We've got to do some fun little goodness with common and proper nouns last week as a nice little review--I've found in isolation my little ones can correct the proper nouns, but still have difficulty doing it in their writing. No bueno para mi. To help with this, we wrote about one of our favorite people this time of year….our classroom elf, Elfie! Students wrote to INFORM about our little guy sent from the North Pole! They used a lot of proper nouns in their writing, which was a great opportunity for them to practice using it in a "real" way.
{Grab yours HERE!}
Our little elf dude was caught encouraging paragraph writing at the writing center last week --
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He also brought us a new indoor recess game…
...and maybe had some fun later playing it with our Reading Buddies…It's ok-we like to share :)
PS. I found this little gem at Pottery Barn Kids after Thanksgiving. I bought it for my niece, but it seems to have made it's ways into our classroom, and I don't think it's leaving anytime soon…
Great little resource to go along with your Elf on the Shelf :)
Proud Teacher Moment:
Kiddo: "Mrs. Perchinsky, he shouldn't have put a capital letter on 'hope.' I think he needs to edit his writing."
Me:"Hmmmmm….grammar must be different at the North Pole elf schools."#finallytheyaregettingit
Anyway, if you'd like to take a look at our Common and Proper Noun Practice goodies: Click HERE to check out these resources.
Last week also gave us the opportunity to practice with main idea and details. I don't know why, but for some reason I love this comprehension skill. We usually do some sort of research whenever learning about MI & D, but I wanted to hold off until January when we do our arctic animal research. {We will be using THIS RESEARCH pack to conduct and publish our research. You can check out how it we've used this pack in the past HERE}.
Soooooooo….to keep it Christmas crafty, we did some various "Christmas Themed" activities to align with this skill.
1. I'm Headed to the North Pole! writing: Students packed a suitcase with three items they would like to take with them to the North Pole. We read the story, "The Littlest Elf," which is an OLD SCHOOL Golden Book {published when I was 2 years old…}, but oh so, so, so, sweet. The kids loved it and they even clapped for this one when I was done reading it--now THAT says something!
Check out their sweet little suitcases :)
**Side Note: For our chapter book read aloud for the remainder of 2013, I'm reading Magic Tree House-Merlin Mission #32, "Winter of the Ice Wizard," and oh.my.word. is it good! I'm even into it! I was out sick on Friday and I can't wait to get back to see what I missed! #nerdalert #ithinkineedtocheckmylexilelevel
2. Stocking Match Up: This was a part of our Fun Friday Centers. Students matched the top of a Christmas Stocking to it's {correct} bottom. They then wrote the answers on the corresponding answer sheet. This week we will taking these stockings and doing paragraph writing practice to help reinforce the concept and to also practice transforming topics into COMPLETE SENTENCES. "This is…" topic sentence starters are not going to fly anymore.
3. One of our culminating activities for Friday was a Main Idea Scavenger Hunt! I swear, if you put "Scavenger Hunt" on anything and give them a clipboard, they.will.do.it. I pasted these cards all around the room {hence the "scavenger hunt" title}. These cards were a mixture of writing a main idea given a set of details and visa versa. Students wondered, read, and wrote for a total of 12 cards. It didn't matter if they got all of the cards finished, being that the tasks were intermixed (they alternated between writing the MI & the D on just about every other card, so no matter how far along they got, they were getting practice with BOTH skills--great for those higher level thinkers though!)
Not only were this activities easy to prepare meaningful, they were engaging as well. And Santa knows that can be quite challenging for this time of year.
If you're interested in any of the above activities, check them out on my TPT Store HERE! They will be great to get you though the remainder of 2013!
{Main Idea Mini Pack Info HERE }
We've also been learning about different holidays around the world as part of our Christmas Around the Globe festivities! The kiddos are so into discovering new information about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and how children and families celebrate in Russia, Africa, and Japan! We are adding a page of facts each day to our Around the World booklet. Easy, quick, and no copying needed. :)
We of course are web-questing this week! I created the answer sheet in the form of a pamphlet to keep with the traveling theme and they are so into it (maybe not as much as me, but no one usually ever is)…#okafewcopiesneeded
Please feel free to use this web quest with your kiddos to supplement your Christmas Around the World Festivities!
{The pamphlet can be downloaded on the Web Quest page}
We of course are web-questing this week! I created the answer sheet in the form of a pamphlet to keep with the traveling theme and they are so into it (maybe not as much as me, but no one usually ever is)…#okafewcopiesneeded
{The pamphlet can be downloaded on the Web Quest page}
Here's to 16 sweet days of pure goodness! I will be sure to savor every last moment of this winter break! 2014--Out with the old, and in with the new--and with 16 days of no school that allows for plenty of opportunity for "new" to show up in my house. :) Hehehe…
*~*Merry Christmas *~*
