Book Character Parade

As a part of our Red Ribbon Week festivities and in perfect timing for Halloween, our school held a Book Character Parade. It is an annual event that the students, parents, and staff look forward to each year. The students showed their "character" by saying "no to drugs" by dressing up as their favorite storybook character and parading through the school.

Red Ribbon Week - Door Decorations

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at our school. First grade decorated with the theme "First Graders 'Clothes' The Door on Drugs." Each class decorated their door with a different type of clothing and saying. Our class decorated with cowboy boots and our saying was "We give drugs the boot!"

Magnetic or Not Magnetic?

Last week the students went to the science lab to discover which items were magnetic and which were not. Thank you to my co-teacher, Mrs. Timms, for being so flexible and taking my class to the lab when I was out. The students then went back to class and illustrated objects that were magnetic and items that were not magnetic.

Franklin's Halloween

As a part of our study of making connections, we read Franklin's Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois. The students made text-to-text and text-to-self connections to the story.

Bats on Parade

To identify the features of a fantasy text, we read Bats on Parade by Kathi Appelt. The students brainstormed various reasons why the book was a fantasy:

• Bats do not wear hats.
• Bats do not drive cars.
• Bats do not play instruments.
• Bats cannot talk.
• Bats do not have parades.

The students wrote at least one reason they knew the story was a fantasy and illustrated that part of the story.

The Biggest Pumpkin Ever

Last week we were working extensively on making connections. After reading The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll, the students wrote and illustrated at least one text-to-self connection they made.

Partitioning Numbers

To help your students build quick number recognition using ten rods and ones, have them play Partioning Numbers. The game flashes various numbers and gives three answer options. As soon as the students choose the correct number, it moves to another. You can also download a set of Place Value Flashcards that I made for FREE.

Dino Place Value

Here is another fun way to practice place value at home. In the game Dino Place Value, the students are given a number to build. They identify first how many tens there and need to mentally calculate its worth. They then identify how many ones there are. In class we practice counting how many tens and then calculating how much the tens are worth by counting them by tens. We use vocabulary and phrasing such as this: "There are 2 tens. 2 tens is worth 20. There are 4 ones. 4 ones is worth 4. 20 plus 4 equals 24."

Base Ten Block Game

To help your child with place value, have them visit Learning Box to play the Base Ten game. The students will build various numbers. We are currently working on building numbers to 50. You can also have your child practice at home with manipulatives you probably have around the house. You can use pretzel sticks, craft sticks, straws, toothpicks, pencils, etc. for tens. You can use marshmallows, candy, buttons, etc. for ones. A trick we use in class to signal when it is time to break a skip counting pattern between tens and ones is to clap in between the units. For example, if we are counting to 32, the students would say 10-20-30-(clap)-31-32.

The Memory String

As a way to analyze character's feelings and make connections, we read The Memory String by Eve Bunting. The story is about a little girl whose mother had passed away and reflects on the relationship between a daughter and step-mother during a conflict. After reading, the students verbally identified the characters, setting, problem, and solution in the story and made connections to the story. They then wrote the story elements on a four-part chart. You can download this story elements chart for FREE at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Needs and Wants

Last week in Social Studies we studied the differences between needs and wants. The students read about, wrote about, and brainstormed various things that we need to live and things that we may want to make life easier or more pleasurable. One of the activities the students completed was to create a foldable to identify one need and one want.

Pumpkin Patch Place Value

Over the last several weeks we have been learning about place value. To practice identifying and counting tens and ones, we created pumpkin patches. Each student was given a bag of candy pumpkins. Each bag had a different number of pumpkins it in ranging from 20 to 50. The students placed the pumpkins on a ten rod mat starting at the top. As they placed the pumpkins, we discussed how there was not a need to count the pumpkins one-by-one because once a row was complete, we could count them by ten. A row that was not full had to be counted by ones. After building their numbers, we took a gallery walk to each table to count the various numbers of pumpkins. At each table the students discussed which number was the greatest and which was the least. We talked about first looking at the tens place and then at the ones place, if they tens were equal. The next day, the students chose a new bag and repeated the activity. This time instead of counting the numbers aloud, they drew sticks and dots to represent the nubmer. They wrote how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch and its expanded notation. Because we were having so much fun, we decided to extend the lesson to another day. The students chose another bag and built their number. This time, they used paint to create thumbprint pumpkins on a paper version of the ten rod mat to match their candy pumpkin representation. They students then wrote how many tens and ones were in their pumpkin patch and how much it was worth in expanded notation. Teachers, you may download the templates for the Pumpkin Patch Recording Sheet and the Pumpkin Patch Place Value Mat at my Teachers Pay Teachers store for FREE! Enjoy!

This free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Place Value Initials

***UPDATE: You can now download the templates on my TPT store.***

To practice place value, the students built the first letter of their name with paper Base Ten Blocks. They then counted how many tens and ones were needed for their letter. They then calculated how much those tens adn ones were worth. In small groups, the students discussed which letter was worth more and which was worth less as a way to review greater than and less than.

How Cool Is This?

Just a quick note to say "thank you" to my dad for building this awesome cabinet for my classroom. I have been looking for an organized way for the students to store their homework notebooks and this is the perfect solution. The other half holds writing supplies for workshop and affirmation station time.

Franklin's Bad Day

This week we are reading and learning about different types of emotions and feelings. We are also learning about characters and how they change. Yesterday we read Franklin's Bad Day to learn about how character's feelings can change in a story. As we read, we thought aloud about how Franklin was feeling. The students determined that at the beginning of the story Franklin felt mad but they were unsure why. We practiced using the picture clues to help us know how the character was feeling. As we continued reading, the students determined that Franklin was now feeling sad because his friend had moved. We discussed that this could be what was really upsetting him in the beginning of the book. At the end of the book the students determined that Franklin was feeling better. After discussing how and why his feelings changed, the students created a three part foldable to write and illustrate the changes.

Thank You PTA!

Last Friday the students in our class, along with one class from every other grade level, were awarded with a popcorn party from PTA for having the highest percentage of family members to join PTA for our grade level. The students loved the red, white and blue popcorn treat. One of the students even made a Moseley Thunderbird out of their popcorn. Thank you to all of the parents and other family members who joined PTA!

Pattern Review

This week in math we have been reviewing various concepts. One of those concepts is repeating patterns. In one of our review lessons, the students worked in small groups to create repeating patterns using paper color tiles to match an alphabet pattern card. After making the first pattern, they rotated to another station with a different alphabet pattern card to practice a new pattern. The students were able to see that althought they may have chosen a different set of colors to begin with, the alphabet pattern stayed the same. Individually, and without the aid of the cards, the students wrote the alphabet pattern, identified the pattern core, and drew a line to divide each repeating part.