It's Raining, It's Pouring: Rain Themed Ideas and Freebies for Primary Classrooms

April showers bring...lots of indoor recess.  Rainy days are not always a favorite of teachers, but maybe it's time to rethink our feelings about rain.

One way to make the most out of a rainy day is with some great read alouds.  There are so many books about rain, storms, rainbows, thunder, lightning, and more.  Two of my favorite rain themed read alouds are Rain! by Linda Ashman and Raindrop, Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison.

Both of these stories really lend themselves to activities with various comprehension skills.

One way we used these books was by doing little text-to-text comparison using a Venn diagram. For my first graders, I put together the Venn diagram printable pictured below, that includes cut and glue responses.  Not all of my students needed the cut and glue option, but it was really helpful to most.  Students completed the diagram on their own without glueing their responses.  Then, I went over the answers.  Students could make the changes they needed to and then they glued everything in place.  

Of course, higher flying students can come up with their own responses and write them.  Or, they can use the cut and glue option and then add some additional responses of their own.

For a FREE copy of the Venn diagram we used with Rain! and with Raindrop, Plop!, you can click here.

After reading and comparing these two texts, my firsties had lots of ideas about fun things to do on a rainy day.  It was the perfect time to make a cute writing craftivity to brighten the hallway outside our classroom.

Students wrote about what they would like to do on a rainy day.  They could also write about a rainy day they experienced in the past.  The read alouds really helped students generate some great ideas for their writing pieces.

Click here if you would like more details about this Rainy Day Kids writing craftivity.

Another rain themed activity that my students absolutely loved was Raindrop Adjectives (a write the room activity).
I printed 16 raindrop words on blue paper and cut them out.  I placed them around the room and gave every student a recording sheet.

As students rotated around the room, they wrote each of the words on their recording sheets.  After they had all the words on their sheet, they returned to their desks and colored the boxes that had adjectives.

I picked up all the raindrop words while the students were coloring the adjectives at their desks.  After a few minutes, we gathered together to discuss all the words and which words are truly adjectives.  We taped the adjective raindrops to our anchor chart.
While parts of speech are still pretty tricky to many of my students, they have come a long way in their understanding of these concepts.

You can click here if you would like a FREE copy of Raindrop Adjectives to use with your class.

My students also enjoyed some rain inspired math activities during center time and during guided practice.  This week we started work on telling time.  I put together this simple digital time/clock matching activity for students to complete with a partner.

Students matched the digital time card with the clock cards and then wrote the times for the clocks on the recording sheet.  They did a great job!

Click here if you would like a free copy of Time for a Shower (a time to the hour activity).

Rain doesn't have to spoil your day.  It can be a fabulous jumping off point for some thematic learning.  I hope some of these activities are helpful to you as you make each day count with your young learners.
Thanks for stopping by.

This Is the Way We Write the Room (Three Write the Room FREEBIES)

It's really not my intent to be a once a week blogger.  But it's that time of year at school when all systems are go and in a blink, Monday becomes Friday.  It's also a great time of the year to mix things up a little bit for young learners.
We haven't "wrote the room" in a while, so I put together a telling time write the room activity for math early in the week.  We were wrapping up our work with time to the half hour and this activity went over really well.  My firsties thought it was fun and I thought it was a wonderful assessment tool (every o'clock and thirty time was somewhere in the room).

If you are interested in using this activity with your class, click on one of the pictures for a FREE copy.

Since our time write the room activity was such a hit, I was really excited to pull out a nonstandard measurement write the room activity I used last year with (one of my favorite books) Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy.
I love to kick off my unit on measurement with Measuring Penny.  It is a great introduction to measurement since it covers many types.  Every year my students really love this book, with this year's group being no exception.
I used Measuring Penny as an inspiration for a  write the room activity where students use dog bone rulers to measure different Penny related pictures.  You can also use the picture cards with other measuring units, like cubes, paper clips, and even rulers.

For a FREE copy of this activity, click on one of the pictures below.

We also used write the room for a review of r-controlled vowels.  I printed various ar, or, er, ir, and ur word cards and placed them around the room.  With clip boards in hand, students sorted the words on their recording sheets.  I actually used it for morning work one morning, since we ran out of time to do it the day before.  It was a great way to start the day and awesome practice.
As a side note, any of these activities could work as a center as well.  Just don't post the cards around the room.

For a FREE copy of this write the room activity, click on one of the pictures.

Yes, I might have went a little overboard on writing the room this week.  But once I got going, it was hard to stop.  It's a fabulous way to get students moving and can be used with any subject.  It's my goal to use this format once a week for something.  If I come up with anything of interest, I'll be sure to share.  So . . .  check back :).
Best.

It's SpringTIME (Plus a Free Bunny Craftivity)

Room 8 has been hoppin' this week.  On Tuesday, we started our new literacy and math centers for April.  My kids are always so excited to see what's in-store for them.  I love seeing the progress they have made over the course of the year, since each month's centers grow more challenging.

If you are not using centers in your class, I encourage you to starting looking around at resources and thinking about how they could work for you.  I love them because they allow for continuous review, a chance for some movement, and for collaboration with others.  They are totally worth the time it takes to set them up.

Tuesday was also April Fool's Day (every teachers' favorite holiday:) ).  In class we read some April Fool's Day books, did some writing, and made a craftivity.  Surprisingly, the kids were really pretty controlled with their jokes.  I, however, pulled a pretty good one on my sweet, gullible, little firsties.
Our class spelling test is always on Friday.  After group time, I announced we were going to have our spelling test that morning instead.  I handed out tests and began to call out the words.  Number one was April.  Number two was Fool's.  At that point they're on to me.  And number three was Day.  They went crazy when they figured out what was going on.  I'll definitely use that one again.

In math we continued to work on telling time. We did lots and lots of hands on practice using model clocks.  Students also identified time I showed on my big clock and recorded their answers on white board paddles.  

I created an anchor chart so we could work on some time vocab.  It's hard to tell by the picture, but I used a brad with the hands so that they are functional.

At the end of the week, I read one of my favorite Easter themed mentor texts, The Easter Egg by Jan Brett.  (If you do not have this book, you have to check it out.  It is wonderful).

It is about a young bunny, Hoppi, who is trying to create his first Easter egg to give to the Easter Rabbit.  He sees all of the other bunnies working on their eggs and he can't decide what kind of egg to create.  As the story continues, Hoppi chooses to help another forest friend instead of completing his Easter egg artwork.  Hoppi's selflessness is eventually rewarded in the end.
The message in this book is so special and the artwork is tremendous.  The Easter Egg is exactly what you would expect from Brett.

The Easter Egg can be used for many classroom activities: comprehension, retelling, context clues, inferencing.  It inspired us to create out own Hoppi artwork that will be brightening up our classroom for the next few weeks.

If you would like a FREE copy of this bunny pattern, click on the picture below.  It's a very simple project that is perfect for spring in your classroom.  It's always so fun to see how students' personalities shine through in projects like this one.  I wish I had taken more pictures of some of the eggs, especially the boys' eggs.  One had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and another one had a surfer being chased by a shark.  Too funny!

I also used this book for a writing assignment last year.  This writing assignment would work really well with the bunny craft.  If you are interested in reading more about it, click here.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Have a great week.

Living Green: Ideas for March and Two Free Activities

One week to go for our spring break.  I honestly can't believe it is already time for spring break.  Between all of the snow days and the business to try to get back on track, time has just flown.
Since last week was Read Across America, we couldn't really get into all things green.  But this week is another story.  March themed read alouds, craftivities, centers, math, and literacy activities are on the docket.

My students are working with my new Oh So Lucky Math and Literacy Centers.  They are always so excited to get new center activities each month.  It's such a great way to keep things fresh and provide quality review.

These packets are available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  I like to offer a free center from each packet.  Below is the free offering from Oh So Lucky {10 Math Centers for March}.  Time for a Little Luck is a math center that focuses on telling time to the half hour.  You can click on the picture for your free copy.

The free literacy center for March was featured in another post, click here for more information.

To spruce up our classroom a little bit, we made these Lucky Kids.  I love projects that show students' personalities.  I plan on leaving them up until the end of the month.

One writing activity I like to use in March is an expository paper, How to Catch a Leprechaun.  I start out by reading a book that features a Leprechaun character.  My current favorite is Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie DePaola.

After reading a leprechaun story, students write the steps to catching one.  After they complete their writing, I give out little leprechauns that students use in their illustrations.  This assignment is a great way for students to stretch their imaginations.  Plus they really enjoy it.

If you would like a free copy of How to Catch a Leprechaun, click on the picture below.  The clip art is from Scrappin Doodles.

So there's a little peek at some of the green goings on in our classroom this week.  I hope some of these activities are helpful to you as keep your students motivated and engaged.

Best.

Make Way for MLK: A Free Learning Packet and Book Recommendations

Time certainly flies when you out of school for extreme temperatures, snow, and ice.  Our first week back from Christmas vacation was super fast (2 days).  Which, I cannot lie, was a great way to get back into the swing of things.  Of course plans were out the window.  But we were able to fit in most of our New Year's activities.

Next up the 100th Day of School and Martin Luther King Jr.  Our 100th Day of School is on Friday and I still have not finalized the activities we are doing.  There are so many fun and clever ideas to mark the 100th Day, I'm having a hard time choosing.

As for Martin Luther King Jr., I have a few activities and books ready to go that I think the kids will really enjoy.  Some of the activities my firsties will be doing are in my new packet, Make Way for MLK:  A Martin Luther King Jr. Freebie.

(CLICK HERE for a link to the free activities below.)

This packet includes two literacy centers and two math centers (both with recording sheets), as well as a writing craftivity. 

One of the math centers provides practice with addition facts.

The other one works with time to the hour.

One of the literacy centers allows students to practice sorting sentence by type (asking or telling).

The other literacy center works with rhyming words.

My favorite part of this packet is the writing craftivity, I have a Dream Just Like Martin Luther King.  With the pattern, you can have your students create a MLK peek over or you can have them make one that looks more like themselves.  Either way can work.

There are also some really fabulous books about Martin Luther King Jr.  My First Biography: Martin Luther King Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer is a great choice for early elementary students.  The story is very simple and the illustrations are appealing.

The other biography I recommend is National Geographic Kids:  Martin Luther King, Jr. by Kitson Jazynka.  Like the book above, this one offers basic biographical information about King.  However, this text goes into more detail and uses actual photographs.

After reading these biographies, we will take a little closer on the March on Washington and the I Have a Dream Speech.  We March by Shane Evans is a book I found this summer.  It follows a family as they join the 1963 March on Washington.  The illustrations are very engaging as they focus in on individuals that were at the historic event.

My final recommendation is I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.   The content of this book is King's famous speech and the illustrations are outstanding.  My copy (from Amazon) also came with a CD of the speech, very useful.

There are certainly many more activities and books that you can use for your study of Martin Luther King Jr.  I hope some of these suggestions can be of use to you as you plan for MLK learning in your class.

Have a great week.