Wrapping Up The Quarter and A Freebie

Aloha friends!  It is the final week of first quarter and I am wrapping up some items in my classroom.  The last few weeks we finished up with life cycles and ended  with frogs.  On Friday for art I wanted to do a frog craft, but time got away from me and I just didn't have time to prep it.  So I thought it would be fun to do a directed drawing.  Kristen from Doodle Bugs Teaching was my inspiration.  She always has such cute pictures of her kids drawings.

Well I found a great step by step frog drawing from Heidi Songs. This is what the kids came up with...





They were all so similar, but each had their own style.  They drew them will all kinds of expressions and had tons of fun with it.  

This week is a little more hectic.  I have to finish all of my assessments and I have had tons of kids out sick.  Today I had 4 out!  On top of that I am out at a workshop Tuesday and Wednesday.  One person from each of our grade levels had to attend this workshop on creating writing rubrics.  I think this is a great topic, but not the last week of the quarter!

So I prepped for a sub for the next few days.  Instead of our usual Daily 5 rotations the kids will be reading The Enormous Turnip from our basal reader.


Our school uses the Harcourt Trophies series which is not at all aligned to Common Core.  I take bits and pieces that I can use and when there is a sub I always go right to it.

When I read a new story I like to go over the vocabulary and make a flip book with the class.  


We fold a piece of 8x11 piece of paper and write the 6 vocabulary words on the front.


On the inside the students have to write the meaning of the word and then use it in a sentence.  I allow them to draw pictures to help with their definitions.  Then they cut the top page to open up their book. It's a nice alternative to a regular worksheet. 

I don't usually xerox it, but I did for the sub.  If you would like a copy of the template click on the picture to take you to Google Docs. 

I also left this book for the sub to read:


They will compare the two stories and discuss the similarities between the two.  The students are then going to brainstorm synonyms for "enormous" and choose a different vegetable to write their own version of the story.


I am hoping the easy format of the Enormous Turnip will help motivate them to create some fun stories.
If you would like a copy of the template click on the picture.

Hopefully when I get back on Thursday my students who have been sick will be back and I can finish up assessments.  I am really looking forward to having a week off to recoup for my upcoming conferences.

I look forward to learning more about writing rubrics tomorrow and sharing out with you soon!





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End of The Month!?

Aloha my long lost friends!  It seems like I have not written a post in FOREVER!  I honestly have been so busy and a bit overwhelmed this year with school that blogging has taken a back seat.  I started this blog to share great teaching ideas and I feel like I haven't shared anything new and exciting.


Well today I do have some exciting news about the winner of my October Giveaway!


Thanks so much for entering and following along Lori!  I hope you enjoy all of the units.

Another exciting item I wanted to share was that today I attended a conference in Honolulu with "The Sisters" Gail Boushey and Joan Moser!  The focus was on their second book The Cafe.  They came last year and the conference sold out so quickly I didn't get to go!  I was thrilled to find out they were coming back and I signed up the minute I heard about it!


I was really excited to get more in depth with the book and figure out how to implement it into my classroom.  I was also looking forward to teaming up with some fellow Hawaiian bloggers. 


Well during our break we all got together and talked with Gail and Joan and they were so sweet!  Their enthusiasm and love of what they do was so inspiring.  They also thought that it was pretty amazing that we were all bloggers and they are going to give us all a shout out in their next newsletter!  How cool is that!!

The workshop was so informative and really made me think about assessment and instruction.  I plan to sit down and reread The CAFE  over my Fall break which starts next week!

My last piece of news is that I have finished my monthly word problems for October.


I have included the same types of word problems, but with an October theme.  Skills covered include addition, subtraction, money, fractions, multiplication, division and time.  I focused on a few skills like making doubles, and I also included some two step word problems which are still so difficult for some of my learners.  The format is set up to help students use as many strategies as possible to solve the problem.  Also included is an answer key to help guide with some examples of how students might solve a problem.


Just click on the picture to pick them up in my TpT store.

Well I guess I did have a few things to share.  It's about time!  

This week I have another workshop to attend on creating writing rubrics.  I am hoping to gain lots of new information to use in my classroom and to share with you all.  Hopefully I can process it all over my break.  

What's new with you? 
Any exciting news to share?  
I always love reading your comments and ideas.
So glad you stopped by.




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October Giveaway

Aloha everyone!  Are you in need of some fun resources for the month of October?  Today I am so happy to share a fun giveaway with some of my favorite bloggy buddies.



I will be donating my Creatures of The Night unit.  Click {here} to check out all that's in this pack.


Angelia from Extra Special Teaching will be giving away her Candy Math centers,


Tonya from Tonya's Treats for Teachers will be contributing October Calendar Prompts,


 Nicole from Teaching in Style will be donating her Pumpkin Science unit,


and Edana from Color Me Kinder will be donating her Fire Up The Grill pack.



Just fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter.  Please make sure we have your email.  I will pick a winner on Saturday September 28th.  Good Luck!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway




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Night Creature Update

Aloha friends!  I know it's not October yet, but it is one of my favorite months!  So many fun activities and ideas with Halloween and Fall that it is hard what to decide to do.

In science our standards for 2nd quarter include teaching about habitats.  The Hawaii State Standards include:

Content Area: Science
FINAL
Grade / Course: 2
Quarter: 2
The Benchmark Map is developed with the following premises:
· All benchmarks for the grade level/course will be achieved in a school year.
· Major understandings are the big generalizations for the topic/concept.
 Italicized benchmarks are taught and assessed in more than one quarter.
Big Idea(s) / Major Understanding(s): Students will understand that...
Different habitats support different organisms.

Habitats are part of an ecosystem.

Animals depend on plants and other animals as part of a process called a “food chain.” Food chains combine to form food.
HCPS III Benchmarks (Click the benchmark code for a recommended materials report) :
 2.1.1Scientific Inquiry
Develop predictions based on observations
 2.2.1Unifying Concepts and Themes
Describe changes that have occurred in society as a result of new technologies
· 2.3.1Interdependence
Describe how animals depend on plants and animals
· 2.5.1Unity and Diversity
Identify distinct environments and the different kinds of organisms each environment supports

I love teaching this concept and my kids love learning about animals.  So last year I created a unit to include all of these skills and more. Click here to take you to the original post {HERE}


Students love learning about Nocturnal animals so I decided to put a twist on it.  I created resources to teach about Nocturnal animals in a variety of habitats.  I have covered desert, ocean, woodlands, rainforest and pond.  For the last few weeks I have been updating this unit and it now includes all of this.



I also wanted to integrate into my Daily 5 and Math centers so I also added in the following centers.







Food Chains


Animal Classification Game



There is so much included now and I feel like have all my bases covered with this unit.  There are 140 pages of ideas and resources. If you have already purchased this just download again to check out all the new items.  I have also put this on sale this weekend in my TpT store

If you are interested in winning a copy stop back tomorrow for a fun giveaway that I will be having with some of my wonderful Hawaiian Bloggy friends!





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Digital Paper and Frame Sale

Aloha friends!!  Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I was up early today and hit the surf with some friends.  It has been so nice to get out in the water again!

For the last week I have been working on a project and I needed some backgrounds that I just didn't have.  So I decided to make them.  Once I got started creating I just couldn't stop.  66 images later I am done!



I wanted more of a doodle look to them and I played around with colors and ideas.  I really love the way they came out and now I have to get back to my other project and use them.

Are you creating some items for the upcoming holiday or for other items?  I decided to put all of my digital papers and frames on sale for the weekend.  These items will be 20% off in my TpT store until Sunday night.  Click {HERE} for my digital papers and click {HERE} for my digital frames.

Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!





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Five For Friday

Aloha Friday friends!  I am happy to be sharing about a fun week in the classroom and thought I would link up for Five For Friday.


This week we was Butterfly week as we continued our study of life cycles. 


On Monday I told the kiddos that we were learning all about butterflies this week.  I asked them to be on the look out for caterpillars and bring one in if they found one.  Tuesday morning one of my sweeties brought this in.  I was so happy I didn't have to go hunting for one.

I found some great books for my Guided Reading groups on Reading A-Z.





I also found a fun episode of Wild Kratts about Monarch Butterflies



To end the week I decided to have the students make their own Monarch Butterfly.


We looked at lots of pictures and talked about symmetry.


I found a template to trace onto black paper. Click on the link or picture to grab it.


I then gave them all oil pastels and showed them how to outline their butterfly.







I have some great artists this year! 

After learning all about Butterflies and Moths we decided that this little guy, who is now actually much bigger after molting twice, is going to be a moth.  He turned from a bright green to this!


The kids are really excited to see what happens! I'm pretty curious too.

I really love it when you take the time to plan and integrate your curriculum and it all goes so well!  This was one of those weeks.  This is the first Friday in awhile that I have had lots of energy after 3pm!

This year is just breezing by.  We only have 3 weeks left in this quarter.  I honestly feel like we just started.

Next week we continue with the lifecycle of a frog.  I may be on the hunt for tadpoles this weekend!




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