Five for Someday

So it’s been forever since I linked up for Doodle Bug’s Five for Friday because I just can’t seem to get it together on Fridays these days!  So why not Sunday?  Here we go…

This Five for Friday is dedicated mostly to my student teacher for two reasons:
1} She rocks!  It’s so awesome to see how naturally teaching comes to her.  She is patient, creative, and hard-working.
2}  I hardly get to do any teaching these days.  I’m gradually getting some time back as we get ready for her to bid adieu in May, but the majority of the day is still hers.

1. My student teacher was in charge of our latest bulletin board.  She decided to combine our current lesson on action verbs with spring.  I had the felt watering cans hanging out in my closet for years.  They made the perfect finishing touch! I think it turned out absolutely adorable!



2. Besides lesson planning, teaching, grading, and all that stuff that goes along with student teaching that you have to do without pay, my student teacher also has to do an additional project.  She gets to come up with her own idea, and she went with classroom goal setting.  Each child met with her and discussed a possible goal.  What we thought was pretty amazing was that many of them suggested a goal on their own that we were hoping to guide them towards.  Throughout the week she checked in with them to make sure they were focusing on their goal.  We also wrote them down and taped them to their desks.



3. At the end of the week students who achieved their goal got to play “Minute to Win It”.  Ohmyword, did they eat this up.  I loved her idea of a reward for a few reasons.  One, they had fun whether they won or lost because playing was their prize.  Two, students who did not achieve their goal still got to have fun by watching and cheering on their friends, but definitely became motivated to try harder next week. 

{Students who completed their goal met with our student teacher and got a certificate to take home}

Students had two choices for their game.  They could sort M&Ms based on color or wrap themselves in toilet paper like a mummy.  We played the “blue print” video like the show does to show them how to play.  We even had the minute timer from the show playing on our projector.  It was a lot of fun and INTENSE!!!!!  Every single student who participated completed their challenge within one minute, so we took their picture to add to the Minute to Win It Hall of Fame!

{Focus!}

This will be an activity I keep up with one way or another even after our student teacher leaves!

3. Amy Lemons did a post recently on listing poems. Read all about her idea here.  I basically ripped her off borrowed her idea and played a video on clouds and rain and we created some listing poems of our own.

First I explained what a listing poem was using my {FREE} Poetry Posters.

{Click the picture to grab them for free}

Then we watched the video and brainstormed facts and opinions we had about clouds and rain.  I randomly drew names and let students decide whether they wanted to create a cloud or rain listing poem.  The kiddos worked so hard and the end result was absolutely darling :)

{The last line on the bottom raindrop says “Rain is like a tune”…LOVE it!!!!}

4. Ok, finally something I can take FULL credit for!  We started our Earth Day lessons from the my mini-unit “Heal the World”.  We read through the mini interactive books and discussed some of the problems our planet is facing.  Tomorrow, we’ll use the center on our projector and make the craftivity to display in the hallway.

{Click here to check out this unit on TpT}

5. And since I was slightly tardy to this party, number 5 is actually something I did on Saturday!  We went to the Phillies game with our families to celebrate my husband’s uncle’s 60th birthday.  It was a coooooold night for April, but we had a fun time tailgating and watching the game eating.  Because my husband and I met through my brother, our families often spend holidays and birthdays together.  I love how well we all get along and I finally get the chance to feel what a bigger family feels like! Score!

{What you don’t see in this picture: the sweater and sweatshirt I have on under my North Face, 2 scarves, 2 pairs of socks, and Uggs}

That’s about it!  I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday and has a great week! And thanks Doodle Bugs{as always} for such a fun linky!

~Halle

It’s Poetry Month! Free Posters!

Hello there!  Happy Sunday!

Sunday
Relaxing, Heavenly
Coffee, Brunch, Nap
Goes by too quickly
Bliss

As you were probably made aware by my incredibly inspiring cinquain, we’re right smack dab in the middle of Poetry Month!  My students are only slightly aware, as I haven’t really touched on it except for randomly saying it out loud to them from time to time.

“It’s Poetry Month!”

“Oh hey everyone!  Good Morning!  Happy Poetry Month!”

“Did someone say Poetry Month?  Oh yes, I did.”

Starting tomorrow I actually plan on backing up my random comments by introducing a few types of poetry and reading or showing some examples to my very confused kiddos. 



I plan on projecting these posters I made on my projector/white board each day to give them a visual definition of each type of poetry.  Of course these posters would also look adorable printed and laminated as well!  After we go over the type of poetry being discussed, we’ll either make our own, or read a few examples.





They’re yours if you’d like to use them!  Please keep in mind that I haven’t listed all the types of poetry, and I probably won’t be adding anymore {at least this year!}.  I made posters only for the types of poetry I plan on covering with my guys and gals.

I’ll be back this week to share some of the ways we’ll be celebrating poetry in our classroom.  And Kate and I have a post planned for Write About It Wednesday this week too!  Our topic this Wednesday will be Expository Writing, so make sure you stay tuned or plan to link-up!

Enjoy what’s left of your weekend, friends!

~Halle