Welcome to the "Deep in the Heart of Texas" blog hop! Over 40 Texas teacher bloggers have joined together to share what we love about our state as well as ideas and freebies that we love. You will also have the opportunity to enter to win TpT products and/or TpT gift certificates by entering using the rafflecopters included in each post. Down at the bottom, you will see all of the blogs participating in the hop. Just click and you will be taken to their posts. We hope you love what you find. Happy Valentine's Day!
Hi y'all! My name is Daina and I'm a 2nd grade teacher in Fort Worth, TX! I was born in Dallas, TX! I grew up living in the country (on about 190 acres) and now live about 7 minutes from downtown Fort Worth. I am definitely a city girl for the most part but hold on to some of my country loves (like cowboy boots and horseback riding!) I'm so happy you are here! I apologize in advance for my overuse of photos. I'm a bit #addicted.
The better question is what DON'T I love about my city/town! It would definitely be a much shorter list haha! I LOVE living in Fort Worth! And not just in Fort Worth, but in TEXAS! I am 110% Texan through and through. I think my number one reason for loving Fort Worth is that it has a sense of values and that little town feel even though it's a BIG city. I also love the never ending array of activities and places that you can explore. There's always something new to discover. And why do I love Texas so much? Simple. Because we have more state pride than any other state! :)
Here's some pictures to show what I love about my city/state!
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| Sundance Square in Downtown Fort Worth (& more importantly, my AMAZING friends that I LOVE AND happen to teach with!) |
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| The State Fair of Texas!!!!! |
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| The multitude of shopping malls and holiday decor, Six Flags, Fort Worth Japanese Gardens! |
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| Chinese Lantern Festival, AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys, and Sundance Square at Christmas! |
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| That good ol' Texas pride. Cross/Flag hanging in my house and my favorite pair of cowboy boots! |
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| Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo! |
I recently did a Text Features lesson and I was SO HAPPY with how it went!!! I have never seen the kids so engaged and anxious to get their hands on books! It was an AMAZING feeling.
Here's the jist of how it went...followed by some pics.
1. Created Anchor Chart and covered all parts with sticky notes to add some mystery.
2. Discussed WHY we need to use text features. Projected an ebook on the screen about Amazing Water Frogs and pointed out the text features I was focusing on as we went through the book. I revealed them on the anchor chart as we went.
3. I then sent students to work in groups where I had placed a book bin full of nonfiction animal books on their AR level so it was differentiated.
4. Students were given a little mini-reference sheet, sticky notes, and the books. They had to look through the books and do a "text feature scavenger hunt" by finding and labeling those text features.
5. They then had to follow up by filling out a reflection type sheet where they told me what text features they found, what they think they will learn about in the book, and what they are still wondering about.
The following day we extended the lesson by making "text feature booklets" where I gave them lots of Scholastic News articles and they had to glue examples for each text feature to the correct page of their book. They did FABULOUS and begged me to do it again. To me, that = SUCCESS.
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| I originally found this anchor chart on Pinterest but can't seem to find it again. If this is your original anchor chart, please let me know so I can credit you! :) |
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| Extension Activity! |
In connection with what I shared above, nonfiction activities and resources are my favorite. It's my all-time favorite topic to teach about and the kids know it! My favorite freebie that I have is my Prove It! Non-Fiction Edition FREEBIE Sample! You can use the freebie as a stand-alone activity in your classroom and the whole purpose is to practice supporting answers using text evidence in a very systematic, memorable way! If you enjoy the freebie sample, make sure you enter the giveaway below where I am giving away my whole BUNDLE of Prove It! Resources!
You can click on the pic to download the freebie! Enjoy!
Click on the buttons below to visit some other awesome Texas bloggers!
Ahhh, I miss Fort Worth SOOOO much! West 7th was my stomping grounds and I've found a little neighborhood in Austin that reminds me so much of it. I wish Austin was in Fort Worth haha!
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day!
Destiny
Terrific Teaching and Learning
Thanks for the freebie! Love all the pictures you shared. My second graders always LOVED learning about text features too. Thanks for participating in the hop!
ReplyDeleteJessica
Literacy Spark
I love the fair! Fun to find you through the hop! :)
ReplyDeleteWe do have more state pride don't we? Loved all the pictures!
ReplyDeleteKaren