First week back after Spring Break almost complete! It was a jam packed week of learning, interactive activities, and some outdoor fun! I can’t wait to recap everything with my favorite linky party, Doodle Bugs Teaching’s Five for Friday!
We didn’t waste anytime with our first day back! We jumped right into studying our new spelling pattern, double o /oo/ like in book. I knew while I was planning over break that I would need something interactive and fun to hook my sweet little friends and get them to buy into our phonics instruction this week. I found Smitten with First’s Looking For Words Activity packet on TpT and knew it was the perfect way to introduce our sound!
First up, we were introduced to Lookie the Explorer, a precious little girl who is “looking,” for words. We helped brainstorm some oo words for her as a whole class and then we were gifted some explorer hats to join Lookie on a hunt! We started off right away on our hunt for /oo/ words around the classroom! My students loved the extra oomph the hats and Lookie gave to our word hunt. They have been so excited about the sound ever since!
We continued working on our /oo/ with more activities from this great pack like the Buried Word sort. My littles acted as true explorers and used shovels to dig up word cards. If we found an /oo/ word my teacher’s assistant (a behavior reward, more on this later ;)) added the word to our chart. If we dug up a non /oo/ word, we buried it back into the dirt!
I can’t say enough great things about Michelle’s packet of activities! Check them out in her TpT store here!
We have been doing an excellent job becoming master measurement magicians in class! But, on Tuesday we were having a beautiful day in NJ and I knew my littles deserved a little outdoor action! We took advantage of our school’s new outdoor classroom and made our OWN outdoor scavenger hunts to measure objects outside. If you want to read more about how my firsties created hunts to meaure outdoor objects to trade with another student, read my previous blog post here! It was such a successful student-centered activity! I’m so proud of these measurement magicians!
We were reviewing cause and effect again this week in reading and my firsties have been doing an awesome job practicing this skill with a lot of hands-on practice. I wanted to bring cause and effect to life in the classroom again before we tackled it in our reading for the week. I read a post from the fabulous Miss Decarbo at Second Grade Sugar and Spice and knew her cause and effect scavenger hunt in the classroom was the perfect activity for us!
I wrote on index cards (nothing fancy for last minute ideas) clues and placed them around the room for my students to find. After reading each clue, my students discussed with a partner what the effect or cause of the clue might be and shared with the group. Once we agreed, we followed the clue to our next destination! My students did an awesome job using their background knowledge about cause and effect to solve the clues completely without teacher support! Get up and move? Check. Work cooperatively? Check! Thank you Miss DeCarbo! To check out her original post please visit her amazing blog here!
I am seriously in awe of this teacher blogger community, I knew I have said it before but I have to say it again. The excitement everyone has and the willingness to share ideas about what works in their classroom is so amazing! I have seen ideas for a V.I.P. table from Mrs. Lambs Class and I loved the idea! Unfortunately, I don’t have any extra tables and space is very limited in my classroom. So I have been unable to find a way to celebrate student behavior with a full V.I.P. area and I was super disappointed about it. UNTIL I found Primarily Speaking’s idea about using a V.I.P. supply bucket to travel to different students’ desks!
I knew that would be such a special treat for my firsties so I went to Michael’s and picked up a few (or a ton of!) special supplies for two rockstar students who have been displaying respectful behavior throughout the last few days. The plan is to place the supply bucket secretly on two students desks in the morning before the kids come in. When they enter the room they will see who our Rockstar Students are for the day! Those two students will have the opportunity to use all of the special supplies in the bucket throughout the day! Inside the V.I.P. supply bucket you will find glitter glue, twistable crayons, a huge pen, mechanical pencils, dot paint, stickers, sunglasses, and a fun sticker book. I can’t wait to share how this goes. I think my students are going to FLIP!
I didn’t think it was possible but Go Noodle has outdone itself AGAIN! My firsties flipped for the new Pop See Ko 2.0 video! We loved popping with all of our favorite Go Noodle characters! Our favorite might have to be Cat Man. We think he’s just crazy!
Thanks so much for stopping by and recapping my week with me! What was your favorite moment this week? I’d love to hear from you!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
17 Comments
Love your VIP bucket! One of the best ideas I have seen all year! This community is awesome!
P.S. Love your blog and classroom!
-Bri @ Knowledge Mobile
Thank you so much Bri! I really appreciate your kind words! I just posted a freebie for the VIP buckets in my TpT store if you're interested in setting one up for your classroom. I hope you have a great week!
I love how your VIP buckets turned out and I am so glad that your students liked them so much. I completely agree about the teacher blogging community. It is so refreshing. I wish Go Noodle was around when I was teaching. It looks like so much fun!
Thank you Jen! I hope my kids continue to love the VIP buckets. Day 1 was definitely a success! I bet your daughters would love to dance around to Go Noodle. The songs get stuck in my head all the time. I hope you have a great week.
My Kinders flipped for Pop Se Ko 2.0, too! The VIP bucket is a genius idea. Think I'll have to put that on my to do list!
Andrea
Always Kindergarten
Thank you so much for stopping by! Day 1 of the VIP bucket was fantastic, I'm hoping my kids continue to love it. I highly suggest giving it a try! I hope you have a great week.
My kids are obsessed with pop see ko 2.0! I love all the ways you got your kids up and moving during their learning! It keeps them so engaged! Will have to try some of your ideas! š
Thank you so much for stopping by, Katie! I try to keep my kids moving in different ways throughout the day. They need it to stay focused. I'm glad you like some of the ideas, I hope you have a great week!
I love how active your kiddos are! At the younger grades they so need that and your kiddos always look engaged and excited! š Keep up the great work. Next week we start our measurement unit in math and I bought your new unit. It looks great. I can't wait to use it. I will post pictures when we do. I hope you have a great weekend. š
Thank you so much for the kind words Diana! I'm so excited and grateful that you purchased my measurement unit. I really hope that your kids love it! Please let me know how it goes. I hope you have a great week sweet friend!
My kids went crazy over the new Pop See Ko 2.0 this week! That song gets stuck in my head every time!
I love your blog, so I have nominated you for the Liebster Award!
Neat Sweet & Hard to Beat
Thank you SO much for the nomination! I'm so grateful that you like my blog and feel that it's worthy for the Liebster award! I can't wait to answer the questions and nominate other bloggers for this as well. I really appreciate your kind words. I hope you have a great week!
I love your VIP buckets!!! How special for your students!! My kids LOVE GoNoodle! Mr. Catman is a favorite of my students as well! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you so much Heather!!! My kids are loving it so far. I hope you have a great week!
The VIP buckets are a great idea! How exciting to come into class and see all of those awesome supplies. GoNoodle is AMAZING! What would I do without it? My goodness! Every teacher should be using it.
Stacy
Made with Love
Thank you so much for stopping by Stacy. I'm so glad that you like the VIP buckets! My kids love it so far and I can't wait to continue with it! I hope you have a great week.
For effective management of group activities, decide on activities before choosing a location or rescheduling may become required to meet some requirements. Also organizer must keep in mind the physical limitations of team members.