All the Pretty Horses

Howdy Folks!

 I only have four more days of school left with the kiddos, and I am so excited to put this year behind me. I'll miss my students, but this paperwork has been a beast to handle. 

I am ready for a break!

Here's what we have been up to lately.

{I mean other than the four "daily routine killing" days where I was being observed for various reasons. Don't mind helping out, but such an inconvenience!}

We've been learning about Horsies!

I swear, Abby could create a unit about Bird Poop and I would buy it in a heart beat. 

For this reason, I felt compelled to purchase Abby's Derby Days unit.

I don't live in Kentucky. I don't even like horses. I bought it anyway.

Genius, I tell you!

We have loved learning about horses.

Many of my students have been living around horses but never knew anything about them. This was an awakening for them.

Since receiving the SMART Board, I've been trying to learn how to use the Notebook software. Luckily, I can convert pdf files to work with the Notebook software.

Here are a few examples of how we used it with Abby's unit.

So much fun, and I'm not wasting any paper!

KWL Chart

Rather than have the kids come up with the words on their own, I decided to mix it up a bit for the SMART Board. 

I created word cards for the kids manipulate and place in the correct spots for this tree map.

Then, I created more word cards for the Horse Labeling.

We practiced this together a few times before I had the kids create their own Horse Label pictures. Actually, they still want to do this during down times. 

They enjoy moving the cards and then locking the card in place.

You show them how to do something one time and they NEVER forget about it.

Now, I have to go back and unlock everything they've locked up! 

Rookie mistake...

Here's one my student's horsey labeling craft. 

It came out really good!

I must admit, I was a little worried the horses would look like mutants.

I took it a step further and had them write about what they learned about horses during our trip to the computer lab last week using Kidspiration software. 

Some of them even completed their assignment within the thirty minute lab time!

They are becoming such proficient typers!

Kidspiration software

That's it for tonight! 

Not much, but I really wanted to give a shout out for those awesome unit. 

Thanks Abby!

Here's hoping I survive this week!!!