From mixed media to simple sketching, there's something here for every 1st grader.
From mixed media to simple sketching, there's something here for every 1st grader.
From mixed media to simple sketching, there's something here for every 1st grader.
My, oh my! The first week of first grade is OVER! I swear, 5 years later and I still forget just how little and “new” to school 1st graders are. The growth is just so amazing and HUGE in first grade that all I can do is picture last year’s class at the end […]
Please Note: All images seen below are of my students artwork only. These photos/lessons are not posted in any particular order regarding the flow of my curriculum. Hot Air Balloon Collage Hot Air …
From mixed media to simple sketching, there's something here for every 1st grader.
I love using interactive lapbooks in the classroom. They are fun to create, engaging and can be used throughout the year to review skills taught. I finally completely my Lapbook Bundle and I am happy to share the lapbooks included with you. Whether you think your learners will enjoy creating all of the lapbooks, if you
I love incorporating games into math as much as possible. Who doesn't love playing games, right?! But the problem with games is that they often require quite a bit of prep work for us teachers. I've been trying to come up with some that require little to no preparation to use. I'm so excited to
Can I just say I have one of the most creative colleagues ever!! You guys remember Jayme right? She made the cute farm games at the begi...
Bring joy this autumn season with these fun fall crafts for 1st grade students! A perfect homeschool activity this season of fall.
Try these easy sound experiments -- Elementary & Middle School kids will LOVE testing the science of sound with this fun wave experiment to create a 'gong' and explore how sound waves travel!
Please Note: All images seen below are of my students artwork only. These photos/lessons are not posted in any particular order regarding the flow of my curriculum. Abstract Self-Portrait Paintin…
I completely crashed today! Do you ever have days where you just decompress? That was my day. I am fully aware that I am probably the only teacher that hasn't set my classroom up yet, but I just couldn't go. I woke up at 7:30 and started getting ready at 8:30... at 9:30, I was still just sitting around and by 10:00 I decided that a lazy day would be nice. Last week was great, but 15 hour days wore me out. I still don't care if I see tennis shoes for a week, a month, or never again. Just kidding! However, I have to admit I seriously never realized though how much I hate having my toes closed in by shoes. Croc flip flops have NEVER felt so good! So, what was I doing last week? I spent the week working at a camp for kids with special needs called Camp Hawkins. I have tried and tried to figure out how to put into words just how incredible the week was, but there just aren't words to describe every second. How do you describe the feeling of seeing a young 14 year old kid show another 14 year old kid how to throw a football? He literally took his hand and lined his fingers up on the laces and coached him. How do you explain what it feels like to watch a 19 year old that is paralyzed be lifted from his chair and put in a go cart and driven around a track. What can I say to help you understand how your heart feels after watching 25 kids perform at a talent show? Each of them had their own talent. Whether it was painting a bird house or listening to the next Billy Graham sing, you couldn't help but watch in awe. Here's what I learned last week. Everyone that says that kids with special needs are different, well they are right. The 25 kids we worked with smiled all day, were hilarious, worked hard, never complained, showed no fear, were willing to do anything including a messy meal (eating spaghetti and salad with their hands), bumper cars, and getting on stage to perform. To top it off, they didn't get upset if they lost and they didn't brag when they won. They cheered for each other and even more than that, they were confident in who they were. So, yes, the boys were different. They are better than all of us. They are more trusting, passionate, caring, and sure of themselves. I don't know how much of a difference I made to them, but they definitely made a difference to me. Now that I've told you a little about my trip, here's my newest book report freebie. Hope you guys can use it. I made two different types so you can differentiate a little. Alright, I hope you have a great night!
I was introduced to this lesson by Claire Kirk & Katie Flowers. Both amazing artists and art educators I have had the honor of knowing and working with over the years. From observational drawin…
This was my first year teaching 1st grade about Paul Klee and it is definitely a lesson I’ll teach again. It fit it perfectly with 1st grade curriculum because children are already familiar w…
Teaching behavior expectations in kindergarten is important, especially in the first few weeks of school. This often sets the stage for your class for the entire year. For students to fully understand what is expected of them, it is important that teachers address and teach these expectation. I usually spend a lot of time during the first weeks of school teaching student expectations and classroom behaviors. We complete sorts of good choices and bad choices in the classroom and discuss what makes them good and bad choices. We complete these sorts whole group and students also complete individual behavior reflection sheets. These work great during the first few weeks of school or when students may need a review. These include different levels of difficulty beginning with students simply deciding if an actions is a good or bad choice, to a student sort of good and bad choices (this is a freebie at the end of the blog post) to finally illustrating or writing good or bad choices. Also we color an emergent reader reviewing some of the classroom expectations. These can also just be used as little coloring pages when a classroom expectation is introduced. In your classroom, you may want to challenge your students to focus on a certain expectation for a week. Included are posters that would work great for this: These provide a visual and focus for students when expectations are being taught. You can make it a game and provide an incentive if students can meet this expectation a certain amount of times in a week. Once these expectations are taught it is important to keep students accountable to their actions. I have been using a visual think sheet in my classroom that is perfect for this. It is very appropriate for your early learners in pre-k or kindergarten or special ed because it includes pictures for students to show what they did. Students simply color in the choice they made and a better choice they can make. These are great reflections for students, communication for parents and documentation if necessary. You may also want to post these cool down methods where students can reflect on strategies to cool down, instead of getting upset. You can find this entire Behavior Think Sheets and Activities in my TPT store and the Free Good and Bad Choices Student Sort here:
Kids love music! I try to find ways to incorporate it throughout our school day. It is such an amazing learning tool. My Songs for the Year
Help your 1st grader develop of love for reading with these 20+ first grade read aloud chapter books! These stories will help their imagination soar.
Are you looking for no prep and engaging activities for the first day or first week of school? These back to school activities are perfect!
This post contains affiliate links. This blog can be a little “big kid heavy” since I only service 2nd-4th, but my co-counselor does amazing work and I want to share some of her great ideas a swell. As part of the self-regulation theme she is using in 1st grade Life Skills lessons this year, she […]
1st Grade Classroom Reveal This is it, my big classroom reveal! This is the first year where I have stayed in the same room in the same grade. As I approached my room, I really wanted to make it mo…
Create stunning tin foil art with your kids using a simple technique with aluminum tinfoil to make beautiful designs from flowers to animals.
Use simple objects such as socks and cookies to teach children about respecting the rights of others. What does the Bible say about our rights?
Plickers is a free online formative assessment program, but it can also be used to foster active engagement in any subject area and at any grade level. Read this post to learn innovative strategies for using Plickers in your classroom!
If you are studying the rainforest, this ELA unit has it all! This unit is geared towards kindergarten and 1st grade students. You can grab this bundle in my TPT shop. Rainforest ELA Unit Here is a look inside the pack! Rainforest Layers Mini Book- Learn about the layers of the rainforest! Color, Cut, and Paste the Layers of the Rainforest Layers of the Rainforest Flip Book- Trace each layer, learn about which animals are found in each layer, and write one fact about each layer. An emergent reader, In the Rainforest, identifies animals that are in this ecosystem. Learn about animal camouflage with this close reading and drawing activity. Many rainforest animals use camouflage for survival. Learn about which animals camouflage with this emergent reader. Rainforest Literacy Centers- There are 5 rainforest themed literacy centers included. They each come with a recording page or no prep page. Hidden Words- Real or Nonsense- Find the hidden words in the picture. Read each word and decide if it is a real word, or nonsense word. CVC Sloths- Write in the missing letter (missing beginning, middle, and endings are included). Rainforest Sight Words- This uses the Dolch Primer sight word list. Read each word, write each word, and then build each word. Digraph Sort- Sort each picture under the correct beginning digraph. Rainforest Syllable Sort- Count the syllables in each word and sort. Rainforest No Prep Pages Rainforest Write the Room- Get up and moving with this fun writing activity! Rainforest Grammar Activities- There are centers and no prep pages to practice capitalization, punctuation, and plural nouns. Read, Write, and Respond- There are 7 read, write, and respond ideas. Each has a focus book, reading comprehension skill to focus on, and a writing prompt! \\ Rainforest ELA Unit
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Pass them on to your first grade teacher friends!
