Retelling using ChatterPix

We recently read the story "The Tree" that is in our Journeys reading basil.  It is a chapter from the book "Poppleton Forever."

First, I had my first graders write sentences telling what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.

The students then got out the ipads and used the 

ChatterPix Kids app to retell and share their writing.

Here are a few examples:

Happy Teaching!

Writing a Friendly Letter

After reading "Let's Go to the Moon," I had my firsties write a letter to someone telling them facts they had learned about the moon.

Here are a few examples of our finished letters:

First, students used the plan sheet below to write their three moon facts on.  Then they used the friendly letter template to write their letter.  They added pictures to display with their letters in the hallway.

Students could write letters about any topic they are learning about.

You can grab a copy of this writing freebie by clicking on any of the pictures above.

Happy Teaching!

Small Groups and Sequencing

Small group instruction didn't look fancy in my room today, but there sure was a ton of learning going on. We worked on the short e sound.  We started out writing short e words on our white boards and transitioned into sentence writing.  I gave them a short e word and they used the word in a sentence.  In the pictures below, we were using the word bed in a sentence.

Next week, we will be reading "Gus Takes the Train" in our Journeys reader.  I whipped up a sequencing activity for my students to do at one of our centers while I work with small groups.  It is shown below.  I will laminate and cut out the 4 sequence cards.  Students will sequence them in the correct order and then write the sentences on their recording sheet.  If you would like a copy of this activity, just click on the picture below.

Clip art courtesy of My Cute Graphics.

Fonts from Kimberly Geswein and Sheila Melton.

If you are looking for other word work activities for your students to do at centers for this story, you can check out my packet on TpT by clicking on the picture below.

Happy Teaching!

Moon Study

"Let's Go to the Moon!" is one of my favorite stories in our reading basil.  There is so much to do with this story and I've included some of the activities we did this week with our story.  

Since identifying and writing questions was one of our skills this week, we wrote "Did you know" questions that had to include a fact about the moon.

We also wrote 5 sentence paragraphs about the moon.  This was a 2 day process.  On day 1, we made our class circle map about the moon and did our prewriting. On day 2, we wrote our final draft copy.

We made a model showing how the moon orbits earth while the earth orbits the sun. 

 

You can grab a copy of the pattern free at Once Upon a First Grade Adventure along with some additional moon ideas.  BTW, Mrs. H's anchor chart is way cuter than mine.

I also added our science TEKS "Objects in the Sky" to our moon study.

Brainpopjr has great videos on the sun and moon.

We also completed the "Day or Night" sort shown below.  The card pictures included objects you might see during the day or night but also includes activities you might do during the day or night.  You will notice that three cards are in the middle.  My students have done enough Venn Diagrams that they placed those cards in the middle because you can do them either day or night.

If you are interested in these cards, you can get them in Sheila Melton's store.  

We, of course, did all the activities included in my Let's Go the Moon unit.  I wish I had gotten pictures of my students working in centers on some of the activities.  Here is a preview of what's in the pack.

On Friday, we tasted real astronaut ice cream that I ordered from HERE

We graphed our results:  

This activity is from Abby's Amazing Astronauts Activities! Pack

I hope you can find one or two things you could add to your moon study.

  Happy Teaching, Friends!

Seasons

BRRR!  It's cold here in my little Texas town.  18 to be exact.    We had to call parents Thursday because we let out early due to the weather and no school on Friday.  I am starting to get a little stir crazy staying inside. 

This past week, we worked on the story "Seasons." 
Brainpop Jr. has a video for each season, so we watched the "Spring" video and then filled in the spring section of our anchor chart that is shown below.   The students then wrote a 5 sentences about spring.  (My bad- I didn't get a picture of the writing.)

If your school doesn't have a subscription to brainpop jr., I highly recommend it!  It has more than science on the website.  Well worth the money!

 

We then continued with each season - watching the video, filling in the anchor chart and writing about the season.

On Friday, we were going to write our cinquain poems about one of the seasons, but will have to put it off until Monday since we didn't have school.  Here is the link to last years poems if you want to check them out.

Cinquain Poems

 

Hope everyone is staying warm!!!!

Journeys Series Reading Assessments

I have had a ton of email questions wanting to know what I use for assessments with the Journeys reading series.  This is the main complaint I am hearing:
Students cannot do the tests independently because they are too hard.

The vocabulary that they put on the tests does not match the story vocabulary.  They haven't learned those words yet unless they walk in your door reading on a second grade or higher level.  Some of the answers are too long for beginning first graders to read.  They get tired and frustrated.

The assessments that are included in the "Grab-and-Go" resources are broken into:  phonics, comprehension, and vocabulary.  If you do all of these, you have used at least 3 pages for each test (some of them are longer.)  The paper copying starts adding up. 


I created an assessment pack to address these issues.

 

 

Here are examples from different stories that give you an idea of what is included in each assessment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each assessment has 13 bubble in questions:
4 questions using the phonics sounds for each story
6 fill in the blank question using the “words to know” vocabulary
3 comprehension questions about the story
(Answer Keys are provided in the packet)

The vocabulary on the tests I created matches the story vocabulary and does not included vocabulary they haven't learned or that is not decodable.   If your students can already read the assessments in the reading series independently, then this is not the product for you.

This is the third year I've taught this series, and I am just now starting to feel comfortable teaching it.  Hang in there!

{You can click on any of the pictures above to check out the pack in my TpT store.}

Inspector Hopper and TpT Sale

I love the story "A Boat Disappears" that we read last week in our basil.  I love all the humor in it and I love that my firsties actually got it!  Such a cute story.  Students had to decide what kind of detective they thought Insepector Hopper was and then they had to show evidence from the story to support their reasons.

This activity can be found in my Journeys® unit "A Boat Disappears" that can be purchased on TpT or TN.

 

All my units will be on sale for the

Teacher Appreciation Sales going on at TpT and TN.

 

Be sure and use the code TAD13 when checking out at TpT in order to get the addition 10% off.

 

Happy Shopping!

 

Character Traits

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!

Amazing Animals

We've been reading "Amazing Animals" in our reading basil this week.  The kiddos chose an animal from the story and then wrote about their animal's adaptation.    (you might have to click on each picture to be able to read what each child wrote)

 

Later, we played a "Who Am I?" game where I read some clues about animals and the students tried to guess my animal.  I then let the students choose an animal, write 3 clues and then had them read their clues to the rest of the class to see if they could guess their animal.  My firsties loved it! 

Here is a sample:

 

I want to give a shout out to our Lady Badgers who are playing in the state basketball tournament in Austin tomorrow! 

Our little town is so proud of these girls!

Go Badgers!!!!!!!!