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Showing posts with label Common Core Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Common Core Writing. Show all posts

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Open House, A Give-Away, AND The BIG QUESTION...

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow UP?

I ask my students that every year and then, I take their photograph dressed up as if they are working at that profession!  It makes the best bulletin board for Open House!
She wants to be a farmer.
A police officer.
A dentist
An ice cream truck driver!

Getting Started:

I present a unit on Community Helpers.  We learn about the different jobs around our community AND our school.  I used images I found on the Internet to talk about each job and what they do.  You might even want to have parents come in a talk about their jobs too.  I also taught them the song from Sesame Street called "Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?" You can find the book on Amazon:
Click the image.


The 1st Bulletin Board:

At the beginning of the year, I take my students on a tour of the school and they get to meet the principal, assistant principal, office workers, health clerk (or nurse), librarian, cafeteria workers, and the custodians.  

We also meet the special teachers in our specialty classes like in the computer lab, music room, science lab, and the playground where we meet the safety specialists and the P.E. teachers.  

I take photographs of all of these people and create a little bulletin board in my classroom.  It helps the parents to get to know everyone who works with their child too.

The 2nd Bulletin Board:

This is the one that includes the photograph of the child dressed up like what they want to be when they grow up and their writing.   

Writing Part:

My students told me what they wanted to be when they grow up and one thing they will do if they had that job.  I wrote it for them on lined paper and all they had to do was copy it onto the writing template and color the frame.  

I gave them their photographs and they glued them onto the top section of the page.  This makes the cutes bulletin board and a great addition to their memory books too.  
Yes, that's a REAL FISH in the bowl!


Here Is A Tip:

This year, I Googled a background setting for many of my students so they looked like they were actually on stage, in a dentist office or a hair salon.  I just displayed the Googled image onto my SMART board and took the photograph of the child in front of the screen.
A rock star
   
A hair dresser



An eye doctor
Here Are A Few More...

A software engineer

A veterinarian

A pilot

Resources:

I already had a lot of "dress up" outfits in my home center, but you can create outfits with just a few props.  A man's white shirt can double as a lab coat for a doctor, dentist, veterinarian, or a scientist.  A dark blue shirt can be a police officer.  Props like stuffed animals and a doctor kit enhance the veterinarian's outfit and a tricycle can be the perfect prop for a motorcycle racer if he/she can bring a helmet to school.  I gave a pilot a police shirt, a globe, and a plastic airplane.  The globe covered the police badge.  Get creative and seek the help of your parents.  

Here is where you can find the writing templates too.  You can find it by clicking on the image below.  
Click the image.

This is an opinion piece and you get 2 templates.  Use the simple one for Pre-K or T.K. and they can just copy the name of their future job or you can write it in for them.  The 2nd template gives them a place to write about why they want that job or what they will do when they have that job.  

So, when is your Open House?  Ours is in 12 more days.  Leave a comment about an Open House idea you do with your class.

And... check out our Facebook where over 2000 teachers are following us!  We are almost seeing 20-20 "likes", so I am giving away our 5 Senses Pack to the 2020th "like".  It could be YOU!  
Click the image.

If you made it all the way down here...
Happy Mother's Day to you!!!

I'll see you all tomorrow.
Palma :)

Friday, March 28, 2014

American Symbols Never Looked So Cute!

Which Is Your Favorite American Symbol?

I asked my kindergarten and transitional kindergarten students that question after we finished our unit on American symbols.  CLICK HERE or on any image to grab this flag writing template.
Everyone expressed their opinion about which national symbol was their favorite. 

Opinion Writing:

We reviewed photographs of American symbols.

Illustrating where the stars would normally go.
Kindergarten students had to tell me which symbol was their favorite and why.  This was one of the opinion pieces we wrote.   They wrote the words "I like" and they copied the name of their favorite national symbol.
Copying from their dictation and my printing.


The bald eagle was a favorite for many of the boys.

Then, they dictated to me why they liked that symbol, I wrote it on lined paper, and they copied it on our special flag writing template and illustrated it where the stars would normally go on the flag template.  We were sure to add blue background to the illustrations and red stripes between the lines on writing so the pages look like American flags.
These are the T.K. papers before we mounted them on construction paper.
Kindergarten students added an additional sentence telling why they liked that symbol.

Opinion Discussion:

My Transitional Kindergarten kids also told me which American symbol was their favorite, they also wrote "I like" and copied the name of their favorite symbol.  Then, we discussed why each student liked the symbol they chose, but we didn't write why.  
The Statue of Liberty
Mount Rushmore


The Liberty Bell

They illustrated their favorite symbol the same way that the kindergarten students did.
The Capitol

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial
The Statue of Liberty

The bald eagle

The Washington Monument

Time to Display Our Work:

After we mounted each flag template to a piece of 9"X12" red, white, and blue construction paper, we put them up on our magnetic board with magnets.  They look so cute!  My favorite illustration is Mount Rushmore.
We have to use magnets to hold the work up on the magnetic white board.

Click the image to get this template.

Perfect For Memorial Day:

I usually do my National Symbol unit during February, but this is also a great project to do for Memorial Day.

You can find our American Flag Writing Template by clicking Here. 
Let me know how your kids liked it.  :)

See you all tomorrow.
Palma :)