Sunday, April 28, 2013

Look Who's On Instagram!

Howdy! I am absolutely in love with instagram! I have tons of fun looking through pictures, quotes and ideas for school! My sweet friends Natalie and Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants and Michelle from Apples and ABC's have created a linky party and have given me the courage to create an instagram for my little blog!

You can now find me on Instagram using the username CurlsandSmile!
 
 
I am working hard on adding pictures and having a blast following some of the best blogs around! I will be joining What the Teacher Wants and Apples and ABC's on Tuesdays for their AWESOME weekly linky to share pictures from my blog and classroom! I can't wait!

 
Join in on the fun by following me on Instagram (curlsandsmile)!
I look forward to sharing and collaborating with you in a whole new way!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Where, oh where has Ms. Morgart been?

Hi sweet bloggy friends! I feel like it has been a forever since my last post but I am so glad to be able to take a moment to FINALLY write a post!
 
So where have I been? Well, besides my super hectic super mom schedule, I was actually able to squeeze in a once and a lifetime trip to Washington, D.C. My daughter, mom and I were able to go to this year's White House Easter Egg Roll and it was AMAZING!! We were right there on the lawn of the White House playing games, doing crafts and listening to music! I am so grateful that my daughter was able to experience this and be so very close to the White House! It was an experience that I hope she never forgets.
 
While there, she recieved a commerative egg. She was over the moon that she recieved the egg with Bo on it! We made some beautiful memories!
 
 
 
The last couple of weeks have just ZOOMED by since spring break! The spring semester is difintely zipping by which can be a blessing and a curse. There is so much still left to do but I am also looking forward to a fabulous and relaxing summer (44 more days)!
 
My little ones are working up a storm on their historical figure biograhies! We were very lucky to recieve a grant through a foundation in our district called LEAF. They are an amazing foundation that fund so many wonderful projects to help bring great teaching opportunites into classrooms.
 
 
We started with simply exploring difffernt biographies. Through the grant, I was able to get TONS and TONS of fabulous biograhies that my littles can read! We discussed the genre, what information we could gather from reading biographies and the author's purpose for writing books in this genre. The kiddos selected their historical figures and now we are getting ready to write our research paper.
 
I love the thought of research in second grade. It makes me so excited that they are ready and capable of gathering information and transforming that into informational writing! TOO EXCITING!!
 
This was the unit that inspired me. I simply {puffy heart} love Amanda from One Extra Degree!
She is as talented as she is sweet and her unit Wax Museum Biographies is amazing!
 
As the kiddos were reading through and exploring their biographies, I had them take write down some interesting facts about people they thought they may want to research. This was helpful becuase they were having a hard time narrowing down their choices and being able to finally pick one individual. It turned out to be just what they needed!
 
 
This week, we will continue our research project. My babies will be collecting information and learning all about how to write ideas in our own words. I can't wait to see what they can do!
 
We are also focusing on Main Idea.
I think this will be a great integration to their biography writing because it is a fabulous way to intergrate using supporting details to develop the main idea.
 
Here are some great units that I can't wait to teach with this week:
 
 
by the lovely Amy of Step into Second Grade
 
and
created by the darling Kelley of Teacher Idea Factory!
 
I can't wait to use all these great resources with my kiddos! Should make for a great week of learning!