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Freezing cold weather and yoga are semi-related in this post. I promise.
If you live by me {East Coast} or pretty much anywhere in America, you know it’s been freeeeezing lately. Indoor recess freezing.
We’ve been doing benchmarks in our classroom, which has left us with some time here and there. On the fly I decided to read “Bear’s Winter House” {well my student teacher read it} and then we brainstormed things we like to do when it’s cold outside. I made sure to differentiate between what we do when it’s cold, versus snowing, because it seems kids always associate the two.
It was a quick and simple activity, but I encouraged them to write WOW sentences, and they came through big time! It was a nice little break from tedious testing!
Grab it here for FREE.
If you like it, leave me some love!
Now to the second part of my title: Yoga!
Like I said, we’ve been going a little stir crazy lately with all that indoor recess. Teachers at our school are lucky enough to have duty free lunch 5 days a week, which means we’re not responsible for indoor recess. Students either go to the Music Room and watch a movie, or the Gym to play games. That being said, my little ones were still very wiggly this week. It’s a law…kids need to get out and run around!
On a whim, I did a few yoga moves with them early in the week. Just a few basic moves I had learned in my basic yoga class. And what do you know? They loved it! We turned the lights off and I brought up a Yoga station on Pandora.
It was so successful I spent my whole lunch period looking up Children’s Yoga videos. I couldn’t find any free ones that I was a fan of, so I decided to see if any of the online book wesites I used had a yoga book…and…jackpot!!!
www.Wegivebooks.org had the book “You Are a LION!”
I projected it on to my whiteboard and we did all the moves in the book. Very easy, very basic.
I’m tellin’ you this is my new Friday routine!!!!! After yoga, we did “Zen Paper Passing”, which is code for super-quiet, hand-back the week’s graded work. And what do you know? They LOVEDDDDDD it!
I strongly recommend making yoga part of your classroom routine.
And…If you have a video suggestion please head me in the right direction in the comments below!
I’m off to catch up on laundry do some online shopping.
Enjoy your Sunday :)
Halle
Hello everyone!
The Teacher Wife is hosting a Linky Party for favorite picture books, and it has been killing me that I haven't had the time to post mine. I took place in a linky like this before, and since it's so hard to pick just 5 books, I'm going to pick 5 different books. But seriously, check out the books I wrote about before, they are awesome.
Without further ado...
1} When the Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant.
The copy that I have of this book is so old and beat up, but for good reason. This is a book my mom read to us when we were younger. It's about a family reunion, and I love how perfectly Cynthia Rylant describes the whole experience {eating, hugging, talking, hugging, kissing, hugging}. The pictures are great, and my kiddos love it. I usually read it during Back-to-School because the book just screams summer memories to me. I have never used it as a mentor text for anything, I just love reading it my class for pure entertainment, but this book could be used for so many skills.
Buy it here
(Amazon doesn't have an image for it. I wonder if it may be out of print. If it is, scoop it up right now!!)
2} When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Yes, another Cynthia Rylant book! This is another favorite from my childhood. This book is partly autobiographical. Again, Cynthia Rylant does such an amazing job of painting a picture with words of what it was like growing up in the mountains. I am in love with all of Cynthia Rylant's books, including Henry and Mudge!
Buy it here
3} Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran (and illustrated by Barbara Cooney...my fave!!!)
I actually use this book to introduce communities, but I have an ulterior motive every time I read it. This book celebrates imagination. It goes back to a time when kids didn't have video games or laptops. I am always trying to tell my kiddos how important it is to get outside and use their imagination. This book actually makes them listen to me, because it makes using their imagination look fun!! And of course, the pictures are beautiful, because they're by the wonderful Ms. Barbara Cooney!
Please buy it here.
4} Dogzilla by Dave Pilkey
Your kids will go gaga over this book. I don't care if you teacher Kindergarten or 6th grade. The concept is gross and funny {really bad dog breath}, which is a guaranteed successful formula for read alouds. When I taught 3rd grade, I read this book without showing pictures to reinforce "voice". My students laughed the whole time, sans pictures!!!! It was the perfect book to show how important it is for voice to come through in one's writings. Now, in 2nd, I use it for fun, with a reinforcement sheet afterwards. Amy Lemon's just posted some great ones that I'll be sure to have on hand!
Buy it here.
5} The Pain and The Great One by Judy Bloom
Yet another book from my childhood. This book is told from two perspectives {The Pain and The Great One}. I'll let you guess which one is which! I feel so fortunate that my mom exposed me to so many wonderful books as a child, books that stood the test of time! THANKS MOM!!! This book is perfect for teaching points of view. I use it to launch a writing piece that I'll blog about in the future. It's also fun because your students will identify and side with one character or the other, despite Judy Bloom doing a wonderful job of showing both sides. {I'll let you guess who I side with, being the oldest sibling ;)}
Buy it here.
All the links to buy the books are for Amazon.com. I am a Prime member, which means I get everything {Prime Eligible} in 2 days when I order from Amazon. Prime has saved me so many times when I need something last minute {fake mustaches for my class for example!!}, so I am a loyal {non-paid} fan of Amazon.
I hope I was able to turn you on to some new books! I have loved finding new books from so many of you!
Have a good one!
Halle
I've loved reading everyone's Currentlies (I think I just made up a word) for as long as they've been around, but for whatever reason, I never did one....well today is the day my friends! I am linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!
It should come as no surprise that I absolutely love Miss Rumphius!
I've also hinted before that I love Razzle Dazzle Writing. I comb it over every summer. Especially this summer, because I am really trying to overhaul my writing instruction {it's the one subject our school doesn't currently have any sort of curriculum for}.
If you are in charge of your writing program, or if you need something extra to add to it, I highly recommend this book. Melissa Forney makes writing fun!!!
Click Farley's button to head over to her blog and link up {I don't know what I love more, the bunting or the mustache}
And, just a reminder that sweet Mrs. Stanford is hosting the mother of all give-aways over at her blog. Go check it out!
I'm off to follow the Rule of 3!
Have a great day!
Halle
I finished my Back to School {MEGA} Pack a little earlier than expected...probably due to the temps outside, and not wanting to be anywhere around that heat in the middle of the afternoon.
{Confession: I actually don't HATE the HEAT. I like it...but since no one else does, I had nothing else to do yesterday afternoon!}
Anywhoooo...my Back to School {MEGA} Pack is up in our TpT shop! I am also working on posting packets for each of the books individually, but that's taking a little more effort than I currently feel like expending! {So, if you're looking for activities pertaining to one of the books only, keep your eyes peeled}. I must say, though, that the {MEGA} Pack is a much better deal {for you bargain shoppers}.
If you won the packet in our little give-away, keep your eyes peeled. I'll get it to you soon!
For the rest of you, I'm offering up a FREEBIE! You can grab the Friendly Letter posters I made for the packet for FREE here!
I hope you like them! I always start my year off with a friendly letter writing. I end my year that way too...I'm "full circle" like that :)
I hope everyone is having a great Saturday with all this Blog Swappin' goin' on. I know I am :)
Have a good weekend!
Halle
I'm linking up with Mrs. Stanford's class to share some of my favorite reads: profressional, personal, and children's books {of course!!!} I hope you'll find some new favorites among my suggestions...especially the children's books, I hope I'm including some you might not be too familiar with :)
First things first: Profressional
I have to be honest, I don't read many profressional books. I prefer a workshop, or online resources. But here are two that have changed the way I teach Language Arts forever. I know the first one is no surprise, but you might not've heard of the second one. If you haven't, and you struggle with how to teach writing in any way, I HIGHLY reccommend it! The mini-lessons and student resources included in the book are awesome!
Secondly: Personal
Again, no huge surprise. I'm reading what everyone's reading. I love to read, and love that this summer should hopefully afford me some time to do so. Besides the books picturesd here, my favorites include Confessions of a Shopaholic, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Secret Life of Bees, The Plain Truth (really any Jodi Piccoult book), Harlan Coben and James Patterson books {especially in the summer}, and so many more. I am a repeat reader. If I loved a book, I'll read it at least twice.
Last: Children's Books
Children's books really are some of my favorite books in the whole wide world. I eat them up. I sometimes believe they appeal more to me than some of my students. I have a few favorite authors, but at the same time, I have fallen in love with so many books, it's hard for me to pick. Miss Rumphius is hands down my favorite, and I want to frame the book's illustrations for my {future} baby's nursery. They're breath-taking.
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| YOU NEED THIS BOOK! |
I want to leave you with a quote I found when I was researching Barbara Cooney for my Miss Rumphius unit that I love, and find so inspiring:
On her receiving the Caldecott Medal in 1959: "I believe that children in this country need a more robust literary diet than they are getting.... It does not hurt them to read about good and evil, love and hate, life and death. Nor do I think they should read only about things that they understand.... a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. So should a child’s. For myself, I will never talk down to—or draw down to—children." {Source: Wikipedia}
-Halle
Using "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", or any "If You Give a..." books to teach Cause & Effect is all over the blogosphere and Pinterest, and it's easy to see why: The kids get a kick out of them, and they present cause and effect in a very simple, easy to understand, format.
Cause and Effect is our focus skill this week {per Storytown}, and so I read "If You Give a Dog a Donut", and we recorded our causes and effects on chart paper {which I forgot to take a picture of, of course}. The kids got really involved, and even pointed out that many of the "effects" became the new "causes". I was totally psyched that they pointed this out, because I really wanted them to see that, especially in life, cause and effect isn't always so cut and dry.
After we finished reading our book and recording our causes and effects, we played a little game. I came up with a person or a profression, and they did the rest. Here's how it went:
Me: Fireman
Literal Student: "If you give a fireman a hose, he'll put a fire out".
Class Clown:" "If you give a fireman a siren, he'll use it to go through red lights".
Me: Policeman
Literal Student B: "If you give a policeman a badge, he'll arrest criminals."
Same Class Clown: "If you give a policeman a donut, he'll ask for coffee to go with it."
We did this a few more times with a baby, and old man, and a few people we knew, like our principal. Our little class clown eventually influenced the crowd, and we ended up with a lot of comical {yet surprisingly accurate} answers.
Then, I told them they would be giving me something, and they needed to say what I would do. They're eyes lit up and there were lots of "Yesssssssssses". This was because they knew this would be the easiest assignment in 2nd Grade History. Because, well because, Miss K LOVES CHEESEBURGERS. And she talks about them ALL THE TIME!!!! And her students ask her ALL THE TIME, "What would you do for a cheesburger?" {The answer is, pretty much anything and everything.}
So I had to say to them, right away, "Now, I know what you're thinking, but please, please, please try to think of other things I like. Think about other things I talk about all the time"
Blank Stares.
"You know, like something important I'm planning {my wedding}, a certain someone I love very much {my dog, Georgie}, or my favorite book {Miss Rumphius}."
And a lot of them started nodding. But I still got a lot of cheeseburgers. {I am NOT complaining}.
This activity was so fun for everyone. It was fun for them because they got to write something about me on a personal, comical level. And it was really fun for me, because I got to see what they picked up from me.
You can download this fun freebie from my TpT shop, click the picture below to head there. I strongly suggest using it the next team you teach cause and effect, but it's also fun for anytime, especially the end of the year when they know you well!
Have fun with it, and as always, please leave feedback on our blog or at our TpT shop to let us know how you like it!
-Halle
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