Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

We had a blast this week celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Most of what we did were ideas I got from pinterest, so I am not able to take credit for several of these awesome ideas {the pockets, the graphing, and the green eggs and ham snack}.  I'm so grateful for the world of pinterest, blogging, and teachers pay teachers because teachers are able to share their awesome ideas and I love to use them :).

On Monday, we read "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" and focused on rhyming words.  The kids made these cute little pockets and named their creature inside by coming up with a word that rhymed with pocket.  This little girl put a mocket in her pocket, and below that is the Spanish version of the activity.

On Wednesday we read "The Cat in the Hat".  We drew some conclusions about the cat on an anchor chart.  Then, the students make the cat and wrote several conclusions on their paper. {For this activity, I just gave them paper and a face and hat tracer}.

We also did "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" goldfish graphing that day.  The students sorted the goldfish, collected their data using tally marks, and completed a graph.

On Friday we ate read "Green Eggs & Ham" and ate a fun little snack.  We also made a class book:  "Do you like green eggs and _______?"  The students had to come up with a side to their green eggs and two rhyming words {an animal and a place}.  This little girl wrote:  Do you like green eggs and pizza?  You could eat them with a cat, You could eat them on a mat!  Here is a picture of an English page and a Spanish page from our book:

At the end of the day on Friday, one of my coworkers brought me this cute cupcake that a parent had brought.  Just what I needed on a Friday afternoon!  The perfect ending to a fun Dr. Seuss Week :)

Anchor Charts & Organization

As a dual language teacher, language is being built every day.  At a training I attended last year, we were encouraged to create designated spaces in our classroom to hang anchor charts from each subject area for the students to refer to.  While this strategy is excellent for second language learners, it would be valuable in any classroom.  I used laminated butcher paper, die cut letters, and borders to create these  spaces in my classroom.  Here is what it looks like:

This has also helped me to organize my classroom, which I love because I am a type A personality to the max.  What do you have on the walls of your classroom?

V is for Valentine

Valentines Day is tomorrow, and we have been celebrating all week using activities from my Peace, Love, and Candy Hearts Unit.  {You can find it in Spanish here}  As a bonus, this unit is half off right now in case you need some last minute ideas for tomorrow!

We started off the week with our Kindness Craftivity & writing.  After making the craft, the students wrote about how they can show kindness.  The writing turned out really great since they planned it with a graphic organizer.  I have been forgetting to take pictures as of late, so this is my sample of our craftivity.  Their work turned out super cute, & the teacher next door told me that one of her students even added armpit hair to his globe person.  Wow, talk about imagination!

We also talked about the sequence of mailing a letter yesterday.  We put the steps in the correct order together, and then the students wrote out the sequence on their own paper.  Tomorrow, the kids are going to write letters to their parents and we are going to send them in the mail.

Today, we read Clifford's First Valentines Day {in Spanish}.  Then, the kids filled out a graphic organizer about what Clifford saw, did, thought, and felt.  This is such a cute story and the kids laughed and laughed.  

I wish I had taken more pictures, but this is all I got.  We also made bags to collect our Valentines in, and will be doing some of the Valentines math activities tomorrow as well.  In case you are needing some Valentines card ideas, here is a link to some Valentine's Card from you to your students.  Just attach them to some cereal in a baggie and you are good to go!  I also found these SUPER cute Valentines in Spanish from Spanglish Baby.

I hope you & your students have a FUN day tomorrow.  I would love to know what you are planning to do in your classroom!  Happy Valentines Day :)

TpT Super Bowl Sale & Valentines Unit

Hello bloggy friends!  I am looking forward to this Sunday's Super Bowl sale and am already eyeing some clipart to purchase for the unit I am creating.  I have lots of items on my wishlist, what about you?  Feel free to take & use the graphic below on your blog, Facebook page, etc. to help you promote the sale in your store.  {Thanks to Tammy Ferrell for these cute & free graphics!}

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and I would love for you to consider using my Valentine's unit!  Here is a link to see it in English and Spanish on my TpT store.  There are some grade literacy activities and math activities, including 2 craftivites. 

I'll leave you with one last thought...

A little of this & a little of that

 My class is SO sweet this year.  I really don't want this year to end and we have been able to do so many fun things.  Here is a chart that we made today to activate prior knowledge about winter.  Students wrote one thing they know about winter on a post it note, shared it with the class, and then stuck it to the chart.

During small group reading, I love to use white boards.  I got them cut at Lowe's my first year teaching for really cheap.  Such a great investment!  After reading a decodable reader, I assigned each student to write/ draw about one of the following on their white boards:  setting, characters, problem, and solution.

On Tuesday we finished our money unit and reviewed with a game that the kids played in partners.  Each student had a "piggy bank and a bag of plastic money.  They chose 10 coins to place on their piggy bank.  Then, the students took turns spinning the spinner.  If they had the coin on their piggy bank, they covered it with a bean.  If not {or if it was already covered}, they passed the turn on to their partner.  The student who covered all of his or her coins first won the game. 

I hope your week is going great!  It's Wednesday, which means 2 more days until the weekend :)

Compound Word Quilt

I don't know why, but this year has started off to be SO busy!  We have been out of town on and off and have just had an overly booked schedule, but I think it is finally settling down some.  Thank goodness :)

Last week, we did an intro to compound words.  This was a new concept for my firsties, so we started by making an anchor chart together.  Then, they worked in partners.  I gave them the two base words to put together and make a compound word.  From there, they wrote down the word and illustrated it.  We put all the words together and the finished product is a Compound Word Quilt.  I think it turned out cute!

How has your year started out so far?  Have you been able to keep up with your goals & resolutions?

Product Swap-- Late!

I am so excited to be participating in the Product Swap with Jessica Stanford.  I was out of town with no internet access this weekend, so I apologize that this post is late!

I was able to review a product from Sonja D from Grade One Fun.  It was great to "meet" her and be able to pick a product from her store to try out.  You should definitely check out her blog here.

I chose her word bird game, which you can find at her TpT store.  I teach mostly Spanish speakers, so I  was able to spend some quality time with my English speaking student playing the game with her.  It was lots of fun!  What I love about this game is that students are learning beginning sounds of words, but are also using strategy to win.  It was great practice for my student to practice beginning sounds and I found it especially helpful for her as an English Language Learner.  The goal is to make a pair by matching two cards with the same beginning sound.  The person with the most matches before all the Word Birds are in their nests wins.  She really got into the game, and ended up winning by a landslide.  Here are a few pictures of us playing:

Thanks Sonja for letting me try out your product-- hopefully some of my blog followers will try it out as well!