Polar Folders...Nonfiction Text Features

Happy Monday friends! I know many of you went back to work today. I bet your kiddos were happy to see you.

My own two also returned to school. My real vacation begins today!  I have a week and a half left and needless to say I am looking forward to working on my long to-do list. Hubby is home for a few days (hallelujah!) so I get to spend time with him and have him watch the kids while I do some fun things.

School related...

Before we left for winter break we worked on creating our Polar Folders.
It was time to learn about Text Features and I wanted to make something they could refer back to at any given time in an easy way. I want it accessible. It is easier to open a file folder, than trying to search inside a composition notebook.

I taught 13 text features. One a day. We learned a definition of the text feature, but more importantly, we talked about what we learned from each text feature. I wanted them not to ignore them! They do have so much to tell.

The kids picked their own nonfiction book, based on interest and reading level.
I taught a text feature. Students looked for that text feature in their book and using the booklet sheets they recorded what they learned from the text feature of the day (no pictures). It was so nice to see them make the connection between the text feature and their actual learning.

I created THIS for our Polar Folders. Text Features are something I will review once we get back, but the Polar Bear Edition was well received :)

I hope you love it!  All you need are file folders and THIS :)

One Sharp Winner and a Time Capsule (Freebie)

Thanks to all of you who entered my Sharp Pencil Giveaway.  Visit Classroom Friendly Supplies and show Troy some love by purchasing a red, black, green or blue sharpener.  You will love it!

Jaime P. gets to take one home :) 

I made a  Time Capsule recording sheet for my students. I will be using it once we go back to school on January 22. Don't hate me. You get long summers. I get 3 weeks off.

Maybe you can use it and love it? I'd love a comment :) 

 Download here.

Our Christmas Presents

Today was my first day off and I spent it at the mall (not my favorite place). I stopped at 9:30 for a minute of silence for all the victims of last week's tragedy. Many tears and prayers for everyone who has been affected.

Since hubby is at work, I get to blog :)

Take a look at our Christmas presents. 

I will let the pictures do the talking:

Wishing for snow!  

Share Your Opinion!

On Monday, I began teaching Opinion Writing and all I can say is...it was A-mazing!!!   I guess we had been doing narrative writing for too long, because the kids rocked it. I am sure they were glad to try something new.

I decided to talk about something the kids were familiar with: Their favorite book character.

I wrote about him :)

On Tuesday,  I was observed (unannounced). The kids had created their hook and shared their opinions by then. We supported our opinion with facts and details.

Some of the charts we created.

The last picture is the final product .

My post observation went extremely well. I was very pleased with the grades and comments given by our interim principal.

I took it step by step. Modeled one thing at a time. Kids wrote. We shared. We edited. Repeat. Their first drafts were beyond fantastic!
We will do some editing, revising and write a final copy tomorrow. The rest of the week I have a variety of topics for them to practice with. After that, they get to use their brainstorming list we created on Monday.

In order to teach Opinion Writing, I created this product.

I love it. I really, really love it! I did some tweaking after teaching it. I did not wanted to put it out there without trying it out. Thanks to my amazing bloggy friend for reviewing this for me.

If my kids can write as well as they did, so can yours :) Find it HERE. 

Time to pick  someone who could LOVE this as much as I do.
Let's see... if you guess what my hubby does for a living I will send it to you for free!  I love guessing, don't you?  I think only one person who knows me personally can answer this. We will give her a serious talk if she spoils my guessing game. LOL.
Tiny hint: He wears a uniform to work.  Start guessing!

A Flat Estimation Jar?!

Raise your hand if you have ever used a flat estimation jar. Here, here!...(this is me raising my own hand).

The whole idea began with a small collection of  ... confetti!

They are organized using small Gerber containers. Gerber peaches are my favorite. Yum!

I used them to create a two dimensional estimation jar. 

This is how it works: I pick a handful of confetti. I project the confetti. My students estimate. We use sticky notes to organize our data using post-its. We decide how we are counting our data (by 2's, 5's, 10's). We find who got closest to the actual number and record it on our estimation books. We are making a book with the estimation of the month.

The kids LOVE it!  They keep begging me to get more confetti. I need to go shopping :)

But of course you can continue to use your 3 dimensional estimation jar.

Raise your hand if you'd like to try that? 

This is when you raise your hand and visit my TPT store to check this new product. 

If you are the first one to estimate how big my family is (cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents...) back home in Mexico City, you'll get it for free.