating some of your units and worksheets???

I'll tell you. Amazing.

Don't mind my hair ;)

Yes... two snow days in a row. Can we go for a third? I don't want to press my luck but the weatherman is calling for a couple more inches over night.

While that cutie was napping I did do a little bit of work. I updated our Earth's Surface Changes Unit. This unit was so bad... basically nonexistent.

Here's a secret... you can have this unit for FREE. BUT it's only free through our blog. We have it for purchase in our TpT store. Shhhh

This year we really stepped up our game and actually did experiments for each type of earth change! I know, I know... you're thinking, "say what?" Here's another secret... Lindsay and Tina have student teachers so they are all about showing off best practices.

Here's a run down of the experiments. AND by no means are we taking credit for these ideas. It's all about using what's out there!

Volcanoes: Put a small cup in a pie tin. Scoop 2-3 spoonfuls of baking soda into the cup. Pour vinegar on top. Watch it explode!

Earthquakes: Layer colored rice or different types of beans (it's supposed to represent earth's crust/layers) in a clear vase. Insert a ruler and cause a commotion.

Landslides: Place a few Unifix cubes at the bottom of a clear plastic bin, the Unifix cubes represent houses or a small town. Fasten a piece of tag board to one side creating a slope. Pour sand down the slope. The Unifix cubes will be pushed out of place.

Erosion/Weathering: Fill a small cup with water. Drop an Oreo in. Watch as it breaks apart.

HAVE FUN!
-Amy

Super Sunday!

Today and tonight our town is getting the biggest snow storm of 2015! A foot is predicted. I'm thinking snow day tomorrow?

The snow reminded me of a fun how to writing we did last week. How to Build a Snowman. Everyone got marshmallows, pretzel sticks, chocolate chips (regular and mini sizes), and a TicTac. First we build a snowman, then we wrote the steps on our writing planning sheet. Last, we did a final copy. They turned out great!

We've been working on putting together all of our how to writing into a one stop shop pack. Look for it in our store soon! In the mean time...

We are having a Super Sale! Visit our store today or tomorrow for 20% off everything.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
-Amy

Christmas Songs

We needed to mix it up today! My class is just crazy right now, as I'm sure yours is too. I threw out the plans and we had some Name That Tune fun. 

I scribbled out the titles of Christmas songs on scrap paper, folded them up, and put them in a bowl. Then I partnered up the students, had them pick a paper from the bowl, and gave them a sheet of white construction paper. Their job was to keep their song a secrets and draw it, no words, on their piece of construction paper. 

The room was silent. 

Once everyone was finished I set them around the room and gave everyone a recording sheet. They had to figure out which song each drawing was portraying. 

So much fun!! Grab it here free. 

1 more day... I can do it. 

-Amy-

Deck the Classroom! Linky Fun

We want to join the linky fun over at Step Into Second Grade! Here are a few things we've done to make our classroom full of holiday cheer...

You Light Up My Life!

Get it free here!

We also made some stockings using adjectives that describe ourselves.

Lindsay found this cute Christmas tree pattern on TPT. We had the kids add a few things they are hoping to see Christmas morning.

We also helped Santa find a great reindeer to add to his team. Thanks Hope King!

Mooseltoe is one of our favorite holiday books. We found this cute activity to go with it!

We just love Christmas activities!!

It all started with a Jamocha Shake.

I didn't expect to meet my future husband that day. I tagged along with my friend, who was home from college, to meet up with some of her dorm mates. We met them at an Arby's near the movie theater we were going to. We walked in and I saw this shaggy haired, tall, goofy guy [who also tagged along] and I just knew. I don't know how. But I did. I knew that one day he would be my husband.

Fast forward 9 years--- December 6, 2014

Yes... it took 9 years for that thought to become a reality. And I must say, it was WORTH the wait. 

I love this man with all my heart. 

He made my dream of a winter wedding come true. Even though he had reservations about it. The weather stressed him because of our out of town guests. [They all made it!] He is truly selfless. 

"Every once in a while, in the middle of ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale." 

and... I'm living mine. 

-Amy 

Why I Like Me!

This has been one of my favorite writing pieces this year! We started by reading the book, Me I Am by Jack Prelutsky.

Then we brainstormed some reasons why we like ourselves. The kids completed a thinking map. We love using thinking maps in writing... the final piece always comes out so much more organized with great details!

Then we worked on our rough copy organizer. Once they had their rough copies done we talked about editing. This is still a work in progress. They think everything they scratched down the first time is perfect! But clearly... They is not spelled thAy. hehehe They just don't believe me! 

Once we "edited" we moved on to our final copy. We added a cute drawing of ourselves to the final copy, it added a special touch!  Here's a few that are just too cute not to share...

That hair!!

Boys do rule!

I also love it when people cheer for me! 

Such a fun activity! If you want to add this to your bag of tricks grab it here! 

-Amy

Let's Talk Turkey

I don't know if it's the baby, or the cold weather, or the fact that I'm getting married in 18 days but I am feeling the spirit of the holiday season in a big way this year. I usually have a strict "no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving" policy but I'm finding myself listening to Christmas music in car and singing carols to Baby T at bedtime. I am so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas and beginning some family traditions. The spirit I'm feeling is pouring over into the classroom as well!

To get our brains warmed up for learning I had the students take out their white boards. I told them they had two minutes to write down as many words as they could think of about Thanksgiving. They were 100% focused on this, you could have heard a pin drop!

Once we were warmed up we dove head first into this week's theme --- TURKEYS. 

Yesterday, we read a turkey mini book, written by Lindsay. It is full of interesting facts! I partnered my students up to read it together. Once they read it they discussed facts they learned. Then they completed a turkey diagram. 

We've also been working hard on becoming fluent readers. Tina found a great pack full of passages for an entire year! [We may or may not have already copied all the passages we will need for this school year.] This week we are working on "Turkey Time." 

I'm always switching up how we practice our fluency. Right now what's working for me is having the kids work independently. Everyone finds a place in the room to whisper read. I set a timer for one minute. Students, as quietly as they can, read the passage. As they read they put an X on words they don't know. After one minute, they circle the last word they read. Then they count up the total number of words they read and graph it. 

I've also done partners for fluency practice. I guess it really just depends on my mood! How do you utilize fluency passages in the classroom???? 

Every year I find that having students write opinion papers is the hardest of the three so we like to start them early in the year. Sometimes I wonder... Are we picking hard topics? I think the topics are cute and age appropriate but maybe they are more difficult that I think? This week we are working on Should We Save The Turkeys? We've modeled and taught how to write opinion paragraphs. We've got a great thinking map, an easy to use organizer, and cute writing paper. Soooo why is the writing not up the par???? Grrr... this is def something we need to keep working on. 

I can't wait for more turkey fun tomorrow!

-Amy-