"Weather" You Want to Read This Or Not!

It was a busy week in my room as we opened up a unit on weather and started reviewing the seasons and weather. Try talking about the seasons when you live in southern California! We were laughing ourselves sick over this but we grounded in with lots of photographs from the internet and some great books. The biggest hit was making a child the meteorologist of the day! The kids loved this so much and we used this little number to record their thinking when they stuck their heads out the door: 

 I asked them how hot or cold it felt outside and what the sky looked like. They were so invested in answering me! We review this chart so the children have the academic vocabulary to do this. I posted these cards on a magnetic board within their reach so they can use bright round magnets to show their response!

Once our meteorologist has determined the weather we record it in our little book. I model how to draw the weather under the document camera and we write a simple sentence together. This provides an opportunity to talk about the conventions of writing. The students love this simple, little journal.

We had some much fun reading about snow and polar bears this week and the best part of the week was doing a blubber experiment where students put on a glove (filled with Crisco) and stick both hands in ice water. Oh my goodness this was hilarious and so much fun for them. We told them the polar bear is able to live in such a cold climate because of his blubber which keeps him warm. Let's not go there with my blubber. No wonder I am always hot.

My students cannot get enough of "Write the Room" activities and ask me for these all the time. I taught them how to do this during small group instruction where I could guide them. I let them use clipboards but I could see what they needed more help with. Now my head is spinning with ideas to keep their enthusiasm going!

We are still plugging away on beginning sounds but many of my students can do this independently so we are moving on to ending sounds and those CVC words. I have so many packets to support their learning that I can't wait to show them.
Have a great week of teaching... teach like your hair is on fire!

Check Out the Toppings On My Pizza: Foundational Fun

Who has seen those pizza pans from the Dollar Store or Walmart? Are they collecting dust? Well I decided to finally use them for an interactive activity that focused on sounds and letters. I am giving you simple directions for making your own quickly and easily. Just follow these directions and it will come together in less than an hour. 

Use wipe off markers to model writing the letter you are working on. It will erase very easily. I put the cards in a pocket chart so students can go over and pick one and place it where I tell them to. Use vocabulary like top, bottom, left, or right to build that academic vocabulary stressed in Common Core.

Look what I created for your students to use:

So I created this packet for your students starting kindergarten as you introduce the letters and sounds. You can even make this bad boy into a book and staple the pages together. I have used this in my classroom for many years and the kids love it. 
How would first grade teachers make use of this? Model it and have them do this independently. Need more of a challenge? Have them label their pictures. Any other ideas. These are crucial foundational skills for our students to practice and the kinesthetic piece builds their fine motor skills. 
Warning: Never take your eyes off of a five year old who has a pair of scissors. Why?
Hummm... I have had them cut their eyelashes, hair, someone else's hair or the brand new outfit their mom dressed them in that day. Am I the only teacher with that kid in her room? If you want this packet you can click here or on the picture and it will shoot you to my store.
If you like this idea I am making more of these for other skills. What do you think?