Money can be one of the most difficult skills to teach first graders. The curriculum is not supposed to be introduced until the middle of the year, however, I introduce it from day one. I find that the large print out coins, like the ones below, are very helpful when teaching coin recognition. I always start with the penny, hold it up and ask students what they notice about the penny. We then talk about how much money it’s worth, what’s on the front and back, etc. We will discuss the penny for about a month. When I feel students understand it’s value and recognize the coin, I introduce the nickel next and so forth. The large cut-outs of the coins make it easy to hold up and for the students to see. I’m not sure what I would do without them.
Lakeshore Learning
Need some fun holiday center ideas? Since I teach first grade I knew I had to have a few centers that displayed some holiday interest. One of my centers is word families. There are six paper plates with word family such as the at and ad family. On laminated gingerbread men are beginning letter like C, M, B, and so on. The children must put the correct letter on the plate and form words. Another center I have is where the student make a snowman ornament (simple) and then write a functional in their reading journals about the steps. The children get into the activities and you can tell they love the change.
Functional writing is a lot of fun at any age. This genre can be very exciting for the students. It’s a time to make things and have fun. Here is a list of functional writing ideas that I’ve used over the past few years.
- How to draw a turkey (5 steps)
- How to make green eggs and ham (Read Green Eggs and Ham By: Dr. Seuss first)
- How to tie your shoe
- How to make your bed
- How to make an ice cream cone
- How to make a snowman ornament
- How to make pancakes
- How to carve a pumpkin
- How to make cinnamon toast
- How to make a reindeer
- How to hang an ornament
- How to jump rope (I tend to take them outside and jump rope with them; they love this)
- How to wash a car
- How to feed your dog/cat
- How to make a cake
- How to make a friend
These are just a few of the many functional writing ideas I have used. My students love this genre and love being able to eat and create things. It’s a great way to get them to love writing!
