Tickle Monster!

My last day with the girls was Friday. :-( They love reading and I am obsessed with children's literature so I thought I'd share with them one of my favorite books. They loved it and we read it four times before nap and then six times after nap. I'd say this book will be in the nightly rotation for awhile! ;-)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Back in the spring, I was planning to do a read aloud. I decided to use one of my favorite books, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. I didn't want to just read a book, I wanted a fun activity too and thanks to Pinterest, I found this.

Ideas for my student example:

I wish it would rain Kit- Kats because I already own two kitty cats.

I wish it would rain Strawberries because I love them berry much.

I wish it would rain Snickers because then you could snicker at all my jokes. 

(Insert uncontrollable laughter) C'mon, this stuffs gold!!

I ended up going with the Strawberry one because I knew the 2nd graders would get that one however, I love the other two because they are so much more original.

Bucket List

A bucket list is a number of experiences or achievements a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. Here's mine: 

1. Fall in love.

2. Successful marriage.

3. Healthy and happy kids. 

4. Punaluu County (Black Sand) Beach in Hawaii.

5. Fireworks at Mount Rushmore.

6. Write a children's book. 

7. Take voice lessons. 

8. Flip a house to sell. 

9. Go swimming with Dolphins.

10. Take up dancing: Salsa, Line dance, Tap dance, Tango, Ballroom dancing, etc.

11. Join a Social Etiquette Class.

12. Be kissed in the rain. 

13. Fireworks in Duluth.

14. Fly in a Hot- air Balloon.

15. Start my own business (Childcare). 

16. Go Scuba Diving/Snorkeling and experience marine life up close. 

17. See a Broadway Musical. 

18. Participate in the Color Run. 

19. Ride an Elephant. 

20. Stay at an underwater hotel in Fiji.

21. Visit the Walk of Fame.

22. Go Zorbing.

23. Watch the ball drop in Times Square. 

24. Jump in a pool fully clothed.

25. Visit a Chocolate Factory (Hershey, Pennsylvania). 

26. Kiss under fireworks. 

27. Play messy Twister.

28. Smash a pie in someone's face.

29. Sing Karaoke.

30. Swim in Lake Superior.

31. Live in a house with a turret.

32. Teach 1st grade at a public school. 

33. Homeschool my kids.

34. Be a Mommy Blogger!

35. Drive a mini-van.

36. Fill a truck bed full of pillows and blankets and drive to the middle of nowhere to go stargazing.

37. Graduate college.

38. Attach a lock to a love bridge.

39. Visit Pixar Studios. 

40. Stay in Cinderella's Castle.

41. Go down the Shark Tank water slide at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

42. Swim with the Manatees in Florida.

43. Visit the largest swimming pool in the World (Algarrobo, Chile). It covers 20 acres which means I'll be swimming with no worries about sea creatures!

44. Visit Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

45. Go Mini- golfing.

46.  Move to Duluth.

47. Learn how to snowboard. 

48. Learn how to sew.

49. Visit all the mega churches in the United States. 

50. Put a piece of gum on the gum wall in Seattle.

Non- Standard Measurement

Everything is prepped and ready for Marshall!

We are going to begin our math lesson by reading a story called Measuring Penny. Based on the title and picture on the cover, what do you think we will learn about today? That's right, measurement. Today, you are going to learn about standard and non- standard measurement. (Demonstrate) One way to measure is to use a standard unit of measure like inches on a ruler. The book is 11 inches tall.  If I don't have a ruler, I can measure it with a nonstandard unit. (Measure book with pencils) The book is about one and a half pencils tall. We will talk more about measurement in a few minutes, but first, let's read the story! (Read story)

1. Looking at the cover, who can tell me the name of the girl?
2. What is the name of her dog?
3. The story we read is called, Measuring Penny after reading, I want to know, why do you think that is?

(T- Chart on Standard and Non- Standard measurement) This is a T- Chart on Standard and Non- Standard measurement. I want us to create a list. Raise your hand, and tell me, what units did Lisa (the main character in the book) use to measure?

We are going to do some measuring using Non- Standard units of measurement just like Lisa. Each of you is going to get a mini- book that looks like this (show book). You will be asked to find the width, length, and height of objects. (Read chart) Wide= width, long= length, and tall= height. 

To find your measurement, you will use a Penny Ruler. This is your Non- Standard unity of measurement for this activity. Before I send you off to work through this booklet on your own, let's do a few examples together!

Does anyone have questions?

** Check out Simply Skilled in Second and her Measuring Penny activity here on Teachers Pay Teachers.

*** I was observed during this lesson and my professor provided me with some fabulous feedback. She wrote, "Good job at giving quick expecations: "Spread out a little not to the back of the room." I like the idea of getting the wiggles out. Good classroom management skills. :-) LOVE when lessons begin with a book. :-) Your students are good listeners. You read the book well with fun introduction, enthusiasm, etc. You did a nice job of explaining how the dogs ears were measured. Thank you for complimenting the student by saying, "That's a really good observation." :-) Nice work of explaining the difference between "standard and non standard measurement. Thank you for asking students to raise hands! Thank you for telling the girl who said pennies as a measurement why her answer was good yet incorrect. Questioning skills are good to have and you are doing a nice job of questioning your students and your students are excited about measuring. :-) Their hands shot up in excitement! Thank you for thanking others. :-) Great quick informal assessment to see if students understand and are ready to move on. You are a natural, Liz!! A school will be lucky to get you and so will your students. :-) Good luck to you!"

Sequencing

Today, we are going to learn about the beginning, middle, and end of a story. Let's take a minute to think of the beginning, middle, and end of our school day. (Write beginning, middle, and end on chart) Raise your hand if you can tell me one thing our class does in the morning. Great job! In the middle of the day, we eat lunch. What else happens in the middle of our school day? What happens at the end of the day?

As you can see, there may be more than one event that can be classified as the beginning, middle or end. That is okay, as long as the events are put in order. You wouldn't want to say you line up for the bus and then get ready to go home. That does not make sense. First, you need to get ready to go home, then you line up so you can be dismissed to catch your bus.

(Chart) Certain words and phrases in a story give clues about whether the event is at the beginning, middle or end of the story. 

Many stories have a sequence to them. Sequencing refers to putting events or actions in order. Let's take a minute to retell the story of the "3 Little Pigs" from memory. What happens first? In the middle? At the end? This is our sequence of events. First this happened, next this happened, and then this happened.

This morning, we are going to read my favorite story. It is about a boy named Alexander who has had a very bad day. What do you think I mean when I say, bad day? Raise your hand if you have ever had a bad day. (Call on a boy and one girl to explain why their day was so bad and how it made them feel.)

Over here, you'll see that I have some events from the story. I want you to really be listening to the order of these events because after we read, we are going to try and put them in the correct order. (Read events)

Read story and ask, "Why do you think Alexander's mom said, 'Some days are like that. Even in Australia.'" Can you avoid bad days by moving? 

Raise your hand if you can tell me what the word, "Sequence" means. That's right! Sequence refers to putting events or actions in order. As a class, we are going to recall the sequence of events in our story and work together to put them in order. (Recall 7 or 8 events)

I have a short sequencing worksheet for you to complete. I want you to write a sentence and draw a picture to show the correct order of events from the story. There were more than four events from the story but I only want you to write and draw four of them. It can be any four events that you remember, just make sure to put them in the right sequence. (Show my example)

Below are several of my students examples:

We also had enough time to play an Alexander board game which my 2nd graders loved. You can get your copy here.

Grand Canyon Little Book

One of my assignments for class this week was to go on a virtual field trip and create a little book. A little book is a six page book with a title page. I did mine on the Grand Canyon.

RAWR

About a month ago I brought a board book about dinosaurs to my nanny families house to read with their 15 month old and she loved it! We read it at least twenty times that day and now, her newest obsession seems to be dinosaurs. The weather around here has been cold and rainy so I decided to do a craft with her and it only seemed necessary to make a dinosaur. I put a few drops of green finger paint on a piece of paper and let her paint away. She wasn't all that interested in paint which surprised me because she spent 45 minutes (not exaggerating) coloring a piece of paper green the other night, but anyway, I gave her a fork and spoon and then she showed more interest in mixing the paint. I brought her painting home, found a dinosaur template online, printed a cute little saying out and here is our final creation: 

G apparently loves her dinosaur craft because it is three weeks later and apparently every morning the first thing she says is, "Dino!"

Hurry! Great Deal Ahead!

I just need to share a great deal I found on Amazon tonight. "Empty Promises: The Truth About You, Your Desires, and the Lies You're Believing" by Pete Wilson is only $6.40!!!! The book usually retails at $15.99 so get it now before it's gone- There are only 13 left!!

The link is below: 

http://www.amazon.com/Empty-Promises-Truth-Desires-Believing/dp/B00A17ZGQU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363412495&sr=1-1&keywords=pete+wilson

I'm SO excited to start reading this book next week!