Polar Express Day 2012

Our annual Polar Express Day began with a school-wide sing-along. The students had fun shaking their jingle bells (a gift from the teachers to the students) along with the music. Then all of first grade joined us in our class to watch The Polar Express. After lunch, the students were read The Polar Express in a Reader's Theater style thanks to our admin staff and specials staff. They were also treated to hot chocolate. We then went back to the room to read the book. Each student received a keepsake photo on a black train to help them remember the special day. And, yes, we did it all in our pajamas!

 

 

Prayers

Elf Descriptive Writing

The students created their own elf out of scrapbook paper using Deanna Jump's elf pattern from her Polar Express unit. Then using a Circle Map and Tree Map to prewrite, they wrote sentences to describe their elves. The elves and the writing turned out so cute!

Santa Study

Our Instructional Media Specialist, Ms. Hollingsworth, created an amazing lesson for the first graders about the role of Santa Claus around the world. The students got to "hear" Santa speak to them from Germany, France, Mexico, and The United States. They heard what his name was, what he wears, when he visits, how he travels, and where he leaves gifts. The students are currently using this research to write about the role of Santa Claus from one country of their choice.

Coins: Santa's Toy Shop

The students were busy being little elves for Santa last week. They each created a toy shelf out of construction paper. They then sorted various pictures of toys onto the shelves acccording to their price. They had to match the price of the toys to the coin with the same value. This helped the students learn the value of coins in an engaging way.

To Make the Grinch Smile

We recently read How the Grinch Stole Christmas to discuss how the main character changed over time. The students used the pattern from Deanna Jump's Grinch Unit to create their own Christmas Grinch. They then wrote about one way they would make the Grinch smile.

Coin Tree Map

The students have been learning to identify the names of coins and their value. They are also learning to identify how many pennies are equivalent to that coin's value. To help them with this concept, we created a large class Tree Map with examples of the coins, their values, and other ways to make the same value.

Christmas Tree Descriptive Writing

The students created a Christmas tree out of three triangles. They then added dot stickers of various colors to their tree as ornaments. The students then wrote to describe their tree using a Circle Map and Tree Map. The students' goal was to include adjectives to describe the shape of the tree as well as the color and number of ornaments on their tree.

Auntie Claus

In reading we have been learning about character traits. We recently read Auntie Claus to discuss how the main character, Sohpie Kringle, changed over time. After reading, the students retold the story on a Flow Map. As they retold the story, I introduced vocabulary to describe Sophie's character which we highlighted on the Flow Map. Later the students made connections to the lesson in the story which is that "it is better to give than to receive." They made presents out of scrapbook paper to write down four things you can give to someone that does not have to be bought.

If Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney

To practice creative writing, the students wrote what they would do if Santa got stuck in the chimney. Before writing, we talked about the importance of stating the topic of your writing somewhere at the beginning. They then wrote at least one thing they would do to help poor Santa.

Stocking Descriptive Writing

As a fun homework project, the students decorated their own Christmas stocking. Then in class they wrote sentences to describe their stocking. They first brainstormed what it looks like, what it has, and what it can do on a Circle Map. They then transfered those ideas to a Tree Map which they used to write their sentences. They wrote their final draft of stocking paper which was hung on the fireplace with their stocking art.

Holly Wreath Fact Family

In math we have been reviewing and practicing fact families and word problems. To help the students, I created this integrated art and math lesson. In this lesson the students made a Christmas wreath out of Holly leaves and berries. They then counted how many leaves and berries they had in order to find the total number and the corresponding fact family number sentences. The templates for this lesson are available on my TPT store.

Holly Garland Number Patterns

To help review number patterns, the students created number lines using Holly leaves and berries. The berries represented the numbers on a number line and the leaves were the spaces in between the numbers. The students used a recording sheet to first identify the skip counting rule for their pattern. They then transferred the pattern to the number line using the strategy of drawing jumping hills. In this strategy, students draw a hill from one number to the next and count how many hills are between two given numbers in a number pattern. Fellow teachers, you can download the templates for this lesson at my TPT store.

Classroom Christmas Tree

The students decorated our classroom Christmas Tree this week. They took such pride in placing the ornaments just right on the tree. The ornaments are copies of our favorite picture books that I printed, laminated, and glued a hook on.