Fall Writing Anchor Chart

Fall is a great time of the year to discuss with children. This anchor chart is a nice way to build schema and vocabulary with students as they prepare for writing about the subject of FALL. You can simply post this anchor chart on your white board or you can post it in your writer's workshop area or on your writing focus wall. 

You can pick up this product as well as other useful products in my store. Please leave your feedback and be sure to check out my freebies as well. You can earn TpT credits towards other TpT products as well.

Enjoy!
Lori

Oak Tree Life Cycle and Craftivity

We study "Trees" in my Kindergarten science classes. To help them understand how an oak tree grows I use this Oak Tree Life Cycle PowerPoint. This file is a converted SMART Notebook file, which is why some files are a little smaller than the slide on the presentation.

I found a great photographic life cycle at Pre-Kinders.com, where I could show students actual photos of an acorn's development into a huge oak tree from start to finish. 

I love the idea on this site to use the life cycle pictures for having students create their own life cycle.

I have students use a paper plate. Ahead of time I mark the plates into four quadrants. Next I have students color each section and number them 1-4. I copy the pictures in grayscale and then have students color the pictures as they see them on the PowerPoint. Students then cut out these pictures and arrange and label them onto the paper plate in the correct order of the acorn's life cycle.

Finally, I have students do a fun craftivity that I found at First-School.ws, where I guide students through making a cut/paste activity of an acorn.

Together, students and I identify the parts of the acorn, and then cut and glue the individual shapes onto a piece of green construction paper, using the small picture on the corner as our guide. Once the pieces are all glued students color their acorn the colors of an acorn, i.e. the "hat" dark brown, and the bottom part a lighter color brown.

I hope you enjoy this idea. You can find this product in my TpT store. I would love to get your feedback and find out how you would use it with your kiddos.

Scientists Notebook Anchor Chart and (Editable) Welcome Bunting Freebie

The first week of school was absolutely exhausting yet exciting. My K-2 kiddos are so adorable and excited about school. They were especially eager to visit the science room to see what they would be doing in science class this year. 

I started off the year with a SMART board discussion on the questions, What is Science? and What do Scientists Do?

This week I will extend the discussion with an anchor chart. I use a color anchor chart as a SMART Board to review with the children what they learned previously about scientists; specifically, what scientists do/are/need. As we discuss each section I fill in the chart as a whole group lesson.

I pass out student copies of the anchor chart for students to engage in the lesson as well. I have them complete their chart as I complete the colored anchor chart on the SMART Board.

After their anchor chart is complete I have my students add it to a new page of their science notebook. This way each student will have their own copy of the anchor which they were involved in completing to refer to during writing.

Welcome Bunting Freebie

To welcome my students to the Science Room this year, I made a colorful WELCOME Bunting which I hung atop my SMART Board. I copied the pages onto construction paper and then cut out each flag of the bunting. You could also copy them onto card stock to make them more firm.

 
Visit my TpT Store to get your Scientist Notebook Anchor Chart and a FREEBIE of my (Editable) WELCOME Bunting and leave me your feedback about these or other products in my store.

Have a fantastic week!

**Lori**