I Love The Pigeon Books!!!

Hi folks,
I absolutely love Mo Willems Pigeon books ~ and more importantly so do my kids!  The careful use of punctuation and the simple but effective illustrations make these books a hit with readers of all levels.  My class has been begging me to make literacy centers for these books and who was I to deny my little lovelies?
I used the books, "Pigeon Finds A Hotdog!" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" as springboards for these centers.  My kids freaked!!!!  They loved these centers ~ talk about motivation!
Here's a peek if your class is as crazy about these books as mine:)

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Silly-Pigeon-10-Literacy-Activities-Plus-Craftivity

It's almost Friday friends!!!

Thanks for stopping by!
Natalie

Penguin Perfect and Lots of Pictures!

Hi friends,
I will start this post by letting you know that I am absolutely insane crazy for penguins!!  I fell in love with these little fellas a few years ago and they've had my heart ever since:)  What these birds endure all in the name of family is nothing short of miraculous!  So when I sat down to make my penguin unit I can honestly tell you that I put my heart and soul into it.  I finally had to stop at 191 pages!!!  The focus of the unit is nonfiction text features.  I made a booklet about penguins and on every page I feature a different nonfiction text feature.  My class LOVES it!  I have parents writing to me saying that they cannot believe how much their child is learning about penguins.  One mother wrote me a thank you note letting me know how inspired her son is by this unit and she sent me a Starbucks gift card ~ how thoughtful!  I have packed this unit with lots of other fun activities! There is full coloured posters, a blubber experiment, poetry, a student fact book, templates to make a penguin lapbook with research pages included, craftivities, and 5 penguin centers.  I could probably do penguins for 6 months!!!!  All the pages come in colour and black and white.  Here are some pictures for you!  The first pictures show you how the display boards look ~ these are all included in the unit.

These are some pictures of one of my cuties nonfiction booklet.

If you are interested in turning your room into a rookery you can pop over and have a look at it.

Here's the link:)
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Penguin-Perfect-Nonfiction-Text-Features-Craftivities-and-More

Thanks for sticking with me to the end!
Have a great day!
Natalie

Daily Language and Math Skills Packs! And A Give-Away!!

Hi friends,
Up until Christmas I did calendar activities and loved it.  But as we all know as the year progresses we start to panic that we are going to run out of time ~ just so much to cover!!  So I decided to make some morning work that my kids could do as soon as they come in.  I let them have a few days to adjust to the new routine and now I set the timer for 20 minutes and if they are not done - it's homework.  Well let me tell you - you can hear a pin drop in my room!  They work so hard and I can get the usual morning "house keeping" done without interruptions.  LOVE!   I mark the work everyday and at the end of the week the booklets are sent home for parents to supervise any corrections.  I have the booklets returned the following week and they are rewarded with a huge sticker.  The first week the kids were a bit sloppy but after they had to do their corrections at home - let's just say the second week was significantly better:)   I think it is a great way to let parents see how their child is doing.  So a win-win situation all around!
I made a "Daily Language Skills" pack and a "Daily Math Skills" pack (sold separately)  and I photocopied them back-to-back ( language on one side and math on the other)  they do one page (front and back) each day.  I think they are well worth the paper.   Here's a look at how I set the pages up.

You can click on any of the above pictures to go to my TpT store or here are the links:)
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Math-Skills-Set-1
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Language-Skills-Set-1

I would like to give away copies to the first 4 people that leave me a comment.  Let me know which one you would like and be sure to leave me your email address!

Thanks for stopping by!
Natalie

Huge "How To" Writing Pack Plus Craftivities

Hi friends,
I am so excited to have finally posted my new writing unit.  I had to start procedural writing but I was really trying to come up with a way that it would be meaningful to my students but would meet the needs of both my grade 1s and my grade 2s.  So after 142 pages and 11 writing activities the pack was ready to go!

So here’s my thinking…  I know that when you are doing procedural writing with your students you should make it as hands-on as possible.  However, I will be honest I sometimes find it a hassle to try and collect everything needed.  With that in mind I decided that a compromise would solve the problem – well that and the talents of some fantastic graphic artists!  For the first six writing activities I have included everything your students need to “do” the activity – but in picture format.  Students can manipulate the graphics to “make” the product.   I have included a corresponding mat for the students to build the item.  For all eleven writing activities I have included word and picture cards and a sequencing mat for students to sequence the steps before cutting and pasting just in case they need to change the order of some of the steps.  Then I included a cut and paste sequencing page that matches the coloured graphics but in black and white.  This page also includes a different transition word in front of each step/sentence.  If you would like your students to go one step further I have included a “good copy” page that they can use to write out the students (including transition words).  Every activity comes with a cute craftivity to do for display.

Here's a look at the preview in case you are interested:)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-To-Writing-Unit-Plus-Craftivities-Procedural-Writing

We did "How To Make A Pizza" together as a class this morning so that all the kids can see how the activities are set up and then tomorrow we will start into the centers.  I have having my grade ones dong the first five activities and then my grade twos are doing the last 5 activities.  I am going to have the kids work on  each activity for two days each.  The first day they will complete the cut and paste sequencing and then the second day they will write their good copy and do the craftivity.  I'll be back later in the week once I have some pictures of their booklets.

Bye for now,

Natalie