Every year, I end up with a class full of students who LOVE science. (I'm guessing you do, too.) Of course, experiments are their favorite... being curious, gathering materials, getting messy, seeing what happens... it's the best. Because science is grounded in what's "real," most of my children also like to read nonfiction. I don't know what your science materials look like, but … [Read more...]
The Great Fuzz Frenzy
The Great Fuzz Frenzy is one my favorite picture books, especially for the first week back to school. A friend introduced the book to me years ago. She taught 3rd grade and I taught 1st, but all the children loved it, regardless of their age. It's a lively read-aloud and a great conversation starter for topics like: selfishness teamwork and forgiveness ...just to name a few. I think … [Read more...]
First Week Favorites … I WILL
"I promise to do what I promised to do." Not much is more important than being trustworthy. People need to know they can count on you and it's never too early to teach this to kids. In our school, we live by the Lifelong Guidelines, so our kids learn to understand important concepts throughout the year like: • personal best • truthfulness • active listening • trustworthiness • no … [Read more...]
First Week Favorites … SAY WHAT?
This is another one of my favorite first-week lessons as we begin to establish our classroom community. I begin by reading a picture book about listening. I'm sure there are some really high-quality titles out there, but this book belonged to my daughter and every kid I've ever had loves it because of the familiar characters. (Plus, I can do a pretty good Tigger voice... it sells it every time.) … [Read more...]
First Week Favorites … BEING KIND
You've probably seen a lesson like this before... it's one of my favorites and the kids always get a kick out of the lesson they learn at the end of the activity. All you need per team are: • a tube of toothpaste • a paper plate • a plastic spoon {Don't forget your camera... their faces are hysterical.} My kids sit in teams of four (Kagan Cooperative Teams). I gave "Person #1" … [Read more...]
First Grade Word Walls Kids Will Use
In my experience, first grade word walls are a must-have. Because of this though, I used to sweat the fire marshal's visit each year. To avoid costly fines, our head custodian would walk through every classroom a week ahead looking for violations and my little visit always came with the same speech. "Andrea, there's too much paper on your walls. You've exceeded the limit. It won't go well. Take … [Read more...]