Making Inferences and Valentine's Photo Dump!

First things first-Rachel, I just emailed you a copy of All About the Planets! Enjoy :)

This past week I had my first formal observation. I thought it went really well! I did a lesson on making inferences {I cannot seem to find who this original idea was from... I am thinking it was either Cara or Abby! If you blogged about this lesson a year or so ago, please let me know and I will give you credit!!!}

The day before, I showed the kids pictures from this inferencing Pinterest board on the smartboard. They had to use their schema and clues in the pictures to make inferences about what was happening in each picture. They did an awesome job! We made this anchor chart to help us remember that our schema + clues helps us make inferences.

The next day for my observation, I pulled out this super fancy {HA!} Mystery Box!

 

The box definitely got all of the kids' attention! I told them to make some inferences as to what was inside... They only got to use their schema though! We got all kinds of guesses... paper, toy dinosaurs, pictures of the planets, miniature models of the planets.... They learned real quick that with just their schema that it was hard to infer what was inside... it could be ANYTHING! So then we added some clues! Each child got one of the following clues:

 

 

They had to record their clue on their record sheet. We discussed how the more clues we got, the better our inference would be! So next the kids had to go around the room to find the other three clues! They had to record them on their sheet and once they had all the clues, they had to make their inference!

 

 

And here is what was inside our fancy mystery box....!

 

A heart valentine! The majority of the kids made the correct inference {or were super close!} I was so proud of how well they did {and how well they behaved while I was being observed! HA!}

Now, here are some pictures from Valentine's Day... ENJOY!

 

We sent our wonderful counselor, Mrs. Brown, a "heart attack" for Counselor's Week!

 

 

We worked on our Candy Heart Fun packs! This was a BIG hit with our kiddos!

 

Our adorrrrrable Cara-inspired Valentine sacks! We had the kids pass out their valentines in the morning, then they got to go through their sacks for the last 15-20 minutes of our party that afternoon! Our kids were so excited to learn that they got double the amount of cards/treats this year! Since we are a team-teaching classroom, we have 45 students. Double the friends, double the love :)

 

 

At our party, we made these yummmmy Valentine's floats {ginger ale and raspberry sherbet, topped off with a licorice straw!}

 

We played Candy Heart Bingo at our party! This was a perfect filler while our wonderful parents prepared and passed out floats and cookies. Then it was time to open all of our Valentines! Amy and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect party!

 

OH, and look how much our families spoil us! Keep in mind, these are just my gifts-they got Amy the exact same gifts! We feel sooooo loved!!

 

Oh, and I came home to this delicious cookie bouquet from Mr. Hubby :) These are from my favorite cookie bakery!

 

 

I see a MAJOR diet in the near future :)