Comparing Stories

As a part of our story of fairy tales and recurring phrases we read Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. After reading, the students compared and contrasted the two stories and we charted their comparisons on a Double Bubble Map.

Gumball Graphing

***UPDATE: The templates for this lesson are now available for download at my TPT store.***

As a way to assess the students' understanding of graphing, they each created a gumball machine using dot stickers for the gumballs. Each student was given a different amount of stickers and they had to count, tally, and chart how many of each color gumball that was in their machine. They then graphed their totals on a bar-type graph and answered questions about their data.

A Visit From Aunt Rose

After reading A Visit From Aunt Rose by Patrsy Bevcar, the students retold the beginning, middle, and end of the story on a foldable.

Blueberries for Sal

In reading we are working on retelling stories including the beginning, middle, and end. We recently read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. As a group we summarized and charted what happened in the story. The students then created a three flap foldable to illustrate and write to retell the story.

Repeating Patterns

The students practiced making repeating patterns with pattern  blocks. They were each given a pattern written in letter form in which they had to recreate. They marked the repeating sections with popsicle sticks. After they were finished creating their pattern, they turned the letter card over. All of the students went on a "gallery walk" to practice identifying and labeling the patterns that their classmates created.

It's Library Time!

Our class visits the library each Friday after lunch. The students may choose up to three books to take home. After choosing their books, the students read independently. After all students are finished, our Instructional Media Specialist reads the students a story.

Independent Reading

For morning work before announcements the students may choose books from the classroom library or their book boxes to read from independently. Their book boxes are a part of our Guided Reading/Daily 5 lessons and include on-level, "just right" books for them. As you can see by the pictures below, the students are free to get comfortable to enjoy reading.

Attributes of 2D Shapes

As we learned about the attributes of 2D shapes the students worked in cooperative groups to show examples and non-examples of circles, triangles, squares, and square rectangles. When sorting they had to verbally justify how they knew what were examples and what were non-examples by explaining the specific shape's attributes such as how many sides and vertices the shape has. The students then went on "gallery walks" to see how their classmates had sorted their shapes.

Properties and Energy Science Lab

Several weeks ago we visited the science lab to explore physical properties and sources of energy. The students rotated between stations to sort objects by size, shape, color, and texture. They also rotated to stations to explore objects that produce light and sound energy.

Classroom Maps

In Social Studies we have been learning about positional and cardinal directions. They played "Simon Says" using cardinal directions. They went on a hunt for hidden objects using positional words. They also took a "birds-eye" view of the school by looking at a blueprint of the school. They worked in groups to explain the position of various places in the school in relation to the library and using directional words. They also drew a map of our classrom noting where objects were located according to their position on the north, south, east, or west wall.

Alliterations

The students worked in small groups to brainstorm words that began with the same letter as their name. They recorded their words on a Circle Map. They then used the Circle Maps to help them write their own silly sentences using alliterations.

Predictions and Text Evidence

Before reading books together we always take a "picture walk" where the students view the front cover and all of the pictures to predict what they think will happen in the story. We recently read Lisa's Daddy and Daughter Day by Eloise Greenfield. The students made various predictions based on the pictures which we charted. After reading, we went back through the predictions to confirm correct predictions and correct inaccurate predictions. Next to the predictions, we charted text evidence that supported the correct predictions. The students then wrote at least one correct prediction from the story and the text evidence that supported it.