Yay it’s time for the only party on a Friday night that I can stay awake for; Doodle Bugs Teaching’s Five for Friday linky! Between out of district professional development days and snow days, I was only in the classroom for two days but we had a lot going on!
My kids had a great time acting as little detectives and completing activities from my Drawing Conclusions packet. They completely took on the detective persona and helped Detective Dan and Inspector Spot draw conclusions about their case files. I unfortunately didn’t take any pictures while we were hard at work, but there was some really great discussion and group work as my students were cracking open the case files! I am so excited to be stepping out of the box and creating new things for my kids to use.
My birthday was on Tuesday and even though my co-teacher and I were at a professional development day outside of the district, she still snuck into school early and left this little book for my kids to fill out for me! This is my first year as an inclusion teacher and I am SO lucky to have her with me, I don’t know how I’d do it without her!
The letters my kids wrote were so sweet and genuine, I cried reading through the book the next day. This little one was definitely a highlight. She wrote, “Mrs. Yannuzzi is special to me because she is the best and she is always pretty like a princess.” Well, if that’s not the cutest thing I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is! She must know my back up career plan is to be a Disney princess!
We are moving right along with our units of study in writing workshop. My district is lucky enough to work very closely with Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project and have the opportunity to work with an amazing staff developer. She comes into our classroom 10 times a year to launch different units, guide the teachers in our planning of writing, and assists the students in their writing. Today, we began our opinion writing unit with the most precious read aloud, A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid. It’s all about a little girl who tries to convince her parents to get her a pet skunk.
Just adorable and a great example of persuasive writing! My student pictured above is beginning to judge a collection that she brought in from home of bracelets. We’re going to be master judges soon!
We started our March decorations ( a little late, thanks snow day!) and used the crowd pleaser from The Teacher Wife, “Who is Worth More To You Than Gold?” We added a little leprechaun to the pot that we made from our own tracers to complete the look. The students’ responses were priceless, I look forward to this project every year! I love the little one up top, I am happy because my teachers help me with work. We’re happy too!
Despite the craziness that a snow day always ensues when we get back to school, it was so nice to spend the day with my Catdog and create a new packet to use with my class next week! I have been so inspired by the book study and discussion with other bloggers about getting kids up and moving and interacting with each other. So, in this compound words activity pack I wanted to make sure I made things that would get my students working together, thinking outside the box, and having fun! In this packet there is an anchor chart, a compound connection matching activity, display cards, Find Someone Who activity, Compound Words Scoot, Pictionary, interactive notebook pages, Spin a Compound Word, and other printables! Check it out here if you’re interested!
I am really looking forward to a weekend of relaxing! Enjoy everyone!
4 Comments
Jayme, I love the case file idea! Kids love anything detective in my room. We call ourselves math and reading detectives and they love it! This is a great way to get the kids to use text clues to draw conclusions… this a tough skill to teach and you nailed it!
Thank you so much! My kids loved it and I definitely have to utilize this opportunity more. I love the idea of using math and reading detectives! What a fun way to get the kids exploring! Have a great weekend!
Such a great post! We use Lucy Calkins writing too, and a teacher from the Teacher's College came a did a week long institute with us this summer. That is amazing that you get 10 visits! WOW! I have not heard of the Petunia book yet and will definitely add it to my list for the year. Love your dog! Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Marie
Once Upon a Classroom: A Teacher's Tales
Thank you so much for reading Marie! That's a great opportunity that you had a staff developer come to you guys over the summer! I'm actually hoping to participate in their summer institute again if I get accepted. I went last year and it was amazing!