President's Day

February is such a short month, but they cram so many topics into it!  Groundhogs Day, President's Day, 100th Day, Valentine's Day, Month of Kindness, Dental Health Month and Black History Month!    That is so much to fit in!  Don't forget there is also all of the normal stuff to cover as well.

President's Day has always been one of my favorite topics to teach.  George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are both very interesting men to cover and the students love learning about them.  I usually get such great writing pieces.

Here are the two writing packets I use.  They contain a great writing organizer to help students plan.  Click on the picture to get each packet.

I also found amazing directed drawing directions from Kindergarten Planet for Lincoln and Washington in this weekends TpT newsletter.  Here is the link.

Recycle Writing Freebie

I am listening to the rain pour outside as I write this post and prepare for the week.  This week is our big FCAT testing week for the upper grades.  That means a schedule change for the next two weeks.  I sure hope my students adjust to the schedule change OK; keeping my fingers crossed.

My little duck eggs are looking great.  I candled them today with my overhead and was relieved to find almost all of them are doing very well.  

I can't wait for the students to see them tomorrow.  Even after doing this for several years, it still amazes me every time.

The next two weeks we will be focusing on Earth Day.  Recycling is one of the easiest things the students can do to help the Earth at home.  Here is a circle map and writing paper I am using this week.  Click here to grab it for FREE!

DIY Table Top Easel

I wanted table top easels for my student's center task cards.  I also wanted them to be easy to change and cheap!  I had a great idea to make them with a binder and duck tape.  So I set to work making them and taking pictures of all the steps to share with you.

First I took a cheap binder with the 3-rings mounted to the back cover, so it opens and folds back flat.  I folded it back bent the cover to be even with the other cover.  I also taped the top part together.  Then I made a sheet with duck tape making a base for the easel.  It didn't take long and turned out pretty well.

OK I was thinking and came up with a way easier way to accomplish this same goal!  

I took the "economic" super cheap binder with the 3-rings mounted to the binder.  I then clipped a binder clip in the middle of the front and back cover.  I used ribbon to tie the binder clips together to the binder would stand by itself.  When you aren't using it you can unclip one of the clips and close it for easy storage.  I think this option is much easier!

Here are a few writing center cards for you to use on these easels.

Happy Birthday Mr. Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born 204 years ago in a log cabin in Kentucky.  I love teaching about Abraham Lincoln almost as much as the students love learning all about him.  I use this lesson to teach many things to the kids.  It is great for learning about timelines and introducing biographies.  We also compare and contrast life then and now.  The unpleasant history of slavery is also discussed.  My favorite book for this it "The Picture Book of Abraham Lincoln".  It is perfect for K-2 students.

After learning about the life of Lincoln, we write about what we learned.  This is the graphic organizer we use.  I also talked about chronological order and how important it is when telling a story that makes sense.  You can grab this organizer and matching writing paper here.

The students did a fabulous job writing.  We then writing craftivity to display their writings.  My hall way looks amazing now!

I hope your writing turns out as awesome as mine!  The kids even had fun doing it!

Spring Break!

I am enjoying Spring Break! It is hard to believe it is half over. My girls and I had a fabulous time at Busch Gardens and I know my school kiddos did many wonderful things too. Here is a quick freebie you can use to help them organize their thoughts about what they did over Spring Break and write about it. (I actually sent the organizer home before Spring Break) When we get back I can't wait to see the spectacular writing and hear about their many adventures over Spring Break.

Click Here to download