Cyber Monday Sale on TPT!

Come join the fun and stock up on all your holiday favorites!

Everything in my store is on sale and many of my blogging friends have joined in too!

Don't get left out in the cold this holiday shopping season!

Monster Wrap-Up and Making Connections

I am finally getting time to post the last of our monster goodies!

When we first started the unit (see post here) we made smoosh monsters.  

Then the kids wrote descriptive paragraphs to identify their monster,

BUT they could not use any color words.

They had to focus on the other attributes that their monster had.

Here are some of their finished monsters...

Can you match the monster to the descriptions below?

Most of them did a great job describing their monsters!

Making Connections

This week we began working on making connections in our reading.

We talked about what schema is and how we use our schema when we make connections.

I started out by reading these books, both about tough financial times, 

to which my student and I can all relate.

Next, I created these anchor charts.

While the kids did their independent reading, they made note of their 

connections and added their sticky notes to the chart above.

We discussed their connections and whether or not they aided comprehension.

Here are some of their responses...

Tomorrow we will continue making more connections with these books...

...and with this great art book by Bob Raczka I would love for you to share any great connections lessons you have!

Writing With Powerful Language

 Ever have one of those days?  Of course you do!

I have had one of those months!

Too much to do and not enough time to get it all done.

Too many ideas running through my head!

We have been working on identifying and using powerful language and great descriptions in our writing and looking for examples in our books as we read.

We started out by reviewing adjectives and how they are used.

I love to use these books!

Then we made our own anchor chart.

The kids have been challenged with finding examples of powerful adjectives as the read.

They record them on sticky notes during Reading Workshop.

Then we add the to our growing list.

The yellow post-its are the words the kids have found in their reading.

They have also been on the lookout for great examples of descriptive writing.

Some of them have a really great eye for finding it in their reading.

I just wish more of it would translate into the writing, but we're working on it!

Hopefully the more experience they have with finding it,

the more they will actually USE it in their own writing.

What good writing ideas can you share?

Monster Mania Continues!

Good Grief!  I have found EVEN more awesome Monster books for my collection!

Here are my latest additions...

I must stop shopping on Amazon!

I also read aloud the book, The Monster's Ring by Bruce Coville.

The kids begged me to keep reading every day and groaned when I stopped. Definitely a keeper for next year!

Monster Traps

The kids had the home assignment to build a monster trap.

(click on the picture for the directions and grading rubric freebies.)

This project is one of my favorites all year!  

I so look forward to seeing their creations and listening to them present them to the class!

Here are some of their masterpieces...

Didn't they do a great job?

Currently and More Monster Mania

Has anyone seen October?

I blinked and I think I missed it!

Things have just been CRAZY busy!

And now, it's NOVEMBER already!?!?

That means it's time for Currently!

I am hooking up with Farley over at 

for this month's Currently.

Although it is technically fall, and the nights are cool, we are going to be in the 90's again this week!  UGH!  I want it to cool down!

I worked in my classroom this morning on lesson plans and grading, but realized when I got home that I forgot to get a place ready for the new kiddo who starts tomorrow.  Guess I'll have to get there extra early to get ready for him.

I don't know what happened to October.  It seems to have passed me by in a whir.  We have been really busy in the classroom and I have lots of things to post, but I just have not had enough time!

Can't wait to see what everyone else is Currently up to!

Monster Mischief

We have been working on monster themed activities all month, reading about, writing about, and creating and trapping our own monsters.

check out my posts here and here to see how we started.

Here are a few of their Monsterific Creations...

Next, we wrote descriptions to identify our monsters.  They had to focus on attributes and identifying characteristics, and could not use any color words in their descriptions.  I will have to scan and post their descriptions and see if you can match them to their monsters later this week.

We incorporated our monster studies into Red Ribbon Week.

After all, even monsters say NO to drugs!

On Friday the kids played

a math game that I made.  It is available in my TPT store by clicking on the image.

We also worked on writing about monsters with the following files from my TPT store...

We also worked on Monster Limericks which I will post later this week.

On of my favorite things to do in October is fluency practice.  

I ♥LOVE♥ the following books for this!

Here are some pics of the kids reading together...

Tune in tomorrow to see the kids' AMAZING Monster Traps!