Hair and a Giveaway

Sunday, April 28, 2013 8 comments
We have hair! 

 
This school year, I have worked myself to death putting together literacy packs to go along with the first grade Journeys® reading series.  For my own sanity, I have taken a short break from creating anything new.  I did, however, put together this little Poetry Pack.  But here is the secret - all the poems were already created and are spread throughout my Journeys® packs.  I just gathered them and put them together in one pack.   You already have these activities if you are purchasing my Journeys® packs, so no need to get this one.

I am giving away this Poetry Fun pack to 3 lucky winners.  Leave a comment below along with your email and I will announce the winners Wednesday evening.
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

Plants

Saturday, April 20, 2013 No comments
Okay ya'll, I so stole this idea from my compadre, Tammy Riggan, and I just had to share.  (btw, she did give me permission to post about this)   Grass seed is planted in the cups and these little critters will soon be sporting some green hair.  The picture is from 4 of her firsties but I stole the idea and did it with my class too.   
 
I made this anchor chart to go with our learning for the week:
 
We also wrote cinquain poems about plants.  I got this idea from Cara Carroll at the First Grade Parade.  You can visit her post Here to grab yourself a copy of the cinquain poem freebies.


 
The flower patterns that I used with my class I also stole borrowed from Tammy Riggan and she has graciously allowed me to share them with you as a freebie. 
The links are under the pictures of the 3 flowers.
 
Flower 1 (students need to trace 4)
Flower 2 (students need to trace 2)
 
Happy Teaching!
 

Character Traits

Friday, April 5, 2013 8 comments
Happy Friday!!!  I thought it would never get here!  Due to the rain and cold, we missed recess most of the week and boy could you tell it.  Thank goodness the sun is starting to shine again in Texas!

We worked on character traits this week and I can honestly say that my kids got it!  I gave the end of story assessment and my lowest grade was an 80!  (Picture the clouds parting and angels singing.)

We started by discussing "outside" and "inside" charater traits.  Outside traits are the traits you can see.  Inside traits are traits you cannot see but you can prove by observing a characters dialogue and actions.  I made this pinterest inspired anchor chart as we discussed traits:

I then had my students write inside and outside traits about themselves:
They then had to choose two inside traits and show evidence using their actions or dialogue:
(I like how she used me in her evidence examples.)

We then moved on to story characters.  The story we were reading (The New Friend) is about a new boy moving to the neighborhood and 3 boys who become his friend.  I had the students choose a character and list two character traits about them and then provide evidence from the story that supports it.



With this same story, I had the students write sentences telling what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.  They then had to illustrate their sentence.  I folded a 12x18 piece of manilla paper and made two cuts: 6 inches from the top 6 inches from the bottom.  I then had the students write beginning, middle, and end on the outside.  They opened the flap and wrote what happened and drew their picture.

Beginning:
This student wrote, "The three boys are curious because they want to know who is moving into the old house."

Middle: 
This student wrote, "They played soccer ball with Makoto.  They make a great team together.  They will be great friends.

End:
This student wrote, "The three boys were happy because Makoto was going to their school."

Happy Weekend Friends!