Hi everyone. I know that it has been so long since I did a real post about what has been happening in my classroom and I would really like to thank you all for sticking with me!!! Well I have been really lucky again this year and have a temporary contract for Term 1 at the same school as last year (and in the same classroom). So that means I am again teaching a composite Yr1 / Yr 2 class. We are just starting week 6 of term and it is just flying by! Our theme this term is Dinosaurs and we have had so much fun already. Last week we started looking at non-fiction books and using our recalling of facts about dinosaurs. Firstly we studied the features of non-fiction texts and we used our checklist to identify all of the features of the text and then did a Venn Diagram to compare features of non-fiction texts and the narratives we have read so far. Then we used the 'I Remember' strategy on our mini whiteboards to recall three dinosaur facts from a small part of our non-fiction book. The kiddies had so much fun constructing this fabulous craftivity Dinosaur that I found by Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade. You can download the craftivity as a Freebie HERE. They look really cute and it was a fun way of displaying their 'I Remember' facts. Finally, we created Webs of Understanding. We read the entire non-fiction text together as a class and then the kiddies were grouped at tables (this was a really fabulous way of including the few year 1 kiddies who still cannot read or write properly). Each group had a different colour ball of yarn and each member had to say a fact they remembered from the text and then roll the ball of yarn to another group member. It was a wonderful communicative activity that allowed all the kiddies to feel successful, regardless of their literacy abilities and gave my Yr 2 kiddies a chance to develop leadership skills. The class had so much fun and the huge number of facts that they were recalling was fantastic! It is certainly a technique that I will be using more often in the classroom! It can be used for all kinds of activities. I think I will try it in maths groups this week! I would love to hear the ways in which you have used Webs of Understanding with your kiddies!! Wishing everyone a fabulous week ahead! Thanks for stopping by.