Teaching With Intention A Summer Book Study

I am super excited to be linking up with Kindergarten Smorgasbord and all these wonderful teachers for a summer book study. 

So let's get this summer party started. 

In chapter one we examine what our idle classroom would look like. I must admit with it being the summer time I do give a lot of thought to this. I even blog stalk look for good examples of what others are doing. My ideal classroom would be a room that is alive with authentic chatter. Students are engaged in what is taking place. My room is well organized and students are taking ownership for their learning. You should be able to look around my room and see projects the students have completed. The actual classroom is bright and cheery. 

In my ideal classroom the students are leading the learning. They know the routines and what is expected. They are so excited and having so much fun that they don't even realize they are learning. As the teacher of the ideal classroom I am facilitating the learning and observing the great work going on. I am able to conference one on one with students. Meet in small groups with students that may be struggling with a concept. I am there more as a resource then anything else. 

I am lucky that I already have a theme that I love. I do a polka pot with orange and green. I love it and it makes it easier to add boarder. I love changing my boarders to match what we are learning. I am also really organized so that coming into a new year everything is right where I need it. 

I do need to work on my class library. I have never been happy with it. I need a system that I can live with from year to year. I also need to work on my room layout. I would like it to be set up with an easy flow. I also need to work on keeping my desk clean. I have a bad habit of just putting things on it thinking I will deal with it later and then I don't until it becomes to hard for me to look at and then I clean it.

An InLinkz Link-up

 

Shadow Puppet.

Have you heard of the app called Shadow Puppet? I started using it in my classroom a few weeks ago and my little ones are going crazy for it. They use it during math and reading centers. Here are a few examples of our some work done by our class.
It is super simple to use. First students take pictures of what ever they are going to report on. Then they go to the Shadow Puppet app. They start a new project. Then they clip the photos they want to use in the order they want to use them. Next they add fonts and music--if they choose to. Then they record their information and save it. Its that simple. People I tell you my kiddos are in love! They find all kinds of ways to use it. Try it and let me know what you think.

Pumpkins

This week our class had a pumpkin invasion. We learned all about the pumpkin life cycle and how to make different pumpkin products.

We started the week with a pumpkin experiment. We poured potting soil inside one of the pumpkins to see if we could get the seeds to grow.  The kiddos were super excited to see this in action. Everyday they come in to check for growth.

Next we decided to turn one of the pumpkins into a book character. When asked which one the whole class said Fly Guy. Are your students obsessed with these books as much as mine are. I love it. 

Last we made pumpkin muffins. We have several different allergies in our classroom so we made two batches. The ones that look like pumpkin pie on top are gluten and nutmeg free. The other is made with mayo (because I forgot the eggs) First we cut the top off the pumpkin and took all the seeds out. We then asked the cafeteria workers to roast it for us. After it was roasted and cooled we pureed it. We then used the puree to make the muffins. They were pretty good. The students loved making such a great snack from scratch.

How was your week?

Fall Opinion Writing

This week we have been learning about fact and opinion. Since my little ones know how much I love fall I thought I would bring it into our writing. I used this cute little activity from  from Wild about Firsties! You can find it here. The students and I brainstormed all the cool things about fall.

Next we took our brainstorm charts back to our desk and started our rough draft.

We then shared our opinion with our friends. Our friends also helped us peer edit our paper. 

Then it was time for our final product. We made these cute little acorns. We had a fun day in Writing. How did your writing go today?

Spider Blends

It's that time a year again when we like all things creepy and crawly. My class is no exception. We had fun today doing a little spider "l" blends. I found this cute product called Word Family Spiders (you can find it here)

First, we broke up into table groups. Each table group was given an "l" blend. They had to brain store together to come up with eight words for their blend.

Next, we checked our spelling and made sure each member of the group had the same words all
spelled correctly.

Last, we made the adorable spiders.

How was your day?

Fall Is In The Air

Fall is my favorite time of year. The time changes and pumpkin coffee is everywhere.  

I live in Floirda so I only get to pretend that its cool enough for the fireplace. (don't judge me...lol)

And The Candy Corn!!! I love the Stuff! Have you seen all the new items with it in it????

So what's a teacher to do???? I know come up with fun activities so we just have to try them in our classroom. Be on the look out for ideas to come to you. Or go to my Facebook page and share your ideas.

And So It Starts

Well I have put it off long enough. I finally had to join the rest of my fellow teachers and head back to my classroom or I should say portable. I finally went there yesterday and started unpacking. I spent the better part of the day there. I am totally overwhelmed. Boxes every where. Here are a few pictures of my day. I went from a regular classroom to a portable this year. I am really nervous about being out there with 18 First Graders. The little people might try to take over....lol I am not ready for summer to end.

Slowly my new room is coming together.  Stay tuned for the finished product.