Five for Friday- Dr. Seuss Edition

Like every other school in the US we celebrated Dr. Seuss's Birthday/Read Across America Week! So here's my Five for Fraturday! If you wanna link up just press the button below:

First up, our Dr. Seuss activities! I didn't do too much this year because I wasn't around the weekend before. The photo booth is always my "go to" for this week. To start the week I did my make up to match The Cat in the Hat and we read lots of Dr. Seuss books! Friday was the big celebration. We had a photo booth, a craft for my little peaches thanks to the Glyph Girls! We also used First Grade Blue Skies directed drawing on Thursday for art! My favorite activity was making The Cat in the Hat's hat out of strawberries and bananas. How did you celebrate this week?

After reading Erica Bohrer's guide to getting started on TPT I decided to open up a store. She walked step by step through the process and recommended some great fonts and clip art. Lately, I have been a clip art addict! I see the clip art and get so many ideas! One of my first products was a Verb Mini unit. My second grade peaches were learning about verbs so I whipped up a little mini unit with readers, a write the room and a matching pictures page. I am really enjoying this journey and have so many great products in mind for the future. If you wanna check out my Verbs Mini Unit click the picture below or click here!

 

This week was this little peaches birthday. The girls had so much fun treating her all day whether it be her going first for whole group math problems or just fixing her tutu. It was great seeing these three get along! Her mom also brought a pinata for the kiddos along with cupcakes and goody bags. It was a mini party at school. Everyone had fun!

Thursdays I teach art! I always try to find something that will interest the older peaches but isn't impossible for my little peaches. Luckily, one of my fifth grade peaches wanted to do an art project with duct tape. So we split up! I did pom pom pens and she did duct tape bows, wallets and pens. If they weren't working with me or my student they were coloring their directed drawing of cat in the hat! Everyone enjoyed the art projects!

On Friday, my peaches learned about fact and opinion. I used the OREO (Opinion, Reason, Example and Opinion) method to write an example on the board. After practicing for about 25 minutes they wrote an opinion about their favorite animal/animals. One peach did one about her mom that was so sweet! This lesson definitely successful and they understood what was an opinion and what was a fact.

Bonus: 

Every now and then I'll find fun notes or drawings from my peaches! Well, Thursday I asked one of my second grade peaches to help his peer finish his sentences for spelling. Let's just say it did not go over well. That bar looks mighty full which would have been bad for his best friend/worst enemy.

Five For Friday 3/7/14

One

I read Dr. Seuss’s book Wacky Wednesday this week and before the peaches came in I wackied my room. They loved looking around the room and finding things that were wacky. They especially loved sitting on stools at our U-shaped table instead of our regular chairs. Then I had my peaches go around giving each wacky thing a number. In all, we had 30 wacky things in my room.

Two

Next week we start my favorite unit in first grade "Home Sweet Home" not only do they get to learn about the H Brothers but they also get to learn about maps and homes! I can't wait for the new unit.

Three

Yesterday I had my fourth grader take some photos of myself teaching my peaches for future job hunting. I really love this one: 

Four

I have to post about my art project this week. Mardi Gras was this week and in honor of this day we are making Mardi Gras Shoebox floats. I can't wait to share what they came up with, here's my example:

 

My peaches posing for a Mardi Gras picture

 Five
I can't stop gushing about this tilapia recipe I tried yesterday, parmesan crusted tilapia with asparagus. It was soooo yummy. This is the receipe I followed! 

That wraps up my Friday! Assessments are next week for report cards, Blecch! But I know the first grader's new unit will bring excitement. 

-Ms. Perry 

Five for Friday 2-28-14

Shadows have been the big talk in my classroom for the past two months. We started a unit in Open Court with the same title and have been fascinated with them ever since. Do you know what it takes to make a shadow? My peaches sure do! They cannot get enough of playing with flashlights. Discovering their shadow is like seeing someone win the lotto and sadness crosses their faces when it's a rainy day and we're covered by the clouds shadow are all priceless!

One

Yesterday we brought up some of the questions they had and I wrote them at the top of this paper:

 Then each student drew a picture to answer their question. I loved their pictures because they show that they are understanding the concept and even my ELL student did a great job (her is the one with the sun):

So what are the three things you need to make a shadow, take a look at the fun anchor chart I made for them:

Two

After five years of just shoving things onto my shelf I took time on Tuesday to clean up and throw out many unwanted items. I forgot to take an after shot but it looks great!

 

 Three

Every Monday we have a fun and creative mom who volunteers with a food project for the peaches. Each year we enter a contest for Marin Farm Day. This year we decided to enter the photography contest. Yes the barn and animals, everything was made with food! She and the peaches did a great job! We're hoping to win some money for our school, wish us luck! 

Four

My peaches are in LOVE with this book by David LaRochelle. It's about a cow that takes a joy ride in the farmers car but the only word he uses is moo. This gives me the chance to show them how to read with expression plus hear lots of giggles from my peaches. This is one book I need to purchase because my peaches have been reading it on their own repeatedly. Check it out: 

  Five

Rainy day/art day. Below are my three kinders being silly in the rain that we need here in California.We also finished a Peter Max  inspired Statue of Liberty. I was inspired by we heart art and we started with a 12x18 piece of paper. I showed them examples of Peter Max work and how he uses vibrant colors and bold black colors to showcase the Statue of Liberty. After studying his techniques I passed out pallets of bright colors. Each peach had their own technique some used lines and others used swirls. We did our background last Friday and then today we used pictures of the Statue of Liberty to draw her. Many put her holding a torch and some were very detailed. One even reminded me of a dias de la muerte skeleton. I think they all turned out fabulously.

Lastly just a peek at what I have planned for next week, yes I want to read all these Dr. Seuss books and have my pinterest board to lead the way with fun crafts, worksheets and food ideas. I cannot wait! We've already read Horton Hears a Who, The Cat in the Hat, and The Foot Book.

Just a reminder from Dr. Seuss

 "Teeth are always in style"

-Ms. Perry's Peaches