Reading Comprehension Card Game

This summer, I've decided to do theme days with my kids, so these posts will be more geared toward older kids (I have one entering 2nd and one entering 4th). Here are the theme days we're doing: 

•      Maker Monday (science, art, STEM)
•      Telling Tales Tuesday (Literacy) 
•      World Wonders Wednesday (Social Studies) 
•      Throwing Things Thursday (Phys Ed)
•      Finding Facts Friday (Math) 

Yesterday, for Maker Monday, we did a Lego challenge that you can see if you check out my Facebook Page. 

Today,  I decided to play this card game I made up. We're just finished up reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, so we're going to use that book. The rules are simple. You draw a card and follow these instructions: 

Ace- Tell a main idea

King/Queen- Chose a character from the book and tell something about them

Jack- Tell about the setting

Number cards- Tell that number of supporting details (you may want to take out some of the higher numbers to keep from running out of details depending on the length of the book)

Joker- Act out a part of the story

Be sure to ask guiding questions. Was that character key in solving the problem in the story and how? How do you know that's when the story took place?  How did that detail effect the conclusion of the story?  Did that happen in the beginning, middle or end of the story? 

Have fun with it! 

"Over in the Meadow" Felt Board Story

We are studying the weather changes that come in the spring, including the animals coming out when it starts to get warm. So, I decided to read the book Over in the Meadow and made some felt board animals to along with it. This book is great for counting and rhyming and learning about what different animals do. 

Distinguishing Between Number, Letter, and Word

This is a literacy activity we did to see if the students could distinguish a number from a letter and a letter from a word. Surprisingly, both classes did really well with it. I mostly had the older children participate. This is super easy to prepare and great for practice with beginning reading skills. 

Bear Story Time

The librarian came to our school for story time and focused on bears. 

She used the bear and the bee puppet for this rhyme:

Here is a Bear

Here is a bear, the bear is fuzzy; Here is a bee, the bee is buzzy.

The bee makes honey in a hollow tree.

The bear likes to eat honey you see.

Here comes the bear, Oops! There he goes.

The little bee stung the bear right on his nose.

She's reading Where's My Teddy? by Jez Alborough

This book was really cute and wonderful for predicting.

She also used laminated bear stick puppets for each child to sing the song, The Bear Went over the Mountain:

Oh, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain.

The bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see.

And what do you think he saw? And what do you think he saw?

The other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain.

The other side of the mountain, was all that he could see.

So, he went back over the mountain, he went back over the mountain,

He went back over the mountain, so very happily.

She also used some props to go on a bear hunt:

Going on a bear hunt, leaving right away,

Gonna find a bear if it takes all day.

1. Did we bring the map? Yes, we brought the map.

2. Did we bring the flashlight? Yes, we brought the flashlight.

3. Did we bring our lunch? Yes, we brought our lunch.

4. Did we bring the honey? Yes, we brought the honey.

5. Did we bring the camera? Yes, we brought the camera.

Ready for a bear hunt! Now, let's go!

And, we also sang the song, If you're happy and you know it doing these actions:

Clap your claws...

Stomp your paws...

Give a growl...

Do all three!

And one last rhyme:

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, show your shoe. Teddy bear, teddy bear, that will do.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, climb the stairs. Teddy bear, teddy bear, say your prayers.

Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the light. Teddy bear, teddy bear, say goodnight.

Below are some of the books that she read and/or recommended about bears. 

Playdough Cupcakes with Sprinkles

This week, we are beginning our study on pets. We are reading this great book, If you Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff. I love this series of books. They are so great for sequencing and retelling. Then, since my class has been so into playdough recently, I decided to put a little twist on that. 

We made cupcakes with playdough and then added "sprinkles" on the top using glitter. The children had so much fun with this activity. To add a little more literacy to this, I had them choose a friend to make their cupcake for and write the friend's name on a card. If they couldn't write the letters on their own, I made the letters with dotted lines for them to trace.

What have you done with this book or any of the "If you Give a..." books?

Bean Letters

Here is our art project from today, bean letters. Each child got a letter (printed from a word processor document) and glued beans to the letter. Then we glued them to cardboard to make them more sturdy.

Short and simple one today. What are you doing to start teaching literacy to your class?

First Day Back!

Today was my first day back to work. Orientation. Nothing too exciting, but I will hit on the major points. The kids stayed home with dad who is not working at this moment. He got laid off a few weeks ago and that is why I stopped writing the Chronicles of Summertime series.

This year, we will be focusing on trying to raise the children's KRA-L scores when they go to Kindergarten. The KRA-L is Ohio's Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (in Literacy). The 6 areas they test on are:

1. Answering who, what, when, why, and how questions
2. Repeating sentences
3. Identifying words that rhyme
4. Producing words that rhyme
5. Identifying letters
6. Identifying beginning sounds of words

I have been thinking of things I can do to promote these in the classroom. Lots of Dr. Suess and nursery rhymes immediately come to mind. I will be pondering on this more and probably scouring Pinterest for ideas. More on this later.

Also, I am excited about a research project on the topic of reading comprehension through The Ohio State University that I volunteered for today. It will last throughout the school year. If I am one of the teachers randomly chosen to carry out the activities, I will get all sorts of resources and be trained on doing some lessons with the kids. I will also be video taped which I am not looking forward to, but I think it will be great for the kids as well as make lesson planning easier. Hopefully it will also align with the KRA-L assessment work we will be doing.

I am looking forward to getting into the classroom and thinking of how I am going to set it up differently this year! Happy back to school all!!!!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 4

Day 4:

Today was a very rainy day. We decided to make some multi-media artwork. First we got out the crayons and markers, then added some paint. Snugglepuppy creatively used many methods of painting including finger painting, brush painting, and stamping. I was surprised at how he was able to describe and label what he was painting. I dictated what he said on the paper. 

We did some gross motor in the basement where Snugglepuppy jumped on the trampoline, played in the ball pit, and played some baseball. That didn't last long though so we came upstairs and looked at some of the library books we got yesterday. 

Then we worked on the alphabet a little using the iPad and some magnetic letters. I showed him a letter on the ABC app and he had to find the correct magnetic letter to match. 

Then he stacked up the letters and made us each an "ABC Sandwich."

It was not a bad day despite the fact that we weren't able to go out at all.

Puzzle Piece Names

Another one of our small groups for "All About Me." We had the children spell their names with these puzzle alphabet stickers identifying each letter as they go. We had their name strips with each child's name pre-written on it for them to look at to help them find the letters.  Some of the younger children just wanted to stick random letters everywhere, so we let them do their thing. When they are more ready for this activity, we will try again.

Then we had them count how many letters in their name. As an extension of this, you can have the children graph how many letters their names have and compare whose name has more or less. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Tutorial Tuesday: Puzzle Sight Words

Puzzle Sight Words 

Happy Tuesday! I am so excited to be joining Cachey Mama's Classroom today. I am Jillian also known as A Mom with a Lesson Plan. One of my favorite lessons to plan is sight words. Making sight word practice fun and easy is one of the ways I keep my kids excited about learning new words.

How to Prepare

Do you have any old puzzles with missing pieces? Don't worry if all your puzzles are full sets, you can find a cheap puzzle at a garage sale, thrift store, or dollar store.

 I used a puzzle with big pieces but any size pieces would work.
  
Put the puzzle pieces together. Make sure you have enough pieces connected to match the letters in the word you are making. Then flip the puzzle over so the back of the puzzle is up.
 Write one letter of the word on each puzzle piece. That's all the prep you need. Easy right?

3 Ways to Play

I love this idea for a couple of reasons. Puzzle sight words is perfect for a quiet classroom activity or for at home practice. I also love that it can be varied to work with kids of different levels. 1. Lay out the sight word card right next to the letters needed to make the word. Mix the letters up a bit and then have your little one put the "puzzle" together to match the card.

2. Lay out the sight word cards. Mix up all the letters and have your little one create the words by finding the letters in the pile.

3. Mix up all of the pieces and ask your little to make words from the pieces available. This is a good one if you've already practiced these words quite a bit.

Besides a love for her kids (and well just kids in general) Jillian has a degree in Early Childhood Education and 10 years experience as a preschool teacher. Right now her “students” call her mom. Jillian believes that life offers an abundance of learning opportunities. She loves figuring out what they are and how they can be expanded on. Join the journey at amomwithalessonplan.com.

Tutorial Tuesday: Fall Centerpieces using Bag Painting

This week's guest blogger is Tina from Mamas Like Me.  Her blog is packed full of all kinds of activities that she does with her children including crafts, letter and writing activities, math, science, recipes, and much more. Please stop by and get some wonderful ideas!

I saw the idea for finger-painting in a bag over at Open Hands and figured I'd give it a try with this activity. The bags made it easier (and less messy) for us to paint both sides of these Fall leaves - and I love how the colors blended. 

 For this activity, we used:

 Red, Orange, and Yellow paint 

Leaf shapes cut out of card stock 

(I highly recommend the card stock rather than regular construction paper) 

Ziplock bags 

Glitter Glue 

Ribbon 

A branch from outside 

1. To prep for this, I cut leaf shapes out of card stock for each child.

2. Then, I put one leaf into each bag, along with a squirt of red, orange, and yellow paint, and a few drops of water to help it mix. Make sure there is some paint on both sides of the leaf. Try to get as much air out of the bag as possible when sealing it.

3. Next the kids had fun squishing the paint around and covered their leaves.

4. (Now, for the messy part!) I took the leaves out of each bag and replaced them with another leaf so each child got to do more than one.

5. When the kids were done covering their leaves, I offered them the option of just finger-painting with the paint in the bag. Some of them wanted to continue squishing with the paint and some were finished :)

6. Once the leaves dried, we used glitter pens to write each child's first initial on their leaves. (I love getting letters into an activity).

7. After the glitter dried, we hole-punched each leaf and tied it with ribbon.

8. Then, we went outside and found a branch to hang our leaves on and make our own Fall tree inside.

Doesn't it make an adorable centerpiece? You could also use these for garland or hang them in a window.

Tina is a former Elementary School teacher turned SAHM to three active boys (with one more on the way)! She blogs at Mamas Like Me where she shares kids activities, recipes, tips on frugal living, and reflections on life as ‘Mommy’.

Tutorial Tuesday: Planning Preschool Activities

Planning Preschool Activities 

Hi! My name is Trina from Teaching My Blessings! I am a former elementary teacher and the Mommy to my three sons, who are my most amazing blessings. I am honored to be guest posting here today at Tutorial Tuesday. Today I will be discussing how to plan preschool activities and match activities with books.

One of my most favorite things to do is PLAN! I am a planner by nature. My calendar is my friend! When I was teaching full time my planning period was always my favorite time of the day. When I first started teaching I always loved getting a freshly, sharpened pencil and my empty lesson plan book! Then as technology progressed I began to type my lesson plans and then I loved looking at my blank excel spreadsheets to fill in. Oh how I do enjoy the planning piece of teaching. I learned over the years to be flexible with my planning. The ideas in my head can often be so much greater than the “real” world of teaching and learning.

In August of 2011 I decided it was time to engage my sweet boys more at home, therefore my new adventure began. I decided I would teach them concepts that I felt they needed to know at home at least two mornings a week. As the year went on I learned to be flexible with this piece of the planning process too and we did “preschool activities”, as we like to call them, anytime.

I began planning preschool activities for my children. First, I ran to Target to purchase an empty lesson plan book from the dollar section. I was so excited to have a blank lesson plan book again!

First, I planned the year thematically by choosing a theme for each week. I included monthly themes to coordinate with holidays. Then I researched online preschool themes to get more ideas. I found a ton of great resources! Including an amazing community of bloggers all blogging about teaching their children. I also asked my boys what they wanted to learn about this year and I included those themes in my plans. One week we learned about dinosaurs because that was what my son was interested in at the time. Another week we learned about Big Bird and Ernie at my son’s request.

I love to match our learning activities with books. I have a huge love for the public library. During the planning process I use our public library’s online card catalog to search for books to match each theme. I write the coordinating titles in my lesson plan book next to each theme. Then I put the books on hold to match each theme according to when I need them. I try to plan ahead and reserve the books to coordinate with each theme. Reading to my boys is one of my most favorite things to do as a parent and it is so important!!

I then search many of the blogs that I follow to find activities and printables to match the themes. I preview the activities and if I feel they are age appropriate for my children I bookmark them and write them in my lesson plan book.

This past year each week I planned:
Letter of the week
Shape
Color
Bible Verse
Character development Trait

I also plan crafts, cooking projects and field trips to coordinate with the theme when appropriate. The more hands on, creative, and fun activities I can plan, the better!

I hope this simple tutorial of how to plan activities has inspired at least one reader. Happy Planning!

Animal Homes Books for Toddler/Preschool

We have been going to the library toddler storytime this week and I wanted to share some of the books we heard. Unfortunately my sweet little boy was being not-so-sweet today and we didn't get a chance to write down the names of the books that were read, but nevertheless, here are the ones I did remember:

Also, I have come across 2 great sites with lists of more books about houses/homes:

Family Reading Partnership

The Miss Rumphius Effect

Have fun reading!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHERE I LINK UP

Tutorial Tuesday: Words Their Way

Hello, this is Beth Ann from Taming My Flock of Firsties.

I wanted to thank Lori for letting me guest blog on Tutorial Tuesday. What a great idea!

Words Their Way came into our classrooms one Monday morning. "This is what you are going to use for your Spelling program." Hmmmm?

The first and second grade teachers all got together and "learned" what this program was about. Some teachers took the initiative to dive right in so that others could learn from their expertise. It's a good thing we have some penguins in our school. :)

Now that we have been using it for two years, we have all embraced it.

Once you get into it, you will LOVE it!

One of my colleagues developed a system for each day. We pretty much followed by the book but we tweaked some things to make it our own.

Monday: Hand out sorts.

Discuss with groups.

This is the part they love.

NAME

SCRIBBLE

HIGHLIGHT

CUT

SORT


Name: They write their names REALLY BIG on the back of their sorts.

Scribble: They scribble...really, on the back (this is usually a lighter color than their name).

Highlight: They highlight their features.

Cut: They cut out their sorts.

Sort: They sort their sorts.

There is usually a lot of discussion going on about connections and other things they have found.

After they have sorted they put their sorts into their baggies and off they go to Daily 5.
They are given two copies (one for home and one for school).
I send home a little note each day in the beginning to explain what the parents should be doing each day.

Tuesday: Speed Sort
I have found that my firsties have a really hard time reading the clock in our room...really???
I put a timer on the Smart Board and we all do the speed sort together.
The timer counts up and when they are finished they record their time on their sheet.

Click on the image to download a copy for you.

I have to explain to them that their sorts are not the same. They are comparing their time from before and not to compare other students with their time. It worked pretty well for me this year. If they beat their time from before, they get a sticker on their page. :) I LOVE stickers!

Wednesday: Buddy Sort

They find someone in their sorting group.

I broke their groups up into berries this year (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.). When they find someone, they work together to "quiz" each other. "What word would go in this feature?" "Where does this word belong?"

Thursday: Word Hunt

Using their Daily 5 Read to Self  bags, they have to find words that go along with their features. I started out with trying to find 10 of each. Boy, was that a nightmare! I finally figured out that what worked best for the students and me was to go through all the books (there are only eight) and try to find some words that fit in the features. If they cannot find any (which happens a lot), they can look at the word wall or try to think of some words that would go with that feature.

Friday: Test

The students sort their words and then glue them into their Spelling Journals. After the entire group was finished with this I would call them back for some extra testing. 

I would give them 5 words to spell (from their features) and a bonus word (maybe an oddball word).

The kids really looked forward to Spelling.

They made some great progress.

We have them take a pre-test to see where they fit in groups and then a post-test to see how much they have grown.

I enjoy this program so much! 

If you have any questions or suggestions, please email me at bakteach16@gmail.com.

Have a wonderful day!