Fiction Friday - Bugs! (And Another App)

It's Fiction Friday, and I am again joining my friend Amanda at The Teaching Thief for the latest installment of fantastic fiction reads.

My choice this week is  a fun one to read while studying insects. In this book Beetle McGrady longs to be an "explorer", and her first stab at exploring involves eating a bug!  The illustrations are colorful and exaggerated, and the book includes references to the eating of insects in various cultures.  We raised mealworms as a part of our insect unit in Science, and cookies made from mealworms were a part of the insect feast at the end - my students loved hearing about it!

I have posted an Insect Unit to my TPT store.  I have often started the school year with a very popular study of insects.  In my unit you will find:
                               Insect Observation  Booklet (An example is shown below)
                               Insect Bingo Game
                               Insect Poetry Template
                               Insect Study Project with a Scoring Rubric
                               Life Cycle Label and Draw Sheets
                               Suggested Unit Activities
                               Suggested Insect Books and Apps

 

One of the Apps listed in my unit is called wiseHopper.  In this App, the user selects a wisehopping insect that leaps among answers to math and language problems - hoping to cross what appears to be brook.  The basic version of this game is free and includes a variety of options.  Here is the basic menu page, in the next page the user is able to select an insect for the game.  The wiseHopper App with make for wise, happy students!

Fiction Friday - Homework and Fabulous Finds

Happy Friday! Today I'm linking up with two awesome blog friends, and I am incorporating a homework theme to both of them.

First, my Fiction Friday link up with Amanda at The Teaching Thief is about a book that is sure to get your students' attention.

Here is some of what was written in a review on the Barnes & Noble website:
Trevor Romain knows how horrible homework can be, and kids will see this right away as they page through this book, grin at the cartoons, and smile at Trevor's funny insights.

Meanwhile, they'll discover valuable truths and pointers about homework: “People who say homework is a waste of time don't know what they are talking about.” “The best way to get your homework done without feeling sick every time you see it is to just do it.”

Now, my second link up is with Fun in Room 4B for the Fabulous Find Friday party.

I was loaded with coupons when I headed over to Office Max yesterday.  I had a $5 off $25 coupon, a coupon for 10 free folders when you spend $5, and I also had a MaxPerks certificate for $6 off my purchase.  Teachers can earn points for dollars when they shop at Office Max.  Anyway, here is what I carried out of the store, along with some other items I found at Walmart, and Rogans Shoes (yay!).

From Office Max:  Peel & Stick Dry Erase To-Do Lists

                               Peel & Stick Dry Erase While We Are Away Sheets

                               Microfiber Mini-Mitt

                               Pack of 6 Report Covers to make white boards

                               No Homework Tonight rewards

                               Electric Pencil Sharpener

                               Ten free 2-pocket folders

                               (All of that came to $21)

From Walmart:       Sleek new case for my iPhone $5

From Rogans Shoes:  LifeStride Sandals $15!

I was thinking more about the homework rewards when I got home and I decided to make a sign to post in the classroom for noting who received the awards.  I could just imagine myself handing out the reward, then forgetting who got it, and later harassing tquestioning that student about not having their homework in.  So I made a sign to help my aging memory.  I also made some additional homework reward sheets.  They look like this:

You can pick up the rewards and the sign at my TPT store for FREE by clicking on the sample passes above.

Fiction Friday - Straight to the Pole

It's Fiction Friday!  Link up at The Teaching Thief, and add your suggestions for great fiction books to read in your classroom:

When teaching about Voice in writing I've found great success with the book Straight to the Pole by Kevin O'Malley.  Since we're famous for our snowstorms here in Wisconsin, the children really relate to the struggles the main character faces in this book.  There is even a surprise ending!

After reading the book we create an anchor chart about all of the examples of Voice in the story.  Some of the things we list are:  humor, larger and smaller letters, the use of ellipses (.....), as well as the surprise ending.  I found the easy lesson for using this book in here:





In this book you will find suggestions for teaching the six traits with great mentor texts that your students will love!