Inspector Hopper and TpT Sale

I love the story "A Boat Disappears" that we read last week in our basil.  I love all the humor in it and I love that my firsties actually got it!  Such a cute story.  Students had to decide what kind of detective they thought Insepector Hopper was and then they had to show evidence from the story to support their reasons.

This activity can be found in my Journeys® unit "A Boat Disappears" that can be purchased on TpT or TN.

 

All my units will be on sale for the

Teacher Appreciation Sales going on at TpT and TN.

 

Be sure and use the code TAD13 when checking out at TpT in order to get the addition 10% off.

 

Happy Shopping!

 

EEEWWWWW Worms!

We did our worm study this week and the kids loved it!  They begged to take their worms home and I let them on Thursday.  These are a few stories I got this morning and I was impressed to see that a few of their scientific minds were still experimenting:

1.  I put my worm in lemonade to see if he could swim and he died.
2.  I cut my worm in half to see if he would grow a new tail and he didn't, he died. 
3.  My grandpa and I let my worm go in the garden.  (so sweet)
4.  One mom informed us that the worm is now a new pet and is sitting right beside the fishbowl.

 

Here are a few things we did with our worms this week:

(click on any of the pictures to grab yourself a copy)

 

 

 

 

We finished up our study with a little worm dessert

and we read this book:

 

 

 

 

I saw this on Pinterest and I couldn't resist:

 

 

 

 

Poetry Pack Winners

Congrats to Maria, Michelle and Lori for winning a copy of my poetry pack.  I will be emailing it to you shortly.   Thanks to everyone who commented.

Hair and a Giveaway

We have hair! 

 

This school year, I have worked myself to death putting together literacy packs to go along with the first grade Journeys® reading series.  For my own sanity, I have taken a short break from creating anything new.  I did, however, put together this little Poetry Pack.  But here is the secret - all the poems were already created and are spread throughout my Journeys® packs.  I just gathered them and put them together in one pack.   You already have these activities if you are purchasing my Journeys® packs, so no need to get this one.

I am giving away this Poetry Fun pack to 3 lucky winners.  Leave a comment below along with your email and I will announce the winners Wednesday evening.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Plants

Okay ya'll, I so stole this idea from my compadre, Tammy Riggan, and I just had to share.  (btw, she did give me permission to post about this)   Grass seed is planted in the cups and these little critters will soon be sporting some green hair.  The picture is from 4 of her firsties but I stole the idea and did it with my class too.   

 

I made this anchor chart to go with our learning for the week:

 

We also wrote cinquain poems about plants.  I got this idea from Cara Carroll at the First Grade Parade.  You can visit her post Here to grab yourself a copy of the cinquain poem freebies.

 

The flower patterns that I used with my class I also stole borrowed from Tammy Riggan and she has graciously allowed me to share them with you as a freebie. 

The links are under the pictures of the 3 flowers.

 

Flower 1 (students need to trace 4)

Flower 2 (students need to trace 2)

Flower 3 and Leaf

 

Happy Teaching!

 

Character Traits

Happy Friday!!!  I thought it would never get here!  Due to the rain and cold, we missed recess most of the week and boy could you tell it.  Thank goodness the sun is starting to shine again in Texas!

We worked on character traits this week and I can honestly say that my kids got it!  I gave the end of story assessment and my lowest grade was an 80!  (Picture the clouds parting and angels singing.)

We started by discussing "outside" and "inside" charater traits.  Outside traits are the traits you can see.  Inside traits are traits you cannot see but you can prove by observing a characters dialogue and actions.  I made this pinterest inspired anchor chart as we discussed traits:

I then had my students write inside and outside traits about themselves:

They then had to choose two inside traits and show evidence using their actions or dialogue:

(I like how she used me in her evidence examples.)

We then moved on to story characters.  The story we were reading (The New Friend) is about a new boy moving to the neighborhood and 3 boys who become his friend.  I had the students choose a character and list two character traits about them and then provide evidence from the story that supports it.

 

 

 

With this same story, I had the students write sentences telling what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.  They then had to illustrate their sentence.  I folded a 12x18 piece of manilla paper and made two cuts: 6 inches from the top 6 inces from the bottom.  I then had the students write beginning, middle, and end on the outside.  They opened the flap and wrote what happened and drew their picture.

 

Beginning:

This student wrote, "The three boys are curious because they want to know who is moving into the old house."

 

Middle: 

This student wrote, "They played soccer ball with Makoto.  They make a great team together.  They will be great friends.

 

End:

This student wrote, "The three boys were happy because Makoto was going to their school."

 

Happy Weekend Friends!

 

Fractional Parts and Journeys Unit 6 Sight Words

We worked on fractional parts of a set this week and did a few fun activities with it.  I bought a bag of spring foam stickers and gave each child two colors of the same shape and had them write the fractional parts.

 

 

 

We also used our Do-A-Dots for fractional parts of a caterpillar.

 

We had our first grade Easter Egg hunt on Thursday at the park. My coworkers and I couldn't resist getting in on the fun and we had our picture made with the Easter bunny.

 

If you teach Journeys, here is a copy of the sight word RAN boards that go with Unit 6.  Click on the picture to grab yourself a copy.

 

 

Totally random, but I think my brother kind of looks like Matt Damon.  I think its the nose.  He would probably kill me if he knew I posted this.  What do you think?

 

 

Happy Easter everyone!

 

 

 

 

First Grade Writing and Illustrations

Have I mentioned how I ♥ first grade illustrations?  First grade pictures drawn by my firsties make my heart happy, happy, happy! (For you Duck Dynasty fans, picture me saying that in my best Phil Robertson voice.)
For example, one of my firsties gave me this picture after we learned about George Washington:

While learning about Texas, we worked on writing "Did you know . . .?" sentences.  I've blogged about this before and you can check it out Here if you want to grab a copy of the writing form these were written on.  Anyhoo, I couldn't resist showcasing a few of these just because of the illustrations.

 

In the picture below, if you look closely, you can see the mockingbird sitting in the pecan tree, the Texas flag, the armadillo, the bluebonnet and the longhorn.  She tried to include as many state symbols that she could.   *LOVE*

 

I love how this next picture includes a blue ribbon beside the chili.

 

 

We've also been working on writing.  I gave my firsties the topic, "Texas is a nice state to visit"  and I got this little gem.

(you might have to click on it to be able to read it)

 

Then I gave them the topic, "Texas has many state symbols"

and I got another little gem.

And then, I just had to share this one because the dog is so cute.  Even when I provide my students with an example, they always manage to make it uniquely theirs.  The topic for this writing was, "Owning a dog is a big responsibility."

 

It's back to work on Monday after a nice Spring Break.  Only 11 more weeks of school.   Geez, how am I ever going to get in everything I want to teach in 11 weeks?