Did anyone else blink and now February is over?? I’m not sure that’s a bad things because this month has been a doozy! I know that March is a long one but I’m looking forward to some excitement to come! My birthday, all the fun of St. Patrick’s Day in the classroom, and of course SPRING! Come on March, I’m ready for you! Let’s close out February in style with some Five for Friday fun!
Since starting this blog, connecting with other teachers has been by far my favorite thing about this experience! On instagram I saw Ashley Schroeder from Schroeder Shenanigan’s in 2nd (fellow Penn Stater wahoo!) post this simple yet effective idea for teaching Author’s Purpose. She took a a bucket of books and had her students sort them by persuade, inform, entertain. My students discussed what Author’s Purpose meant, read some different read alouds, and then sorted some of our past read alouds according to their author’s purpose. They did such a great job and we continued to talk throughout the week about author’s purpose! I was so proud when they connected to the fact that their purpose in writing workshop was to inform their readers for their informational chapter books!
Again, I have to cite Miss DeCarbo for this fantastic yet simple idea during guided reading! I took a few of our vocabulary words from our guided reading texts and posted them on my whiteboard before my reading group met. Having them on display before we started reading gave us the chance to really discuss the words, their spelling, and meanings before we started talking about our text. Such a great spring board for my guided reading books. Starting off our reading groups with the vocabulary words really motivated my students to talk about them as they came across them in their reading! To check out her original post about vocabulary during guided reading visit her blog here!
This is the time of year in first grade that I have to take a few steps back and appreciate my students’ growth. It may not always be perfect but there are positives in every day of first grade! I was finishing up a round of Daily 5 (which I try to get to at least 3 times a week…in an ideal world it would be every day!) and I saw my little ones asking each other for help, finishing up word work activities and going to the bins to get another one independently, and laughing and showing pages of their books to their imaginary students during read to self. It warmed my teacher heart to see this independence and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings!
I am so excited for this book study with Kickin’ It In Kindergarten and so many other inspiring bloggers. I have been reading the first few chapters of Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites and I am already so inspired to try new things in my class. I couldn’t wait and I tried to incorporate a little art into our reading lesson this week. After reading our mentor text about where food comes from, I split the students into three groups and had them design posters based on the facts they learned from the text. They were so proud to show off their hard work! Can’t wait to see what other teachers are doing after reading this book!
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| {visit http://kickinitinkindergarten.com/ for more information about the book study!} |
I was too excited about all of my purchases from the TpT sale that I had to fancy up my presentation for a faculty meeting on Friday with my new graphics from Whimsy Clips, font from the fantastic Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade and digital papers from sonyadehartdesigns.com! What did you all purchase during the big sale?!
I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
5 Comments
Love the author's purpose lesson… I was just reviewing some unit tests we took this morning and I think we need a bit more practice with author's purpose. Can't wait to use this idea!
I'm so glad you found a useful idea here! It's definitely an activity you can use throughout the year! Have a great weekend!
I am so excited for the book study as well! I haven't had a chance to get started on the book yet. That's my weekend goal:) Everyone says it's such a great book, I can't wait to get started!
Have a great weekend!
Lindsey:)
I also love this time of year. My kinder know the routines and I feel like I can get more in our day b/c we don't have to constantly review what the expectation is. I still have to do it, but overall, we are in our groove!
Suzanne @Kindergarten Planet
Love the author's purpose activity. What a great way to get students talking! Also your presentation looks cute! I also purchased some backgrounds from Sonya DeHart Designs. I couldn't believe the sale she had going on!
Kelly
Lattes and Lunchrooms