It’s been a BUSY 4 weeks! This eCard describes my past few weeks perfectly! 
With tomorrow being Monday Two, I am excited to finally have a few minutes to sit down and give you all a peek into these past few weeks. This post is going to be full of catching-up-randomness! Bare with me. Every year I tell myself that I am NOT going to miss Grandparent’s Day. September gets here, flies by, and sure enough, I miss Grandparent’s Day….every.stinkin.year. So, this year, I put a reminder on my phone to not miss it!! We started off with a bubble map describing Grandparents. 
Then, each kiddo completed this quick and easy craftivity to give to their Grandparents. 
They each had to respond to the prompt: If Grandparents were apples, I’d choose you because…. 
The one on the right is just too funny! I know I am way late on posting this craft. Hopefully you can download it and save it for next year…or use the craft during an apple unit. Click {here} to download it. Science was all about weather! I tried really hard to channel my inner Cara Carroll and whip up this meteorologist anchor chart. 
After learning all about meteorologist, each kiddo had to write 3 sentences about what they would do, predict, and use if they were a meteorologist. Then, they created their very own meteorologist. Original idea from {here} and {here}. 
We also read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It is always a great read aloud! It goes right along with precipitation. With precipitation being one of our big focuses, we discussed all the different types of precipitation. We also worked a lot on the different types of clouds. A Day in First Grade has the BEST science packs! We had loads of fun creating and observing the different types of clouds with her fabulous unit. We used this poem, Rain, throughout the week to look for our phonics skill, punctuation, and practice fluency. 
Each day we added to our predictable weather chart. I adore Cara Carroll’s idea of putting it together to create a class book. Brilliant! 
We have been working a lot with building and comparing numbers to 30 these past few weeks. One of my favorite activities to do with my kiddos is comparing numbers using the good ‘ole alligator strategy! Works like a charm! Each kiddo picked 2 numbers, placed them on the lily pads, built the number using rods and units {tens and ones}, and then compared the two numbers. Simple and loads of fun! 
Have I told you how much a LOVE to teach reading? It is seriously my favorite part of the day. Our comprehension skill was main idea last week, and let me just say, my kiddos are pros at identifying the main idea! To introduce main idea, I told my kiddos this story {it was slightly exaggerated} about how when I went to pick out my clothes to wear to school I noticed that one of my shirts had a few strings hanging out. I told them that I started to pull out all the loose strings, some came out just fine, but when I pulled one a few others….my whole shirt began to fall apart. I drew an illustration of my shirt with all the strings hanging out and then explained how those strings are just like the details to our stories. Some details we need in order for our story to stay together, and some we do not. 
Each table got a mystery bag filled with 5 different pictures {the details}. 
After finding all the detail cards, each table had to write their details and main idea on the shirts. They also had to share their details with the class and come up with a story that included all the details from the bag. After sharing, they had to tell us which detail they did not need for their main idea. 
You can find all the mystery bag cards {here}. After lots of practice, the kiddos used these adorable pockets from Deanna Jump’s Interactive Reading Journal pack to identify the details and main idea from their basal story. 
And before I go, I have to share my little priss’ very first school project with you all! Their homework was to make a garbage monster with parts that were recyclable and reusable! Needless to say, my priss decided she needed to make a fairy! I think I may have gotten a little carried away with the glitter! EEEKKK!!! 
Now, I am off to rest up for Monday Two!!!
