Sunday, September 28, 2014

Drawing in Writer's Workshop


We have been working hard AND having fun in Writer's Workshop. 
One of our absolute favorite parts of the day!

To watch 22 of my little kindergarten friends {all with very different strengths, needs, personalities, and interests} be so focused, engaged, and excited during workshop time is BEYOND REWARDING!

Our first unit focuses on drawing...


During the workshop framework we...

read great mentor texts

have a mini lesson about a specific drawing strategy

 practice the skill in our Doodles and Drawings book 
{which is ALWAYS connected to our mini-lesson}

have time to draw things that interest us
{which may or may not connect to that day's mini-lesson, but gives us an opportunity to grow as writers}

We will be wrapping our drawing unit this week and having a fun writing celebration! 
We've learned a great deal and have a lot to celebrate. 

The students have learned about...

drawing with different tools
and how to take care of those supplies





drawing lines






Madilynn and I stopped by the classroom and she found our roll a doodle bin and couldn't wait to play! :)

drawing faces that show emotion





practicing specific steps or tricks to make drawing easier






working on how to fill the white space and add details








adding speech bubbles


drawing animals

 learning from our peers





studying craft choices that authors and illustrators make 






and SO much more!!!

Several of the students have loved their doodle book so much that they made extra copies to doodle in during free choice or at home! :)


Teachers - you can grab your Doodle Book at TpT:
or stop by the Literacy and Laughter Facebook Page to a flash giveaway. :)

To see other Drawing ideas check out this board:



I am excited to celebrate with my growing writers and their families this week... and look forward to watching them grow throughout the year! 





Wednesday, September 24, 2014

makes me smile



Today during reader's workshop my book lovers shared a book that they are LOVING right now...
It has been so much fun getting to know their interests as readers. I {love} so many of the books they chose!  


Teacher friends...
here are some goodies for your book lovers:


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Pout Pout Fish Goes to School!


(look at these pout pout faces!!!) 
My book lovers were super excited to enjoy a visit from the author and illustrator of The Pout Pout Fish series. 


We loved reading along to

and watching Dan Hannah teach us how to draw fish!




We practiced our pout pout faces.. and  did a little singing and dancing to "If You are Pouty and You Know It"


BOOK LOVERS...

I thought you might like these Pout Pout Songs... 
:)


or this website:



                                                           

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

We the Kids... {celebrating constitution day}

We learned about The Constitution today. 

First, we watched a short movie clip from this book:

Then we had a great discussion about WHY it is important to have a promise to each other to ensure that everyone can be happy and safe here at school. 

We wrote our class constitution.
Sounds good to me! 

And made these beautiful portraits as a way to say we'd abide by our new constitution. 









LOVE, LOVE, LOVE hearing my students read our constitution...
Listen to it below:







     
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