Photo Catch Up! (Five for Friday)

It's seems like it's been such a long time since I stopped by to share photos of what we've been up to in our classroom! This week I did a much better job of snapping pics, so this post will be a hodgepodge catch up of all the fun we've had in the past week or so.  I'm linking up with Five for Friday, too! :)

Term 2 means getting serious about handwriting. We've been focusing on the correct formation of letters - but that doesn't mean that we're stuck at our desks with pencils and paper!

Chalk on the concrete in the sunshine was a very happy way to spend one of our lessons...

...and shaving cream handwriting is always a favourite.  

We got up and moving with beach ball sight words - kidlets simply throw the ball to each other and then read a word on the panel they can see when they catch it.  I just have 4 beach balls with each term's words written on in marker and choose the set of words most needed for each group.

The sight word stars I made for our library have been a hit.  Kidlets choose a star and use it to search for that word as they are reading.

Phonics review this week was hide & seek sorting!  I hid picture cards around the room for kidlets to find.  We met back at the carpet and took turns to sort our cards into the appropriate beginning sound hoop.

I saw this pin a few weeks ago and adapted the idea a little to use with this igloo tent I've got.  When our phonics focus was /i/ we played "What's inside the igloo?".

I collected a box of things from around the room and gave this rhyme as a clue:

"What's inside the igloo? What could be in it for me? It starts with ___ and rhymes with ___. Oh what do you think it could be?"

This game was a HUGE hit! We played it all week and kidlets were always excited to make a guess and check inside the igloo to see if they were correct.

The igloo also became a coveted 'book nook' during reading time. :)

Number line work has been all about caterpillars! We played Counting Caterpillars on the interactive whiteboard and used Mel's Caterpillar Number cut & paste worksheets to order numbers.  Both the game and worksheets can be easily differentiated - perfect for group work!

Our science work has been all about 'The Seasons' and for the past few weeks we've been thinking about Summer! (I know, I know... the igloo doesn't fit with that. Have I ever told you I'm not good with themes?)

We used this poem as our shared reading text - you can see the marker and stickers that we used on various days to highlight capital letters and the /s/ and /m/ sounds.  This was also added to our poetry journals.

Stef's For All Seasons Bunting came in handy for this topic, too.  We've done the Summer flag so far and they turned out beautifully.

This was mine! :)

I love these colourful paper plate suns - they were so easy to make.  We sponge painted the plates with yellow and orange paint, and then glued paper strips in a loop to the outside when they were dry.

During outside time we turned the sandpit into a beach with an umbrella and beach chairs.  We also had the buckets and spades for sandcastle making, the fishing boat and music playing.

The playdough ice-cream cafe was open again this year.  We had four flavours, cones, cups and sprinkles! Kidlets took turns to be customers, waiters, ice-cream makers or register operators.  So much fun!!

That's all from me tonight, friends.  Jerry Maguire is on TV so I'm all set for a night of pinning and veging out.  Be sure to stop by Doodle Bugs to read the other Five for Friday posts!

Summer Time Cupcakes: Fun with Procedural Texts!

Any time that cupcakes can be legitimately integrated into the curriculum = happy kidlets (and happy teacher!).  We had lots of fun yesterday decorating these gorgeous 'Bears on the Beach' treats, working on procedural texts and verbs with a Summer theme that links with our 'Seasons' Science unit!

We started together on the carpet, reading through the procedure that I had written on some chart paper.       We discussed how this text looked a lot different from the books that we usually read.  The kidlets pointed out the numbers and the fact that the sentences were short and to the point.  We practised saying the word 'procedure' and talked about where we might see this type of text and what it would be used for.  Mum's recipe book and 'how to' craft books were hot topics. :)

The kidlets then matched up the photos I'd taken the night before with the step that described them.  We found the verb in each step (you can see that I've put a light blue star around them). 

After that, it was time to get to the fun part!  At lunch time we had set out everything needed to decorate the cupcakes on the desks.  We followed the procedure by dipping the cupcakes in cookie crumbs (sand), laying out the towel (a piece of fruit roll up) with the bear (Tiny Teddy cookie) relaxing under an umbrella!

They really were cute when they were all decorated, and the kidlets were super excited to make them.  I know that as we continue to work on procedures this lesson will be a great reference - who doesn't remember a lesson that involves cupcakes! :)

Lauren

Five for Friday! 14/06/13

One more week until Winter break!  Woo hoo!  This week at school was busy, busy, busy... but I did manage to snap a few photos to share for Five for Friday.

Link up with Doodle Bugs!

1.  In our Science unit we have been learning about the Seasons and this week was all about Autumn.

The kidlets loved these paintings... mostly because they loved getting their arms and hands all painty!  We don't get a lot of trees here that change colours and drop their leaves, so we read lots of books and looked at lots of pictures before we did this craft.  

2. In our Literacy work we've been looking at word families.

I have been doing this activity for-eva because the kidlets love it.  We read Cat in the Hat and then brainstorm all the words we can think of that end with -at.  We add a few to our painted hats and display them around the room.  Such a great visual reminder of the word family.

3. Rain, rain... go away!

Another week of rainy lunch breaks.  Luckily I grabbed a few new DVDs a few weeks ago so one day I popped on 'Elmo in Grouchland'.  Although I had planned to tidy and take down some displays while they were watching, I ended up spending most of my time engrossed in the movie too! What is it about kids' movies? :)

4. I love working with some of my best friends!

The sun came out on Friday and while our Preppies were enjoying their outside play time I ran into Sarah, also out in the playground with her Year 2's who were having a market day.  

5. Don't worry, I won't spend this all at once!!

I had to giggle when I received this email from TpT.  In late May I posted my first ever product and had sold a whole ONE item by the end of the month.  I've read a few TpT tips that say I need to be patient with my sales so I'm not too worried... and the June payment will already be larger! :) I'm hoping that on the holidays I can get to work on a few products that I plan to use next semester and add them to my store.  Until then, I'll add my $1.76 to my rainy day fund! :)

I'm off to run a heap of errands to get organised before I jump on a plane next Saturday to Canada.  When I get home I plan to spend some time blog-hopping through the linky.  I'd love to read what you've been up to this week!

Happy Friday!!

Lauren