Five for Friday {March 21}

Hi there!  Happy Friday!  All I keep hearing about in bloggy world is Spring Break, Spring Break, Spring Break.... I have two more weeks of teaching before Spring Break, and I am crossing my fingers that by the time it rolls around, the temperatures around here feel even a teensy weensy bit like Spring.  Maybe?  Please????  We still have 20's in the forecast for next week and I am just ready to be DONE with that craziness!

ANYWAY.... let's talk about some great things that happened in my classroom this week!

1. One of the kids' favorite things to do on St. Patrick's Day is always the Lucky Charms graph.  My class had lots of fun with this on Monday.  Fun AND delicious!

2. I love making this student reader with my students in March.  We focus so much on reading and books in March, and academic vocabulary is a huge push in my building.  This book checks both boxes and just fits perfectly this time of year.

(This student reader is part of my Three Cheers for Books pack.)

3. I introduced the rules of letter-writing this week as part of our current writing unit.  During one of the mini-lessons, I modeled writing a letter to a friend and used my first name when I signed the letter.  This little guy decided to write a letter to me and used my first name.  He also signed with a heart which is how I always sign my letters to my students.  Made me giggle!

4. Mystery Readers for the WIN!  We are LOVING our Mystery Readers.  The class cheers EVERY morning when they see a mystery reader on our daily schedule.  It's just so much fun.  I take a picture of every reader with their child and the books they read and put them up on the door.  The kids just LOVE having those pictures up in our classroom.  You'll have to use your imagination for what the whole door looks like because I didn't want to post all the photos here, but I have these two signs and lots of stars mixed in with all the photos.

5. Our seeds are starting to sprout and...SURPRISE!  The first seed to sprout is growing in the pebbles!!!

 And the second seed to sprout is growing in the sand!!

The seed in the soil is starting to break through the surface, but I just love the amazement from my students when they see that the seeds in the sand and pebbles actually DO grow!

I hope you've had a great week!!  Enjoy your weekend!

St. Patty's Day Fun

I spent a few hours at school today getting ready for next week, so I took a few photos of the St. Patty's Day fun that we've been having at school...and also some that my students will get to enjoy first thing Monday morning!

Each Friday, we meet with our 4th grade Reading Buddies.  Most weeks, the students read together, but this week they helped us with a St. Patrick's Day craftivity.  We had already done our LEPRECHAUN DIRECTED DRAWINGS in the morning, so my students knew all about leprechauns and pots of gold.  We used Corn Pops cereal as the gold to fill our pots and the Kindergarteners got to color their pots however they wanted.  

This little guy is a HUGE University of Michigan fan. :)

 The pot actually came from a Mailbox magazine many, many years ago, but you could use any that you can find.

 Then, I paired it with this fun writing prompt from Nicole's Straight Up Standards for March pack.  The Kindergarteners did the talking and the 4th graders did the writing.

 This little one cracked me up!  I do LOVE my smelly markers!!!!  Ha!

Aaannnddd.....I got everything set up for my students to discover that those pesky leprechauns DID invade our classroom even though we crossed our fingers and hoped that they wouldn't!  Tricky, tricky little trouble-makers!! (My kids go nuts for this every year.  It is seriously the craziest and most fun way to start the day!)

What fun things do you do in your classroom to celebrate St. Patrick's Day???

Five for Friday {March 14}

Amazingly, I actually taught five full days this week!  With the winter we've had, it seems like I haven't taught a full week since before Christmas.  Boy am I tired tonight and so ready for a weekend...but I'll be back at school tomorrow preparing for next week.  The life of a teacher!

We had a fun week, so I'm linking up with Kacey for Five for Friday!

1. Our book this week with our Reading Street language arts curriculum was If You Could Go To Antarctica. Don't Kindergarteners just love non-fiction books?  We've been learning about Arctic animals for the past several weeks, so they thought it was fun to learn about the continent on the opposite side of the world.  After reading, we did a word splash about what we might see if we went to Antarctica.  All of these ideas were from the book.

Then, each student chose either a penguin or a seal and they used it in a drawing of Antarctica.

 

 They chose five words from the word splash to fill the boxes on this page.

I stapled them together to display on our "Star Kindergarten Work" bulletin board.

 If only it didn't still look so similar to this right out our windows.  Snow, snow, go away!!

2. I received several sweet notes from my students this week thanks to an at-home March is Reading Month challenge.  Love these precious kids!

 3. We just began a new writing unit.  For the next few weeks we'll be working on "Writing for a Reason".  This week, the kids made signs to remind us of school expectations.  

Always use your manners.

 When the signs were finished, I gave each student two pieces of tape and they got to choose a place in the classroom to hang up their sign.

Don't throw snowballs.

 They LOVED this!  They could hardly believe it when I told them that they got to use tape! Ha!  

Do not run in the lobby.

 We took them down at the end of the day today and they went home.  I might do this more often with other projects!  The kids took so much pride in choosing the perfect spot to display their work and showing it to all their friends.

Don't hit in gym class.

(I use the Writing Through The Year packs by Deanna Jump and DeeDee Wills as the main part of my writing curriculum, but tweak it to work for me and my students.)

4. We planted seeds this week!  We are investigating how our seeds grow in sand, soil, and pebbles.

Some sweet artwork during Choice Time...

5. We're gearing up for St. Patty's Day on Monday!  I found the CUTEST leprechaun directed drawing activity over at First Grade, Blue Skies. Look how completely adorable they are!!

 I absolutely LOVE doing directed drawings with my students.  And since I am a terrible artist, I am so thankful for the creative geniuses out there that can give me step-by-step instructions!

 I mean.  Seriously.

 I love having these hanging up in our classroom!

 We had to get to know a little about leprechauns so that when they invade our classroom on Monday (Shhhhh!  Don't tell!) my students will know what they're all about. ;)  Can't wait!

CLICK HERE to link back to last year's post to see what the leprechauns like to do in our classroom. :)

Happy weekend, friends!!

Five for Friday {March 22}

I'm linking up with Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday!

1. My son came home from Kindergarten with this last weekend.  Trey O'Sloothaak....adorable!

 2. We ran out of time last week Friday to do our Lucky Charms graph, so we completed it on Monday instead.  The kids always LOVE this....and I must say that I had forgotten just how much I love those little marshmallows too! :)

3. We celebrated our classroom aide's birthday this week.  Several of the kids brought her cards and treats.  It was fun to spoil her a bit and thank her for ALL that she does for us!!

4. Yesterday, we put together our "Important Words for Readers" books.  This book a fun compilation of everything we've been talking about all year, but really focusing on in March.  The students had fun doing some partner reading and building up their confidence so that they could take the books home and share them with their families.  

Academic vocabulary is a big push in my building.  I really want my students to be prepared to use these academic words in their discussions as they finish off the year and move into first grade.    

This book is part of my "Three Cheers for BOOKS!" pack.

5. March is one of my favorite months of the year to teach, because I always invite Mystery Readers into the classroom.  We have had a mystery reader every day this month except one!  Our principal will be our reader one day next week, but every other day was filled by a parent, grandparent, or aunt of my students!  I LOVE seeing the JOY on their faces as they realize that the mystery reader that day is there just for them!  This is the sign that I put on my door to welcome our readers so that they know to stay in the hall until we're ready for them.  Click here to snag the sign to use in your own classroom!  

Three. more. teaching. days. until. Spring. Break.

I think I can....I think I can!