Homophones and Prefixes.... OH MY!

We have been really busy in our classroom!  Our first big tackle of the week was working on homophones.  After we spent some time defining and giving examples of the 25 words we worked on last week, we read the BEST BOOK!

It is written by Gene Barretta.  It is a cute story about a deer's Aunt Ant and she writes a letter to him that starts off Dear Deer,.....  I bet you get the storyline!  So much fun and the kids loved it!  We read it together and then picked out favorite parts.  We discussed how the author used two or more sets of homophones on one set of pages.  We "noticed" that the pictures went along with what each homophone meant and how clever the author was to write a story like this.

Now for the CHALLENGE!  Yes, we love a challenge.  The kids got to either decide if they wanted to work with a partner or by themselves.  (Easy way to stick in STUDENT CHOICE from our evaluation model!)  They had to pick one or two sets of homophones and write a page like the author did in the story.  To add a little higher challenge for my top kids, they had to write more than one page.  Most of them divided their paper into four and came up with four great ideas!  We shared them and the kids rolled laughing at their amazing work!  Here are samples!

This was the first time I did this activity, but it goes in the KEEPER pile!  Completely engaging for the kids and lots of fun.

We also have been working on prefix and suffix.  We are great at identifying if it is a prefix or suffix, but we are struggling with what different prefixes or suffixes mean.  We made this flip book to help us practice. 

On the inside they had to sort a list of words that I had on the smart board and then they had to add some of their own.  Very easy to do and was a simple grade!

I am nearing a HUGE, BIG, GIANT, ENORMOUS milestone on Teacher Pay Teacher!  Please keep checking back because I will be having a flash freebie and a giveaway to thank everyone that has purchased my products.  I will be sending an email out to everyone that is following my store so they don't miss it.  If you aren't already following my store, you can click this link to do so:

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Happy teaching!
Tracy

Dr.Seuss Fun!

Well all of the ice and snow kept us out of school for several days and we missed Dr. Seuss Week!  I was so disappointed, but we are planning to do it when we get back from spring break.  A little late, but still will be so much fun!

We did get one project done before the snow hit.

Writing is always part of everything we do.  This year I have made it a real priority to make sure that we write at least once each day.  I gave each student an outline of the hat.  We looked a different Dr. Seuss books and brainstormed what we saw.  Bright colors, crazy designs, bold stripes, and everything else they could think of.  For homework they decorated their hat anyway they wanted and wrote a paragraph to describe it.  They couldn't put their name anywhere on it and they turned it in a manila folder so no one had any idea who designed which hat.  While they kids were at music, we hung all of the hats in the hall.  We took turns reading different descriptions and the kids had two guesses to try and pick which hat belonged with it.  WHAT FUN!  The smiles on their faces when they heard all of positive comments about their hat were priceless!  

We gave away two prizes.  The criteria was simple....  the hat and the description went together.  One of my students actually took it a step further.  She wrote her paragraph in somewhat of a Dr. Suess form.  It was so cute!  Here are some up close pictures of the hats.  

This was the best activity that I have ever done for Dr. Seuss.  It's a KEEPER for years to come!

Happy Teaching!

Tracy

Searching for Facts and Opinions!

We worked really hard this week understanding facts and opinions.

I decided that if I focused a lot of time on facts, then they should be able to pick facts and opinions out a little easier.  We did several close readings and picked out facts that were interesting to us.  We started working on a research project about something they liked in the encyclopedia.  They made lists of facts from the entry in their encyclopedia.  I did this part during reading groups so I could give them lots of one on one help.  They are working on turning these facts into a good paragraph.

I also put together a packet on facts and opinions that the kids really enjoyed.  It has anchor charts, cut and paste activities, games, writing activity, and an assessment.  We have finished working through everything but the assessment.  I have a few friends that are still struggling and I wanted to work with them a little on Monday and Tuesday before we test.  Here is a picture of the activities.  You can click on it to go to my TPT store.

We were suppose to get a bunch of snow in Memphis tomorrow and Tuesday, but as usual now they say we aren't going to get it.  So I'm off to do one last SNOW DANCE before bed in hopes I can change the forces of nature so we get some SNOW!

Happy Teaching!

Tracy

A Busy Week!

I can't believe it is Thursday already!  One week of February is already over.  Spring break is right around the corner.  OK... maybe not.

We are still working on fractions.  I wanted to share some pictures of a great lesson we did on putting fractions on a number line to see how they are equivalent.  I made an anchor chart while the students made their own charts.  Here is a picture of mine.

Before you make the chart, fold the paper ahead of time.  You need nine equal sections length wise.   Folding it really helps the kids space things correctly and make it neat.

To make the chart with the kids I had them get out a red, a blue, and  a green crayon before we started. We put the title on the top and then start working from the bottom.   We labeled the eighths first - go one at a time.  Then, we talked about how fourths could be equal to eighths and we labeled them with our blue crayon.  Next, we added the halves.  The last step was to talk about how each part would "jump" on the number line.   Doing this part really helped them understand that 2/8 stops in the same spot as 1/4.  We practiced the "jumps" and they loved it!

Here is one of my kiddos chart.  She was so excited that I took a picture of it.

Then we used our favorite.... TURN AND TALK.

Which is bigger 2/8 or 3/4?  They took turns asking each other questions.  They used their charts to answer their buddies questions.

For homework, I asked them to take the charts home and play teacher with their parents.  I heard from two parents that said they finally understood how a fraction and number line went together!

How many times do we have to review editing sentences?  EVERYDAY!  We wanted to think of an acronym for the kids to remember the different things to look for when editing sentences.  An amazing teacher in fourth grade shared her secret....

We all copied it down and practiced using it with some sentences.  We have the worst time picking out the sentence is that is incorrect from a list.  I'm hoping this will help.

We are getting ready to work on prefixes again.  Here is a preview of one of the packets that I made over the summer to help the kids get practice this important skill again.  It is really easy to use and has teacher suggestions to use it in your classroom.  It has anchor charts, flipbooks, printables, and games. You can click on the picture to take a look at it in my TPT store.

I hope everyone is staying warm!

Happy Teaching!

Tracy