Snowflake Similes

Snowflake Similes are one of my favorite winter activities.  This past week we read Snowflake Bentley, and did numerous activities with the book.

For the similes themselves, I have a half sheet template that we first brainstorm and then they create their own.  

Snowflakes are as unique as...

Snowflakes are as fragile as...

Snowflakes are as light as...

Here's the template if you need it.

After glueing on their template, the kids get to take a coffee filter and make their own snowflakes.  It's always art after the writing... Some years I have had the foam snowflakes (think Dollar Spot), but this year we resorted to the filters.  They really do make them unique.  We started fractions in math, so were able to practice that a bit as we were folding the circles getting ready to cut.  

I also love Mentor Sentences and recently realized that Jivey has Snowflake Bentley in her Volume 2 Unit 4 product.  I love that my read aloud could also be used for our mentor sentence.  

I wanted to direct you to the Snowflake Bentley website, where there is much more information, photos, his articles, interviews, gift shop, etc.  So much realia to share with our students. 

What do you do with the book?  Hope you have a great day!

Snowman Fraction Art {Adding Fractions}

We've been working on adding fractions this past week, and since I need to make fractions fun or else I was going to scream, we used our circle fraction manipulatives to make quick little snowman pictures.  

Some kids' pictures were simple, while others were more advanced (and then we introduced adding unlike fractions).  All in all, it took 15 - 20 minutes of our day but they were able to have some fun with fractions.    

Hope this helps!  

Star Goals {Freebie File}

It was time to have my students create new goals for winter, so this year I had them create Star Goals.  They chose to either create their stars either horizontal or vertical, and they just made them huge on a piece of copy paper.  Each of the 6 sections contain their name, a math goal, reading goal, writing, social studies, and science goals.  I have them hung from the ceiling back to back from our pipe cleaners and paper clips.  I also created a version on powerpoint that might help you.  

 Grab it from Google Docs if you want.  :)  I hope it help you!

FREEBIE - Hanging Out with George and Abe

February always drives me nuts.  There is so much monthly stuff I want to pack in, but there is still the pacing guides to also move forward on, and with all the holidays (I'm not complaining about holidays), there's not enough time in the day.  I made this little mini pack last year to tie in research and writing.  Students compare and contrast George and Abe, fill out the research papers and the Venn Diagram, and then write informational paragraphs.  It hits a lot of the standards!  Below are some pictures of what's included...

Here it is over on Google Docs.  I hope it helps you!    

Simile Snowflakes

I love this project, even though it creates a trail of silver glitter throughout my classroom.

For this, my students brainstormed items that they considered unique, fragile, and light.  We made a big list on the board, and some of them we had to really discuss.  Then they wrote their own idea on their papers, and glued it onto the bottom of the black construction paper.  I had picked up those foam snowflakes when Target had then 90% off (after Christmas sale), so they glued that on top, and then could decorate the design on top of the snowflake.  I was in charge of the silver glitter outside on my ramp, and the ground outside is still completely glitterized.  They look so pretty though, and my kids had a good review of similes - so it's worth it!  I'm sure my custodian would also agree.  :)

Do you do something similar?  How do you review similes?  Share!  

Revisit: Snow Day Party

Snow Day is coming the first Friday back in January!  Since this week I am trying to prep for when we come back in January (in the midst of December classroom chaos)  I wanted to link up with 2 super cool linky parties to share my lesson plan that worked wonderful last year.

Holly's Tried it Tuesday

Hope's Take Me Back Tuesday

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Originally written January 4th, 2013:

I live in California and where I live we don't get snow.  At all.  Not even a bit near our houses.  So my kiddos never get a chance to have a snow day at school.
Now, as I was sitting at home over vacation I saw that Tara from 4th Grade Frolics had a snow inspired day for her winter party.  I was jealous for a moment, and then I decided to have a snow day as well - to celebrate January and coming back to school.  
So I chose some of the activities and crafts that Tara mentioned, and added a couple of other ones that I enjoy.
Here's how I planned my day:
Snow What Fun (Read Aloud)   To first get the kids thinking of what the snowmen might do if they were alive, I will read the book Snow What Fun.  I know it's supposed to be the night before Christmas but the kids won't care.  If a snowman came to life, I'm sure it would want to have some fun.
Snowman Narratives (Tara's idea)  Her idea of having the snowman come to life for a narrative inspired me to have my own students create this same project.  Every morning from now until March my students will be completing quick writes complete with our Rainbow Edits (for convention practice).  My students will write about their own personal snowman and what would happen if they were to wake up someday to find it had come alive, or what their snowman would do if it was alive.  As the students finish with their Rainbow Edit they will have a chance to illustrate their final drafts complete with their own snowman.  I made up this freebie.  Just click to download.  

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Snowball Fight (Math Facts) I have a box of paper scraps - each page is around 8x8 in. and the perfect size for a snowball.  The kids each will take a page and write their name on it (small print to the side).  Then they will write a math fact on it.  On the count of 3 we will toss them up in the air, and then grab another snowball from the floor.  We won't toss it to another person, we will just throw them.  When we grab another one the kids will have to answer the math problem and write their initials next to it.  Then they have to come up with a different math problem to write on the paper.  We will crumple them up again and throw them.  We will repeat the process until we can not fit anymore math problems on the papers (or 10 minutes - whatever comes first).

 Fraction Snowflakes (Math - Tara's idea) This project uses qtips, dark construction paper, and white glue.  They create a snowflake using qtips and then had to calculate the 2 fractions.  I'm going to have my students write the fraction of how many full qtips/total number, and then another fraction of how many half qtips/total number.  I think I'm going to give them a total of 20 full qtips to do what they want with them - break or use full.
Making Snow (Science experiment) We just did the Orbeeze experiment yesterday, so I don't want to do an entire write up again.  Instead I'm just going to make snow (with them watching) and they will predict what will happen - how the snow will look and feel compared to real snow.  Then we will create a Venn Diagram using our senses and background knowledge.  I will tell them what this pretend snow really is made from.  The diaper ingredient always grosses them out - especially after they have all touched it.  It's not like it was a dirty diaper!!
Snowflake Bentley (Read Aloud) Don't you love this book?  I love how there are so many facts included and that it stresses that each snowflake is unique.  This will be our after lunch Read Aloud for today.  

Creating Snowflakes (Art) I had every intention of sending snowflakes to Conn. but they don't need them anymore.  So we will do it for fun, to practice following directions, and to decorate our own classroom.  After reading Snowflake Bentley I want them to create their own unique snowflake.
Glitter Playdough Snowmen (Art - Tara's idea)  I used the same recipe that Tara shared and will give each student a little amount to create their own 3d snowman as they finish their snowflakes (and have picked up all their tiny little scraps of paper off the floor/desk/chair).
I love Winter!!!
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I hope this helps someone.  :)  Have a great day!  

My House Decorations - Want to See??

Linking up with Christina to share some pictures of my decorated house.   

We use these wooden garlands around all the downstair doorways.  Some of the doors also get a little wreath.  

Outside we have Frosty (and 2 deer).

I've always had this thing with nutcrackers.  The little "traditional" one in the front I've had since junior high or high school… long enough to forget when exactly I picked him up.  The teacher one my student gave me a couple of years ago.  

Yes, somehow my boys' stocking holders broke while in storage - and those things are expensive to replace.  Between our extra curious dog and our 3 year old (they would have pulled them down from the mantle), we decided to use wreath holders on the boys' bedroom doors.  I love them!    

My in laws like to move every couple of years… and every time they move they give us more of their stuff.  I loved this little town, so my mother in law sent them over about 7 years ago.  As the boys have grown, they are in charge of setting this up every year.  Some years they put "snow" under the houses, this year they didn't.  

Our tree makes me happy - even though we have to rearrange the furniture to fit it.  This year hubby had to take all the lights off of it (it was a pre lit tree), since all the lights died after 10 years of using it.  Now it has LED lights that will last a lot longer.  

My sister is letting us use this tree on our kitchen counter.  It is extra festive!

Go show off your house decorations over at the linky party!  

Hope you had a great day!  Thank you so much for your support with the TPT sale!  I picked up some great deals the past couple of days too.  :)  

Black History Month

Do you celebrate Black History Month?  I do!  

Every year I give my students a large piece of construction paper to make a placemat.  Not that they really use it as a placemat when they take it home, but the point is I want them to share the information with their parents.  I want to promote family discussions about what they learned that day in school.  Sometimes kids need a visual to remember...

  As we discuss the famous men and women they write fun facts about them on their paper.  This year, since I have now discovered the power of powerpoint, I made the placemat official looking.  I typed the names for my kiddos - making it easier for them to follow along.  I also typed up all my notes about these famous people, created note pages for the students to fill in, to use in a game, and then made up a sheet for students to take one person & create a paragraph about them to add to a class book.  

After we make up the placemat and before their individual writing, I'm going to take the fun facts sheets and cut them into strips.  They are then going to each get a strip of information about a specific person, and mingle to music to share their information over and over again with the different members of our class.  After all that writing they will need a chance to get up and move!  I have another page in the packet similar to a bingo board for them to check off who they talk about.  Their goal will be to make a bingo with the different people.  After the fact they will take their strip of paper and begin writing about their specific person.     

  It's over at TPT if you are interested in checking it out!

Hope you are having a wonderful day!  I stayed up way too late last night (no school today) to finish my 3rd book of the weekend.  Yes, 3 books.  I love vacation!

President's Day Fun

We started celebrating President's Day a week ago when my students reviewed graphing coordinate points.  2 years ago I found functional mystery picture graphs on Superteacherworksheets.com.  At that time they were free, but now there is a membership fee.  Still worth it though!
I have the one for Abe and another one for George.  

Like I was saying, my students graphed Abe a week ago on Friday, and then last Friday they graphed George.  With the first graph I showed them an example of Abe so they could check their plots.  With George I wasn't that willing. I wanted to see if they really got it.  They did and they look awesome (and their self confidence has gone up).
Besides the graphing, this coming Tuesday we will compare and contrast Abe and George.  I'm going to give them this free coloring sheet and they will draw their Venn Diagram on the back of it.    
Then after we brainstorm they will need to write a multi paragraph essay comparing and contrasting Abe and George.  It's motivation to finish since they then can color the cover of their book.  A quick staple to include their graphs and they have a book to take home to show their parents.  I love things that turn out to be easy!
Here's an art project that I loved doing with my school kids last year,  as well as my home kids.  The picture below is of my 3 boys.

All you do is take a portrait of their heads - I try to have their heads fill up the camera screen.  After you print you (or they) cut out their images.  At school last year I had them stick their face on a paper plate and they painted over it with black paint.  It was messy and my room smelled of paint for a couple of days.  At home I cut them out and then we used a poster sized permanent marker to color it in.  It was so much easier using the black sharpie.  Definitely less messy.  Then you glue it onto a white background and it's done.
Hope you are having a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Maybe not too wordless...

Here are 2 things we did today.

We compared fractions by first finding 99 fractions scattered throughout the room and then putting them in order onto a huge heart. It was supposed to be 100 fractions but one went missing.

Then my art mom came in and made lanterns with the kids to celebrate Chinese New Year. We are going to help our reading buddies make them tomorrow.

That's it for today. Ready for a nap... Thank goodness the crockpot made dinner tonight!

Chinese New Year and a Super Sale

Yes, both my stores will be participating in the sale over at TPT and TN this Saturday and Sunday along with many many other people.  Thanks to Primary Polka Dots for the super cute graphic!     TPT will be 20% off plus an additional amount on Sunday when you use the code "Super".  I put TN on sale for 25% as well. 
This week I celebrated our 100th day of school and Superbowl.   It was fun... and draining!  If I could only mention all the things that my students decided to do today to move on the behavior chart... but I can't and I won't.
I love this time of year, but there are tons of things to add to the curriculum.
Sunday, February 10th is Chinese New Year and I always like to do something special.  Next week we will be celebrating in the classroom because the next week is busy with Valentines...  I made these last year for Chinese New Year... not my picture... this was pre-blog.  I ended up doing it slightly different - traced a 4 inch circle onto felt (just used a canning jar lid), the kids cut it out, and then I hot glued a 4 inch piece of pipe cleaner on the inside diameter.  The kids wrote themselves a fortune on a slip of paper, and then I showed them how to fold it - to take their fingers to pinch it closed and fold it into the shape.   
Here are also some free things I found on TPT that I'm excited about. Most everything will be perfect for my intermediate classroom. This has 3 different reading levels plus comprehension questions.
This will be a fun craft. This has everything!  Story, coloring, word search, boggle, tangrams, lantern, learning the language, and writing.

This lantern page is adorable...
Click on any of the above pictures to head to the correct links. Hope this can help someone!