Five for Friday- March 7

 I am linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! 

Thank you for hosting, Kacey!

Is this how you feel on Friday?

Me, too. 

I am tired of winter.  Surprise!  I realized that it is because we have had NO SUN - ever.  This was the weather forecast for today and I almost forgot what that yellow symbol in the middle stood for.

Anyway, since I can't do anything about the outside world, I am trying to bring spring to my inside world.  We made tulips and daffodils to decorate outside our door.

We aren't allowed to put anything on our doors- just beside it.   If you want the simple, child-like patterns for the flowers, you can click on the picture. :)  I just print the patterns out on the colored paper. The children cut all the pieces out.  I put the larger tulip part over the smaller one and staple along one side.  Then, I make it sort of 3-D by stapling the other side to the edge so it is puffy.  I have the children glue the two daffodil parts together and then glue a yellow cupcake paper in the center.

 

We also made some robins to put over the lockers. The children each traced and cut a robin, and then sponge painted the breast with red glittery paint. I hot glued each robin to a branch.

I showed the kids some of my bird nests- and this one with a real robin's egg inside! (We are going to study nests later this month.) We talked about how that egg had been left all winter, and the mother never came back for it, so it would never hatch- but if they ever found an egg or a nest, they were only to LOOK with their eyes and never touch, to be sure the egg and nest would stay safe. 

 

   I love these books about robins.

One of my boys made this robin, which may be my favorite ever. I wanted to frame it instead of sending it home with him.  She looks like she is going to lay her eggs any minute! 

I found this post from Teachmama.com called What Not to Say to Emerging Readers.  I hadn't seen it before- but even if you have, it's great to watch as a reminder.  Here is the video of the post.  This would be really great to share with parents, too.

Here is the part that I am was guilty of saying sometimes...

I always felt like I was saying it positively and as encouragement, but I see exactly what she is saying in her article, and I am not going to say it anymore. (I catch myself!)

This is what Amy Mascott (the author) says:

• DON’T SAY: You know this. . .

INSTEAD SAY: What part of the word do you recognize? If you get no response, say, Do you recognize this part (point to the beginning chunk or letter) or this part (point to the ending chunk or letter)?

Three things here:

1. If the kid knew it, she would have read it.

2. We all hate to be reminded that we knew something but forgot it.

3. By picking out two parts of the word, you’re setting her up for success. It all goes back to the choices thing that really helps with kids. Most likely she will recognize either the ‘b’ or ‘-at’ part of ‘bat’ or the ‘th’ or ‘-ick’ parts of ‘thick’.  If she can pick up either part, say, You got it! That does say ‘ick’. Now let’s put the first part, (give it to her and pronounce it) ‘th’ together with ‘ick’: th-ick. Thick!

Then put that new word into the sentence and give her a high-five for getting through it.

It is so good for me to think how I would feel if someone had been working with me on Physics or Chemistry (are you seeing a connection between me and a lack of science understanding?! yep.), and we had just gone over something, and I got to a question and had no idea how to do it.  I would NOT want to hear, "You KNOW this!" 

I remember taking a class where the teacher had our names written with symbols that we had to try to learn and recreate to "write" our names. It was hard! That was such a wonderful lesson to help put me in my little guys' shoes.

Here are the "flavors of the month." 

Again, here is my favorite play dough recipe...

Bisquick Playdough
2 cups Bisquick
1 cup salt
2 cups water
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 Tbsp oil
 
Mix all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 3 minutes.  Scrape and stir the bowl. Microwave for another 3 minutes. If it is not quite ready,  microwave for another minute.
(I made a double batch and put it back in my microwave for one more minute, which worked perfectly.) 

The leprechauns visited on Monday, just to say hello, make their presence known, ...and turn our milk green while the kids were at specials- SO exciting. It was my "snack day" so I thought Lucky Charms would be just right.

 I had some skeptics about drinking the green milk, but it all turned out just fine!

I posted at Pre-K and K Sharing this week ALL about Jack and the Beanstalk.  We had such fun learning with Jack this week.  Stop over and see what we did!

We used this FABULOUS teaching packet from Susanna at Whimsy Workshop! It is just full of fun and learning.

I cannot wait until our beanstalks grow. They are starting. I will keep you posted!

Irene Leeby posted this FABULOUS idea for ordering numbers on Youtube. She is a star.  It was so much fun to see it. (I am such a visual learner that it was even THAT much better for me.)  I used it immediately. THANK YOU, Irene! 

Finally, I wanted to share this video about a wonderful teacher and friend in my school district.  She is truly an amazing person who was given a second chance at life through organ donation.   Trish and Laura's family are both such inspirations, and I wanted to share their story.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! 

Oh- here is our Morning Glory Update:

One of my little guys actually ran over to me and yelled, "OUR NIGHTENGLORIES ARE CLIMBING THE STRING!"  I am thinking he totally missed the part about how they bloom in the "morning." Hmm.

Thanks for stopping by!