Contractions, Money, Shadows & More

There has been some crazy weather in the south! Last Friday students (and teachers) were praying for an ice day. On Wednesday we had to watch out for tornado warnings.  It was super warm for January. Then today it was freezing and super windy! This seems like it should be March weather!

Here's a quick weekly recap. I'm sleepy despite having Starbucks coffee at 7:30pm this evening!

1. Contraction Gardens

I originally planned to do this last week, but ran out of time. I decided to make heart shaped flowers so we would have something to decorate the hallways for Valentine's day. Some of the students in my class now want to pose with their pictures. I'd much rather post the student created project than my own! Sometimes mine gets slapped together right before we are going to do the activity, i.e. it doesn't look as pretty as I want it.

2. Piggy Banks

We are in the middle of our money unit. Every year I give the students an amount and have them use paper coins to display a way to make that amount. (Easy way to differentiate as well!) This year the students glued them to a piggy bank.

3. Shadow Puppets & Box

In science, we studied light and shadows in preparation for Groundhog's Day. The students had to find a partner in the room and come up with a mini play to perform for the class. At first they wanted to draw detail on their puppets, but I had to explain to a few of the students that we would only be able to see the outline.

a princess

a Knight

They had so much fun with this! It was really easy to make the shadow box.  The bottom of a copy paper box was cut out and then two sheets of white tissue paper were added.

4. A visit from the Tooth Fairy!

We are kicking off our teeth unit next week. A local dentist, along with the Tooth Fairy and Tiger (not really sure why Tiger was there!) came to visit. The dentist was great and really engaged the students.

5.  Super Sunday Sale

My TPT store will be on sale on Sunday 2/3 for 20% off.  Enter the promo SUPER for an additional 10% off. I'll keep the store on sale on Monday 2/4 as well in case you have any last minute regrets about getting something (this is always the case for me). The promo code only works for Sunday though.

Be sure to check out these links! I love seeing what everyone has done for the week!

Contraction Caterpillars

As I mentioned last week, my class is just beginning our unit on contractions.  Today we made these sweet caterpillars.

The students had to write the contraction on the body and then the two words that made up the contraction on the legs.

Here's a few of the students' caterpillars.

I've been slightly obsessed with scrapbook paper lately.  Any reason I can find it to use it I will!! I like having the students pick which patterns they like the best for the activity. As soon as I bought 2 packs of scrapbook paper, a parent donated a huge stack to me. I think I have enough to last me a lifetime now!

I know it's winter, but the caterpillar theme carried over to our indoor recess.  Last week it was rainy, this week it's too cold (by southern standards) to go out.  I like to alternate different activities so they don't get as bored.

Last week when I gave out drawing paper and markers, the class made their own drawing contest and appointed judges.  Well, one day someone cried because they didn't win, then they got mad, and their drawing accidentally ripped.  Don't worry, the picture went to the hospital and was put back together with love and some tape.

So today I declared I was the judge and everyone was rewarded with a butterfly or flower sticker.

Since they knew I was the judge, they drew caterpillars and wrote "I love Ms. Deal."

I mean, what other job do you have where someone tells you they love you all day long??

Grammar Linky Party: Contractions

So glad this week is O-V-E-R!  Indoor recess for 4 days straight was rough on everyone. What's the longest you ever gone with indoor recess?  I feel that I must have gone longer at some point, but I just blocked it from my memory.

If you've hopped over from Teaching With Love and Laughter Grammar Linky Party, we started learning about contractions this week.

We began by reading Alfie Apostrophe.

Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade has a super cute apostrophe activity on TPT. We made our own Alfie's.  The pattern was included in the packet. Leslie Ann also include templates for the hands, legs, hair, etc. but I decided to have my students make those extra part on their own.  I love seeing them add a dash of creativity to a project!

Today we played I Have, Who Has: Contraction Edition.

My students are in LOVE with the I Have, Who Has games. I even caught a student making her own version during recess last week.  Then she asked for it to be laminated so her baby sister wouldn't eat it.  :)

Next week I'm hoping to make a contraction caterpillar and a contraction garden.  Stay tuned for pictures of those activities!