MLK Recap & Polar Bear Week Plans

My sister took that picture with her class….so sweet and fitting for our focus last week- -coming together to make a difference!  Last week we read Ron’s Big Mission, a realistic fiction text!  If you haven’t read that one is great and the kids really get a solid understanding of how times have changed for the better and how to stand up for something you believe in!  You can download my plans from last week by clicking below!

We used several great activities from A Year of Many First’s Martin’s Big Dream packet! Below you can see our dreams for the future….

Vocabulary, essential question, and theme bubble chart…

Below is craft and writing my sister’s class did…how they will change the world!
In writing we started how-to stories!  I started off by reading Pizza at Sally’s to get the kiddos thinking about the steps to make pizza.  We talked about how we write how-to stories as if the person reading our story has never done it before!

How to Build a Snowman…. 
First, you roll a snow ball.  Next, you put the head on.  Last, you decorate it!

How to make a sandwich…
First, get the bread.  Next, get the PB and J.  Last, put the bread on the sandwich and eat it!

You can download all of these how-to writing templates for free by clicking below!
In math we started talking about counting by 2’s to 20.  We discussed when to count by two’s….when we are trying to count more efficiently and when things come in pairs like socks!  So, we counted up our socks a few times!
 I illustrated counting by 2’s on the board for the kiddos to visually see the skips.  We talking about the skipped number is like the whisper number and we practiced that for those that needed to hear that skipped number.

2, *whisper 3*, 4, *whisper 5*, 6, *whisper 7*, 8, whisper 9*, 10……

The next day the kiddos got their hands on making cube sets of 2’s to 20….


After they had their cube sets of two to 20 they got to write the skips to 20 using dry erase marker….”Oh my, did the teacher just tell us to write on the table?!!”


See the kiddos in action….

Each day we followed up our practice with independent sheets!  I whipped these up after quickly noticing that programs lack kid-friendly skip counting practice!


You can view the practice sheets by clicking below!  I also have 5’s and 10’s 🙂

Next week is nonfiction Polar Bears!  Can’t wait….you can download those plans below!

Now just a few random thoughts….I JUST updated the endless guided reading mega bundle with these two new packets!  If you are a mega bundle owner you can download the updates or email me!

You can view just the two new packets as well!  Comprehension passages come with three versions of each story…a simple read, read and circle answers, or read and write answers!  Click below to view more….


Write sound by sound is filled with several sound box cards…I love using these sound box cards at reading group, but especially as a independent literacy center! If you’d like to view those you can click below!

Also….kick the winter blues with a 2-day sale!  If you’ve had your eye on any packets they are on sale for 2-% off through Monday!

Alrighty friends I’m out!  Have a super-fabulous-wonderful week!

7 Comments

  3. Yeah! Now I have more things to print and laminate. I love new things! Thank you! I loved your non-fiction close reads so much I just bought the fiction close reads as well. 🙂 Andrea

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