Want A Classroom Makeover for FREE??

This is for all the teachers out there who want to update the look of their classroom without spending a ton of money...here's how I'm doing it. I signed up to become a Thirty-One consultant. My kit cost me $99 up front (plus shipping and tax).  I had three parties in the first 30 days...one home party (thanks Rita!), one catalog party (thanks Jennifer!) and one work party (thanks Linda!). In all my parties totaled $1,200...and all I had to do was get the word out! Because I made over $1,000 in my first 30 days my kit was FREE (they refunded me the $99 I had originally paid). I also made $300 in commission for the month. Now, I am taking that $300 and placing my own party order. I am going to buy all of the things I want to decorate/organize my classroom. I will get over $300 worth of products (by the time I use my hostess credit and incentives) and I will make another $75 in commission off  my own party!!! Here's the breakdown....

-Spent $99 for consultant kit

-Earned $99 rebate for selling $1,000 in my first thirty days

-Earned $300 in commission

-Spent $300 on classroom decoration/organization

-Earned $75 in commission

 

If you want to do the same thing send me a message and I can give you more details. It is worth it for anyone but DEFINITELY teachers!!! Hurry though...the kit rebate offer is only good if you sign up before April 1st!

 

This is what you get in your kit for only $99!!!

These are some of the products I plan on purchasing with my $300....

 

 

 

 

We're On Facebook!

Just wanted everyone to know that For the Love of Learning is now on Facebook! Like it for updates on products, stories, and tips! http://www.facebook.com/fortheloveoflearning1



Culture Projects

As an extension of my immigration unit, the students have been working on "culture projects."  This not only went with our social studies topic but also connected to our reading standards as well. Students have been comparing and contrasting multiple versions of the same story. To do this, we have read folk tales/fables from all around the world.

My students were having a very hard time understanding exactly what I meant by "culture" so I started racking my brain for another way to explain it. I decided that in order to break it down to a second grade level I would give them certain target areas to pinpoint in the stories we were reading. I told the class to focus on the food, clothing, language, and beliefs/traditions/environment.  Once they had something concrete to look for the lessons started flowing much more smoothly. 

At the end of our reading unit I had students choose a fable/folk tale from a culture other than our own. They then created a poster and presented it while I videotaped the groups. I inserted their videos into a PowerPoint presentation and the kids played "Guess Our Culture" as we watched the clips. They seemed to really enjoy seeing themselves on the "big screen" aka...SmartBoard :)

 

 



After all the videos were completed, the students filled in their own culture sheet identifying how they would change an original version of a story. They focused on the same four elements they included in the posters.

Finally, the students wrapped up the project by choosing a partner (or working individually if they preferred) and researching a specific country.  They completed the culture project outline paper that is included in my TPT unit.  When they were done, they used the information to write a "report" on their country/culture and then create a poster to present to the class. I went online and printed out outlines of their countries, dug out the markers, and let them go! They had a blast being given the freedom to do anything they wanted to it. Here's how they looked...

 





Snow Cone Party!!!

My AWESOME class won a snow cone party this week for earning 20 charms at school. Way to go kiddos!!! 

Contractions

We are starting our contraction unit this week. Here's an anchor chart the kids have to refer to. I have also created some mini "rule" cards. You can get your copy from my TPT store.

 

 

 

 

Coming to America

Next week we will be starting a unit on immigration. It was very hard for me to find many age appropriate resources on this topic so I decided I would just make them myself :) This is my unit that is available on teachers pay teachers. If you want to check it out just click the image. It includes

• Introduction to diversity with a suggested read aloud/activity
• Vocabulary words/definitions/examples
• A vocabulary flip-book
• Student friendly passage about Ellis Island
• Ellis Island sequencing activity
• Parent letter and outline for family tree project
• Suggested activities and outline for culture project

Week one of immigration is down and the kids seem to really be enjoying it. We started out by introducing the words immigration, beliefs, culture, and traditions. We have used these words repeatedly in both our reading and social studies.  We completed an activity that goes with the story The Crayon Box That Talked to show how diversity is a good thing. For the activity, I told the students to take out one color crayon and draw a picture. After a few minutes I told the kids that they could color a second picture using all of their crayons. They all started cheering! It was like I had given them the best gift ever :) They spent the next few minutes working diligently on their drawings. When the time was up I had the students write a sentence on the bottom of the paper telling which picture they liked best and why. All of the students picked their second picture.  We then brainstormed words that described the way the pictures made us feel and wrote them on the outside. It was very interesting to see the things the students came up with. When we were done we read The Crayon Box That Talked and discussed how having a world with all the same kind of people would be very similar to having a box of crayons with only one color, boring, dull, sad, etc.  Here are a couple of the students' papers.

 

Next, we discussed how immigrants have played an important part in creating our diverse country. We watched a video on Ellis Island on Brainpop Jr.  The students then paired up and read an Ellis Island article. With their partners they sequenced the events that the immigrants had to go through in order to become a U.S. citizen.

 

We included a leveled reader into our guided reading groups that also discussed Ellis Island and immigration. The kids had an automatic connection to it because it discussed a lot about the Statue of Liberty being the first symbol of freedom that was seen by the immigrants. This was fresh on their minds because we just finished up our symbols and government unit. I love it when things go together smoothly!

 

 

At the end of the week the students chose three of the vocabulary words and created a flip book with definitions and illustrations.

 

Next week we are going to shift our focus to culture and the meaning and contributions that different cultures have had on our country.