Falling for Fall

     Assessments and Committee Meetings and Freak October snowstorms (17 inches in Connecticut in October?!?) - Oh. my!  It's been a little crazy around here but I'm glad things have settled down a bit so I can spend a little more time in Blog Land!
     Despite the temporary cameo appearance by some winter weather last week, we are enjoying a beautiful Fall here in Connecticut.  There is nothing like Fall in New England (I sound like a Board of Tourism commercial, but it's true!)  My commute to school keeps my in the car for about 3 hours a day and I can be a big baby about it, but not in the Fall.  Driving home from school on Friday I looked around at the lovely tree-lined parkway I travel on and it was just stunning!  How's this for a view to keep the commuter woes away?

     In celebration of the season, I thought I would share something autumnal.  One of the biggest struggles I have is trying to get all of our science and social studies content covered in such a tight schedule.  As teachers have been doing for ages, I often combine my math and literacy activities with this content to get it all in.  Since my latest educational obsession undertaking has been creating emergent books that even the most "emerging" readers can access (there are so few good ones out there...) I've been working on some that cover science and social studies themes.  I use a large full-color version for shared reading, a smaller black and white version for the kids to put in their book boxes for independent reading and another small version with missing text for the kids to practice writing the sounds that they hear.  Matching pocket chart cards go in a literacy station and comprehension and phonics worksheets come in handy for skills practice (and to give the kids something to work on while I'm trying to get my assessments done.)  Let me know if you like this one, I have some others I can post if you think that you'll use them!

Click Here to Download

Have a great night!