A Look Back at Thanksgiving...

I fully intended to post this a long, long, long time ago. But I wanted to share with you some of the activities that we did in my classroom to keep the educational fun going during Thanksgiving! I should probably share now that I am somewhat anti-worksheet... They are quick and easy, but don't always suit the needs of my students or give me an adequate assessment. For that reason, I like to find/create activities that really encourage students to think and be creative!

First, we had Turkey Day. My kiddos made contraction turkeys! Students wrote contractions on construction paper "feathers" and glued them to the body of the turkey.

Next, we read Eve Bunting's A Turkey For Thanksgiving, which is all about catching a turkey, but has a humorous twist that kept my students laughing and engaged. After we practice retelling that story, students created their own steps to catch a turkey! We were studying sequencing at the time, so this activity fit nicely with our standards. Of course, you could also use it for retelling the book too!

The kids really enjoyed this, and I got some hilarious responses. One of which said, "I would lay out turkey food with a strong smell..." haha! The things first graders can come up with truly impresses me. They are so creative!

After Turkey Day, we had a day of using pumpkins for inspiration! We read A Thankful Thanksgiving and the kids made "Thankfulness Pumpkin Pies" (I found that adorable activity on Pinterest here)

Then, it was back to sequencing review. After a brief mini-lesson,  I had the students tell me the steps they would use to make a pumpkin pie (garnished with cotton ball "whipped cream," of course!)

Our last day before break, we really focused on the Thanksgiving story and the reason behind the traditions. We read several books about Pilgrims and Indians and retold the story of the first Thanksgiving. To reinforce our lessons on Author's Purpose, the kids made Persuasive Pilgrims! (I wanted them to make Informative Indians also, but we just ran out of time! Maybe next year..)

You can purchase templates for most of these activities at my TPT store here!
What are some fun things you do with your class for Thanksgiving?!

No way is it February already.. No way...

Since starting back in January, it has been insanely busy! Between our first field trip, setting up for parent teacher conferences and a bout with the flu, I'm not doing a very good job of updating my first and only blog.  :( But here goes!

We've been learning about all sorts of fun stuff this week. Our Reading Street story, "Frog and Toad Together: A Garden" gave our first grade team all sorts of opportunities for interesting learning! One thing we worked very hard on was past, present, and future tense verbs. I made up a neat little story that helped my kiddos tell the difference between those -ed and -ing endings about a King of Ing (he does everything right now), Fred of Ed (he did everything already, and now he is in bed) and Willy of Willville (who will put everything off until tomorrow.) We made anchor charts, did words sorts, and all that fun stuff! I put it on TPT so that you can check it out here!

We also made an adorable class flower out of paint chip samples that was inspired by Pinterest, and planted "Garden Glove" seedlings. I'll be sure to take pictures and post them soon.

Our math series right now is all about odd and even numbers, and skip counting from 1-120 (EnVision Topic 10, if you're in the same series as me.) I'm on the hunt for fun center activities/cumulative stuff to make sure they really understand the concept. If you have any great ideas, let me know in a comment!

Well, back to lesson planning and a lazy Saturday. I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing weekend!

First Week of School Shenanigans

We were busy bees during our first week! I really enjoyed getting to know all of my students. I could tell already that it was going to be a great year.

First, we made "Magic Playdough." I found that activity and a cute poem here and the kids loved it! We read lots of books about starting school, and played some "getting to know each other" games.

Then, I had the kids complete a "My First Days of First Grade" book! You can download it at my TPT store: My First Week of First Grade Book.

We also did a writing activity to display for Parent Night. I cut pieces of sentence paper into triangles, and students finished the writing prompt: "My favorite flavor of ice cream is..." Then, I took all their pictures and had them glue it onto a piece of paper that match their favorite color ice cream!

 I couldn't ask for a better class. They make this job so much fun!!

Welcome to Our Room!

Hi everyone! My name is Chelsea, and this is my first year teaching first grade! (Not to mention my first blog, so I'll try to do it justice! :)

Thought I'd start out by showing you around my classroom! I went with a "Sweet Shop" theme.

My Reading Corner, schedule, and Common Core Standards posters.

Computer Center & Small Group Station. I made those accordion candies and personalized them with the students' names. Directions for the paper candy mobiles are found here.

 I made this bubblegum behavior chart out of cardboard and bulletin board paper. My wonderful assistant laminated it for me so it would be durable!

Classroom door decor for back to school!

This is our "Sweet Shop" positive reinforcement system. Each jar has different rewards worth different numbers of tickets, which the kids get for great behavior! I got this idea, the labels, and the tickets from this great TPT seller!

Thanks for visiting! I'm excited to be joining the blogging community. ;) I'll be posting soon about things we are doing in the classroom.