We have a winner and a new unit!!!

Ms. Brittany Ledbetter Neal - you are the lucky winner of my entire TpT Store and a basic blog design package from Erin @ Creating & Designing! Congratulations!....and thank you to everyone who took the chance and entered! All of your potential future blog designs were fun to hear about- and if writing it out lead you to have your heart set on it, I am sure Erin would still love to hear from you!

Also, as promised, I finished up my "Pack You Bags...(A Bilingual Continent Study)" pack. Every reproducible in the 52 page pack comes in English and Spanish and all templates for craftivites are included! Check it out by clicking on the spread below...and Brittany you will be the first to receive a copy!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Our Tri-Lingual Classroom!

We landed in Africa on our adventures around the world this week! We took some time to study the continent as a whole and then stayed for awhile in Kenya and Tanzania to explore! Yesterday morning, I presented my students with some photos from my trip to Meru, Kenya. I had the opportunity to work at a school, teach a few English lessons, stay with a wonderful family, and go on the most amazing safari while I was there! During the presentation the students completed the following phrases in their "Thinking While Reading" notebooks.

1. One thing I learned about Kenya is...

2. One that surprised me is...

3. A question I have is...

Here are some of the photos I shared :)

A little culture...

Some natural resources...

Some animals...

And some fun!

To continue our adventure, this afternoon we went on a "counting journey through Tanzania". 

The best part is this text comes in English and Spanish! (and shares numbers in Swahili of course!)

I cannot tell you how fast my kiddos picked up the numbers in Swahili. They had them down pat before we finished reading the book! I'm tellin ya- they love language- and language learning is there thing! They were just eatin it up. They begged me to let them copy down the numbers to share with their families. Luckily, I already had a plan in mind! Enter our "Swahili Counting Books".

To make these I used pieces of the larger construction paper and folded it in half. Then traced lines ahead of time for my students to cut to create their flip book. They wrote their title on the bigger space at the top and them the numbers in Swahili (1-10) on each little page.

Then underneath they had to write the number and then draw pictures of animals that live in Africa (based on what they saw in my photos and the book) to correspond with the number.

One of my kids even insisted upon writing the names of the animals in Swahili. He found some in the book, others he challenged me to search for a Swahili/English dictionary online! I didn't want to stifle his desire to learn the language, so I went with it!

By the end of the activity the students were using their newfound number vocabulary for everything. I would share "class you have five more minutes" and you would not believe how many responses back I had- Srta. Carlson- that's "tano minutos". haha. Say adios to Spanglish- we've got "Spanili" goin on!

A little catch up!

Sorry I have been a little MIA- major busy, not to mention I was out of school on Thursday and Friday of last week, so aside from some sub plans there was not much to post about! 

I did arrive back at school today though with this lovely gift sitting on my table waiting for me :)

Our PTO had all of our students sign these flowerpots for us to deliver during Teacher Appreciation week. So cute, and sneaky on their part as I had no idea it was coming!

Furthermore, earlier in the week, they presented each of us with the book below signed by each of our students as well. They came around during the day to give it to us along with our choice of a variety of delicious treats to pick from to eat throughout the day- my kind of appreciation! You can always win me over with food :)

In the past we have received gift certificates, luncheons, and such, but I found these gifts to be so much more special as they are a perfect way to remember my kiddos for years to come! Thanks PTO!

My students also traveled to Asia last week during our continent study with their substitute. They "landed" in India and discussed the art of henna and it's significance to the Indian people. After, they had the chance to practice being henna artists. Here are a few of their finished products:

I must say...I am ...er...impressed with their "tatooing" skills!

They did a great job adding a lot of detail to their work.

This activity will be included in my "Pack You Bags: A Trip Around the World Unit", which I swear I am finishing up soon....I know I have been promising it to you for awhile! But it's really coming!

On a final note- just wanted to thank you all for taking part in my "Teacher Appreciation Sale" last week! I would love your feedback on the units you purchased, and I must say that I am super thrilled to use all of those that I did as well!

Tomorrow I will be linking up with Candis @ iteachduallanguage to share what a day in the life is like in my dual language classroom- so be sure to check back- especially if you are someone who wondering how this whole two language thing works!

Brr...it's cold! - Our visit to Antartica!

No, this photo has nothing to do with Antartica, but I thought it would be a good share. Our school does an alphabet countdown for the last 26 days of school. Yesterday was "A" and the kids were supposed to bring an "APPLE" for and "AMAZING" teacher. What am I going to do with all of these?

Anywho...

We finished up our visit to Antartica this week on our "trip around the world". While there, we visited with the penguins and learned all about how they live.

 

Then we created these penguins above. And wrote 3 facts that we learned about them on the fish in their bellies!

Before leaving the continent, we took some time to journal about our adventures so we will never forget what we saw and learned while we were here! Before beginning our journaling experience I always bring in journals from trips I have taken to share with my students and explain to them their importance to me!

The students have key phrases that they use to help them complete each entry. They share which continent they visted that week, then complete the phrases:

During our trip we saw...

Also, we learned...

I want/do not want to return because...

(For some reason the majority of my students shared they did not want to return to Antartica- reason being that apparently it's too cold ;))

Don't forget to link up your "Cinco de Mayo" ideas or just check out the wonderful ones that have already been uploaded! Click on the link below!

Rainforest Haiku Poems

This week on our trip around the world, we visited our first continent- South America. While in South America we learned all about the rainforest and the animals that live there. To tie in our poetry unit, we created "Who am I?" Haiku poems, related to the rainforest animals we studied.

The students wrote their Haiku and glued it to the flap of their "rainforest" tree. Then beneath the flap they had another sheet in which they revealed the name of their animal along with a drawing.

Here is what the finished product looks like. You could def. have them add animals in the trees! We were just runnin on a time crunch! (Shocking I know- we usually have plenty of that! haha)

Alright- so are you ready to do a little guessing...here are some examples of my student's Haikus. Don't cheat and look ahead- you have to give your best guess first ;).

I will be nice and translate (althrough let it be stated that this is not best practice ;))!

I eat leaves

I walk slowly

I have three fingers

(the syllables may be a little off in English...)

I am a sloth!

I have four feet

I am a little long

I am yellow

I am a jaguar!

I run on water

I am green

I am very small

An iguana that runs on water! (I am thinking he couldn't remember the exact name...and neither can I at the moment- but he worked that description!)

After we finished our poems, the kids set their poems at their table spot and had the chance to walk around and guess the animals that their peers poems were describing.

Also, you will notice my kiddos in deep concentration writing on little yellow post-its. This is because they not only had to read and guess, but also at the same time I asked them to carry a post-it and pencil with them to jot down any plural words they saw in their friends' poems. We are studying plural suffixes this week- thus I thought what a perfect and quick way to tie in to spelling. (Isn't it amazing what we teachers can come up with to squeeze all we need into each day!)

This activity is part of my upcoming "Pack Your Bags" (Bilingual Continent Study Unit) that is currently in the works. I leave you with a little cover teaser ;)

A Trip Around the Word & a Freebie!

My classroom is all a buzz -packin, gettin our passports ready, etc.----WHY?, you ask. Because we are taking a trip around the world! 

Here is our suitcase.

We had to pack of course. Click on the picture to enlarge the image- pretty humorous- let's do a little "I Spy". Do you spy a cell phone? A DSI? A fruit roll up? A hair dryer? Bulls gear? They are too funny!

Then of course we had to get our passports. It's not the greatest picture ever, but on the right you can see there is a space for a stamp from each continent (it continues on the next page). I stamp my students passports after they complete all of the activities required in the continent and they are getting ready to "leave".

This is our "Continent Data" chart. Before we enter each continent, I read to my students a little brief intro. of the continent we are traveling too and we fill our this sheet to keep our facts straight! They keep this with them in their luggage as it is important to be informed about where you are traveling! We just entered our first continent of SA today- so no worries---I will share more along the way!

Also, I will be including some of these activities in my upcoming "Continents" unit I am in the works of finishing up- so keep your eye out for it!

Leaving you with a quick freebie today. We are working on plural suffixes in Spanish currently. I will then be bridging these suffixes into English with my kiddos next week. I am OBSESSED with sorts in my room, thus here are the word sorts we will be working with to practice these word endings!

Hope they are helpful!