All About Abe

The students have been fully engaged this past week learning all about our 16th president.  They listened so intently to the the stories that told about his upbringing, his habits, his interests, and his accomplishments.  Each day, after reading a book about Mr. Lincoln, we pulled facts out of a stovepipe hat.  We did this because Abe kept important letters and papers in his hat (as a solution to his forgetfulness). But each fact was cut in two.  The first part of the fact ended with a "connecting word" (aka conjunction) such as 'and,' 'so,' because,' and 'but.' So we reached back into the hat to find the second half of the sentence. I would read them to the students and they decided whether or not the two thoughts went together. 

We used the All About Abe chart to practice our decoding skills, fluency, and sight word recognition. 

The students did a writing activity just like this in the writing center. They reached into Abe's hat and pulled out half of a fact.  They had to find the paper of the same color to complete the sentence (since they are not all independent readers yet). They wrote as many facts as neatly as they could because they knew the writing piece was part of a bigger art project. 

Since we missed a day last week, we carried the "Fun Friday" art project over to today. We decided to call today "Funday Monday."  This was the most ambitious craft we've ever done: lots of cutting, small pieces, and lots of gluing. Plus, they had to follow LOTS of directions. But it was totally worth it. They took so much pride in their finished product! And it helped that it was about someone they had really taken an interest in. 

In other centers this week, the students built houses with Lincoln logs. 

They put a couple of different floor puzzles together.

They played "Cover it Up in the number work center.

And "Cookies on a Plate" in the math games center. 

But I think the most fun was had today during inside recess.  The kids and I have all grown tired of it and I was having trouble finding any one activity that kept them all happy. So- inside recess got a makeover today.  Thanks to Pinterest, I discovered Balloon Ball.  I made paddles out of paper plates and paint stirrers.  Throw in a balloon (and some ground rules) and let the fun ensue. Students also had the option of stacking cups like we did for the 100th day or going to the art table where they could color, cut, and glue to their hearts' delight. 

Trust me. EVERYBODY was happy!