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!

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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.

Sound Energy Lab

As a part of our study of energy, the students visited the science lab to experiment with different forms of sound. The students rotated through various stations to explore the sounds that can be made from tapping, rubbing, shaking, and vibrating.

Light Energy Lab

Last week we visited the science lab to learn about light energy. The students explored with various types of light including lamps, flashlights, and poplights. We also read about and looked at pictures of various uses of light such as fireworks.

Family Tradition Quilt

A few weeks ago in Social Studies, we discussed family traditions and the students shared a few things that make their families unique. With the help of their parents, the students wrote down at least one of their family traditions on a paper quilt square. They then illustrated their work and shared them with friends.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week we learned about the sounds /sh/ and /ch/. To help the students remember /ch/, all of the first grade teachers taught a collaborative lesson in how to make chocolate chip cookies. Along with our phonics connection, we reviewed the purpose of entertainment texts and informative texts. We first read the recipe for chocolate chip cookies and discussed that it was meant for information because it teaches you how to make the cookies. We then followed the directions step-by-step. While the cookies were baking, we read Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar by Vivana Garofoli and  The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins. The students discussed why these stories were for entertainment. And, as perfect timing, right at the end of the reading of The Doorbell Rang, the oven timer rang and the cookies were ready. The students then enjoyed their sweet treat!

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Rainbow Day Lessons

Each Friday for the last several weeks and for the future few weeks, the students will be taught character education lessons by a guest teacher, Ms. K. She visits our class for about thirty minutes to teach social skills lesssons such as how the brain is the boss of their body, where safe seats are in a car, etc.

Skip Counting Practice

To help the students practice skip counting, we kicked off our shoes and counted them by 2's. They then traced their hands and added them to sentence strips. They then counted them by 5's. For independent practice, the students then created their own skip counting patterns using computer clipart of shoes and hands. The students used critical thinking and critical writing to determine which would be faster - to count by 2's or to count by 5's. They learned the technology skills of click, hold, and drag along with adding and editing text boxes.