Arthur's Thanksgiving and more

I am knee deep in papers that need to be graded and I thought it would be far more interesting to write a blog post!  So, I  thought I'd share a few of the activities we did before the Thanksgiving Break.   Next week is sure to spring us into full Christmas mode, so I better post this while I still can!

We always read the book, Arthur's Thanksgiving, and it's always a class favorite! Arthur is in charge of directing his class play, and my students always make so many great connections to it.  I was in the middle of reading the story, when I came up with this spur of the moment idea.  I love kid art, so I thought a directed drawing of Arthur would be super cute.  Our second graders no longer have a separate art class, so I really try to bring art into the curriculum any chance I can!

I looked at the cover of the book and kind of just went with it.  I just started giving them different steps and hoped for the best!  Their drawings really turned out super cute!  I was pretty impressed and I love how unique they all turned out.  No two are exactly alike!

If you are interested in the summarizing labels, you can get them below.  

They could be used with any story.

We also worked on these goofy gobblers that turned out super cute.  This is available in my Writing Piece of the Month Resource.  

 

 

They also wrote why they are thankful.  They are so sweet! I am so very thankful for such sweet second graders!

This is also available in the same Writing Piece of the Month resource.  I save all of their writing for the year, which includes all of the pieces in the resource I mentioned above.  We put them all together into a writing portfolio at the end of the year.  Their writing makes a perfect keepsake.

 

Leo Lionni Goodies and a FREEBIE

It's been a BUSY, BUSY school year and I apologize for completely neglecting my blog.  I just finished putting together all my Leo Lionni goodies and I just had to share.  I've been meaning to put these together for years, and I finally squeezed in the time to get it done.  My students just finished these activities and really enjoyed learning all about Leo Lionni.

Here's a peek at the finished product:

 I always make anchor charts for each of the stories we read.   Here are a few:

 

Once my students are familiar with Leo Lionni and his stories, then they are ready to tackle writing their own Leo Lionni story.  I use the FREEBIE below for them to plan their story.

I always write a story along with my class as a shared writing piece.  This is the planning page we completed together:

 
I'd love to give a copy of my Leo Lionni unit to the first 3 readers that leave a comment below.  Please don't forget to leave your e-mail.
(Giveaway has ended)

 

Author's Purpose Posters

I'm in the middle of a bathroom remodel, and thought I'd sneak away to my computer for just a bit (it was actually way longer than a bit, hopefully my hubby isn't timing me!)  I was looking through my files and realized that I had totally forgot to share something I had made a few months back.   I created these posters as a cute little visual reminder for my students about Author's Purpose.  Here is what it looks like all put together with some polka dot ribbon.

 

I have it hanging next to my smart board at the very front of the class.  That's a sure way to be sure it won't be missed. I decided to use ribbon to tie the pages together, so I can easily grab it and take it to the carpet with me for our read alouds.  I also put a clothespin on the side, so we can mark the correct author's purpose for the story we are reading at any given moment. 

 If you'd like to check it out in my store, simply click HERE.

I also added a new set of desk name plates.  The new set has a notebook paper background.  Both the notebook paper and red versions are available for FREE in my store.  Click the images below to head on over to grab them.

As always, I'd love to give the first 3 people who leave a comment the Author's Purpose resource for free. Please don't forget to leave your e-mail.
 

FarFaria App

I wanted to share my absolute favorite app.  I didn't find out about it until the very end of the school  year, so I didn't get to use it in the classroom last year.  But, you can bet I will be using it next year.  It is called FarFaria.  Have you heard about it?

If not, you really must check it out.  I am always searching for great on-line literature, and it's really hard to find great books at an affordable price.  Let me show you a few screen shots to show why I am totally excited about this app.

This is the map of the app.  It gives children lots of choices. I love that it has a Preschool Playground Spot for little ones. Although my 4 year old always chooses the big boy books, as you'll see below.

The app allows you to save your favorites in a special little spot, which is awesome when you're on a car drive and away from the Wifi. You can play any of the books in your favorites without Wifi.

Yikes, I wonder if my little guy has a thing for scary monsters- check out the books he placed in his favorites!

There are so many ways to search for books.  You can search by most popular, newest additions, reading levels, or even title.  How great is that!!!  They even add 5 new books a week.  I think there are already over 600 books to choose from, which is pretty amazing!

 Below is a peek at the Genius Jungle.  Check out all the great nonfiction titles.

I'm  so excited to use this with my students next year.  I know my students will absolutely love it.  My campus is always asking us what apps we would like to have purchased.  This one is at the top of my list when we sit down to talk apps for next year!!!  To check it out further, you can click here. Hope you love this app as much as I do :)
 

Updates and a Freebie!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend...I definitely am enjoying a little rest and relaxation with the family.  I've also spent a some time the last week updating some of my most popular products.

My Scoop on Comprehension resource is one of the very first products I posted on TPT.  It is also one of my favorite classroom resources.

This product  has really evolved over the years.  The newest update now has scoops for students to record how they have applied a particular strategy/skill to a book they are reading.  I use this larger scoop when introducing the strategy or skill for the first time.

There is also a page included with 2 smaller scoops.  Students can use these scoops with a book being read in class or with their library books.  Once students fully understand the strategies, they can use this page independently in stations.

This is a preview of what's included:

If you have already purchased this, please go back to your purchase page on TPT and re-download it for the update.

Now...for update #2.  

I also updated my Bloom's Buttons.  They are now EDITABLE!!! So, if you want to add more questions or you want to make some specific to a story you are reading...now you can! 

This lovely update was inspired by my new blog buddy, Patti.  She needed some questions to go with a story she was reading in class, but wanted to keep the same format as the Bloom's Buttons.  What better solution than to make the blank set of cards editable! I'm really excited about this update.  I originally had some blank cards that you could hand write questions on, but keeping the original font is 100% better! So, please go back and re-download this file if you have already purchased it.  

And please check out Patti's adorable blog: 

 

Now for a freebie...

We all have those little ones that love to blurt.  I know many of them don't mean to, they just get a little overzealous about what we're learning! This year, the blurting started to become a bit too much, so the Blurt Bulletin was born.  I was really excited about my cute little letter and guess what...I haven't had anyone to send it home with.  The blurting literally stopped when they found out about the note that would go home.  That's definitely a great thing, don't get me wrong!  But, I really wanted to share my letter with someone, so I'm sharing it with my loyal followers.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

Tall Tale Freebies

Spring Break is finally here and I am looking forward to some much needed R&R.  My class learned all about Tall Tales before the break and I'm so glad they enjoyed them.  It was a nice change of pace from our basal stories.  I wanted to share a little of what they worked on.

We created a poster for each of the tall tale characters we learned about.  Here is a list of the characters we covered.

* Pecos Bill

* Slue-Foot Sue

* Paul Bunyan

* Davy Crockett

I had my students work in groups to complete  the pages that made up our class posters.  Anytime I can get them working together in groups, I go for it.  I love to see them problem solving and working cooperatively.

Here are their posters:

You can get the templates by clicking the image below.  I am not able to include the title page for each poster because the images are copyrighted.  However, they are all coloring pages available for free on-line.  I just did a google search for each tall tale character.   I simply added my own title for each one. Click the image below for the free download of the other pages. 

I f you are wondering where I get the stories for this unit.  Please check out my post from last year by clicking here.   You will find a few other Tall Tale activities along with  a couple of free downloads.  You can also click the image below to head there:

This year, I also bought Hope King's Tall Tale unit.  I absolutely LOVED all of her activities. This little guy is from her unit.  I decided to create a summarizing page to go in the middle of her adorable Pecos Bill!

This poster is also from Hope's unit.  One of my teacher buddies had the idea of using a bandana to tie the posters together.  Love how it turned out!

We ended our week with a Tall Tale graph.  It was the perfect way to integrate literacy and math.

Click above to grab this freebie.  I also use this same template to create graphs for a lot of our different read alouds throughout the year.

It looks like our Texas cold weather may behind us.  It's starting to feel more like spring around here.   I LOVE that our Texas bluebonnets have started blooming.  I found this lovely little flower in my mom's front yard.