Plants: Planting Seeds and Writing about Plant Parts

Today was our first day back after our late spring break. We only have four weeks left of school, so we got busy planting today. We started discussing plants during the week before our spring break, so the students already had an overview of plants. 

The students planted sunflower seeds in plastic cups, and then they also put lima beans in a zip-loc bag with a wet paper towel. Hopefully they will be able to see all of the plant parts that we have been discussing when our seeds sprout.

My students love writing. They are always asking, 

"When are we going to write?" So, you know what they had to do. That's right. They are writing about plants. I have a great series of books on each plant part. So far, we have read and written about the roots, stem, and leaves. For the remainder of this week, we will write about flowers and seeds. 

Here are a few of their writing samples on plant parts that they wrote after we discussed our informational book. I am super excited about my writers this year. I think they are doing an awesome job! 

"Roots keep plants from rolling away. Carrots are a root to eat. Roots are under ground. Water lilies roots are in mud too. Roots help plants grow." (I love her carrot picture!)

"Roots help plants get water and nutrients. Water lilies have roots that are in the mud so the plant can not float away."

"Stems are like a straw. Stems are different sizes. Stems can be celery. Stems are awesome. You can eat stems" (on back of paper). 

"Plants need sun and air and water. Plants need leaves. Leaves give the plant food. You can eat leaves like lettuce. Leaves have veins." 

(I like how this student labeled what leaves need in order to make food in her picture.)

"Lettuce is a leaf that you can eat. Leaves give food to the plant. The leaves need sun, air, and water. Leaves help plants grow. Leaves need air so they can grow." 

Great job, students! 

Hopefully I can update or add another post when we finish with flowers and seeds.

I hope you enjoyed reading the writing of some of my students. I hope your students enjoy writing about plant parts as much as my students did. 

Leave me a comment below stating what your class is doing as they learn about plants. I love to read your comments!

Thank you for stopping by!

Are your students struggling with SIGHT WORDS?

Learning sight words seems to always be a struggle for some students. I try to find every way possible to help my students learn them. I even made a PowerPoint slideshow with each student holding one of the 75 Fry Words they are required to learn. They love seeing themselves and their classmates on the Promethean board.

These sight word emergent readers that I created have also been a big hit. They are great for guided reading groups and take home readers. My students love reading to their parents each night. These readers are just one more way of helping my students who struggle with learning sight words.

Here is my newest Bundle of sight word emergent readers which includes the first 25 (List 1) of the First Hundred most frequently used sight words. 

Students can benefit from these readers by tracking print, identifying spaces between words, identifying particular letters of the alphabet, recognizing sounds (beginning, middle, and ending) in each word, and reading sight words and grade level text. For extension activities, students could add another sentence to each page giving details about each picture shown. The black and white pictures allow students the opportunity to color the pictures. This reader is great for guided reading groups, homework, or literacy center activities. 

This 650 page bundle includes five bundles of five emergent readers totaling 25 readers. One reader is included for each of these sight words: the, of, and, a, to (bundle 1), in, is, you, that, it (bundle 2), he, was, for, on, are (bundle 3), as, with, his, they, I (bundle 4), at, be, this, have, and from (bundle 5) which are connected to several CCGPS listed below. 

These readers are also available in bundles of five readers and individual readers as shown below. 

You can find PREVIEWS for each of the emergent readers included in this bundle 

at the links below or by clicking on the pictures above:

Emergent Reader Sight Words BUNDLE (at, be, this, have, from)

Emergent Reader Sight Words BUNDLE (the, of, and, a, to)

Emergent Reader Sight Words BUNDLE (in, is, you, that, it)

Emergent Reader Sight Words BUNDLE (he, was, for, on, are)

Emergent Reader Sight Words BUNDLE (as, with, his, they, I)

Each of the 25 readers includes this description: 

This 13 page book includes a title page with bubble letters spelling the focused sight word for students to color, and then 10 pages include a black and white picture at the top of each page with a sentence using the focused sight word. There are two more pages asking students to draw a picture of their own and write a sentence of their own using the sight word. The final page asks students to trace the sight word three times, and then write it three times on their own on the blank line. After this, there are 13 additional pages with the exact pictures and words as the first 13 pages. The only difference is that on this second copy of the book, the sight word being focused on is dotted on each page for students to trace.

The photos below show a few of the individual readers IN ACTION! Only four pages are shown for each reader below. Each reader has 26 pages with the two versions for differentiation as mentioned above. 

The pages of the book are not numbered giving the teacher flexibility of removing pages not desired when using in small guided reading groups for differentiation. 

Each book is designed so that you can copy the book, cut in half, staple, and then it is ready for use.

Here are previews of some of the individual readers.

Each reader is connected to these standards:

ELACCKRF1a. Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page-by-page.
ELACCKRF1d. Recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet.
ELACCKRF1b. Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
ELACCKRF1c. Understand that words are separated by spaces in print. ELACCKRF3a. Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or many of more frequent sounds for each consonant. 
ELACCKRF3c. Read common high-frequency words by sight. 
ELACCKRF4. Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding. 

I hope you and your students find these readers to be useful for helping your struggling readers and for sight word practice and reading fluency. 

I appreciate you taking the time to stop by! 

Leave me a comment below telling me what you do to help your students who struggle with learning sight words.

Giveaway for your DREAM CLASSROOM!

To celebrate Teacher Appreciation month, Educents, FreshGrade and the Sellers of Educents have partnered to give educators funding for their dream classrooms. The 7 educators with the most votes will win a combined $10,000!

How to Win

Educators get pretty creative when it comes to raising money to cover expenses for classroom supplies. Many host bake sales, ask the community for second-hand supplies, or pay out of their own pockets. However, there's a new way to get money for your classroom... and it doesn't include raiding the aisles of your local dollar store. It's easy to enter to win the Educents Teacher Appreciation Giveaway, and it still requires a little creativity (see Step 3). Step 1: Save up to $5,000 in products for your dream classroom in your Educents wishlist. Step 2: Click “Enter to Win” on your wishlist page and create your voting profile. Step 3: Share with your friends, family and community and ask them to vote for you every day until May 6. This is your opportunity to get creative - how will you share your wishlist, and how will you involve your community to vote for you?? Ready to get started?
 

The Ultimate Guide to Magformers!

Building with Magformers encourages children to use their imagination and show their creativity while developing skills and knowledge critical to their developmental success. Magformers uses high quality “always attracting” magnetic technology that provides endless constructional play. Educents offers all of the following sets of Magformers and more! Learn more about the educational value of each set, and find the special set that your child will love.

The Beginner Set

Good For: Ages 3+ Magformers are super powerful shapes that transform into colorful geometric builds that adhere on every edge with magnets. Build simple forms from houses to rockets that spin freely to ensure that every side attracts to other pieces. The possibilities are endless with this 30-piece sets which include 18 squares and 12 triangles!

"I definitely recommend Magformers for a few reasons. I love how sturdy they are, the creations don’t fall apart! You can do a lot with a few pieces, we have the smallest set and it has already provided hours of play. I love the colors and the way you can add other sets onto your first set to keep expanding. The appeal to young and older kids is a big plus, it’s a great family toy. So much learning happens through play and this toy is no exception!" -Carisa, Blogger from 1+1+1=1

This is a great toy for children with special needs.

"Focus on colors. Combine the two shapes when introducing colors. Begin by only introducing one color by laying the shapes flat on a table. Name the color. Eventually, have the child sort colors and connect shapes of the same color. Keep the shapes flat as each shape is double-sided and possesses two different colors." - Gabriella V., Special Needs Homeschool Blogger

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Magformers Walking Robot Set

  Do your kids like superheroes? They can build a superhero robot! Maybe they like spacemen instead. This robot kit comes with a guide book that has directions for 8 different robots for your little engineer. Or, maybe your child dances to the beat of her own drum and would prefer to use her imagination instead of a set of rules. Your child can even create their own robot character since the possibilities are endless with Magformers! Once they are built, their robot can walk at two different speeds.

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The Light Show Set

Good For: Ages 4 - 12 The Magformers Light Show Set allows boys and girls of all ages to light up their imagination and create out of this world designs. They will have magical fun bringing out all the fun colors of the magnetic shapes when adding the light. Kids can build stars, space ships, shiny diamonds, the designs are endless! The only activity kids won't be afraid to do in the dark!

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The WOW Set

Good For: Ages 5 - 12 Kids can speed away with the Magformers WOW set by forming mini vehicles with squares, triangles, and wheels! Kids will have endless hours of fun in the driver seat with this 16 piece set designing 20 mini vehicles to start. Once they put their imagination and creativity to work they can design their own vehicles with this set. Vroom, vroom!

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The Deep Sea Set

Good For: Ages 6 - 12 Kids can go on a deep sea adventure by building a variety of deep sea creatures such as a dolphin, shark, or whales with this set! The Magformers Deep Sea construction set comes with 46 pieces for building. The pieces come in different shapes and connect together on any side. Kids will be able to explore the bottom of the sea by creating over 10 deep sea creatures and much more!  

"The children in my class all want to make new creations...helping each other to make better and better ones." - Kathryn C., Educents customer

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The Emergency Cruiser Set

Good For: Ages 6 - 12 Your kids will come to the rescue with the Magformers XL Cruisers Emergency 33-Piece Magnetic Building Set. Whether they want to be a police officer or firefighter they can create a police car or fire truck, by constructing red and blue shapes and accessories, lights and sound included!

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The Magformers Math Activity Book

Good For: Ages 6 - 12 Give kids a fun way to learn basic math skills, recognize shapes and create patterns with the Magformers Math Activity Book! This book is full of great ideas to help the little ones develop their basic math skills while using Magformers magnetic pieces.  

Handwriting Alphabet Worksheets with Heroes (FREE)

Have you met the Educents Heroes? Have your child practice their alphabet with 53 pages of FREE handwriting alphabet worksheets! The Educents Heroes are prepared and have included both lowercase and uppercase letters. This FREE deal will be available for the next 18 days! Click on the photo below to grab this great deal!

Who is it for?

• Ages 3-6
• Kids learning how to write their alphabet
• Extra practice for kids struggling with writing the alphabet
• Kids wanting to improve their handwriting

Why buy?

• Perfect for hours of writing practice 
• Fun and colorful worksheets where kids can trace letters with guided arrows to help them become experts

What is included? 

• 53 pages of alphabet worksheets
• BOTH uppercase and lowercase letter worksheets 

I hope your students enjoy this fun handwriting practice!

February Morning Work (FREEBIE SAMPLE)

How many of you find your mornings to be hectic as students arrive? If you are like some classrooms, your students do not all arrive at the same time. When students do arrive, you have notes, folders, money, and so much more to collect and organize. Do your students get a little anxious and rowdy during this time? If so, why not give students something to work on that is meaningful? 

Try this February Morning Work Sample to see if it helps get you and your students settled into each day so you can get organized and leave the chaos behind. Language arts and math skills are both included daily in this set. 

You can get this FREEBIE SAMPLE to try HERE! 

If you like what you see and are interested, 

you can find the entire product HERE! 

I hope you and your students have some great, smooth mornings ahead! 

Check out what my blogger friends have in store for you below! 

An InLinkz Link-up