Fairy Tale Genre & Classroom Beanstalk

Wow! I am so sorry I've taken so long to post. Can't seem to have enough hours in a day! Well here's what we've been up to. We discussed fairy tales as a reading genre. My kiddos were really good at remembering the terms protagonist and antagonist from our narrative writing lesson. Since we can never practice our writing skills enough we had a cute writing activity to go along with our fairy tale lesson.

First, I peaked the students interest by putting up a beanstalk in the room. I pieced it little by little. You would never believe how many times I heard them say to each other, "I can't wait to see what that's all about. Betcha's gonna be good." Hearing this made me giggle inside. Here are some pictures of the assembly of the beanstalk.
 

(Day 1)

(Day 3)

(Day 5)

Next, I read several fairy tales stories to the kids during the week to go along with the unit. It really got them into the unit. I also strategically chose some "broken" fairy tales from The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Those kids were rolling on the ground with laughter. Noticed how I said strategically; I made sure the chosen stories went along with what we already covered. We didn't have enough time to read them all.

Finally, we read Jack and the Beanstalk on Friday. I read the story but didn't read the ending. Then I gave them their assignment. They were to create an alternate ending to the popularly known ending of this story. I mean who would have thought they would react with cheers and fist pumps. Ha! Once they were finished they got to share their endings. The class voted on which were the best ones, and these were clipped onto the beanstalk. The kids left telling the next group how much fun they had. I am attaching a link to the writing page I created. Let me know what you think. Talk with you soon! ;)

(Final days of Unit)

Alternate Ending Writing Page

Upper Elementary Linky Party

Wow, oh, wow! This news totally made my day. I am always trying to find blogs that are related to the upper elementary grades. Don't get me wrong the lower elementary blogs are just precious and helpful, but there isn't anything like reading about teachers who are dealing with the same adventure. So if you are new to blogging or just want to know what the "Big Kids" are up to link up--join the party. And many thanks to Lorraine for putting this together. Be sure to check out her blog Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies; it's beyond fantastic.

Miss Molina

End of the Quarter Madness

Have you ever felt like you are participating in a mad dash at the end of the quarter. It certainly has felt that way for me these past two weeks. In between grading my fourth graders fabulous short stories and getting my grad school coursework done I am ready for Spring Break. Let the count down begin.

I have a couple of cute material posted on my tpt store. If anyone is interested just click on the link to go to my store page. Hopefully, I will have some time to develop other material to post soon. Enjoy!

Character Analysis PowerPoint with Flocabulary video link

Irregular and Regular Verb Game

Behavior Incentives

I am trying out something new in my classroom. It seems that as the warmer weather has begun to set in so has the talking bug. I found this idea on Pinterest, and I just had to try it. I was able to get the master copies from The Lemonade Stand Teachers tpt store. This is an incredible blog which I enjoy reading on a daily basis. I am excited to see how it does with my kiddos. Here are some snapshots of what I'm using. Its not the best quality.

                                                    (click on picture to see download page)

Looking Forward to Reading Across America Day Part 2

Wow! I cannot believe that it has been two weeks since my last post. Well, thankfully our Read-a-thon went great. The kids were really into their reading and were super excited about their certificates. It was such an encouragement to see both boys and girls excited about reading. We'll have to see if we can keep this excitement until the end of the school year.

Looking Forward to Read Across America Day

For the past week or so my students and I have been discussing the importance of literacy in our personal lives. This conversation couldn't have come at a better time. Tomorrow my monkeys (as they like to call  themselves) will be participating in a Read-a-thon in celebration of Read Across America and to celebrate one of our favorite silly authors, Dr. Seuss. It is a great opportunity for students to see first hand the value of literacy and learning. I hope my kiddos have fun but are able to become more intentional when choosing books to read and setting time aside to read.

Miss Molina