This week was a fun week and went by super fast. I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share five things about my week.
1. Our school was lucky enough to have Derek Anderson illustrator of Hot Rod Hamster and other popular children's books, visit our school. It was fun watching him show pictures that he has drawn and pictures of his part. He showed the kids hidden pictures in his books. He also showed them how to draw a hamster. Our media specialist got together with someone to record a song for the kids to sing and act out for Derek. They had a blast.
2. We've had so many days of indoor recess this winter... I have lost count. Instead of putting out the usual toys, games, books, coloring sheets, movies, etc., I started playing exercise videos for the kids. They sing and dance and have sooo much fun while releasing extra energy.
Our favorite song has been the Gummy Bear song. They ask me to repeat it over and over. It's so much fun watching them dance to it. These kids have way more coordination than I will EVER have.
3. We have been learning about the Winter Olympics. We started our fact fluency races. I started giving my kids 3 minutes to finish their 1's facts. After 3 minutes, they get a marker and come and sit on the floor by the Smart board. We correct the tests together. If they get all the facts right, they color in the gold medal for their ones facts. If they don't get it right, they will take the same test the next day. They will do this until they pass. The next day, they will take the next worksheet with facts that they haven't passed yet.
I have folders labeled with each fact so that they go to the folder that they are on and grab their sheet. I am pretty impressed with how well they have done so far.
We started our tally sheet to keep track of how many gold, silver and bronze medals that the athletes from the United States of America win. The kids are so excited to report on this.
We colored North America (where we live) on a world map. We then colored Sochi (where the Olympics are) red. I had the students answer questions based on the map. They had to answer questions like.
1. How would we travel to Sochi?
2. How long would it take to get there? We learned that we are 5,684 miles away from them. The kids were shocked.
3. We learned that we would have to cross the Atlantic Ocean to get there.
My kids are having so much fun with my Olympic unit. We had a parade today. They each studied a country and presented their info on it this week. You can read about it HERE. We are loving using our green screen and iPad.
You can find my Winter Olympics Pack HERE. It is loaded with tons of fun activities for the kids to do. I also have two winter Olympic freebies in my store. Enjoy!
4. I had a pretty comical event happen this week. On Wednesday night I stopped at the mall. I had a few things to pick up for our new house. On the way home I was switching the radio station in my car. When my oldest son is in the car with me we listen to harder rock music. When my youngest son is in the car, we listen to pop, top 40's music. I NEVER get to listen to country music anymore. Sooo, I was alone and switching through the radio station. There were commericals on EVERY station. I finally got to one and a song was finishing up. I was at a stop light, and the announcer came on and said be caller.....(I don't even know what caller he said) and you'll win tickets. I quickly dialed the number that he said. It rang once and a guy answered. I said, "Hello". He said hello back and asked how I was doing and where I was calling from. I answered his questions. He said that I sounded really confused. I asked if I was the winner and said that I thought it was way to soon to get through. He told me that I was the winner. I was excited...but then remembered I had NO battery left on my phone. I quickly pulled into a parking lot. I had a 3 inch battery charger in my car. I had to lay on the seat to talk with my phone plugged into the console of my car. He got all my information and said someone would be calling. In the meantime, I was frantically trying to figure out what radio station I was listening to...in case they asked what the best radio station was. Thank goodness they didn't...because I had been flipping through stations and didn't know. After I hung up...I learned that I am going to be getting tickets to see Lee Brice!!! I love his songs!!! Today I got the call telling me where and when the concert is. (Yes...I had to ask what tickets I won and they laughed.)
5. I am addicted to Homegoods and to Kirkland Homes. Moving has caused me to want to get rid of all of our old stuff and get new stuff. We have TONS more wall space. I wish I was one who could just leave the blank spaces alone...but I need pictures hanging in them.
This week I found these gems to go on our walls.
These match the colors of the walls, rugs, furniture....everything...to a tee. I had to get them. Best thing ever? There was a scratch on one frame. I asked about it and got it for 50% off.
I am still debating on picking these up....
I really, really, really want two of these. They have 4 mini drawers on the top and two cupboard doors on the bottom. We lost a lot of storage space at our last house. These match our colors...I just can't decide if I should do it or not!?!
I hope you have a great weekend!
Sara
Loving your 5 for Friday posts! My kids are doing addition at the moment and I think I'll implement your fluency idea for them. They get so excited about getting it done fast but are not always accurate :)
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