Aloha,

Summer is coming quickly and in kindergarten and first grade we have been having a little fun with sandcastles. For a great kindergarten Writer's Workshop ideas our K's did some how-to writing for how to build a sandcastle. This would be great for firsties too! Also, who doesn't love sandy pudding. This snack has been around forever and here is a recording sheet for another how-to idea. I love to do the writing first and then have my students use it to make the snack.

Click here for Sandy Pudding and How-To Build a Sandcastle! I can't wait for summer...

Opinion Writing and a Brainstorming Template for Firsties

Aloha,

In our kindergarten and first grade classrooms we have been doing some opinion writing. I thought that I had taken some pictures of the finished product, but I did not. The kindergarten writing is about something that all K's can identify with, food. The first grade writing is about forming an opinion based on protecting our oceans. I read some great non-fiction facts about the harms to our oceans from some of our books in our library. I did not share any of my opinions, just the facts. The Common Core Standards are listed small on the bottom and the restaurant writing could be a great intro to opinion writing for firsties as well.

Aside from writing, writing and more writing, the last two weeks have been super busy. We finished up our learning of the rain forest and started learning about our oceans. We did a great "sand lab" science experiment where students chose how they wanted to sort the sand and then went through the scientific process with their thinking.

 

 

Oh yes, and back to writing. Each week we have a thematic homework packet and this week they were asked to write an undersea adventure. To help them with organizing their thoughts we started our brainstorming in class. I made a generic brainstorming sheet for you below. In the middle is where students can put their main idea and they can surround it with their supporting ideas. This student was writing about sea turtles.

 

 



 



I am on a bunny role!!

Aloha blog friends,

 

If you are anything like me you ran to Wal-Mart as soon as you read Reagan Tunstall's post on her Easter Finds. If you haven't you can endulge here. Well, I bought her math and literacy stations as well as Sarah Cooley's. They are all super cute! I know that for some of my firsties, manipulatives are what they gravitate towards, so here is a little booklet to help with that. It works perfectly with the Easter egg holder and bunny manipulatives from Wal-Mart, as shown in the picture on Reagan's site. All students need to do is use the manipulatives, draw illustrations to match the picture and solve.

(Graphics and fonts courtesy of Cara Carroll, Pink Cat Studio and Creative Clips)

 

Writing Craft Posters are Here!!

Aloha Bloggers,

 

I am so excited to share that I have posted my Writing Crafts and Strategies posters on TpT! I absolutely love these posters and use them daily during Writer's Workshop and Reader's Workshop (more on that later).

 

I think that Writing Crafts are my favorite topic to teach students. They are fun and any level of writer that you have can incorporate them. Here is one example from my classroom this year of how I posted the poster beside some of our written work. Below the point of view poster is an "I can" statement card that says "I can write from the point of view of an ant." Our mentor text for this lesson was Hey Little Ant. Another great mentor text is Ant Bully.

 

 

I know how fun it is to read a post and sample a taste of what is offered at TpT, so here is your own Point of View poster to download and enjoy!

 

Wee Willie Winkie Poetry & Telling Time FREEBIE

Aloha,

Click on the picture below to go directly to my freebie on TpT of Wee Willie Winkie and telling time. There are three pages included. One telling time to the hour, half-hour and blank for students or teachers to fill in. The poem is included on the top of each page.

FREE Wee Willie Winkie on TpT

Welcome again to the Pink Pineapple

Aloha blog friends,

It has been far too long since I last posted (almost a year...gasp!), but I vow to not allow that to happen again. I can't wait to share my crazy little ideas with the blogging world. I am having blog withdrawels with some of my favorite bloggers changing positions. I love them and all that they have offered to first grade (and beyond) teachers like myself. I check daily to read new posts and love what it has offered my classroom. What I have loved the most from my favorite bloggers, I will attempt to share with you...

1. Yummy classroom pictures that I click on to make as big as possible to check out what is going on in the background (do you ever do that?)...

 

2. Freebies that you can download and print like some sort of teacher addict because you are afraid that it won't be there the next time...

3. Cute, relevant lessons to buy on TPT...

In addition, I can't wait to share...

1. My units of how I travel around the world in my classroom, complete with non-fiction reading passages, spelling words, mentor text connections, craftivities, homework packets and more...

2. Cooking in the classroom that is educational, fun and usually healthy...

3. Little video clips for make-and-takes, read-alouds and hands-on science that can be utilized at your leisure... (sorry this is so grainy and shaky...it was one of my first so it has a special place in my heart. On this day I went down early in the morning and collected a bunch of invertebrates and had them in this white bucket which was sitting in the middle of the cirlce rug when my students walked in the classroom with a lid on it. I showed them this video on the Smart Board and they were soooo excited to see what was in there.)

 

And so much more. So here we go!

At Last...it is time for an ADVENTURE!

Aloha Blog World,

I can't tell you through this post how excited I am to be here in the blogging world. I have been thinking of having a blog long before there were any of the thousands of awesome teacher bloggers out there. Now, I am here and ready to share. I have so much planned and preparred that I am giddy with excitement. I promise I won't talk to much...just focus on ideas, freebies, and inspiring pictures.

I know that I am not the only one still on Spring Break, so here is a freebie to have on your students desks when they arrive back to school:

Well, there you have it, my first of many blog posts. Just click on the picture above to download and enjoy!