Frankenstein Compare and Contrast

If you follow me on Instagram (msleslieann01), then you saw my kids' adorable frankensteins.

This was the first step in our 2 day Frankenstein Compare and Contrast Project. The kids got into groups of 4 and made their own Frankensteins. We completed this on Thursday and by Friday, we were ready to compare and contrast!

Here's what we did. After each group created their Frankenstein, they teamed up with another group to compare the two Frankensteins, using a Venn diagram.

The final step was to write a summary detailing the similarities and differences between the two Frankensteins. They did such a great job on this step!

We need lots of practice writing, so this was the perfect project. Plus, the kids created absolutely everything! No prep needed. Simply, give out construction paper, let them create, give out a paper for the venn diagram, and then notebook paper for the summary. Easy squeezy!

Be sure and check out Southern Belle Inspired to see how fun Polyvore is!

Compare and Contrast Freebies :)

If you requested any of the compare and contrast printables I blogged about here, I've uploaded them :) Click here and here to download them...Feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Compare and Contrast

We haven't yet covered the skill of compare or contrast this year, so I didn't really know what to expect. Since I wasn't sure what and how much my kids would know, I tried to plan accordingly. Thankfully, the lesson was just right! It allowed my kids to practice identifying specific details in a text and compare/contrast them to other details. I was surprised to find that a lot of the kids were only comparing the people in each story, not events or things. I feel like we learned a lot and accomplished something today. :) Here's what we did

We did a little warm up activity by completing a paper plate venn diagram on two pictures. I gave the plate to one person, they wrote something on the diagram and then asked someone else if they had something to add. The venn diagram was passed around to several people before we moved onto the next activity.

These sheets will be used throughout the week as morning work/warm ups. We need a lot of practicing with writing summaries so these will work great! If you'd like a copy, let me know and I'll upload them. 

**Updated 10/16: These printables can now be found here and here :) :)

Now for the main part of the lesson. We divided into groups and went around the room to a passage, like the one below:

Each group read the passage, identified the two characters/things/events that were in the text, and completed a venn diagram on the similarities/differences

That's how we spent our day :) Be sure and head over to Southern Belle Inspired to find out where to get these gorgeous pencils. Every teacher needs pretty pencils, right? :)

Have a great week, y'all!

Fall is in the Air

I just love fall time. I spent all last weekend shopping for pumpkins and mums, which was a nice break from my usual school work filled weekend. This weekend was a little more balanced. I spent most of Saturday working on activities for next week, which will find us learning all about how to compare and contrast.

And I spent Sunday painting pumpkins.

Want to see more of my fun, fall weekend? Head over to Southern Belle Inspired. 

Have a great week y'all! I'll be back tomorrow to share some fun compare and contrast activities.

Monsters=Halloween Time

Halloween is my favorite season! I just love all the witches, black cats, and of course, monsters! I found the cutest book that is just perfect for halloween!

The Monsters' Monster by Patrick McDonnell is the sweetest little story. You can read all about it and purchase it here.

I created a literary companion that accompanies this book. The lit companion is filled with comprehension sheets and other activities (like an adorable craft) that would be perfect to use with your class after reading the book. You can check it out below :)

Also included in the pack are the patterns for this cute craft :)

And if you want to read more about my love of fall time/halloween, come check out my other blog to see my fall filled weekend :)

What We've Been Up to (In Pictures)

September was a blur and I regret to say that I neglected both Life in First Grade and Life in Fifth Grade. And while we are on the subject, I've full on abandoned my lifestyle/fashion blog. It's my weekly goal to get back in a blogging routine and I'm proud to say I've finally found my camera charger and I'm ready to go! :)

Here's what we've been up to in 5th grade, which I've learned in a whole lot different than first in some ways and almost exactly the same in others. :)  :)
**Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for *almost* daily updates (msleslieann01)

We've been learning about cause and effect. I used this same graphic organizer in first grade, but at this age, the kids were able to not only create an illustration, but structure a sentence using a conjunction or cause and effect key word. I was so impressed with how well they did on this and how much it helped! Next week, we are going to take our cause and effect sentence and create a story with it. 

This chart was not my creation! It was a pinterest find, but the link was dead. If you are the owner, please let me know so I can give you credit! It served as a great helper chart when we were discussing the fact that you write the cause or the effect first as long as you use the correct clue word.

We've also been busy learning about fact and opinion. This was my first time teaching this skill and we had so much fun with it! 

We took a passage and identified each sentence as a fact or an opinion.

Next, we created our own facts and opinions based on what color card you got. 

Isn't this little opinion the sweetest?? I just love my sweet kids!

In other random news, we are getting much more organized on how we complete centers! Since we stay at the same center each day instead of rotating every 15 minutes like we did in first, I've given the kids choices on what they can do and what they can do afterwards. This has worked out really well!

A friend told me how she used bookmarks to guide her students, so I decided to try it and it has worked out fabulously! All I have to do now is call a group to go get their bookmark and they can find their center. Simple and effective!

I would LOVE to hear from you if you're teaching the new Scott Foresman Reading Street (the 2013 common core edition). On the weekly selection test, there are 6 words that contain the "Word Analysis" skill of the week, which we briefly cover on Tuesday. These words really throw the kids for a loop because they aren't familiar with them. I don't understand the reasoning behind this if the kids have never been introduced to the word, so I created a chart to help them with this part. We did a foldable activity that I'll share later! :)