Five for Friday - October 9th

I can't believe it's almost the middle of October. How did that happen? I have totally neglected this little blog. I've been taking tons of pictures, but I just don't have the energy to do anything with them! Props to all the teacher-mom bloggers out there. I did not realize how exhausting this double life would be. I am loving being back at school, even though I miss seeing my little Zoe Monkey all day long. I know she is having fun at daycare and I love my little class of firsties. Here's a peek at what we've been up to this week... I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday linky party!

Monday afternoon we went on our first field trip to the local fire station. They were so excited and had a great time! The fire fighters did an excellent safety presentation and then we got to tour the fire station. We got to sit in a fire truck AND squirt water from the hose! How fun! We also did some work in our interactive journals about fire safety. I think we have drilled those safety rules into their heads after this week!!

It was all about fall, Thanksgiving, and some Halloween this week. I pulled out all my fall books and the kiddos just ate them up. We made fall patterns using some fall/Halloween foam shapes. We made counting by 10s turkeys and had our school-wide Thanksgiving lunch where we sported our turkey hats (idea from Miss Kindergarten).

Guided Reading and Math are in full swing and so far it's going pretty good! My kiddos love play-do, so whipped up this fun word work centre. There is a mat for each letter. They have to make the uppercase and lowercase letters and then there is a picture that corresponds to the sound the letter makes (a - make apples, b - make bees). I just put them on TpT tonight {here}.

Whipping out my fun tools to start reading off on the right foot. Witch fingers and laser pointers have been a big hit so far!

In writing we are writing personal narratives about a time we got hurt. These are our "ouch" stories. We will make our good copies look like a large band-aid!

I have been doing problem solving at least 3 times a week. So far we have only been doing addition and subtraction to 10 (result unknown), but learning a bunch of strategies such as draw a picture, use tally marks, use a number line, use a ten frame, and act it out! I hope to do a blog post soon about problem solving and the different types of problems we will be doing. We do some whole group practice on whiteboards and then do an individual problem in our journal.

Here's a few examples of our journals. Right now they just have to show work (picture, tallies, etc.) and a number sentence. Soon they will also have to write their answer with a number and word (ex. 9 acorns).

Science is in full swing. We have been doing a bunch of work on the four seasons and will be starting some SUPER FUN weather activities after the long weekend. We started off with our question chart... what do we wonder about weather or seasons? We're going to touch on these questions as we continue our learning this month.

Here are some of our Science interactive journal pages. The season wheel was a big hit.

And here are some kids enjoying the Explore Tubs (early finisher activities for Science). These girls are dressing up the boy for different weather!

These kids are learning about light and shadows AND are telling very creative stories! :)

These adorable girls are playing teacher while they match up the seasonal activities. Find this activity on TpT {here}.

You can read more about my Season & Weather Explore Tubs {here}. The only thing I did differently was put all of the topic books into a big tub (kind of as it's own tub) and just put the activities into the tubs. They have been a huge hit! :)

Happy Thanksgiving my Canadian friends! Enjoy your three-day weekend. I know I will! :)

Explore Tubs for Weather & Seasons {with Freebies}

Here are some more Explore Tub ideas! Explore Tubs are like early finisher tubs in Science class for when students finish their Interactive Science Journal page. You can read more about the tubs {here} and see my Senses tub ideas {here}. I will change these six tubs out with each unit. I teach four units in Science: Weather & Seasons, Five Senses, Objects & Materials (although I usually combine the Senses and Objects & Materials units together), and Living Things. These are my Weather & Season explore tub ideas!

*Four Seasons Floor Puzzles by Lakeshore Learning

*Four Seasons Picture Sort {by me on TpT}--I used sticky velcro dots to make my sorting game. Students sort the picture cards by which season they would do the activity.

*Books about seasons: Snowmen All Year, My World Seasons, Calendar, I Can Read About Seasons, Spring Into Summer!/Fall Into Winter!, Watching the Seasons, A Tree for All Seasons, What Season Is It?, The Reason for the Seasons, and The Four Seasons.

*Animals That Hibernate, Adapt, and Migrate Posters {download free here}--I copy the posters back-to-back so one side is blank and one side has the animal pictures. Then I have a variety or small plastic animal toys that the students can sort onto the pictures. They can use the blank side for a challenge, or match the toys to the pictures for an easier task.
*Books about hibernation, migration, and adaptations: All About Hibernation, Bear Snores On, Animals in Winter, Migration, A Den Is a Bed for a Bear!, Animals in Fall, Sleep Big Bear, When Will It Snow?, Very Hairy Bear, The Busy Little Squirrel, Over and Under, and Why Do Animals Hibernate?

*Weather Bingo Game {by me on TpT}--A game for up to six players to practice weather vocabulary.
*Dress for the Weather Bulletin Board Set from Amazon--I laminated all the pieces of the kid and clothing, attached the kid to a cookie sheet, and put magnets on the back of the clothing pieces. I made {these cards} to go with the centre so students choose a weather card and dress the kid up for that weather!
*Books about weather: What Will the Weather Be Like Today?, Weather, Raindrop Plop!, Weather Watching, What's the Weather?, Split! Splat!, Weather Words, Like a Windy Day.

*Cloud View Finders {free from this blog}--I attach the view finders to a popsicle stick. Students can look out the window and try to identify types of clouds.
*Cloud Mat {free from here} and White Play-Doh. I print the mats on blue card stock and laminate them, then let the students make cloud shapes using the white Play-Doh.
*Books about clouds: Cloudette, It Looked Like Spilt Milk, The Cloud Book, Clouds, I See It, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Little Cloud, and Clouds.

*Shadow Card Matching Activity {free here}--Students match the animal picture to it's shadow! They can play memory or just match the cards up.
*Small Flash Lights
*Hand Shadow Puppet Idea Print Out pinned and printed out from here
*Free Shadow Puppet Print Outs free from 100 Directions. I laminated the puppets, cut them out, then hot glued them to popsicle sticks to make shadow puppets!
*Books about shadows and light: What Makes Day and Night, What Makes a Shadow?, The Sun, and Bear's Shadow.

*Types of Tornado Matching Activity {idea pinned here}-- You can download my tornado mats and pictures cards for free here. I used sticky velcro dots to make my matching activity. Students match the types of tornadoes with the pictures.
*Tornado Tube from Amazon--fill one bottle with coloured water and attach it to Tornado Tube. Add another empty bottle to the other end of the Tornado Tube. Students can swirl the water to the tornado!
*Tiny Tornado Tube from Amazon
*Thunder Tubes from Amazon
*Books about extreme weather: Barn Storm, Extraordinary Wild Weather, Underpants Thunderpants, Just a Big Storm, Fires and Floods, Blizards and Tornados (from Science Vocabulary Reader Set), Hurricanes and Tornadoes, Danger! Eathquakes, Extreme 3-D: Wild Weather, Franklin and the Thunderstorm, Thunder-Boomer!

Interactive Science Journal Bundle Finished Up!

Ok, I just finished up the last Interactive Science Journal pack for Weather and Seasons! It is the last unit in the bundle of four. If you have already bought the bundle, go to TpT to your purchases page and redownload the bundle for free.

These are the lessons/outcomes covered in this unit:

1. Unit title page idea
2. Days of the week 
3. Cycle of seasons
4. Name two things the sun gives us
5. Sort day time things and night time things

6. Sequence events of a day
7. Explore how shadows are created
8. Test the sun's position over the course of a day (science experiment)
9. Record temperature throughout the day
10. Match how living things change throughout the day
11. Describe characteristics of the four seasons

12. Describe how we prepare for the seasons
13. Describe how a meteorologist helps us prepare for seasonal changes
14. Name features of buildings that keep us comfortable in all the seasons
15. Sort clothing for each season
16. Describe how to stay safe during extreme weather
17. Describe how to participate in activities year-round
18. Describe how living things prepare for winter
19. Design a bird feeder (design process)

Check out the bundle here:

What Have We Been Up To...

I can't believe how time just flies by in grade one! There is only one week left in September, can you believe it? According to our daily calendar, we have only been in school for 12 days so far, but it feels like I have known these little ones forever! Well we have had a busy week and I know next week is going to be even busier! So many unexpected meetings, inservices, and other events that keep popping up! But now that I have a moment to catch my breath, here are some things we did this week!

Theme: Seasons

In both our Science and Social Studies, we talking about the four seasons and seasonal changes. We start off by talking about the seasons. I like Gail Gibbon's "The Reason for the Seasons." I also discovered that my kids LOVE sesame street videos and they have some really great ones that go with your themes. I found  this cute one called "Eating Cookies All Year". I love Cookie Monster!! Click on the pic for the link.

Each day of the week we focused on a different season and completed an anchor chart. I forgot to take pictures, but the name of the season went in the middle and the chart paper was divide into four sections. We brainstormed the months of that season, what the weather was like, the clothes we wear in that season, and activities we like to do in that season. You can download the titles for the anchor charts by clicking on the picture below.

Here is what our completed anchor charts looked like (excuse my messy, slanty writing... I need to work on that!)

The first season we talked about was fall (because we're in it!) After our anchor chart was complete, we did a little fall art project. I photocoped this bare tree onto thicker manilla tag paper, then students painted fall coloured leaves onto it using q-tips! They had so much fun with this and it was a really easy art project to set up! Click the picture to download the template.

The next day we talked about winter. We watched Bert in this cute little video called "All Dressed Up". Click for the link.

We completed a little picture sort. Students coloured the little circles, then cut them out and glued them on the correct season on the chart. Click the pic to download!

Again, another cute Sesame Street video for spring. This one is "Spring is Here."

Then we created spring umbrellas. These were inspired by Cara's Onomatopoeia Umbrellas (just tweaked for our season study). The tops of the umbrella were made from scrapbook paper. The handle was brown construction paper. On each of the raindrops, students wrote and drew four things that they liked about spring. They turned out super cute. Here's my example:

And for our last season: summer! I read the story "Beach Day" by Patricia Lakin. We completed our summer anchor chart and then graphed our favourite season. I use a graph pocket chart and just printed out the title and option cards. The yellow cards each have my students names on the front and magnets on the back. You can download the graph cards here. (US version of favorite here.)

Wow! Us Canadians sure do like out winter! (Even with -40°C weather and snow up to our eyeballs!) After we graphed our favourite season, we watched another cute Sesame Street video called "Guess the Season." Kids really liked this one!

After that, students completed a page for a class book. The page says "I like [insert favourite season here] because ___________." and they draw a picture to go with it. You can download the title page and student page for the book by clicking either picture. (US version of favorite here.)

This week we also started "Read to Self" for our Daily 5 time. We created our I-chart, practiced building our stamina, talked about where to sit (no, the dark closet is NOT a good place to read...), and did the I PICK lesson. Students are loving this reading time so far! I also started the school year off reviewing the colours. I love love LOVE the Color Day Fun unit from Made for 1st Grade. I have used lots of activities from that unit. On yellow day, we read "Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes" because Pete rides a big yellow bus to school. We followed the directions in the unit to make our own school buses. They are so simple but turned out super cute!

Look at Pete sitting in the back of this student's bus. How cute!

Next week our theme is weather and we will be starting our math centres. I will post about these both next week! Happy Monday tomorrow, everybody!