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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...to the End of Year Countdown!

Phew. Where has the time gone?  The end of the year can be an extremely difficult time--final report cards, end of year conferences, IEP meetings, cleaning up piles of papers that you THOUGHT you checked two months ago which end up going to "File 13", {just me...oh...ok}, and coming up with fun, thought provoking activities for your littles can be as difficult as painting an entire room with a Q-Tip {sorry for the awful analogy, but I have some paint projects going on over here, so that's all I got!}.

Saying you LOVE, The Wizard of Oz, is probably an obvious statement--who doesn't, right?!  However, I'm going to say it anyway... I LOVE the Wizard of Oz!  I never fully appreciated the movie until reading the 1900s novel.  I love all of the "extra" details and new characters, and how they were translated onto the big screen.  And of course, sweet little Toto being an identical twin to my family cairn terrier, Trapper doesn't hurt either :)

My Trapper Boy xoxo <3

Every year I am more and more surprised as to how many of my little ones have NEVER seen the movie~ Kohls Cares had an AWESOME condensed version of the story a few years ago {including matching plush Toto!}  I actually prefer none of my little ones having seen the movie because it's like starting with a blank slate!

I read the Kohls version to my munchkins and it usually takes about 2 weeks--I could honestly make it last an entire month, which I'm thinking I may have to do next year.  There is just a TON of things to do with the story and I never want to leave anything out! I usually piggy pack this unit off of our Fairy Tales, since there are many fairy tale elements that appear in the WOZ.  The kids are always the first to mention that, too :)


Here's a peek at some of the goodness that happened over the course of those two weeks:

Student Cover Sheet for Artifacts Folder 


{this is where they placed all of their materials for the unit--at the end of each week I had them pick out one piece they were most proud of and that was the piece I displayed in the classroom--super convenient for me, and it also gave the students more ownership over their work-WIN/ WIN!}

I also blew this up to poster size and hung it on the door for the duration of our unit--just made it a little more "magical!"

Wizard of Oz Vocabulary

This book provides some pretty tough vocabulary for primary age students.  In this pack, I have included some helpful vocabulary you might want to go over each day prior to reading.  

I wrote the vocabulary here on post it notes so I wouldn't have to change the paper every day, just the post its!  


The students used these recording sheets to record today's vocabulary.  Much like we did HERE, they stopped me as they heard the word in the story, so we could back up, reread, and infer what the word meant.  They did an unbelievably good job with this!!!  


They then summarized the day's events using this handy dandy sheet.
**These two sheets were copied back-2-back so the vocabulary matched the summary.
I also copied and pasted it into a smart board file to make it a little easier for the little ones to see and to help write the main idea and three corresponding details for the day.  Towards the end of the unit, they were doing this on their own--it was tough--but they did it!!

GUESS MY SLIPPER--Inferencing cards: 

Students match the clues to the correct slipper





"Wizard, Grant My Request!" Point of View Writing












Poppy Webquest :) 

 THEY LOVED finding out so much info on Poppy Flowers!


You can find the WebQuest link HERE

Wizard of Oz: Board Game



 Complete with Character Figures :)

{Use a handy dandy clip to make your pieces stand and move easily}

The set they are playing here is inferencing edition--a comprehension set is also included to play at the end of your unit or upon the completion of the story

Wizard and Wicked Witch Visualization!

The book gives AWESOME clues about these two characters, so I never show them the picture until after they complete their visualization.  If they've never seen the movie, you'll get a kick out of their visualizations :)  You can even use these to differentiate, too!





Winged Monkeys Commands {Fantasy & Reality}


Wizard of Oz Apps played on the smart board through the powerful DONGAL!



Tornado Research! 

We needed some nonfiction in all of the fiction and fairy tale we were surrounded by!  They used my Nonfiction Research Pack used HERE, just tweaked a bit to make it a little more independent this time around.  After looking through several Tornado books,  I added a link to our class webpage to help with researching.  We are getting in the habit of using 3 sources to research.




Sharing our books {in the sun of course} :)



Cause and Effects Hot Air Balloons:

Students wrote cause and effect sentences {practiced using connecting words to make this happen rather than using a T Chart}.  Students then highlighted the causes in each sentence.  

LOVE the creative thought going behind the "swinging" of the basket in the wind <3


Character Request Cause and Effects: If you Give a Mouse a Cookie Style

Students wrote what will happen if you give a "certain character" their request in the format of another one of our favorite book series, "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie."
**These are leveled to help your LL students out.  The HL learners could fill in the blank with anything they wanted {as long as it was TRUE from the story}.





Wizard, Give Me _______: Creative Writing Activity

Students chose what they would wish to have from the Wizard and what they would do with it <3 They were so adorable {I was too busy gushing over them I only snapped this one photo!}


I DO Have a Heart: Tin Man Writing

Students drew and wrote about what their heart was filled with!

Apparently, his is filled with more hearts :)

Before and After Reading Inventory of the story

We did one of these at the beginning and end of the unit to show how much we've learned along the Yellow Brick Road :)


Quotation Marks with Calendar Months:

Totally forgot to snap a photo of this activity, BUT I glued each month {picture} on a large piece of chart paper.  The students traveled around and wrote something that character might be saying or thinking {from the photograph} using quotation marks appropriately.  


After we've read the entire novel, we celebrate by having a WOZ celebration with games, food, and of course the MOVIE!  I always bring in my Wizard of Oz memorabilia for my friends to admire {this is important to do at the end of the unit so they have a full appreciation for whatever it is you're showing them!}

#truth



Pin the <3 on the Tin Man--

this was so much fun and they loved watching everyone take turns...I MAY or MAY NOT have guided them in the wrong direction for a little extra added fun :) hehe

Are they not precious?! They begged if they could dress up for the party--like I could say no to these faces :D

My sweet baby Toto xoxox

 I even let them use my Jim Shore Wizard of Oz Figures to play the Comprehension Game 
{two sets of game cards included in this pack--one comprehension & one inferencing}


Sorry, horrible picture!


The Food



Somewhere Over the Rainbow Goldfish




Everyone needs some Liquid Courage right?!



Buffet Style :)

There is SO much fun that went along with this unit--we are STILL doing some Oz activities! They love it and honestly, I don't want it to end!!!  

Get your 103 page unit HERE for some end of the year engaging goodness:


 With the new "animated" movie coming out in a few days, I'm thinking next year I may start with the movie version, read the book, and then watch the new animated movie at the end of the unit.  I know as I read the book aloud {to them}, I always think back and relate it to a part of the movie, and I'm thinking that might work for them as well to build their comprehension, since it is a bit of a higher level book.

This unit includes so much more {including a few math actives with measurement and word problems, too }!  It will certainly keep your little ones engaged and what a great way to end the year! I promise you they will LOVE it!


Follow the Yellow Brick Road my friends to the land of SUMMER!




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