St. Patrick's Day Freebie!

My son's school makes leprechaun traps in second grade.  He has been looking forward to this since Kindergarten!  He is very proud of his trap and can't wait to set it up.  Just a few more decorations and it's ready.  Cross your fingers we catch a leprechaun! 

To celebrate those cute, little leprechauns...

I have a freebie for you!  Click on the picture to get your free copy.  

Don't forget to get last year's freebie too!

New Blog Design!!

Do you love it?  I do!!  I am head over heals about my new blog design.  It is amazing!  Tenille was so easy to work with and designed my blog even better than I could have imagined.  Check out her page for more incredible blog designs... Designs by Tenille.  

And, in honor of the beautiful, Spring-like weather we had here today, I added a new Write the Room to my store.  Click on the picture to check it out.

Cats, Cats and more Cats

These past two weeks were all about cats.  We started with a mischievous little cat named Cookie. My students loved reading about all of the mischief he gets into.  Then, they created their own Cookie story, writing about the different things Cookie would do if he went into their houses.  

Next we read Grumpy Cat.  My kids loved this story! Grumpy Cat is a fun story to use when talking about how a character changes.  We discussed finding evidence in the book to support how Grumpy Cat felt in the beginning of the story and the end.  Luckily, we could all agree that by the end of the book, Grumpy Cat wasn't quite so grumpy!

Another story we read was Dog vs. Cat.  My students thought this was a very silly book! Together, we created a t-chart for which pet they would prefer to have, a dog or a cat.  After coming up with some great reasons, the students then wrote about their opinions. They have come so far with their writing since the beginning of the year!

Our study of cats continued into the next week with one of the most popular cats around, The Cat in the Hat!  I'll post more about our Dr. Seuss week later...

Leap Day Sale!

Visit my store for a special Leap Day Sale.  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tara-Hardink

Character love and detectives

Do your kids fall in love with certain characters as much as mine do?  

Right now my kids can't get enough of Nate the Great and Cam Jansen.  Both of these characters are detectives working to solve a variety of mysteries. 

My students love reading these books, following along with the clues and hoping to solve each mystery.    

Nate has been a steady favorite in my classroom for years, but Cam is new.  I have some high flying readers this year and they are loving her adventures.
Reading these books has been a great way to introduce my students to chapter books as well as character development.

Click the pictures below to see my packets that go with these characters.   


                                 
                                               

~Tara

Dental Health - Write the Room

Write the Room is a very popular center in my classroom.  The kids love walking around and trying to find all of the words on the walls.  It is also a great way for them to read, write and practice vocabulary. Here are a few of the ones we have been using this month.  

          

Click on each picture to view the center in my store.

~Tara

Penguins

I love teaching my kids about penguins.  Not only are they adorable, but studying penguins is a great way to connect both fiction and non-fiction.  

I usually start with a non-fiction story so that my students can learn about penguin facts.  After reading about penguins, my students then write an informational piece on them.  My students are working on starting with an introductory sentence, writing facts and adding a closing sentence.  They are doing a great job with this informational writing structure!

Then, we move on to Tacky the Penguin.  He is one of my favorite characters.  My kids love him too! He is an odd, silly and very lovable penguin.  He is a great character to use when discussing character traits.  

Here are a few of the other activities my kids enjoy doing during our study of penguins.

  

You can get my penguin unit or Tacky packet by clicking the pictures below!

      

~Tara