Writing Across the Genres

I know…I know…it’s been a week and no Knuffle Bunny…no classroom pictures…a whole lotta NOTHING! This computer has been something serious lately and getting slower by the day! I think it is time to go MAC! I hear once you go MAC you never go back?!? I think I am willing to give it a try! I swear something that should take 5 minutes to create takes about 5 hours on this little booger {that may or may not be a slight exaggeration…slight}! It has almost been found outside of my window a time or two if you catch my drift! I have cleared some things off and we are back in action for the time being! Knuffle Bunny will be posted tomorrow…fingers crossed! My kiddos began this unit today and they are already having a blast! It is the perfect fit for a spring-lovin’ classroom! 

Until then, I have managed to put together a writings across the genre unit. We were able to finish so many of these activities before testing and it really deepened the students understanding of each genre. They also LOVED the projects! We have taken a little hiatus from literary genres to work on some poetry! We will be returning after spring break to finish up a few more projects that are included in this unit! Regardless of whether or not you are studying genres, there are still some super fun and super cute writings that your students will love! Here are a few things that your kiddos will get into during this unit. {The unit includes all patterns and writing activities.}

     

    

And a few more!

We have yet to complete the ice cream sundae writing, alien letter, or autobiography scrapbook page, but I will be sure to post pictures when we do {coming after SB…wahoooo…oh….excuse me!}

Here is a look at the unit:

You can pick it up at TPT right now! :)

And here are a few other units just in case you are into all things genres:

I will be back tomorrow with KNUFFLE BUNNY, our business and corporation day pictures {which was crazy awesome}, and some singular and plural noun activities! 2 weeks my friends, 2 weeks!

Monday Rewind

And so it begins….TESTING! Today was our first day and I am so, so, SO proud of my kiddos. They rocked it out just like I knew they would! {I will pay them later! Ha!}  Let’s just pray they can hold on tight for the rest of the week!

Moving on…

To keep myself distracted from this little date that Ben has going on {with crazy girl Courtney} I am going to give you a little Monday night rewind! Last week was mainly review,  so all of our activities expanded upon something that the students already knew.

We completed our dictionary study with a cute little kite activity {similar to Cara’s}. The students included the definition, page number, part of speech, and example sentence to match their word. Here are the finished projects!

I LOVE LOVE LOOOVVEEE that spring is in the air!

Then to get those genres nailed down pat…we did a little writing across the genres:

Myth: How a Zebra Got It’s Stripes

How cute is that little fellow on the end? Ha!

Fairy Tale: The students had to “show me” why their character belonged in a fairy tale using descriptive details, but they could not say the word fairy tale. {We did some Mo Willems inspired illustrations to go along with our writings!}

         

We also wrote fables on old paper bags to remind us that fables are stories that have been passed down, but I forgot the pictures! Shoot! :/

And finally, we were busy little bees in math, knee-deep in all things geometry. Here is a fun project that helped the students practice slides, flips, and turns! {Totally Pinterest inspired!} Each child made their own transformation quilt! Super cute…but worked like a charm! 

What a great week of review! Can’t wait until Friday when we can return to a normal schedule.

AND…

Coming Tomorrow…Knuffle Bunny! What a sweet testing relief this will be and a perfect way to tie some fun Easter activities into the classroom! Here is a sneak peek at the glyph activity included:

Well…who is it going to be for Bachelor Ben?!? We shall see! Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Genre Scavenger Hunt

Hi Friends,

It is short and sweet for me tonight! This has been my first weekend home in FOREVER, and so I made it my number one goal to stay off of the computer and have some serious rest and family time! It was truly wonderful! I promise that I will share all of our activities from last week tomorrow, but here is one quick activity that helped us prepare for testing…THIS WEEK! EEEKKKK!!!

We recently finished up our little backpacking journey while learning about all types of genres using my Backpacking Through Genres unit. The kids had a great time learning how to classify literature.

{Sidenote: as our study progressed, I made several notes of things that I want to add to my Backpacking unit…so these will be coming soon!}

Since testing is coming up, last week was all about review. I wanted a fun…yet fast way to review these genres with the kiddos. However…I knew that a PowerPoint was not going to do the trick! Aside from them falling fast asleep and totally losing focus, I seriously did not want to stand up in front of them and lecture about genres for 45 minutes. So, since my kiddos had such a fabulous time on Valentine’s Day searching for the Sweetheart Snatcher, I created a fun scavenger hunt that would help them review 16 genres in a hurry. {Aren’t we always in some kind of hurry?} Ha! 

This scavenger hunt sent them all around the school, but yet held each student accountable for their review. I quickly found some genres that we needed to touch up on before this week! :) If you would like to check out this super fun hunt, click on the picture below!

Have a fantastic Monday, friends! AND…for those of you on spring break…totally jealous of you! ;)

99 and 3/4 Percent Guaranteed!!!

Hey Friends,

If you have not celebrated Dr. Seuss in the classroom…it’s not too late! In fact…it is NEVER too late for some good ol’ Dr. Seuss! I have had several emails about my Seuss week resources. I have been working to compile all of my activities into one unit and it is now ready to go for all of you! It includes resources that compliment 6 of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories. You can stop by TPT and snatch a copy if you are interested.  

Here is a look at the 6 projects included:

 

   

Here is a look inside the bundle:

Happy Wednesday, Sweet Friends! :)

Contraction Surgery and Assembly Lines

Unfortunately, not everything could be taught Seuss style last week, so we actually had to do normal people “stuff” as well.  We have been reviewing contractions and really trying to nail down your/you’re and their/there/they’re. Last week, we were doctors in training with words as our patients. Contraction surgery has made it’s way into my plans for several years now and the kiddos always go crazy over it! This year was no exception. In fact, I even added some operating room sound effects and I am telling you what…I have NEVER seen the littles work so hard! They were all about being a surgeon. I have a few resources for contraction surgery in my Chocolate Fever Unit.

                                         Before….                                                          After….

            

That is some kind of fun! :)

       

I can give myself absolutely zero credit for the next activity, but it was way too cute not to share. In social studies, we have been doing some project based learning as we study communities and economics. The kiddos have been hard at work completing interviews, studying the types of communities that surround our area {still working on the word rural - say that tens times fast}, learning all about goods and services, and designing their very own corporations {which they will advertise and sell to our firsties}. During this unit, the students have been learning about mass production in factories. My student teacher created a lesson that had the students creating a product with the use of an assembly line! Wait until you see what they created!

Are those not the cutest burgers you have ever laid eyes on? Here is how it happens…

The assembly lines are ready to go. 

First you take two Nilla Wafers (buns) and add a mini York Peppermint Pattie (burger). Next, spread on a little mustard (yellow icing).

     

Add some ketchup (pink icing) and lettuce (green coconut). There you have it…a delicious burger…good enough to…

EAT!!!!!

Assembly lines in action!

Such a great activity! I can’t wait to see their final projects next week!

Happy {almost} Wednesday!