Sunday, October 21, 2012

Halloween Fun with Bats and Stellaluna

I can't believe it's almost Halloween! The time is flying! 

I am so excited to read my favorite Halloween books with my students the next couple of weeks. I am going to start with Stellaluna- one of my MOST FAVORITE books. I am also going to read a nonfiction book about bats so that we can compare and contrast it. This will be a good way to integrate Halloween with the Common Core Standards. :)




I have made some FREEBIES to use with Stellaluna and a nonfiction bat book. Click here to download-
My Favorite Part of Stellaluna
My Bat Facts
Vivid Verbs
Vivid Verbs recording sheet for students

Students draw their favorite part of the story and then write three complete sentences telling why.

Students write down 10 facts they learned about bats.  Great for a daily grade!
















These two printables are a fun way for students to record all of the vivid verbs they read in Stellaluna. They are in color and black and white.

Check out our Fiction and Nonfiction Compare and Contrast Pack with Stellaluna and Bats. It is Common Core aligned. Click here- Stellaluna Pack

Stellaluna Pack

I also made some bat crafts to go along with these resources. I can't wait to have my students try them this week. They will be really cute displays!




Click here for the Free printables I used to make these bat crafts-

I am going to put these headings out for my bat displays:


Click here to download these- Bat Display Signs

Happy Sunday! I hope some of these activities will be helpful for you and your students next week. 

Sign up to follow our blog by entering your email address on the top left of this page and become a fan on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking "follow me." That way you can hear about all of our new products, ideas, and freebies. 
We can't wait to hear your comments and ideas.  Thanks! :)

-Stacia and Amanda

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Fun with Weather and Clouds!

Hi, everyone!

My students and I just finished up our unit on weather and clouds.  While we learned a lot of new information, we had fun too! Check out our cloud models with shaving cream. A bit of a mess but so worth it! The students really know their clouds.  :)


This student was trying to show the thin, feathery cirrus clouds
and the puffy cumulus clouds.

Layered stratus clouds
White and puffy!




Students recorded their learning on this "Types of Clouds" graphic organizer. You can download the freebie below. It is great to use as a review or a daily grade. 
Clouds Graphic Organizer-Click here!

We also used cotton balls to create cloud posters and flip books. The kids loved it! :)









They described the clouds and pasted the cotton balls down.


We read the book Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker. It is a fabulous mentor text! This book was a great way to introduce clouds. The illustrations are incredible! Then, we integrated Science with Language Arts. The vibrant imagery created by Locker's word choice provides many opportunities for valuable   writing and grammar lessons. Check out our printables pack on Teachers Pay Teachers. 


Click here- Cloud Dance Pack









Another great resource for teaching this unit on weather is our Student Weather Book. The students recorded all of their new learning in this book. It's a great tool for reviewing and sharing their learning. It also made a great study guide for assessments. :)










Click here- Weather Book

Thanks for stopping by! Please let us know your thoughts and ideas. 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! We are excited to share our classrooms with you!  :)  
Amanda and Stacia

Amanda and I have been teaching together for about 5 years, and we love collaborating to create fun and engaging lessons for our students. We currently teach fourth grade in Lawrenceville, GA but we also taught third grade for many years. 


Designing and planning lessons is a passion of ours, and we love coming up with and finding "cutesy" ideas. Our state has adopted the Common Core Standards this year, so we are diving in to new ways of teaching and assessing our students. 


Each week we will share some of the ideas we are using in our classrooms. We will have free downloads and links to other lesson activities. 


We LOVE sharing and receiving new ideas!

We would love to hear your ideas and collaborate with you. Please sign up to follow our blog and receive emails. Thanks for visiting! :)

-Stacia and Amanda


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