Ever feel like there just isn't enough time in the day? We apologize that this post wasn't up earlier, but it was a crazy 3 day weekend. One...
Last month we were been busy creating a variety of poems with our first graders. If you're looking for a quick and fun poetry lesson you'll enjoy this one! One recent poem we worked on was a 5 senses
In few weeks we will be giving our first graders certificates congratulating them on all of their hard work in first grade. We h...
Here is a fun homophone game that can be used at a word work center. We have included a worksheet for students to record their matches. Click here to get your copy!
Happy Monday! It’s Leslie here and I am so glad to be back online! My internet has been intermittent for that last two weeks!!! L Turns out it was our router, and I'm FINALLY back on! I’ve had this post in the works and am finally able to share with you all. Here's how I assess my students on their sight word knowledge. Using our Read the Rainbow Sight Words pack I assess my kids weekly. Our first graders are assessed in our small reading groups (I am currently assessing nine students). Our pack has 11 lists with 20 words on each list (first 220 Dolch words). You can find this pack {HERE}. The white cards below are on my word wall. Each card has a colored icon that corresponds to the colored list. The cards on colored construction paper are what I use to assess my kiddos. Each list is copied on a different color. I have an extra set of these cards and my first graders often practice with these cards during their literacy station rotations. After I asses my students, they are given a list to practice at home for the week. I have a poster displayed near my small group reading table and each student has a numbered sticker. I place their sticker on either side of the number that corresponds to the list that they are currently working on. They move along the rainbow as they pass their list. If you’d like this little freebie you can fid it {HERE} or click on the pic below! There are three different options! And here are a few random freebies! I used this missing addend worksheet with my first graders last week. The answers are on the bottom and my students just crossed them off as they filled in the missing addends. Just click the pic below if you’d like your copy! Here are a few random non-school related freebies. These two printables are both saved in a 5x7 format and are meant to be framed. Writing down a weekly dinner menu is a MUST for me and I typically plan my meals on Saturday for the following week. This little menu printable can be placed in a 5x7 frame. I display it in my kitchen. I use a dry erase marker and write on the glass. The other is a countdown to Christmas. I have both in frames and LOVE that I can just write on the glass! If you'd like a copy just click on the pictures below to grab your freebies! Thanks for stopping by & have a WONDERFUL week!
This fall, we've had some fun with the higher reading group doing some non-fiction animal activities. These have been in a pile to share, so we apologize. :) We don't have any pictures, but we will do our best to share. We started with learning about sharks while we were learning the 'ar' sound. Sharks seem to be one of those things that really just grab the kiddos attention. They couldn't get enough of reading about sharks, looking at pictures of real sharks, and even watching a fun video. We began by reading several books about sharks, and made a chart of all of the cool and interesting facts that we learned. Next we completed this shark activity. We then read this little sheet that the kids loved, since it had such great pictures. They also loved that the got to take home a little mini-poster to teach their families about sharks. We read over this several times, and by the end, the kids were able to read most of it by themselves. (Keep in mind this is the high reading group, so we have several reading at a second grade level.) Last we each did a shark report to really share what we had learned about sharks. These turned out sooo cute, I wish I would have remembered to photograph them. Next time! {Also, I apologize that the jpeg cuts off the side of the picture. Drives me all kinds of crazy! The actual document is ok though.} Click below for copies of all of these for yourself! SHARK ACTIVITIES Later on, we learned all about whales when we learned the 'wh' sound. This came right after the sharks, which the kids loved. It was really fun to compare and contrast whales and sharks, and to discuss the similarities between the two. We followed the same basic pattern by starting with reading several books about whales. We also found some really great videos on you tube. HERE is a great one of whales breaching. Of course there were few if any of our kids who had seen this, so it was really fun to watch the kids watching them. We also watched a great video of Beluga whales singing, which was another really exciting idea for the first graders. Unfortunately when I went to link it, it had been removed. But I recommend sharing something similar if you're learning about whales. We then completed this whale activity. {Sorry, it doesn't seem to want to rotate for me. } The kids loved this whale text that we read together, and loved reading about different kinds of whales, and looking at their different pictures online as well. At the end of our whale activities, we also created whale reports. We had a great bulletin board of our reports up that turned out so cute! As mentioned before, we wrapped up by comparing and contrasting whales and sharks, and made this Venn diagram. Make sure to grab copies for yourself! WHALE ACTIVITIES WHALE & SHARK VENN DIAGRAM We hope you find some of these useful! Tune in later this week for some bat and owl activities. Have a great night! Some clipart courtesy of Scrappin' Doodles.
Even though we've still got a few more months before we return, lesson planning is still on our minds! One chapter in our math program th...
Happy February! I can't believe we are already more than half way through the month! We've had a lot of rain here in Oregon these last few weeks, but today and the next several days are filled with sun! I do enjoy winter and the snow, but I am tired of the cold rainy days! Speaking of the snow, my family and I have had several opportunities to head to the mountain this winter. Here's a pic of us a few weeks ago :) Mt. Hood is just gorgeous during every season! My husband and I were able to complete a 3 day hike around it last summer and saw so many beautiful parts of this mountain. Okay, now for some school related things, and some new and updated freebies! I have finally finished my sight word bingo sets. April and May have been added to my store and I have also added a bundle that includes all 9 sets. You can click HERE, or the picture below, to check out the bundle. This last month and a half my first graders have been working through their place value unit in math. I decided to add in some additional support and practice this year since this is such a heavy duty unit, and I really wanted my kids to have a firm grasp on place value. One skill that often can be a struggle is finding 10 more and 10 less than a number. Before I gave my kiddos this lesson from our math program, we spent a day practicing with Reusable Write and Wipe Pockets. I got mine several years ago at Lakeshore and absolutely love them! I use them in small reading groups and also during partner work in math. Each pocket was filled with the two worksheets below. You can click on them to download for free! We began by watching a few place value Khan Academy videos before I handed out the mats. I LOVE Khan Academy. Their videos are wonderful! After watching a few video clips we used our tens rods and ones pieces on the side with the tens and ones worksheet. We did lots of practice showing numbers and what 10 more/less looks like. Eventually I handed out dry erase markers and we completed the 10 more 10 less worksheet. When we got to the last part of the worksheet, I had my kiddos write their own number and also write 10 more/less than the number. I made a few review worksheets for our greater than and less than lessons. These have been in my store, but have been recently updated with different fonts. You can go HERE to download or just click on the pictures below! After several days of learning and practicing using the symbols, we used our reusable wipe off mats again and practiced with partners during a whole group lesson. There are so many ways you could use these with wipe off mats. I began this activity using the page with the larger symbols. We would start with the first symbol and I would show my students two numbers. Then they would write them on the correct side of the symbol. When we got to the second worksheet, I would give them one number, and they would need to put their own number following the symbol. The last box they could create their own greater than, less than, or equal to statement. If you would like these, just click HERE or the pics below! Last week was pajama day so I just had to make an addition and subtraction PJ themed worksheet! You can stop by my store and pick it up for free HERE, or click the picture below! Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the month!
This week our first graders are heading to the zoo for a field trip. We have created a zoo book for our students to write in before the zoo and after. Click HERE to get your copy. The first two pages can be copied back to back and pages 3 and 4 can also be copied back to back. After you have made your copies, simply place one page on top of the other, fold, and you’ve got a book ready to be stapled or you can just leave it folded. We haven’t been able to copy ours yet, but we will tomorrow. If we find glitches, we will be sure to let you know and make changes to the book if needed :) Are you planning a zoo trip too? Our, It's a Zoo Day! (math and literacy games) would be perfect to have your kids play. They can be found in our TpT store. Summer break is just around the corner for us and we are going to spend most of the summer enjoying our time with our kids and family, but we will be sure to share our units and activities that are currently in the works! Stay tuned throughout the summer for lots of ideas, units, and lessons that we will be creating for the upcoming school year!
Hi all! Hope you're all having a fantastic week! This week we have been busy focusing on habitats and we thought we'd share some freebies ...
This last week was all about the water cycle in our classrooms. With such limited time for science these days, we've narrowed our weather ...
