Nonfiction Writing Research

 We recently wrote our nonfiction research papers and my kiddos did not disappoint!  This post seems long, but it's a fast read with lots of pictures.

I like to spread this out over a couple of weeks and I like the "I Do/We Do/You Do" approach when I teach writing.   I model what I want them to do, then we do it together, and then they do it independently.

I Do:

First, I read the story "Ladybugs" and modeled how to take notes as I read. 

Note:  Each box on the "note" page is a page of their book and it is listed on their  Table of Contents page.

Next,  I made an anchor chart to go over the nonfiction pages that I expected them to have in their book.  I showed them my nonfiction ladybug book pages that I had already drawn illustrations on (to save time) and I modeled using my "notes" sheet to write my sentences on each page.

We Do:

I  read the book "Sea Urchins" and while reading we filled out one "note" sheet together as a group.  

I gave them their blank nonfiction writing book and put our "notes" page under our document camera and they used the information to write their sentences.

"Looks Like" example pages:

"Eats" example pages:

"Habitat" example pages:

"Interesting Fact" example pages:

 

You Do:

I provided different books that I checked out from the library for the students to choose their topics.  I gave them a "note" sheet to take notes on while they read their book.  We then worked on one or two pages a day depending on how much time we had.  I love how they turned out.

Note sheet examples:

Finished Book examples:

Happy Teaching Friends!

Measuring with Nonstandard Units

 We recently did a fun measuring lesson that I wanted to share.  It was a simple, fun lesson that packed a punch.  Students really got the concept.

Objective:  Students will measure the same object with units of two different lengths and describe how and why the measurements were different.   (TEKS 1.7C)

We watched the read aloud "How Big is a Foot?" by Rolf Mylier on youtube since I didn't have the book.  

I made feet template, one for the King's foot and one for the apprentice's foot.  We used the feet to visualize the bed size while reading the book.  When we finished the read aloud, we measured a couple of things in the room with the feet and discussed why the measurements were different.  NOTE:  Scroll down to the bottom of this post to get the link for the footprints if you want to print them.  

I then gave students two different measuring tools.  We used pretzel sticks and cereal.  

Students measured several things in their boxes and then the length of their desks.  I used the recording sheet I had from First Grade Math Unit 14 Standard Nonstandard Measurement Activities that I purchased on TpT from Miss Giraffe.  If you have purchased anything from her, then you know her stuff is wonderful!

At the end of the lesson, I put a question on the board for them to answer.  They just flipped over their worksheet and wrote on the back.

I've attached the link for the footprints and added a couple recording sheets.  I thought this might be fun to do with pretzel sticks and Cheese Its™ and I also included a copy with no measurement units in case you wanted to add your own.

Measuring with Nonstandard Units Activity

Happy Teaching Friends!

Poetry ~ First Grade Style!

I wanted my students to write a poem with rhythm and they did not disappoint.

This activity was simple and we got it done in about 45 minutes from start to finish (including a little mini lesson on rhythm in poetry).

I provided a link at the end where you can grab this.

*For my Texas teaching friends:

  1st grade TEKS for this activity are 1.9B, 1.11A, 1.11B, 1.11E, 1.12A, 1.2F

(If you want to see what those TEKS are the click on the following link: Texas 1st Grade TEKS)

Here are a few of my first grader's poems with rhythm, repetition and onomatopoeia.

This last one is a little hard to read.  It says:

dirt bike on the road

dirt bike on the road

rrr    rrr

rrr   rrr

dirt bike on the road

If you would like to grab this to do with your class, click on the picture below.

Happy Teaching!