Little Pig, Little Pig, Let Me In!

    When I was a little girl, we didn't have a TV. Sooo, I did a lot of reading. I also listened to a lot of stories on records. Let's Pretend was my favorite. Let's Pretend is an OLD series of fairytales on record. I think it actually was a radio show.

Some of the stories were a little macabre. Jorinda and Joringle was really dark. It was about a stepmother who accidently kills her stepson and then buries him underneath the juniper tree. He comes back to life, but still. Creepy.

 

So anyway, I also had this old record of The Three Little Pigs. I don't remember the name of it but it's still at my momma's house. I typed it up (which was fun) a few years ago. I had to keep stopping the record and write down what I thought it said. The wolf actually sings his lines. I made it into a Readers' Theatre and we performed it for the parents. The kids did a fantastic job.

 

All that to say, I just uploaded it to TPT! However, there are three versions so it can be differentiated. The first version is straight from the record. It's for more advanced readers. Although I had a struggling reader play the part of the wolf. It took some practice though. But if you use it as an independent station, it's definitely for advanced readers.

 

The second version is like the first, but I took out some of the more difficult words and shortened it a bit.

The third version has been totally modified for readers who are on a lower level.

There are also character cutouts you can use to make puppets. Just laminate, cut out, and tape a Popscicle stick on the back.

The Three Little Pigs- A Differentiated Literacy Station

Hey There, Little Red Riding Hood...

I just finished uploading a differentiated literacy center- Little Red Riding Hood Readers' Theatre scripts. My kids LOVE this station. I try to change it out once a week- sometimes I don't quite make it. I wrote the script myself (first time attempting that). I wrote two different versions- one for my on-level and advanced students and an easier one for my strategic level students.

Here is the link for anyone who wants to buy a copy.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Little-Red-Riding-Hood-Readers-Theater-A-Differentiated-Literacy-Activity

The easier version is probably somewhere in the 1.3-1.5 range. The on-level version is probably 1.7 or so. I use pictures to tell which character is talking. I find that they keep up better that way.

I also did 2 versions of the puppets. After I printed the first version, I thought, "Whoa! I'm not going to have any ink left." So, I made a more color friendly version. The puppets are smaller and on a white background. This is a picture of the first version. If you have plenty of ink, knock yourself out. But that stuff gets expensive after a while.

          I taped pencils on the back. Couldn't find any popscicle sticks.

The first person who comments gets a free copy! Just leave your email address. I don't think there will be any major fight over who wins seeing as how I've only had like 3 comments since I started this blog. But you gotta start somewhere, right?

Now, I've gotta get back to this sweet baby of mine before she figures out how to unlatch the baby gate.

Speaking of my darling baby girl (and she is precious), when do they get to the stage where you can go to the bathroom or anywhere else for that matter without them? This is what I saw when I came out of the bathroom yesterday. And she was hollering,"Momma!" the whole time I was gone.

            Ignore all the clutter in the background. You didn't see it.

Also, just randomnly, I got the SWEETEST present from one of my little boys. My birthday is Saturday, but this week is our Spring Break, so the kids knew we wouldn't be there on my birthday. First graders are all about birthdays. So I got a couple of homemade presents. One little boy "wrapped" his present in a diaper case with a whistle. Inside was an orange for me and a little toy "for Baby Joy." Melt. my. heart. :)

If You Need to Know the Seasons, Give Me a Call

We have been working on our seasons unit in science. We've finished winter and are starting spring next week. We should have been about halfway through by now, but you know how that goes. I had four absent today, so I let the kids help me finish my anchor charts.

I drew the trunks and the kids glued on the leaves. I love scrapbook paper.

 

To introduce the unit, we watched this video from Harry Kindergarten. The kids LOVE it. Here's the link if you've never seen it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWF8Su78xik

I typed it up so I can put it in a center later. Plus I can't remember the words. I'm going to put it on TPT for free. I would just put it on here but I don't know how to upload it.

We've also been busy writing in our seasons' journals I got from Today in First Grade. Here's the link to the freebie. It's a great addition to our study on seasons. http://todayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com/2011/09/learning-about-seasons.html 

 

The Dot

Our story this week, well actually last week, is The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. It's about a little girl, Vashti, who doesn't like to draw. It's a really cute little story and my kids loved it. Her teacher puts her drawing of a dot in a swirly gold fame. This inspires Vashti to make more dot paintings- big dots, little dots, etc. Today we did two art activities. They made a small painting of their own dot and they painted a gold frame. The frames came from Michael's. I saw some that were swirly but they were $4 each. Nah. Couldn't do it. These were cutouts- I think 6 in a pack for a dollar.

Here they are painting their frames with glitter paint- oooh!

 

Some made a dot by NOT painting a dot like Vashti does in the story.

I worked with them in small groups with the painting. My sweet momma helped us today. She comes on Thursdays. While we were painting, the rest of the kids were drawing a picture from a dot. I got this freebie from TPT. Here's the link. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Can-You-SPOT-the-DOT-A-book-art-activity

The idea is to create a picture from the dot. The dot can be anything- an eye, a head. These turned out sooooo cute. My favorites- the duck and the pirate. Can you spot the dot?

     He wasn't quite finished but I snapped a picture anyway.

                                        This is a "caterpillar balloon."

    This duck cracks me up. He looks like he has on sunglasses.

If they finished that (which some of them did), they worked on my comprehension activity which I have on TPT. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Dot-Comprehension-Questions-and-Writing-Station-Reading-Street

It was a pretty good day. They had a lot of fun. We don't have Art or Music anymore so it was nice to see them creating something. I heard, "I'm going to make a dot by not painting a dot, just like Vashti."

Mama's Birthday Present

This is just a quick activity we did for our story, Mama's Birthday Present, this week. Actually, we're supposed to be on The Dot but I'm behind! We'll start that one tomorrow. I asked the kids what would be a good present for Mama. They came up with some interesting gifts. Then they wrote their answers and glued them on their present. I had some scrapbook paper left over.