As a reading teacher we always need fun ideas to keep our students interested and involved in the lesson. Since I teach first grade, we do a lot of reviewing at the beginning of the year on the alphabet. We also work on short vowels and the sounds they make. One activity I always enjoyed and the students enjoyed was the short “a” chain. I cut strips of paper about 2 inches wide. I make sure that I have several colors to choose from as well. Then I have students think of short “a” words (of course we have reviewed these ahead of time). They write down their short “a” word and then we staple the strip so that it is a circle/chain. We link all the chains together to form one long chain. Then we hang them from the ceiling as decoration. The students love the activity and the decoration it adds to the classroom. What a fun and easy way to review!
As a first grade teacher, I teach narrative writing. There are a lot of elements that go along with narrative writing: dialogue, beginning, middle, end, time key words (first, next, last), illustrations, having a good beginning (One day… One hot morning…), problem, solution, details, etc. The list seems endless. I came across a great school website that has many great sources for not only narrative writing, but all genres. The link is Santa-Maria Bonita Schools. They have printable posters that are first grade friendly. Check them out!
I came across a very cool social studies website called Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids. It has various links on it. It also has a map if a community (fire station, hospital, etc.). Kids can click on the buildings and Ben explains what they are and why they are apart of our community. This is definitely for the primary grades, but there are also tabs at the top of the page that are organized by grade level. My kids got a kick out of it. I also came across Kids Bank. This is great for not only social studies, but math as well. It teaches children why saving is important ( a standard listed in our social studies curriculum). We have used these websites on our smart board as well as projecting it from my computer on the overhead screen. Check out both links below.
Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
I was trying to find a few good websites for scientific method and science safety. I spent a great deal of time in search for a kid friendly video clip explaining these skills. After researching, I came across a website called Brain Pop. It has many great video clips, worksheets, and other resources for not only science, but other subjects as well. A five day trial membership is given to new accounts. After the five day period, you will have to purchase a membership. It’s worth looking into.
I noticed that my first graders are beginning to bully one another. I think it is very important to nip this as soon as possible. I try and read books about self esteem, friendship, etc. We also discuss ways of solving conflicts and issues that may arise. We also have a no tolerance for bullying in the classroom. If students begin name calling, hitting, or bringing others down their behavior cards are turned. I think they are beginning to catch on and see the importance of treating others with respect. Books have been a great way to slyly say what I’d like to get across to them. They are very kid-friendly and students can easily relate. Just be sure to cover all aspects of bullying while they are young because when they are older I feel it is much harder or even too late.
Response to literature is a very important skill that first grade and all grades need to know. You can incorporate it an author study or separate it and focus on particular skills. I know many of the skills I like to cover are:
Setting
Compare and Contrast two books by the same author or same genre
Characters
Problem/Solution
Prediction
Retelling (Beginning, Middle, End)
Main Idea
Author’s Message
The list could go on and on. I know when doing beginning, middle, and end I like to use a very long piece of paper (long ways/landscape) and cut three sections into it. The beginning is skinny, the middle (where most of the story took place) is wider, and the end is skinny. This is something the children can physically see. They know the middle should have more details because it’s thicker. While the beginning and end are not as wide because less takes place in those parts of the story.
We had our play day and egg hunt yesterday. The day was fun, but exhausting. We hid 1300 eggs for our four first grade classrooms. Thank you parents! Without them, I’m not sure how we would have hidden all those eggs. It ended up being a huge success and the smiles on the faces of all those children was priceless; however; I’m glad it’s over.
After my one week off, I will continue on with response to literature. We will be working on evaluating books. After reading some of my favorite books, the children will have the opportunity to evaluate them. After I model it of course, I will have them write this in their journal:
My opinion of the book was…
My reason was…
My example…
Their example must be an actual quote from the story. If you don’t like the format above, you can also go with: I liked it when… I did not like it when… My favorite part of the story was… Good Luck!
I must say after a very long few weeks of report writing, I am eager to go on to response to literature. It’s a whole new ball game and since I am excited to start it so are the children. My first lesson for the genre was simple and easy. I had previously written the standards for response to literature on chart paper. We went over those and then I began reading a simple story. I have first graders so I kept it simple. Nothing with a lot of detail or confusion. I chose Knuffle Bunny by Mo Williams. It has a simple story line and plot. The children won’t fret about what is the beginning, middle, or end. After reading the book, I had the students fill out a graphic organizer on what happened in the beginning, middle, and end. Of course I modeled how to do this with another story first. It’s a great introduction lesson to the new genre.
For the 100th day I have a few things planned. In math we will be writing/counting to 100 three different ways. We will be counting by 2′s, 5′s, and 10′s. This will help enforce multiple ways of counting. This is also a great time to talk about and point out noticings on the 100′s chart.
In writing we will be finding 100 words to write. I have also asked students to bring in 100 small things that could fit into a paper bag. They will then write about why they chose those items. My students really look forward to the 100thday of school! I can’t wait to see what they bring in!
In math I’ve been teaching my students how to properly give directions on a map. It is part of our curriculum in Math Investigations: Quilt Squares and Block Towns. I started my lesson using a hook. I pretended I was a robot and the children had to give me instructions on where to go. They soon found they had to be precise about their directions. They began using words like right, left, forward, and backward. Once I had used that as my introduction, I created a map using smartboard (if you contact me, I can email it to you). Students used the smartboard pens to draw lines from point A to point B. They were also verbally telling me to move right, left, up three blocks, etc. It was a great lesson and proved to be successful.
