Another Day in 1st Grade

Hey yall!

 

The year is winding down yall.

Only 23 days left...eek!

We are in full force finish-out-first-grade mode, so I thought I would pop in and share some of what we've been up to these past couple weeks!

 

We wrote clown stories and made these adorable clowns for our study of diphthong ow/ou.

 

 

 

For our study on economics, we made these goods and services flapbooks.

 

 

On the inside, they wrote whether each job provided goods or services.

 

We also wrote about what we want to be when we grow up and whether that job provides goods or services.

 

 

 

In science, we've been learning all about sound!

After learning about pitch, we composed and played songs on glass bottles filled with water.

 

 

Since today was Earth Day, we wrote all about how to keep our Earth clean.

 

You can pick up this little craftivity here.

Then we put our words into action and cleaned up the playground!

 

 

The next few weeks are going to fly by, I'm sure, so forgive me if I'm a little scarce!

Time to put the petal to the metal, yall!



Let's Talk Turkey!

Hey yall! Happy Friday!

 

Was it just me, or did this week drag by? Something about short weeks always makes them feel extra long...

 

Well, we finally started to get into the turkey spirit this week! We've started our plants/animals unit in science, so I thought it was the perfect week to start learning about turkeys!

 

We started by reading some informational texts about turkeys that I checked out from our library.

 

 

 

Then we used a graphic organizer from sweet Rachelle over at Want the Teacher Wants to help us get our facts in order (what would we do without all these wonderful bloggy resources???). We made a large class anchor chart, and my kiddos put their own chart in their reading journals.

 

 

 

We discussed some good opening and closing sentences and brainstormed a few that might work for this type of writing. Then my kiddos got to work! They certainly love informational writing! As a fun Friday activity, we whipped up some quick little turkeys to go with our writing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love how all their turkeys turned out a little different. I gave them patterns for the body and feathers, but had them choose their own googly eyes and add feet and a beak. My room was littered with a bazillion tiny pieces of orange paper, but they were super engaged so it was worth it!

 

We've got lots more Thanksgiving goodness planned for next week, so I'm hoping to fill all the boards with student work! What are some fun activities you have planned for next week?

 

Happy weekend, friends!

Informational Writing {and a flash sale!}

Hey yall! Happy Sunday!

 

I'm just popping in real quick to let you know about a flash sale going on in my little TPT store. Everything in my store is 20% off and TPT is offering another 10% off if you use the promo code FB100K. They have reached 100K followers on Facebook, so we're celebrating!

 

Click on the picture to start shopping!

 

This might be a perfect time to pick up my newest unit: Forest Animals Informational Writing Pack

 

 

This pack is chalk full of graphic organizers and writing sheets to help your kiddos with informational writing. It features 7 different types of forest animals that they can research and write a report on. It also includes an ABC order activity and a word search, just for fun!

 

 

This unit meets the CCSS for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade.

1.W.2

2.W.2

3.W.2

Its also a great way to integrate some science and writing!

 

As always, I'll give away 3 copies of this pack to the first 3 to comment. Be sure to leave your email!

 

Happy shopping!

 



Nice to Meet You, Mr. Appleseed

Hey yall! Happy Friday!

 

We have had a fun and exciting week learning all about folktales. We learned about Paul Bunyan, John Henry, and everyone's favorite....Johnny Appleseed! I love that our state Social Studies standards include these fun folktales, especially since Mr. Appleseed is so much fun to learn about!

 

We started out by reading this book

 

 

and watching the Brain Pop Jr. video on Johnny.

 

We taste tested 4 different kinds of apples and graphed our favorites.

 

 

 

Granny Smith was the winner, but I was totally pulling for the Golden Delicious....yum!

 

We made applesauce and wrote about the process.

 

 

 

 

 

Best. Applesauce. Ever.

 

We brainstormed some facts and then wrote about Johnny.

 

 

 

 

All of the above activities (including the recipe for the world's best applesauce!) came from Katie's (Teacher to the Core) Apples and Appleseed unit.

 

 

 Seriously, one of my favorite purchases this year! Talk about integration!!!

 

After learning all about him, Mr. Appleseed himself came to visit and read us a story!

 

 

 

 

They were over the moon excited....just look at those faces!!! Everyone wanted a hug...and one sly girl went in for a kiss on the cheek! My sweet hubby is so supportive and such a good sport about these kinds of things. You might remember, he dressed up as a leprechaun for my kiddos last year!

 

The funniest part was hearing all the questions my littles had for him...and he had no problem playing along!

 

Student: Did you plant an apple tree in my backyard?

Hubs: Maybe...is your house the one with the black roof?

Student: Yeah! And a fence!

Hubs: Yep...I was there!

 

My teaching buddies and I were rolling! Another student asked him about his pet wolf (which one of our stories talked about) and he told them it was tied up outside. Ha!

 

It was probably one of the most fun we've had this year. What did yall do to celebrate?

 

 

Five for Friday {on a Saturday}

Hey yall!

 

Happy Saturday! This was the first Saturday is awhile that I haven't been saddled with homework, so its been nice to just sleep in and relax this morning.

 

I missed my favorite weekly link up yesterday, so I'm catching up today!

 



 

Here we go with five random pictures from my week...

 

 

1. Last Saturday, I went to a Mother's Day brunch with my momma (who just happened to plan the whole thing!) at our church. These were the adorable favors that we got! I love how simple, yet beautiful they are and have them currently displayed on our mantle.

 

 

2. When we went on our field trip a couple of weeks ago to a local dairy farm, the kids had a chance to help make butter. They begged me to do it again, so of course I obliged! We had just finished up our unit on economics, so we talked about how we were being producers by making the butter. Then we slathered it on some crackers and had a yummy snack!

 

 

3. In science, we've been talking about light and shadows. To kick off our unit, I put the kiddos in groups and let them brainstorm different sources of light. Then I gave them some chart paper and they made posters. I was pretty impressed with what they came up with! In case you can't tell, those are pictures of a street light, a flash light, the sun, and a vacuum light.

 

 

4. Thursday was our field day, and we had so much fun! The kiddos loved competing in all the different activities and we even got ribbons for placing 2nd in our grade level! Then we went inside for lunch in the classroom and finished the day out with a movie. Exhausting, but fun!

 

 

5. Thursday was also my sweet Abby's 9th birthday! She is getting pretty gray, especially around her head and ears. And talk about cranky! But I love my cranky, gray haired baby girl :)

 

Now that we are down to only 10 days of school left, I've got to get my balloon countdown ready! My kiddos really loved it last year, so I'm hoping this group does as well. We are going to be doing some activites from my Balloon Poppin' Fun freebie. Click on the picture to grab your copy and be sure to buy some balloons! There are enough activites for this to be done for the last 15 days, if you are so inclined.

 

 

Happy weekend, friends!

 



Vibration Stations {freebie}

Hey yall! TGIalmostF!

 

I'm not sure about yall, but this has been the longest week ever! I'm sure it has nothing to do with the state testing that's going on this week. Even though first is not a testing grade, our schedule was still wonky this week, so of course my kiddos were 12 kinds of crazy!

 

But that's okay....because 21 days people!!!

 

As the end of the year draws near, we are doing a mad dash to make sure we've covered everything we need to cover. And in science, that means we are way behind! Science and social studies always seem to get pushed to the side, even though I absolutely adore teaching science! The 25 minutes alloted in our schedule everyday to cover both is just not enough.

 

With that said, I try to cram as much information as I can in when we actually do get a chance to get some science in. This week, it's all about sound! And that means.....Vibration Stations!

 

I blogged about our Vibration Stations last year, but I've changed things up a bit this year. I also gave my oh-so-bland task cards a makeover! I split my kiddos up into four groups and they rotated around the four stations. I gave them only 6 minutes at each station, so they had to stay focused and work quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The littles carried their science journals around to each station and recorded their observations/findings. They also answered the question at the bottom of each task card in their journals. They really enjoyed these stations and were super motivated to get them done in time.

 

Grab a copy of the task cards below. Of course, you're on your own to supply the rest of the materials, but thankfully they are pretty simple! I actually had *almost* all of the materials already in my class :)

 

 

 I'm also dying to share everything we've been doing to celebrate Earth Day this week, but I'm saving that for one big post after tomorrow :)