Monday, April 25, 2011

Bunny Bread

This is really not a post for teaching but I just had to share the Bunny Bread that my mom, son, and I made this past weekend.  We used almond slices for the teeth, raisins for the eyes, and shaped the bread dough for the body.  After we baked it and let it cool, we cut a hole in the belly for the dip (this kind of panicked my son a little bit!) and decorated it with lettuce, carrots, and baby tomatoes.  It was really, really cute and my son was so proud of it!

Motivational Mints

Each year our grade level "adopts" another grade level to support them on end of the year testing.  This really helps promote school community and encourages our students to think of others.  The students will usually make cards and posters for the class we are supporting.  This year, we also decided to make bags of mints with the saying "You are mint to do your best on the test!" 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Dirt Pudding



     April Showers bring May Flowers and we have had plenty of rain lately so we decided to make good old Dirt Pudding.  First, I showed the students the ingredients for this delectable dessert...1 pudding cup, 2 oreos, and 1 gummy worm.  Next, I then modeled to the students how to make the recipe.  We then wrote words we might need in our writing because the students had to write the directions on how to make Dirt Pudding on our First, Next, Then, Last planning sheet.  Once the students wrote the directions down and shared them with me, they could then make their Dirt Pudding.  The students thought it was a delicious dessert and their faces covered with pudding looked adorable!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Blending Books

 I love Blending Books!  I made several Blending Books for our classroom.  Basically, a Blending Book is made using a three ring binder and index cards.  As we learn our sounds throughout the year, we add the cards to the book so that we can blend the sounds into words.  All of the consonants are placed on white index cards and the vowels are placed on yellow.  The index cards can then be turned to make new words.  These books are cheap, easy to use, and so effective in teaching children to blend their sounds into words.  I use these books at group time and during guided reading groups for extra practice too.
 

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

"Egg-stra" Special Animals Hatch From Eggs!

We have been learning about animals that hatch from eggs in class.  The students each chose an animal that hatched from an egg and then wrote some sentences to describe the animal's egg.  The students then drew their animal to show it bursting it's way out of the egg.  The students loved cutting the middle of the egg and tearing the paper back a little to show the full effect.
We also made a graph of what kind of eggs we liked to eat.  The choices included hardboiled eggs, scrambled eggs, and fried eggs.   One student also admited that he could not stand to eat eggs so we added an extra row just for him!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Little Yellow Chicks

 We had a great time making little yellow chicks in nests as a fun craft during our study on eggs.  The students first cut out a circle from yellow craft foam and then decorated the circle with an orange beak and googly eyes.  They then glued the feathers and head onto a mini yellow craft stick.


 Next, we filled a little bag full of yellow M&M's.  Lemon Heads or any other yellow candy could also be used.  We stuck the craft stick down into the baggie and then placed the chick in the nest with the Eggs.   This was such a cute, fun, and simple craft.  The students loved it and I gained a few pounds nibbling on all of the left over chocolate eggs!

Happy Spring Everyone!