Friday 28 November 2014

Five for Friday

Hello!

I was all set to write a Five for Friday post last week and had actually remembered to take pictures during the week only to feel rotten by the time I got home after work and then even worse all weekend! I'm just about back to normal now though so I'm happy to be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for...





I saw that Colleen from Literacy Loving Gals was practising suffixes with magnetic letters and realised the new set I had bought last year were still sitting unused in a drawer in my classroom! I got them out in guided reading the next day and we used them to practise our own spellings. They're in use all the time now for building high frequency words, weekly spellings and simple sentences - they love them!



I finally got round to displaying the collaborative masterpiece my class created for Remembrance Day - We're still learning about WW1 and Remembrance so I have a few more things to add before the unit finishes but I'm pleased with how it looks so far!



I decided to change my vocabulary display to match the season so here is the start of my wintery words display! I've since added a little robin...


I do appreciate that it looks like a shark in disguise though and need to remove that top wing! I've lots of words to add and plan to make glittery snowflakes with the kids on Monday!



As we are promoting collaboration this half term (it was perseverance last half term), I decided to do a STEM challenge and knew exactly where to find inspiration - from lovely Carol at Teachers are Terrific! We had no successful towers but there was great talk, perseverance and collaboration so all was good and the kids had fun (and I ate a lot of marshmallows)!



I have to plan a 2 week unit on the Polar Express this weekend. Believe it or not I had never even read the book until it arrived in my letterbox and I still haven't seen the film (that's on the to do list for tomorrow)! If you have any great ideas for activities which will produce some great writing based on this, please let me know!

I think that's all for today! Don't forget to link up your own Five for Friday and to check out what everyone else has been up to.

Have a great weekend!




Monday 24 November 2014

T is for...

This week I am going to try and link up with Blog Hoppin' for their Week of Thanks!


Today is the letter T so I am thankful for...


I don't know what I would do without technology in the classroom - I rely on it so much every single day! Without it I wouldn't be able to deliver half my lessons or find all the amazing ideas that I do stalking so many great blogs! 

I am also thankful for my amazing teacher friends at school and those I feel I have made since embarking on my blogging journey!

What are you thankful for?



Wednesday 19 November 2014

Pirate Hats for Wordless Wednesday


Hello!

I'm so happy I have found the time to link up with  Miss DeCarbo at Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday today!


As we're doing some work on writing and following instructions, I found what I thought was the simplest little pirate hat to make today... How wrong I was! 

So many tears and maybe three successful hats out of 20!



My question for you is: what little craft activity have you tried that has gone horribly wrong?! 

(After I helped a lot, there were smiling pirates in the room!)


Don't forget to link up for Wordless Wednesday yourself!





Sunday 16 November 2014

Sunday Scoop 16-11-14


Hello!

This weekend has gone by in a flash and it is time to link up with the Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop again! 




There is a whole box of marking sitting looking at me too which is a have to that I am in denial about... (and the laundry)! I also hope to catch up with the 30 days of paper challenge (by The Reading Residence) that I started on IG - I managed up to day 10 I think but have fallen terribly behind now. I'm still enjoying looking at all the other papery/stationary pictures though!

Don't forget to link up your Sunday Scoop with the Teaching Trio!



Friday 14 November 2014

Five for Friday


I'm so glad it's Friday! 

All week I've been a day out so I feel like I've done a 6 day week and it's been slow. But I'm finally home, in my PJs and am ready to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! 
(I didn't manage to link up last week so here are a few random bits from the last 2 weeks...)



Remembrance Day

I saw this picture when looking for ideas for a quick art activity on remembrance day from Art Room with a View which I thought was great!


As our focus in school at the moment is collaboration, I decided to get my class to work together to make a big version to display in the corridor outside the classroom. It's not up yet but here is a picture to show how it looked all together when I tacked them up as they each finished! I was so pleased with how they worked and they were amazed at how good their pieces looked as part of a bigger picture!



Remembrance Writing


In Big Writing today they wrote about what they had learned about WW1 and Remembrance Day so far. We've only had 2 lessons on the topic and I'm amazed at how well they did! This little one even remembered his finger spaces!


Knitting


I'm organising a little christmas decoration knitting competition at school to get in the festive spirit even though I can only knit squares and scarves myself! I found an online tutorial for a twisted christmas tree and followed along. I substituted buttons for beads (as I didn't have any) and think it looks passable! 


More Great Writing

I was teaching them about some of the special keys on the keyboard in computing last week. To practice, I showed them how to insert a picture then asked them to write some sentences. This piece below was done completely independently and I just love how he remembered the work that had been done of description and using adjectives. I know we have some work to do on spelling but I was so proud!




My plans for the weekend...!


My gorgeous boy has the right idea!

Have a great weekend!

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Sunday 9 November 2014

Sunday Scoop 9-11-14


Hello!

Sunday means it is time to link up with the Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop! 



Positives... We finally decided on a Christmas Production to do as a phase. 180 children will be involved in a Christmas around the World performance - fingers crossed it will be easy to stage and perform! My class have Africa! Another positive is that I think I have figured out a way to fit more 1:1 readers into my timetable - I'm looking forward to hearing how well they are doing with their reading!

Not so Positives... I'm struggling to keep on top of my marking. I have a whole lead at home today and am determined not to go to bed until it is done! Why is it so easy to fall behind?!

Don't forget to link up your Sunday Scoop with the Teaching Trio!

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Sunday 2 November 2014

Sunday Scoop - 2nd November

Hello!

I'm all about the blogging today and have linked up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for November Currently (check out my post HERE), and am now linking up with the super Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop!


Here it is!


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What are you planning this week? Don't forget to link up with the Teaching Trio with your list and to check out the other great posts!