Five for Friday: 08/23/13

Hi Everyone,
It is Five for Friday, on FRIDAY.

1. Laminating

So school is well underway. Week 2 is done. However, as you may know the big TN & TPT sales just ended and I have tons of new items that are in need of laminating. So guess what I am going to attempt to do this weekend???

2. Picture directions

One of the things I DID get in place this week was Hadar's, Miss. Kindergartens picture directions. Can't tell you what a life saver this is with the little ones, and more specifically the ELL/ ESL kids. This set is super cute too. Comes in chevron AND polkadots.

 Store them in a clear file on the board. Love it!

3. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

This week was all about Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and our names. Always love how this activity turns out. It is from Deanna Jumps Name Unit.

4. New Word Wall Words

Oh my is this a task. Finally got them all cut out. Now to sort and bag them by week.

5. Wheels on the Bus

Next week I get to start on one of my fave books & songs, the Wheels on the Bus. We will do some more name work, initial sounds and even a bus craftie with the Wheels on the Bus.

That's all folks. Have a great weekend. Don't forget to check out all the other bloggers on Doodlebugs Five for Friday Linky.
 

Snow, snow, go away...

I write this as I simultaneously ask the Gods to blow the "forecasted" snow away. That is right, we are supposed to get snow TONIGHT... as I sleep. This is terrible because it means I have to wake up early to shovel. I HATE waking up early. :/ So please, no snow.

With that said, I am here to bring you some "snow" fun.

Last week we read Snowmen at Night.

I love these books. I have the other two and love reading them at other times during the year. Snowmen at Christmas, before holiday break and Snowmen All Year Long, at the start of Spring.

Anyway, I read Snowmen at Night with my Kindergartners. We talked about "Snowpeople" and how they are made up of 3 parts, just like our writing stories. :P They have a Beginning, Middle and End. We talked about this all week long. We practiced telling our own stories with 3 parts, touching our planning pages and writing it in our 3 page books.

We also made our "Snownames"! I love doing this lesson every year. I love that by this point in the year, the kids are independently identifying and verbalizing when a name is larger, smaller, has more or less letters in it. This is huge for my ELL kids, who in most cases, couldn't say more than a few words in English, just a few months before. Let's not forget they love to make their OWN Snow Person.

Here are our pictures.

 Some close ups.

I gave each student enough circles for each letter of their name, +1. I also gave each one a top hat. Then we wrote 1 letter of our names in each circle, and made a "snow face" in the last circle. Cut them out and paste them on some butcher paper.

So now I am sharing them with you. You could have the circles printed on colored paper, but I chose white to stand out on the butcher paper. I did allow the kids to chose whatever color marker they wanted for their letters as well as color in their "snow-faces" and top hats whoever they wanted to. It was interesting to see who were the "type A's" in my class, who said "It has to be BLACK." :)

Circles
Top Hats

This week I will read this story with my 1st graders. I will have them complete the "If I were a Snowperson, I would..." sheet from last year. Actually, I updated it and am also sharing it with you.

Snow Man at Night

Last week we also read A Picture book of MLK Jr and watched an MLK video.This week we will be re-reading it and doing several assorted MLK activities. We will also continue some winter fun by reading Snowballs, and my favorite, The Jacket I Wear in the Snow.

Have a great week, and cross your fingers I don't have to shovel snow this morning.