Reader's Theater Performance

Thank you to all of the parents and families who were able to attend the First Grade End-of-Year Reader's Theater Performance. The students have worked so hard this year to improve their reading and it really showed today. Below are a few pictures from the performance. In case you missed the performance, the students have been working on creating a podcast of "The Three Little Pigs" which they performed at the Reader's Theater Performance. Their recording will be posted within the next few days once they are finished.

Career Day

The students learned about various careers today thanks to the many volunteers that came to visit. The students learned about how to take care of pets properly thanks to Grand Prairie Animal Services. They also learned about fire safety and the role of firemen and paramedics thanks to the Grand Prairie Fire Department. Thank you to our school counselor, Ms. Terry, for planning this fun day for the students.

Another free slideshow by Smilebox

Armadillo Rodeo

As a part of our Social Studies unit over Texas regions, we read Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett which is a story about an armadillo in the Hill Country of Texas who mistakes a red cowboy boot for a red armadillo. After reading, the students discussed the main idea of the story with their partner. They then wrote the main idea of the story and illustrated it.

Robots! Robots! Robots!

As we ended our Social Studies unit on inventors last week, the students had the opportunity to become inventors themselves. The students used two boxes (a great way to recycle) along with a table full of odds-and-ends to design and create their own robot. As a part of the process, each student had to write a plan that included the robot's name, what it was made from, how it works, and what problem it solves. We discussed that inventors need plans of their inventions with dates on them so that no one else can steal their idea. Along with the robot plans and writing, the students journaled in their inventor's notebook about as many inventions they could come up with. Who knows, maybe one day we will see their inventions and ideas in stores!

Another digital scrapbook by Smilebox

The Goat in the Garden

Last week we read the read-aloud The Goat in the Garden. The Goat in the Garden is a tale from Mexico about a couple who can not get a mischevious goat from eating all the vegetables in their garden so they recruit other animals to help them. After reading the story, the students created a Flow Map together on the dry erase board to retell the story. They then completed story element maps individually to describe the characters, setting, problem, and solution.

You're Invited! Reader's Theater Presentation

Please join us for performances of various Readers’ Theaters by your students. Reader’s Theaters are short plays, typically without costumes or props, that are written to help students’ reading development. They have been an important part of our reading work this year as we practiced fluent reading.

Date: Friday, May 27th
Time: 2:30PM – 3:15PM
Where: Moseley Cafeteria

Favorite Insects

During reading we have been reading about and learning about a variety of insects through both fiction and non-fiction texts. As a part of our writing program, Write From the Beginning, the students brainstormed their favorite insects on a Circle Map and then chose one to write about. Using a Flow Map, the students wrote three reasons the insect was their favorite and then used the Flow Map to help them write sentences. As a part of the writing process, the students had to use adverbs to transition between sentences. After writing their draft, we edited them together and they rewrote a final draft. While we were editing in small groups, the students created art of their favorite insect to display with their final drafts.

I Have A Little Shadow

This week the students read the poem "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson. After reading, we used the same brainstorming process that I wrote about in the post "Hey, Bug!" to list things a shadow might do and words that rhyme with those things. After brainstorming, the students again "popcorned" out ideas for the poem and the class voted on which ones they liked the best. They then worked together to write a final draft of the poem and illustrate it. It still amazes me how similar the illustrations are even though they worked in small groups - communicating with one another at its best!

Hey, Bug!

Last week and this week the students have been reading and writing rhyming poems. Poetry is a large part of our daily reading lessons as a way to focus on fluency. We began the lesson by reading the poem "Hey, Bug!". After reading, the students brainstormed things that bugs can do which we listed on the whiteboard. The students then brainstormed words that rhyme with those things that bugs can do. This gave them a starting point for their own rhyming poem about bugs. Starting with the topic word "bug" the students shouted out their ideas for the poem. We call this "popcorning" ideas. As students would call out ideas, I would repeat them and the students would decide which one they liked the best and we would add it to chart paper. We would continue the process until each of the beginnings words that describe what a bug can do were used at least once along with a rhyming word. We then went back and read the poem as a whole to see if it made sense and if it had a rhythm. Once everyone agreed on the completed poem, the students worked in small groups to rewrite the final version on chart paper, in sets of rhyming pairs. After the students wrote their portion of the poem, the students had to agree on what type of bug it was and how to illustrate it. Then each group went back and illustrated their part.

Computer Work Portfolios

Each week our class goes to the computer lab at least once. Because we usually go during our math block, our computer lessons tend to focus on math concepts. Below are a few movies that showcase the work the students have done this year in the computer lab. The students exported the pictures themselves and saved them to our school's shared drive. They are currently working on creating their own movies to showcase their individual work which will be uploaded to their KidBlog sometime next week.

Timimoto

A few weeks back we read the Japanese tale Timimoto. Timimoto is a story about a tiny baby boy, no bigger than your thumb, who was found by an elderly couple and raised as their own. As Timimoto grew older he wanted to go out into the world and explore. Along his way he had many adventures and trying times but ended up saving the day. After reading the story, the students worked in groups to create a foldable with boxes. In each box they retold one part of the story and illustrated it. They then cut the boxes apart and put them in order on a sentence strip. After each group finished their story sequencing, they shared their retell with the class.

Is It a Toad or a Frog?

A few weeks ago when we were studying the life cycle of frogs, the students read Frog and Toad from Reading A-Z. After reading the book several times during guided reading, the students worked in their groups to complete a Thinking Map of their choice - either a Double Bubble Map or a Venn Diagram. Both maps are used to teach the same concept - to compare and contrast two objects. The students used the reading strategy of looking back at the text to find their answers.

Garden Update

The students have been working very hard at taking care of their garden. Their onion and potato plants are growing quickly. Last week we visited the garden with Ms. Goolsbay's class to have a lesson from Mrs. Reed on feeding the plants and watering them properly. The students learned that the best way to water the plants is by watering at the base and not the leaves. They also learned that these types of plants need a large amount of water and they need it on a daily basis. Thank you to Mrs. Reed for helping us learn more about the garden.

Frog Facts

As a part of our study on frogs, we visited Kidzone to learn interesting facts about frogs. After reading, the students created a diagram of the life cycle of the frogs. After creating their diagram, the students shared the life cycle process with a friend. The following day, the students created a frog out of construction paper. In groups, the students brainstormed facts that they learned from the website and we added them to our class Circle Map. The students then chose one fact per group to write on the back of their frog in the form of a "Did you know?" question. The students shared these facts at our weekly Pride Rally along with Ms. Goolsbay's class. At the end of the fact sharing time, the students all sang "Five Green and Speckled Frogs."