Calendar Math

Each day a student is given the classroom job of being the calendar helper. The calendar helper is responsible for teaching their classmates, with the teacher's assistance as needed, calendar for the day. The first few weeks of school I modeled asking questions about the calendar such as "What is today's day of the week? What was yesterday? If today is Thursday, what will tomorrow be?", etc. The students now ask those questions of their classmates and then move the calendar pieces to reflect the answers. Before moving the calendar, the calendar asks the class "Is it correct?" and the rest of the class gives a thumbs up or thumbs down as feedback. We do this to practice constructive feedback. At the end of the calendar lesson, the calendar helper calls on one student to give a rating (a number from 1-5) to give feedback on how they did. If the rater gives less than a five, they have to provide constructive feedback on what can be improved. We do this to learn how to accept feedback without getting upset. The calendar helper then calls on at least three people to be affirmers. Affirmers give the calendar helper one specific compliment about something they did well during the lesson. Raters and Affirmers is a part of our school's discipline and guidance plan through Capturing Kids' Hearts.

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

A few weeks ago we were reading various stories about school. One of the books we read was Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes - one of my favorites! As a part of the lessons, we talked about how Chrysanthemum was feeling and made connections to how we were feeling about starting school. We then extended the lesson by counting the letters in our names, just as Chrysanthemum's classmates do in the book, and compared how long our names are to hers. We then created a bar-type graph to record our findings. The students then created art with their names by coloring patterns on bubble letters. After they were completed, the students read the names as a group and clapped out the syllables. We then sorted the names according to the number of syllables in the names to create a real-object graph. Their artwork was then added to our classroom helper area as a name word wall.

Thank You!

Thank you to Lori at Bee the Change for passing on the Versatile Blogger Award to me. It is very nice to have fellow teachers share their ideas with me and I hope that my blog provides a variety of ideas for both my colleagues and parents of sweet little first graders! If you get a chance, check out Lori's blog!

Never Eat Sour Watermelons

This week in Social Studies we have been learning about map skills and directional words. To help the students remember the order of the directions, we learned the silly phrase "Never eat sour watermelons!" This helps the students remember north, south, east, and west. We discussed how north should be on the top of a map. We then played "Simon Says" in our classroom using directional words. The students then drew a map of our classroom showing where objects are located related to which wall they are closest to. To extend the learning, the students identified various rooms in our school on a blueprint of the school. They identified where the gym, the music room, the art room, the cafeteria, library, computer lab, the playground, the office, and our classroom are. They then color-coded them on their own copy of the school blueprint according to which part of the school they are in - the north, sount, east, or west. Tomorrow they will use their maps to go on a walk to find rooms around the school.

Comparing Fairy Tales

Today we compared Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella to discuss how fairy tales typically begin with the phrase "once upon a time" or "long, long ago." We used the online media stories for both which the students found very engaging. After hearing both of the stories, the students identified the characters - including the heros and the villains. They discussed that fairy tales usually have heros and villains and have to overcome a problem. To help them visualize their comparisons, we created a Double Bubble Map.

Rhymes and Alliterations

Last week we worked extensively on rhyming words and alliterations. The students practiced finding rhyming words with the song "A Hunting We Will Go." They brainstormed rhyming words to insert in the song and sorted pictures that rhymed. For alliterations, the students brainstormed words that begin with the first letter of their name on a Circle Map. They then shared their words with the class. We wrote the words on a class anchor chart. We then brainstormed additional words for each letter of the alphabet. The students then used those Cirlce Maps and the anchor chart to write drafts of their own alliteration sentences in their journals. The students then met we me in small groups to edit and revise their sentences. They wrote their final drafts and illustrated it for publishing in the hallway. Their alliterations are very creative!

David Goes to School

To help elaborate on our Social Contract  and to learn the parts of a book, we read No, David! and David Goes to School by David Shannon. Before reading, we talked about the parts of a book. We discussed the purpose of the title and the need to stay on topic. We also discussed the role of the author and the illustrator. To help us remember their roles, we sing these songs to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell":

The author writes the words,

The author writes the words,

Hi-ho, the derry-o,

The author writes the words.

The illustrator draws the pictures,

The illustrator draws the pictures,

Hi-ho, the derry-o,

The illustrator draws the pictures.

After reading, we discussed the things that David did in the book as non-examples of how to behave at school. We discussed how David would have been different if he had a Social Contract to follow. The students then created their own book cover about them going to school. On the inside of their book, they wrote at least two things they can do at school to follow the Social Contract.

Wemberly Worried

During the first week of school we read Wemberly Worried as a part of a lesson on discussion. The students learned the rules of discussion such as using our eyes to look at the speaker, listening with our ears, and not interrupting. As we read the book, we stopped to practice the rules of discussions with partners. The students discussed their favorite parts of the book and retold what was happening from beginning, middle, and end. After discussing, the students illustrated and wrote about their favorite part of Wemberly Worried.



Capturing Kids' Hearts Social Contract

Each year the students at Moseley create a Social Contract in each of their classes. The students discuss in small groups how they want to treat their friends and teacher and how they want to be treated by their friends and teacher. They then write the words on our class Social Contract. If several groups list the same word, we put a check mark by it. This shows us which things we find the most important. The students then create a happy face of themselves to place with the Social Contract to remind them of how it feels when we all treat each other well.

First Grade Reading Sites

I recently compiled a page of some of my favorite reading sites for young children. They are filled with interactive stories, phonics and sight word practice, and more! You can visit my page here. Some of my favorite pages are ABCya!, Storyline Online, and Starfall.

Refrigerator Phonics

I found this fun refrigerator magnet game at ABCya! that your children can use to practice spelling their word wall and phonics words. You can also have your child pratice their words in a fun way by buying cheap plastic magnetic letters at your local dollar store. They can practice their words on the refrigerator or on a metal cookie sheet.

First Grade Math Games

Each week our class visits the computer lab to practice our math skills. To make life easier, I created a Sqworl page of some of my favorite first grade math games. You can visit this page to have your students practice various games over addition, subtraction, skip counting, measurement, patterns, graphing, time, and more.

Welcome to First Grade!

Here are a few pictures of my classroom this year. It is similar to what I have done in the past but I got rid of some things (like my giant teacher desk) and organized even more to make it feel more open.

Affirmation Station

At our campus, we use Capturing Kids' Hearts as a part of our discipline and guidance plan. As a part of that process, students are taught how to receive and give affirmations - both verbally and in writing. In the past, my students wrote the affirmations and would place them on the corner of the receipients' desk. Other people in my school have used bags to place the affirmations in but I have found that I do not have enough room for this in my class. So, this year, I am trying something new. In our class we will have an "Affirmation Station." In the station, each student will have a pocket (a library checkout pocket that can be found at most educational supply stores) with their name on it. At the station, there will be various colored pencils and index cards for them to write their affirmations on. The students can write affirmations as morning work, when they finish work early, or at stations. The affirmations will then be put in the receipients' pocket which can be picked up during Reading Workshop and Literacy Stations or at the end of the day.

We Are Going to Have a Ball In First Grade!

Fellow teachers, in case you are looking for a back-to-school bulletin board idea, I want to share this idea with you. I am going with a gumball theme on one of my hallway bulletin boards with the saying "We are going to have a ball in first grade." My sister drew a huge gumball machine on several pieces of posterboard and I made several colors of gumballs from construction paper. Each student's name will be written on a gumball as a way of welcoming in this year's new little first graders.



Vote Now: Really Good Classroom Blog

If you enjoy reading my blog, you can vote for my blog or any of the other many great blogs out there in Really Good Stuff's 2011 Really Good Classroom Blog Contest. Voting begins today, July 1st, and goes through July 7th!