Valentine's Day Freebie!

Froggy is one of my favorite characters!  So I love reading Froggy's First Kiss with the class!  Here are some activities to go with the book…

Non-Fiction Writing

Well, we have had 2 snow days and 2- 2 hour delays, so we are s-l-o-w-l-y getting through our nonfiction writing unit.   Since we just finished our penguin unit the class had a pretty good understanding of nonfiction books and the text features.  But we took a few days to read and review those features with an anchor chart… I had them pick cards with examples and match them to the text features.

Then they got to pick an animal to research.  I narrowed the animal choices down to dolphins, great white sharks, american alligators, and cheetahs. (I just happen to have a lot of books about these animals and I made some mini books for each student to have).  They get to underline and highlight important facts in these mini books, while taking notes in their note-taking packets.  They look so cute and grown up highlighting and note-taking!!!  I love it!

If the weather cooperates and we ever get a full school day, we will start revising our books by creating captions, glueing in photos, changing our headings, creating diagrams and writing a table of contents.

If you are interested in my Non-Fiction Writing Unit, check it out on TPT!  It has very detailed daily mini lessons, anchor chart suggestions,  minibooks, a notetaking packet, posters, templates, diagrams…. the list goes on!

Here is a text-feature poster freebie…  I plan to send one home with each student so they can refer to it when reading nonfiction books.

Click Here For Non-Fiction Freebie

Penguin Freebie

This freebie includes three activities/lessons:
- Blubber Experiment: Using shortening, such as Crisco, the students will get to experience what it feels like to have blubber in icy cold water. They will compare their "blubber hand" to their "non-blubber hand." This includes pictures and a response sheet.

- A fiction emergent reader that reviews color word identification. 

- A nonfiction "flippy" minibook - perfect to use to help your students learn some facts about these adorable, flightless birds. No cutting and stapling required. Just fold it "hotdog way" then "hamburger way" (long way, then short way)

Click on the picture below for the Penguin Freebie!!

If you are interested in the full, 45-page penguin unit, click on the picture below.

25 Ridiculously Wonderful Books To Read WIth Kids in 2015

After finishing a "Clueless" Quiz on Buzzfeed, (haha… don't you just love their quizzes??) I came across "25 Ridiculously Wonderful Books To Read with Kids in 2015."

These look super cute!!  I can't wait to get them!  Many of them seem to have really nice messages, like Please, Mr. Panda.  Others just seem so sweet, like Oliver and Patch , A New Small Person & This is Sadie.

I'm really want to get, Zombie in Love 2+1.   Even the kids are catching the Zombie Craze… I rarely see "hot lava monster" on the playground anymore…. It's always some zombie game!  They will love this!

Has anyone heard or read any of these books?  What books do you plan to purchase in 2015?

Penguin Unit… So much fun!

We started our Penguin Unit this week!  I LOVE this unit and the kids do too!  This unit usually takes about 2 weeks for us.  For some fiction fun, we have been reading a different Tacky book a day.  The kids love this kind-hearted, odd bird!  We got to work on adjectives and supporting details during this mini-unit.  We also read some nonfiction books about penguins so we can add "new learning" to our penguin anchor chart.

The blubber experiment is always a hit!

I found some really great penguin videos on national geographic kids and youtube….

I learned to always preview!! We watched a national geographic kids video and a cute little, itty bitty penguin got bit by a seal!  I thought it was the video from last year, which didn't have a bitting leopard seal… The kids were so upset!  I know it's nature, but the kids were devastated! I quickly ended that one.  I thought one of the kids were going to cry!  So to cheer them up we put on this fun dance for a quick brain break.

Next week we will be focusing more on the nonfiction side of this unit from my Penguin Unit.  

I have my Penguin Unit posted and updated on TPT.   Go on over and check it out!

Penguin Unit - Need a few extra set of eyes before posting!!!

I just finished my Literacy, Math, and Science Penguin Unit.  I would love a few set of eyes to look it over and make any suggestions… The final draft will be yours to keep.

The first 3 to comment will receive it tonight.  Please leave your email!

Thank you!

Election Day Writing

Hi Everyone!  I plan to use this activity this week for an Election Day lesson.  We usually read Duck for President, by Doreen Cronin.  This is such a cute book.  The kids love it!  If you have a Bookflix subscription, you can watch it on there.  After reading we take a vote:  Do you think Duck should be president?  (Yes?  No?)  During this vote we  discuss reasons to back up their voting choice.

Then we use the graphic organizer to write 3 reasons why or why not Duck should be president.

Finally, we use our graphic organizers to help us write a 3-5 paragraph friendly letter!

This activity is one of my favorites!

Enjoy my freebie!

I'm also have a TPT 10% off Sale for all of my products.