All About Abe's Hat

Like I've mentioned before, I absolutely LOVE celebrating Valentine's Day in my classroom!  This year, I wanted to connect our Valentine's Day party with a bit more learning (we couldn't ONLY eat candy, y'all!).  Conveniently, President's Day falls right around the sweetest holiday there is and this winning combination led to a study of Abraham Lincoln and his trusty hat.

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln used his hat to carry important documents?  I had no idea, but the book Abe Lincoln's Hat by Martha Brenner tells all the details about this 16th president and his tendency to store papers in his famous hat!

After reading this book, students do a bit of research to become experts on Abraham Lincoln.  Then, they turn their hard-work into a craftivity that will showcase their learning about Lincoln AND hold their Valentine's Day cards from their classmates.  Adorable, practical, and so fun!!

Here is an example of the finished Abraham Lincoln hat craftivity!  The Valentine's Day cards go right in the hat - so adorable!

If you want to get this entire lesson, just head on over to my TpT store by clicking HERE!  This activity is sure to engage students and make your Valentine's Day even more sweet!

Love, Splat

I have to say that Valentine's Day is my absolute favorite holiday to celebrate with my students!  I love seeing students thrilled over simple cards they get from their classmates.  There is nothing sweeter than hearing kind words coming from second graders as they pass out their Valentine's Day cards!

This year, I am excited about a few activities I'm going to do to celebrate this wonderful holiday.  First, we're going to read Love, Splat by Rob Scotton and work to compare and contrast the main characters in the story.  Then, students are going to do a writing craftivity about a time they showed love to another person.  It's the perfect way to get students into the Valentine's Day spirit while still focusing on key reading and writing skills, of course!

You can get my entire Love, Splat unit HERE!

How are you planning to celebrate this sweet holiday in your classroom?

Severe Weather 101 PBL

I apologize for my absence from blogging!  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, and getting back into grad work have taken my full attention.  Thank goodness for weekends that allow me to regroup and get back my energy!

Today I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to those that donated to my Donor's Choose project.  A few months ago, I posted my first Donor's Choose project asking for two new Chromebooks.  After several donations from friends, family (thanks, mama!), and anonymous donors (incredible!), my project was fully funded and the Chromebooks arrived quickly directly to my school!

Of course, my sweet kiddos were THRILLED with these new additions of technology and have shown incredible responsibility with them.  Thanks to the new Chromebooks, my math and reading workshops are much more engaging, students are able to collaborate on more research projects, and my amazing second graders are becoming Google Drive experts.  It's incredible what a seven year old can do when you give them the opportunity (and a little guidance!).

The best part about these new Chromebooks is the research my students have gotten to do on severe weather!  We have been hard at work for a Project Based Learning unit where students research severe weather storms and then use their knowledge to create a nonfiction book showcasing their learning.  My precious students are going to give their books to a kindergarten class to teach them all about staying safe in severe weather - so sweet!

Here is one of my hard-working students creating the table of contents for our class' big book!

If you want to get this PBL severe weather unit in its entirety, you can grab it from my TpT store HERE!

Now the next question...what should my next Donor's Choose project be??  If you haven't created an account HERE, I highly suggest you try do.  You never know what kind people will donate to your wonderful students!