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National Poetry Month

Aloha friends! It's Corinna from Surfin' Through Second.  Did you know April is National Poetry Month?  This is a great time to pull out your favorite poems and get your students reading and writing poetry.



In my class I have a few book boxes full of poetry and of course lots of shelf space for our favorite authors.
It's wonderful to smother your class in poetry and colorful words.  Once they have heard and read a variety of poems it's time to start writing their own.

I usually start with simple shape poems.  You can brainstorm ideas and write a class shape poem and then let them write their own.
Name poems are fun and kids love writing about themselves.


Click {HERE} for this acrostic name post and freebie.

This is a fun bulletin board idea using cinquains about weather.


Click {HERE} for this post on writing Cinquains 


Spring is the perfect theme for poetry.  Flowers, rainbows, animals and weather are all great topics to get your kids writing.








Here is a great idea from Mrs. Jone's Kindergarten for younger students incorporating poetry and literacy.


Another great pack from Vicky Moore to get your students loving poetry.

Finally a few freebies for you. This one is from Mrs. Rios Teaches.  Click on the picture to grab this in Google Docs.


I have a bit of an obsession with rainbows.  I see them almost everyday and I still love them!


Click {HERE} to scoop up this freebie.

Hopefully this post has given you some great ideas to get you ready for a fun month!!  I am looking forward it.

 


Peep..Peep...Hatching Chicks




Hi Friends... Anna here from Simply Skilled in Second!  I hope this finds you all well on this Sunday morning.  I am here to share a little bit of Spring with you :)



When I first started teaching second grade, I wanted my students to have a hands-on experience with live animals by doing a life cycle unit.  I chose chicks...of course...aren't they just the cutest little things!

Unfortunately, I don't get to do this unit anymore because our Kindergarteners do this unit in their classroom so I had to give it up. Sadsville!!! :(  But it was one of my favorite units to teach :)

An online friend of mine recently told me that she was going to be hatching chicks with her second graders and I begged her to send me some pics of it because I wanted to blog about this unit for a while.  

Here are a couple of adorable videos on Hatching Chicks...

Check out this website of an actual farm.  They have real-time video footage of different types of hatchlings...how adorable is this!!!!


Check out this cool website on Candling your chick eggs.  This is AWESOME!  Candling our eggs was one of my favorite things to do.  It is amazing what you can see inside of the chick egg when you apply light to it.

My sweet friend shared some photos with me of her class hatching chicks this past week and I was sooooo happy to follow along on her fun chick journey through pictures... 

Excited little ones checking out the eggs...they didn't even take off their backpacks...
STRAIGHT TO THE EGGS...they said!

Getting all warm and cozy in their incubator!

And the EXCITEMENT BEGINS....


THEY'RE HERE....THEY'RE HERE !!!!!  YIPPPEEEE!



TOO CUTE FOR WORDS!!!  



As the students watched their chicks go through their life cycle, they documented the progress of the life cycle in their flip flap book...


The students did observations and kept a log about what they saw as the chicks progressed through their life cycle.  







It was a fun time had by all and I am so grateful that my friend took me along for the ride!
If you would like to get your hands on this Hatching Chicks Flip Flap Book, click the image below...


Thanks again for stopping by!
Hugs,
Anna

 

Soooo many Bright Ideas

Did you get a chance to hop around and check out the AMAZING ideas in the Bright Ideas Blog Hops?

In case you were extra busy and missed out...here's a recap of what our uber-talented Chalkies contributed...

You can get to the specific posts by clicking the images.

Karen shared how to build reading stamina...



Nicole shared tips for improving student conversation...
“Mrs. 


Deb shared a site for finding great book sales!
Fabulously First


Katie shared organization tips... (can't figure out why blogger is changing her formatting...blogger can be such a sassafras!)
Photobucket



Lisa shared tips for successful Partner Reading Conversation...
  


Greg shared how to make glue sponges (have you seen this cutie on video yet?)...
SSK

Jessica shared small group planning ideas...

Casey shared tips for making math stations easy...
Second Grade Math Maniac


Heather shared about Testing Goody Bags...
2 Brainy Apples

Stacy shared several ways she uses numbers in the classroom...
Funky Fresh Firsties


Monica shared how to use up extra pronged folders as personal slates...
Button

Corinna shared how to organize your A-Z readers...
Surfin' Through Second 

Laura shared how she organizes money...
Peace, Love, & First Grade

Anna shared tips for Guided Math Stations...
  

Alyssha shared how to keep track of who you've conferred with...
Photobucket

Randi shared about teaching key words in math problem-solving...
Teach It With Class 

I just had SUCH a blast reading through these posts again to snag the images! Chalkies are amazing!!! Can't believe I have not hugged a single one of them in real life! It WILL happen, though!!


P.S. You have until midnight TONIGHT, March 22nd, to enter the March Mystery Box Giveaway...

Smiles -