An Educational Journey Through Oz

My class and I have been on a journey; an educational journey through Oz.  For the past few weeks, we have enjoyed listening to The Wizard of Oz.

Each day, we read one page of the book and complete an extension activity.  I like thematic teaching and this book lends itself well to learning about many things.

Here are some highlights of our learning during our unit of study.







We're Not In Kansas Anymore
As you know, the book begins with Dorothy being transported to the land of Oz via a tornado.  We are not familiar with tornadoes so we used this resource here and here to provide background knowledge.  Afterwards, we wrote about our learning.  Here is the finished product.

I'm Melting
We conducted a science experiment to illustrate melting.  (To read why this happens go here.)

This was a perfect experiment to talk about making a hypothesis and how sometimes we are wrong in making our predictions.  Great teachable moment.

We're Off to See the Wizard

We created this pictograph to go with the question - Which would you rather have? Brains? Heart? Courage?.  I gave each child a half sheet containing each of the pictures and they had to pick one.  Each secretly went to a hiding spot in the classroom to make their selection.  Afterwards, we shared our choice with each other.  Later on, they used their choice to write.

At the conclusion of the unit, we watched the movie version and compared it to the book.  All in all, it was a great unit of study.


Happy Teaching!

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I Am A Pizza

I love creating lessons where I can teach yet let my kids be little.  So much of our day is filled with work that has to be done.  Therefore, when I am given the opportunity to create freely, I take advantage.  Last week, I created a series of lessons which went along with our reading series theme, food and menu writing.  I used I Am A Pizza as our focal point because who doesn't love pizza.  We were able to echo read from our song cards which helped with total engagement and participation.




Afterwards, I pretended to order a pizza but the students quickly noted that I got my order all wrong.  I forgot to tell the size and what kind of pizza I wanted.

Over the next two days, we made our menu together. (Please, ignore my misspelling of broccoli).  I created a sentence frame for them to use when ordering their pizzas.  I handed them phones so that they could place their orders.  They loved it! As I walked around the room, I could hear kids talking and see lots of happy children learning.

Finally, came the best part!

Using 24"x24" yellow and brown construction paper, I had prepped pizza wedges that I stapled at the top and cut a rounded neck.

Students recited their order and went to work making their pizza.

They had a blast making their pizzas and loved wearing them.  In fact, many wore them outside to play and as we marched out at the end of the day.  All in all, I think it was a successful lesson.

Happy Teaching!

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Five for Friday - MLK Edition

Although, it was a short week, I was able to fit in many lessons that celebrated our diversity while learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.

This theme has a particular soft spot in my heart.  I always share with my students how my mother was a victim of segregation.  As a migrant worker, she often faced many challenges in the fields and in the classroom.

We began our learning with a simple investigation of eggs.  I used this freebie as my guide.

I asked my kids their opinion about the brown eggs and it was amazing how they thought it would be different.  None had eaten a brown egg before.  So, we scrambled some up for a snack.  

This was a great starting point to learning that we are all different on the outside but the same on the inside.

We made these MLK portraits inspired by TLC Lessons.   I have used her art lessons for many years and highly recommend them.

Our language arts program had recipe writing as our writing this week.  So, I choose to do Friendship Salad.  I like to do this recipe later in the year rather than the first week of school for many reasons.  By now, we really know each other and this is just a good time to reinforce teamwork and working together.  In kindergarten, they understand it better now.

I love how this spot in our classroom turned out.  It is a collection of all our learning this week.  I used portions of this unit as part of my teaching and learning.  

Here is an up close look at a piece of the writing.  I love kid art!  

Lastly, here is the quick sign I made to remind students not to yell my name as I was testing students on their weekly fluency test. 

No, Mrs. Parker.  

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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A New Beginning

I just love that as teachers we have many opportunities for new beginnings; or clean slates.  It always seems that after Winter Break something magical seems to happen to kindergarteners.  They have a better understanding of school and are ready for the next phase in learning.

Months ago, I purchased this craftivity from All Students Can Shine knowing that I would use it to help us set our learning goals.

To begin, we read Squirrel's New Year's Resolution.  We learned about resolutions and come up with a definition for this word based on the book.

Then, we looked at our ESGI data.  I showed the class our data for language arts and math.  But they wanted to know more. They asked if they could see their own data. So, I showed them each their data. As I did, we talked about the areas which we all excelled and those which were important for our overall learning success.  As we had this discussion, I could tell that some students were beginning to understand the impact learning has.

I met with each student individually to talk about their resolutions.  Each child was honest and did an excellent job of selecting a resolution that reflected what they needed the most to be successful in the classroom.  We talked about how we could each support one another to help make their resolution a success.

I love this bulletin board and plan to keep it up for the remainder of the year. Why? Because it will serve as a reminder of our learning goals.

What does your class do to reflect upon their learning?

Happy Teaching!

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A Year of Writing - Revisited

I have been documenting my student's growth as writers using a monthly journal for years.  I originally wrote about it here.

Today I would like to share why I love this.

As teachers, we know the importance of keeping a record of our students' learning and growth.  In the past, I used to collect random samples of students' writing.  What I found was that sometimes I would have a lot on one student but very little on another.  Other times, I did not have a current sample of their writing to share at progress monitoring meetings. Bad, I know.

That all changed when I began making a monthly writing journal; what I call A Year of Kindergarten Writing.  What I found was that I had monthly samples collected all in one spot.  I could share these easily at Parent Conferences and with other teachers.  I could use these to document learning.  More importantly, at the end of the year, it served as a keepsake for families of their child's learning.

In preparation for the upcoming school year, I have revised and updated this document.  For a limited time, this is a freebie for my Facebook Fans.  Hop on over and grab your copy.

From my classroom to yours, 

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Research and Collaboration - Kindergarten Style

Our team has tried very hard to learn as much as we can about the Common Core. It has been a learning curve but also a great way for us to bond as a team.

So, when we decided to visit Sea World, we knew that we wanted our students to research the sea animals that they would see at the theme park.  That lead to us think, "Why not have the students research and present their findings to each class?"

Simple.

Right?

Well....kind of.

First, we read about our sea animals and wrote about them in our Sea Animal Research Journals.  To guide our writing, we used Thinking Maps; mostly Tree and Circle Maps to help us.

Later, I assigned and worked with each group to create their presentation board.  In this case, I had my reading groups work together because they all had approximately the same needs.  This helped me to know how much guidance they would need.

Students and I enjoyed this extra time together.  Everyone worked together to cut, type, and prepare the presentation board.  They rehearsed their presentations during Independent Reading, with each other and to the class.

It was a lot of work.  But, well worth it!



Common Core Standards Addressed:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about     kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.4 Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.K.6 Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

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Mentor Texts to Teach Punctuation

As the end of the year nears for us, I am trying to make sure that my students are as prepared as possible for first grade.

One area which we continue to need to work on is punctuation.  I love to use the Piggie and Elephant series by Mo Willems. At this point of the year, many can read the books and understand how witty Mo Willems is as the author of these characters.

First, I read I am Going!.  I like to use this book because several of the same words or phrases appear throughout the book but change meaning due to the punctuation.  This helps to show how important punctuation is to meaning.

Afterwards, I created simple anchor charts to meet our standard; recognize and name the punctuation.

Students wrote their own Piggie and Elephant stories; trying to use each type of punctuation.  Here is a sample. Can you tell which Piggie and Elephant book it is modeled after?

                Gerald want to go play? Yes?                             Gerald. There's a bird in your head!                  Gerald. Now there's a nest.

We will continue to work on this skill for the next few weeks.  My hope is that children see how punctuation plays an important role in reading and writing as well as text meaning.

In the past, I've used these books as well.  I like them because they are easy enough to be read by beginning readers.

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Wishy-Washy! Wishy-Washy!

I recently was contacted by Hameray Publishing to review their new Joy Cowley Collection.  I have used Joy Cowley's work in my classroom for over a decade so I was thrilled for the opportunity to preview some of her newer work.  

I decided to use these books (the two lower ones) with my Intervention group during our Interactive Writing session. Working for over a period of days, we used her work as a springboard for our writing.  

During the course of our sessions, I was able to show this group much needed mechanic and grammar skills. More importantly, they learned that writers are passionate about their work.  Each day, they looked forward to writing their story.  We planned, revised and reread our work along the way.  

I am excited to offer one of my Followers the chance to win a big book written by Joy Cowley to use in their classroom.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There's more!  Go here to enter to win over $400 worth of Joy Cowley resources or better yet, nominate your favorite teacher.

Looking for Wishy-Washy inspiration? Follow my Wishy-Washy Pinterest board.

Readers of this blog can save 20% off their purchase on the Hameray Publishing site by entering this code: ZJCC13; now through 6/30/13.

Happy Teaching!

Please note:  I was not compensated for this post.  I did receive two complimentary books in exchange for my opinion and review.  

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