February musings...a little of this and a little of that

I am used to having a few snow days in February--especially after last year's 17 days off. This year...none in February. With March approaching our chances are getting a little less and less.

Last week we worked on adjectives and Valentine's Day and America. HMMM--wonder if the minds of first graders even absorbed any meaningful connections. Using pop rock candy kept us busy during our grammar portion of the morning.

We had a special lunch and a party for the 14th.

We took a side step from the pop rock candy to do a little writing on just why our carpet looked like an explosion after the Valentine party. (it was educational after all--I was linking to writing with similes. As in opposition to smiles when I looked at the room/carpet/chairs/desks. How could we totally not keep one little crumb on our plates? And if you notice--we do have carpet!)

Back to America. My student teacher is teaching most of the day now. He is doing a great job of keeping the excitement of past presidents alive. Definitely alive from these kiddos!

This week on to problem and solution in our reading strategy/skill block. I love Frog and Toad stories. We had one in our old basal and one in our new one so I will use those plus as many of the books as I can grab to let the kids model their understanding of problem/solution. I may make a l.o.n.g scroll of one of the stories and have the kids color code the introduction of the characters, setting, problem, and solution. I do want to have the kids work with a partner and one write/illustrate the problem and their partner write/illustrate the solution. My mind is working toward this idea...

I've been inspired by some great anchor charts on Pinterest--you need to check out Jennifer Jones. She has pic after pic of great charts. This is one I plan on using with the various Frog and Toad stories.

 

Pinterest inspired foldable--just perfect!

Well, enough rambling, musing, wandering... Happy President's Day if you are off tomorrow.