If you’re looking for a fun and engaging way to teach 1st and 2nd-grade students all about Texas symbols, this social studies anchor charts and posters pack is a teacher time saver! This resource makes teaching all about Texas symbols and national treasures a snap. GRAB A FREE SAMPLE OF ANCHOR CHARTS TO SEE WHAT'S INSIDE! You will receive: Anchor chart templates in color and black and white Blank anchor charts, perfect for students to use as note-taking pages or graphic organizers Ideas for what to write on each anchor chart Letters to print to put on a bulletin board Colorful posters to hang in the room Posters in two versions KWL worksheet and foldable Recording sheets This 1st & 2nd Grade Texas Symbols Lesson Pack Teaches Students About… Different State symbols What a symbol is Patriotism Freedom Symbols Covered: Flower Large Mammal Small Mammal Insect Dish Bird Pie Snack Flag Motto Nickname Dance Reptile Tree Capital

Texas Social Studies Lessons Howdy there! For a few weeks we talked about various Texas facts such as the symbolism behind the Texas flag, Texas symbols, customs, and etc. Our class discussed the symbolism behind the Texas flag first. We created a KWL chart and asked the students what they already know about the flag and what they want to know. A lot of the Know's consisted of the features of the flag. We gave them some time to ask some questions about the Texas flag, we prompted them by asking questions such as "Do the colors on the flag have meaning?" or "Who created our flag?". We read some stories about the Texas flag from books from our school library and then our students were able to answer some of the questions that they asked. We were able to complete our last section of our KWL chart.  Completed KWL Chart Within the next few days we created a Texas class flag out of butcher paper. Before filling in our flag we read another book on the Texas flag and discussed where each color is on the flag. To complete the flag we had each student to place their handprints on the butcher paper. Bulletin Board Display in our Classroom The following week we discussed the different Texas symbols. We read vairous expository texts about Texas symbols. I glued on the pictures to the chart paper and I had the students help me label the chart. I would ask them what the name of the symbol was and what category it would go under (state bird, state flower, state plant, and etc.). Our students completed their very own pictures of bluebonnets by using their fingers and paint. Completed Bluebonnets The following day our students created books about Texas by writing sentences about facts that they know.  We pre-cut the outline of Texas and glued the sheets of paper to make the book. On February 24th it was Go Texan Day! We spent some time reading about cowboys and creating our own mini books about them. After reading a book about cowboys, each one of our students were able to create their very own cowboy and cowgirl. Before starting we talked about the different kinds of clothing that they wear. We even got to look at pictures of real cowboys and cowgirls to give them some ideas! We reviewed our Texas symbols the following week by reading a book called I Spy in the Texas Sky by Deborah Kadair. After reading the story we took a tally of their favorite Texas symbol. They completed a sheet by drawing and writing their favorite symbol so that we could create our very own class book! Bluebonnets were definitely the class favorite!  

We finished our Poetry Journals not too long ago, and I was super proud of their hard work. This post is going to be photos galore, but I j...

I created this character map that I use during stations. I copy the Character Traits on the back and have them highlight the traits that describe the character. Then, they write them on the front of the page in the Character Traits section. They draw an illustration of the character in the middle of the page. I love it because I can use it during stations for the story of the week, whole group, or they can even complete it independently using the main character from their AR book. Click on the image below for a copy of this printable

We are knee deep in research in Reading and Writing! We had to sneak in a little Social Studies and I made a quick little book for them to read and […]

I created this character map that I use during stations. I copy the Character Traits on the back and have them highlight the traits that describe the character. Then, they write them on the front of the page in the Character Traits section. They draw an illustration of the character in the middle of the page. I love it because I can use it during stations for the story of the week, whole group, or they can even complete it independently using the main character from their AR book. Click on the image below for a copy of this printable

These gluten free Texas Roadhouse rolls are tender, light, and fluffy, but safely gluten free. Bring back an old favorite!

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I just love New Braunfels. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend planning a trip, particularly in the summer time when the river is cold and the tubin’ is easy. Home to the original Schlitterbahn water park, New Braunfels has great German food, fantastic coffee, and pastries galore. I spent quite a lot of time …

Second Grade Blog

Higher level questioning is on everyone's minds these days. I knew I wanted to create something for Blooms, but just couldn't decide on how I wanted it to look in my classroom. It's always been something I just do without even thinking. I always gear my questioning toward higher level thinking, but don't necessarily tell my students where each question ranks on the Bloom's Hierarchy. I've come up with a little something to incorporate more of the Bloom's language and questioning in my day to day classroom discussions. We always have a read aloud for the week, whether it's from our reading adoption (Reading Street) or a trade book. My plan is to use this form to teach the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and then have them answer questions about the story at the different levels of Blooms. My analogy will be when the shirt is fully buttoned, then you are fully dressed and ready to go. And when you are able to answer all the button level questions, then you have a full or complete understanding of the story. My plan is to have button breaks, where a student will randomly choose a colored button from a can. The color they choose will correspond to a Bloom's Button Card which contains a question that corresponds to a particular level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Some times I may have them answer the question independently, they could do this either orally or in a journal. Other times they may try to answer the question with a buddy or a group. The goal is to get them thinking about the story as well as their own thinking!!! These are the buttons that I'm using in my jar. Nice and big. Notice that the orange buttons are missing in the middle picture above. Well, we had an uh oh, this evening. My toddler decided to stick the orange buttons inside the skinny opening of my very expensive laminator. Yikes, it was not fun finding a solution for that one!!! Here is an example of a few of the cards. There are 9 questions for each of the 6 levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. There are also blank (editable) cards provided for you to add your own questions as you see fit. There is also a black line master available of the Button Chart, if you would like to have your students color it in and then place it in a journal/notebook to refer to throughout the year. You can click the picture below to head on over to my teacher store. Hope my students and possibly yours love their button breaks!!!

Texas Privet Ligustrum japonicum ‘texanum’ Full Sun or Some Shade – Evergreen Shrub Regular Water. Low-Moderate Once Established Dense, compact growth habit to 6-9 ft. but can be kept lower by trimming. Roundish oval leaves 2-4 in. long, dark to medium green and glossy above, distinctly paler to almost whitish…

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After reading Hope King's ebook, Set the Stage to Engage I knew I had to add an Adjective Fashion Show to my lesson plans this year. We al...

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Jeremiah and Amanda are not used to sharing anything, and when they get to kindergarten they must share everything. Jeremiah and Amanda are having a hard time with sharing, they each throw a bit of a fit when the other won't share. The teacher continually comes prancing over to them to explain that in kindergarten "we share everything". Finally, Jeremiah and Amanda have a great idea, they decide to share their clothes. They share their shirts, pants, shoes and socks. This "sharing" shocks the teacher and delights the rest of the class. Once again Robert Munsch writes a story that your students will find quite funny and at the same time it is a great story to segue into what it means to share. Listed below are the reading skills and strategies and ideas you can use to create a meaningful lesson. Below you will also find a freebie I created to go with this book. Reading level: 2.5 Theme/subject: school, behavior Genre: humorous Reading skills and strategies: Asking questions - {possible questions before} I wonder if they really will share everything. {possible questions during} I wonder if Jeremiah and Amanda will ever share. I wonder if Jeremiah and Amanda will get their clips moved down. {possible questions after} I wonder why Jeremiah and Amanda got in trouble for sharing their clothes. **Remember to have your students answer/reflect their questions. Author's point of view – Third. Be sure to find 3 pieces of evidence to support this (he, they, the teacher). Author's purpose – Entertain {evidence} The illustrations of the teacher floating around with flowers and birds around her head are silly. It was funny when Amanda stuck the book in Jeremiah’s mouth. Jeremiah and Amanda looked silly wearing each other’s clothes. All these things make a very entertaining story. Beginning, middle, end - {most important event from beginning} Jeremiah and Amanda started kindergarten. {most important event from middle} The teacher told Amanda and Jeremiah that in kindergarten they are supposed to share everything. {most important event from end} Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share their clothes. Cause and effect – Why did Amanda put the book in Jeremiah’s mouth. Because Jeremiah yelled when Amanda wouldn’t share the book with him. Why did Amanda kick down Jeremiah’s block tower? Because he wouldn’t share the blocks with her. Why did the teacher come running over to Jeremiah and Amanda after Amanda kicked the blocks down? So she could tell them that in kindergarten they are supposed to share everything. How come the paint went flying all over the room? Because Amanda and Jeremiah wouldn’t take turns painting; they tried to both be first to paint. How come Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share their clothes? Because they were told they had to share everything. Character analysis - describe Amanda. Describe Jeremiah. {looks like, feelings, thoughts, character} Character changes – at the beginning of the story both Amanda and Jeremiah didn’t know how to share. At the end of the story Amanda and Jeremiah were sharing their clothes. Classify & categorize – Classify things – things that are good to share and things that shouldn’t be shared. Compare & contrast – Amanda and Jeremiah. You and Amanda or Jeremiah. Your class and Amanda and Jeremiah’s class. Your teacher and Amanda and Jeremiah’s teacher. Connections - {possible text-to-self connections} Not wanting to share what you have. Having someone not wanting to share with you. Sharing your clothes with a friend. Drawing conclusions & inferencing – Why did the author draw the teacher with birds and flowers around her head and to look like she was flying? {text clues} The teacher has a smile on her face and looks really happy and nice. {what I know} I know that flowers, and bird and smiles are all nice happy things. {my conclusion} I think the author drew the teacher to look like she was flying to show that she is a really nice teacher. Main idea & details - {main idea} The story is mostly about Jeremiah and Amanda not sharing. {details} Jeremiah yelled when Amanda would not share her book. Amanda kicked down Jeremiah’s block tower when he would not share the blocks. Plot - the turning point or climax in the story is when Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share everything. Predict – What do you think the story is about. What do you think Amanda is going to do after Jeremiah yells in his face? What do you think Amanda is going to do to Jeremiah’s block tower? What do you think will happen to Jeremiah and Amanda after they made a mess with the paint? Do you think Jeremiah will ever share anything? What do you think Amanda and Jeremiah will end up sharing? What do you think the teacher will do when she sees Jeremiah and Amanda in each others clothes? Problem & solution - {problem} Jeremiah and Amanda are not sharing. {solution} Amanda and Jeremiah finally decide to share their clothes. Sequencing – Amanda and Jeremiah start kindergarten. Amanda won’t share her book. Jeremiah won’t share his bocks. Amanda and Jeremiah both want to be first to paint. Amanda and Jeremiah decide to share their clothes. The teacher faints and all the kids share their clothes. Story elements - list title, author, characters, setting, beginning, middle, end, or problem & solution. Strong thought – It looks like Amanda and Jeremiah don’t know how to share. How would you explain to them how to share? Summarize - {someone} The teacher {wanted} wanted Amanda and Jeremiah to share {but} but they never did {so} so the teacher had to keep telling them that in kindergarten they are supposed to share everything. {then} Then Jeremiah and Amanda decided to share their clothes. Theme – It is important to share. There are some things that you shouldn’t share. Happy Planning!