Bad Case of the Stripes

Continuing with our study of David Shannon books, we read A Bad Case of Stripes. The students created foldables again to write the beginning, middle, and end. They also completed a Story Map to write the characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Too Many Toys

As a part of an author study of David Shannon, we read Too Many Toys. The students created a three-flap foldable to record the beginning, middle, and end of the story and then completed Story Maps to record the characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Word Work

During our Daily 5 time, our main focuses are Read to Self, Read to Someone, and Working on Words. During Working on Words time, the students enjoy a variety of hands-on practice activities. Below are a few examples of what the students work on while I am working in small groups on Guided Reading. Each group has a set of word wall and phonics cards to practice. They build the letters with pop cubes, write them in Rainbow Letters or Stair-Step letters, and much more.

 

 

Reading Partners

Each morning when the students arrive they begin Read to Self  or Read to Someone from Daily 5. I try to have the students read for 15-20 minutes at the beginning of each day either independently or in partners. During this time, I've found that a large number of the students enjoy reading to a stuffed animal. They get to use their imagination while they read aloud. As you can see from the pictures, the students are free to read wherever and however they are comfortable.

Area Animals

The students created various animals on one inch grid paper using color tiles. They the colored their animal on another sheet of grid paper. They then paired up with another student to compare the area of their animal with the area of their partner's animal. They then recorded which animal covered the most space and which animal covered the least area.

Parts of a Set: Names

To review parts of a set, the students colored their names in blue and red. They colored the vowels blue and the consonants red. They then counted how many vowels and consonants they had in their name and recorded it as fraction. It was a fun and easy way to practice parts of a set while also reviewing consonants and vowels.

The Foolish Tortoise

As a part of our study on Eric Carle, we read The Foolish Tortoise. The students created a Story Map to record the characters, setting, problem, and solution of the story. They then colored a drawing of the tortoise to display with their Story Maps.

Measurement: Capacity

The students worked in small groups to compare the capacity of various containers. They poured beans into the various containers focusing on leveling the top to make sure they were filled to capacity. They counted how many cups it took to fill the containers and also transferred from one container to another to see if there were beans left over or space left over.

Fraction Caterpillars

To review fractions and parts of a set, the students created Fraction Caterpillars. This idea originally came from The First Grade Parade. The students used dot stickers to create a caterpillar and then recorded how many of each color they had out of the set.