Angry Verbs

We are going to play a game called, Simon Says. Has anyone ever played a game of Simon Says before? Here are the rules:

1.     When Simon Says to do an action you do it but if Simon does not say to do an action do not do it.

2.     If you do something when Simon did not say to do it then you must sit back down in your chair. Are you ready?

Okay, Simon says rub your belly. Simon says raise your hand. Jump up and down. Oh, Simon did not say to jump up and down. If you did it then you need to sit down in your chair. For those of you who are still standing up let’s try that again. Simon says nod your head up and down. Simon says to yawn. Clap your hands. Oh, Simon did not say to clap your hands. If you did then you need to sit down in your chair. Okay, one more time. Simon says shake your hair back and forth. Run in place. Oh no, Simon did not say to run in place. If you did then you need to sit down in your chair. 1^st graders, you did a great job! Give a classmate a high five on your way down to the floor.  

Did you know you just acted out a bunch of verbs? Jumping, rubbing, raising, nodding, yawning, shaking, and running are all verbs. A verb is an action word. Repeat after me, a verb is an action word. A verb is anything you do such as kicking, jumping, and walking. Raise your hand if you can think of another example of verbs?

We are going to read a book about verbs. It is a silly book and it is okay to giggle but you must be able to control your body. If you get too silly or cannot stop giggling, I am going to ask you to take a break. We are going to read, “To Root, to Toot, to Parachute- What is a Verb?” As I am reading pay special attention to the words in color because those are verbs. 

So, what is a verb? Yes, verbs are action words. I would like us to create a list of verbs. A verb is anything you do such as kick, jump and walk. Raise your hand if you can think of another example of verbs? This is a great list! I have something else I want us to do, but first, I need everyone to slide over to the smart board.

I want to see if we can find the verb within a sentence. A verb is what again? On the board you see ten sentences. I want you to take turns coming up and circling the verb or action word in each sentence below. We found all ten verbs! Give yourselves a pat on the back. 

We are going to do a super fun activity. Instead of making Angry Birds, we are going to make Angry Verbs. (Thank you Step Into Second Grade for the great idea!) Each of you is going to get a piece of paper that reads, “My angry bird _______.” There are five prompts like this on your piece of paper are you are going to fill in the blanks with a verb. Brady, give me a verb. So my sentence would read, “My angry bird run.” The sentence does not make sense unless so I need to add an –s to it. Now the sentence reads, “My angry bird runs.” You will need to add an –s to the end of the verb you write. Let’s try another one. P, “My angry bird ___. Can you give me a verb that will complete my sentence?” Good! Does anyone have any questions about the writing part?

Once you are done completing all five sentence prompts I want you to raise your hand. Mrs. R or myself will come and double check. Once one of us has looked at your paper you can come up to the front and get what you need to create your angry bird.

I have red, blue, and yellow birds. Each bird has feathers or hair, eyes, and a beak. I will have a spot for the blue bird and his facial parts, a spot for the yellow bird and his facial parts and another spot for the red bird and his facial parts. I will also have completed examples on the floor too so you can see what your bird might look like when it is done. Does anyone have questions about our angry birds? Okay, so- five sentences, check with a teacher, create your bird. E, what are the three steps? Good. 

This right here is why I get 3 hours of sleep a night. I know, I need to let go of my control issues. :-)

We hung our Angry Verbs in the hallway and received numerous compliments from students, teachers, and parents.

First one, "My angry bird surfs!" Love it!!

Not all verbs but we'll work on it!

 

This has been my favorite lesson so far and I cannot wait to teach it again in the next year or two.

Cause and Effect with Camilla Cream

Below is pretty much the script I used which corresponds to my lesson plan.

Today, we are going to read, A Bad Case of Stripes. Based on the title and cover of the book, raise your hand and tell me what you think the book will be about.

1.  Why do you think Camilla Cream was afraid to have people find out that she liked Lima Beans? Was she right?

2.  Do you think the students in the story were bullying Camilla? Why or why not?

3.  What do you think the author is trying to say to the reader? Maybe David Shannon is trying to tell us to be ourselves. Camilla tried very hard to be like everyone else and she wasn’t being true to herself. Imagine what the world would be like if we were all the same.

This is a Cause and Effect Anchor chart. Cause is the reason or why something happened. Effect is the result or what happened. For example, it rained and I had to use an umbrella. It rained is the cause. I had to use an umbrella is the effect. As you read you can be a detective. You can look for key or signal words such as if, then, because, since, so, this is why, consequently, and therefore. Often cause and effect relationships are signaled by these words and phrases.

Everything in life has a cause and an effect. You study for a test you get a good grade. You forget your umbrella when it rains, you get wet. You break a rule you have a consequence.

We are going to take a minute to recall parts of our story. Raise your hand if you can tell me the name of the main character our story? That’s right, her name is Camilla Cream. The problem is something that a character in the story wants to change, fix or figure out. Raise your hand if you can tell me, what is the problem? Good! Solution is the way a problem is solved or fixed. We said the problem was a bad case of stripes. Raise your hand if you can tell me the solution to the problem. Give me a thumbs up if you agree.

I have some cards of events from the story. One card is the cause and one card is the effect. It is your job to raise your hand and tell me which card is which. Cause is the reason or why something happened. Effect is the result of what happened. For example, She is covered in stripes. Camilla screams. She is covered in stripes is the cause. Camilla screams is the effect. (Go through cards)

Cause and effect is a hard concept but 3^rd graders, you did a great job!

For our activity, we are going to write a summary. A summary is a short description of the most important events in a story. A summary tells what happens. A summary answers the questions who what, where, when, why, and how. You are going to write a summary of the book A Bad Case of Stripes. Your summary needs to be a minimum of 3 sentences and you need to use at least two signal/key words. If, then, because, since, so, this is why, consequently, and therefore are key or signal words. Can you write more than 3 sentences? Yes and I hope that you do! Can you use more than 2 signal/key words? Yes! Are there any questions about the summary?

When you are done writing, I want you to raise your hand so I can check it. I want this to be your best work. Once I have looked at your writing, you will come to the front of the classroom and pick up three pieces of paper- label, Camilla’s face, hair and bow. I want you to color Camilla. You can have fun and be creative with this. Camilla can be striped, covered in stars, or in camouflage. It’s up to you but it needs to be school appropriate- no blood, no weapons. When you are done coloring, cut all your pieces out. You will need to get a bigger piece of construction paper. You will glue Camilla and your summary onto the construction paper. Are there any questions about our activity?

I need two volunteers to pass out writing paper. Remember, I want you to do your writing first and I want to see what you wrote before you move on to coloring Camilla.

Below are student artifacts, my anchor chart, and matching cards.

This has probably been my favorite anchor chart so far.

Cause and Effect cards.

My example. Thank you, Step Into 2nd Grade for the wonderful templates!

I have a student who is blind in my class and although I cannot read what she typed she told me and I trust her. :-)

We have been practicing our cursive!

We were running short on time so not all kids had the opportunity to color Camilla Cream. I am learning cutting, coloring, and gluing ALWAYS takes at least twice as long as I plan for.

So proud of this kiddo!

Camilla is a Lion- LOVE the creativity!

If I teach this lesson again I am going to have every student circle their two key/signal words. That was incredibly helpful when I was doing assessments.

Her handwriting looks like it could be straight from a handwriting workbook!