Traveling Rewind, My Currently and a new unit!

Alright so I am finally getting around to posting how I organized the students traveling binders. This needs a big REWIND! I will also show you a little bit on what reading skills we attached to the unit. We started off by teaching the students about the hemispheres {we used an orange and labeled it and cut it apart to visually show them how the equator helped define the Northern and Southern hemispheres}. Then we labeled a map and identified the 7 continents as well as placed a compass on the map. This was the first activity we did and kept in our traveling binder.

In this picture you can see that after we visited each continent the students had placed a star on it to show we had traveled there. Then after that, the students used maps that they glued onto file folders which we used to represent dividers.  We used the same color as the map to label each continent. If you click on this picture it will take you to my TpT store where you can pick these up for FREE!

So now on to the inside of the dividers. We had the students read articles that had basic information about each continent. We called these are mini books and they were glued into the left side of the divider. They really liked doing this. We color coded each topic so that it would be consistent when we filled it out for each continent. The only one that was a little different was Antarctica. Sorry about the second picture, I just wanted you to see that the mini books opened with the information inside.

Moving right along. After they completed this we had them buddy up and read through books that we had copied for them. We taught the students how to track their thinking as well as practice answering "right there and thinking" questions. This worked out great because it is definitely a skill that the students need for third grade so I am glad we were able to review this. The series that we used {copied} for the students was the series {A true Book} that I showed you before. But in case you don't remember here it is again.

Here is what the students' books looked like. We really wanted to make sure that every student had exposure to the text!

Okay so for the questioning, this series is great because as part of the table of continents they ask a question for each chapter! Fantastic right? So those were the questions that each student was responsible for. I made a sheet for the students to use as they were reading that had all the questions typed up.  Once they found the answer they used sticky notes to write them down on and place it on top of the corresponding question. Here is what it looked like.

Now moving onto tracking your thinking. This was done on the back of each sheet. Once they answered ALL of their questions they went aloud to track their thinking. They could track connections, questions, and interesting facts. Here is what it looked like.

Now we will move onto the last part of their assignment. They had to create a summary which you can see above. In order for them to be focused and on point with their summaries we created an anchor chart to assist them in writing a nonfiction summary. This is what the anchor chart looked like.

I wanted to show you another example of a summary that one of my little ones did. I have to warn you they were very precise with their surrounding ocean facts {they needed another sheet of paper}. It really is too cute and I am pretty sure they used their map to add in their directional location.

That about sums it up. A whole bunch of learning in one binder. They absolutely loved this unit. We ended it with our traveling experience where the students created suitcases and made artifacts from each continent. I have already posted about this {here} so if you missed it make sure you check that out. However, in that post I did not offer the stickers I used to decorate their suitcases. I have put them all together and created another freebie for all of you. So if you click on the picture of the suitcase you can pick it up at my TpT store.

I also wanted to show you the book that I purchased to help with creating artifacts from the 7 continents. I purchased it from Amazon but you can probably find it at a book store as well.

I also forgot to show you some of the other resources we used in the unit. Here is a picture of those books. We read P is for Passport after we labeled our dividers. It helped kick off our around the world traveling. Then if we had any spare time {usually as their morning work} we did math from around the world.

So now that I feel complete and happy to have posted all that traveling unit information. I can now officially move on to share my June Currently with you. I know, I am kinda late on this one but better late than never is what my mom always used to tell me. So here you go.

Boy this is sure a long post, I guess that is what I get for not posting all of my traveling pictures until now.  Thanks for hanging in there with me. Anyways, onto my new unit. I have to admit something....... I thought I was going to work on my mystery unit but it turns out my inspiration shifted and I created an interactive center for reading responses. Since I am teaching summer school, this jumped up to the top of the list and my mystery unit got put on hold for a minute. I am pretty excited to use this center because I think that it will make  creating  responses easy for your students {and mine}. If you click on the pictures below it will take you to my TpT store where you can pick up a copy of this little unit.

Okay, I am off to get last minute gifts for Father's Day {well really it is groceries because I am going to attempt to cook my Dad a Father's Day Dinner}! I am hard at work on my Mystery Unit so I will post that as soon as it is finished. I am also working on a fun activity for the beginning of the year. Monday starts the first day of summer school for me!!! AHHHH, I don't know what I was thinking.

I'm A little Under the Weather....

Well I feel like I have been saying this too much lately but, I am sorry I didn't get the post up mid week. In all honesty it has been a rough one. Monday morning I woke up and had the worst sinus pressure I think known to man {okay so I might be exaggerating a little but it was pretty bad}. Then the week went down hill from there. NO, I didn't take any days off which is probably why I am sick with an ear infection and the start of Strep Throat. This is the second ear infection this year! I haven't had this since I was a little girl! But this year I have managed to get it twice.  I don't know  about all of you but I am thinking that I must not be doing something right.

Anyways, last night was pretty rough. I have to give a little thank you to my wonderful husband. I just couldn't get comfortable because I had horrible back pain and head ache so every time I would get up {it was every hour} he was right there by my side. So needless to say I have had enough of the bed and wanted to get up. Mark is still in bed catching up on the sleep that I kept him from getting. While I am here making a quick post and trying to get myself tired enough to not think about my aches and pains.

So here is part of the traveling unit that I just wrapped up. I am showing the artifacts that the kids got to "pick up" while they were visiting a continent. The students participated in traveling to one of the other second grade classrooms to make some of the artifacts but we also made some with just our class. Since we only have 5 second grade classrooms, two {Antarctica and Australia: the two continents completely in the southern hemisphere} had to be made with the homeroom teacher. Below you can take a look at their suitcases and all the fun artifacts they created and collected along the way. They definitely became world travelers!

That is all of their artifacts! The kids really enjoyed all the "traveling" they did. In their passports we had them describe their artifacts on the lines at the bottom of the page. This way they would always be able to remember what it is that they made and what continent/country it came from. We also have them glue in a traveling stamp from each continent as well.

Okay I think that is all for now. Feeling a little sleepy. I will try and be back to post some of my freebies I have been wanting to give away as well as a ton of more classroom photos. I am hoping to be back sometime soon. Until then I wish everyone a great Memorial Day!

 

Continent Boxes, Book Study Update and Unit

First things first. I would like to say thank you to all of you that participated in my 3 day sale in honor of my 1 year wedding anniversary.  Thank you so much for all your support!

Okay now on to things in my classroom. This past week my students had to take the SAT. I am so proud of all of them, they really took control of the test! In case you are wondering what I am talking about I took an idea that I saw on Pinterest and created it for my classroom. Here is the picture of the anchor chart I found on Pinterest and the candy game controller tags I made for the students to go along with what we had practiced. I only wrote test taking strategies that I felt my students would use, so I didn't use all of the strategies that you will see on the picture below. However I did think it had a tone of strategies so that is why I posted it.

As you all know my students have been hard at work on their idiom pages. They are still putting the finishing touches on them so as soon as they are done I will post their finished product. I do have to say they are very creative and some are pretty funny. If you are looking for a creative writing activity you should take a look at my Idiom unit. Click on the picture below to take you to my TpT store. I have added a class book cover, alphabet choice cards, and an idiom definition teaching chart to the unit. After I used it in my classroom I felt these were needed so if you purchased it make sure you re-download it if you haven't already.

A few weeks ago I had posted about a book study that I was in. We are talking a look at the book called "Reciprocal Teaching at Work" which is geared toward improving reading comprehension. Recently we had to read over chapter one where were took a deeper look into the fab four strategies all good readers use: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. After reading this chapter my brain was buzzing with ideas. One idea that I have is to provide my students with better strategies to use when clarifying text or ideas. So I started thinking and, Ta-Da, a new unit is in the making. Here is a preview of the unit. I am hoping to have it finished sometime this week.

Okay so on to my Continent Boxes project. I have seen tons of continent boxes on Pinterest and all over the internet. I have been totally inspired to create them for my classroom.  We have just finished studying the United States and are moving to learn about the 7 continents of the world. So I have started looking up resources that I could use to create them and here is what I have so far.

First I purchased 7 of the photo boxes from Michael's Craft Supply Store.

Then I purchased Landmarks Around the World Toob. You can click on the link to purchase them from Amazon. However I bought mine from Michael's Craft Store.

The next item that I was pretty excited about was hats from around the world. I found these at Oriental Trading. I just love this online store. It has great crafts for kids at a great price!

The last item that I have purchased is a book series called A True Book Series. If you haven't looked at this series before it is a really great nonfiction series that I perfect for young readers. They also make books in lots of topics, so even if you are not interested in their continent series you should still take a look. Below are the books that I purchased for the continent boxes. I found them originally at Barnes and Nobel however they didn't have all the books so I ordered the rest from Amazon.

Now I need to decorate the boxes and fill them up with all the goodies. I am still on the lookout for some things to add to what I have already purchased. I will keep you posted as I create each box. I am really excited to start crafting each box to represent each continent. I just love making resources for my students and classroom.

That is it for now. I hope everyone has a great week with their students.