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...
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 unit down to water cycle, and are kids are loving it! We've used some great freebies before from The First Grade Parade, but these year felt like we needed some new stuff. We started by introducing some sweet song, and making a chart as a class to introduce the water cycle. Here are two of the songs that we sang with our kiddos. If you'd like a copy just click on one of the pics below! We've labeled a few pictures of the water cycle too, and made our own posters. We have a black and white copy for your kiddos that can be found with some freebies {HERE}. We created a water cycle in a bag using an idea we found {HERE}. The kids are really into this experiment, and were amazed when we arrived this morning and we are starting to have "clouds" forming at the top of the bag. We have done a great little art project where the kids got to create their own water cycle. If you'd like the printables for this, as well as some cute cards for labeling and making your own poster, you can find them {HERE.} Here's a great video introducing evaporation, condensation, and precipitation: And of course the first graders always love this video for fun! Here are vocabulary cards that we displayed in a pocket chart while learning about the water cycle. We ended our water cycle unit by creating mini books. Just click the pic below if you'd like to check out our mini book! Here's a cute interactive water cycle! Thirstin's Water Cycle Have a great week!
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!
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
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!
Happy spring and happy Friday! I'm currently on spring break and really enjoying the time to relax with my family! Life has been busy, especially with an almost 15 year old. I thought life was busy when she was younger, but it seems to get busier as she gets older and has an even busier school and social life! It's been a while since I've last blogged and I have lots to share with you. I just love these extra worksheet sets. They are perfect for extra practice in math, and I use them a lot during my intervention time. During intervention my kiddos are either reading with me individually, or working independently. You can check this set out {HERE}! You can check out all themed sets {HERE}! If you'd like a preview of what's inside this set, here is a little spring addition/subtraction freebie. Just click the picture below to download! Last week The Moon was our reading theme. Our main story in our core reading program was Kitten's First Full Moon. Our small group reading books were nonfiction books about the moon. We completed lots of moon activities throughout the week and read several fiction and nonfiction moon books. If your looking for a great moon phase activity, I found a lunar cycle wheel that on TpT. I modified it a bit and my kiddos couldn't wait to take their wheels home and look at the night sky! You can find it {HERE}! My kiddos also each made models of the earth and Moon's orbit. With my support, and completing these in two steps, they turned out great! Most importantly, my first graders have a great tool to help them understand the earth and moon's orbit. You can find this awesome freebie {HERE}! Below are a few freebies I made. The moon facts booklet was a choice activity that I incorporated into my intervention time. My kiddos could write their own facts that they learned about the moon, or write facts from two of the moon anchor charts that were hanging on our classroom. I also created a moon themed math worksheet. My class needed a little extra practice and review on adding tens, so I created this worksheet for extra practice. You can check out both of these freebies by clicking on the pictures below. Here are just a few of the books that my class loved listening to during our moon week. Night Cat isn't really about the moon, but it was about a cat at night and there is a full moon. It was a perfect book to read after reading Kitten's First Full Moon in our core reading program. If You Decide To Go To The Moon was a FABULOUS book! My first graders were so captivated by this story and enjoyed every page! The Moon by Thomas K. Adamson was a perfect nonfiction book, with simple text and simple facts for young readers. I'm sure most of you have already celebrated your 100th day of school, but here are some freebies for you to tuck away until next year :) We celebrated our 100th day of school during the third week in February. Here's a 100 word booklet and a subtracting from 100 worksheet that my kiddos completed on our 100th day! The 6 page booklet has 100 spaces for words and took a few days to complete. My kids found words around the room and wrote them in their booklets. I used this booklet as a choice activity during our intervention time. The math worksheet was a great review during our math time. Click on either picture below for both downloads! Also during the third week of February our first graders attended a presentation about our flag. Local members from our VFW came and presented about our flag and each first grader went home with their own flag and flag stand. This was the perfect week to learn about American Symbols. I checked out several books from the library which my kids and I could read from during the week. I also made this cute anchor chart that I found {HERE}. If you'd like pictures with labels to create your own chart, or to display in a pocket chart, just click one of the pictures below. You can also download a flag facts worksheet as well. Both freebies are included in one download. Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a great end to your week!
Well Hello Summertime! We had a crazy busy end of school year this year. After 12 years teaching first grade, Erin is moving schools, an...
Every year we have our first graders create a memory book as a little memory of first grade. This little product has been in our store f...
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.
In few weeks we will be giving our first graders certificates congratulating them on all of their hard work in first grade. We h...
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 ...