| The Teaching Reef

Archive for February, 2012

Feb 19

Main Idea and Details With a Little How-To Writing

In my classroom this month we have been learning about many famous African Americans. We have been learning about what they did, where they live according to the US regions and states as well as learning many new comprehension strategies. We have learned about Harriet Tubman, Henry “Box” Brown, George Washington Carver, Ruby Bridges and the Little Rock Nine. This week we will be learning about Rosa Parks, Jesse Owens and Martin Luther King Jr. through main idea and supporting details .

In order to get my students understanding main idea and details I have made a visual as well as an organizer to go with it. Check out my pictures on How-To make a table from poster board. Also if you click on the picture you can get the organizer that I made to go with this activity.

I have also been using Amy Lemons great Black History Unit. This week we will be making her bus main idea and details organizer to go with Rosa Parks. If you haven’t checked this unit out you should. Just click the link below to see her unit on TpT.

When we learned about George Washington Carver we followed up in writing with a how-to make a PB&J sandwich. The kids loved this. I acted like I was hosting my own cooking show and I would call on a member of the audience to tell me then next step in order to make the PB&J. Lets just say they learned really quick that they needed to use specific details in their direction in order for me to make the sandwich correctly. I didn’t do anything but what the kids said. Every year I have someone that doesn’t say to use the silverware to spread the peanut butter, so in goes my hand! They love it and from that moment on I have their attention!

I have some other exciting news. I finished my classroom page on the blog so if you get a chance click on the dive into my classroom button at the top of the page and check it out! If you have a classroom post I would love for you to leave a link so I could see all the amazing ideas all of you have in your classroom!

Also I have some new buttons on my blog. I made a button for TpT and Pinterest. So with the click of the mouse you can check out my boards on Pinterest and then see my Tpt store. My TpT store only has my freebies posted. I am working on some units that I will post in the near future. Check out the buttons! A quick thanks to my wonderful husband for getting them up and running!

Well I think that is all for tonight. Hope everyone enjoys what is left of their weekend and that they have a wonderful upcoming week at school with your students.

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Posted in Main Idea, Reading, Writing

Feb 15

Valentine’s Day Rewind and Weather in a Cup

Okay so Valentine’s Day was a big success! We had so much fun. To be honest, I think this was the best Valentine’s day I have given for my kiddos.

Alright so here we go. First I started the day with a little science that we desperately needed to get to. We are learning about the water cycle and different types of natural disasters. So I found this great little activity on Pinterest called weather in a cup.

The students LOVED this activity. They enjoyed seeing me add the clouds and then the rain, and then they watched the rain fall down for probably a solid 5 minutes. (At least that is what it felt like). I made some activity sheets for the students as well as labels for the cups. You can pick up your copy by clicking on the image above.

Now on to the Valentines day activities.

The first Minute To Win It game we played was Heart-A-Stack. It was a great first activity and they really enjoyed the challenge. It didn’t seem like it was impossible to achieve so they were pumped. We probably played this one 6 times before they were ready to try a new game. The most they were able to stack was 12 candy hearts, which I thought was pretty amazing. Then we graphed our results from the last round (they insisted because it was their best results).

Then we played the Licorice Chew. They were full of laughter especially when I modeled how to play this one. (I wanted to make sure their chewing was on point). I don’t have pictures to show only because there was no way I could edit their faces out but still show the fun. So you will have to take my word on this one. They liked measuring their pieces to see how much they had left. Can’t you just hear them now….”I almost ate it all,I only had ___cm left”.

The favorite Minute To Win It game of the day was the……………. Unicorn Horn. They were giggle boxes all the way through the game. I have to admit that they even had me rolling on the floor laughing. I wish I didn’t have to cover up their precious faces because they are beaming with joy and excitement. After we played this one twice (each buddy got a chance to do each role) we wrote a how-to piece to explain the game. Since they loved this one so much they really enjoyed the writing activity and were correcting each other about what details they needed to include. Check out the pictures.

Alright, on to the last activity of the day I made Funfetti Valentine’s Day cupcakes for the students. They iced them and then decorated with gummy shaped hearts. I always love to let the students do the decorating because some of there creations are pretty amazing, Tuesday was no exception. You have to check out the last picture, it’s creative if anything else.

Well I think that about does it for my post. I hoped you enjoyed all the Valentine’s day Activities and if you didn’t download my Minute To Win It activities make sure you grab yourself a copy for next year!