"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...]
When 1st Graders Write Reviews
Last month, my first graders were learning how to write reviews... reviews of toys, movies, and books. But it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be. I found they were accidentally slipping back into what they knew well as writers. Some children were unintentionally writing personal narratives or informational pieces, particularly how-to pieces. I realized these were traps that were easy … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Snow: Holiday Science for Kids
Snow from a baby diaper? With a little imagination, yes. You can purchase snow-making products online, but they're costly and you have to wait for them to be delivered, so why not make your own? It's a really fun holiday science investigation and you only need a few things to make it happen! a baby diaper scissors water baby powder (optional) The children have so much fun cutting … [Read more...]