Classmates Magazine from Little Red Schoolhouse

Today I am testing out a new product for you.

This project involves creating a magazine for an "All About Me" unit for the start of the year.

This project is called Classmates and it's from Little Red's Schoolhouse.

 

 

Here's how we did it in my room. 

First I showed the kids a few real magazines.  We went over what you see on the magazine.  Like the title of the magazine and the sidebar with all the little teasers about what you will find inside the magazine.  Then I explained how they were each going to make their own magazine about themselves.

 

 

Because I have a Grade 1 /2 split class I needed to make sure that both grades were able to complete this magazine at their own ability level, and produce something that all the children could read.  I'm planning to put these all in the reading nook of my classroom so that the children can read each other's magazines. 

          

 

 

First we made the cover.  I asked the children to colour their picture the way they look.  Many of them even copied what they were wearing that day.  Of course little Peter (above) didn't quite get the concept. I asked him if he had purple hair, and he told me that he "really wants" purple hair.  It's hard to argue with that!

 

Below are some photos of the kids working on their covers.

 

When they were done we glued them on to 12 X 18 black construction paper and laminated them to make a real magazine type cover.

 

 

I love this little unit.  It's really cute.  Below are a few examples of the pages inside. 

I told the kids that if they were going to colour over their writing they needed to use yellow, but some of them used other colours, so it's difficult to see what they wrote.

 

 

Here are some examples of the Grade Two work.

 

 

 

 

And the Grade One's.

I really felt that I wanted to make sure the Grade One's were not intimidated by the work of the Grade Two's so I helped them write if they were having difficulty.  I call this method

"Erase and Trace"

the idea being that I write over their misspelled words, they ERASE their pencil marks, and TRACE what I have written in pen.

 

 

This child likes to play Basketball at Recess.

 

 

Here's another example of a page from the Magazine.

Again, some kids didn't follow instructions about colouring over their writing.

There are examples from Grade One on the right and Grade Two on the left.

 

 

Anyway, I really, really, really enjoyed doing this mini-unit with my class.  I'm sure the kids will love reading each other's magazines when they are in the Reading Corner. 

 

Check out Little Red's Treehouse for more cool lessons.

 

I have just finished using their Terry Fox lessons and I'll post that up soon.

 

Fall Leaves Art and Poem and a FREEBIE!

Here's a cute Art / Language Arts project for Fall that we did last week.

 

 

 

I need to apologize again for the terrible photos, please bear with me.

This is how we made the painting.

First we painted the background.  We used pucks of tempra paint.  I showed the children how to mix blue and black to make a stormy sky.

 

 

Next we painted black streaks on brown construction paper.  When the paint dried I gave the children a tracer to trace and cut out the tree shape.

 

Then we also painted with red, yellow and orange on watercolour paper.  When the paper was dry, we punched out the leaves with the Petal Punch from Stampin Up.  Any leaf punch will do.  The small maple leaves were a punch from the dollar bin at Michaels.  We also used some old scrapbook paper in fall colours that I had lying around.

Next we wrote the fall poems using a frame. (Scroll down for a free lesson prinable!!!)  The kids then typed them in the computer as best they could (with a little editing from me) and I printed them out.  I attached them to some purple construction paper and the kids cut them out using fancy scissors.

This was a very simple activity, but the kids got to experiment with colour mixing, watercolouring, composition, and paper collage.   Adding the language art component added the children's understanding of not only Language Arts and Fine Arts but also of Science.

 

Here's my latest FREEBIE over at Teacher's Pay Teachers.

We used this lesson to generate the poems and put a copy in their Songs and Poems books, then the typed version was added to this art project and hung up for display. This FREEBIE includes the blackline master, a coloured version if you want it for display purposes, a step-by-step guide to the lesson and a 'cheat sheet' to help explain the lesson form.

 

 

 

CLICK HERE

to download.

 

Thanksgiving Fun!!!

Well, this weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada.

If you want to prep for your own Thanksgiving Study, this is the packet for you.

 

 

 

 

This unit is ideal for a Grade One of Two class.

This unit plan includes two big books, a shape book, a pattern book, and a finger play poem with language and art activities. This unit is language based, and includes lesson on reading, writing, singing, fingerplays and art. There are basic vocabulary lessons for Fall, Thanksgiving, and colours. There’s 35 pages of instructions and blackline masters.

 

You can get it at my Teacher's Pay Teachers store.

 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Fall Tree Silhouettes

 Wow - I can't believe that September is almost over.  It's been one of the craziest September's ever.

With my youngest starting Kindergarten, and one of the most challenging classes I've taught in 20 years, I'm constantly exhausted, and ready for a nap.

But this week I felt like there might be light at the end of the tunnel.

So imagine, if you will, a typical grade 2 classroom.  The walls are nicely decorated with posters and artwork, the room is bright, with lots of toys, and learning tools to be had.  Each desk is neatly labelled with a child's name.  All is peaceful, and organized, and... good.

Y'know,  just right.

Add one experienced teacher, and a lot of excited children, and all should be set for the year right?

yeah, not so fast.

For some reason, the combination of the chidlren in my class, and the needs that they have made for complete chaos.  Here's a typical moment in my room this past month.

Imagine, that the children are cleaning up seatwork, and gathering on the carpet for a lesson.  The child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is humming and buzzing to himself on the carpet and flailing around, completely self absorbed and not paying attention to the teacher.

The hearing impaired child has taken off his hearing aid and is whipping it around his head by the cord which is usually pinned to his shirt so he won't loose it.

The autistic child is arguing with his aide in the corner of the room in a very loud and extremely high pitched voice.

The child whose brother is autistic (thus she doesn't get enough of her own emotional needs met at home) and is attention seeking, is sticking her tongue out at one kid, and trying to trip another as he heads to the carpet.

And amongst all this chaos, I am attempting to collect their work, when another child trips and bangs her head on the floor.

I climb pass the mass of children on the carpet, and attempt to calm the poor injured child.  I talk to her for a few moments, only to notice that there is a slowly growing chant emerging from the carpet area.  I hear "Michael, Michael, Michael,   MI-CHAEL, MI - CHAEL, MI - CHAEL.".  I look up and see two of my brightest, wonderful, lovely  students lying on the carpet, thumb wrestling, as the rest of the class eggs them on!

I lose it!!!

What next??  I think.

I can't take it any more.

You know those little times you get to sit at your desk??  Those five minutes here and there when you can collect field trip money, organize all the collected forms and sort them as to where you need to drop them off, do your attendance, and check that all your papers are ready for the next lesson????

You know those five minutes??

Well, this year, I have NOT had a minute to do this.  I'm constantly putting out fires because of all the neediness in my room.   The autistic child was having his support time reduced and I was having non of it!   Sometimes he takes off into the playground screaming as I'm trying to teach a lesson.    And sometimes thie happens when his aide is on his coffee break.  So I find myself running out into the classroom to make sure he doesn't get hit by a car or something as my school is on a very busy street.

And then, something happens.

Well, last week I took friday off.  I was injured from whiplash, which is another story completely.

Monday was a professional day, so I didn't see my children agai"n until Tuesday. 

The kids line up outside before the bell.  So after the bell had rung on tuesday, I went out to hold the door open and let the kids in. 

Remember Michael above (MI - CHAEL???)

Well he walks up to me in a calm manner and says, " you were away on Friday, Mrs. Farrell"

"Yes, I was,"  I reply.

" Were you sick?", he asks.

"Yes,", I reply.

"Well," says Michael, "We missed you."

"Thank you," I say.

"It's nice to have you back, Mrs. Farrell"

I almost broke into tears at this point.

He missed me, they are glad to have me back???  Maybe I might actually be getting through to these kids.  Maybe, just maybe, this year will get  a little bit better.

Well, this week was better than last, and today was really great.  So maybe things are turing around in my class??

...

...

Maybe, I might survive thie year after all.

- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Anyhoo,, I thought you would all like to see some of my kids work.

So here are many, many, many examples of how we made these fall trees.

We drew with Sharpies, and then watercoloured in the sunset and got ready for the rest. 

 

 

Here's a sneak peek of what we're up to next week.

 

Falling Leaves Freebie Once Again!

Well it's been a cr-aaaa-zy start to the year.

Let's just say that not only do I have a very large class, I also have a very needy group.

Although I teach Grade 2, I've had to think back to when I taught

kindergarten and try and pull out some of my old tricks.

needless to say, this poor little blog has been

sadly neglected.

 

But I digress...

 

So I'm pulling out an oldie, but a goodie.

 

This little puppy has had over 15,000 dowloads so far

so you might already have it,

but if you don't it's FREE

(my favourite four letter word)

FREE

FREE

FREE

 

 

You can click on the photo above to access it,

or click below.

 

Here's what I wrote when I originally posted this puppy!

 

"This little download has 4 mini books about falling leaves and signs of fall. It's perfect for your 4 levels of guided reading in a grade 1 class. The skills and objectives range from fine motor and tracing, to comprehension and higher level thinking skills. I hope you enjoy this little "puppy". Please, please, please leave me a comment and tell me what you think. I've been busy working on a few other units which I hope to post up tomorrow."

 

So click below for your own FREE copy

 

DOWNLOAD HERE

 

New Unit Plan for Sale

This unit plan includes two big books, a shape book, a pattern book, and a finger play poem with language and art activities. This unit is language based, and includes lesson on reading, writing, singing, fingerplays and art. There are basic vocabulary lessons for Fall, Thanksgiving, and colours. There’s 35 pages of instructions and blackline masters.

Click on the photo above, or click here to get your own copy.

My First Download - and it's FREE!!!!

Well I've gotten myself organized and I'm posting my first freebie download.  I'm using the Teachers Pay Teachers service.

 This first download is FREE - my favourite four letter word!!!!!!  Yup, it's FREE.  Click on the photo above or click here for the link

This little download has 4 mini books about falling leaves and signs of fall.  It's perfect for your 4 levels of guided reading in a grade 1 class.  The skills and objectives range from fine motor and tracing, to comprehension and higher level thinking skills.  I hope you enjoy this little "puppy".  Please, please, please leave me a comment and tell me what you think.  I've been busy working on a few other units which I hope to post up tomorrow.