{Wizard of Oz Unit Day 1 + Free Printable!}

I couldn't wait to get to school today!  Am I a nerd or what?!  I was just so excited about teaching with The Wizard of Oz.

When the kiddos walked in this morning, the room was a buzz with talk over the Yellow Brick Road entryway and the Wicked Witch puddle in the middle of our whole group meeting area.  It helped to generate a little excitement about our day, and get the kiddos prior knowledge activated. 

It was so funny to watch them adapt their usual seating on the floor to accomodate the Witch.  She seemed to fit right in.  And, the best part?  She didn't call out once!  What a model student ;)

Our morning message asked them to infer what they thought our weekly theme would be, and they all excitedly exclaimed The Wizard of Oz when asked.  {I only had about 4 students who hadn't seen the movie.}

After introducing Fairy Tales and listing a few of our favorites, we went over some vocabulary, and then I started reading aloud The Wizard of Oz.  It's a loooong story, so we only read until Dorothy met up with Scarecrow.   We'll continue reading it throughout the rest of the week.

Afterwards, the kiddos created a ruby slippers writing and art project.  I thought they turned out super cutey!  {There was also a "boy" version - they made ruby "sneakers," but I forgot to photograph a sample!  The slippers and sneakers templates come with my unit if you're interested!}

How precious is this?!  This student is from Mexico, and this just melted my heart!  Another little boy said he'd go to Heaven to see his grandma!  I die!

We completed our regular math lesson for the day, and I incorporated the Wizard of Oz into our math journal activity. 

Finally, at the end the day, we watched the movie and did a brown bag bookclub idea similar to Cara's.  If this were any other book, I'd save the movie for the end of the week, but because I feel that the movie adds so much to their knowledge and understanding of the story, I thought it was important to watch it early.  

It's interesting to re-watch this classic as an adult - I remember being a little scared by it when I was young!  And now it's funny to view the "special effects" in light of technology today.  Regardless, it's a great film! 

If you'd like a copy of the Fairy Tale anchor chart pictured above, click the pic below! 

If you'd like to purchase the unit, you can buy it at Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking HERE. 

Stay tuned for more activities throughout the week :)