Pumpkin Brace Map

Today we started our week long unit on pumpkins. We started out the week reading a nonfiction book about the life cycle of a pumpkin. The book was a simple text that described the different parts of a pumpkin as it goes through it's life cycle. I used this opportunity to introduce the students to the brace map. A brace map is a thinking map that is used to show parts of a whole. We made these cute parts of a pumpkin brace maps using construction paper to demonstrate our learning.

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day to send in the tiny pumpkin to be used for Pumpkin Day. If your child has not already brought their pumpkin to school please make sure they have it tomorrow. The pumpkin must be a handheld size as in the image below. Thanks!

Camping Read-In

Friday was SUCH a fun day in our class! We finished off our two week unit on camping by having a camping read-in. Each of the students was allowed to bring a flashlight and a special book or two from home. I moved all the desks and set up two tents (one big and one small), as well as a camp fire made from tissue paper. We spent the entire morning sharing our books with our friends. I divided the class in half and they took turns reading inside the big tent. When you were not reading in the big tent it was your turn to do campfire reading and "read under the stars". Everyone LOVED it! We turned off one of the classroom lights to dim the room a bit (but still leave plenty of light for reading). However, every 15 minutes the kids had to get with someone who had a flashlight and we turned off both lights for 5 minutes of "flashlight reading". What a super fun day!

I took a bunch of pictures of everyone during our read-in, but unfortunately I cannot share them on the blog. You'll just have to settle for a picture of our set up and imagine it with 19 giggling faces poking out from inside of the tent:

Stinky Skunk Facts

Yesterday we had a blast reading about an animal you might see while camping, but definitely would not want to: the skunk!

As soon as I showed the book to the class the room was filled with "eewwwwww" and "gross! They stink!". The kids couldn't wait to learn about this smelly animal.

After reading our nonfiction text on skunks we took a few minutes to retell facts we learned from the book. Then each student had to choose one fact to record as their "stinky skunk fact". I told them that they were not allowed to write "skunks smell bad", that they had to choose something NEW they learned. They were able to remember a lot of really interesting facts!

After I approved the stinky skunk fact, they got to work creating a skunk to go with it. How cute are these?!?

I just love how they turned out and the students just loved that the fact was in the skunks puff of stinky spray (or musk as we learned yesterday).

Table of Contents and Owls

This week we are continuing with our camping theme but moving into a nonfiction unit. Each day we will be reading a nonfiction text about a different animal you might see if you went camping. Yesterday we read about owls. After reading, we went around the class and took turns sharing one fact we learned about owls. Then, we created these cute little owls and used them to record 3 different facts we learned.  Here is what it looks like all closed up:

And here it is opened to the facts:

We talked about the difference between fiction and nonfiction and noted that one major difference is something called a table of contents. I taught the kids that the table of contents tells you what information you will find in the book and on what page, because in a nonfiction book you do not have to read from cover to cover like in a fiction story.  A little bit later, during daily 5, one of the students came up to me with one of our Draw, Write, Now books from the work on writing station. She was super excited to show me that she found a table of contents in the front of it.

"Look Ms. McCormack! This book has a table of contents! It shows you all the things you can learn to draw and shows you what page to go to. That way you don't have to look through every page to find what you need"

(forgot to take a picture so I pulled this one off google images)

I love it when they listen and learn something new. Makes my heart smile! :)

Sleeping Bag Campers

All last week we had been reading fiction stories about camping to build up our schema on the topic. As a fun activity to tie all our learning together and show me what the students have added to their schema over the course of the week we did a writing project about camping on Friday.

We started off our activity with a thinking map. We used a flow map to write about what we would do first, next, then, and last if we went camping. This was our first time being introduced to the flow map for writing and everyone did great!

Then, we created these cute little campers in sleeping bags and used them to write our final sentences about what we would do if we went camping.

I think the finished products turned out super cute!

This week we are continuing our camping theme, but moving into our nonfiction unit. We'll spend some time comparing fiction and nonfiction texts as well as researching some of the different animals you might find while out camping. Should be a fun week!

Field Trip Volunteers

Thank you to those of you who signed up to volunteer for our field trip! It's going to be SUCH a fun day!

Just a few reminders for the volunteers:

1. Please make sure you have filled out a background check online for the district. We cannot allow you to go with us until this has been processed, and it usually takes a few days to go through. If you have not already done so, this needs to be done ASAP! Please send me a note or an email when you get a response saying you are cleared. The link to the background check can be found here:

FBISD Background Check

2. Please send $6 to purchase your ticket to Dewberry Farm by Monday, October 29th.  We have a limited amount of time to spend at the farm and since there is usually a very long line to purchase tickets upon arriving we want to avoid that at all costs.

We'll be sending home more information as the trip gets closer. In the meantime, if you have any questions please let me know. Thank you!

Red Ribbon Week

I want to remind everyone that next is Red Ribbon Week. We're going to celebrate being drug free all week by dressing up each day, from October 22 - October 26.

Monday - Blackout Drugs!  Wear all black from head to toe.

Tuesday - Team Up!  Wear your favorite sports team apparel.

Wednesday - Join the fight against drugs!  Wear camouflage.

Thursday - Put drugs to rest!  Wear your favorite pajamas. (Please remember to wear tennis shoes for recess. Pajama's must be school appropriate: no gowns, short shorts, or spaghetti straps, please!)

Friday - Drugs are unBEARable!  Bring your favorite teddy bear. (must be able to fit inside their backpack; no oversized teddy bears please)

Schema Makes Your Brain Light Up

Today we did a really cool lesson on schema. I have taught the kids that schema is a fancy word that means "what you already know in your brain". Since we are starting a new unit today on camping, I thought this would be the perfect time to introduce this lesson.

We started out by reviewing what schema means. Then, each student used a sticky note to write down one thing they already know about the topic: camping. After a few minutes I called each student up one by one to add their schema to our schema chart.

As they were adding their information I asked them how they knew what they know. We found that we have learned things from a lot of different places including movies, tv, friends, family, books, school, experience, computers, etc. As students told me how they learned their information, I used puff paint to add some squiggles to that area of our brain.

After everyone had a chance to share we talked about our brains and how using our schema makes our brains light up. We turned off the lights and watched our brain "light up" with all our schema. The kids went crazy! What a good visual to help them understand what happens in their brain when they use their schema.

We read the book Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer and I challenged the kids to "make their brains light up by thinking of a connection to the story". Everyone was then asked to use a second sticky note to write down their connection. As they finished the placed their connection onto their spot on our ticket to leave chart and then were dismissed to their daily 5 rounds.

We were lucky enough to have Mrs. Allen visit us during this lesson and she told me later she was really proud of how hard the kids were working, and what good listeners they were. What a great group of kids!

Coffee Filter Art - Monsters!

We finished off our monster unit on Friday with a bang.

After reading Jeremy Draws a Monster on Thursday, we read Go to Bed Monster on Friday. These two books are very similar, so after reading we reviewed the story from the day before and talked about things that were the same and different by looking at the different story elements. Then the students created their own double bubble comparing the two stories. They did great!

Since it was "Fun Friday" and the end of our monster unit, I found this super fun monster art activity from Housing a Forest. To make these monsters, the students were each given a coffee filter and asked to color the entire thing, in any pattern they wanted, using marker. After it was colored, we sprayed it down with water and pressed it between two pieces of paper. When we peeled back the coffee filter what was left on the paper was the basis for our monster. I have made coffee filter art before, but never like this. I love the way the colors transfered to the paper and the great texture it left. I think it looks even better than the tie dyed coffee filter! The kids were amazed at the color transfer. I just love teaching them new simple ways to create art.  They cut the print out and used white and black paper to add the finishing details. Look how cute they are!

Here are a few up close so you can see the awesome texture left by the color transfer:

What a fun way to end our week!

Conferences

I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you to all the parents who came to the school to meet with me today for conferences and all of those who were able to take some time to speak on the phone.  I think communication between the teacher and parents is essential to the success of the kids, so I greatly appreciate you all taking the time out of your day to conference with me!

Story Map Sticky Notes

This morning we read the book Jeremy Draws a Monster and used our story map again to discuss the different story elements. However, this time, I let the kids do ALL the work and I must say they impressed me.  I had each student bring a notebook and pencil to the carpet with them. I passed out a sticky note which they stuck to their notebook for something hard to write on.  I assigned each row on the carpet a different element to listen for (ie one row listened for characters, one for setting, one for problem, and one for solution). I read the story and while I read they used their pencil to write words and draw pictures representing their story element.  After reading each student got to come up and add their sticky note to the chart while sharing what they wrote. 

I'm so proud of the great work they did! We will definitely be using sticky notes more often as a whole class activity now that I know how responsible they can be with them.

Reading Partners

I noticed over the past week that many of the friends in our class were getting off topic during read to someone. What might start as a discussion about a book was quickly turning into 20 minutes of free talking time. To help get the kids back on track during this rotation we created a poster together with different ideas of topics they can talk about together. This poster is now hanging in our classroom as a reminder to students what they can talk about during read to someone. I love how it turned out and I love that the kids took ownership of it by helping me come up with the ideas.

Purple People Eater

Earlier this week our class did a new fun visualization activity. This group of kids really gets into the concept of visualization. They love the idea that they can "make a movie" in their head.

Continuing with our monster theme, we listened to the song Purple People Eater. First I had the kids listen to the song and close their eyes to get a picture of the monster in their head. Then we listened to the song a few more times on repeat while they set to work drawing their mental picture using crayons and markers. After everyone was finished we shared the examples with everyone. The interesting thing about this visualization lesson is the song does not tell all the information about what the monster looks like. It gives certain pieces of information and you have to fill in the gaps using your imagination. The kids loved seeing everyone's different interpretation of the monster. Here are a few examples:

After sharing the examples, I pulled up a picture of the movie cover to show the kids:

We had fun comparing our version of the monster to the one in the movie.

iRead with iPods!

Today was a VERY exciting day in our class because we were introduced to our classroom iPod's!

My dad works with Apple Computer in the educational technolgoy department, so he knows first hand what an important learning tool the iPod touch can be.  A few years ago he purchased 2 iPod touches for me to use in my classroom with the students.

Intially, we are using these tools to work on our reading fluency. Later, once the kids have demonstrated their responsibility using them, we will add in some education apps for them to work on as well.

The iPod can be a GREAT tool to aid in reading fluency.  Many first graders, when just learning to read, read books slowly and word by word. This lack of fluency can cause them to struggle with comprehension of the text read. Many first graders have no idea they are reading this way because it is so hard to hear yourself when you are so focused on decoding and reading the words. This is where the iPods come in.  We are using the voice memos app so the students can record themselves reading and listen to what it sounds like.  They are using a text that has been introduced in guided reading with me, and they take it into the hallway to record. After they have finished recording they listen to the recording, then record again to see if they can improve on their fluency.  It is amazing the first time they hear themselves read how many of them say something along the lines of "oh my gosh! I didn't know I read that slowly" or "I sound like a robot reading! yikes!". Hearing themselves read helps them to focus on what their reading sounds like. The second recording is always better than the first as a result.

This tool is also a great assessment for me. I am able to listen to them read and track their fluency by how many words they read per minute. There is research that shows that doing these recordings significantly improves student reading fluency over the course of the year!

About half our class had a chance to practice recording today and they all did GREAT! It amazes me that they know so much about technology at such an early age. Even just a few years ago it was much harder to teach the students how to use the iPods because many had never interacted with one. Now, most students, at some time or another, have had access to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, which makes learning to use our classroom ones a breeze.

The students who did not get a chance to record themselves today will get a chance to do so tomorrow. I'm certain they will do just as well! Every student will get a chance to use this tool once or twice each week.  I am so excited about all the learning that will take place as a result of this technology!

Monster Art

Yesterday we started a fun monster project. We read the book Where the Wild Things Are (such a classic; I remember my mom reading it to me when I was a kid), and then made connections to the story by creating our own unique "wild thing" ... otherwise known as a monster.

First the kids all had to sketch their wild thing using pencil. After they finished with pencil they used a black crayon to trace over each line then they used watercolor paints to color it in. They turned out FABULOUSLY! AND, this is the first time I have let a class paint and no one spilled any water anywhere. yay! The kids loved being able to paint. They were all so engaged and relaxed while doing it; the room has never been so quiet! haha

I seriously loved every single one of these, so here is just a preview of the great work they did (you'll notice some of the students gave their monsters names; those are not the name of the child that created it):

Today we used these monsters for a great thinking maps activity.  We started out making a tree map to describe our monsters. The students made branches for things their monster can do, has, and is. We looked at our paintings and came up with a list of things that could fit under each branch. I created the master list on the board and students were asked to choose 2 things I wrote for each branch and copy them on their own paper. We talked about how to choose something that is true of your monster, not just anything you see written.

After creating our tree map, we used it to create sentences. This is a great activity to help the students learn how to write a complete sentence. And, it's so easy because once the tree map is done, all the work is done for you and all the words are already spelled out for you.  I taught the kids how to read down the tree map to compose sentences. I was actually very impressed by how quickly they picked up on the concept. They were even able to start using the pronoun for their monster (either he or she) in their sentences.  I'm so proud of all their hard work. It took awhile, but these really turned out great. here are a couple so you can see what the writing looks like:

We will definitely be doing more painting in our class this year. The kids handled it so well and it was fun for everyone. Plus, we got some great practice writing out of it. win win!

Monster Unit Part 1

This week we have continued our unit investigating and learning the features of fiction books using a monster themed unit. The kids LOVE all the moster books! Seriously, it has never been so quite in the room as when I start to read one of these books; they are so interested and anxious to find out what happens in each.

We started off the week talking about using our schema to make connections. The kids learned that schema is a fancy word for "what you already know in your brain". We used this schema map that I found from Pinterest and recorded some of our schema about monsters. We had SO many ideas to add we ran out of space (and time haha)! Then we read the book There's a Monster Under my Bed and recognized that a lot of the ideas we had about monsters were written in the book.

I love this schema chart because we can use it for different topics all year. Once the kids get more proficient with writing they will be the ones recording their own thinking on the post it notes, but for now it's easier and faster for them to share out loud and have me write it down.

Next we added a new comprehension strategy to our CAFE wall: retell the story in sequence.  We read There's a Nightmare in My Closet and practiced retelling the beginning, middle, and end. The kids made a flip book to describe each part of the book using words and pictures. I wrote some key words on the board to help with spelling, but I left the sentence ideas up to each child (after of course we went over all the answers as a class after reading the book).  I was quite impressed with the sentences I got from each student.  Here is an example of our flip books:

We also reviewed making connections between our own lives and the text. We read Monster Mama and each student was asked to create a double bubble comparing themselves to the monster in the book. This was our first double bubble to create independently this year and they did great! Almost everyone grasped the concept of where to put the different pieces of information.  Here is an example:

Today we started a fun project relating to monsters that I will share with you tomorrow. Check back soon!

Writer's Workshop: editing

Today we talked about the 4th step in the writing process: editing. I introduced the class to our writer's eyeglasses bulletin board first thing. The students are being taught to use their "writer's eyeglasses" to look at their work a little more closely and fix some of the errors they might have made the first time.

I made these bookmarks to help students remember what information to look for during editing. We will add more to this as the year goes on, but for now I am mostly looking for editing of periods, capital letters, good spaces, and sentences that make sense and are in order.

During editing, students are allowed to use a red pencil to show what changes they made. We have practiced using some basic editing marks so we reviewed those by looking at an example page I wrote together. We went through the writer's eyes checklist one by one and fixed up each thing on the list.

After the students have attemped to edit their work on their own they sign up for a writing conference. To do this they simply move the clip with their number on it from the "I'm working hard on my own" sign to the "I need a writing conference" sign. I can then go down the ribbon and work with each student one on one to help them fix up their work to get it ready for publishing. This is a great opportunity for me to talk to each student one on one about their writing and their thought process.

Next up: publishing!