Getting Started With Opinions

Aloha everyone!!  Who has had an awesome 3 days in this 4 day work week?  I tell you time flies when you are having fun and your lesson plans are keeping your class humming!

Last week I started working on Opinion writing.  We began by simply working on Fact vs. Opinions. Most of my kids already knew the difference and could tell me that a fact was true and an opinion was how someone felt.  We had a discussion and made a list of facts and opinions about a variety of topics.

We then did a reading activity.  I decided to work on our color coding strategy to find our text evidence.

We read this together and then I asked them to highlight the first question yellow.  They had to go back into the paragraph and find the answer and highlight it as well.  Then I had them write the full sentence as their answer.  The first one was easy, but I had some kids who had trouble with the second answer.  It was a great way informally assess who needed to work on this skill..

We then did a fun activity where I showed a sentence and they had to write it under fact or opinion.
They didn't have any problem with this one.

Then we got into the writing portion.  My class is doing pretty well with basic paragraphs, but I really wanted to guide them through the process.

I put this up on the board and went through each step.

First I wrote in the middle and had them write their opinion.

Then we went through each of the reasons together.  I didn't move on until each student had completed each sentence.  My quick finishers were right there to help anyone who was struggling.

Finally we talked about a closing sentence.  This is really difficult for so many kids.  They want to write "PE is cool" and end it.  So I added a bit more for them and they just filled in the blank.

Everyone was  successful and they enjoyed sharing their stories with each other.  We will continue to use this format for a few more writing pieces. I plan to also conference with students to help them focus their sentences a bit more.

Writing has always been a tough subject for me to teach, but I have learned that leading my students step by step through the process is the best way for them to learn.  Most of them need lots of examples and ideas before they will venture to write all by themselves.

If you need some extra ideas and activities for Opinion writing check out my Opinion Writing Pack.

I plan to share some other activities that we will be doing in the next few weeks with our opinions.

What is your class working on in writing?  I love hearing everyone's great lessons and ideas on teaching writing.  The more we share the more we learn.

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Which Do You Like Best?

Aloha my long lost friends!  I feel like my blog posts are much fewer and far between.  I honestly miss sitting down and sharing the fun and sometimes not so fun things that happen in class.

This week we began working on Opinion Writing.  We did an  introductory activity to decide which was our favorite candy.

Before we started we discussed how we make opinions about things.  Sometimes we see something and think it looks nice.  Other times things taste, or smell good and we make opinions based on those senses.  We made a list of all our senses.

We talked about how our opinions belong to us.  No one can tell us what we should think or feel.  We get to decide.

I then told the students they were going to do a little activity to help them decide which they liked best.

Before the activity I had placed 5 Skittles and 5 M&M's in a little snack bag.  I passed them out and told them I wanted to use their senses to make a choice about which one they liked best.

They weren't allowed to use their sense of taste until I gave the signal.  Then I told them they could taste 2 of each to get a good idea about each one. (They had to save the rest until they finished writing)

Then I asked them to fill out this sheet.
(Click on picture to download from Google Docs)

I had a to help a few with the reasons, but most of them were able to use their senses to write their ideas.

I have to admit that M&M's make me happy too!

I also love the fruitiness and chewiness of Skittles!

They really enjoyed the activity and it was a great way to get them writing! I plan to also use their opinions to make a graph during math time comparing the two.

If you need a few more ideas and activities check out my Opinion Writing pack.  I plan to use many of them over the next few weeks.

What types of activities do you like to use for writing opinions? What are some of your favorite topics to use?  I'm always looking for fun ideas, especially in writing!

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Workin' Through Wonders

Aloha!! Are you as excited about the weekend as I am?!  I don't understand how short weeks seem longer than regular weeks.  My theory is you have to pack as much as you can into 4 days that you usually do in 5!

This week marks the 5th week we have been in school.  I feel like my routines are starting to firm up and students are starting to be a little more independent.

The week started out with a little visitor to our classroom.
(Well not really little!)

I opened the closet to get some paper out and I saw something scurry out.  I closed the closet and this large fellow was sitting there.  

As long as this is not on me I am okay.  I knew the kids would freak out, so I calmly said "Wow, this guy is huge! I am going to take a picture of him.  Does anyone remember what type of spider he is?" Kids yelled out "Cane" spider and "King" spider.  I explained it was a Cane spider and that they came from the sugar cane fields.  I spelled it on the board and then we talked about how they were harmless and help eat the bugs in our classroom.  I took a picture and they all got back to work.  This guy slunk away and I was happy with that.

This week I felt like I had gotten a good feel for our new Wonders reading program.  I am picking and choosing  the most important pieces and I have my Daily 5 routines up and running.

Here is the schedule of my Literacy Block for the Week.

That first block of the day is spent going over the skills for the week.  I have adapted our morning work packet to include the essential skills that Wonders covers for the week.  

Every Monday I give a pre-test to see who needs help with the spelling skill.  If they pass the test they don't need to take the test on Friday.  Wonders does provide differentiated spelling lists for each of the levels.

I place my spelling list up on the board for the week for different activities and for kids to read them each day.  That little pocket chart is for Word Families that I got from Really Good Stuff.

On Tuesday I read the story in the Anthology to the class and we go over the vocabulary together.

I then have the students partner up and read it.  Then they do the vocabulary page in their practice books.

I try to get in the writing by having them respond the the essential question for the week in their writing journals.

On Wednesday through Friday is when I differentiate and meet with all of my students.  I am so happy we received the leveled readers that come with the program.  I can easily see what skills my students need and go from there.

I can also work with my lower group on high-frequency words, spelling and fluency.  My higher readers can work on the same skills, but I can get them to do more critical thinking, writing and comprehension questions.

My Daily 5 rotations are basically the same as last year. My Word Work centers are all skills that we are covering and they also include activities for spelling.  I changed my Writing center a bit and have focused the students on what the Wonders program suggests.  This week we were on Unit 1 Week 3. The essential question was "How can a pet be an important friend?"  The skill this week was writing a friendly letter.

I made some simple writing templates to put in the center.  I told the students that they were going to write a letter to their pet and tell them all the reasons why they were a good friend.

They did such a great job and they were so excited to write their letters and take them home. The kids that did not have a pet could write a letter to an imaginary pet or just a letter to a friend.  If you would like a copy of these templates click on the picture to download them from Google Docs.

Over the last few weeks I have created flashcards and lists  for my small groups and whole group activities.  I have also put together spelling lists at all the different levels that Wonders has provided.

Included are spelling lists, spelling cards, vocabulary cards, and high-frequency word cards for Weeks 1-5.  If you are using Wonders this might be helpful to have all of the lists in one place to use for small groups, centers or homework.

This will be a freebie the month of September.  I would love to hear your thoughts and know what I should add for Unit 2.  Head over to my Facebook page and you can grab it in my Facebook freebie section.

Are you new to Wonders as well?  I would love to hear how it is going for you and any tips you might want to share :)

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End Of The Year Writing

Aloha friends!  It's here...the end of the year.  6 days and counting.  This week marks the end of our last full week of school.  With all of our May Day festivities I didn't quite get a chance to finish our assessments.

I went through the great 2nd Grade Blog Hop last week and got so many great ideas!  I wanted my students to write something they would enjoy and put their best effort into.  I really loved Mrs. Olson's Lucky Little Learners "Words Of Wisdom Freebie".   Such a fun idea!  However for my assessment I wanted a more complete writing sample so I made this.

I made it double sided and told my students they would be writing a letter to next years second graders telling them all about second grade.  I told them to include what they would learn, what the teacher likes and doesn't like and anything they enjoyed.

I could not believe how hard the kids worked on these.  Every student wrote quite a bit.  Several students needed another sheet of paper!

These first two are so funny because right before the lesson I confiscated a toy from a student who is constantly bringing in toys to play with!  My drawer is full of his items. He will be happy on the last day of school when he gets to go home with a bag full of toys!

I guess I have been a drill sergeant lately!

I am so proud of this students writing.  His spelling has improved tremendously.  He wanted to stay in at recess to finish this letter!

This little guy did not like writing because he said he could never think of anything to write.  When he did write his stories were fantastic!  He filled up both sides of this paper.

This student struggles so much with writing.  Her language and grammar are often difficult to understand.  I had to laugh at how mean I am when you don't "lisen".  It reminds me of this meme.

Everyone is a little squirrely with vacation right around the corner.  I am doing my best to stay calm and sweet, but somedays it can be tough!

I really loved all the letters they wrote and was amazed at their spelling and neat handwriting.  I think they want to impress the first graders more than me!

I plan to make a copy and place their originals in with their report cards.

I made this template editable for you to be able to use it in your class.  Just open it up in Powerpoint and click on the text.  The font I used is KG What The Teacher Wants.

Click {HERE} to download from Google Docs.

Is your class getting a little antsy?  I would love to hear how you are keeping calm these last few days.

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Mahalo and Sensational Students

Aloha friends!  How is everyone feeling after the Cyber Shopping frenzy!!  I love shopping and when there are no crowds, it's even better!!  I bought some fabulous items on TpT that I can't wait to use in my classroom.  I plan to post all the fabulous goodies as soon as I get to use them!!

I just want to give a big Mahalo to all of you who purchased any of my items!  I am so appreciative of all of your support and the wonderful feedback that many of you left. I am truly honored that you chose my items and I love that teachers far and wide are using them in their classrooms!

I also wanted to thank all of you for the wonderful math ideas.  I was amazed by all of your responses and  ideas.  I am planning on implementing a Math Workshop next semester.  That will give me time to study up a bit more and read more blogs/books about it.  For now, I picked up some great supplemental items in the TpT sale to help me with my little math whiz!

I  wanted to share a little activity with you that I did this week in my class.  We have been working on parts of speech and the kids have nouns down pretty well, but adjectives are still giving them some trouble.

I decided to use our Writer's Workshop time to write some Acrostic Poems.  I started out simple and just decided to use our names.

We pulled out the Thesauruses  and Dictionaries and I let the kids get to work.

They loved looking through these and coming up with new words.

Many of my higher students found some great words and were so helpful to some that were

having a harder time finding words.

For those who were having trouble or writing words that didn't make sense I kept using this sentence

"Child's name" is so _____________.

So when they wrote down a word like "fire", I would say " Oh, Jeff you are so fire."

Of course they all giggle and then Jeff would go back and find a better describing word.

I was really happy with how well their poems came out!

I was so excited to get them all hung up and they were just as excited to share what they had written.

I honestly helped only a few students who were struggling with this activity.  The rest was all on their own, with the help of the dictionary or thesaurus.

I created the templates that they wrote their final copies on. There are 3 different templates.  If you would like them you can grab them in Google Docs.

I can't believe we only have 2 weeks left until our Winter Break!!  I need to get crackin' on our holiday gifts!!  What are you planning for gifts this year?  I would love to somehow incorporate these poems, but I haven't quite made up my mind!  Ideas are always welcome:)

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