Giveaway from Livtoteach!

Head on over to Livtoteach blog for a huge giveaway, including my Plural Noun Pack for Free!  There are prize packs available for PreK-K, 1-2, and 3-5.  What a great opportunity to get some excellent products for Free and check out a few new blogs!  Click here to see all the prize packs and enter to win! 

Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Oh My!

One of my favorite units of the year is Solids, Liquids and Gases.  It is a blast to teach and see my ELL students talk like little scientists, using predict, observe, evaporate, etc... First we start off with a mystery box activity in which we need to use our descriptive words to guess what mystery objects are.  Then we read books and watch an awesome BrainPop video about SLG.  Finally, to close up our mini unit we do a a fun experiment with chocolate covered Oreos, YUM!  We turn solid chocolate chips into liquid, then dip the cookies, and wait for the temperature to cool down and turn back into a solid.  We even add sprinkles to talk about how some solids can be mixed with different materials.  Here is a picture of the final writing (one that wasn't covered in chocolate!)

 

You can Download these Free Solids, Liquids and Gases KWL Charts here.

 

You can download this entire unit with posters, SLG picture sort, mystery box activity, SLG KWL charts, Oobleck Experiment, Oreos Experiment, recording sheets, and much more!  Click Here

 

Primary Freebie Party!

Attention Primary Teachers!  Check out this link for some great freebies for Primary grades!  You can hop on over to this blog and get some great Freebies or add some of your own!  I added my Winter Roll and Cover game (includes four different game boards) , this makes a great Math game or center!  Don't forget to follow me for more great freebies! 

Click here to download this game: 

Click here to see all the other freebies! 

Plural Nouns-They Finally Got It!

Click here to Check out the Activity Pack
All week long, our word work topic before our writing lessons was plural nouns.  We had created anchor charts, made lists, practiced on the white board, and a few other "paper" activities, but I just felt like my students were not getting it! 

Since I work with ELL students, I definitely needed a more hands-on approach, so I created this lesson, and VIOLA!  They finally got it!  It was a simple lesson, but  adding the more creative, hands-on approach worked wonders! 

Here is what we did: 

1. Have students choose a singular noun card.  ( I used the cute chevron ones available in the pack above)
2. Students write their singular noun on the word strip ( I found these cute word strips at Dollar tree!)
3. Have students fold over the strip to the letter before you add the s or es, or to the letter that changes for the y words or rulebreakers

Easy Peasy, and each student created five in about 10 minutes! 

 

 

You can download the cute cards and directions by clicking here.

 

Technology in the Classroom

Last year I received a new AVER document camera (similar to an ELMO) and a new projector.  I work with all ELL students, where visuals are a must, so the document camera and the projector have been a  life saver!  I feel like I am able to make my lessons much more interactive, which really gets my non-speakers involved. 

 This new technology has been wonderful, but sometimes I felt I was stuck behind the computer, or constantly going back and forth from the computer to the screen.  So I recently purchased a wireless mouse, which I highly suggest to everyone with a projector. Now, with the wireless mouse, I am able to control whatever I have on the screen from anywhere in the room!  It has been great for students; engaging in online games or practice quizzes online, I no longer have to call them up to the computer, we just pass around the mouse.  After showing one young student our new wireless mouse technology, he told me I was magic!

 Please comment and share what technology you couldn't live without in your classroom and how you use it, I would love to hear about different ways to use the projector and document camera! 

Happy planning day!  To make your planning a little easier and hopefully allow you more free time this Sunday, please enjoy this freebie, just print and it's ready to go!  This makes a great math center! Please follow my blog for more great Freebies!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Math-Roll-and-Cover-Center-or-Game