'Twas the Week Before Christmas...

One more day and I am officially on Christmas Break! It's so exciting, I have to say.

 

I have a few random things to share, mostly about school. I just want to get this stuff on here because I won't want to come back and do it after Christmas and I know it will be a mad dash the next few days.

 

Last week, my kids finished their persuasive writing projects. They worked sooooo hard on them and I think they did great!

 

First, I had the kids research a pet they wanted and a pet they didn't want. They made lists of facts and opinions about both pets.

 

We've been using the following poster to write paragrahs for some time.

 

 

I didn't come up with this. I found it here. I love it because it's simple and the kids seem to really understand it. I usually have them even underline each sentence in green, yellow or red to help them out.

 

So, to guide them a little, I created this little tool to help them write their paragraphs. They wrote the first paragraph aboout the pet they wanted and the second paragraph about the pet they didn't want.

 

(I can NOT get this to turn around! UHHH! You'll just have to use your imagination...)

 

After they wrote both paragraphs, we used the following poster to edit and revise them both independently and with a peer.

 

 

I found this poster here. I LOVE it! I've used CUPS for years. But, I've never found a great way to explain the difference between editing and revising. The kids seemed to really understand this and they did a great job of helping each other make their writing better. Another fun thing that I'm finding out third graders can do!

 

Next, they wrote out their persuasive letters. When they were done, I let them make their pets out of paper because... well, it was Friday. Why not?

 

 

 

It was time consuming. They literally worked on all this for 2 and a half weeks. But, they turned out great and I can tell they're improving in their writing all the time. So, it's all good :)

 

Fast forward to this week. We've had soooo much fun! We did a couple Grinch activitites yesterday. One thing we did was make Grinch similies. I did this with my first graders last year and since similies are a third grade skill, I figured why not do it again. The kids' favorite part? Oh, that would be drawing the Grinch. They were NOT. MESSING. AROUND. We have some serious artists in our class!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also did a fact/opinion activity with the Grinch.

 

In the afternoon, I had a parent come in and help me with this:

 

 

gingerbread houses!

 

Today, we had our class party and they got to decorate the houses! To say they had fun would be a major understatement. I looked up at one point and saw one little boy double-fisting candy into his mouth, another boy licking icing off his arm and a little girl with a knife full of icing (plastic, of course) hanging out of her mouth. Quite a picture, huh?

 

Free for all. That's what this was.

 

Decorating in progress...

 

 

Clearly the little Dears were just so timid about putting candy on their houses...

 

Ta da!

 

Okay, last thing. This sweet kiddo is Jackson.

 

 

He goes to my school. I'm friends with his mom. And, he pretty much adores Finley. He kept her for me some this summer so they are big buds.

 

Look what he bought her for Christmas!

 

Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? He made my day :)

 

 

He made her day, too. She's squeaking away on that chew toy as we speak.

 

Thank you, Jackson!

 

It's been such a fun week and I'm excited to give my kiddos their gifts tomorrow and watch the Grinch with them. Oh, and it's Pajama Day! And, pedicure day. But the kids aren't invited to that :)

 

Good night!



Thanksgivin'

  Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. I'm enjoying my time with family tonight so I'm going to be short on words. But, here's a recap of of the last few days in pictures:

 

We did some

 

floor layin'

 

smilin'

 

toddler craftin'

 

baby holdin'

 

foot racin'

 

snoozin'

 

iPad playin'

 

leaf stompin'

 

tree hangin'

 

playdoh rollin'

 

baby wearin'

 

mess makin'

 

duck, duck goosin'

 

grinnin'

 

self portrait takin'

 

cheesin'

 

cuddlin'

 

LOTS of fussin'

 

and, when we got home, Hampy did some wind surfin'!

 

It was a great holiday!

 

Now, I'm ready for some shoppin' and some deckin' the halls...

 

Aren't you?

 

 

 

Thankful.

  Since I'm on Thanksgiving Break, I thought it only fitting to make a list of what I'm thankful for this year.

So, in no particular order...

1. I'm thankful for my family. I say it often, but I adore them. My mom is my best friend, my dad is my biggest supporter and my brother is okay, I guess. Just kidding, he's the best brother and I love spending time with him. This year, I'm also thankful for my new sister-in-law!

2. I'm thankful for my health and the health of my family.

3. I'm thankful for Netflix. I mean, it's changed my life. I can now watch movies and shows for FREE and it's just the greatest thing ever. And, because of Netflix, I discovered Friday Night Lights and Tim Riggins. So, that one was a given.

Where do I get one of these? I'm not kidding.

4. I'm thankful for Finley. I love her so much. She's just my little buddy and she's brought so much joy into my life. And, I'm pretty much distraught that I have to leave her this week when I travel for Thanksgiving :( But, she's staying with my roomie Claire and I know she's in good hands.

LOVE.

5. I'm thankful for this toy. Because, it has entertained Finley for the last three hours.

I'm pretty sure Finley thinks this is her boyfriend.

6. I'm thankful for my job. I know that I'm so blessed to work at such a great school. I love my coworkers and I couldn't ask for a better place to spend my days.

Who wouldn't want to work here? (That's a balloon, by the way. Stuffed up our school secretary's shirt. At the fall festival.)

7. I'm thankful for the precious kiddos in my class. I adore them. They are a great class and they fill my days with laughter and happiness. And, I know that sounds corny... but, it's honestly the truth.

8. I'm thankful that Target sells groceries now. I, for real, don't have any reason to go to any other store now! It's so nice to just get what I need all in one place, ha.

Ahhhh, heaven.

9. I'm thankful for my home. I love my cute little townhome and I'm so glad that it has always been a comforting place for me to be. I feel safe there and happy there and that's all I need. (Well, that and Netflix.)

My fall door. It's already decked out for Christmas. Don't judge...

10. I'm thankful that Vandy killed UT last weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving at School

  We did some fun activitites with Thanksgiving this year! I kind of changed my game plan a little bit from years past. In first grade, learning about Thanksgiving was new and exciting for the kids. By third grade, I figured they'd read all the books and done all the "If I was a pilgrim..." writing a person could stand. So, I decided to let them do it all on their own.

 

Now, you know that's not completely true.

 

 I did stuff, too.

 

But, they did most of it.

 

Let me explain...

 

Last week, we started off by learning about the Mayflower. We watched the virtual field trip to the Mayflower from Scholastic.com. They kids loved it! They liked getting to see the boat (or, boat replica). We read a letter that a little girl had written to her aunt about her experience on the Mayflower and then the kids wrote their own letter. But, they just did it in their journals as a quick closure activity.

 

The next day, we watched the virtual field trip on Scholastic.com of Plymouth Plantation. The kids were again so engrossed to see it all!

 

On the website, there is a section that's all about the daily life of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. So, the kids used all our computers to investigate this on their own and fill out the following compare/contrast graphic organizer:

 

 

 

The next day, we talked about the actual Thanksgiving celebration. We compared/contrasted our Thanksgiving to the first Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

I also typed out about 20 events from the first Thanksgiving onto cards and had the kids put them in order. We were going to make timelines... but, we ran out of time! We had DEA tests and field trips and science kits to do and all kinds of shenanigans that week and we were just a mess. We're honestly lucky we did what we did!

 

On Friday, I gave them a cause and effect/sequence sheet to test them because those are the standards we've been focusing on.

 

 

 

This week, we only had school yesterday and today. So, we did some fun stuff!

 

The third grade teachers who taught third grade last year told me about how they made colonial villages. And, since we'd just learned all about the pilgrims and how they'd made their own village, I thought it sounded perfect!

 

First, we decided where we should put our village. I gave the kids three locations (from a worksheet) and we made a huge chart to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each location. One kid said "We're just like the pilgrims when they had to decide where to live!" Love it when they "get it," don't you?

 

They all voted on the location that had forests (because it provided wood and food) and water (food and travel). Smart kiddos, huh!

 

I took the kids down the hall with me and let them choose the colors we needed to make our village. I went for the blue paper and they all yelled "No, the other blue!"

 

Well, sooooorry!

 

Then, we made homes that have thatched roofs and oil paper windows. We even gave them chimneys because the homes all had fires to keep them warm.

 

 

Today we learned about the businesses that you would find in a colonial village. We made those and added them to our village. If you lift the business, you can read about what happens there.

 

 

When we finished, I gave them all some seperate jobs. A few of the kids partnered up and wrote the description cards with all the information. They also made a sign, a boat, a sun, a river and a forest. They did it all COMPLETELY on their own.

 

 

(Not sure who put the blue lizard in the middle of the village.

But, I pick my battles around here. Ha!)

 

Here's a picture of the whole thing. The kids were holding it up for me. I was all "Hey, guys! Let's take a picture  where you're all hiding from me! Haha!" The lengths a blogger will go to to get a picture without a face in it...

 

And, here it is hanging in the hall with our turkeys!

 

Now, about those turkeys...

 

 

I needed a quick activity. And, I needed it quick. And, I wanted it to be Thanksgiving-y. And, I wanted it to be a math activity.

 

So, while the kids were working on their village, I ran back to my computer and made a quick Turkey Fraction sheet. Then, I cut some scrapbook paper into strips.

 

 

I told the kids that they could pick any 4 colors and any designs they wanted. I told them they also had to have at least 8 feathers. Then, I just let them cut them out however they wanted to.

 

 

When they were done, they filled out the sheet. They had to graph all the feathers with tally marks and then write fraction sentences about their turkey feathers.

 

 

Not a bad activity for spur of the moment, huh?

 

(By the way, it BROKE. MY. HEART. to throw that timeline in the trash! But, I didn't know what to do with it. We just don't have enough wall space!)

 

We had a great week and a half learning about Thanksgiving. I enjoyed just tying it into our standards and doing things that we would do anyway... just doing them about Thanksgiving. And, I'm glad the kiddos got the oppurtunity to be creative and have some fun.

 

They are eight, after all :)