Main Idea Madness and Then/Now Freebie

Happy Sunday everyone! I am having such a hard time finding time for everything so I apologize that my posts have been pretty few and far between. I wanted to share a couple of things with you today. First up, I have a FREEBIE for you! This past week, my students learned about how life in the past is different from life today. Two wonderful books for teaching about life in the past are:

Then and Now by Heather Amery

 

If You Lived 100 Years Ago by Ann McGovern

 

 

On Friday, my students did a T-chart partner activity to write and illustrate what life was like in different areas: shops, streets, railways, schools, family rooms, country, beaches, kitchens, garage/smithy, bedrooms, transportation, communication, clothing, games, jobs for women, and jobs for men. The kids worked in groups of two and really had to "synergize" with one another. Here are some pics of my kiddos hard at work =)

 

 

 

I gave my students copies of pages from the books to help with their ideas and illustrations. These turned out really great! I mounted the finished products on construction paper and hung them in the hallway. Check them out!

 

 

Don't you just love 2nd grade illustrations? They are too cute! If you'd like to download your FREE copy of these T-charts, just click on the image below. Enjoy!

 

 

Next up-- I am so excited to share the "Main Idea Madness" unit that I created. We've been using this unit over the past couple of weeks and it sure is helping! In the past, teaching my students about main idea and details is always a struggle. It is just such a hard concept for them to understand. My favorite part about this unit is that it starts out pretty easy and builds up to more challenging activities. In 2nd grade, students have to be able to identify the main idea of a text as well as the main idea in each paragraph of a multi-paragraph text. Whew! That's hard! After using the activities in this pack, they are beginning to understand =) Woo hoo! This unit is packed with reading passages, graphic organizers, and meaningful activities for your kiddos. If you'd like to check it out, just click on the image below!

 



 

Have a great week!