Beetle Boppin!

We've been learning all about insects!  To work on Beetles, we read a non-fiction book from the Treasures reading program.  We then read the book "Beetle Bop!" by Denise Fleming.

We found a beetle craft here.  We didn't want to use clothespins though, as they are much harder to come by, so we decided to use large craft sticks.

We started with die-cut circles of different colors.  The kids folded them in half and cut on the fold.  We then talked about the external wings on beetles, and how they split open to expose the flying wings.  We split open the two halves and glued them onto the craft sticks.  Using dot stickers from the Dollar Tree, the kids put as many spots on their beetles as they wanted.  :)

 We added small circles for the head....

 And for the final touch - googly eyes!!

 A buggy collection!!!

Then we got lucky - when we went outside to check on our lima bean plants - one of my babes found a ladybug!!!  A perfect day to catch a beetle!!!  :)

Flower Garden in the Classroom

We have been learning about plants and the parts of plants.  This activity was inspired by this teacher.  We started out with the reading of this beautiful book by Eve Bunting about a young girl building a flower garden for her city apartment.  Eve Bunting never disappoints with her beautifully written work!!!!  I then showed the students my sample flower to show them how we were going to make our flowers.

Each child got a large piece of construction paper, and glued on the brown "soil" for the bottom.  They were each given a section of green for cutting out their stems, leaves, and grass, then a yellow square for the sun.  To save time, I used labels for the bottom explanation and the part labels.

 The kids chose the color for their flower, drew their petals, and cut out.

The labels:

 

A beautiful class flower garden!!!!

Following Along Can Be Fun!!!

We've started using different pointers other than fingers for our reading groups.  What fun it is to choose our pointers!!!!

 Wands - Bought at the Dollar Tree - 8 for $1!!!!!  The boys love them just as much as the girls!!!

Palm Tree Drink Stirrers - Bought at Dollar Tree a few years ago 12 for $1.

Flamingo Drink Stirrers, same as the palm trees.

 

One boy got creative and wanted to use the other end - why not?  :) 

Kids earned stacking cubes if they were following along as another student was reading - just another way to get them to really pay attention to the words.

My pointers' home is just a simple pail, set out where they can choose their pointers.  :)

Happy Reading!!!  :)

We Have Cooties!!!

One of our favorite ways to learn is by being tricked into learning!  Today, I wanted to do a review game with my small groups.  I went to my shelf of games and found "Cootie."  But there's nothing educational about the original game, so I used different flash cards for differing levels.  If the kids got the letter/word (depending on level), they got a new piece for their cootie.  If they missed, I got to add a piece to mine.  When I had four kids, since there's only four cooties in the game, I built a cube tower if they missed.  They loved trying to compete against me!

 Fun building cooties!!!

 For the approaching kiddos, we did letter recognition....

 For the on level, we did Kindergarten sight words, and for the beyond kiddos, we did First Grade sight words.

Afterwards, we took pictures making the faces of our cooties...  For privacy purposes, I couldn't post my kiddos, but thought I'd post a picture of myself that one of my students wanted to take.  :)  Crazy fun!!!!!

Anyone have any great ideas on how to use games with learning??  :)

Trasformation from "Ew!" to "That's so cute!" :)

I promised the transformation of my shelf, so here goes!

I purchased the entertainment center below at a yard sale for $5.  I looked at it and thought "Man, that thing is nasty - but the shelves would be great and $5 is totally doable!"  So....  I decided to give it a makeover.....  Here is the before....

 Gross, huh?  My husband wanted to die when he saw it come home!!!

 To prep it for makeover time, I removed the doors and all shelves.  I also removed the backing you can see in this picture... 

 I then went to Walmart and found some cute scrapbook paper.  A whole pack for only $5, making my total investment only $10!!!  I used my fancy scissors to cut each paper into 4 squares...

 I forgot to take a few pictures, so I'll explain what I did here...  I used a foam brush to put ModPodge on the wood, added one square at a time, and Mod-Podged back over it again.  I then used an old credit card (actually an old key card from a cruise ship) to push out the creases.  I just kept repeating, with scissors handy to cut corners, triangles, edges, etc.  I saved the cut pieces and used them whenever I had a little hole that needed filled!!!   Shelf 1 -

 Shelf 2 -

 Base of the shelf - Same thing!

 I then just continued to cover the entire shelf.  I even got some help from my hubby, gasp!  :)  I kind of got wrapped up in it all and didn't take any other pictures until the final product was complete and in it's home.....  Introducing...  My new Word Work CHOICE center!!!!  :)

Growing Patterns

We have been learning all about patterns in Math.  The hardest pattern ever - the GROWING pattern!!!!

To teach it, I thought we'd use some of the greatest motivation - FOOD!  :)

I pulled out some marshmallows and pretzels that I had and put them in the middle of the table.  We started with just one lonely marshmallow.  Then we "copied" the marshmallow, but this time added a pretzel.  The next time, we "copied" the marshmallow and pretzel, then added another pretzel.  As the patterns began to grow, I could see their brains growing too!!!!  :)

Classroom Ideas, mostly PINspired!

I will do my best giving credit where it is due to the Pinners I borrowed these ideas from.  Please forgive me if they are not correctly labeled and leave me a comment and I will fix it!!!

For my new Word Work center, many of the following ideas are inspired by this awesome teacher!  My students have a jar of the sight words I want them working on, they reach into the jar and CHOOSE the manipulative they would like to use to create the word.  I love the way that she gives them CHOICE!  What a great idea that most of us never think of!!!  We have all of this stuff shoved in our closets - let's get it out and put it in the hands of our kids!  Haha, something crazy coming from the Teacher Hoarder that I have become!!!  The greatest thing is, though - they're reusable!  So tomorrow, after the kids have used them, they're still there and not glued to something!!!

 

 Colored letter tiles

 Letter-shaped erasers

 Sparkly beads - they have to put these on rubber mats so they don't roll away - another reinforcement of "spheres."  :)

 Pipe cleaner words

 Pony beads

 "Bumpy Words" - they use crayons on paper over rubber mats.

 Pom Poms

 Candle words, inspired by this blogger.

 An assortment of beads - found at Walmart for surprisingly cheap!!!

 

I think these letter beads come from Lakeshore learning...  I picked them up at a garage sale, so I'm not sure.

The one problem I was having was that my students were going to the choice word work center and just playing with all of the cool new stuff.  So.....  I found an old digital camera I had lying around and taught them how to VERY CAREFULLY take pictures of their words!  Then, I remembered I have a digital photo frame that was given to my husband and me when we were married that's stored away and not being used....  So....  I brought it in and we now have a never-ending slideshow of the words THEY created!!!  It helps them to WANT to make new words as quickly as they can, and reinforces their word reading skills because the words are always changing!  They LOVE this!!!

 For the guided reading table:

 The star pointers were inspired by this blog.  I found them 8 for $1 at the Dollar Tree!!!!  GREAT deal and they're perfect for framing words AND pointing!!!  :)  The other things are actually drink stirrers I had leftover from my Master's graduation party from 2 years ago.  They're flamingos and palm trees, so the kids have a choice (there's that magic word again!) of which pointer they use.

 A great use for stretchable book covers!  Dry erase board/marker holders!!!  Cute, colorful, and CHEAP!!!  The best C's!  Inspired by this blogger.

Below is my Word Work station - inspired by myself!  :)  I bought the cart for $5 at a yard sale and transformed it!  This is where my students can select different materials for their Word Work center.  I'll post the transformation later....  The shelf is much more filled now as I keep finding more and more great things for it!