Pirates Have Taken Over, and a Freebie!

   Holy Bucaneers, Batman!  Our classroom has been taken over by pirates in a big way.  When we haven't been out for snow (3 out of the last 7 school days), we've been learning all about pirates!  My students love this unit every year.  I find it is a great way to keep them engaged as the end of the year approaches.  Here are some things we've been doing!

   We started with a chart and brainstormed everything we knew about pirates.  We put everything we knew ahead of time in black, then we read a really informative Gail Gibbons book and added our new information in red. 

   
     For phonics, we've been working with the "ar" chunk, and I love to use Learning with Pirate Mark to help reinforce this skill.  We read through the story a few times and I had students make a pirate "hook" with their fingers each time we heard an "ar" word. 

 

I made a chart with lots of "ar" chunks in black, and after we read the poem a few times, we discussed with partners all the ar words we heard.  We then added them to our chart.  We had a couple of extra spaces, so students started giving me their own words.  Of course, it wouldn't be an "ar" list without fart, right?  Those little angels...

 

Later in the week, we read this story that I wrote about a silly pirate named Carl.  It has lots if "ar" words, as well as high frequency words for your kiddos to practice.   The book also comes with 2 pages of comprehension questions.  They loved that they could keep this book and color in it, mark it up, and make it their own!  They spent lots of time reading it with buddies this week. You can grab this book in my store.

 

 We've also been using Maps, Mateys, and Mischief  to help us with maps.  We made another chart to gather all the information we could about maps.

We talked about cardinal directions and watched this video--and I have to tell you, my kids LOVED this song. I don't know what it is about it, but they thought it was the best thing they've seen. Whatever works!

 

 Later this week and next we'll be working through my unit, A Pirate's Life For Me!

My students really get a kick out of this.  It is full of lots of great writing prompts, both fiction and non-fiction.  I let my kiddos pick which prompt they want each day and then we spend some time working on editing and turning one into a really polished, "published" piece.  Check back soon for some lesson ideas and freebies.


And since you made it to the end of this here post, here's a link to a freebie I just posted in my store.  My kids love using these QR codes, so I made a set of codes with the "ar" chunk to reinforce our phonics skill this week.  They will be free in my store for a few days, so grab them while you can!!

Happy Teaching!
     ~Katie

 

 

QR Codes and the Coolest Teacher Ever

  So, it's no secret that I'm not the most tech-savvy teacher in the world, but every once in a while I get a wild hair about me and I try something new.  Last week, it was QR Codes.  I know what they are and I've wanted to use them in my classroom, but I thought--who in the world knows how to make those darn things? Then I stumbled upon this amazing video tutorial.

(BTW--if you haven't checked out his blog, do it.  He is amazing and hilarious, and I'm pretty sure he's one of the coolest teachers ever.)

 

  Doesn't he make it seem so simple?!  So, I gave it a go, and I tell you what--it was easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy! Once I got the hang of it, I couldn't stop!  My mind is now racing with all of the amazing QR possibilities--reading, math, comprehension, inferencing, social studies--yay!  At this point in the year, my kiddos definitely need something to help keep them motivated, and I think these little QR codes are the way to go. 

  I am lucky enough to have a set of 20 iPods for my classroom, so I use the codes as both reading and math stations.  My kids are super-quick learners when it comes to the iPods, so just a couple of lessons about taking care of them and how to find the scanner app and we were on our way! 

   Here's how it works:

        Print and laminate the codes.  You can either tape them up around the room for a read the room center, or just place them in a tub.  Next to each code is a label so you know what each picture is.

 

   When your kiddos scan the code, an image will appear:

Your students will stretch out the word, and write it in the box with the correspoding number.  There are 2 versions of the recording sheet - one with 16 empty boxes and another with elkonin boxes to help guide their spelling

 

 

 

 

This unit will be on sale in my TPT store for the next 2 days.  Be sure to check it out!

 

Happy Teaching!

  ~Katie