Oh my goodness- I can't believe we are almost to November. Time to trade in the jack-o-lanterns for turkeys... or maybe even Christmas trees? I love November and December in the elementary classroom- so much to do and so much fun. It's a great time for strengthening your classroom community with all of the opportunities for giving that occur during this time of year. I also love the crafts and celebrations that come with the holidays. Too often teachers feel the stress of the curriculum pacing guide and feel as if they can't or shouldn't do any crafts "just for fun", but I say shut that door and craft away! They are only little once... And I really LOVE the wealth of picture books that are holiday-themed. Students are so engaged and you can teach so many skills using picture books during your reading workshop time. Over the next several weeks my plan is to share some of my favorites with you! To start off November- I pa...
Are you still teaching the week of Thanksgiving? Looking for a fun EDIBLE THANKSGIVING TURKEY CRAFT ? I mean, it is Thanksgiving week and that means eating, right? My mother-in-law showed me this easy, cute, turkey craft about 25 years ago and I have made it with my class many times since. It does require some supplies, but the kids love it and it is very easy to put together. Add in a turkey read aloud or Thanksgiving video and your students can snack and watch (or listen). You will need the following supplies... large sugar cookies Chocolate Pinwheel cookies white icing candy corn *I also like to use some sort of Dixie cup for the icing and a popsicle stick to apply the icing- I usually have these on hand. I always go for the off brand to keep costs more reasonable. If you are planning this far enough in advance you could send a parent donation request note and ask parents to send in the supplies for the craft. For each...
Last week we took some time to learn about Author's Purpose. My kids had some background knowledge, but needed a refresher course. We also needed to go a little deeper in understanding what it meant to persuade. We created a class anchor chart together and had a good discussion of the big 3- persuade, inform, and entertain. Of course, I used the acronym P.I.E. to help them remember. Here is the chart we created... After our great discussion I was ready to send them off with a task. Last year I had purchased a great set of task cards from Rachel Lynette- Author's Purpose Task Cards: 24 Cards: Persuade, Inform & Entertain (If you haven't used any of her task card sets before you are missing out- they are fantastic!) The students group work centered around the task card set- but I used this set of cards in a little different way- they lent themselves really well to a sorting activity. I put my students in groups of three and sent each group o...
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