Springtime glyph.

We're learning about spring weather this week and I wanted to do a cute little rain project to hang up on my walls.  I did a similar umbrella & rain boot craft a few years back but now it's a printable that I can share with you!  ;)

You can print the glyph pieces on construction paper and glue them together to make the craft OR if you're short on time, you can print the coloring pages and have your students complete it with their crayons.  Either way, it's a great display to hang with writing about rain, spring or changes in the weather.

I also downloaded this adorable Rainy Day Digraph activity from Of Primary Importance.

Instead of using it as a game, I copied the pages for each of my students as we learned about ch, sh & th.  We glued our raindrops to blue strips and our lightning to yellow.  It's a Spring Sound Storm across the back bookshelves!!!  And it really solidified the sounds for my students.

Once I get my Easter chicks up, we'll be all set for April!  :)  Happy 1st day of Spring!  Sending sunshine your way!!

ed & ing {verb work}

I loosely taught the ing ending at the beginning of the year because it's an easy one to remember.  See ing, say ing! like you're ringing a bell.  Most of them get it just like that...but only in reading recognition, not so much when it comes to writing it themselves.

I figured this was just as good a week as any to teach it during writing, and ed right along with it!  The Teacher Wife made this awesome word ending unit that I bought last year and really used it to teach and practice all week.  {I love how her ed people are old and her ing people are students.  So relevant to past and present!!}

We started by putting ed and ing on the SmartBoard and filling in a 3 column chart with the verb in the middle.  {walked, walk, walking}  To help the kids remember that ing is happening now, I had them get up and act out whatever verb they came up with.

Then they created their own old ed and now ing characters like the ones from the packet.

After that I gave them each an outline with flower pieces.  I wrote either ed or ing in the center of their flower and set them loose to add the ending to whichever verbs they chose!  {Easy differentiation: ed was harder because the students had to know which verbs didn't make sense that way...like rided/rode and which already ended in e so they didn't add it again...like dance.}

They cut grass from the scrap bucket, I added a glitter stem and a sun with their name and voila!  Our verbs are displayed proudly for all to see in a happy spring fashion.  :)

If you'd like to make it yourself, get the packet above from The Teacher Wife or click below for my free flower download!

I'm officially on Spring Break and ready to just relax.  Starting with a trip to see The Hunger Games tonight {finally!}.  Happy Weekend friends!

how many days 'til spring break?!

How has your week been ladies?  Because mine has been like this...

Just replace the word "cabin" with "spring" and we've got it.  Don't hear me wrong, I am luh-ving 70 and 80 degree recesses but the warm weather paired with spring break beginning soon is a recipe for madness.

I saw this cute cute idea on Pinterest and think I may use it next week as we gear up for a break.  The picture links you to Teacher Treasures but I couldn't find it hiding in there.  {If you find the pattern, help a sister out!}

I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to make and my kids will love writing with a colored pencil.  And if you don't have any of these construction paper crayons that practically glow on black paper, make a note to go speak with your art teacher ASAP!

Instead of a poem about spring they could write about what they want to do this spring/summer, where they wish they were going on spring break, how the warm weather makes them feel {ooh!  I know!  energized!!!} or they could list things they observe outside in the warm weather...since they're writing on sunglasses after all.

Ok, and just because I love you {and this idea} this is how I plan to dye Easter eggs next week.  I won't even complain about the stains on my fingers because it WON'T smell like vinegar in my room!!

spring showers.

Whether your spring is coming in like lion or a lamb probably depends on what part of the country you're in.  But either way, it's coming!  I was reminded of this while I was in Chicago for my little sister's baby shower over the weekend.  It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend for Chicago...but still a good 20 degrees cooler than I've been used to down here in the south!

Spring always means rainy weather and this is a quick activity you can do for writing or as part of a weather study.  I actually pulled them out early this year during a unit on patterns.  Pardon the gloomy dark pictures, it was one of those dark, rainy days!  {and I was shooting into the window...}

"When it rains, I like to..."

You can also add little feet and legs sticking out of the bottom like the kids are walking around in the rain, I just can't ever get my proportions right and opt to add raindrops instead.  ;)

Enjoy your warm weather and sunshine...whenever it arrives!  :)

Spring has sprung.

While visiting my husband's sister in the mountains this weekend I wore my winter coat one day and got a sunburn the next...spring has definitely hit the south!

We're talking a lot about spring in class, too.  Some fun to share:


We created a spring vocabulary chart as I tend to do with most {ok, all!} of our science and social studies units.  Instead of having the kids write in their journals this time, I hung our charts in the science center and they wrote sentences in flower booklets that are oh, so cute.

{I usually staple these to the wall above my counter but I moved my Word Wall back there this year so I had to improvise our garden area!}

Since our chicks will be hatching soon we made these presh crafts in anticipation...only 3 days left to go!!!  We talked about the fact that chicks don't really hatch from Easter eggs or come out with colorful feathers, but the fancy decorations did make for great detailed writing!!

"My egg is awesome and he has blue eyes and decorations on his shell.  He has a cool star on it's egg."

"My chick is named Sandra.  Her egg has polkadots and stars and swirlies and zigzags."

Besides having chicks hatching in the next few days, we also received a LARGE shipment of over 30 caterpillars!!  We read the recipe, measured the ingredients to make their food and put them in individual cups {with a few roommate pairs}.  As one student said "We better keep those worms away from our chicks so they don't think it's here for breakfast!"


After we were familiar with signs of spring, we used this sheet from The Teacher's Guide to organize what we'd learned.  I'll adapt it for next time because it only touched on four senses and we had to write "I taste" on the back.  You can get the sheet here until I get around to it.  ;)

Then the students picked their favorite sentences and wrote them on rain drops.  Recognize the rainbows??  I just replaced the pots of gold with raindrops and voila!  New work display.  :)

After reading an acrostic poem in our literacy unit the students wanted to do their own so we filled our windows {for a better view!} with our own acrostic poems of SPRING.  "Sunny day, Poppies of spring, Rainbow, Ice Melting, Nest, Grass growing."

One even got my most favorite spring phrase...Spring Break!  :)