Halloween Fun in First Grade

Happy Halloween Everyone!! We are having a blast this week learning about pumpkins, bats, owls, spiders and Halloween. I am focusing this post on things I do the two days before Halloween- when I do let the kids talk about costumes and "scary" Halloween characters. I try to make it more of a fall celebration in the days prior to this. But all kids enjoy a little bit of fun at this time of year. So I let them talk about the things I usually ban- vampires, zombies, witches, ghosts- in a first grade fun manner. The first time anything gory comes into the conversation, I stop it. ha ha Have a great holiday!!

Pumpkin Adjectives

Welcome to fall! First grade has been very busy learning about fall items and pumpkins. We visited an awesome pumpkin farm for a field trip. We are learning all about adjectives this week and using the words to describe pumpkins. The children are having so much fun! Here are just a few activities that we did today.

Columbus Day Fun!

I do a lot with

Christopher Columbus over the few days following Columbus Day. I think it is important for my First Graders to know about exploring and not giving up on a dream. We watch a really appropriate video on Columbus on Unitedstreaming.com, an Animated Heroes Classic movie. While the students are watching the movie, they write down over three facts in their Fact Books. We then chose three of their top facts relating to Columbus and transfer to a writing paper, which is made into a class book. We also make a cut-out of Columbus in a ship to put on our desks for the next few days. I took some pictures of just the Columbus project, before the ships were made to add to this post.

Why??

The word "why?" comes up a lot this year. It is a common word but it really gets the children thinking deeper about the process of things, how things work, how to figure out answers, and makes connections to other thoughts. Every time I can, I ask the children "Why?". They are getting much better at coming up with in-depth answers. They are reflecting on their answers and they can generate more questions they have by answering this question. Try it in your classroom and see what the kids do with being asked why...

Tattle Monster

Good afternoon, My students were very active and ready to learn today. I am proud of the progress they are making this year. I did have a little bit of an issue lately with a couple of students tattling on one another, then it turns into them trying to tattle to get the person that tattled on them in trouble, and so on. YIKES! I thought and thought about this and with the suggestion from my Principal, I came up with a Tattle Monster. I am sure this has been used many times and in many different ways in classrooms across the states. This is just my own version/ creation. I am going to make it into a large poster to hang in the room. The children can fill out a slip, if they think it is serious enough for me to hear/ or if the Tattle Monster tells them to inform me. :) Let me know if it is helpful!

Fire Safety Week

We are celebrating Fire Safety this week in my school. We went on a visit to the locak fire station. We have completed many activities but I thought I would share this one. The children really enjoyed it! Each child created their own Fire House Dalmation, then they had to add a background with at least three fire prevention items in their illustration. They shared their picture with the class and we made them into a class book. I have included a few good stories that are in my Fire Safety reading basket.

Partner Reading Chart

Hello, We do a lot of partner reading in my first grade classroom. This is a chart I pass out to partners and they have to ask these questions to their partner and cross it off after it is answered. It is a great comprehension activity and it is something the students have learned to do without a teacher's assistance. I really like using it. I hear the students ask these questions at other times when we are reading, even though they may not have a chart with them. I love seeing that!! Happy Reading!!

Fire Safety

We are learning about Fire Safety this week. We took a walk to our local fire station and listened to the firemen share fire safety tips with us. We learned about their equipment and vehicles. I had each of the children take this form home and practice learning their phone number and their address. Then there was an oral assessment on it. If they passed, the students earned a certificate. They had such a great time today with these activities.

Focus Chart

In our first grade classroom, the students are learning to stay focused on their task at hand. If a child is focused and completing the task, they get to color in a square on their chart. When a chart is completed, they earn a reward and a certificate. Most charts are taking three to four days to complete. The students are enjoying getting to color in a square when they have finished their work on time. It is a great motivator!! I borrowed the idea from a fellow teacher and created my own chart. :)

Hello everyone!!
I am going to try to start a blog on things I am doing in my classroom. I am new to this whole sharing on the computer, even though I communicate this way a lot with my student's parents. I would appreciate any advice or help you would like to offer to me. I would like to update daily on activities, but I know that will not always be possible. :)  I follow some really good blogs who I look up to. I know I will not achieve their awesomeness.

Happy Monday everyone!!

Sincerely,
Lori